Game theory for resource sharing in large distributed systems

In game theory, cooperative and non-cooperative approaches are distinguished in terms of two elements. The first refers to the player's ability to engage: in a non-cooperative context, they are entirely free to make decisions when they make their choices; However, in a cooperative context, they have the opportunity to engage contractually the strategies that should be adopted during the game, that during a phase of discussions held before the game and during combinations which may be formed.In this context, the problem is not so much to predict the outcome of the game between players to leave the benefit of cooperation. To achieve this, and this is the second major difference with the non-cooperative approach, it adopts an axiomatic approach (or normative) by which we set upstream properties a priori reasonable (or desirable) on the outcome of the game. The purpose of this paper is to present briefly the main types of non-cooperative games and the tools that allow them to be analyzed in a complete information context where all aspects of the game are well known to decision makers

Uberization of telecom networks for cost-efficient communication and computing

This paper discusses the uberization of telecommunication and computing network services. The Uber-like platform business model is discussed for application in future networks together with interesting analogies of communication and computing (2C) resource-sharing models. The economy of this sharing is discussed, and some recommendations for network uberization are provided.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Collaborating with competitors: pitfalls and paybacks

Inter-firm collaborations have become an indispensable part of business strategy to deal with faster competitive dynamics and higher market and environmental uncertainties. Interestingly, research has found that around half of all cooperative relationships take place between competitors. Termed as coopetition , it refers to the simultaneous cooperation and competition between at least two actors. Over the past two decades, coopetition has become an important domain for industrial practice which has led to increasing research interest by scholars worldwide with a wide range of subjects studied within the extant body of literature. Despite the growing interest, coopetition research is still fragmented and is dominated by conceptual research. This entails limitations to knowledge and understanding reflected by heterogeneous uses of the coopetition concept (mixed definitions and a lack of clarity in how to apply coopetition successfully), a lack of generalisability, and a limited number of quantitative studies. Coopetition scholars commonly argue that competitors rarely cooperate in activities that are close to customers, known as output activities (e.g., sales and marketing), but instead argue that they mostly cooperate in activities far from the customer, referred to as input activities (e.g., R&D, logistics, and NPD). However, it has been found in real world business examples that competitors also cooperate in output activities. In this study these two distinct types of coopetition are termed as internally focused coopetition (cooperating with competitors in input activities) and externally focused coopetition (cooperating with competitors in output activities). This is the first study synthesising these two types of coopetition in one conceptual model, and examining their individual paybacks and pitfalls. After the development of the conceptual model based on the relevant literature, a cross-sectional research design is adopted and an online survey is implemented among Chief Operating Officers and Managing Directors in UK high-tech companies. A total of 148 completed questionnaires are collected. Data analysis employs a two-stage approach, which includes a measurement model assessment and a structural model assessment. The results indicate that both internally and externally focused coopetition can help firms to develop new knowledge-based resources and capabilities. However, these two types of coopetition also have different paybacks and pitfalls. Even though the new innovation knowledge-based resources and capabilities gained from internally focused coopetition can lead to better business efficiency and effectiveness, firms also lose uniqueness in their existing knowledge-based resources and capabilities (a key tenet of competitive advantage in resource- and knowledge-based theories). In contrast, externally focused coopetition has no significant impact on uniqueness, but the new marketing knowledge-based resources and capabilities negatively influence business efficiency and effectiveness. It has also been found that when firms perceive that their competitors are behaving opportunistically, they tend to do the same and appropriate more knowledge-based resources and capabilities from the collective value created. Competitors opportunism also renders more loss of uniqueness, which in turn worsens business performance. This research provides greater clarity and understanding to scholars of the workings of coopetition for deriving new knowledge-based resources and capabilities and extrapolating performance benefits from this. This work also illuminates situations where coopetition does not result in the perceived win-win-win situations indicated in literature. Based on these results, a number of theoretical and managerial contributions are developed. Principally, (1) this is the first study that conceptualises and operationalises internally and externally focused coopetition, and their individual knowledge-based outcomes are analysed from a knowledge-based view; (2) how competitors opportunism affects the dynamics of coopetition is better understood from a game theoretical perspective; (3) this study extends the understanding of business performance outcomes of coopetition

Traffic-Driven Energy Efficient Operational Mechanisms in Cellular Access Networks

Recent explosive growth in mobile data traffic is increasing energy consumption in cellular networks at an incredible rate. Moreover, as a direct result of the conventional static network provisioning approach, a significant amount of electrical energy is being wasted in the existing networks. Therefore, in recent time, the issue of designing energy efficient cellular networks has drawn significant attention, which is also the foremost motivation behind this research. The proposed research is particularly focused on the design of self-organizing type traffic-sensitive dynamic network reconfiguring mechanisms for energy efficiency in cellular systems. Under the proposed techniques, radio access networks (RANs) are adaptively reconfigured using less equipment leading to reduced energy utilization. Several energy efficient cellular network frameworks by employing inter-base station (BS) cooperation in RANs are proposed. Under these frameworks, based on the instantaneous traffic demand, BSs are dynamically switched between active and sleep modes by redistributing traffic among them and thus, energy savings is achieved. The focus is then extended to exploiting the availability of multiple cellular networks for extracting energy savings through inter-RAN cooperation. Mathematical models for both of these single-RAN and multi-RAN cooperation mechanisms are also formulated. An alternative energy saving technique using dynamic sectorization (DS) under which some of the sectors in the underutilized BSs are turned into sleep mode is also proposed. Algorithms for both the distributed and the centralized implementations are developed. Finally, a two-dimensional energy efficient network provisioning mechanism is proposed by jointly applying both the DS and the dynamic BS switching. Extensive simulations are carried out, which demonstrate the capability of the proposed mechanisms in substantially enhancing the energy efficiency of cellular networks

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2019

This Research Report presents the FY19 research statistics and contributions of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management (EN) at AFIT. AFIT research interests and faculty expertise cover a broad spectrum of technical areas related to USAF needs, as reflected by the range of topics addressed in the faculty and student publications listed in this report. In most cases, the research work reported herein is directly sponsored by one or more USAF or DOD agencies. AFIT welcomes the opportunity to conduct research on additional topics of interest to the USAF, DOD, and other federal organizations when adequate manpower and financial resources are available and/or provided by a sponsor. In addition, AFIT provides research collaboration and technology transfer benefits to the public through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs). Interested individuals may discuss ideas for new research collaborations, potential CRADAs, or research proposals with individual faculty using the contact information in this document

RFID Technology in Intelligent Tracking Systems in Construction Waste Logistics Using Optimisation Techniques

Construction waste disposal is an urgent issue for protecting our environment. This paper proposes a waste management system and illustrates the work process using plasterboard waste as an example, which creates a hazardous gas when land filled with household waste, and for which the recycling rate is less than 10% in the UK. The proposed system integrates RFID technology, Rule-Based Reasoning, Ant Colony optimization and knowledge technology for auditing and tracking plasterboard waste, guiding the operation staff, arranging vehicles, schedule planning, and also provides evidence to verify its disposal. It h relies on RFID equipment for collecting logistical data and uses digital imaging equipment to give further evidence; the reasoning core in the third layer is responsible for generating schedules and route plans and guidance, and the last layer delivers the result to inform users. The paper firstly introduces the current plasterboard disposal situation and addresses the logistical problem that is now the main barrier to a higher recycling rate, followed by discussion of the proposed system in terms of both system level structure and process structure. And finally, an example scenario will be given to illustrate the system’s utilization

Long-Wave Infrared Digital Holography

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