Trends of anti-analysis operations of malwares observed in API call logs

Some malwares execute operations that determine whether they are running in an analysis environment created by monitoring software, such as debuggers, sandboxing systems, or virtual machine monitors, and if such an operation finds that the malware is running in an analysis environment, it terminates execution to prevent analysis. The existence of malwares that execute such operations (anti-analysis operations) is widely known. However, the knowledge acquired thus far, regarding what proportion of current malwares execute anti-analysis operations, what types of anti-analysis operations they execute, and how effectively such operations prevent analysis, is insufficient. In this study, we analyze FFRI Dataset, which is a dataset of dynamic malware analysis results, and clarify the trends in the anti-analysis operations executed by malware samples collected in 2016. Our findings revealed that, among 8243 malware samples, 856 (10.4%) samples executed at least one type of the 28 anti-analysis operations investigated in this study. We also found that, among the virtual machine monitors, VMware was the most commonly searched for by the malware samples.     

Bicriteria robotic operation allocation in a flexible manufacturing cell

Consider a manufacturing cell of two identical CNC machines and a material handling robot. Identical parts requesting the completion of a number of operations are to be produced in a cyclic scheduling environment through a flow shop type setting. The existing studies in the literature overlook the flexibility of the CNC machines by assuming that both the allocation of the operations to the machines as well as their respective processing times are fixed. Consequently, the provided results may be either suboptimal or valid under unnecessarily limiting assumptions for a flexible manufacturing cell. The allocations of the operations to the two machines and the processing time of an operation on a machine can be changed by altering the machining conditions of that machine such as the speed and the feed rate in a CNC turning machine. Such flexibilities constitute the point of origin of the current study. The allocation of the operations to the machines and the machining conditions of the machines affect the processing times which, in turn, affect the cycle time. On the other hand, the machining conditions also affect the manufacturing cost. This study is the first to consider a bicriteria model which determines the allocation of the operations to the machines, the processing times of the operations on the machines, and the robot move sequence that jointly minimize the cycle time and the total manufacturing cost. We provide algorithms for the two 1-unit cycles and test their efficiency in terms of the solution quality and the computation time by a wide range of experiments on varying design parameters.     

考虑设备随机故障的装备维修作业调度方法

装备维修过程中,维修设备随机故障这一不确定因素易对正常的维修计划造成影响。为了优化制定维修设备随机故障条件下的维修作业调度决策方案,依据维修设备的故障特点,提出一种基于组合调度策略的维修作业调度方法。调度方法兼顾完成时间与鲁棒性两方面目标,通过调度优化模型生成调度决策方案,并采用一种组合调度策略进行方案调整以改善决策方案的鲁棒性。通过随机故障事件模拟实验与分析,验证了调度方法能有效地减少设备随机故障造成的工序延误。     

Invariance properties of RAMS and linear time

An operation on integers isLTTC if it is computable in linear time on a Turing machine (using the dyadic or binary representation of integers). AnLTTC-RAM (respectivelyI-RAM) is a RAM which only uses LTTC operations (respectively operations in the setI).The address-free time complexity measure of a RAM evaluates execution times using the logarithmic cost criterion but assumes that addressing operations are performed for free.     

考虑机器速度的低碳柔性作业车间调度问题研究

根据具有低碳需求的制造企业的实际情况,建立了考虑机器速度的低碳柔性作业车间调度问题模型,该模型考虑机器加工速度,增加了工件的装夹和卸载时间及机器在不同状态下的碳排放参数,使问题更具现实性。为了实现低碳生产的目标,本文在实现最大完工时间最小的前提下提出了一种非关键工序调整法,通过对非关键工序的调整,降低机器的总碳排放量,提高机器利用率。最后通过求解实际案例,实验结果证实模型的可行性和非关键工序调整法的有效性。     

可动态生成具有优先级工序集的动态Job-Shop调度算法

为了在满足约束条件的前提下使不同时刻加入到作业集合中的全部作业所用的加工总时间尽可能地少,提出算法:根据动态的作业集合构造虚拟加工树,虚拟加工树上的叶结点代表最先加工的工序,虚拟根节点代表最后一道工序,边代表偏序关系;以层优先为虚拟加工树上的工序设置优先级,工序的优先级可作为调度过程中考虑的一个因素;除了在工序需要动态调整的情况下,在调度过程中始终遵循着机器忙原则.在调度过程中,首先根据虚拟加工树动态地生成备选工序集合,然后根据工序的优先级并且结合其它的调度策略从备选集合中调度工序,直到备选集合为空,即所有作业加工完毕.这里提到的调度策略包括短用时策略、长路径策略和动态调整策略.通过实例验证,该算法对于动态Job-Shop问题可以获得比较好的解.     

Dynamic scheduling in flexible assembly system based on timed Petri nets model

This paper investigates a scheduling model for optimal production sequencing in a flexible assembly system. The system features a set of machines working together in the same workspace, with each machine performing a subset of operations. Three constraints are considered: (1) the precedence relation among the operations specified by the assembly tree; (2) working space that limits concurrent operations; and (3) the variation of process time. The objective is to find both a feasible assignment of operations to machines and schedule tasks in order to minimize the completion time for a single product or a batch of products. The assembly process is modeled using timed Petri nets and task scheduling is solved with a dynamic programming algorithm. The method calculates the time required precisely. A detailed case study is discussed to show the effectiveness of the model and algorithm.     

Minimizing the makespan on a batch machine with non-identical job sizes: an exact procedure

A batch processing machine can simultaneously process several jobs forming a batch. This paper considers the problem of scheduling jobs with non-identical capacity requirements, on a single-batch processing machine of a given capacity, to minimize the makespan. The processing time of a batch is equal to the largest processing time of any job in the batch. We present some dominance properties for a general enumeration scheme and for the makespan criterion, and provide a branch and bound method. For large-scale problems, we use this enumeration scheme as a heuristic method.Scope and purposeUsually in classical scheduling problems, a machine can perform only one job at a time. Although, one can find machines that can process several jobs simultaneously as a batch. All jobs of a same batch have common starting and ending times. Batch processing machines are encountered in many different environments, such as burn-in operations in semiconductor industries or heat treatment operations in metalworking industries. In the first case, the capacity of the machine is defined by the number of jobs it can hold. In the second case, each job has a certain capacity requirement and the total size of a batch cannot exceed the capacity of the machine. Hence, the number of jobs contained in each batch may be different. In this paper, we consider this second case (which is more difficult) and we provide an exact method for the makespan criterion (minimizing the last ending time).     

Parallel processing approaches to edge relaxation

This paper describes several parallel algorithms for image edge relaxation on array processors with different numbers of processing elements (PEs) connected by a mesh or hypercube network. The time complexity of Prager's original edge relaxation scheme is O(N²) per iteration using floating-point operations on a sequential machine, where N² is the number of pixels in the image. Modifications to the scheme are made so that no multiplications are employed and only integer operations are required. Moreover, with parallel processing, the time complexity per iteration is reduced to some constant value. A time complexity analysis on two parallel algorithms is performed. Although the algorithm on an array processor with 4N² PEs achieved higher degree of parallelism, the algorithm with N² PEs is preferred. Further modifications on the latter algorithm are made to accommodate to fewer PEs.     

Quick compilers using peephole optimization

Abstract machine modelling is a popular technique for developing portable compilers. A compiler can be quickly realized by translating the abstract machine operations to target machine operations. The problem with these compilers is that they trade execution efficiency for portability. Typically, the code emitted by these compilers runs two to three times slower than the code generated by compilers that employ sophisticated code generators. This paper describes a C compiler that uses abstract machine modelling to achieve portability. The emitted target machine code is improved by a simple, classical rule-directed peephole optimizer. Our experiments with this compiler on four machines show that a small number of very general handwritten patterns (under 40) yields code that is comparable to the code from compilers that use more sophisticated code generators. As an added bonus, compilation time on some machines is reduced by 10 to 20 per cent.     

Software-based tool path evaluation for environmental sustainability

Currently available life cycle assessment (LCA) tools provide only a rough estimation of the environmental impact of different manufacturing operations (e.g. energy consumption). To address this limitation, a web-based and application programming interface (API) based process analysis software tools were developed to estimate the energy consumption of a computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine tool operation and to evaluate its environmental impact as a first step towards sustainable manufacturing analysis. Acceleration/deceleration of machine tool axes and the direction of axes movement were considered to estimate the total energy demand and processing time of the machine tool operation. Several tool path generation schemes were tested to analyze the energy consumption and resulting green house gas emission of CNC machine tool operation. It showed that tool path generation schemes affect the amount of energy and the processing time required to machine the same part, and location of the machining resulted in different amount and characteristics of green house gas emission.     

Drilling reconfigurable machine tool selection and process parameters optimization as a function of product demand

Special purpose machines (SPMs) are customized machine tools that perform specific machining operations in a variety of production contexts, including drilling-related operations. This research investigates the effect of optimal process parameters and SPM configuration on the machine tool selection problem versus product demand changes. A review of previous studies suggests that the application of optimization in the feasibility analysis stage of machine tool selection has received less attention by researchers. In this study, a simulated model using genetic algorithm is proposed to find the optimal process parameters and machine tool configuration. During the decision-making phase of machine tool selection, unit profit is targeted as high as possible and is given by the value of the following variables: SPM configuration selection, machining unit assignment to each operation group, and feed and cutting speed of all operations. The newly developed model generates any random chromosome characterized by feasible values for process parameters. Having shown how the problem is formulated, the research presents a case study which exemplifies the operation of the proposed model. The results show that the optimization results can provide critical information for making logical, accurate, and reliable decisions when selecting SPMs.     

Application of genetic algorithm to computer-aided process planning in preliminary and detailed planning

Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) is an important interface between computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) in the computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) environment. A good process plan of a part is built up based on two elements: (1) optimized sequence of the operations of the part; and (2) optimized selection of the machine, cutting tool and tool access direction (TAD) for each operation. On the other hand, two levels of planning in the process planning is suggested: (1) preliminary and (2) secondary and detailed planning. In this paper for the preliminary stage, the feasible sequences of operations are generated based on the analysis of constraints and using a genetic algorithm (GA). Then in the detailed planning stage, using a genetic algorithm again which prunes the initial feasible sequences, the optimized operations sequence and the optimized selection of the machine, cutting tool, and TAD for each operation are obtained. By applying the proposed GA in two levels of planning, the CAPP system can generate optimal or near-optimal process plans based on a selected criterion. A number of case studies are carried out to demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of the proposed algorithm. This algorithm performs well on all the test problems, exceeding or matching the solution quality of the results reported in the literature for most problems. The main contribution of this work is to emerge the preliminary and detailed planning, implementation of compulsive and additive constraints, optimization sequence of the operations of the part, and optimization selection of machine, cutting tool and TAD for each operation using the proposed GA, simultaneously.     

Job-shop scheduling in a body shop

We study a generalized job-shop problem called the body shop scheduling problem (BSSP). This problem arises from the industrial application of welding in a car body production line, where possible collisions between industrial robots have to be taken into account. BSSP corresponds to a job-shop problem where the operations of a job have to follow alternating routes on the machines, certain operations of different jobs are not allowed to be processed at the same time and after processing an operation of a certain job a machine might be unavailable for a given time for operations of other jobs. As main results we will show that for three jobs and four machines the special case where only one machine is used by more than one job is already $\mathcal NP $ -hard. This also implies that the single machine scheduling problem that asks for a makespan minimal schedule of three chains of operations with delays between the operations of a chain is $\mathcal NP $ -hard. On the positive side, we present a polynomial algorithm for the two job case and a pseudo-polynomial algorithm together with an FPTAS  for an arbitrary but constant number of jobs. Hence for a constant number of jobs we fully settle the complexity status of the problem.     

PIPE (Pipelined Image-Processing Engine)

The Sensory-Interactive Robotics Group of the National Bureau of Standards' Industrial Systems Division is designing and constructing an experimental multistage pipelined image-processing device for research in machine vision. The device can acquire images from a variety of sources, such as analog or digital television cameras, ranging devices, and conformal mapping arrays. It can process sequences of images in real time, through a serial pipeline of local operations, under the control of an external device. Its output can be presented to such devices as monitors, robot vision systems, iconic-to-symbolic mapping devices, and image-processing computers. In addition to a forward flow of images through successive stages of operations in the pipeline, other paths between the stages of the device permit recursive operations within a single stage, and feedback of the results of operations from a stage to the preceding stage. This architecture facilitates a variety of relaxation operations, interactions of images over time, and other interesting functions. Numerous operations are supported, including arithmetic and Boolean neighborhood operations on images within each stage, and between-stage operations on each pixel such as thresholding, Boolean and arithmetic operations, functional mappings, and a variety of functions for combining pixel data converging via the multiple image paths. The device can also be used to implement several alternative processing modes. Some operate within each stage, for example, to control edge effects or to implement “MIMD” operations specific to regions of interest defined by the host device. Others operate between stages, for example, to support variable-resolution pyramids.     

On the Complexity of Non-preemptive Shop Scheduling with Two Jobs

In this note, we investigate the time complexity of non-preemptive shop scheduling problems with two jobs. First we study mixed shop scheduling where one job has a fixed order of operations and the operations of the other job may be executed in arbitrary order. This problem is shown to be binary NP-complete with respect to all traditional optimality criteria even if distinct operations of the same job require different machines. Moreover, we devise a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm which solves the problem with respect to all non-decreasing objective functions. Finally, when the job with fixed order of operations may visit a machine more than once, the problem becomes unary NP-complete. Then we discuss shop scheduling with two jobs having chain-like routings. It is shown that the problem is unary NP-complete with respect to all traditional optimality criteria even if one of the jobs has fixed order of operations and the jobs cannot visit a machine twice. Received July 28, 2001; revised May 15, 2002 Published online: July 26, 2002     

Analysis of assembly operations difficulty: a fuzzy expert system approach

Typical mechanical products can be assembled in various sequences of assembly operations. These sequences have high impact on the assembly time, machine utilization and even on the product quality. In order to select the best sequence of assembly operations, proper evaluation of the various sequences of assembly operations is required. This, in turn, requires the consistent evaluation of each assembly operation in the sequence. The assembly operations can be evaluated for various criteria, of which the operation difficulty is the most meaningful. This paper describes a methodology to analyse the assembly operations and calculates an operation's degree of difficulty using an expert system. This analysis consists of two steps: the first one identifies the main parameters that affect the assembly difficulty and assigns fuzzy triangular values to these parameters. The second step assigns weights to the parameters in order to maximize the agreement with a domain expert. The expert system analyses the difficulty of the assembly operation performed in two orientations: horizontal and vertical. The expert system then assigns a triangular fuzzy number as the aggregate measure of the operation's difficulty.     

基于蚁群粒子群算法求解多目标柔性调度问题

通过分析多目标柔性作业车间调度问题中各目标的相互关系,提出一种主、从递阶结构的蚁群粒子群求解算法。算法中,主级为蚁群算法,在选择工件加工路径过程中实现设备总负荷和关键设备负荷最小化的目标;从级为粒子群算法,在主级工艺路径约束下的设备排产中实现工件流通时间最小化的目标。然后,以设备负荷和工序加工时间为启发式信息设计蚂蚁在工序可用设备间转移概率;基于粒子向量优先权值的大小关系设计解码方法实现设备上的工序排产。最后,通过仿真和比较实验,验证了该算法的有效性。     

Two-machine flowshop scheduling with flexible operations and controllable processing times

We consider a two-machine flowshop scheduling problem with identical jobs. Each of these jobs has three operations, where the first operation must be performed on the first machine, the second operation must be performed on the second machine, and the third operation (named as flexible operation) can be performed on either machine but cannot be preempted. Highly flexible CNC machines are capable of performing different operations. Furthermore, the processing times on these machines can be changed easily in albeit of higher manufacturing cost by adjusting the machining parameters like the speed and/or feed rate of the machine. The overall problem is to determine the assignment of the flexible operations to the machines and processing times for each operation to minimize the total manufacturing cost and makespan simultaneously. For such a bicriteria problem, there is no unique optimum but a set of nondominated solutions. Using ?-constraint$?\mathrm{-}\mathrm{constraint}$ approach, the problem could be transformed to be minimizing total manufacturing cost for a given upper limit on the makespan. The resulting single criterion problem can be reformulated as a mixed integer nonlinear problem with a set of linear constraints. We use this formulation to optimally solve small instances of the problem while a heuristic procedure is constructed to solve larger instances in a reasonable time.     

改进的程序时序安全属性模型检测技术

针对程序时序安全属性模型栓测技术改进模型检测算法,使安全漏洞状态机以函数为单位进行扩展,简化程序模型检测过程,以提高检测效率.存检测过程中加入别名分析,考虑安全操作之间的数据流依赖关系,以提高检测的准确性.实验结果表明,改进后的方法比原检测方法具有更高的效率和准确性.