Crack patterns in brittle thin films

The physical system studied is a brittle elastic film bonded to an elastic substrate with different elastic properties; a residual tensile stress is presumed to exist in the film. The focus of the study is the influence of the mismatch in elastic properties on patterns of crack formation in the film. The stress intensity factor and crack driving force for growth of a periodic array of cracks in the direction normal to the interface under two-dimensional conditions are determined for any crack depth and any mismatch in elastic parameters. It is found that, even for a relatively stiff film material, the stress intensity factor of each crack as a function of crack depth exhibits a local maximum. The driving force for crack extension in the direction parallel to the interface is then determined on the basis of these two-dimensional results, and the equilibrium spacing of crack arrays is estimated for given residual stress. The results of the calculations are used as a basis for qualitative arguments to explain the crack patterns which have been observed in GaN films on Si substrates.     

Architectural considerations for next-generation file systems

Integration – supporting multiple application classes with heterogeneous performance requirements – is an emerging trend in networks, file systems, and operating systems. We evaluate two architectural alternatives – partitioned and integrated – for designing next-generation file systems. Whereas a partitioned server employs a separate file system for each application class, an integrated file server multiplexes its resources among all application classes; we evaluate the performance of the two architectures with respect to sharing of disk bandwidth among the application classes. We show that although the problem of sharing disk bandwidth in integrated file systems is conceptually similar to that of sharing network link bandwidth in integrated services networks, the arguments that demonstrate the superiority of integrated services networks over separate networks are not applicable to file systems. Furthermore, we show that: an integrated server outperforms the partitioned server in a large operating region and has slightly worse performance in the remaining region; the capacity of an integrated server is larger than that of the partitioned server; and an integrated server outperforms the partitioned server by a factor of up to 6 in the presence of bursty workloads.     

A 2-D random-walk mobility model for location-management studies in wireless networks

In this work, a novel two-dimensional (2-D) random-walk mobility model is proposed, which can be used for studying and analyzing the location-area crossing rate and dwell time of mobile users in wireless networks. The development and application of the model under two cell structures, namely the square and hexagon cells, have been detailed. The analytical results obtained for location-update rates and dwell times have been validated using simulated and published results. The highlights of the model are its simplicity, minimal assumptions, and adaptability to conduct both "location-crossing rate" and "dwell-time" studies using the same model with slight modifications for either the square or hexagon cells. Using symmetry of mobile-user movement, a reduced number of computational states was achieved. A novel wrap-around feature of the model facilitates reduced assumptions on user mobility, which has also resulted in considerably reduced mathematical computation complexity. A regular Markov chain model was used for computing the average location-area crossing rate. A slightly modified model with absorbing states was used to derive the dwell time. This is the first model of its kind that can be used for studying area-crossing rates. To further emphasize the flexibility of the model, we have extended the model to study an overlapped location-area strategy. The study and analysis of overlapped locations areas has hitherto been difficult due to the complexity of the models.     

Molecular modeling guided isotope separation of gadolinium with strong cation exchange resin using displacement chromatography

Molecular modeling was carried out using DFT to identify the suitable displacing agent for carrying out Gd isotope separation using displacement chromatography. EDTA was identified as the best eluting agent among EDTA, malic acid and citric acid. Displacement chromatography of Gd adsorption band in cation exchange resin was performed to observe the isotope effects in the Gd ion exchange processes involving complex forming reagent – EDTA. The heavier isotope of ¹⁶⁰Gd was found to be enriched at the front boundary of Gd adsorption band, while the lighter isotopes of ¹⁵⁵Gd and ¹⁵⁷Gd were enriched at the rear boundary.     

Design and implementation of a semantic query optimizer

The authors describe a scheme to utilize semantic knowledge in optimizing a user-specified query. The semantics is represented as function-free clauses in predicate logic. The scheme uses a graph-theoretic approach to identify redundant joins and restrictions present in a given query while adding additional profitable specifications to it. Dynamic and heuristic interaction of three entities-schema, semantics, and query-forms the basis of the algorithm. The implementation architecture of the algorithm and test results on a representative set of data are presented. Issues associated with updating of semantic constraints are addressed, and an algorithm for semantic maintenance is introduced     

Implications of proxy caching for provisioning networks and servers

In this paper, we examine the potential benefits of Web proxy caches in improving the effective capacity of servers and networks. Since networks and servers are typically provisioned based on a high percentile of the load, we focus on the effects of proxy caching on the tail of the load distribution. We find that, unlike their substantial impact on the average load, proxies have a diminished impact on the tail of the load distribution. The exact reduction in the tail and the corresponding capacity savings depend on the nature of the workload and the percentile of the load distribution chosen for provisioning networks and servers-the higher the percentile, the smaller the savings. For workloads considered in this study, compared with over a 50% reduction in the average load, the savings in network and server capacity was only 20%-35% for the 99th percentile of the load distribution. We also find that while proxies can be somewhat useful in smoothing out some of the burstiness in Web workloads; the resulting workload continues, however, to exhibit substantial burstiness and a heavy-tailed nature. We identify one-time requests for large objects to be the limiting factor that diminishes the impact of proxies on the tail of load distribution. We conclude that, while proxies are immensely useful to users due to the reduction in the average response time, they are less effective in improving the capacities of networks and servers.