Entire Input Space Research Articles

On calculating the capacity of an infinite-input finite (infinite)-output channel

A version of the Arimoto-Blahut algorithm for continuous channels involves evaluating integrals over an entire input space and thus is not tractable. Two generalized discrete versions of the Arimoto-Blahut algorithm are presented for this purpose. Instead of calculating integrals, both algorithms require only the computation of a sequence of finite sums. This significantly reduces numerical computational complexity.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Thermodynamics

Fuzzy logic control frequently exhibits superior performance to classical linear controllers even for ‘hard’, mathematically well defined plants, as described in this paper. The case-study of a highly nonlinear exothermic continuous stirred tank reactor, which poses a multivariable control problem with two interacting loops and open-loop instability, is used. The behaviour of the fuzzy logic controller is compared with that of a PID controller. A smooth, easily tuneable gain-schedule is designed to handle offset-like problems with a fuzzy controller. It is analytically shown that such a gain-schedule is the simpler, intuitive equivalent of a manipulation of the corresponding fuzzy membership functions. The fuzzy controller structure chosen is a parsimonious one, with the choice of Gaussian bell-shaped membership functions generating a smooth input/output surface with nontrivial inferencing spanning the entire input space. This provides a clear, non-heuristic reason to select Gaussian over triangular shapes for membership functions. The gain-scheduled fuzzy controller shows excellent control performance, significantly outperforming the PID controllers in both servo and regulatory modes. The disturbance rejection behaviour of the modified fuzzy controller is observed to be particularly good.