Stability analysis of network-based cooperative resource allocation strategies

Resource allocation involves deciding how to divide a resource of limited availability among multiple demands in a way that optimizes current objectives. In this brief paper we focus on one type of distributed resource allocation problem where via an imperfect communication network multiple processors can share the load presented by multiple task types. We introduce asynchronous “cooperative” resource allocation strategies, and show that they lead to a bounded cumulative demand.     

Nonpathological Lyapunov functions and discontinuous Carathéodory systems

Differential equations with discontinuous right-hand side and solutions intended in Carathéodory sense are considered. For these equations, sufficient conditions which guarantee both Lyapunov stability and asymptotic stability in terms of nonsmooth Lyapunov functions are given. An invariance principle is also proven.     

Bullwhip reduction for ARMA demand: The proportional order-up-to policy versus the full-state-feedback policy

A ‘proportional’ order-up-to policy reacting to ARMA demand is analyzed using stochastic optimal control theory. This policy is compared with a full-state-feedback order-up-to policy. Necessary conditions for an optimum of a weighted sum of the inventory and the ordering variances for both policies are formulated. Based on this a relatively simple expression for the ‘full-state’ policy is derived. The comparison between the two policies demonstrates that the ‘intuitively’ designed proportional policy does not fulfill the objective of controlling both the inventory and ordering variance for all parameter values of the demand model as well as the full-state-feedback policy. The full-state-feedback policy outperforms the proportional policy in several aspects.     

Subspace distance analysis with application to adaptive Bayesian algorithm for face recognition

We propose subspace distance measures to analyze the similarity between intrapersonal face subspaces, which characterize the variations between face images of the same individual. We call the conventional intrapersonal subspace average intrapersonal subspace (AIS) because the image differences often come from a large number of persons. An intrapersonal subspace is referred to as specific intrapersonal subspace (SIS) if the image differences are from just one person. We demonstrate that SIS varies significantly from person to person, and most SISs are not similar to AIS. Based on these observations, we introduce the maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation to the problem of SIS estimation, and apply it to the Bayesian face recognition algorithm. Experimental results show that the adaptive Bayesian algorithm outperforms the non-adaptive Bayesian algorithm as well as Eigenface and Fisherface methods if a small number of adaptation images are available.     

Aspects of three-dimensional constrained Delaunay meshing

Presented in this paper are the theoretical aspects of node addition to a non-convex, multiboundary mesh of tetrahedral elements as used in finite element modelling. The method used is derived from Watson¹ and Shenton and Cendes² and is extended to deal with node addition on inter-material boundaries. Several situations are identified that result in an illegal insertion polyhedron (IP), these could be caused by the ‘constrained’ nature of the mesh, adjacent objects with different material properties, or degenerate node configurations. A new Delaunay algorithm is described that checks for illegal cases of the IP and then corrects them, this checking relies on the consistent ordering of the element nodes. It is shown that a particular type of illegal IP can easily be identified and corrected using this technique. The Delaunay algorithm is then applied to automatic mesh generation, and modification to the basic Delaunay algorithm is described so that previously meshed edges and faces of the current object being meshed are not deleted during the addition of subsequent nodes. This ‘protection’ method only becomes viable by recognizing the node ordering sense of the IP faces.     

An empirical investigation of competency factors affecting e-business success in European SMEs

In the last decade there was growing interest in strategic management literature about factors that influence a company's ability to use IT. There is general consensus that knowledge and competency are necessary in developing an IT capability, but there is very little understanding of what the necessary competencies are, and how they influence IS usage in different contexts. The small and medium-sized enterprise context is particularly interesting for two reasons: it constitutes a major part of the economy and it has been relatively unsuccessful in exploiting e-business.     

Parameter identification for nonlinear systems: Guaranteed confidence regions through LSCR

In this paper we consider the problem of constructing confidence regions for the parameters of nonlinear dynamical systems. The proposed method uses higher order statistics and extends the LSCR (leave-out sign-dominant correlation regions) algorithm for linear systems introduced in Campi and Weyer [2005, Guaranteed non-asymptotic confidence regions in system identification. Automatica 41(10), 1751-1764. Extended version available at 〈http://www.ing.unibs.it/∼campi〉]. The confidence regions contain the true parameter value with a guaranteed probability for any finite number of data points. Moreover, the confidence regions shrink around the true parameter value as the number of data points increases. The usefulness of the proposed approach is illustrated on some simple examples.     

An efficient controller structure with minimum roundoff noise gain

Based on a polynomial operator approach, a new sparse controller structure is derived, which is actually an improved version of the recently proposed structure [Li, G. (2004). A polynomial-operator-based DFIIt structure for IIR filters. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II, 51, 147-151]. The performance of the proposed structure is analyzed by deriving the corresponding expression of roundoff noise gain and the problem of finding optimized sparse structures is solved efficiently with a genetic algorithm (GA). A numerical example is given, which shows that the newly developed structure can achieve much better performance than some well-known structures and particularly outperforms the traditional optimal fully parametrized realization greatly in terms of reducing roundoff noise and implementation complexity.     

Physical design of the VCI wrappers for the on-chip packet-switched network named SPIN

This paper presents the physical design methodology of the VCI/SPIN wrappers. The challenge was the validation of the wrappers’ specification with Alliance CAD Tools.A wrapper is a standard gateway used by a subscriber to access an interconnect. Because there are as many wrappers as subscribers, it is relevant to have an estimation of the wrapper’s area, its frequency and then compare these results to the router’s.The interest to perform this study with academic tools is to show that commercial tools are not the unique way for experimentations.