Fuzzy-Based Dynamic Distributed Queue Scheduling for Packet Switched Networks

Addressing the problem of queue scheduling for the packet-switched system is a vital aspect of congestion control. In this paper, the fuzzy logic based decision method is adopted for queue scheduling in order to enforce some level of control for traffic of different quality of service requirements using predetermined values. The fuzzy scheduler proposed in this paper takes into account the dynamic nature of the Internet traffic with respect to its time-varying packet arrival process that affects the network states and performance. Three queues are defined, viz low, medium and high priority queues. The choice of prioritizing packets influences how queues are served. The fuzzy scheduler not only utilizes queue priority in the queue scheduling scheme, but also considers packet drop susceptibility and queue limit. Through simulation it is shown that the fuzzy scheduler is more appropriate for the dynamic nature of Internet traffic in a packet-switched system as compared with some existing queue scheduling methods. Results show that the scheduling strategy of the proposed fuzzy scheduler reduces packet drop, provides good link utilization and minimizes queue delay as compared with the priority queuing (PQ), first-in-first-out (FIFO), and weighted fair queuing (WFQ).     

Optimization of Exclusive Release Policies for Hydropower Reservoir Operation by Using Genetic Algorithm

The efficient utilization of hydropower resources play an important role in the economic sector of power systems, where the hydroelectric plants constitute a significant portion of the installed capacity. Determination of daily optimal hydroelectric generation scheduling is a crucial task in water resource management. By utilizing the limited water resource, the purpose of hydroelectric generation scheduling is to specify the amount of water releases from a reservoir in order to produce maximum power, while the various physical and operational constraints are satisfied. Hence, new forms of release policies namely, BSOPHP, CSOPHP, and SHPHP are proposed and tested in this research. These policies could only use in hydropower reservoir systems. Meanwhile, to determine the optimal operation of each policy, real coded genetic algorithm is applied as an optimization technique and maximizing the total power generation over the operational periods is chosen as an objective function. The developed models have been applied to the Cameron Highland hydropower system, Malaysia. The results declared that by using optimal release policies, the output of power generation is increased, while these policies also increase the stability of reservoir system. In order to compare the efficiency of these policies, some reservoir performance indices such as reliability, resilience, vulnerability, and sustainability are used. The results demonstrated that SHPHP policy had the highest performance among the tested release policies.     

Modeling the Infiltration Capacity of Permeable Stormwater Channels with a Check Dam System

The use of permeable stormwater channels has introduced concerns over the effects of infiltration on the hydraulic behavior of their flow and the effects of flow hydraulic conditions (e.g., the water level, channel section, flow velocity, and vegetation) on the channel infiltration capacity. A check dam system provides backwater ponding, which increases the flow water depth along a channel. In this study, a channel model was used to investigate the variation in the infiltration capacity of permeable stormwater channels under different flow hydraulic conditions. Increasing the downstream check dam height and using a grass cover increased the infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration because of the decreased velocity and increased flow depth. The presence of subsurface water did not affect the hydraulic characteristics of the channel flow but decreased the cumulative infiltration because of the fast saturation of the soil. An empirical equation was developed for predicting the infiltration capacity of grassed channels in which four hydraulic parameters (i.e., the water depth, base width, side slope, and velocity) are introduced to the modified Kostiakov model. The developed model was used to calculate the runoff reduction due to infiltration along a grassed channel with and without a check dam system. The percentage of infiltrated water increased from 8 to 14% with the check dam system. The developed model can be used to predict the infiltration capacity of permeable channels for improved stormwater management and provides a valuable decision support tool for permeable channel design.

     

A qualitative comparison evaluation of the greedy forwarding strategies in Mobile Ad Hoc Network

The Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) is wireless network which provides communication among wireless mobile hosts without the need of any standing network infrastructure. In such networks, and to facilitate communication between participating nodes, every node has to offer routing services. Routing in MANET is responsible for selecting and forwarding packets along optimal paths. Finding an optimal route is a crucial task in MANET where routes tend to be multi-hop. Many routing protocols have been proposed in literature. However, few of them are efficient when the network is sparse and highly dynamic. Position-based routing and forwarding provides the opportunity for improving the efficiency and performance of the existing MANET routing strategies. This research work presents an extensive overview of geographic forwarding techniques in MANET. In particular, it focuses on the presentation of the basic operation mode of geographic forwarding, which is greedy forwarding. Meanwhile, this research work presents a qualitative evaluation of the most current and popular greedy forwarding strategies used with position based routing protocols. Furthermore, the findings have been used to conclude the most appropriate unicast forwarding policy for future research efforts.     

The wear of wrought aluminium alloys under dry sliding conditions

The sliding wear response of several wrought aluminium alloys (2124, 3004, 5056 and 6092) against a high purity alumina (99.9%) counterface was investigated, at a fixed sliding speed of 1 m/s and a load range of 23–140 N. The counterface was chosen so as to minimise the chemically driven aspects of adhesive wear. Severe wear was observed at all loads, with specific wear rates ranging from 0.37×10⁻⁴ to 2.37×10⁻⁴ mm³/N m. In all cases a mechanically mixed layer (MML) was formed, principally from severely work hardened aluminium alloy, but also including fine alumina particles. The thickness and morphology of the layer depended strongly on alloy composition, but the specific wear rate did not depend on the MML properties in a simple manner. The surface work hardening characteristics differed between alloys, but as with the MML, there was no simple relationship between surface work hardening characteristics and specific wear rate. The main correlation was found between the normalised wear rate and normalised pressure, which implies that the hardness of the starting aluminium alloy is the critical variable.     

Dynamic ridge polynomial neural network with Lyapunov function for time series forecasting

The ability to model the behaviour of arbitrary dynamic system is one of the most useful properties of recurrent networks. Dynamic ridge polynomial neural network (DRPNN) is a recurrent neural network used for time series forecasting. Despite the potential and capability of the DRPNN, stability problems could occur in the DRPNN due to the existence of the recurrent feedback. Therefore, in this study, a sufficient condition based on an approach that uses adaptive learning rate is developed by introducing a Lyapunov function. To compare the performance of the proposed solution with the existing solution, which is derived based on the stability theorem for a feedback network, we used six time series, namely Darwin sea level pressure, monthly smoothed sunspot numbers, Lorenz, Santa Fe laser, daily Euro/Dollar exchange rate and Mackey-Glass time-delay differential equation. Simulation results proved the stability of the proposed solution and showed an average 21.45% improvement in Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) with respect to the existing solution. Furthermore, the proposed solution is faster than the existing solution. This is due to the fact that the proposed solution solves network size restriction found in the existing solution and takes advantage of the calculated dynamic system variable to check the stability, unlike the existing solution that needs more calculation steps.     

Isothermal crystallization kinetics of refined palm oil

The induction times for the crystallization, under isothermal conditions, of refined, bleached, and deodorized palm oil from the melt were studied by viscometry. At temperatures below 295 K, the crystallization of palm oil was observed to occur in a two-stage process. This two-stage process was caused by the fractionation of palm oil, most probably into the stearin and olein fractions. At temperatures higher than 295 K, only a single-stage crystallization process was observed. As seen under polarized light microscopy, spherical crystals were initially formed from the first fraction at temperatures from 287 to 293 K. The diameters of these spherical crystals decreased as the temperature increased. After that, needle-shaped crystals were formed from the second fraction and continued to grow from the surface of these spherical crystals until the spherical crystals were fully enclosed, i.e., the cocrystallization of two polymorphs was observed. At temperatures higher than 293 K, the needle-shaped crystals formed from a mixture of the two fractions were found to be the only polymorphs developed with the onset of crystallization. X-ray diffraction results showed that for temperatures below 295 K, the spherical crystals formed from the first fraction were in α form, whereas the needle-like crystals that nucleated later from the second fraction were in β′ form. β′ crystals were the only polymorphs formed for temperatures above 295 K. The results obtained were in good agreement with the discontinuity observed in the induction time vs. temperature curve. Activation free energies for nucleation were calculated according to the Fisher-Turnbull equation for the various polymorphic forms. Viscometry was observed to be a sensitive method for characterizing the overall crystallization process. This technique is suitable for induction time studies of palm oil crystallization, especially at lower temperatures and with viscous oil.     

Simplified MQL system for drilling AISI 304 SS using cryogenically treated drills

In machining operations, cutting fluids have been comprehensively used to improve the cutting tool life, but the issues related to manufacturing cost, environment and health call for reducing their use by possible methods. Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is a technique that overcomes these problems by spraying a small amount of cutting fluid (<100?ml/hr) as mist using compressed air. In this work, the basic MQL technique is used to achieve flow rates slightly higher (～880?ml/hr) than MQL using simple techniques like paint sprayer and compressor, which is more generally called reduced quantity lubrication (RQL). Another method to increase the tool life is by cryogenic treatment, which increases the hardness of the tool. Tungsten carbide drill bits were subjected to cryogenic treatment (?185 °C). Drilling studies were carried out on AISI 304 stainless steel (SS) using untreated and cryo-treated WC drill bits under RQL and conventional wet lubrication conditions. The tool wear on the treated WC drill bits with RQL was comparatively less than on the untreated ones with RQL and wet lubrication. These improvements were established through microhardness, SEM images, XRD, wear studies and surface roughness measurements comparisons.     

Physical properties of Pseudomonas and Rhizomucor miehei lipase-catalyzed transesterified blends of palm stearin:palm kernel olein

The physical properties of Pseudomonas and Rhizomucor miehei lipase-catalyzed transesterified blends of palm stearin:palm kernel olein (PS:PKO), ranging from 40% palm stearin to 80% palm stearin in 10% increments, were analyzed for their slip melting points (SMP), solid fat content (SFC), melting thermograms, and polymorphic forms. The Pseudomonas lipase caused a greater decrease in SMP (15°C) in the PS:PKO (40:60) blend than the R. miehei lipase (10.5°C). Generally, all transesterified blends had lower SMP than their unreacted blends. Pseudomonas lipase-catalyzed blends at 40:60 and 50:50 ratio also showed complete melting at 37°C and 40°C, respectively, whereas for the R. miehei lipase-catalyzed 40:60 blend, a residual SFC of 3.9% was observed at 40°C. Randomization of fatty acids by Pseudomonas lipase also led to a greater decrease in SFC than the rearrangement of fatty acids by R. miehei lipase. Differential scanning calorimetry results confirmed this observation. Pseudomonas lipase also successfully changed the polymorphic forms of the unreacted blends from a predominantly β form to that of an exclusively β′ form. Both β and β′ forms existed in the R. miehei lipase-catalyzed reaction blends, with β′ being the dominant form.