55,363 research outputs found
Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud
With the advent of cloud computing, organizations are nowadays able to react
rapidly to changing demands for computational resources. Not only individual
applications can be hosted on virtual cloud infrastructures, but also complete
business processes. This allows the realization of so-called elastic processes,
i.e., processes which are carried out using elastic cloud resources. Despite
the manifold benefits of elastic processes, there is still a lack of solutions
supporting them.
In this paper, we identify the state of the art of elastic Business Process
Management with a focus on infrastructural challenges. We conceptualize an
architecture for an elastic Business Process Management System and discuss
existing work on scheduling, resource allocation, monitoring, decentralized
coordination, and state management for elastic processes. Furthermore, we
present two representative elastic Business Process Management Systems which
are intended to counter these challenges. Based on our findings, we identify
open issues and outline possible research directions for the realization of
elastic processes and elastic Business Process Management.Comment: Please cite as: S. Schulte, C. Janiesch, S. Venugopal, I. Weber, and
P. Hoenisch (2015). Elastic Business Process Management: State of the Art and
Open Challenges for BPM in the Cloud. Future Generation Computer Systems,
Volume NN, Number N, NN-NN., http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2014.09.00
A grid-based approach for processing group activity log files
The information collected regarding group activity in a collaborative learning environment requires classifying, structuring and processing. The aim is to process this information in order to extract, reveal and provide students and tutors with valuable knowledge, awareness and feedback in order to successfully perform the collaborative learning activity. However, the large amount of information generated during online group activity may be time-consuming to process and, hence, can hinder the real-time delivery of the information. In this study we show how a Grid-based paradigm can be used to effectively process and present the information regarding group activity gathered in the log files under a collaborative environment. The computational power of the Grid makes it possible to process a huge amount of event information, compute statistical results and present them, when needed, to the members of the online group and the tutors, who are geographically distributed.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Separating Agent-Functioning and Inter-Agent Coordination by Activated Modules: The DECOMAS Architecture
The embedding of self-organizing inter-agent processes in distributed
software applications enables the decentralized coordination system elements,
solely based on concerted, localized interactions. The separation and
encapsulation of the activities that are conceptually related to the
coordination, is a crucial concern for systematic development practices in
order to prepare the reuse and systematic integration of coordination processes
in software systems. Here, we discuss a programming model that is based on the
externalization of processes prescriptions and their embedding in Multi-Agent
Systems (MAS). One fundamental design concern for a corresponding execution
middleware is the minimal-invasive augmentation of the activities that affect
coordination. This design challenge is approached by the activation of agent
modules. Modules are converted to software elements that reason about and
modify their host agent. We discuss and formalize this extension within the
context of a generic coordination architecture and exemplify the proposed
programming model with the decentralized management of (web) service
infrastructures
High Energy Physics Forum for Computational Excellence: Working Group Reports (I. Applications Software II. Software Libraries and Tools III. Systems)
Computing plays an essential role in all aspects of high energy physics. As
computational technology evolves rapidly in new directions, and data throughput
and volume continue to follow a steep trend-line, it is important for the HEP
community to develop an effective response to a series of expected challenges.
In order to help shape the desired response, the HEP Forum for Computational
Excellence (HEP-FCE) initiated a roadmap planning activity with two key
overlapping drivers -- 1) software effectiveness, and 2) infrastructure and
expertise advancement. The HEP-FCE formed three working groups, 1) Applications
Software, 2) Software Libraries and Tools, and 3) Systems (including systems
software), to provide an overview of the current status of HEP computing and to
present findings and opportunities for the desired HEP computational roadmap.
The final versions of the reports are combined in this document, and are
presented along with introductory material.Comment: 72 page
A Pattern Language for High-Performance Computing Resilience
High-performance computing systems (HPC) provide powerful capabilities for
modeling, simulation, and data analytics for a broad class of computational
problems. They enable extreme performance of the order of quadrillion
floating-point arithmetic calculations per second by aggregating the power of
millions of compute, memory, networking and storage components. With the
rapidly growing scale and complexity of HPC systems for achieving even greater
performance, ensuring their reliable operation in the face of system
degradations and failures is a critical challenge. System fault events often
lead the scientific applications to produce incorrect results, or may even
cause their untimely termination. The sheer number of components in modern
extreme-scale HPC systems and the complex interactions and dependencies among
the hardware and software components, the applications, and the physical
environment makes the design of practical solutions that support fault
resilience a complex undertaking. To manage this complexity, we developed a
methodology for designing HPC resilience solutions using design patterns. We
codified the well-known techniques for handling faults, errors and failures
that have been devised, applied and improved upon over the past three decades
in the form of design patterns. In this paper, we present a pattern language to
enable a structured approach to the development of HPC resilience solutions.
The pattern language reveals the relations among the resilience patterns and
provides the means to explore alternative techniques for handling a specific
fault model that may have different efficiency and complexity characteristics.
Using the pattern language enables the design and implementation of
comprehensive resilience solutions as a set of interconnected resilience
patterns that can be instantiated across layers of the system stack.Comment: Proceedings of the 22nd European Conference on Pattern Languages of
Program
Unmanned Aerial Systems for Wildland and Forest Fires
Wildfires represent an important natural risk causing economic losses, human
death and important environmental damage. In recent years, we witness an
increase in fire intensity and frequency. Research has been conducted towards
the development of dedicated solutions for wildland and forest fire assistance
and fighting. Systems were proposed for the remote detection and tracking of
fires. These systems have shown improvements in the area of efficient data
collection and fire characterization within small scale environments. However,
wildfires cover large areas making some of the proposed ground-based systems
unsuitable for optimal coverage. To tackle this limitation, Unmanned Aerial
Systems (UAS) were proposed. UAS have proven to be useful due to their
maneuverability, allowing for the implementation of remote sensing, allocation
strategies and task planning. They can provide a low-cost alternative for the
prevention, detection and real-time support of firefighting. In this paper we
review previous work related to the use of UAS in wildfires. Onboard sensor
instruments, fire perception algorithms and coordination strategies are
considered. In addition, we present some of the recent frameworks proposing the
use of both aerial vehicles and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UV) for a more
efficient wildland firefighting strategy at a larger scale.Comment: A recent published version of this paper is available at:
https://doi.org/10.3390/drones501001
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