Realising the promise of neural networks for practical optimisation: improving their efficiency and effectivess through chaotic dynamics and hardware implementation. Combinatorial optimisation problems such as transportation routing and assembly-line scheduling are critical to the efficiency of many industries, but their combinatorial explosion makes rapid solution difficult. Neural networks (NNs) hold much potential for rapid solution though hardware implementation, but we need to improve the q ....Realising the promise of neural networks for practical optimisation: improving their efficiency and effectivess through chaotic dynamics and hardware implementation. Combinatorial optimisation problems such as transportation routing and assembly-line scheduling are critical to the efficiency of many industries, but their combinatorial explosion makes rapid solution difficult. Neural networks (NNs) hold much potential for rapid solution though hardware implementation, but we need to improve the quality of their solutions before developing hardware. We have previously shown that the rich dynamics of chaos can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of NNs. We aim to develop new chaotic NN models, rigorously evaluate them on industrially significant problems such as those arising in manufacturing, logistics and telecommunications, and demonstrate their speed through hardware acceleration.Read moreRead less
Numerical simulation of seismic waves in the regional and global earth with 3D Gaussian quadrature grids. The ability to realistically model the propagation of seismic waves through the global 3D earth, taking account of all internal and surface complexity, is extremely important for predicting the response to earthquakes and imaging the interior structure. This will lead to fundamental new knowledge on Earth constitution and heterogeneity, and will have spin-off benefits in others areas such as ....Numerical simulation of seismic waves in the regional and global earth with 3D Gaussian quadrature grids. The ability to realistically model the propagation of seismic waves through the global 3D earth, taking account of all internal and surface complexity, is extremely important for predicting the response to earthquakes and imaging the interior structure. This will lead to fundamental new knowledge on Earth constitution and heterogeneity, and will have spin-off benefits in others areas such as exploring for oil and minerals, and better understanding of seismic hazard. The numerical modelling and seismic data analysis will be done on a supercomputer, thus providing important training for research students. Read moreRead less
Statistical Analysis of Some Partially Observed Processes Arising in Ecological Research. The expected outcomes of this project are the provision of statistical methods to draw important information from samples from wild animal populations and the training of researchers to conduct high quality statistical ecological research. The national benefit lies on the availability of the developed techniques and researchers from this project to the society for finding better ways of managing Australia's ....Statistical Analysis of Some Partially Observed Processes Arising in Ecological Research. The expected outcomes of this project are the provision of statistical methods to draw important information from samples from wild animal populations and the training of researchers to conduct high quality statistical ecological research. The national benefit lies on the availability of the developed techniques and researchers from this project to the society for finding better ways of managing Australia's ecological systems and making Australia environmentally sustainable.Read moreRead less
Modelling the acoustical scattering properties of the human auditory system. The audio and entertainment industry is continually striving towards the development of immersive consumer technologies. Australian companies and researchers within this market sector utilise these audio technologies for many innovative applications, including virtual reality, communication, navigation, monitoring, and auditory products for the hearing impaired. These developments rely heavily on a fundamental understan ....Modelling the acoustical scattering properties of the human auditory system. The audio and entertainment industry is continually striving towards the development of immersive consumer technologies. Australian companies and researchers within this market sector utilise these audio technologies for many innovative applications, including virtual reality, communication, navigation, monitoring, and auditory products for the hearing impaired. These developments rely heavily on a fundamental understanding of our natural sense of spatial hearing. This project will extend the current understanding of the acoustic scattering mechanisms that govern the external auditory system, and provide critical enabling knowledge that will enhance the development of innovative audio technologies.Read moreRead less
Doing Bayesian Statistics Better: an Inter-Disciplinary Perspective for Improving Models, Priors, Design and Applications. Through improving methods for data analysis and design, this project increases the capability of individuals, communities and governments to make correct decisions based on data, leading to immeasurable human, social and financial benefits. It will also directly enhance Australia's international research reputation, promote inter-disciplinary links, promote research by wome ....Doing Bayesian Statistics Better: an Inter-Disciplinary Perspective for Improving Models, Priors, Design and Applications. Through improving methods for data analysis and design, this project increases the capability of individuals, communities and governments to make correct decisions based on data, leading to immeasurable human, social and financial benefits. It will also directly enhance Australia's international research reputation, promote inter-disciplinary links, promote research by women in a non-traditional area, keep intellectual property within Australia, train quality undergraduates and postgraduates, and contribute to public good through its focus on applications in key national priorities: health, environment and genetics. Read moreRead less
Material boundaries in ultrasonics: New methods and in vitro studies in biomedical phantoms. Ultrasound is an indispensable part of healthcare worldwide. The next wave of applications will see ultrasound pulses used to closely probe suspected disease sites and to directly manipulate bioactive agents. For safe and effective use of such techniques it is essential to know the ultrasound field at the disease site. This project will develop simulation methods to achieve the fast, accurate and case-sp ....Material boundaries in ultrasonics: New methods and in vitro studies in biomedical phantoms. Ultrasound is an indispensable part of healthcare worldwide. The next wave of applications will see ultrasound pulses used to closely probe suspected disease sites and to directly manipulate bioactive agents. For safe and effective use of such techniques it is essential to know the ultrasound field at the disease site. This project will develop simulation methods to achieve the fast, accurate and case-specific results required. Community healthcare will benefit, through better diagnostic capabilities and customized treatment. Australia is well placed to profit further from this research, in view of the growing worldwide demand for more sophisticated, knowledge-based techniques in medicine.Read moreRead less
The effect of vessel wall structures on ultrasonic flow velocity measurements. The flow velocity within a nearly cylindrical vessel is often measured using an external ultrasound transducer via the Doppler principle. Thick vessel walls may present acoustically mismatched structures. This project aims to determine how such walls redistribute the energy in an interrogating ultrasound beam, and how this in turn affects the measurement of flow velocities. This is a fundamental issue, especially imp ....The effect of vessel wall structures on ultrasonic flow velocity measurements. The flow velocity within a nearly cylindrical vessel is often measured using an external ultrasound transducer via the Doppler principle. Thick vessel walls may present acoustically mismatched structures. This project aims to determine how such walls redistribute the energy in an interrogating ultrasound beam, and how this in turn affects the measurement of flow velocities. This is a fundamental issue, especially important in vascular disease where blood flow and blood vessels are affected by wall irregularities and lesions. The new knowledge generated by this project will have practical importance and, by identifying achievable outcomes, potentially major cost savings, in medical ultrasound.Read moreRead less
Economical and practical design and analysis of probabilistic distributed systems. Complex computing systems composed of communicating processes are
distributed over networks, and interact with embedded hardware
components. They routinely operate in probabilistic environments:
hardware components fail randomly, but at known rates; and tactical
randomisation resolves competition for resources. Effective
specification, development and analysis methods for these systems
is crucial, and probab ....Economical and practical design and analysis of probabilistic distributed systems. Complex computing systems composed of communicating processes are
distributed over networks, and interact with embedded hardware
components. They routinely operate in probabilistic environments:
hardware components fail randomly, but at known rates; and tactical
randomisation resolves competition for resources. Effective
specification, development and analysis methods for these systems
is crucial, and probability makes that particularly difficult.
The focus of this project is to develop new formal methods that are
economical and practical in use. Exploiting our recent advances in
probabilistic program semantics, we will add probability in a new
way to proven techniques in concurrency theory, including
refinement and hierarchical design.Read moreRead less
Algebraic reasoning for serialisability in probabilistic transaction systems. The ability to analyse complex systems is a vital part of the development of large-scale computer applications; a method that improves the quality of the analysis task would increase the competitiveness of the software industry, would attract future development work (in complex and intelligent systems) to Australia, and could contribute to national security.
The results of this project will have a direct influence ....Algebraic reasoning for serialisability in probabilistic transaction systems. The ability to analyse complex systems is a vital part of the development of large-scale computer applications; a method that improves the quality of the analysis task would increase the competitiveness of the software industry, would attract future development work (in complex and intelligent systems) to Australia, and could contribute to national security.
The results of this project will have a direct influence on currently available design tools; the fact that Australian institutions will be responsible for key theoretical results in this growing field will strengthen Australia's position worldwide as an international centre for computer science.Read moreRead less
Hidden-state modelling for modular analysis of information flow, protection and risk evaluation. Automation is increasing explosively, and the cliche is no longer that there is a cpu chip in your washing machine, television or automobile. Nowadays they are potentially in our cash cards, passports and soon on every item in our shopping baskets. Australia is a leader in adopting and developing such technology.
Security and privacy, hard enough for PCs, thus concerns smaller, more numerous devi ....Hidden-state modelling for modular analysis of information flow, protection and risk evaluation. Automation is increasing explosively, and the cliche is no longer that there is a cpu chip in your washing machine, television or automobile. Nowadays they are potentially in our cash cards, passports and soon on every item in our shopping baskets. Australia is a leader in adopting and developing such technology.
Security and privacy, hard enough for PCs, thus concerns smaller, more numerous devices that we might not even realise we are using.
Our research aims to make it easier and more effective to describe and then successfully build-in features that enforce security without adverse impact on usability.Read moreRead less