RAPS: a rule-based language for specifying resource allocation andtime-tabling problems

A general language for specifying resource allocation and time-tabling problems is presented. The language is based on an expert system paradigm that was developed previously by the authors and that enables the solution of resource allocation problems by using experts' knowledge and heuristics. The language enables the specification of a problem in terms of resources, activities, allocation rules, and constraints, and thus provides a convenient knowledge acquisition tool. The language syntax is powerful and allows the specification of rules and constraints that are very difficult to formulate with traditional approaches, and it also supports the specification of various control and backtracking strategies. We constructed a generalized inference engine that runs compiled resource allocation problem specification language (RAPS) programs and provides all necessary control structures. This engine acts as an expert system shell and is called expert system for resource allocation (ESRA). The performance of RAPS combined with ESRA is demonstrated by analyzing its solution of a typical resource allocation problem     

Partial indexing for nonuniform data distributions in relationalDBMS's

It is well known that the effectiveness of relational database systems is greatly dependent on the efficiency of the data access strategies. For this reason, much work has been devoted to the development of new access techniques, supported by adequate access structures such as the B⁺trees. The effectiveness of the B ⁺tree also depends on the data distribution characteristics; in particular, poor performance results when the data show strong key value distribution unbalancing. The aim of this paper is to present the partial index: a new access structure that is useful in such cases of unbalancing, as an alternative to the B⁺tree unclustered indexes. The access structures are built in the physical design phase, and at execution (or compilation) time, the optimizer chooses the most efficient access path. Thus, integration of the partial indexing technique in the design and in the optimization process are also described     

Performance evaluation of rule grouping on a real-time expertsystem architecture

Uses a Markov process to model a real-time expert system architecture characterized by message passing and event-driven scheduling. The model is applied to the performance evaluation of rule grouping for real-time expert systems running on this architecture. An optimizing algorithm based on Kernighan-Lin heuristic graph partitioning for the real-time architecture is developed and a demonstration system based on the model and algorithm has been developed and tested on a portion of the advanced GPS receiver (AGR) and manned manoeuvring unit (MMU) knowledge bases     

Sort vs. hash revisited

Efficient algorithms for processing large volumes of data are very important both for relational and new object-oriented database systems. Many query-processing operations can be implemented using sort- or hash-based algorithms, e.g. intersections, joins, and duplicate elimination. In the early relational database systems, only sort-based algorithms were employed. In the last decade, hash-based algorithms have gained acceptance and popularity, and are often considered generally superior to sort-based algorithms such as merge-join. In this article, we compare the concepts behind sort- and hash-based query-processing algorithms and conclude that (1) many dualities exist between the two types of algorithms, (2) their costs differ mostly by percentages rather than by factors, (3) several special cases exist that favor one or the other choice, and (4) there is a strong reason why both hash- and sort-based algorithms should be available in a query-processing system. Our conclusions are supported by experiments performed using the Volcano query execution engine     

Evaluation of a parallel branch-and-bound algorithm on a class ofmultiprocessors

We propose and evaluate a parallel “decomposite best-first” search branch-and-bound algorithm (dbs) for MIN-based multiprocessor systems. We start with a new probabilistic model to estimate the number of evaluated nodes for a serial best-first search branch-and-bound algorithm. This analysis is used in predicting the parallel algorithm speed-up. The proposed algorithm initially decomposes a problem into N subproblems, where N is the number of processors available in a multiprocessor. Afterwards, each processor executes the serial best-first search to find a local feasible solution. Local solutions are broadcasted through the network to compute the final solution. A conflict-free mapping scheme, known as the step-by-step spread, is used for subproblem distribution on the MIN. A speedup expression for the parallel algorithm is then derived using the serial best-first search node evaluation model. Our analysis considers both computation and communication overheads for providing realistic speed-up. Communication modeling is also extended for the parallel global best-first search technique. All the analytical results are validated via simulation. For large systems, when communication overhead is taken into consideration, it is observed that the parallel decomposite best-first search algorithm provides better speed-up compared to other reported schemes     

Constant-time parallel algorithms for image labeling on areconfigurable network of processors

A constant-time algorithm for labeling the connected components of an N×N image on a reconfigurable network of N³ processors is presented. The main contribution of the algorithm is a novel constant-time technique for determining the minimum-labeled PE in each component. The number of processors used by the algorithm can be reduced to N/sup 2+(1/d/), for any 1⩽d⩽log N, if O(d) time is allowed     

Processor membership in asynchronous distributed systems

Presents protocols for determining processor membership in asynchronous distributed systems that are subject to processor and communication faults. These protocols depend on the placement of a total order on broadcast messages. The types of systems for which each of these protocols is applicable are characterized by the properties of the communication mechanisms and by the availability of stable storage. In the absence of stable storage or of a mechanism for distinguishing promptly delivered messages, the authors show that no membership protocol can exist. They also discuss their experience in implementing these membership protocols     

Partitioned encoding schemes for algorithm-based fault tolerance inmassively parallel systems

Considers the applicability of algorithm based fault tolerance (ABET) to massively parallel scientific computation. Existing ABET schemes can provide effective fault tolerance at a low cost For computation on matrices of moderate size; however, the methods do not scale well to floating-point operations on large systems. This short note proposes the use of a partitioned linear encoding scheme to provide scalability. Matrix algorithms employing this scheme are presented and compared to current ABET schemes. It is shown that the partitioned scheme provides scalable linear codes with improved numerical properties with only a small increase in hardware and time overhead     

The performance of cache-based error recovery in multiprocessors

Several variations of cache-based checkpointing for rollback error recovery from transient errors in shared-memory multiprocessors have been recently developed. By modifying the cache replacement policy, these techniques use the inherent redundancy in the memory hierarchy to periodically checkpoint the computation state. Three schemes, different in the manner in which they avoid rollback propagation, are evaluated in this paper. By simulation with address traces from parallel applications running on an Encore Multimax shared-memory multiprocessor, we evaluate the performance effect of integrating the recovery schemes in the cache coherence protocol. Our results indicate that the cache-based schemes can provide checkpointing capability with low performance overhead, but with uncontrollable high variability in the checkpoint interval     

Unstructured tree search on SIMD parallel computers

We present new methods for load balancing of unstructured tree computations on large-scale SIMD machines, and analyze the scalability of these and other existing schemes. An efficient formulation of tree search on an SIMD machine consists of two major components: a triggering mechanism, which determines when the search space redistribution must occur to balance the search space over processors, and a scheme to redistribute the search space. We have devised a new redistribution mechanism and a new triggering mechanism. Either of these can be used in conjunction with triggering and redistribution mechanisms developed by other researchers. We analyze the scalability of these mechanisms and verify the results experimentally. The analysis and experiments show that our new load-balancing methods are highly scalable on SIMD architectures. Their scalability is shown to he no worse than that of the best load-balancing schemes on MIMD architectures. We verify our theoretical results by implementing the 15-puzzle problem on a CM-2 SIMD parallel computer