12255146
On robust transaction routing and load sharing
In this paper we examine the issue of robust transaction routing in a locally distributed database environment where transaction characteristics such as reference locality imply that certain processing systems can be identified as being more suitable than others for a given transaction class. A response time based routing strategy can strike a balance between indiscriminate sharing of the load and routing based only on transaction affinity. Since response time estimates depend on workload and system parameters that may not be readily available, it is important to examine the robustness of routing decisions to information accuracy. We find that a strategy which strictly tries to minimize the response time of incoming transactions is sensitive to the accuracy of certain parameter values. On the other hand, naive strategies, that simply ignore the parameters in making routing decisions, have even worse performance. Three alternative strategies are therefore examined: threshold, discriminatory, and adaptive. Instead of just optimizing an incoming transaction's response time, the first two strategies pursue a strategy that is somewhat more oriented towards global optimization. This is achieved by being more restrictive on either the condition or the candidate for balancing the load. The third strategy, while trying to minimize the response time of individual incoming transactions, employs a feedback process to adaptively adjust future response time estimates. It monitors the discrepancy between the actual and estimated response times and introduces a correction factor based on regression analysis. All three strategies are shown to be robust with respect to the accuracy of workload and system parameters used in the response time estimation.
30590203
Efficient State-Saving Architectures for Power-Mode Switching
Time and energy is expended in switching between power modes (e.g., active, hibernate, sleep, etc.). Powering off cache is one major reason for this. When there is a switch in the power-mode involving cache power-off, the system spends time and energy in filling the cache with new data (inherent cache misses). In our technique, before powering off the cache, we save its state in Embedded DRAM and bring it back when the previous power mode is restored. Our experiments have showed that in a majority of cases the cache contents are too valuable to be erased. By saving the contents we can reduce switching speed and energy. We present a heuristic to save the most relevant cache contents so that power and delay overheads are minimized. To measure the area overhead a synthesizable VHDL model was designed.
31591898
Scanning the issue - special issue on real-time systems
10753893
Evaluation of Error Recovery Blocks Used for Cooperating Processes
Three alternatives for implementing recovery blocks (RB's) are conceivable for backward error recovery in concurrent processing. These are the asynchronous, synchronous, and the pseudorecovery point implementations. Asynchronous RB's are based on the concept of maximum autonomy in each of concurrent processes. Consequently, establishment of RB's in a process is made independently of others and unbounded rollback propagations become a serious problem. In order to completely avoid unbounded rollback propagations, it is necessary to synchronize the establishment of recovery blocks in all cooperating processes. Process autonomy is sacrificed and processes are forced to wait for commitments from others to establish a recovery line, leading to inefficiency in time utilization. As a compromise between asynchronous and synchronous RB's we propose to insert pseudorecovery points (PRP's) so that unbounded rollback propagations may be avoided while maintaining process autonomy. We developed probabilistic models for analyzing these three methods under standard assumptions in computer performance analysis, i.e., exponential distributions for related random variables. With these models we have estimated 1) the interval between two successive recovery lines for asynchronous RB's, 2) mean loss in computation power for the synchronized method, and 3) additional overhead and rollback distance in case PRP's are used.
920212
Resource scheduling in dependable integrated modular avionics
In the recent development of avionics systems, integrated modular avionics (IMA) is advocated for next generation architecture that needs integration of mixed criticality real-time applications. These integrated applications meet their own timing constraints while sharing avionics computer resources. To guarantee timing constraints and dependability of each application, an IMA-based system is equipped with the schemes for spatial and temporal partitioning. We refer the model as SP-RTS (strongly partitioned real-time system), which deals with processor partitions and communication channels as its basic scheduling entities. This paper presents a partition and channel-scheduling algorithm for the SP-RTS. The basic idea of the algorithm is to use a two-level hierarchical schedule that activates partitions (or channels) following a distance-constraints guaranteed cyclic schedule and then dispatches tasks (or messages) according to a fixed priority schedule. To enhance schedulability, we devised heuristic algorithms for deadline decomposition and channel combining. The simulation results show the schedulability analysis of the two-level scheduling algorithm and the beneficial characteristics of the proposed deadline decomposition and channel combining algorithms.
40618061
Transaction Recovery in Distributed DB/DC Systems: A Progressive Approach
625918
Part-Based Local Shape Models for Colon Polyp Detection
This paper presents a model-based technique for lesion detection in colon CT scans that uses analytical shape models to map the local shape curvature at individual voxels to anatomical labels. Local intensity profiles and curvature information have been previously used for discriminating between simple geometric shapes such as spherical and cylindrical structures. This paper introduces novel analytical shape models for colon-specific anatomy, viz. folds and polyps, built by combining parts with simpler geometric shapes. The models better approximate the actual shapes of relevant anatomical structures while allowing the application of model-based analysis on the simpler model parts. All parameters are derived from the analytical models, resulting in a simple voxel labeling scheme for classifying individual voxels in a CT volume. The algorithm's performance is evaluated against expert-determined ground truth on a database of 42 scans and performance is quantified by free-response receiver-operator curves.
9836575
Optimal production-distribution planning in supply chain management using a hybrid simulation-analytic approach
Production-distribution planning is the most important activity in supply chain management (SCM). To solve this planning problem, either analytic or simulation approaches have been used. However these two approaches have their own demerits in problem solving. We propose a hybrid approach which is a specific problem solving procedure combining analytic and simulation methods to solve production-distribution problems in supply chains. The machine capacity and distribution capacity constraints in the analytic model are considered as stochastic factors and are adjusted by the proposed specific process according to the results from an independently developed simulation model which includes general production-distribution characteristics.
13362734
FINDIT: a fast and intelligent subspace clustering algorithm using dimension voting
Abstract The aim of this paper is to present a novel subspace clustering method named FINDIT. Clustering is the process of finding interesting patterns residing in the dataset by grouping similar data objects from dissimilar ones based on their dimensional values. Subspace clustering is a new area of clustering which achieves the clustering goal in high dimension by allowing clusters to be formed with their own correlated dimensions. In subspace clustering, selecting correct dimensions is very important because the distance between points is easily changed according to the selected dimensions. However, to select dimensions correctly is difficult, because data grouping and dimension selecting should be performed simultaneously. FINDIT determines the correlated dimensions for each cluster based on two key ideas: dimension-oriented distance measure which fully utilizes dimensional difference information, and dimension voting policy which determines important dimensions in a probabilistic way based on V nearest neighbors' information. Through various experiments on synthetic data, FINDIT is shown to be very successful in the high dimensional clustering problem. FINDIT satisfies most requirements for good clustering methods such as accuracy of results, robustness to the noise and the cluster density, and scalability to the dataset size and the dimensionality. Moreover, it is gracefully scalable to full dimension without any modification to algorithm.
5304492
Design specifications of a generic supply chain simulator
This paper describes a design specification for a generic, supply-chain-simulation system. The proposed simulation system is based on schedule-driven and stock-driven control methods to support the supply chain management. The simulation system includes three processing modes: business process flows, material process flows, and information process flows. The paper also discusses interface data requirements for the proposed supply-chain-simulation system.
18483923
Network selection and discovery of service information in public WLAN hotspots
In a public WLAN hotspot, a roaming mobile terminal (MT) may be within radio range of more than one access point (AP), each of which may or may not have roaming agreements with the service provider of the user of the MT. In this case, the MT may need to discover some <i>service information</i> before it can make an intelligent <i>network-selection</i> decision. The most critical is <i>roaming information</i>; while other information such as <i>security policies</i>, <i>price</i>, <i>AP workload</i> may also be useful. Currently, roaming information is typically provisioned on the MTs as static <i>roaming tables</i> or <i>roaming lists</i>. However, this approach may not scale well when there are millions of hotspots globally. Addressing this shortcoming, recently several solutions have been proposed by different groups. In this paper, we contrast these solutions, and propose our own solution called <i>Roaming Information Code (RIC)</i>, which can be transported as SSID or a new Information Element of the 802.11 standard. RIC is scalable and can be fully backward compatible with existing APs (if transported as SSID). Furthermore, it does not hinder fast handoffs. In the second half of the paper, we will also discuss two other schemes addressing the other service information: a scheme called <i>RIC-VAP</i> for provider-specific security information; and a scheme that allows an AP to announce price and workload information.