Final draft post refereeing.Includes bibliographical references.Heterogeneous parallel and distributed computing systems may operate in an environment where certain system performance features degrade due to unpredictable circumstances. Robustness can be defined as the degree to which a system can function correctly in the presence of parameter values different from those assumed. This work develops a model for quantifying robustness in a dynamic heterogeneous computing environment where task execution time estimates are known to contain errors. This mathematical expression of robustness is then applied to two different problem environments. Several heuristic solutions to both problem variations are presented that utilize this expression of robustness to influence mapping decisions.This research was supported by the DARPA Information Exploitation Office under contract No. NBCHC030137, by the Colorado State University Center for Robustness in Computer Systems (funded by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education Technology Advancement Group through the Colorado Institute of Technology), and by the Colorado State University George T. Abell Endowment
