Holistic schedulability analysis for multipacket messages in AFDX networks

The ARINC-664, Part 7 (AFDX) standard defines a communication network based on Ethernet and the UDP/IP protocols. Contrary to general-purpose Ethernet, the timing behavior in AFDX is deterministic due to the use of special network switches and end systems with static routing tables and traffic policing at the sending end through mechanisms called virtual links. Even though the latencies in this network are bounded, there are scheduling and contention effects that need to be analyzed. In this paper we develop a response-time analysis for multipacket messages transmitted through an AFDX network including the scheduling of the virtual links and sub-virtual links, and also the contention in the end systems and in the switches. This analysis allows us to obtain worst-case latencies and output jitter for the network messages with a precise modeling of the sending and receiving ends. These results can be integrated in a holistic approach with the response time analysis of the threads in the processing nodes to obtain end-to-end response times in heterogeneous distributed systems.     

Nonflat surface level pyramid: a high connectivity multidimensional interconnection network

Parallel machines are extensively used to increase computational speed in solving different scientific problems. Various topologies with different properties have been proposed so far and each one is suitable for specific applications. Pyramid interconnection networks have potentially powerful architecture for many applications such as image processing, visualization, and data mining. The major advantage of pyramids which is important for image processing systems is hierarchical abstracting and transferring the data toward the apex node, just like the human being vision system, which reach to an object from an image. There are rapidly growing applications in which the multidimensional datasets should be processed simultaneously. For such a system, we need a symmetric and expandable interconnection network to process data from different directions and forward them toward the apex. In this paper, a new type of pyramid interconnection network called Non-Flat Surface Level (NFSL) pyramid is proposed. NFSL pyramid interconnection networks constructed by L-level A-lateral-base pyramids that are named basic-pyramids. So, the apex node is surrounded by the level-one surfaces of NFSL that are the first nearest level of nodes to apex in the basic pyramids. Two topologies which are called NFSL-T and NFSL-Q originated from Trilateral-base and Quadrilateral-base basic-pyramids are studied to exemplify the proposed structure. To evaluate the proposed architecture, the most important properties of the networks are determined and compared with those of the standard pyramid networks and its variants.     

Geschäftsmodelle

The business model concept, although a relatively new topic for research, has garnered growing attention over the past decade. Whilst it has been robustly defined, the concept has so far attracted very little substantive research. In the context of the wide-spread digitization of businesses and society at large, the logic inherent in a business model has become critical for business success and, hence, a focus for academic inquiry. The business model concept is identified as the missing link between business strategy, processes, and Information Technology (IT). The authors argue that the BISE community offers distinct and unique competencies (e.g., translating business strategies into IT systems, managing business and IT processes, etc.) that can be harnessed for significant research contributions to this field. Within this research gap three distinct streams are delineated, namely, business models in IT industries, IT enabled or digital business models, and IT support for developing and managing business models. For these streams, the current state of the art, suggest critical research questions, and suitable research methodologies are outlined.     

Prediction of suspended sediment concentration from water quality variables

This study investigates use of water quality (WQ) variables, namely total chromium concentration, total iron concentration, and turbidity for predicting suspended sediment concentration (SSC). For this purpose, the artificial neural networks (ANNs) and regression analysis (RA) models are employed. Seven different RA models are constructed, considering the functional relation between measured WQ variables and SSC. The WQ and SSC data are fortnightly obtained from six monitoring stations, located on the stream Harsit, Eastern Black Sea Basin, Turkey. A total of 132 water samples are collected from April 2009 to February 2010. Model prediction results reveal that ANN is able to predict SSC from WQ data, with mean absolute error (MAE) of 10.30 mg/L and root mean square error (RMSE) of 13.06 mg/L. Among seven RA models, the best one, which has the form including all independent parameters, produces results comparable to those of ANN, with MAE = 14.28 mg/L and RMSE = 15.35 mg/L. The sensitivity analysis results reveal that the most effective parameter on the SSC is total chromium concentration. These results have time- and cost-saving implications.     

Structural characteristics of oxide nanosphere supported metal nanoparticles

Structural characterization by transmission electron microscopy of metal nanoparticle coatings on oxide nanospheres has been employed to point out the potential of such materials for use as porous support model catalysts. On silica and titania nanospheres of various origins surface-mediated metal deposition at mild temperature conditions has been utilized to fabricate Pt, Pd, Ag, and Au nanoparticle coatings on the oxide supports. Promising coating characteristics have been achieved for Ag and Au nanoparticles by direct reduction on terminating hydroxyl-rich St?ber silica. A high-resolution electron microscopy analysis directed to surface stress, lattice contraction and planar lattice defects of the latter particles revealed no strong metal-support interaction.     

Activity and Selectivity of a Nanostructured CuO/ZrO2 Catalyst in the Steam Reforming of Methanol

Steam reforming of methanol for production of hydrogen can be carried out over copper based catalyst. In the work presented here, the catalytic properties of a CuO/ZrO₂ catalyst (8.5wt%) synthesised by a templating technique were investigated with respect to activity, long term stability, CO formation, and response to oxygen addition to the feed. The results were obtained using a fixed bed reactor and compared to a commercial methanol synthesis catalyst CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃. It is shown that, depending on the time on stream, the temporary addition of oxygen to the feed has a beneficial effect on the activity of the CuO/ZrO₂ catalyst. After activation, the CuO/ZrO₂ catalyst is found to be more active (per copper mass) than the CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ system, more stable during time on stream (measured up to 250h), and to produce less CO. Structural characterisation by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) reveals that the catalyst (as prepared) consists of crystalline, tetragonal zirconia with small domain sizes (about 60Å) and small/disordered crystallites of CuO.     

Upgrading of gas oils: the HDS kinetics of dibenzothiophene and its derivatives in real gas oil

The hydrodesulphurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT), 4-methyl dibenzothiophene (4 M-DBT), 4,6-dimethyl dibenzothiophene (4,6 DM-DBT) and 4,6-diethyl dibenzothiophene (4,6 DE-DBT) as real gas oil components on NiMo/Al₂O₃ catalyst was investigated. On the basis of the first order rate constants of HDS of the individual sulphur compounds reactivities of the investigated compounds decreased in the order DBT ≫ 4 M-DBT > 4,6 DE-DBT ≈ 4,6 DM-DBT. Apparent activation energies of HDS of above sulphur compounds increased from 80.0 to 120.5 kJ/mol.     

Characterisation of the adsorption sites of hydrogen on Pt/C fuel cell catalysts

A key component of a hydrogen fuel cell is a catalyst to dissociate dihydrogen to hydrogen atoms. In the present study, the adsorption of hydrogen on Pt/C fuel cell catalysts has been investigated by inelastic neutron scattering spectroscopy.

Monitoring a clean Pt(50%)/C catalyst with low energy neutron spectroscopy, after exposure to dihydrogen at 20 K, as it was heated to room temperature, showed three distinct temperature regimes: (i) a decrease in intensity from 10 to 60 K, (ii) a rise to a maximum between 60 and 120 K and then (iii) a slow fall-off towards room temperature. We assign the three regions as: (i) desorption of physisorbed dihydrogen, (ii) dissociation of dihydrogen to give an adsorbed layer and (iii) damping of the response by an increasing Debye–Waller factor.

The vibrational INS spectra of a series of Pt/C catalysts prepared under varying conditions were similar indicating that the same types of site are common to all the catalysts, although the relative proportions of each site are sample dependent. Features at 520, 950 and part of the intensity at 1300 cm⁻¹ are assigned to hydrogen on (1 1 1) faces, in good agreement with single crystal data. The mode at 640 cm⁻¹ is assigned as the doubly degenerate asymmetric stretch of Pt(1 0 0) faces with the symmetric stretch near 550 cm⁻¹.

We assign the bending mode of the on-top site to the feature at 470 cm⁻¹. The Pt–H stretch mode was observed at 2079 cm⁻¹. This is a significant result: this is the first time that hydrogen on the on-top sites has been observed on nanosized platinum particles supported on high surface area carbon black. The width of the INS peak is surprisingly large and may give additional information on the type and relative proportions of the crystallographic faces present on the catalyst particles.