Twenty‐five years of the Information Systems Journal: A bibliometric and ontological overview

The Information Systems Journal (ISJ) published its first issue in 1991, and in 2015, the journal celebrated its 25th anniversary. This study presents an overview of the leading research trends in the papers that the journal has published during its first quarter of a century via a bibliometric and ontological analysis. From a bibliometric perspective, the analysis considers the publication and citation structure of the journal. The study then develops a graphical analysis of the bibliographic material by using visualization of similarities software that employs bibliographic coupling and cocitation analysis. The work produces an ontological framework of impact and analyses the journal papers to assess qualitatively ISJ's impact. The results indicate that the journal has grown significantly over time and is now recognized as one of the leading journals in information systems. Yet challenges remain if the journal is to meet its aims in impacting and setting the agenda for the development of the Information Systems field.     

A structural linearization principle for processes

In [11], an induction principle for processes was given which allows one to apply model-checking techniques to parameterized families of processes. A limitation of the induction principle is that it does not apply to the case in which one process depends directly upon a parameterized number of processes, which grows without bound. This would seem to preclude its application to families ofN processes interconnected in a star topology. Nonetheless, we show that if the dependency can be computed incrementally, then the direct dependency upon the parameterized number of processes may be re-expressed recursively in terms of a linear cascade of processes, yielding in effect a linearization of the inter-process dependencies and allowing the induction principle to apply.A previous version of this paper appears in the Proceedings of CAV 1993 (LNCS 697).     

Wireless network design via 3-decompositions

We consider some network design problems with applications for wireless networks. The input for these problems is a metric space (X,d) and a finite subset UX of terminals. In the Steiner Tree with Minimum Number of Steiner Points (STMSP) problem, the goal is to find a minimum size set SX−U of points so that the unit-disc graph of S+U is connected. Let Δ be the smallest integer so that for any finite VX for which the unit-disc graph is connected, this graph contains a spanning tree with maximum degree Δ. The best known approximation ratio for STMSP was Δ−1 [I.I. Măndoiu, A.Z. Zelikovsky, A note on the MST heuristic for bounded edge-length Steiner trees with minimum number of Steiner points, Information Processing Letters 75 (4) (2000) 165–167]. We improve this ratio to (Δ+1)/2+1+ε.In the Minimum Power Spanning Tree (MPST) problem, V=X is finite, and the goal is to find a “range assignment” on the nodes so that the edge set contains a spanning tree, and ∑_vVp(v) is minimized. We consider a particular case {0,1}-MPST of MPST when the distances are in {0,1}; here the goal is to find a minimum size set SV of “active” nodes so that the graph (V,E₀+E₁(S)) is connected, where , and E₁(S) is the set the edges in with both endpoints in S. We will show that the (5/3+ε)-approximation scheme for MPST of [E. Althaus, G. Calinescu, I. Măndoiu, S. Prasad, N. Tchervenski, A. Zelikovsky, Power efficient range assignment for symmetric connectivity in static ad hoc wireless networks, Wireless Networks 12 (3) (2006) 287–299] achieves a ratio 3/2 for {0,1}-distances. This answers an open question posed in [E. Lloyd, R. Liu, S. Ravi, Approximating the minimum number of maximum power users in ad hoc networks, Mobile Networks and Applications 11 (2006) 129–142].     

SnapPaste: an interactive technique for easy mesh composition

Editing and manipulation of existing 3D geometric objects are a means to extend their repertoire and promote their availability. Traditionally, tools to compose or manipulate objects defined by 3D meshes are in the realm of artists and experts. In this paper, we introduce a simple and effective user interface for easy composition of 3D mesh-parts for non-professionals. Our technique borrows from the cut-and-paste paradigm where a user can cut parts out of existing objects and paste them onto others to create new designs. To assist the user attach objects to each other in a quick and simple manner, many applications in computer graphics support the notion of “snapping”. Similarly, our tool allows the user to loosely drag one mesh part onto another with an overlap, and lets the system snap them together in a graceful manner. Snapping is accomplished using our Soft-ICP algorithm which replaces the global transformation in the ICP algorithm with a set of point-wise locally supported transformations. The technique enhances registration with a set of rigid to elastic transformations that account for simultaneous global positioning and local blending of the objects. For completeness of our framework, we present an additional simple mesh-cutting tool, adapting the graph-cut algorithm to meshes.     

Legacy code and parallel computing: updating and parallelizing a numerical model

In this paper, we present several important details in the process of legacy code parallelization, mostly related to the problem of maintaining numerical output of a legacy code while obtaining a balanced workload for parallel processing. Since we maintained the non-uniform mesh imposed by the original finite element code, we have to develop a specially designed data distribution among processors so that data restrictions are met in the finite element method. In particular, we introduce a data distribution method that is initially used in shared memory parallel processing and obtain better performance than the previous parallel program version. Besides, this method can be extended to other parallel platforms such as distributed memory parallel computers. We present results including several problems related to performance profiling on different (development and production) parallel platforms. The use of new and old parallel computing architectures leads to different behavior of the same code, which in all cases provides better performance in multiprocessor hardware.

     

A multicriteria approach to two-level hierarchy scheduling in grids

In this paper we address a multicriteria scheduling problem for computational Grid systems. We focus on the two-level hierarchical Grid scheduling problem, in which at the first level (the Grid level) a Grid broker makes scheduling decisions and allocates jobs to Grid nodes. Jobs are then sent to the Grid nodes, where local schedulers generate local schedules for each node accordingly. A general approach is presented taking into account preferences of all the stakeholders of Grid scheduling (end-users, Grid administrators, and local resource providers) and assuming a lack of knowledge about job time characteristics. A single-stakeholder, single-criterion version of the approach has been compared experimentally with the existing approaches.     

An approach to reduce energy consumption and performance losses on heterogeneous servers using power capping

Journal of Scheduling - Rapid growth of demand for remote computational power, along with high energy costs and infrastructure limits, has led to treating power usage as a primary constraint in...     

Automatic CoDec generation to reduce test engineering cost

TTCN-3 is an abstract language for specification of Abstract Test Suites. Coding of TTCN-3 values into physically transmittable messages and decoding of bitstrings into their TTCN-3 representation has been removed from the language itself and relayed to external and specialized components, called CoDec. CoDec development, either implicitly or explicitly, is a must in any TTCN-3 testing activity. Field experience showed that there is a high cost associated with CoDec development and maintenance. To achieve adequate software engineering practices, a set of types, tools and definitions were developed. This paper unveils gray areas in TTCN-3 architecture and presents a methodological approach to minimize the complexity of CoDec development. Even though the initial field of application is IPv6 testing, the main tool introduced—the CoDec Generator—is a valuable tool in any testing application domain. It is designed to lower the CoDec maintenance costs in all test case lifecycle stages, from development to maintenance. This work has been partly supported by the IST Go4IT European project: .