Reducing cycle times in manufacturing and supply chains by input and service rate smoothing

A key performance parameter of a manufacturing network or supply chain is its cycle time; the time that a typical item spends in the network. A previous simulation study on a semiconductor assembly and test facility showed that cycle times could be reduced by having smooth input and service rates. This suggested that there is a “cycle time principle” that, for a system with a specified throughput or input rate, the shortest cycle times are obtained when the input and service rates do not vary over time. We prove that this principle is true for the M/G/1 and M/M/s queueing systems and Jackson networks. The analysis involves establishing several results on the concavity of waiting time probabilities and the convexity of expected waiting times and queue lengths, as functions of input and service rates. These results also have natural uses in other optimization problems.     

A prototype 3D optically interconnected neural network

We report the implementation of a prototype three-dimensional (3D) optoelectronic neural network that combines free-space optical interconnects with silicon-VLSI-based optoelectronic circuits. The prototype system consists of a 16-node input, 4-neuron hidden, and a single-neuron output layer, where the denser input-to-hidden-layer connections are optical. The input layer uses PLZT light modulators to generate optical outputs which are distributed over an optoelectronic neural network chip through space-invariant holographic optical interconnects. Optical interconnections provide negligible fan-out delay and allow compact, purely on-chip electronic H-tree type fan-in structure. The small prototype system achieves a measured 8-bit electronic fan-in precision and a calculated maximum speed of 640 million interconnections per second. The system was tested using synaptic weights learned off system and was shown to distinguish any vertical line from any horizontal one in an image of 4×4 pixels. New, more efficient light detector and small-area analog synapse circuits and denser optoelectronic neuron layouts are proposed to scale up the system. A high-speed, feed-forward optoelectronic synapse implementation density of up to 10⁴/cm² seems feasible using new synapse design. A scaling analysis of the system shows that the optically interconnected neural network implementation can provide higher fan-in speed and lower power consumption characteristics than a purely electronic, crossbar-based neural network implementation     

Parallel transport: a new transport layer paradigm for enabling Internet quality of service

The transport layer in the network protocol stack serves as a liaison between the application and the underlying network. Any quality of service provided by the network thus has to be effectively translated by the transport layer protocol in order to be enjoyed by the applications. In this article, we argue for a fundamental rethinking of the transport layer design to facilitate such QoS delivery. We identify the key requirement for a QoS enabling transport layer protocol as the ability to effectively handle multiplicity in terms of user differentiation levels, network resources, and service models. However, TCP, the transport layer protocol predominantly used in the Internet, is unable to support such multiplicity due to its single-state design. We extend TCP to a parallel transport layer protocol called parallel TCP (pTCP) that can tackle the different dimensions of multiplicity, and hence enable varying classes of QoS to applications. We discuss the applicability of pTCP in three specific domains with different levels of network support for QoS, and present simulation results substantiating our arguments.     

TFRC friendliness and the case of ECN

The TFRC protocol has been proposed as a TCP‐friendly protocol to transport streaming media over the Internet. However, its deployment is still questionable because it has not been compared to other important protocols, analysed in the presence of important mechanisms, such as the explicit congestion notification (ECN), and studied under more realistic network conditions. In this paper, we address these three aspects, including other congestion control protocols not considered before in the same investigation, such as TCP Tahoe, Reno, Newreno, Vegas, Sack, GAIMD, and the Binomial algorithms, the effect of using ECN in the friendliness of the protocols, and the fairness of the protocols under static and dynamic network conditions. We found that TFRC can be safely deployed in the Internet if competing with TCP Tahoe, New Reno and SACK since fairness is achieved under all scenarios considered. We also found that ECN actually helps in achieving better fairness. However, fairness problems arise when TFRC competes with TCP Reno, GAIMD, SQRT or IIAD in static or dynamic conditions, or both. We used normalized throughput, fairness index, and convergence time as the main performance metrics for comparison. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inelastic post-buckling analysis of truss structures by dynamic relaxation method

The paper presents the inelastic post-buckling analysis of truss structures by the Dynamic Relaxation (DR) method. A simplified inelastic finite element formulation for truss element and new algorithms are proposed for Elastic Post-Buckling (EPB) analysis and Inelastic Post-Buckling (IEPB) analysis using the DR method. The post-buckling paths for elastic, EPB and IEPB analyses are completely traced using the variable-arc-length method. Four numerical examples are presented to illustrate the application of the proposed algorithms.     

Microstructural developments in Mg-Ti-PSZ systems

The microstructure of titania-added Mg-partially-stabilized zirconia (PSZ) is dramatically influenced by thermal treatments. Effects of various sintering, heat-treatment and thermal shock cycling parameters on the microstructure of the Mg-Ti-PSZ system are described. Conditions favourable for the growth of needle-like Ti-rich reinforcements in highly thermalshock-resistant Mg-Ti-PSZ ceramics are identified. TiO₂ seems to play a catalytic role in the formation of Zr-rich networks during high-temperature (1700°C) sintering of the Mg-Ti-PSZ system, quite similar to those found in Mg-PSZ, heat-treated above 1300 °C.     

Medium access control in ad hoc networks with MIMO links: optimization considerations and algorithms

we present a medium access control (MAC) protocol for ad hoc networks with multiple input multiple output (MIMO) links. MIMO links provide extremely high spectral efficiencies in multipath channels by simultaneously transmitting multiple independent data streams in the same channel. MAC protocols have been proposed in related work for ad hoc networks with other classes of smart antennas such as switched beam antennas. However, as we substantiate in the paper, the unique characteristics of MIMO links coupled with several key optimization considerations, necessitate an entirely new MAC protocol. We identify several advantages of MIMO links, and discuss key optimization considerations that can help in realizing an effective MAC protocol for such an environment. We present a centralized algorithm called stream-controlled medium access (SCMA) that has the key optimization considerations incorporated in its design. Finally, we present a distributed SCMA protocol that approximates the centralized algorithm and compare its performance against that of baseline protocols that are CSMA/CA variants.