A Survey on Communication Networks for Electric System Automation

Published in Computer Networks 50 (2006) 877–897, an Elsevier journal. The definitive version of this publication is available from Science Direct. Digital Object Identifier:10.1016/j.comnet.2006.01.005In today’s competitive electric utility marketplace, reliable and real-time information become the key factor for reliable delivery of power to the end-users, profitability of the electric utility and customer satisfaction. The operational and commercial demands of electric utilities require a high-performance data communication network that supports both existing functionalities and future operational requirements. In this respect, since such a communication network constitutes the core of the electric system automation applications, the design of a cost-effective and reliable network architecture is crucial. In this paper, the opportunities and challenges of a hybrid network architecture are discussed for electric system automation. More specifically, Internet based Virtual Private Networks, power line communications, satellite communications and wireless communications (wireless sensor networks, WiMAX and wireless mesh networks) are described in detail. The motivation of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the hybrid network architecture that can provide heterogeneous electric system automation application requirements. In this regard, our aim is to present a structured framework for electric utilities who plan to utilize new communication technologies for automation and hence, to make the decision making process more effective and direct.This work was supported by NEETRAC under Project #04-157

Blocked All-Pairs Shortest Paths Algorithm on Intel Xeon Phi KNL Processor: A Case Study

Manycores are consolidating in HPC community as a way of improving performance while keeping power efficiency. Knights Landing is the recently released second generation of Intel Xeon Phi architecture. While optimizing applications on CPUs, GPUs and first Xeon Phi's has been largely studied in the last years, the new features in Knights Landing processors require the revision of programming and optimization techniques for these devices. In this work, we selected the Floyd-Warshall algorithm as a representative case study of graph and memory-bound applications. Starting from the default serial version, we show how data, thread and compiler level optimizations help the parallel implementation to reach 338 GFLOPS.Comment: Computer Science - CACIC 2017. Springer Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 79

Space Station communications and tracking systems modeling and RF link simulation

In this final report, the effort spent on Space Station Communications and Tracking System Modeling and RF Link Simulation is described in detail. The effort is mainly divided into three parts: frequency division multiple access (FDMA) system simulation modeling and software implementation; a study on design and evaluation of a functional computerized RF link simulation/analysis system for Space Station; and a study on design and evaluation of simulation system architecture. This report documents the results of these studies. In addition, a separate User's Manual on Space Communications Simulation System (SCSS) (Version 1) documents the software developed for the Space Station FDMA communications system simulation. The final report, SCSS user's manual, and the software located in the NASA JSC system analysis division's VAX 750 computer together serve as the deliverables from LinCom for this project effort

Design and Implementation of a Practical Business Oriented Undergraduate Data Communications Curriculum

The content and orientation of undergraduate computer information systems curricula have historically been designed and implemented in response to the dominant systems architecture of the time and the associated skills required by professionals in support of that systems architecture. As the information systems architecture paradigm has shifted in recent years from a centralized mainframe/terminal focus to a distributed client/server orientation, the role of data communications and networking has shifted from an ancillary electrical engineering oriented specialty to a computer information systems oriented area of study at the very heart of distributed computing

Advanced information processing system: Inter-computer communication services

The purpose is to document the functional requirements and detailed specifications for the Inter-Computer Communications Services (ICCS) of the Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS). An introductory section is provided to outline the overall architecture and functional requirements of the AIPS and to present an overview of the ICCS. An overview of the AIPS architecture as well as a brief description of the AIPS software is given. The guarantees of the ICCS are provided, and the ICCS is described as a seven-layered International Standards Organization (ISO) Model. The ICCS functional requirements, functional design, and detailed specifications as well as each layer of the ICCS are also described. A summary of results and suggestions for future work are presented

Inner product computation for sparse iterative solvers on\ud distributed supercomputer

Recent years have witnessed that iterative Krylov methods without re-designing are not suitable for distribute supercomputers because of intensive global communications. It is well accepted that re-engineering Krylov methods for prescribed computer architecture is necessary and important to achieve higher performance and scalability. The paper focuses on simple and practical ways to re-organize Krylov methods and improve their performance for current heterogeneous distributed supercomputers. In construct with most of current software development of Krylov methods which usually focuses on efficient matrix vector multiplications, the paper focuses on the way to compute inner products on supercomputers and explains why inner product computation on current heterogeneous distributed supercomputers is crucial for scalable Krylov methods. Communication complexity analysis shows that how the inner product computation can be the bottleneck of performance of (inner) product-type iterative solvers on distributed supercomputers due to global communications. Principles of reducing such global communications are discussed. The importance of minimizing communications is demonstrated by experiments using up to 900 processors. The experiments were carried on a Dawning 5000A, one of the fastest and earliest heterogeneous supercomputers in the world. Both the analysis and experiments indicates that inner product computation is very likely to be the most challenging kernel for inner product-based iterative solvers to achieve exascale

Wearable learning tools

In life people must learn whenever and wherever they experience something new. Until recently computing technology could not support such a notion, the constraints of size, power and cost kept computers under the classroom table, in the office or in the home. Recent advances in miniaturization have led to a growing field of research in ‘wearable’ computing. This paper looks at how such technologies can enhance computer‐mediated communications, with a focus upon collaborative working for learning. An experimental system, MetaPark, is discussed, which explores communications, data retrieval and recording, and navigation techniques within and across real and virtual environments. In order to realize the MetaPark concept, an underlying network architecture is described that supports the required communication model between static and mobile users. This infrastructure, the MUON framework, is offered as a solution to provide a seamless service that tracks user location, interfaces to contextual awareness agents, and provides transparent network service switching

Graphene-based Wireless Agile Interconnects for Massive Heterogeneous Multi-chip Processors

The main design principles in computer architecture have recently shifted from a monolithic scaling-driven approach to the development of heterogeneous architectures that tightly co-integrate multiple specialized processor and memory chiplets. In such data-hungry multi-chip architectures, current Networks-in-Package (NiPs) may not be enough to cater to their heterogeneous and fast-changing communication demands. This position paper makes the case for wireless in-package nanonetworking as the enabler of efficient and versatile wired-wireless interconnect fabrics for massive heterogeneous processors. To that end, the use of graphene-based antennas and transceivers with unique frequency-beam reconfigurability in the terahertz band is proposed. The feasibility of such a nanonetworking vision and the main research challenges towards its realization are analyzed from the technological, communications, and computer architecture perspectives.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table - Accepted at IEEE Wireless Communications Magazin

Cloud-Based Centralized/Decentralized Multi-Agent Optimization with Communication Delays

We present and analyze a computational hybrid architecture for performing multi-agent optimization. The optimization problems under consideration have convex objective and constraint functions with mild smoothness conditions imposed on them. For such problems, we provide a primal-dual algorithm implemented in the hybrid architecture, which consists of a decentralized network of agents into which centralized information is occasionally injected, and we establish its convergence properties. To accomplish this, a central cloud computer aggregates global information, carries out computations of the dual variables based on this information, and then distributes the updated dual variables to the agents. The agents update their (primal) state variables and also communicate among themselves with each agent sharing and receiving state information with some number of its neighbors. Throughout, communications with the cloud are not assumed to be synchronous or instantaneous, and communication delays are explicitly accounted for in the modeling and analysis of the system. Experimental results are presented to support the theoretical developments made.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure