79,617 research outputs found
Feedback and time are essential for the optimal control of computing systems
The performance, reliability, cost, size and energy usage of computing systems can be improved by one or more orders of magnitude by the systematic use of modern control and optimization methods. Computing systems rely on the use of feedback algorithms to schedule tasks, data and resources, but the models that are used to design these algorithms are validated using open-loop metrics. By using closed-loop metrics instead, such as the gap metric developed in the control community, it should be possible to develop improved scheduling algorithms and computing systems that have not been over-engineered. Furthermore, scheduling problems are most naturally formulated as constraint satisfaction or mathematical optimization problems, but these are seldom implemented using state of the art numerical methods, nor do they explicitly take into account the fact that the scheduling problem itself takes time to solve. This paper makes the case that recent results in real-time model predictive control, where optimization problems are solved in order to control a process that evolves in time, are likely to form the basis of scheduling algorithms of the future. We therefore outline some of the research problems and opportunities that could arise by explicitly considering feedback and time when designing optimal scheduling algorithms for computing systems
Dynamic resource constrained multi-project scheduling problem with weighted earliness/tardiness costs
In this study, a conceptual framework is given for the dynamic multi-project scheduling problem with weighted earliness/tardiness costs (DRCMPSPWET) and a mathematical programming formulation of the problem is provided. In DRCMPSPWET, a project arrives on top of an existing project portfolio and a due date has to be quoted for the new project while minimizing the costs of schedule changes. The objective function consists of the weighted earliness tardiness costs of the activities of the existing projects in the current baseline schedule plus a term that increases linearly with the anticipated completion time of the new project. An iterated local search based approach is developed for large instances of this problem. In order to analyze the performance and behavior of the proposed method, a new multi-project data set is created by controlling the total number of activities, the due date tightness, the due date range, the number of resource types, and the completion time factor in an instance. A series of computational experiments are carried out to test the performance of the local search approach. Exact solutions are provided for the small instances. The results indicate that the local search heuristic performs well in terms of both solution quality and solution time
On Robust Tie-line Scheduling in Multi-Area Power Systems
The tie-line scheduling problem in a multi-area power system seeks to
optimize tie-line power flows across areas that are independently operated by
different system operators (SOs). In this paper, we leverage the theory of
multi-parametric linear programming to propose algorithms for optimal tie-line
scheduling within a deterministic and a robust optimization framework. Through
a coordinator, the proposed algorithms are proved to converge to the optimal
schedule within a finite number of iterations. A key feature of the proposed
algorithms, besides their finite step convergence, is the privacy of the
information exchanges; the SO in an area does not need to reveal its dispatch
cost structure, network constraints, or the nature of the uncertainty set to
the coordinator. The performance of the algorithms is evaluated using several
power system examples
Coverage Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks: Review and Future Directions
The coverage problem in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can be generally
defined as a measure of how effectively a network field is monitored by its
sensor nodes. This problem has attracted a lot of interest over the years and
as a result, many coverage protocols were proposed. In this survey, we first
propose a taxonomy for classifying coverage protocols in WSNs. Then, we
classify the coverage protocols into three categories (i.e. coverage aware
deployment protocols, sleep scheduling protocols for flat networks, and
cluster-based sleep scheduling protocols) based on the network stage where the
coverage is optimized. For each category, relevant protocols are thoroughly
reviewed and classified based on the adopted coverage techniques. Finally, we
discuss open issues (and recommend future directions to resolve them)
associated with the design of realistic coverage protocols. Issues such as
realistic sensing models, realistic energy consumption models, realistic
connectivity models and sensor localization are covered
Cloud computing resource scheduling and a survey of its evolutionary approaches
A disruptive technology fundamentally transforming the way that computing services are delivered, cloud computing offers information and communication technology users a new dimension of convenience of resources, as services via the Internet. Because cloud provides a finite pool of virtualized on-demand resources, optimally scheduling them has become an essential and rewarding topic, where a trend of using Evolutionary Computation (EC) algorithms is emerging rapidly. Through analyzing the cloud computing architecture, this survey first presents taxonomy at two levels of scheduling cloud resources. It then paints a landscape of the scheduling problem and solutions. According to the taxonomy, a comprehensive survey of state-of-the-art approaches is presented systematically. Looking forward, challenges and potential future research directions are investigated and invited, including real-time scheduling, adaptive dynamic scheduling, large-scale scheduling, multiobjective scheduling, and distributed and parallel scheduling. At the dawn of Industry 4.0, cloud computing scheduling for cyber-physical integration with the presence of big data is also discussed. Research in this area is only in its infancy, but with the rapid fusion of information and data technology, more exciting and agenda-setting topics are likely to emerge on the horizon
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