Data dependent energy modelling for worst case energy consumption analysis

Safely meeting Worst Case Energy Consumption (WCEC) criteria requires accurate energy modeling of software. We investigate the impact of instruction operand values upon energy consumption in cacheless embedded processors. Existing instruction-level energy models typically use measurements from random input data, providing estimates unsuitable for safe WCEC analysis. We examine probabilistic energy distributions of instructions and propose a model for composing instruction sequences using distributions, enabling WCEC analysis on program basic blocks. The worst case is predicted with statistical analysis. Further, we verify that the energy of embedded benchmarks can be characterised as a distribution, and compare our proposed technique with other methods of estimating energy consumption

Self-interest, Social Wealth, and Competition as a Discovery Procedure : A classroom experiment that makes the "invisible hand" visible

In Economics, as in any social science, empirical tests of theoretical results face a problem: researchers are unable to reproduce the whole economy (or at least its relevant parts) in their laboratories. Nowadays, Experimental Economics uses stylized experiments, drawing on the experience of Psychology, to test at least the basic assumptions of the economic theory of human behavior. Even classroom experiments may serve this purpose. This paper describes a simple classroom experiment that serves as an empirical test of Adam Smith?s invisible- hand hypothesis. Furthermore, it demonstrates to the students that competition acts as a discovery procedure. The experiment is of high didactical value, since the students gain insights into empirical research and experience how markets work. -- Die empirische Prüfung theoretischer Forschungsergebnisse wirft in der Ökonomie - wie bei jeder Sozialwissenschaft ? Probleme auf. Anders als in den Naturwissenschaften können volkswirtschaftliche Problemstellungen kaum in Labors nachgestellt werden. Seit einigen Jahren nutzen Ökonomen allerdings die Erfahrungen der Psychologie mit stilisierten Experimenten, um zumindest ihre grundlegenden Verhaltenshypothesen testen zu können. Dieser Beitrag stellt ein einfaches Hörsaal-Experiment vor, das Adam Smiths Hypothese von der ?unsichtbaren Hand? im Marktgeschehen empirisch überprüft. Das Experiment zeigt zudem, wie Wettbewerb als Entdeckungsverfahren funktioniert, und besitzt hohen didaktischen Wert: Die Studenten erhalten Einblick in empirische Forschung und erleben hautnah das Funktionieren des Marktes.Hayek-Hypothesis,Efficiency,Double Oral Auctions

Stability and Performance Analysis of Control Systems Subject to Bursts of Deadline Misses

Control systems are by design robust to various disturbances, ranging from noise to unmodelled dynamics. Recent work on the weakly hard model - applied to controllers - has shown that control tasks can also be inherently robust to deadline misses. However, existing exact analyses are limited to the stability of the closed-loop system. In this paper we show that stability is important but cannot be the only factor to determine whether the behaviour of a system is acceptable also under deadline misses. We focus on systems that experience bursts of deadline misses and on their recovery to normal operation. We apply the resulting comprehensive analysis (that includes both stability and performance) to a Furuta pendulum, comparing simulated data and data obtained with the real plant. We further evaluate our analysis using a benchmark set composed of 133 systems, which is considered representative of industrial control plants. Our results show the handling of the control signal is an extremely important factor in the performance degradation that the controller experiences - a clear indication that only a stability test does not give enough indication about the robustness to deadline misses

Towards Multicore WCET Analysis

AbsInt is the leading provider of commercial tools for static code-level timing analysis. Its aiT Worst-Case Execution Time Analyzer computes tight bounds for the WCET of tasks in embedded real-time systems. However, the results only incorporate the core-local latencies, i.e. interference delays due to other cores in a multicore system are ignored. This paper presents some of the work we have done towards multicore WCET analysis. We look into both static and measurement-based timing analysis for COTS multicore systems

Where do prices come from? Sociological approaches to price formation

The article provides an overview of the state of the art of sociological research on price formation. The dominant trait of the sociological approach to prices is to understand price formation not as the outcome of individual preferences but as the result of the social and political forces operating within the market field. The article proceeds from the concept of market fields and is organized around the three dominant approaches in economic sociology: the network approach, the institutional approach, and the cultural approach. -- Der Artikel gibt einen Überblick über den Forschungsstand zum Thema Preisbildung in der Soziologie. Ausgangspunkt der Betrachtung von Preisen aus soziologischer Perspektive ist, diese nicht als das Resultat individueller Präferenzen zu verstehen, sondern als Ausdruck der sozialen und politischen Kräfte in Märkten. Der Artikel orientiert sich an dem Konzept der Marktfelder und ist anhand der drei Hauptrichtungen der Wirtschaftssoziologie strukturiert: des Netzwerkansatzes, des institutionellen Ansatzes und des kulturellen Ansatzes.

Quality Management in Supply Chain Networks - The Case of Poland

In this article we suggest that rising quality requirements are key factors for the redesign of food chains. We argue that the food supply proceeds through pyramidalhierarchical strategic networks coordinated by powerful focal firms. These firms choose a quality strategy and employ chain quality management concepts by exerting managerial discretion to achieve the super-ordinate network aims. We introduce and elaborate upon two types of chain quality management: strategic and operative. The theoretical findings have been tested using evidence from the Polish dairy market. Semi-structured interviews were conducted across the various hierarchical levels of the 19 largest Polish dairy cooperatives during the spring of 2006. The results show that the firms’ activities are generally aligned with current market opportunities for optimal enterprise performance. Thus, we determined that manufacturers of well-branded products create an advanced network structure and apply strategic quality management. Networks that have a focal company acting as an external customer of a processor use operative quality management. Some Polish dairies are still not embedded in any supply chain networks; no chain quality management concepts can be installed in these chains because they have no powerful focal firm.chain quality management, dairy cooperatives, network theory, Poland, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, International Development, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics,

The practice of social entrepreneurship: Theory and the Swedish experience

The notion of social entrepreneurship has gained increasing recognition in the last years, both as an increasingly visible mode of economic action, and as an important policy tool. The paper outlines a typology that departs from a Schumpeterian view of entrepreneurship, that centers on the creation of new combinations of resources, and focuses on the nature of actors engaging in the pursuit, and the nature of resources mobilized. The analysis is illustrated by case study material on social enterprises that operate on the boundaries of the Swedish Welfare State, and historical examples taken from co-operative enterprises. Social entrepreneurship may be mapped on such a typology as a category of entrepreneurship that primarily (a) is engaged in by collective actors, and (b) involves, in a central role in the undertaking's resource mix, socially embedded resources. Social entrepreneurship that involves (or centers on) a business activity is one important subcategory of the field. It necessarily spans the boundary between different rule regimes that define resources and their utilization (cf. Polanyi 1944/2001: 57). The core business activity would thus involve the tapping of socially embedded resources and their conversion into (market-) convertible resources. As importantly, to ensure the undertaking's (or enterprise's) survival over time, it would also be expected to contribute to the replenishment of such resources, reconverting market resources into social capital. --