Benchmarking real-time distributed object management systems for evolvable and adaptable command and control applications

Abstract This paper describes benchmarking for evolvable and adaptable real-time command and control systems Introduction MITRE's Evolvable Real-Time C3 initiative developed an approach that would enable current real-time systems to evolve into the systems of the future. We designed and implemented an infrastructure and data manager so that various applications could be hosted on the infrastructure. Then we completed a follow-on effort to design flexible adaptable distributed object management systems for command and control (C2) systems. Such an adaptable system would switch scheduling algorithms, policies, and protocols depending on the need and the environment. Both initiatives were carried out for the United States Air Force. One of the key contributions of our work is the investigation of real-time features for distributed object management systems. Partly as a result of our work we are now seeing various real-time distributed object management products being developed. In selecting a real-time distributed object management systems, we need to analyze various criteria. Therefore, we need benchmarking studies for realtime distributed object management systems. Although benchmarking systems such as Hartstone and Distributed Hartstone have been developed for middleware systems, these systems are not developed specifically for distributed object-based middleware. Since much of our work is heavily based on distributed objects, we developed benchmarking systems by adapting the Hartstone system. This paper describes out effort on developing benchmarks. In section 2 we discuss Distributed Hartstone. Then in section 3, we first provide background on the original Hartstone and DHartstone designs from SEI (Software Engineering Institute) and CMU (Carnegie Mellon University). We then describe our design and modification of DHartstone to incorporate the capability to benchmark real-time middleware in Section 4. Sections 5 and 6 describe the design of the benchmarking systems. For more details of our work on benchmarking and experimental results we refer to [MAUR98] and [MAUR99]. For background information of our work we refer t

Design and development of a hybrid control system for flexible manufacturing : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Manufacturing and Industrial Technology at Massey University

Irregular Pagination MisnumberedFlexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) appeared upon the manufacturing scene in the early 1970s, installations presently number in the thousands. However, many current installations in fact lack flexibility, do not operate in real-time and are prohibitively expensive. Therefore there are obvious benefits to be gained from making improvements to existing flexible manufacturing systems. Research conducted for this thesis focused on two major areas. The implementation of the FMS control system on a SCADA package and the development of an auction based scheduling system. This entailed the development of a hybrid control model composed of three distinct layers; factory, cell and intelligent entity. Key portions of both the factory and cell controllers were then implemented so as to create a minimal system. This has been completed to the point where the auction algorithm has been implemented and tested in an appropriate framework. In achieving the goals mentioned above a number of novel design concepts have been utilised. There are two which are most important, these are the use of low cost modules for the construction of a flexible co-operative manufacturing system, and the ability of this system to operate in a physically distributed area via a Local Area Network. Meaning it is inherently adaptable and resistant to failure. These novel design concepts were ingrained throughout the entire three layered control model. It is felt that this research has succeeded in demonstrating the possibility of implementing a FMS control system on a low cost SCADA package using low cost software and computing elements. The ability of the distributed, auction-based approach to operate successfully within this system, has also been demonstrated through simulation

Octopus - an energy-efficient architecture for wireless multimedia systems

Multimedia computing and mobile computing are two trends that will lead to a new application domain in the near future. However, the technological challenges to establishing this paradigm of computing are non-trivial. Personal mobile computing offers a vision of the future with a much richer and more exciting set of architecture research challenges than extrapolations of the current desktop architectures. In particular, these devices will have limited battery resources, will handle diverse data types, and will operate in environments that are insecure, dynamic and which vary significantly in time and location. The approach we made to achieve such a system is to use autonomous, adaptable modules, interconnected by a switch rather than by a bus, and to offload as much as work as possible from the CPU to programmable modules that is placed in the data streams. A reconfigurable internal communication network switch called Octopus exploits locality of reference and eliminates wasteful data copies

A distributed multi-agent framework for shared resources scheduling

Nowadays, manufacturers have to share some of their resources with partners due to the competitive economic environment. The management of the availability periods of shared resources causes a problem because it is achieved by the scheduling systems which assume a local environment where all resources are on the same site. Therefore, distributed scheduling with shared resources is an important research topic in recent years. In this communication, we introduce the architecture and behavior of DSCEP framework (distributed, supervisor, customer, environment, and producer) under shared resources situation with disturbances. We are using a simple example of manufacturing system to illustrate the ability of DSCEP framework to solve the shared resources scheduling problem in complex systems

From supply chains to demand networks. Agents in retailing: the electrical bazaar

A paradigm shift is taking place in logistics. The focus is changing from operational effectiveness to adaptation. Supply Chains will develop into networks that will adapt to consumer demand in almost real time. Time to market, capacity of adaptation and enrichment of customer experience seem to be the key elements of this new paradigm. In this environment emerging technologies like RFID (Radio Frequency ID), Intelligent Products and the Internet, are triggering a reconsideration of methods, procedures and goals. We present a Multiagent System framework specialized in retail that addresses these changes with the use of rational agents and takes advantages of the new market opportunities. Like in an old bazaar, agents able to learn, cooperate, take advantage of gossip and distinguish between collaborators and competitors, have the ability to adapt, learn and react to a changing environment better than any other structure. Keywords: Supply Chains, Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Multiagent System.Postprint (published version

A centralized feedback control model for resource management in wireless networks

In a wireless environment, guaranteeing QoS is challenging because applications at multiple devices share the same limited radio bandwidth. In this paper we introduce and study a resource management model for centralized wireless networks, using feedback control theory. Before applying in practice, the proposed model is evaluated using the well-known 20-sim dynamic system simulator. The experimental results show that flexible and efficient resource allocation can be achieved for a variety of system parameters and WLAN scenarios; however, care should be taken in setting the control parameters and coefficients

Mixed Initiative Systems for Human-Swarm Interaction: Opportunities and Challenges

Human-swarm interaction (HSI) involves a number of human factors impacting human behaviour throughout the interaction. As the technologies used within HSI advance, it is more tempting to increase the level of swarm autonomy within the interaction to reduce the workload on humans. Yet, the prospective negative effects of high levels of autonomy on human situational awareness can hinder this process. Flexible autonomy aims at trading-off these effects by changing the level of autonomy within the interaction when required; with mixed-initiatives combining human preferences and automation's recommendations to select an appropriate level of autonomy at a certain point of time. However, the effective implementation of mixed-initiative systems raises fundamental questions on how to combine human preferences and automation recommendations, how to realise the selected level of autonomy, and what the future impacts on the cognitive states of a human are. We explore open challenges that hamper the process of developing effective flexible autonomy. We then highlight the potential benefits of using system modelling techniques in HSI by illustrating how they provide HSI designers with an opportunity to evaluate different strategies for assessing the state of the mission and for adapting the level of autonomy within the interaction to maximise mission success metrics.Comment: Author version, accepted at the 2018 IEEE Annual Systems Modelling Conference, Canberra, Australi