436,461 research outputs found
Compositional game theory
We introduce open games as a compositional foundation of economic game
theory. A compositional approach potentially allows methods of game theory and
theoretical computer science to be applied to large-scale economic models for
which standard economic tools are not practical. An open game represents a game
played relative to an arbitrary environment and to this end we introduce the
concept of coutility, which is the utility generated by an open game and
returned to its environment. Open games are the morphisms of a symmetric
monoidal category and can therefore be composed by categorical composition into
sequential move games and by monoidal products into simultaneous move games.
Open games can be represented by string diagrams which provide an intuitive but
formal visualisation of the information flows. We show that a variety of games
can be faithfully represented as open games in the sense of having the same
Nash equilibria and off-equilibrium best responses.Comment: This version submitted to LiCS 201
A Lyapunov Optimization Approach to Repeated Stochastic Games
This paper considers a time-varying game with players. Every time slot,
players observe their own random events and then take a control action. The
events and control actions affect the individual utilities earned by each
player. The goal is to maximize a concave function of time average utilities
subject to equilibrium constraints. Specifically, participating players are
provided access to a common source of randomness from which they can optimally
correlate their decisions. The equilibrium constraints incentivize
participation by ensuring that players cannot earn more utility if they choose
not to participate. This form of equilibrium is similar to the notions of Nash
equilibrium and correlated equilibrium, but is simpler to attain. A Lyapunov
method is developed that solves the problem in an online \emph{max-weight}
fashion by selecting actions based on a set of time-varying weights. The
algorithm does not require knowledge of the event probabilities and has
polynomial convergence time. A similar method can be used to compute a standard
correlated equilibrium, albeit with increased complexity.Comment: 13 pages, this version fixes an incorrect statement of the previous
arxiv version (see footnote 1, page 5 in current version for the correction
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Towards product platform introduction: optimising commonality of components
Companies that design and manufacture products for a wide range of related applications need to offer the right product for each use. A platform design strategy allows designing the product range based on product platforms, where some of the components and systems are common across the range whereas other components are individual for each product variant. This paper presents the problems that a company faces when trying to introduce a platform strategy and outlines a method to find suitable components to be made common. The method is shown with a simple case. The approach uses fuzzy logic to obtain a suitable criterion to assess the overall value of the product line and a genetic algorithm for finding the set of components to be made commo
Dynamic Product Assembly and Inventory Control for Maximum Profit
We consider a manufacturing plant that purchases raw materials for product
assembly and then sells the final products to customers. There are M types of
raw materials and K types of products, and each product uses a certain subset
of raw materials for assembly. The plant operates in slotted time, and every
slot it makes decisions about re-stocking materials and pricing the existing
products in reaction to (possibly time-varying) material costs and consumer
demands. We develop a dynamic purchasing and pricing policy that yields time
average profit within epsilon of optimality, for any given epsilon>0, with a
worst case storage buffer requirement that is O(1/epsilon). The policy can be
implemented easily for large M, K, yields fast convergence times, and is robust
to non-ergodic system dynamics.Comment: 32 page
Implementation of complex interactions in a Cox regression framework
The standard Cox proportional hazards model has been extended by functionally describable interaction terms. The first of which are related to neural networks by adopting the idea of transforming sums of weighted covariables by means of a logistic function. A class of reasonable weight combinations within the logistic transformation is described. Apart from the standard covariable product interaction, a product of logistically transformed covariables has also been included in the analysis of performance of the new terms. An algorithm combining likelihood ratio tests and AIC criterion has been defined for model choice. The critical values of the likelihood ratio test statistics had to be corrected in order to guarantee a maximum type I error of 5% for each interaction term. The new class of interaction terms allows interpretation of functional relationships between covariables with more flexibility and can easily be implemented in standard software packages
Knowledge creation and visualisation by using trade-off curves to enable set-based concurrent engineering
The increased international competition forces companies to sustain and improve market share through the production of a high quality product in a cost effective manner and in a shorter time. Set‑based concurrent engineering (SBCE), which is a core element of lean product development approach, has got the potential to decrease time‑to‑market as well as enhance product innovation to be produced in good quality and cost effective manner. A knowledge‑based environment is one of the important requ irements for a successful SBCE implementation. One way to provide this environment is the use of trade‑off curves (ToC). ToC is a tool to create and visualise knowledge in the way to understand the relationships between various conflicting design parame ters to each other. This paper presents an overview of different types of ToCs and the role of knowledge‑based ToCs in SBCE by employing an extensive literature review and industrial field study. It then proposes a process of generating and using knowledg e‑based ToCs in order to create and visualise knowledge to enable the following key SBCE activities: (1) Identify the feasible design space, (2) Generate set of conceptual design solutions, (3) Compare design solutions, (4) Narrow down the design sets, (5) Achieve final optimal design solution. Finally a hypothetical example of a car seat structure is presented in order to provide a better understanding of using ToCs. This example shows that ToCs are effective tools to be used as a knowledge sou rce at the early stages of product development process
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