Game-theoretic model of corruption in hierarchic control systems

A model is constructed that generalizes the previously considered class of corruption models. The generalized concept of favor of the superior player is introduced. The relation that reflects the corruption severity is obtained. The function that ranks the control with respect to classes of response is found. Incomes of players are estimated for the response of each class and the control choice preference is given. A structural restriction on application of the incentive method for a game of class Γ₂ is found and formalized.     

Scheduling of computational processes in real-time distributed systems with uncertain task execution times

An approach to scheduling computational processes in real-time distributed computing systems is considered. It is assumed that the task execution time is inexactly; more precisely, it is assumed to belog to a certain time interval. The problem is formulated as the scheduling of jobs of which each is characterized by its priority and consists of a set of tasks (with respect to the number of processors) executing on different processors and associated by a hierarchical precedence relationship. The proposed approach is based on algorithms with low computational complexity for suboptimal scheduling of equal-priority tasks.     

Deformations of parameters of dynamic systems and their influence on computational processes

The paper considers dynamic systems as mathematical models of physical phenomena and the influence of small perturbations of the initial conditions and their structure on the accuracy of calculation. It is shown that for computational processes to be correct, the phase portrait of the dynamic system should be studied first. Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 1, pp. 94–99, January–February 2009.     

Petascale computational systems

A balanced cyberinfrastructure is necessary to meet growing data-intensitive scientific needs. We believe that available resources should be allocated to benefit the broadest cross-section of the scientific community. Given the power-law distribution of problem sizes, this means that about half of funding agency resources should be spent on tier-1 centers at the petascale level and the other half dedicated to tier-2 and tier-3 centers on a cost-sharing basis. Funding agencies should support balanced systems, not just CPU farms, as well as petascale IO and networking. They should also allocate resources for a balanced tier-1 through tier-3 cyberinfrastructure.     

How minds can be computational systems

The proper treatment of computationalism, as the thesis that cognition is computable, is presented and defended. Some arguments of James H. Fetzer against computationalism are examined and found wanting, and his positive theory of minds as semiotic systems is shown to be consistent with computationalism. An objection is raised to an argument of Selmer Bringsjord against one strand of computationalism, namely, that Turing-Test-passing artifacts are persons, it is argued that, whether or not this objection holds, such artifacts will inevitably be persons.     

On the construction of hierarchic models

One of the main problems in the field of model-based diagnosis of technical systems today is finding the most useful model or models of the system being diagnosed. Often, a model showing the physical components and the connections between them is all that is available. As systems grow larger and larger, the run-time performance of diagnostic algorithms decreases considerably when using these detailed models. A solution to this problem is using a hierarchic model. This allows us to first diagnose the system using an abstract model, and then use this solution to guide the diagnostic process using a more detailed model. The main problem with this approach is acquiring the hierarchic model. We give a generic hierarchic diagnostic algorithm and show how the use of certain classes of hierarchic models can increase the performance of this algorithm. We then present linear time algorithms for the automatic construction of these hierarchic models, using the detailed model and extra information about cost of probing points and invertibility of components.This research is sponsored by SKBS, a Dutch foundation that stimulates cooperation of universities, industry and business on knowledge-based systems.     

On the computational power of insertion-deletion systems

Gene insertion and deletion are basic phenomena found in DNA processing or RNA editing in molecular biology. The genetic mechanism and development based on these evolutionary transformations have been formulated as a formal system with two operations of insertion and deletion, called insertion-deletion systems (Kari and Thierrin, 1996; Kari et al., 1997).We investigate the generative power of insertion-deletion systems (InsDel systems), and show that the family INS ¹ ₁ DEL ¹ ₁ is equal to the family of recursively enumerable languages. This gives a positive answer to an open problem posed in Kari et al. (1997) where it was conjectured contrary. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Real-time computational aspects of multiple manipulator systems

In this paper, we address the topic of numerical computation in a system of multiple manipulators, one which has received scant attention despite a great deal of research in development of control schemes and the proliferation of similar work on single manipulator systems. Different approaches to computations in kinematics, statics and dynamics of multiple manipulator systems are studied and compared. The results show that significant savings in computational count can be achieved through customization of models. A systematic approach to customization is also described herein.On sabbatical from the Mihailo Pupin Institute.     

Parameterized computational complexity of control problems in voting systems

Voting systems are common tools in a variety of areas. This paper studies parameterized computational complexity of control of Plurality, Condorcet and Approval voting systems, respectively. The types of controls considered include adding or deleting candidates or voters, under constructive or destructive setting. We obtain the following results: (1) constructive control by adding candidates in Plurality voting is W[2]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of added candidates”, (2) destructive control by adding candidates in Plurality voting is W[2]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of added candidates”, (3) constructive control by adding voters in Condorcet voting is W[1]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of added voters”, (4) constructive control by deleting voters in Condorcet voting is W[1]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of deleted voters”, (5) constructive control by adding voters in Approval voting is W[1]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of added voters”, and (6) constructive control by deleting voters in Approval voting is W[2]-hard with respect to the parameter “number of deleted voters”.     

Characterizing the computational power of energy-based P systems

We investigate the computational power of energy-based P systems, a model of membrane systems, where a fixed amount of energy is associated with each object and the rules transform single objects by adding or removing energy from them. We answer the recently proposed open questions about the power of such systems without priorities associated with the rules, for both sequential and maximally parallel modes. We also conjecture that deterministic energy-based P systems are not computationally complete.     

VLSI systems for some problems of computational geometry

Fast solution of the computational geometry problems is important for computer graphics, image processing and pattern recognition. The capability of the network Mesh of Trees for application in VLSI systems solving fastly the computational geometry problems is shown on two examples: determination of the convex hull of a weakly externally visible polygon and determination of the visibility polygon of a polygon.