14 research outputs found
Hastings Community (Winter 2005)
https://repository.uchastings.edu/alumni_mag/1120/thumbnail.jp
Maximising microprocessor reliability through game theory and heuristics
PhD ThesisEmbedded Systems are becoming ever more pervasive in our society, with most
routine daily tasks now involving their use in some form and the market predicted
to be worth USD 220 billion, a rise of 300%, by 2018. Consumers expect
more functionality with each design iteration, but for no detriment in perceived
performance. These devices can range from simple low-cost chips to expensive
and complex systems and are a major cost driver in the equipment design
phase. For more than 35 years, designers have kept pace with Moore's Law, but
as device size approaches the atomic limit, layouts are becoming so complicated
that current scheduling techniques are also reaching their limit, meaning that
more resource must be reserved to manage and deliver reliable operation. With
the advent of many-core systems and further sources of unpredictability such as
changeable power supplies and energy harvesting, this reservation of capability
may become so large that systems will not be operating at their peak efficiency.
These complex systems can be controlled through many techniques, with
jobs scheduled either online prior to execution beginning or online at each time
or event change. Increased processing power and job types means that current
online scheduling methods that employ exhaustive search techniques will not
be suitable to define schedules for such enigmatic task lists and that new techniques
using statistic-based methods must be investigated to preserve Quality
of Service.
A new paradigm of scheduling through complex heuristics is one way to
administer these next levels of processor effectively and allow the use of more
simple devices in complex systems; thus reducing unit cost while retaining reliability a key goal identified by the International Technology Roadmap for Semi-conductors for Embedded Systems in Critical Environments. These changes
would be beneficial in terms of cost reduction and system
exibility within the
next generation of device. This thesis investigates the use of heuristics and
statistical methods in the operation of real-time systems, with the feasibility of
Game Theory and Statistical Process Control for the successful supervision of
high-load and critical jobs investigated. Heuristics are identified as an effective
method of controlling complex real-time issues, with two-person non-cooperative
games delivering Nash-optimal solutions where these exist. The simplified algorithms for creating and solving Game Theory events allow for its use within
small embedded RISC devices and an increase in reliability for systems operating
at the apex of their limits. Within this Thesis, Heuristic and Game Theoretic
algorithms for a variety of real-time scenarios are postulated, investigated, refined and tested against existing schedule types; initially through MATLAB
simulation before testing on an ARM Cortex M3 architecture functioning as a
simplified automotive Electronic Control Unit.Doctoral Teaching Account from the EPSRC
Bowdoin Alumnus Volume 37 (1962-1963)
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/alumni-magazines/1035/thumbnail.jp
Bowdoin Alumnus Volume 42 (1967-1968)
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/alumni-magazines/1040/thumbnail.jp
Bowdoin Alumnus Volume 39 (1964-1965)
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/alumni-magazines/1037/thumbnail.jp
Bowdoin Orient v.69, no.1-26 (1939-1940)
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-1940s/1010/thumbnail.jp
Bowdoin Orient v.69, no.1-26 (1939-1940)
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-1930s/1010/thumbnail.jp
Bowdoin Orient v.78, no.1-25 (1948-1949)
https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/bowdoinorient-1940s/1009/thumbnail.jp