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At least 55 records · Page 3

Cost performance satellite design using queueing theory

A modified Poisson arrival, infinite server queuing model is used to determine the effects of limiting the number of broadcast channels (C) of a direct broadcast satellite used for public service purposes (remote health care, education, etc.). The model is based on the reproductive property of the Poisson distribution. A difference equation has been developed to describe the change in the Poisson parameter. When all initially delayed arrivals reenter the system a (C plus 1) order polynomial must be solved to determine the effective value of the Poisson parameter. When less than 100% of the arrivals reenter the system the effective value must be determined by solving a transcendental equation. The model was used to determine the minimum number of channels required for a disaster warning satellite without degradation in performance. Results predicted by the queuing model were compared with the results of digital simulation.

Hein, G. F.↗

Codes for a priority queue on a parallel data bus

Some codes for arbitration of priorities among subsystem computers or peripheral device controllers connected to a parallel data bus are described. At arbitration time, several subsystems present wire-OR, parallel code words to the bus, and the central computer can identify the subsystem of highest priority and determine which of two or more transmission services the subsystem requires. A mathematical discussion of the optimality of the codes with regard to the number of subsystems that may participate in the scheme for a given number of wires is presented along with the number of services that each subsystem may request.

Wallis, D. E.↗

Queueing analysis of synchronous time division multiplexing with individual source buffering

Synchronous time division multiplexing is analyzed. Packets of information arrive at the system as a compound Poisson process, and are transmitted only during individual periodic intervals. Packet arrivals are blocked (lost) if the system has a finite capacity and is congested. Using the theory of semiregenerative processes, the distribution of the number of packets in the system (system size) is found. This nonstationary distribution is used to determine the complete system behavior, including the delay distributions, the blocking probability, and the density of the system size at arrival instants. Numerical examples illustrate applications of the results given.

Clare, L.↗

Queueing analysis of a canonical model of real-time multiprocessors

A logical classification of multiprocessor structures from the point of view of control applications is presented. A computation of the response time distribution for a canonical model of a real time multiprocessor is presented. The multiprocessor is approximated by a blocking model. Two separate models are derived: one created from the system's point of view, and the other from the point of view of an incoming task.

Krishna, C. M.↗

Optimal service allocation among two heterogeneous traffic types with no queueing

Two communication traffic streams with Poisson statistics arrive at a network node. These are to be transmitted across a channel with a total bandwidth capacity of C slots. Messages not accepted at the node are assumed to be lost. Under the assumptions of exponential service time distributions, the problem of dynamic allocation of available channel bandwidth among the two traffic types is studied in order to minimize a weighted sum of blocking probabilities. Modeling the system as a two-dimensional Markov chain is studied to minimize a weighted sum of blocking probabilities. Modeling the system as a two-dimensional Markov chain, it is shown by an application of dynamic programming principles that the optimal policy has the form of a 'switching curve'.

Lambadaris, I.↗

Queueing in networks of computers

The designers of networks of computers must assess the capacity of the network to complete work within reasonable times. The utilization law, Little's law, forced-flow law, and response time formula are simple tools that can be used to calculate throughput and response times of networks. Bottleneck analysis can be used to calculate simple lower bounds on response time in terms of individual server parameters and the load on network as a whole. These simple results are important tools for all users of scientific networks - back of the envelope calculations can quickly reveal the effects of distant servers on local throughput and response time.

Denning, Peter J.↗

A new class of gradient estimators for queueing systems with real-time constraints

Queuing systems are considered where the waiting or sojourn times of customers are constrained by specified deadlines. A performance measure of interest in these systems is the probability that a customer exceeds its assigned deadline. A new class of gradient estimators is presented for such performance measures with respect to various system parameters. The approach is applicable to a general class of problems and is based on efficiently capturing sensitivity information for probabilities of event occurrences from observed sample paths.

Gong, Wei-Bo↗

Dynamically-allocated multi-queue buffers for VLSI communication switches

Several buffer structures are discussed and compared in terms of implementation complexity, interswitch handshaking requirements, and their ability to deal with variations in traffic patterns and message lengths. A new design of buffers is presented that provide non-FIFO message handling and efficient storage allocation for variable size packets using linked lists managed by a simple on-chip controller. The new buffer design is evaluated by comparing it to several alternative designs in the context of a multistage interconnection network. The present modeling and simulations show that the new buffer outperforms alternative buffers and can thus be used to improve the performance of a wide variety of systems currently using less efficient buffers.

Tamir, Yuval↗

Perturbation analysis of queueing systems with a time-varying arrival rate

The authors consider an M/G/1 queuing with a time-varying arrival rate. The objective is to obtain infinitesimal perturbation analysis (IPA) gradient estimates for various performance measures of interest with respect to certain system parameters. In particular, the authors consider the mean system time over n arrivals and an arrival rate alternating between two values. By choosing a convenient sample path representation of this system, they derive an unbiased IPA gradient estimator which, however, is not consistent, and investigate the nature of this problem.

Cassandras, Christos G.↗

Batch Scheduling a Fresh Approach

The Network Queueing System (NQS) was designed to schedule jobs based on limits within queues. As systems obtain more memory, the number of queues increased to take advantage of the added memory resource. The problem now becomes too many queues. Having a large number of queues provides users with the capability to gain an unfair advantage over other users by tailoring their job to fit in an empty queue. Additionally, the large number of queues becomes confusing to the user community. The High Speed Processors group at the Numerical Aerodynamics Simulation (NAS) Facility at NASA Ames Research Center developed a new approach to batch job scheduling. This new method reduces the number of queues required by eliminating the need for queues based on resource limits. The scheduler examines each request for necessary resources before initiating the job. Also additional user limits at the complex level were added to provide a fairness to all users. Additional tools which include user job reordering are under development to work with the new scheduler. This paper discusses the objectives, design and implementation results of this new scheduler

Cardo, Nicholas P.↗

A Mixed Integer Linear Program for Airport Departure Scheduling

Aircraft departing from an airport are subject to numerous constraints while scheduling departure times. These constraints include wake-separation constraints for successive departures, miles-in-trail separation for aircraft bound for the same departure fixes, and time-window or prioritization constraints for individual flights. Besides these, emissions as well as increased fuel consumption due to inefficient scheduling need to be included. Addressing all the above constraints in a single framework while allowing for resequencing of the aircraft using runway queues is critical to the implementation of the Next Generation Air Transport System (NextGen) concepts. Prior work on airport departure scheduling has addressed some of the above. However, existing methods use pre-determined runway queues, and schedule aircraft from these departure queues. The source of such pre-determined queues is not explicit, and could potentially be a subjective controller input. Determining runway queues and scheduling within the same framework would potentially result in better scheduling. This paper presents a mixed integer linear program (MILP) for the departure-scheduling problem. The program takes as input the incoming sequence of aircraft for departure from a runway, along with their earliest departure times and an optional prioritization scheme based on time-window of departure for each aircraft. The program then assigns these aircraft to the available departure queues and schedules departure times, explicitly considering wake separation and departure fix restrictions to minimize total delay for all aircraft. The approach is generalized and can be used in a variety of situations, and allows for aircraft prioritization based on operational as well as environmental considerations. We present the MILP in the paper, along with benefits over the first-come-first-serve (FCFS) scheme for numerous randomized problems based on real-world settings. The MILP results in substantially reduced delays as compared to FCFS, and the magnitude of the savings depends on the queue and departure fix structure. The MILP assumes deterministic aircraft arrival times at the runway queues. However, due to taxi time uncertainty, aircraft might arrive either earlier or later than these deterministic times. Thus, to incorporate this uncertainty, we present a method for using the MILP with "overlap discounted rolling planning horizon". The approach is based on valuing near-term decision results more than future ones. We develop a model of taxitime uncertainty based on real-world data, and then compare the baseline FCFS delays with delays using the above MILP in a simple rolling-horizon method and in the overlap discounted scheme.

Gupta, Gautam↗

Data Interconnection Exploration

This project involves innovating the way the Quality Assurance organization at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) tracks the receiving inspection of JPL Critical Items (JCI) procured from suppliers. The Quality Assurance organization uses a Microsoft Access based front-end to enter items into an inspection queue. The current design has grown to be much more than was expected when the inspection queue system was created in 2007. The goal is to migrate to a web based solution that will allow the handling of more data, multiple input interfaces, and customizable display options. This has been achieved by implementing a divided tables scheme, the use of ColdFusion programming language, and the usage of Web 2.0 technologies such as AJAX and jQuery. These updates will allow for future expansion as well as the standardization of inspection queues for the Quality Assurance organization. When engineers and scientists order flight hardware, they cannot use it straight away. After a spacecraft or a satellite has been launched, it will be impossible to repair; therefore, the parts used must be inspected to make sure they are operating correctly and within the required specifications. The task of inspecting these JPL Critical Items (JCI) falls on the Quality Assurance organization. One of the tools the receiving inspection group uses is a database to maintain a queue of inspections that need to be done and of inspections that have been completed. The current Access interface has worked well but increased amounts of data, multiple input interfaces, and changes to how data is handled have made it necessary to seek a new way of organizing items for inspection. In addition, the different inspection groups have recently been merged and each has different ways of keeping track of inspection information. The ultimate goal is for the new group to have one shared inspection queue and website. To achieve this goal, I have been working with Ian Luczon of Procurement Quality Assurance and 3 Myers Hawkins, another intern, to not only create the new queue for receiving inspection but also a central web portal for the newly combined inspection group.

flight hardware↗

Performance modeling and measurement of real-time multiprocessors with time-shared buses

A closed queueing network model is constructed to address workload effects on computer performance for a highly reliable unibus multiprocessor used in real-time control. The queueing model consists of multiserver nodes and a nonpreemptive priority queue. Use of this model requires partitioning the workload into task classes. The time average steady-state solution of the queueing model directly produces useful results that are necessary in performance evaluation. The model is experimentally justified with the Fault-Tolerant Multiprocessor (FTMP) located at the NASA AIRLAB. Extensive experiments are performed on FTMP with a synthetic workload generator (SWG) to directly measure performance parameters, such as processor idle time, system bus contention, and task processing times. These measurements determine values for parameters in the queueing model. Experimental and analytic results are then compared.

Woodbury, Michael H.↗

A Queuing Theory Approach to Pilot-Controller Coordination for m:N Operations

In recent years, attention and interest by industry and researchers has grown in a control paradigm for remotely piloted aircraft termed “m:N operations.” In an m:N operation, a team of m remote pilots in command (RIPCs) collaboratively manage the flights of N aircraft. A consequence of an m:N concept of operations is that the RPICs will have to switch attention from one aircraft to another and from one task to another. Previous research in m:N operations has focused on the workload experienced by an RPIC and their level of situation awareness on their flights. Researchers have found that RPIC workload and situation awareness are generally sensitive to increasing N, although NASA’s Multi-Vehicle (m:N) Working Group has suggested that the driver of workload/situation awareness is the number of exceptions requiring human intervention as opposed to the value of N itself. In any case, a natural antecedent of workload is task load. In this paper, queueing theory is applied to a 1:N Urban Air Mobility (UAM) air taxi operation in order to estimate pilot task load for managing radio communications with air traffic controllers (ATCs) under increasing N. An M/M/1 queueing system is used to model the RIPC’s servicing of calls and clearance requests (e.g., departure, arrival, or airspace transition) to ATC for the N aircraft. Important parameters for the queueing model are the task arrival rate and the average service time for task completion. Radio communication times from past human-in-the-loop simulation studies are used to measure service times for a 1:4 and 1:12 UAM operation and to interpolate service times for 4 < N < 12. A Monte Carlo method is then employed, using the measured and interpolated service times, to estimate arrival rate and related queueing statistics. The paper concludes by considering the estimated queuing statistics, particularly the RPIC’s utilization (i.e., proportion of time actively servicing tasks), the length of the task queue over time, and the implications for task-balanced system design.

task load↗

Parallel discrete event simulation: A shared memory approach

With traditional event list techniques, evaluating a detailed discrete event simulation model can often require hours or even days of computation time. Parallel simulation mimics the interacting servers and queues of a real system by assigning each simulated entity to a processor. By eliminating the event list and maintaining only sufficient synchronization to insure causality, parallel simulation can potentially provide speedups that are linear in the number of processors. A set of shared memory experiments is presented using the Chandy-Misra distributed simulation algorithm to simulate networks of queues. Parameters include queueing network topology and routing probabilities, number of processors, and assignment of network nodes to processors. These experiments show that Chandy-Misra distributed simulation is a questionable alternative to sequential simulation of most queueing network models.

Reed, Daniel A.↗

Efficient partitioning and assignment on programs for multiprocessor execution

The general problem studied is that of segmenting or partitioning programs for distribution across a multiprocessor system. Efficient partitioning and the assignment of program elements are of great importance since the time consumed in this overhead activity may easily dominate the computation, effectively eliminating any gains made by the use of the parallelism. In this study, the partitioning of sequentially structured programs (written in FORTRAN) is evaluated. Heuristics, developed for similar applications are examined. Finally, a model for queueing networks with finite queues is developed which may be used to analyze multiprocessor system architectures with a shared memory approach to the problem of partitioning. The properties of sequentially written programs form obstacles to large scale (at the procedure or subroutine level) parallelization. Data dependencies of even the minutest nature, reflecting the sequential development of the program, severely limit parallelism. The design of heuristic algorithms is tied to the experience gained in the parallel splitting. Parallelism obtained through the physical separation of data has seen some success, especially at the data element level. Data parallelism on a grander scale requires models that accurately reflect the effects of blocking caused by finite queues. A model for the approximation of the performance of finite queueing networks is developed. This model makes use of the decomposition approach combined with the efficiency of product form solutions.

Standley, Hilda M.↗