A multiprocessor working as a Fault-Tolerant cellular automaton

A memory-coupled multiprocessor—well suited to bit-wise operation—can be utilized to operate as a 1024 items cellular processing unit. Each processor is working on 32 bits and 32 such processors are combined to a multiprocessor. The information is stored in vertical direction, as it is defined and described in earlier papers [1] on vertical processing. The two-dimensional array (32 times 32 bits) is composed of the 32 bit-machine-words of the coupled processors on the one hand and of 32 processors in nearest-neighbour-topology on the other hand. The bit-wise cellular operation at one of the 1024 points is realized by the program of the processor—possibly assisted by appropriate microprogam sequences.Dedicated to Professor Willard L. Miranker on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Optimal multilayer channel routing with overlap

This paper presents algorithms for multiterminal net channel routing where multiple interconnect layers are available. Major improvements are possible if wires are able to overlap, and our generalized main algorithm allows overlap, but only on everyKth (K 2) layer. Our algorithm will, for a problem with densityd onL layers,L K + 3,provably use at most three tracks more than optimal: (d + 1)/L/K + 2 tracks, compared with the lower bound of d/L/K. Our algorithm is simple, has few vias, tends to minimize wire length, and could be used if different layers have different grid sizes. Finally, we extend our algorithm in order to obtain improved results for adjacent (K = 1) overlap: (d + 2)/2L/3 + 5 forL 7.This work was supported by the Semiconductor Research Corporation under Contract 83-01-035, by a grant from the General Electric Corporation, and by a grant at the University of the Saarland.     

Interpretations of open default theories in non-monotonic logics

It is shown that the translation of an open default into a modal formula x(L(x)LM ₁ (x)...LM _m (x)w(x)) gives rise to an embedding of open default systems into non-monotonic logics.     

Indecomposable local maps of tessellation automata

Indecomposable local maps of one-dimensional tessellation automata are studied. The main results of this paper are the following. (1) For any alphabet containing two or more symbols and for anyn 1, there exist indecomposable scope-n local maps over . (2) If is a finite field of prime order, then a linear scope-n local map over is indecomposable if and only if its associated polynomial is an irreducible polynomial of degreen – 1 over , except for a trivial case. (3) Result (2) is no longer true if is a finite field whose order is not prime.     

Soft computing in engineering design: a hybrid dual cross-mapping neural network model

Contemporary design process requires the development of a new computational intelligence or soft computing methodology that involves intelligence integration and hybrid intelligent systems for design, analysis and evaluation, and optimization. This paper first presents a discussion of the need to incorporate intelligence into an automated design process and the various constraints that designers face when embarking on industrial design projects. Then, it presents the design problem as optimizing the design output against constraints and the use of soft computing and hybrid intelligent systems techniques. In this paper, a soft-computing-integrated intelligent design framework is developed. A hybrid dual cross-mapping neural network (HDCMNN) model is proposed using the hybrid soft computing technique based on cross-mapping between a back-propagation network (BPNN) and a recurrent Hopfield network (HNN) for supporting modeling, analysis and evaluation, and optimization tasks in the design process. The two networks perform different but complementary tasks—the BPNN decides if the design problem is a type 0 (rational) or type 1 (non-rational) problem, and the output layer weights are then used as the energy function for the HNN. The BPNN is used for representing design patterns, training classification boundaries, and outputting network weight values to the HNN, and then the HNN uses the calculated network weight values to evaluate and modify or re-design the design patterns. The developed system provides a unified soft-computing-integrated intelligent design framework with both symbolic and computational intelligence. The system has self-modifying and self-learning functions. Within the system, only one network training is needed for accomplishing the evaluation, rectification/modification, and optimization tasks in the design process. Finally, two case studies are provided to illustrate and validate the developed model and system.     

On generators and generative capacity of EOL forms

Summary In this paper we study the generative capacity of EOL forms from two different points of view. On the one hand, we consider the generative capacity of special EOL forms which one could call linear like and context free like, establishing the existence of a rich variety of non-regular sub-EOL language families. On the other hand, we propose the notion of a generator L of a language family We mean by this that any synchronized EOL system generating L generates — if understood as an EOL form — all languages of . We characterize the generators of the family of regular languages, and prove that other well known language families do not have generators.Partially supported under NSE Research Council of Canada, grant No. A-7700     

Information and pragmatic value-adding: Language games and information science

This paper discusses terms which are of mutual importance to the fields of information science and computer science. Specifically we discuss the notions of information and knowledge: their interrelationships as well as their differences, and the concept of value-adding. Concrete examples are used in the discussion.Rainer Kuhlen is professor of Information Science at the University of Konstanz.     

CLSS: An Intelligent Crane Lorry Scheduling System

Companies that provide crane-lorry services are faced with the daily need to perform vehicle and driver allocation and scheduling. Many companies still do this manually due to the lack of suitable technologies. This manual approach is both time consuming and inaccurate and most probably will not lead to an optimized plan that can reduce operational costs. In this paper, we describe the design of a system called Crane Lorry Scheduling System (CLSS) that we have developed for the largest crane lorry company in Hong Kong. A crane lorry company is a company that provides lorries with different types of mounted crane equipment and drivers to service different types of moving and lifting jobs. CLSS is a Web-based application that streamlines communication with customers, subcontractors and employees/lorry drivers. We modeled the lorry-assignment problem as a constraint-satisfaction problem (CSP) algorithm, which we call the Crane Lorry Optimizing Engine (CLOE). CLOE was designed to be easily customizable to match the needs and requirements of different crane lorry companies. We experimented with two versions of CLOE, regular CLOE that finds best solutions and X-CLOE that finds optimal solutions. Results from our tests show that CLOE is faster and generates better quality plans than the manual approach.     

Constraint Propagation and Decomposition Techniques for Highly Disjunctive and Highly Cumulative Project Scheduling Problems

In recent years, constraint satisfaction techniques have been successfully applied to disjunctive scheduling problems, i.e., scheduling problems where each resource can execute at most one activity at a time. Less significant and less generally applicable results have been obtained in the area of cumulative scheduling. Multiple constraint propagation algorithms have been developed for cumulative resources but they tend to be less uniformly effective than their disjunctive counterparts. Different problems in the cumulative scheduling class seem to have different characteristics that make them either easy or hard to solve with a given technique. The aim of this paper is to investigate one particular dimension along which problems differ. Within the cumulative scheduling class, we distinguish between highly disjunctive and highly cumulative problems: a problem is highly disjunctive when many pairs of activities cannot execute in parallel, e.g., because many activities require more than half of the capacity of a resource; on the contrary, a problem is highly cumulative if many activities can effectively execute in parallel. New constraint propagation and problem decomposition techniques are introduced with this distinction in mind. This includes an O(n²) edge-finding algorithm for cumulative resources (where n is the number of activities requiring the same resource) and a problem decomposition scheme which applies well to highly disjunctive project scheduling problems. Experimental results confirm that the impact of these techniques varies from highly disjunctive to highly cumulative problems. In the end, we also propose a refined version of the edge-finding algorithm for cumulative resources which, despite its worst case complexity in O(n³) , performs very well on highly cumulative instances.     

Real-time Collision-free Path Planning of Robot Manipulators using Neural Network Approaches

In this paper, a novel neural network approach to real-time collision-free path planning of robot manipulators in a nonstationary environment is proposed, which is based on a biologically inspired neural network model for dynamic trajectory generation of a point mobile robot. The state space of the proposed neural network is the joint space of the robot manipulators, where the dynamics of each neuron is characterized by a shunting equation or an additive equation. The real-time robot path is planned through the varying neural activity landscape that represents the dynamic environment. The proposed model for robot path planning with safety consideration is capable of planning a real-time comfortable path without suffering from the too close nor too far problems. The model algorithm is computationally efficient. The computational complexity is linearly dependent on the neural network size. The effectiveness and efficiency are demonstrated through simulation studies.     

The Objective Conception of Context and Its Logic

In this paper, an objective conception of contexts based loosely upon situation theory is developed and formalized. Unlike subjective conceptions, which take contexts to be something like sets of beliefs, contexts on the objective conception are taken to be complex, structured pieces of the world that (in general) contain individuals, other contexts, and propositions about them. An extended first-order language for this account is developed. The language contains complex terms for propositions, and the standard predicate ist that expresses the relation that holds between a context and a proposition just in case the latter is true in the former. The logic for the objective conception features a global classical predicate calculus, a local logic for reasoning within contexts, and axioms for propositions. The specter of paradox is banished from the logic by allowing ist to be nonbivalent in problematic cases: it is not in general the case, for any context c and proposition p, that either ist(c,p) or ist(c, ¬ p). An important representational capability of the logic is illustrated by proving an appropriately modified version of an illustrative theorem from McCarthy's classic Blocks World example.     

From Conditional Events to Conditional Measures: A New Axiomatic Approach

Our starting point is a definition of conditional event EH which differs from many seemingly similar ones adopted in the relevant literature since 1935, starting with de Finetti. In fact, if we do not assign the same third value u (undetermined) to all conditional events, but make it depend on EH, it turns out that this function t(EH) can be taken as a general conditional uncertainty measure, and we get (through a suitable – in a sense, compulsory – choice of the relevant operations among conditional events) the natural axioms for many different (besides probability) conditional measures.     

Enumeration of Optimal Ternary Constant-Composition Codes

The problem of classification of optimal ternary constant-composition codes is considered. Using a combinatorial-computer method, the number of inequivalent codes is determined for 3 d n 10.     

Reaping the whirlwind: Reply to Harnad's “other bodies,other minds”

Harnad's proposed robotic upgrade of Turing's Test (TT), from a test of linguistic capacity alone to a Total Turing Test (TTT) of linguisticand sensorimotor capacity, conflicts with his claim that no behavioral test provides even probable warrant for attributions of thought because there is no evidence of consciousness besides private experience. Intuitive, scientific, and philosophical considerations Harnad offers in favor of his proposed upgrade are unconvincing. I agree with Harnad that distinguishing real from as if thought on the basis of (presence or lack of) consciousness (thus rejecting Turing (behavioral) testing as sufficient warrant for mental attribution)has the skeptical consequence Harnad accepts — there is in factno evidence for me that anyone else but me has a mind. I disagree with hisacceptance of it! It would be better to give up the neo-Cartesian faith in private conscious experience underlying Harnad's allegiance to Searle's controversial Chinese Room Experiment than give up all claim to know others think. It would be better to allow that (passing) Turing's Test evidences — evenstrongly evidences — thought.     

Axiomatic approach to total correctness of programs

Summary We present here an axiomatic approach which enables one to prove by formal methods that his program is totally correct (i.e., it terminates and is logically correct—does what it is supposed to do). The approach is similar to Hoare's approach [3] for proving that a program is partially correct (i.e., that whenever it terminates it produces correct results). Our extension to Hoare's method lies in the possibility of proving both correctness and termination by one unified formalism. One can choose to prove total correctness by a single step, or by incremental proof steps, each step establishing more properties of the program.     

Automated Deduction Techniques for the Management of Personalized Documents

This work is about a real-world application of automated deduction. The application is the management of documents (such as mathematical textbooks) as they occur in a readily available tool. In this Slicing Information Technology tool, documents are decomposed (sliced) into small units. A particular application task is to assemble a new document from such units in a selective way, based on the user's current interest and knowledge. It is argued that this task can be naturally expressed through logic, and that automated deduction technology can be exploited for solving it. More precisely, we rely on first-order clausal logic with some default negation principle, and we propose a model computation theorem prover as a suitable deduction mechanism. Beyond solving the task at hand as such, with this work we contribute to the quest for arguments in favor of automated deduction techniques in the real world. Also, we argue why we think that automated deduction techniques are the best choice here.     

Prediction Markets as Decision Support Systems

Valuations from prediction markets reveal expectations about the likelihood of events. Conditional prediction markets reveal expectations conditional on other events occurring. For example, in 1996, the Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) ran markets to predict the chances that different candidates would become the Republican Presidential nominee. Other concurrent IEM markets predicted the vote shares that each party would receive conditional on the Republican nominee chosen. Here, using these markets as examples, we show how such markets could be used for decision support. In this example, Republicans could have inferred that Dole was a weak candidate and that his nomination would result in a Clinton victory. This is only one example of the widespread potential for using specific decision support markets.     

Transformation of programs for fault-tolerance

In this paper we describe how a program constructed for afault-free system can be transformed into afault-tolerant program for execution on a system which is susceptible to failures. A program is described by a set of atomic actions which perform transformations from states to states. We assume that a fault environment is represented by a programF. Interference by the fault environmentF on the execution of a programP can then be described as afault-transformation which transformsP into a program (P). This is proved to be equivalent to the programPP _F , whereP _F is derived fromP andF, and defines the union of the sets of actions ofP andF _P . A recovery transformation transformsP into a program (P) =PR by adding a set ofrecovery actions R, called arecovery program. If the system isfailstop and faults do not affect recovery actions, we have ((P))=(P)R=PP _F R We illustrate this approach to fault-tolerant programming by considering the problem of designing a protocol that guarantees reliable communication from a sender to a receiver in spite of faults in the communication channel between them.     

Did Frege Believe Frege's Principle?

In this essay I will consider two theses that are associated with Frege,and will investigate the extent to which Frege really believed them.Much of what I have to say will come as no surprise to scholars of thehistorical Frege. But Frege is not only a historical figure; he alsooccupies a site on the philosophical landscape that has allowed hisdoctrines to seep into the subconscious water table. And scholars in a widevariety of different scholarly establishments then sip from thesedoctrines. I believe that some Frege-interested philosophers at various ofthese establishments might find my conclusions surprising.Some of these philosophical establishments have arisen from an educationalmilieu in which Frege is associated with some specific doctrine at theexpense of not even being aware of other milieux where other specificdoctrines are given sole prominence. The two theses which I will discussillustrate this point. Each of them is called Frege's Principle, but byphilosophers from different milieux. By calling them milieux I do not want to convey the idea that they are each located at some specificsocio-politico-geographico-temporal location. Rather, it is a matter oftheir each being located at different places on the intellectuallandscape. For this reason one might (and I sometimes will) call them(interpretative) traditions.     

Geometrical Method of Scheduling in Project Management

Consideration was given to scheduling by the criterion for uniform use of resources. It was assumed that each job is executed by a unit resource. Two types of inter-job dependences were studied: finish–finish (one job cannot be completed until the other is completed) and finish–start (one job cannot be started until the other is not completed). To solve the problem, a geometrical method reducing solution to determining the shortest trajectory in a domain constructed from the network graph was proposed.