Using Dedicated and Opportunistic Networks in Synergy for a Cost-effective Distributed Stream Processing Platform

This paper presents a case for exploiting the synergy of dedicated and opportunistic network resources in a distributed hosting platform for data stream processing applications. Our previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of combining dedicated reliable resources with opportunistic resources in case of high-throughput computing applications, where timely allocation of the processing units is the primary concern. Since distributed stream processing applications demand large volume of data transmission between the processing sites at a consistent rate, adequate control over the network resources is important here to assure a steady flow of processing. In this paper, we propose a system model for the hybrid hosting platform where stream processing servers installed at distributed sites are interconnected with a combination of dedicated links and public Internet. Decentralized algorithms have been developed for allocation of the two classes of network resources among the competing tasks with an objective towards higher task throughput and better utilization of expensive dedicated resources. Results from extensive simulation study show that with proper management, systems exploiting the synergy of dedicated and opportunistic resources yield considerably higher task throughput and thus, higher return on investment over the systems solely using expensive dedicated resources.Comment: 9 page

A Taxonomy of Workflow Management Systems for Grid Computing

With the advent of Grid and application technologies, scientists and engineers are building more and more complex applications to manage and process large data sets, and execute scientific experiments on distributed resources. Such application scenarios require means for composing and executing complex workflows. Therefore, many efforts have been made towards the development of workflow management systems for Grid computing. In this paper, we propose a taxonomy that characterizes and classifies various approaches for building and executing workflows on Grids. We also survey several representative Grid workflow systems developed by various projects world-wide to demonstrate the comprehensiveness of the taxonomy. The taxonomy not only highlights the design and engineering similarities and differences of state-of-the-art in Grid workflow systems, but also identifies the areas that need further research.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figure

GRAPH-BASED FOG COMPUTING NETWORK MODEL

IoT networks generate numerous amounts of data that is then transferred to the cloud for processing. Transferring data cleansing and parts of calculations towards these edge-level networks improves system’s, latency, energy consumption, network bandwidth and computational resources utilization, fault tolerance and thus operational costs. On the other hand, these fog nodes are resource-constrained, have extremely distributed and heterogeneous nature, lack horizontal scalability, and, thus, the vanilla SOA approach is not applicable to them. Utilization of Software Defined Network (SDN) with task distribution capabilities advocated in this paper addresses these issues. Suggested framework may utilize various routing and data distribution algorithms allowing to build flexible system most relevant for particular use-case. Advocated architecture was evaluated in agent-based simulation environment and proved its’ feasibility and performance gains compared to conventional event-stream approach

Cooperative localization for mobile agents: a recursive decentralized algorithm based on Kalman filter decoupling

We consider cooperative localization technique for mobile agents with communication and computation capabilities. We start by provide and overview of different decentralization strategies in the literature, with special focus on how these algorithms maintain an account of intrinsic correlations between state estimate of team members. Then, we present a novel decentralized cooperative localization algorithm that is a decentralized implementation of a centralized Extended Kalman Filter for cooperative localization. In this algorithm, instead of propagating cross-covariance terms, each agent propagates new intermediate local variables that can be used in an update stage to create the required propagated cross-covariance terms. Whenever there is a relative measurement in the network, the algorithm declares the agent making this measurement as the interim master. By acquiring information from the interim landmark, the agent the relative measurement is taken from, the interim master can calculate and broadcast a set of intermediate variables which each robot can then use to update its estimates to match that of a centralized Extended Kalman Filter for cooperative localization. Once an update is done, no further communication is needed until the next relative measurement

Scalable Approach to Uncertainty Quantification and Robust Design of Interconnected Dynamical Systems

Development of robust dynamical systems and networks such as autonomous aircraft systems capable of accomplishing complex missions faces challenges due to the dynamically evolving uncertainties coming from model uncertainties, necessity to operate in a hostile cluttered urban environment, and the distributed and dynamic nature of the communication and computation resources. Model-based robust design is difficult because of the complexity of the hybrid dynamic models including continuous vehicle dynamics, the discrete models of computations and communications, and the size of the problem. We will overview recent advances in methodology and tools to model, analyze, and design robust autonomous aerospace systems operating in uncertain environment, with stress on efficient uncertainty quantification and robust design using the case studies of the mission including model-based target tracking and search, and trajectory planning in uncertain urban environment. To show that the methodology is generally applicable to uncertain dynamical systems, we will also show examples of application of the new methods to efficient uncertainty quantification of energy usage in buildings, and stability assessment of interconnected power networks

Machine Learning Infused Distributed Optimization for Coordinating Virtual Power Plant Assets

Amid the increasing interest in the deployment of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), the Virtual Power Plant (VPP) has emerged as a pivotal tool for aggregating diverse DERs and facilitating their participation in wholesale energy markets. These VPP deployments have been fueled by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Order 2222, which makes DERs and VPPs competitive across market segments. However, the diversity and decentralized nature of DERs present significant challenges to the scalable coordination of VPP assets. To address efficiency and speed bottlenecks, this paper presents a novel machine learning-assisted distributed optimization to coordinate VPP assets. Our method, named LOOP-MAC(Learning to Optimize the Optimization Process for Multi-agent Coordination), adopts a multi-agent coordination perspective where each VPP agent manages multiple DERs and utilizes neural network approximators to expedite the solution search. The LOOP-MAC method employs a gauge map to guarantee strict compliance with local constraints, effectively reducing the need for additional post-processing steps. Our results highlight the advantages of LOOP-MAC, showcasing accelerated solution times per iteration and significantly reduced convergence times. The LOOP-MAC method outperforms conventional centralized and distributed optimization methods in optimization tasks that require repetitive and sequential execution