Data-Aware Scheduling Strategy for Scientific Workflow Applications in IaaS Cloud Computing

Scientific workflows benefit from the cloud computing paradigm, which offers access to virtual resources provisioned on pay-as-you-go and on-demand basis. Minimizing resources costs to meet user’s budget is very important in a cloud environment. Several optimization approaches have been proposed to improve the performance and the cost of data-intensive scientific Workflow Scheduling (DiSWS) in cloud computing. However, in the literature, the majority of the DiSWS approaches focused on the use of heuristic and metaheuristic as an optimization method. Furthermore, the tasks hierarchy in data-intensive scientific workflows has not been extensively explored in the current literature. Specifically, in this paper, a data-intensive scientific workflow is represented as a hierarchy, which specifies hierarchical relations between workflow tasks, and an approach for data-intensive workflow scheduling applications is proposed. In this approach, first, the datasets and workflow tasks are modeled as a conditional probability matrix (CPM). Second, several data transformation and hierarchical clustering are applied to the CPM structure to determine the minimum number of virtual machines needed for the workflow execution. In this approach, the hierarchical clustering is done with respect to the budget imposed by the user. After data transformation and hierarchical clustering, the amount of data transmitted between clusters can be reduced, which can improve cost and makespan of the workflow by optimizing the use of virtual resources and network bandwidth. The performance and cost are analyzed using an extension of Cloudsim simulation tool and compared with existing multi-objective approaches. The results demonstrate that our approach reduces resources cost with respect to the user budgets

Efficient Implementation of Stochastic Inference on Heterogeneous Clusters and Spiking Neural Networks

Neuromorphic computing refers to brain inspired algorithms and architectures. This paradigm of computing can solve complex problems which were not possible with traditional computing methods. This is because such implementations learn to identify the required features and classify them based on its training, akin to how brains function. This task involves performing computation on large quantities of data. With this inspiration, a comprehensive multi-pronged approach is employed to study and efficiently implement neuromorphic inference model using heterogeneous clusters to address the problem using traditional Von Neumann architectures and by developing spiking neural networks (SNN) for native and ultra-low power implementation. In this regard, an extendable high-performance computing (HPC) framework and optimizations are proposed for heterogeneous clusters to modularize complex neuromorphic applications in a distributed manner. To achieve best possible throughput and load balancing for such modularized architectures a set of algorithms are proposed to suggest the optimal mapping of different modules as an asynchronous pipeline to the available cluster resources while considering the complex data dependencies between stages. On the other hand, SNNs are more biologically plausible and can achieve ultra-low power implementation due to its sparse spike based communication, which is possible with emerging non-Von Neumann computing platforms. As a significant progress in this direction, spiking neuron models capable of distributed online learning are proposed. A high performance SNN simulator (SpNSim) is developed for simulation of large scale mixed neuron model networks. An accompanying digital hardware neuron RTL is also proposed for efficient real time implementation of SNNs capable of online learning. Finally, a methodology for mapping probabilistic graphical model to off-the-shelf neurosynaptic processor (IBM TrueNorth) as a stochastic SNN is presented with ultra-low power consumption