Papers for

communications system designers

Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.

Information bottleneck approximated for ergodic markov chains

On the Information Bottleneck for Ergodic Finite-State Markov Chains: Stationary Approximation and Asymptotic Optimality

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the information bottleneck problem for sources that follow discrete-time ergodic finite-state Markov chains. We propose treating observations generated by the time-varying Markov chain as if they were drawn from its unique stationary distribution, and we use the solution to the information bottleneck problem for the stationary process to compress samples from the time-varying process. The resulting error is upper bounded by several information gap terms. We establish sufficient conditions under which these gaps converge to zero and analyze the convergence rates of the different information gap terms. The proofs are based on intricate analysis using convergence of subsequences along with the derivation of properties of the optimization sets associated with the information bottleneck problem. In addition to the inequalities and convergence results we establish, our analysis offers insights into how simple properties of ergodic Markov chains give rise to results concerning the information bottleneck problem for such chains.

Mon 19 OctInformation Theory
The gist
Compressing data generated by systems that change over time can be tricky. The authors show that treating these data as if they come from a stable pattern (stationary distribution) still works well. They provide conditions and bounds that explain how close this approach is to the best possible compression. Their work helps understand when and why such approximations are valid for complex data sources that evolve over time.
Open → 2610.25952v1

Dna labeling capacity fully characterized for single-label cases

On the Capacity of DNA Labeling in the Single-Label Setting

Abstract: DNA labeling has attracted increasing attention in biomedical applications, including molecular imaging, diagnostics, and genomic analysis. In a DNA labeling process, a set of DNA sequence patterns, referred to as labels, is designed according to the requirements of a specific application. For each DNA sequence, the labeling process generates an output sequence that records the positions of the labels. DNA sequences with different labeling outputs can therefore be distinguished through the labeling process. To quantify this capability, the labeling capacity is defined as the exponential growth rate of the maximum number of DNA sequences that can be distinguished through the labeling process as the sequence length tends to infinity [2]. To date, the labeling capacities of several cases in the single-label setting have been determined. In this paper, we formulate the labeling process as a deterministic channel and show that its zero-error capacity is equal to the labeling capacity. For a single label, the corresponding channel can be represented by a star graph. Thus, characterizing the labeling capacity of a single label is equivalent to determining the zero-error capacity of the corresponding star graph. We derive the zero-error capacities of all star graphs, thereby providing a complete characterization of the labeling capacities for all single-label cases. Furthermore, we develop a general method for constructing capacity-achieving codes. These results apply to labeling problems over arbitrary finite alphabets and are not restricted to the DNA alphabet. Finally, for a fixed label length, we exactly characterize the range of achievable labeling capacities and identify all single-label structures that attain the minimum and maximum capacities.

Tue 29 SeptInformation Theory
The gist
The paper looks at how well DNA sequences can be distinguished by marking specific patterns called labels. The authors show that this labeling process works like a communication channel without errors, and they find the exact limits of how many different DNA sequences can be uniquely identified using just one type of label. They also explain how to design codes that reach this limit. This helps understand how to best label DNA or other sequences to tell them apart.
Open → 2609.36715v1

Deterministic sparse fft recovers exact frequencies with certifiable checks

Certificate-Governed CRT Sparse FFT: Verified Global-Label Candidate Construction under Explicit Decoding Models

Abstract: We present a deterministic CRT-based sparse Fourier architecture for exact recovery of noiseless, on-grid, at-most-\(k\)-sparse spectra with an engineered transform length. The transform length \(N\) is selected as an exact product of small pairwise-coprime stage primes, allowing each stage to use transforms whose size scales with the sparsity rather than the ambient dimension. Three co-prime-increment time shifts provide a one-sided singleton-consistency screen: every genuine singleton passes, while passing collision bins remain provisional candidates. Each candidate bin is mapped by a total label-emission rule to at most one global frequency label, and per-stage label sets are intersected, yielding a deterministic \(O(k)\) candidate bound for every input. Candidate construction uses \(O(k\log N)\) samples. In a comparison real-RAM model with exact arithmetic and exact phase evaluation but without unit-cost root-index decoding, it requires \(O(k\log^2 N/\log k)\) arithmetic operations; in a stronger root-index-oracle model the arithmetic cost is \(O(k\log N)\). Under all-stage genuine-singleton survival, the candidate set contains the true support. Exactness, however, does not depend on that survival condition: a consecutive-sample residual verifier accepts a sparse reconstruction only when it is exact, and all failures route to a dense FFT. The resulting hybrid algorithm therefore returns the exact spectrum for every input in the stated noiseless, on-grid, at-most-\(k\)-sparse model, with \(O(N\log N)\) worst-case runtime. The verified sparse path additionally incurs an \(O(k^2)\) verifier cost in the root-index-oracle model. Neither computational model is a bit-complexity model.

Mon 28 SeptData Structures and Algorithms
The gist
Finding the important parts in a huge signal usually takes a lot of time. This paper shows a way to quickly find all the main frequencies in a perfect, sparse signal using a clever math trick. The method guarantees that it either finds exactly the right frequencies or clearly knows when it cannot, by checking the results carefully. The authors also explain how the approach keeps computation efficient even for very big signals.
Open → 2609.34086v1