The Double Edge Sword Based Distributed Executor Service

Scalability is one of the most important quality attribute of software-intensive systems, because it maintains an effective performance parallel to the large fluctuating and sometimes unpredictable workload. In order to achieve scalability, thread pool system (TPS) (which is also known as executor service) has been used extensively as a middleware service in software-intensive systems. TPS optimization is a challenging problem that determines the optimal size of thread pool dynamically on runtime. In case of distributed-TPS (DTPS), another issue is the load balancing b/w available set of TPSs running at backend servers. Existing DTPSs are overloaded either due to an inappropriate TPS optimization strategy at backend servers or improper load balancing scheme that cannot quickly recover an overload. Consequently, the performance of software-intensive system is suffered. Thus, in this paper, we propose a new DTPS that follows the collaborative round robin load balancing that has the effect of a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it effectively performs the load balancing (in case of overload situation) among available TPSs by a fast overload recovery procedure that decelerates the load on the overloaded TPSs up to their capacities and shifts the remaining load towards other gracefully running TPSs. And on the other hand, its robust load deceleration technique which is applied to an overloaded TPS sets an appropriate upper bound of thread pool size, because the pool size in each TPS is kept equal to the request rate on it, hence dynamically optimizes TPS. We evaluated the results of the proposed system against state of the art DTPSs by a client-server based simulator and found that our system outperformed by sustaining smaller response times.     

Stochastic two-sided U-type assembly line balancing: a genetic algorithm approach

In this paper, a novel stochastic two-sided U-type assembly line balancing (STUALB) procedure, an algorithm based on the genetic algorithm and a heuristic priority rule-based procedure to solve STUALB problem are proposed. With this new proposed assembly line design, all advantages of both two-sided assembly lines and U-type assembly lines are combined. Due to the variability of the real-life conditions, stochastic task times are also considered in the study. The proposed approach aims to minimise the number of positions (i.e. the U-type assembly line length) as the primary objective and to minimise the number of stations (i.e. the number of operators) as a secondary objective for a given cycle time. An example problem is solved to illustrate the proposed approach. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm, test problems taken from the literature are used. The experimental results show that the proposed approach performs well.     

The assembly line worker assignment and balancing problem with stochastic worker availability

Assembly lines can be employed successfully in sheltered work centres to better include persons with disabilities in the labour market as well as to improve production efficiency. The optimal assignment of a heterogeneous workforce is known as the assembly line worker assignment and balancing problem (ALWABP). These assembly lines are characterised not only by a heterogeneous workforce, but also by high levels of absenteeism, which makes it more difficult to obtain stable and efficient line balancing solutions. In this paper, an extension of the ALWABP to minimise the expected cycle time under uncertain worker availability is proposed. We model this problem as a two-stage mixed integer program, and propose local search heuristics for solving it. Computational experiments show that stochastic modelling can help to improve the line’s efficiency and that the proposed heuristics produce good results for instances of practical size.     

A two-phase variable neighbourhood search algorithm for assembly line worker assignment and balancing problem type-II: an industrial case study

The assembly line worker assignment and balancing problem type-II (ALWABP-2) occurs when workers and tasks (where task times depend on workers’ skills) are to be simultaneously assigned to a fixed number of workstations with the goal of minimising the cycle time. In this study, a two-phase variable neighbourhood search (VNS) algorithm is proposed to solve the ALWABP-2 due to the NP-hard nature of this problem. In the first phase of the algorithm, a VNS approach is applied to assign tasks to workstations with the aim of minimising the cycle time while in the second phase, a variable neighbourhood descent method is applied to assign workers to workstations. The performance of the proposed algorithm is tested on well-known benchmark instances. In addition, the proposed algorithm has been used to solve a real case study from a consumer electronics company that manufactures LCD TVs. The results show that the algorithm is superior to the methods reported in the literature in terms of its higher efficiency and robustness. Furthermore, the algorithm is easy to implement and significantly improves the performance of the final assembly line for the investigated LCD TV real case study.     

Robotic U-shaped assembly line balancing using particle swarm optimization

Automation in an assembly line can be achieved using robots. In robotic U-shaped assembly line balancing (RUALB), robots are assigned to workstations to perform the assembly tasks on a U-shaped assembly line. The robots are expected to perform multiple tasks, because of their capabilities. U-shaped assembly line problems are derived from traditional assembly line problems and are relatively new. Tasks are assigned to the workstations when either all of their predecessors or all of their successors have already been assigned to workstations. The objective function considered in this article is to maximize the cycle time of the assembly line, which in turn helps to maximize the production rate of the assembly line. RUALB aims at the optimal assignment of tasks to the workstations and selection of the best fit robot to the workstations in a manner such that the cycle time is minimized. To solve this problem, a particle swarm optimization algorithm embedded with a heuristic allocation (consecutive) procedure is proposed. The consecutive heuristic is used to allocate the tasks to the workstation and to assign a best fit robot to that workstation. The proposed algorithm is evaluated using a wide variety of data sets. The results indicate that robotic U-shaped assembly lines perform better than robotic straight assembly lines in terms of cycle time.     

An adaptive load balancing management technique for RFID middleware systems

In recent years, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) industries have taken a great interest in utilizing the benefits of RFID for supply chain management, inventory control and various other applications. This paper proposed an adaptive load balancing technique for RFID middleware systems to meet the demands of scalability and heterogeneity. First, we explored five basic load balancing policies, namely, information policy, job selection policy, transfer policy, initiation policy and location policy. Eighteen load balancing schemes were then proposed for RFID middleware systems that were combinations of various types of the five basic load balancing policies. Our empirical study suggested that these load balancing strategies performed differently under different workload statuses. Finally, an adaptive load balancing strategy was proposed. The load balancing schemes and the proposed adaptive load balancing strategy have been implemented in the RFID Middleware Load Management System (RM‐LMS). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

面向大规模数据集的近邻传播聚类

近邻传播聚类在计算过程中需构建相似度矩阵,该矩阵的规模随样本数急剧增长,限制了算法在大规模数据集上的直接应用。为此,提出一种改进的近邻传播聚类算法,利用数据点的局部分布,借鉴半监督聚类的思想构造稀疏化的相似度矩阵,并对聚类结果中的簇代表点再次或多次聚类,直至得到合适的簇划分。实验结果表明,该算法在处理能力和运算速度上优于原算法。     

Web服务器集群的负载均衡中遗传算子的设计

应用遗传算法进行作业调度已被越来越多的学者关注。在Web服务器集群环境中,对于客户端的Web请求分配问题,采用常规的遗传算法进行负载均衡并不总是有效的,好的遗传算子对算法收敛性及收敛到最优解非常重要。基于集群环境中Web请求分配的特点,设计了有针对性的遗传算子,即改进的内外结合交叉算子和主动变异算子。模拟实验结果与分析表明这些算子对Web集群的请求分配是有效的。     

基于内容的网络集群负载平衡算法模型

在论述网络集群负载平衡算法的基础上,基于内容分类的方法,给出基于内容的网络集群负载平衡算法三元组模型。请求分类有利于提高缓存命中率,调度机制说明如何适当地转发请求,动态反馈避免将请求分配到重载的服务器,进而分析了调度机制的八种调度策略和六种基于内容的调度转发技术。该模型利用缓存内容来提高集群的吞吐量和响应时间,可部署多种服务类型。     

并行MLFMA分布层的构造及其负载均衡

研究了并行多层快速多极子算法（MLFMA）的分布层,提出了一种衡量其负载不均衡程度的方法,并在此基础上提出了分布树的一种新的构造算法。通过预先估算按分布层的不同层均分所得分布层的负载不均衡度,选取了一种负载不均衡度较小的方法来构造分布树。实验结果表明,该算法相比传统的按分布层的最细层均分所得分布树的算法,能更为有效地提高整个多层快速多极子算法的并行效率。