Fast barrier synchronization in wormhole k-ary n-cube networks with multidestination worms

This paper presents a new approach to implement fast barrier synchronization in wormhole k-ary n-cubes. The novelty lies in using multidestination messages instead of the traditional single destination messages. Two different multidestination worm types, gather and broadcasting, are introduced to implement the report and wake-up phases of barrier synchronization, respectively. Algorithms for complete and arbitrary set barrier synchronization are presented using these new worms. It is shown that complete barrier synchronization in a k-ary n-cube system with e-cube routing can be implemented with 2n communication start-ups as compared to 2nlog₂k start-ups needed with unicast-based message passing. This leads to an asymptotic improvement by a factor of log₂k. Simulation results for different system and architectural parameters indicate that the new framework can reduce barrier synchronization cost considerably compared to the unicast-based scheme. For arbitrary set barrier, an interesting trend is observed where the synchronization cost keeps on reducing beyond a certain number of participating nodes. The framework demonstrates potential for supporting fast barrier synchronization in large wormhole-routed systems.     

CAD of worms and their machining tools

To develop high-quality products, geometric modeling is needed in gear engineering to calculate the workpiece and tool geometry of worms, threads, or similar mechanical elements that can be described by helical or rotatory surfaces and that are to be generated by milling, grinding, or whirling. A survey will be given on the theoretical background, corresponding procedures, and illustrating examples of application concerning: (a) design of gear or worm profiles by means of curve primitives, their motion and manipulation; (b) calculation of conjugate gear profiles subjected to trochoidal motion; (c) calculation of arbitrary plane intersections of helicoids; and (d) calculation of the rotatory machining tool surface for a given worm and the inverse problem, including the solution of the undercut problem. Basic to the achieved integrated approach to CAD/CAM in this field is a discrete curve representation as sequence of points, tangent lines, and osculating circles providing higher geometrical information about curve and surface shape, which is also of high functional and economical importance for technological decisions.     

Microcomputers and their impact on local-government operations: Position paper

The purpose of this paper is to set the stage for a productive workshop that will contribute to recognition of, and solutions to, issues and concerns arising from the expected impact of' microcomputers in the local-government environment.     

Software engineering education: issues and alternatives

Postgraduate degree programs in software engineering have been in existence for some time and now undergraduate degree programs with this title are beginning to appear. A number of questions and issues of only moderate importance with respect to the postgraduate programs now become critical and of overriding importance. While one could (and did) by and large gloss over these issues earlier, this will be much more difficult, and probably impossible, in the future. These issues must be resolved in a wider context than that in which they have been dealt with before, involving engineering in the universities and professional engineering societies in the larger social context. Much of the disagreement regarding these issues can, ultimately, be traced back to differing fundamental views and definitions of the term engineering and whether software engineering should be treated as just another engineering discipline or in a significantly and fundamentally different way. After examining two different definitions and views of engineering, this paper states and discusses a number of the questions and issues which planners of new undergraduate software engineering degree programs must deal with. Some pros and cons of various alternative answers are presented and a few answers suggested. The issues discussed here begin with questions of general policy and concept (e.g., which culture – that of the traditional engineering disciplines or that of computer science – should be instilled in the students in these new degree programs), include organizational matters (e.g., the position of the new degree program in the university hierarchy) and end with selected, more detailed questions regarding the curriculum (e.g., how to deal with programming, design and management topics). It is conjectured that, although the scientific foundation for the undergraduate software engineering degree programs must and will come from computer science, their culture and orientation must come from engineering if they and their graduates are to be successful in satisfying society's needs in the long term.     

Extroversion,neuroticism and self-concept: their impact on internet users in India

The aim of this study was to find out the influence of personality structure of an individual, i.e., extroversion, neuroticism and self-concept on the usage of the Internet in India. Further, it was also aimed to find out the correlation between the three above-mentioned variables in the light of Internet usage. Exploratory research design was used in this study and the tools used were: Eysenck Personality Inventory and Mohsin Self-Concept Inventory. The Internet was the medium for data collection and individuals were invited by e-mail to participate in the study. The method of random sampling was used for selecting the sample size of 200. In this study, Internet users were classified as heavy or light users based on the number of hours spent online. While we found no significant difference between heavy and light users of Internet on extroversion and neuroticism, it was found that the heavy users scored high on self-concept.     

Information technologies and downsizing: Examining their impact on economic performance

Recent literature analyses the economic effects of employee downsizing on organizations under a contingent framework. Information technology (IT) can be considered a relevant factor for organizations that downsize. IT could enhance knowledge management, innovation management and organizational learning. Given the damage produced by downsizing on these organizational capabilities, the aim of this research is to study the moderating role of the implementation level of IT in the relationship between downsizing and organizational economic performance. Analyzing Spanish chemical industry, our results show that this negative effect can be mitigated by IT implementation.     

Optimization of simulated systems: OptQuest and alternatives

This article illustrates the general problem known as ‘simulation optimization’ through an (s, S) inventory management system. In this system, the goal function to be minimized is the expected value of specific inventory costs. Moreover, specific constraints must be satisfied for some random simulation responses, namely the service or fill rate, and for some deterministic simulation inputs, namely the constraint s < S. Results are reported for three optimization methods, including the popular OptQuest method. The optimality of the resulting solutions is tested through the so-called Karush–Kuhn–Tucker (KKT) conditions.     

Indexing for multiversion locking: alternatives and performanceevaluation

Multiversion two phase locking (MV2PL) provides online serializable queries without introducing the long blocking delays that can occur with conventional two phase locking (2PL). MV2PL requires indexing structures, however, that are capable of supporting multiple versions of data. We present several options for extending single version indexing schemes for use with MV2PL. These basic approaches are largely orthogonal to the underlying indexing structure (e.g., hashing or B+ trees). The options considered differ in where they place version selection information (i.e., references to individual versions); this information is placed either with the data or with the index entries of one or more of the indices. We also present the results from a performance study that show that placing the version selection information with the data is usually the best option, since it keeps the indices smaller and thus enables a larger fraction of the index pages to remain cached in the buffer pool     

Changes in the microstructure of materials and their impact on reliability: experiments and modeling

Several types of microstructural changes in microelectronic solder materials are briefly discussed, namely the formation of intermetallics, Kirkendall voiding, spinodal decomposition, and coarsening. Moreover, a theoretical framework, based on the entropy principle, is developed by means of which constitutive equations can be derived that are necessary to understand and simulate such processes. The resulting equations are specialized to binary alloys and then investigated numerically. Finally, simulations of spinodal decomposition and coarsening are performed for the eutectic solder AgCu. The theoretical predictions are compared with experiments.

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Prior negative experiences: their impact on computer training outcomes

This study examined how a person's negative experiences with computers prior to a training class interacted with their motivation to predict their performance in a computer class. Participants were 384 students who completed a computer course that was designed to introduce them to personal computers and a popular software package. Questionnaires were administered to the participants on the first day of the course to assess their prior negative experiences with computers, along with their computer attitudes, achievement motivation, and computer knowledge. Performance was measured objectively throughout the course with tests over the relevant material. Results indicated some evidence that the participants' pre-training motivation was moderated by their prior negative experiences when predicting test performance.     

Error sources and their impact on c-velocity methods

We propose an efficient method for detecting 3D planes from a moving uncalibrated camera. It assumes only a 3D translation for the egomotion. The original idea is to get around the dependence between the 2D motion field, the depth (i.e. scene structure) and the ignored egomotion. Relations are established between predicted iso-velocity curves and 3D surface parameters in eliminating the depth variable from equations. Surface assessment is performed within a simple velocity voting-space: a 3D surface, like a given plane, emerges as a curve, like a parabola. Experimentations validate our approach for several applications including automatic driver assistance, showing a surprising robustness. The aim of the present paper is to analyze this robustness. Five main perturbations are focused on and their influence on the plane detection process is studied in details.     

Routing distributions and their impact on dispatch rules

Motivated by the job-shop production process of our industry partner, we examine dispatching rules effects on two key performance indicators (KPIs) – job lateness and the percentage of late jobs. In the literature, authors use the uniform distribution to generate random job shop data. In addition to our discussion on dispatching rules, we propose an alternative idea for random job shop data, the routing distribution, and we compare dispatching rules performance using KPI frontiers under different routing distributions. We show that using their current dispatch rule, earliest operation due date (EODD), the industry partner is never worse off, even as their job-shop’s operational environment changes. We further show that using multiple dispatch rules across several job-shop departments does improve a job-shop’s performance on the KPIs, though the improvement is small and in some cases may not be statistically significant. In addition, we find that EODD is one of several dispatching rule which consistently lie on the KPI frontier for different job routing distributions. We find that dispatching rule performance is greatly affected by the routing distribution of the job-shop where the rules are employed. Lastly, we leave the readers with some insight into determining which dispatch rules and routing distributions should be considered for different job shops.     

The self modifying code (SMC)-aware processor (SAP): a security look on architectural impact and support

Journal of Computer Virology and Hacking Techniques - Self modifying code (SMC) are code snippets that modify themselves at runtime. Malware use SMC to hide payloads and achieve persistence....     

Content-addressable and associative memory: alternatives to theubiquitous RAM

Content-addressable and associative processing systems are explained, and it is shown that such systems are commercially feasible. Content-based archiving and retrieving are compared with address-based storage methods. The principles, advantages and obstacles of content-addressable storage are examined and associative processing methods and architectures are described. Software for associative systems is also discussed