ResilienceP Analysis: Bounding Cache Persistence Reload Overhead for Set-Associative Caches

3rd Doctoral Congress in Engineering will be held at FEUP on the 27th to 28th of June, 2019This work presents different approaches to calculate CPRO for set-associative caches. The PCB-ECB approach uses PCBs of the task under analysis and ECBs of all other tasks in the system to provide sound estimates of CPRO for set-associative caches. The resilienceP analysis then removes some of the pessimism in the PCB-ECB approach by considering the resilience of PCBs during CPRO calculations. We show that using the state-of-the-art (SoA) resilience analysis to calculate resilience of PCBs may result in underestimating the CPRO tasks may suffer. Finally, we have also presented a multi-set alike resilienceP analysis that highlights the pessimism in the resilienceP analysis and provides some insights on how it can be removed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact of Information Technology (IT) Investment on Banks’ Performance: A Study on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Listed Banks of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, Information and communication technology (ICT) has become the impetus of current financial sector. Globalization, technological advancement and innovation, make it imperative for the banking industry in Bangladesh to invest more on ICT to stay ahead in the competition. This paper intends to explore the relationship between Information Technology (IT) investment and banks’ performance. This study is conducted on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) listed banks and especially five commercial banks are selected for this research. Based on secondary data, this research is quantitative and longitudinal in nature. The correlation and regression models have been used to measure the relationship between Information Technology (IT) investment and banks’ performance. Bank’s performance has been measured by Return on Investment (ROI), Net Profit Margin (NPM), Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Asset (ROA). The findings of this study reveal that a positive relationship exists between IT Investment and banks performance. Hence, it is suggested that more thought has to be put towards the investment and use of Information and Communication Technology in banking sector. Keywords: ICT, Information Technology, Investment, Bank, Evaluation, Bangladesh

The pattern, sources, and growth of remittances to Pakistan: The kinked exponential approach

This paper examines the pattern, sources and growth of remittances to Pakistan. It analyses the growing trend of remittances and share of remittances to GDP over the period 1972-2014. We use the kinked exponential model (Boyce, 1986, 1987) to estimates the growing trend of remittances in Pakistan. The results show that remittances received by Pakistan have three distinct growth phases over the study period – Phase I (1973 – 1983), Phase II (1984 – 2000) and Phase III (2001 – 2014). The remittances received by Pakistan have positive growth during the first and the third period while the second period shows negative growth. Before globalization, the UK was the major source of remittances to Pakistan but after globalization, the sources of remittances to Pakistan have been cantered on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other Gulf countries

Towards Timing Analysis of Multi-core Platforms for Hard Real-Time Systems

CPS Student Forum Portugal was held as part of the Cyber-Physical Systems Week (CPS Week 2018), 10-13 April, Porto-Portugal.We intend to provide solutions that can be used to quantify and analyze the non-determinism arising from the sharing of two main resources in MCPs, i.e., caches and interconnects. • Accurately quantify the cache related contention in single core platforms. • Bounding the interference due to cache hierarchy and last-level shared cache (LLC) in multicore platforms. • Model the inter-core interference due to the sharing of Bus/interconnects in a MCP. • Develop a new timing analysis taking into account the interference caused by both caches and interconnects and their impact on the timing properties of tasks running on MCPsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Presence/absence sequential plans for pest management decision-making, for arthropods of wet rice ecosystem in Malaysia

Presence-absence sequential sampling plans are presented for 11 arthropod categories to assist in management of their populations in the multipest-infested rice crop in Malaysia. Data from visual inspection of204 samples, with 40 and 100 hills per sample, were used to develop the plans. Action threshold for each of the 11 (5 pests, 6 predators) arthropod categories was obtained through a fourth-order polynomial regression of proportion of infestation against mean population densities, at the point of saturation of infestation. The pest species are: Nephotettix spp., Nilaparvata lugens, Recilia dorsalis, Sogatella furcifera and Cnapholocrocis medinalis (Pyralidae), and the predators: Cyrtorhinus lividipennis, Anatrichus pygmaeus (Diptera), spiders, Odonata, Paederus fuscipes and Casnoidea spp. Risk levels of Type I (a) and Type II error ({3) were prefixed at 0.3, since lower levels entail taking a larger number of samples. The sequential plans were then generated using the SEQUAN computer program of Talerico and Chapman (1970). During field operation on not more than 50 ha at a time, it is suggested that at least ten hills should be examined visually before recommending any pest management action. Simultaneous sampling of pests and predators enables status of predators' populations to be considered before recommending any decision

Differential diurnal population density ratios of wet rice arthropods in Malaysia

The varying population density of wet rice arthropods in a 24-h period, at two different locations, was monitored. Using one hill as the sampling unit, 22 categories of arthropods were visually counted every 3 h. In each of two separate studies, at each combination of arthropod category, date and time of sampling, the mean density at each sampling time was calculated and divided by the mean density for that day, to obtain the ratio of population density. Analysis of variance on these ratios (log transformed to normalize residuals and stabilize the variance) indicates sampling time as the only significant (P<0.05) main effect. When combined across categories and dates, ratios for 2100, 2400 and 0300 h were similar, higher than 1, and significantly higher than those from 0600 - 1800 h. Examination of each category's ratio pattern indicates four major behaviour groupings: (1) those with night ratios higher than 1, hence present in higher numbers at night and known to be active then; (2) those with ratios higher at night but known to be inactive then; (3) those with relatively constant ratios throughout day and night; (4) those with ratios high at certain hours only, usually at night and known to be most active then. Accurate estimation ofpopulation should consider the varying density ofindividuals corresponding with the time of day and changing activity pattern of the arthropod concerned. Hence it is suggested here that the appropriate ratio should be used for the relevant arthropod category when sampling at a certain time of day

On the Merits of Deploying TDM-based Next-Generation PON Solutions in the Access Arena As Multiservice, All Packet-Based 4G Mobile Backhaul RAN Architecture

The phenomenal growth of mobile backhaul capacity required to support the emerging fourth-generation (4G) traffic including mobile WiMAX, cellular Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) requires rapid migration from today\u27s legacy circuit switched T1/E1 wireline and microwave backhaul technologies to a new fiber-supported, all-packet-based mobile backhaul infrastructure. Clearly, a cost effective fiber supported all-packet-based mobile backhaul radio access network (RAN) architecture that is compatible with these inherently distributed 4G RAN architectures is needed to efficiently scale current mobile backhaul networks. However, deploying a green fiber-based mobile backhaul infrastructure is a costly proposition mainly due to the significant cost associated with digging the trenches in which the fiber is to be laid. These, along with the inevitable trend towards all-IP/Ethernet transport protocols and packet switched networks, have prompted many carriers around the world to consider the potential of utilizing the existing fiber-based Passive Optical Network (PON) access infrastructure as an all-packet-based converged fixed-mobile optical access networking transport architecture to backhaul both mobile and typical wireline traffic. Passive Optical Network (PON)-based fiber-to-the-curb/home (FTTC/FTTH) access networks are being deployed around the globe based on two Time-Division Multiplexed (TDM) standards: ITU G.984 Gigabit PON (GPON) and IEEE 802.ah Ethernet PON (EPON). A PON connects a group of Optical Network Units (ONUs) located at the subscriber premises to an Optical Line Terminal (OLT) located at the service provider\u27s facility. It is the purpose of this thesis to examine the technological requirements and assess the performance analysis and feasibility for deploying TDM-based next-generation (NG) PON solutions in the access arena as multiservice, all packet-based 4G mobile backhaul RAN and/or converged fixed-mobile optical networking architecture. Specifically, this work proposes and devises a simple and cost-effective 10G-EPON-based 4G mobile backhaul RAN architecture that efficiently transports and supports a wide range of existing and emerging fixed-mobile advanced multimedia applications and services along with the diverse quality of service (QoS), rate, and reliability requirements set by these services. The techno-economics merits of utilizing PON-based 4G RAN architecture versus that of traditional 4G (mobile WiMAX and LTE) RAN will be thoroughly examine and quantified. To achieve our objective, we utilize the existing fiber-based PON access infrastructure with novel ring-based distribution access network and wireless-enabled OLT and ONUs as the multiservice packet-based 4G mobile backhaul RAN infrastructure. Specifically, to simplify the implementation of such a complex undertaking, this work is divided into two sequential phases. In the first phase, we examine and quantify the overall performance of the standalone ring-based 10G-EPON architecture (just the wireline part without overlaying/incorporating the wireless part (4G RAN)) via modeling and simulations. We then assemble the basic building blocks, components, and sub-systems required to build up a proof-of-concept prototype testbed for the standalone ring-based EPON architecture. The testbed will be used to verify and demonstrate the performance of the standalone architecture, specifically, in terms of power budget, scalability, and reach. In the second phase, we develop an integrated framework for the efficient interworking between the two wireline PON and 4G mobile access technologies, particularly, in terms of unified network control and management (NCM) operations. Specifically, we address the key technical challenges associated with tailoring a typically centralized PON-based access architecture to interwork with and support a distributed 4G RAN architecture and associated radio NCM operations. This is achieved via introducing and developing several salient-networking innovations that collectively enable the standalone EPON architecture to support a fully distributed 4G mobile backhaul RAN and/or a truly unified NG-PON-4G access networking architecture. These include a fully distributed control plane that enables intercommunication among the access nodes (ONUs/BSs) as well as signaling, scheduling algorithms, and handoff procedures that operate in a distributed manner. Overall, the proposed NG-PON architecture constitutes a complete networking paradigm shift from the typically centralized PON\u27s architecture and OLT-based NCM operations to a new disruptive fully distributed PON\u27s architecture and NCM operations in which all the typically centralized OLT-based PON\u27s NCM operations are migrated to and independently implemented by the access nodes (ONUs) in a distributed manner. This requires migrating most of the typically centralized wireline and radio control and user-plane functionalities such as dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA), queue management and packet scheduling, handover control, radio resource management, admission control, etc., typically implemented in today\u27s OLT/RNC, to the access nodes (ONUs/4G BSs). It is shown that the overall performance of the proposed EPON-based 4G backhaul including both the RAN and Mobile Packet Core (MPC) {Evolved Packet Core (EPC) per 3GPP LTE\u27s standard} is significantly augmented compared to that of the typical 4G RAN, specifically, in terms of handoff capability, signaling overhead, overall network throughput and latency, and QoS support. Furthermore, the proposed architecture enables redistributing some of the intelligence and NCM operations currently centralized in the MPC platform out into the access nodes of the mobile RAN. Specifically, as this work will show, it enables offloading sizable fraction of the mobile signaling as well as actual local upstream traffic transport and processing (LTE bearers switch/set-up, retain, and tear-down and associated signaling commands from the BSs to the EPC and vice-versa) from the EPC to the access nodes (ONUs/BSs). This has a significant impact on the performance of the EPC. First, it frees up a sizable fraction of the badly needed network resources as well as processing on the overloaded centralized serving nodes (AGW) in the MPC. Second, it frees up capacity and sessions on the typically congested mobile backhaul from the BSs to the EPC and vice-versa

Planning a barrier free environment and better quality of life based on the predictors of out-of-home of rural older Malaysian

Engaging in more out-of-home activities are important elements in the quality of life of the older persons. The older persons have a wide range of social and physical constraints to participate in out-of-home activities and these have implications that require accurate interpretations of an ageing society which impacts on the whole built environment. Based on the study entitled 'Activities, Access and Ageing of Older Malaysians' conducted by the author, factors that hinder or support the participation of older persons in out-of-home activities were identified. The purpose of the paper is to identify the patterns and predictors of out-of-home activities of rural older Malaysians and to understand their needs and expectations in barrier-free environment. The study found that there are significant relationships between age, perceived barriers to town and the number of out-of-home activities participated. Results highlight important factors relevant for the urban planners and policy makers in creating high quality barrier free environment that would enhance the older persons' quality of life