A Distributed Routing Method for Dynamic Multicasting

Single point, sender based control does not scale well for multicast delivery. For applications, such as group video or teleconferencing a low total cost multicast tree is required. In this article we present a destination driven algorithm to minimize the total tree cost of multicast tree in a dynamic situation for the whole session duration. In this heuristic approach we considered the staying duration of participants are available at the time of joining. The performance of our algorithm is analyzed through extensive simulation and evaluated against several other existing dynamic multicast routing and also against one well known near optimum heuristic algorithm used for solving Steiner tree problem. We have further tested our algorithm using erroneous information given by the joining participants. Simulation results show that its performance does not degrade that much even when the range of error is considerably high, which proves the robustness of our algorithm.     

Mathematical model for computer simulation and control of steelmaking

A dynamic model for computer simulation and control of steelmaking has been developed. It is essentially based on multicomponent mixed transport control theory with the incorporation of energy balance calculations. The model is applicable to both steelmaking in electric furnaces as well as in oxygen steelmaking converters. The adjustable parameters of the model for simulation of oxygen steelmaking are gas evolution rate (G_co). oxygen flux factor (F_o) and emulsification factor (EM). These simulation parameters, when combined with on-line measurement of off-gas composition and temperature, enable complete dynamic control of the process. The model developed is applied, as an example, to an industrially produced heat in a top blown oxygen steelmaking converter and the results of simulation are discussed.     

Parallel heap: An optimal parallel priority queue

We describe a new parallel data structure, namely parallel heap, for exclusive-read exclusive-write parallel random access machines. To our knowledge, it is the first such data structure to efficiently implement a truly parallel priority queue based on a heap structure. Employing p processors, the parallel heap allows deletions of (p) highest priority items and insertions of (p) new items, each in O(log n) time, where n is the size of the parallel heap. Furthermore, it can efficiently utilize processors in the range 1 through n.This work was supported by U.S. Army's PM-TRADE contract N61339-88-g-0002, Florida High Technology and Industry grant 11-28-716, and Georgia State University's internal research support during spring and summer quarters, 1991.     

Particle distribution control in cast aluminium alloy-mica composites

A suspension of mica particles (40m diameter and 3.7 thick) obtained in a mechanically stirred Al-4 wt % Cu-1.5 wt % Mg melt was poured and solidified in a variety of moulds under different heat flow configurations. The resulting cast structure showed a non-uniform distribution of dispersed mica particles with mica-depleted and segregated zones due to their flotation before and during solidification. The experimentally observed profiles of mica-free regions deviate significantly from those computed on the basis of Stokes's law and freezing-time computations. In relatively thick castings, segregation of mica could be minimized by using low pouring temperatures and/or side as well as bottom chilling. It was found, however, that thin castings (12.5 mm) could easily be produced with a homogeneous distribution of mica particles.     

Security Driven Scheduling Model for Computational Grid Using NSGA-II

Number of software applications demands various levels of security at the time of scheduling in Computational Grid. Grid may offer these securities but may result in the performance degradation due to overhead in offering the desired security. Scheduling performance in a Grid is affected by the heterogeneities of security and computational power of resources. Customized Genetic Algorithms have been effectively used for solving complex optimization problems (NP Hard) and various heuristics have been suggested for solving Multi-objective optimization problems. In this paper a security driven, elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm, Optimal Security with Optimal Overhead Scheduling (OSO₂S), based on NSGA-II, is proposed. The model considers dual objectives of minimizing the security overhead and maximizing the total security achieved. Simulation results exhibit that the proposed algorithm delivers improved makespan and lesser security overhead in comparison to other such algorithms viz. MinMin, MaxMin, SPMinMin, SPMaxMin and SDSG.     

Validity as a Measure of Data Quality in Internet of Things Systems

Data quality became significant with the emergence of data warehouse systems. While accuracy is intrinsic data quality, validity of data presents a wider perspective, which is more representational and contextual in nature. Through our article we present a different perspective in data collection and collation. We focus on faults experienced in data sets and present validity as a function of allied parameters such as completeness, usability, availability and timeliness for determining the data quality. We also analyze the applicability of these metrics and apply modifications to make it conform to IoT applications. Another major focus of this article is to verify these metrics on aggregated data set instead of separate data values. This work focuses on using the different validation parameters for determining the quality of data generated in a pervasive environment. Analysis approach presented is simple and can be employed to test the validity of collected data, isolate faults in the data set and also measure the suitability of data before applying algorithms for analysis. On analyzing the data quality of the two data sets on the basis of above-mentioned parameters. We show that validity for data set 1 was found to be 75% while it was found to be 67% only for data set 2. Availability and data freshness metrics performance were analyzed graphically. It was found that for data set 1, data freshness was better while availability metric was found better for data set 2. Usability obtained for data set 2 was 86% which was higher as compared to data set 1 whose usability metric was 69%. Thus, this work presents methods that can be leveraged for estimating data quality that can be beneficial in various IoT based industries which are essentially data centric and the decisions made by them depends upon the validity of data.

     

Catastrophic Failure of a Steel Chimney in a Lime Plant

Failure analysis of a steel chimney used in a lime plant was carried out. The chimney broke from two different locations during a storm. During the site visit, it was observed that the chimney was dislodged from weld joints. The chimney was made up of hot rolled mild steel plates. Investigations were carried out on the failed chimney plate and welding between plates. The investigation consists of visual observation, chemical analysis, characterization of macro- and microstructures, measurement of hardness, tensile property tests and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Calculation of wind load at the location of breakage was also carried out. EDS analysis revealed entrapment of slag inside weld. Overall analysis suggested that the failure took place due to selection of improper reconditioning technique as well as poor workmanship in welding.     

Spectral entropy and spectral shape based pre-quantization for real time speaker identification system

Pre-processing is one of the vital steps for developing robust and efficient recognition system. Better pre-processing not only aid in better data selection but also in significant reduction of computational complexity. Further an efficient frame selection technique can improve the overall performance of the system. Pre-quantization (PQ) is the technique of selecting less number of frames in the pre-processing stage to reduce the computational burden in the post processing stages of speaker identification (SI). In this paper, we develop PQ techniques based on spectral entropy and spectral shape to pick suitable frames containing speaker specific information that varies from frame to frame depending on spoken text and environmental conditions. The attempt is to exploit the statistical properties of distributions of speech frames at the pre-processing stage of speaker recognition. Our aim is not only to reduce the frame rate but also to maintain identification accuracy reasonably high. Further we have also analyzed the robustness of our proposed techniques on noisy utterances. To establish the efficacy of our proposed methods, we used two different databases, POLYCOST (telephone speech) and YOHO (microphone speech).     

Competitiveness and an Emerging Sector: The Russian Software Industry and its Global Linkages

This paper analyzes the Russian software industry in the context of trade in information technology services. We assess Russia's underlying sources of competitive edge in software, such as its scientific establishments, education system, diaspora and low costs, and identify the institutional impediments to growth. A survey reveals that foreign outsourcing contracts, a high value-added niche and high education levels characterize Russia's small, privately held software firms. A comparison with the Indian software industry underscores the structural differences in outsourcing relationships developed by the two countries and emphasizes that national advantages are complex amalgamations of many factors and need to be overtly marketed. Beyond the resources that give comparative and competitive advantage to a transitioning economy, a critical role is played by powerful industry organizations and by non-market state institutions that can level the economic field and inject credibility into market structures.     

Stokes flow past a swarm of porous circular cylinders with Happel and Kuwabara boundary conditions

The problem of creeping flow past a swarm of porous circular cylinders with Happel and Kuwabara boundary conditions is investigated. The Brinkman equation for the flow inside the porous cylinder and the Stokes equation outside the porous cylinder in their stream function formulations are used. The force experienced by each porous circular cylinder in a cell is evaluated. Explicit expressions of stream functions are obtained for both the inside and outside flow fields. The earlier results reported by Happel and Kuwabara for flow past a solid cylinder in Happel’s and Kuwabara’s cell model, have been deduced. Analytical expressions for the velocity components, pressure, vorticity and stresstensor are also obtained