Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 41

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Feedback Control For Multi-Modal Optimization Using Genetic Algorithms, Jun Shi, Ole J. Mengshoel, Dipan K. Pal Jun 2014

Feedback Control For Multi-Modal Optimization Using Genetic Algorithms, Jun Shi, Ole J. Mengshoel, Dipan K. Pal

Ole J Mengshoel

Many optimization problems are multi-modal. In certain cases, we are interested in finding multiple locally optimal solutions rather than just a single optimum as is computed by traditional genetic algorithms (GAs). Several niching techniques have been developed that seek to find multiple such local optima. These techniques, which include sharing and crowding, are clearly powerful and useful. But they do not explicitly let the user control the number of local optima being computed, which we believe to be an important capability.
In this paper, we develop a method that provides, as an input parameter to niching, the desired number of …


Adaptive Control Of Apache Web Server, Erik Reed, Abe Ishihara, Ole J. Mengshoel May 2013

Adaptive Control Of Apache Web Server, Erik Reed, Abe Ishihara, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Traffic to a Web site can vary dramatically. At the same time it is highly desirable that a Web site is reactive. To provide crisp interaction on thin clients, 150 milliseconds has been suggested as an upper bound on response time. Unfortunately, the popular Apache Web server is limited in its capabilities to be reactive under varying traffic. To address this problem, we design in this paper an adaptive controller for the Apache Web server. A modified recursive least squares algorithm is used to identify system dynamics and a minimum degree pole placement controller is implemented to adjust the maximum …


Multi-Focus And Multi-Window Techniques For Interactive Network Exploration, Priya K. Sundararajan, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker Jan 2013

Multi-Focus And Multi-Window Techniques For Interactive Network Exploration, Priya K. Sundararajan, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker

Ole J Mengshoel

Networks analysts often need to compare nodes in different parts of a network. When zoomed to fit a computer screen, the detailed structure and node labels of even a moderately-sized network (say, with 500 nodes) can become invisible or difficult to read. Still, the coarse network structure typically remains visible, and helps orient an analyst’s zooming, scrolling, and panning operations. These operations are very useful when studying details and reading node labels, but in the process of zooming in on one network region, an analyst may lose track of details elsewhere. To address such problems, we present in this paper …


Multi-Focus And Multi-Level Techniques For Visualization And Analysis Of Networks With Thematic Data, Michele Cossalter, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker Jan 2013

Multi-Focus And Multi-Level Techniques For Visualization And Analysis Of Networks With Thematic Data, Michele Cossalter, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker

Ole J Mengshoel

Information-rich data sets bring several challenges in the areas of visualization and analysis, even when associated with node-link network visualizations. This paper presents an integration of multi-focus and multi-level techniques that enable interactive, multi-step comparisons in node-link networks. We describe NetEx, a visualization tool that enables users to simultaneously explore different parts of a network and its thematic data, such as time series or conditional probability tables. NetEx, implemented as a Cytoscape plug-in, has been applied to the analysis of electrical power networks, Bayesian networks, and the Enron e-mail repository. In this paper we briefly discuss visualization and analysis of …


Scaling Bayesian Network Parameter Learning With Expectation Maximization Using Mapreduce, Erik B. Reed, Ole J. Mengshoel Nov 2012

Scaling Bayesian Network Parameter Learning With Expectation Maximization Using Mapreduce, Erik B. Reed, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Bayesian network (BN) parameter learning from incomplete data can be a computationally expensive task for incomplete data. Applying the EM algorithm to learn BN parameters is unfortunately susceptible to local optima and prone to premature convergence. We develop and experiment with two methods for improving EM parameter learning by using MapReduce: Age-Layered Expectation Maximization (ALEM) and Multiple Expectation Maximization (MEM). Leveraging MapReduce for distributed machine learning, these algorithms (i) operate on a (potentially large) population of BNs and (ii) partition the data set as is traditionally done with MapReduce machine learning. For example, we achieved gains using the Hadoop implementation …


Mapreduce For Bayesian Network Parameter Learning Using The Em Algorithm, Aniruddha Basak, Irina Brinster, Ole J. Mengshoel Nov 2012

Mapreduce For Bayesian Network Parameter Learning Using The Em Algorithm, Aniruddha Basak, Irina Brinster, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

This work applies the distributed computing framework MapReduce to Bayesian network parameter learning from incomplete data. We formulate the classical Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm within the MapReduce framework. Analytically and experimentally we analyze the speed-up that can be obtained by means of MapReduce. We present details of the MapReduce formulation of EM, report speed-ups versus the sequential case, and carefully compare various Hadoop cluster configurations in experiments with Bayesian networks of different sizes and structures.


Software And System Health Management For Autonomous Robotics Missions, Johann Schumann, Timmy Mbaya, Ole J. Mengshoel Sep 2012

Software And System Health Management For Autonomous Robotics Missions, Johann Schumann, Timmy Mbaya, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Advanced autonomous robotics space missions rely heavily on the flawless interaction of complex hardware, multiple sensors, and a mission-critical software system. This software system consists of an operating system, device drivers, controllers, and executives; recently highly complex AI-based autonomy software have also been introduced. Prior to launch, this software has to undergo rigorous verification and validation (V&V). Nevertheless, dormant software bugs, failing sensors, unexpected hardware-software interactions, and unanticipated environmental conditions—likely on a space exploration mission—can cause major software faults that can endanger the entire mission.

Our Integrated Software Health Management (ISWHM) system continuously monitors the hardware sensors and the software …


Reactive Bayesian Network Computation Using Feedback Control: An Empirical Study, Ole J. Mengshoel, Abe Ishihara, Erik Reed Aug 2012

Reactive Bayesian Network Computation Using Feedback Control: An Empirical Study, Ole J. Mengshoel, Abe Ishihara, Erik Reed

Ole J Mengshoel

This paper investigates the challenge of integrating intelligent systems into varying computational platforms and application mixes while providing reactive (or soft real-time) response. We integrate Bayesian network computation with feedback control, thereby achieving our reactive objective. As a case study we investigate fault diagnosis using Bayesian networks. While we consider the likelihood weighting and junction tree propagation Bayesian network inference algorithms in some detail, we hypothesize that the techniques developed can be broadly applied to achieve reactive intelligent systems. In the empirical study of this paper we demonstrate reactive fault diagnosis for an electrical power system.


The Impact Of Social Affinity On Phone Calling Patterns: Categorizing Social Ties From Call Data Records, Sara Motahari, Ole J. Mengshoel, Phyllis Reuther, Sandeep Appala, Luca Zoia, Jay Shah Aug 2012

The Impact Of Social Affinity On Phone Calling Patterns: Categorizing Social Ties From Call Data Records, Sara Motahari, Ole J. Mengshoel, Phyllis Reuther, Sandeep Appala, Luca Zoia, Jay Shah

Ole J Mengshoel

Social ties defined by phone calls made between people can be grouped to various affinity networks, such as family members, utility network, friends, coworkers, etc. An understanding of call behavior within each social affinity network and the ability to infer the type of a social tie from call patterns is invaluable for various industrial purposes. For example, the telecom industry can use such information for consumer retention, targeted advertising, and customized services. In this paper, we analyze the patterns of 4.3 million phone call data records produced by 360,000 subscribers from two California cities. Our findings can be summarized as …


Accelerating Bayesian Network Parameter Learning Using Hadoop And Mapreduce, Aniruddha Basak, Irina Brinster, Xianheng Ma, Ole J. Mengshoel Aug 2012

Accelerating Bayesian Network Parameter Learning Using Hadoop And Mapreduce, Aniruddha Basak, Irina Brinster, Xianheng Ma, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Learning conditional probability tables of large Bayesian Networks (BNs) with hidden nodes using the Expectation Maximization algorithm is heavily computationally intensive. There are at least two bottlenecks, namely the potentially huge data set size and the requirement for computation and memory resources. This work applies the distributed computing framework MapReduce to Bayesian parameter learning from complete and incomplete data. We formulate both traditional parameter learning (complete data) and the classical Expectation Maximization algorithm (incomplete data) within the MapReduce framework. Analytically and experimentally we analyze the speed-up that can be obtained by means of MapReduce. We present the details of our …


Adaptive Control Of Bayesian Network Computation, Erik Reed, Abe Ishihara, Ole J. Mengshoel Jul 2012

Adaptive Control Of Bayesian Network Computation, Erik Reed, Abe Ishihara, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

This paper considers the problem of providing, for computational processes, soft real-time (or reactive) response without the use of a hard real-time operating system. In particular, we focus on the problem of reactively computing fault diagnosis by means of different Bayesian network inference algorithms on non-real-time operating systems where low-criticality (background) process activity and system load is unpredictable.
To address this problem, we take in this paper a reconfigurable adaptive control approach. Computation time is modeled using an ARX model where the input consists of the maximum number of background processes allowed to run at any given time. To ensure …


Age-Layered Expectation Maximization For Parameter Learning In Bayesian Networks, Avneesh Saluja, Priya Sundararajan, Ole J. Mengshoel Apr 2012

Age-Layered Expectation Maximization For Parameter Learning In Bayesian Networks, Avneesh Saluja, Priya Sundararajan, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

The expectation maximization (EM) algorithm is a popular algorithm for parameter estimation in models with hidden variables. However, the algorithm has several non-trivial limitations, a significant one being variation in eventual solutions found, due to convergence to local optima. Several techniques have been proposed to allay this problem, for example initializing EM from multiple random starting points and selecting the highest likelihood out of all runs. In this work, we a) show that this method can be very expensive computationally for difficult Bayesian networks, and b) in response we propose an age-layered EM approach (ALEM) that efficiently discards less promising …


A Tutorial On Bayesian Networks For System Health Management, Arthur Choi, Lu Zheng, Adnan Darwiche, Ole J. Mengshoel Oct 2011

A Tutorial On Bayesian Networks For System Health Management, Arthur Choi, Lu Zheng, Adnan Darwiche, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Bayesian networks have established themselves as an indispensable tool in artificial intelligence, and are being used effectively by researchers and practitioners more broadly in science and engineering. The domain of system health management, including diagnosis, is no exception. In fact, diagnostic applications have driven much of the developments in Bayesian networks over the past few decades. In this chapter, we provide a gentle and accessible introduction to modeling and reasoning with Bayesian networks, with the domain of system health management in mind.


Bayesian Software Health Management For Aircraft Guidance, Navigation, And Control, Johann M. Schumann, Timmy Mbaya, Ole J. Mengshoel Sep 2011

Bayesian Software Health Management For Aircraft Guidance, Navigation, And Control, Johann M. Schumann, Timmy Mbaya, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Modern aircraft — both piloted fly-by-wire commercial aircraft as well as UAVs — more and more depend on highly complex safety critical software systems with many sensors and computer-controlled actuators. Despite careful design and V&V of the software, severe incidents have happened due to malfunctioning software.

In this paper, we discuss the use of Bayesian networks to monitor the health of the on-board software and sensor system, and to perform advanced on-board diagnostic reasoning. We focus on the development of reliable and robust health models for combined software and sensor systems, with application to guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C). Our …


Integrating Probabilistic Reasoning And Statistical Quality Control Techniques For Fault Diagnosis In Hybrid Domains, Brian Ricks, Craig Harrison, Ole J. Mengshoel Sep 2011

Integrating Probabilistic Reasoning And Statistical Quality Control Techniques For Fault Diagnosis In Hybrid Domains, Brian Ricks, Craig Harrison, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Bayesian networks, which may be compiled to arithmetic circuits in the interest of speed and predictability, provide a probabilistic method for system fault diagnosis. Currently, there is a limitation in arithmetic circuits in that they can only represent discrete random variables, while important fault types such as drift and offset faults are continuous and induce continuous sensor data. In this paper, we investigate how to handle continuous behavior by using discrete random variables with a small number of states, without using soft evidence, which is a traditional technique for handling continuous sensor data. We do so by integrating a method …


Visualizing And Understanding Large-Scale Bayesian Networks, Michele Cossalter, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker Aug 2011

Visualizing And Understanding Large-Scale Bayesian Networks, Michele Cossalter, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ted Selker

Ole J Mengshoel

Bayesian networks are a theoretically well-founded approach to represent large multi-variate probability distributions, and have proven useful in a broad range of applications. While several software tools for visualizing and editing Bayesian networks exist, they have important weaknesses when it comes to enabling users to clearly understand and compare conditional probability tables in the context of network topology, especially in large-scale networks. This paper describes a system for improving the ability for computers to work with people to develop intelligent systems through the construction of high-performing Bayesian networks. We describe NetEx, a tool developed as a Cytoscape plugin, which allows …


Software Health Management With Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, Johann M. Schumann Aug 2011

Software Health Management With Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, Johann M. Schumann

Ole J Mengshoel

No abstract provided.


Integrated Software And Sensor Health Management For Small Spacecraft, Johann Schumann, Ole J. Mengshoel, Timmy Mbaya Jul 2011

Integrated Software And Sensor Health Management For Small Spacecraft, Johann Schumann, Ole J. Mengshoel, Timmy Mbaya

Ole J Mengshoel

Despite their size, small spacecraft have highly complex architectures with many sensors and computer-controlled actuators. At the same time, size, weight, and budget constraints often dictate that small spacecraft are designed as single-string systems, which means that there are no or few redundant systems. Thus, all components, including software, must operate as reliably. Faults, if present, must be detected as early as possible to enable (usually limited) forms of mitigation. Telemetry bandwidth for such spacecraft is usually very limited. Therefore, fault detection and diagnosis must be performed on-board. Further restrictions include low computational power and small memory.

In this paper, …


Belief Propagation By Message Passing In Junction Trees: Computing Each Message Faster Using Gpu Parallelization, Lu Zheng, Ole J. Mengshoel, Jike Chong Jun 2011

Belief Propagation By Message Passing In Junction Trees: Computing Each Message Faster Using Gpu Parallelization, Lu Zheng, Ole J. Mengshoel, Jike Chong

Ole J Mengshoel

Compiling Bayesian networks (BNs) to junction trees and performing belief propagation over them is among the most prominent approaches to computing posteriors in BNs. However, belief propagation over junction tree is known to be computationally intensive in the general case. Its complexity may increase dramatically with the connectivity and state space cardinality of Bayesian network nodes. In this paper, we address this computational challenge using GPU parallelization. We develop data structures and algorithms that extend existing junction tree techniques, and specifically develop a novel approach to computing each belief propagation message in parallel. We implement our approach on an NVIDIA …


Verification And Validation Of System Health Management Models Using Parametric Testing, Erik Reed, Johann Schumann, Ole J. Mengshoel Feb 2011

Verification And Validation Of System Health Management Models Using Parametric Testing, Erik Reed, Johann Schumann, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

System Health Management (SHM) systems have found their way into many safety-critical aerospace and industrial applications. A SHM system processes readings from sensors throughout the system and uses a Health Management (HM) model to detect and identify potential faults (diagnosis) and to predict possible failures in the near future (prognosis). It is essential that a SHM system, which monitors a safety-critical component, must be at least as reliable and safe as the component itself—false alarms or missed adverse events can potentially result in catastrophic failures. The SHM system including the HM model, a piece of software, must therefore undergo rigorous …


Initialization And Restart In Stochastic Local Search: Computing A Most Probable Explanation In Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, David C. Wilkins, Dan Roth Jan 2011

Initialization And Restart In Stochastic Local Search: Computing A Most Probable Explanation In Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, David C. Wilkins, Dan Roth

Ole J Mengshoel

For hard computational problems, stochastic local search has proven to be a competitive approach to finding optimal or approximately optimal problem solutions. Two key research questions for stochastic local search algorithms are: Which algorithms are effective for initialization? When should the search process be restarted? In the present work, we investigate these research questions in the context of approximate computation of most probable explanations (MPEs) in Bayesian networks (BNs). We introduce a novel approach, based on the Viterbi algorithm, to explanation initialization in BNs. While the Viterbi algorithm works on sequences and trees, our approach works on BNs with arbitrary …


Towards Software Health Management With Bayesian Networks, Johann Schumann, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ashok Srivastava, Adnan Darwiche Oct 2010

Towards Software Health Management With Bayesian Networks, Johann Schumann, Ole J. Mengshoel, Ashok Srivastava, Adnan Darwiche

Ole J Mengshoel

More and more systems (e.g., aircraft, machinery, cars) rely heavily on software, which performs safety-critical operations. Assuring software safety though traditional V&V has become a tremendous, if not impossible task, given the growing size and complexity of the software. We propose that iSWHM (Integrated SoftWare Health Management) can increase safety and reliability of high-assurance software systems. iSWHM uses advanced techniques from the area of system health management in order to continuously monitor the behavior of the software during operation, quickly detect anomalies and perform automatic and reliable root-cause analysis, while not replacing traditional V&V. Information provided by the iSWHM system …


Probabilistic Model-Based Diagnosis: An Electrical Power System Case Study, Ole J. Mengshoel, Mark Chavira, Keith Cascio, Adnan Darwiche, Scott Poll, Serdar Uckun Aug 2010

Probabilistic Model-Based Diagnosis: An Electrical Power System Case Study, Ole J. Mengshoel, Mark Chavira, Keith Cascio, Adnan Darwiche, Scott Poll, Serdar Uckun

Ole J Mengshoel

We present in this paper a case study of the probabilistic approach to model-based diagnosis. Here, the diagnosed system is a real-world electrical power system (EPS), i.e., the Advanced Diagnstic and Prognostic Testbed (ADAPT) located at the NASA Ames Research Center. Our probabilistic approach is formally well founded and based on Bayesian networks (BNs) and arithmetic circuits (ACs). We pay special attention to meeting two of the main challenges often associated with real-world application of model-based diagnosis technologies: model development and real-time reasoning. To address the challenge of model development, we develop a systematic approach to representing EPSs as BNs, …


Generalized Crowding For Genetic Algorithms, Ole J. Mengshoel, Severino F. Galan Jun 2010

Generalized Crowding For Genetic Algorithms, Ole J. Mengshoel, Severino F. Galan

Ole J Mengshoel

Crowding is a technique used in genetic algorithms to preserve diversity in the population and to prevent premature convergence to local optima. It consists of pairing each offspring with a similar individual in the current population (pairing phase) and deciding which of the two will remain in the population (replacement phase). The present work focuses on the replacement phase of crowding, which usually has been carried out by one of the following three approaches: Deterministic, Probabilistic, and Simulated Annealing. These approaches present some limitations regarding the way replacement is conducted. On the one hand, the first two apply the same …


Understanding The Scalability Of Bayesian Network Inference Using Clique Tree Growth Curves, Ole J. Mengshoel Apr 2010

Understanding The Scalability Of Bayesian Network Inference Using Clique Tree Growth Curves, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

One of the main approaches to performing computation in Bayesian networks (BNs) is clique tree clustering and propagation. The clique tree approach consists of propagation in a clique tree compiled from a BN, and while it was introduced in the 1980s, there is still a lack of understanding of how clique tree computation time depends on variations in BN size and structure. In this article, we improve this understanding by developing an approach to characterizing clique tree growth as a function of parameters that can be computed in polynomial time from BNs, specifically: (i) the ratio of the number of …


Portfolios In Stochastic Local Search: Efficiently Computing Most Probable Explanations In Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, D Roth, D Wilkins Feb 2010

Portfolios In Stochastic Local Search: Efficiently Computing Most Probable Explanations In Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, D Roth, D Wilkins

Ole J Mengshoel

Portfolio methods support the combination of different algorithms and heuristics, including stochastic local search (SLS) heuristics, and have been identified as a promising approach to solve computationally hard problems. While successful in experiments, theoretical foundations and analytical results for portfolio-based SLS heuristics are less developed. This article aims to improve the understanding of the role of portfolios of heuristics in SLS. We emphasize the problem of computing most probable explanations (MPEs) in Bayesian networks (BNs). Algorithmically, we discuss a portfolio-based SLS algorithm for MPE computation, Stochastic Greedy Search (SGS). SGS supports the integration of different initialization operators (or initialization heuristics) …


Diagnosing Intermittent And Persistent Faults Using Static Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, Brian Ricks Dec 2009

Diagnosing Intermittent And Persistent Faults Using Static Bayesian Networks, Ole J. Mengshoel, Brian Ricks

Ole J Mengshoel

Both intermittent and persistent faults may occur in a wide range of systems. We present in this paper the introduction of intermittent fault handling techniques into ProDiagnose, an algorithm that previously only handled persistent faults. We discuss novel algorithmic techniques as well as how our static Bayesian networks help diagnose, in an integrated manner, a range of intermittent and persistent faults. Through experiments with data from the ADAPT electrical power system test bed, generated as part of the Second International Diagnostic Competition (DXC-10), we show that this novel variant of ProDiagnose diagnoses intermittent faults accurately and quickly, while maintaining strong …


Developing Large-Scale Bayesian Networks By Composition: Fault Diagnosis Of Electrical Power Systems In Aircraft And Spacecraft, Ole J. Mengshoel, Scott Poll, Tolga Kurtoglu Jun 2009

Developing Large-Scale Bayesian Networks By Composition: Fault Diagnosis Of Electrical Power Systems In Aircraft And Spacecraft, Ole J. Mengshoel, Scott Poll, Tolga Kurtoglu

Ole J Mengshoel

In this paper, we investigate the use of Bayesian networks to construct large-scale diagnostic systems. In particular, we consider the development of large-scale Bayesian networks by composition. This compositional approach reflects how (often redundant) subsystems are architected to form systems such as electrical power systems. We develop high-level specifiations, Bayesian networks, clique trees, and arithmetic circuits representing 24 different electrical power systems. The largest among these 24 Bayesian networks contains over 1,000 random variables. Another BN represents the real-world electrical power system ADAPT, which is representative of electrical power systems deployed in aerospace vehicles. In addition to demonstrating the scalability …


Diagnosis And Reconfiguration Using Bayesian Networks: An Electrical Power System Case Study, W. Bradley Knox, Ole J. Mengshoel Jun 2009

Diagnosis And Reconfiguration Using Bayesian Networks: An Electrical Power System Case Study, W. Bradley Knox, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Automated diagnosis and reconfiguration are important computational techniques that aim to minimize human intervention in autonomous systems. In this paper, we develop novel techniques and models in the context of diagnosis and reconfiguration reasoning using causal Bayesian networks (BNs). We take as starting point a successful diagnostic approach, using a static BN developed for a real-world electrical power system. We discuss in this paper the extension of this diagnostic approach along two dimensions, namely: (i) from a static BN to a dynamic BN; and (ii) from a diagnostic task to a reconfiguration task.

More specifically, we discuss the auto-generation of …


The Diagnostic Challenge Competition: Probabilistic Techniques For Fault Diagnosis In Electrical Power Systems, Brian W. Ricks, Ole J. Mengshoel May 2009

The Diagnostic Challenge Competition: Probabilistic Techniques For Fault Diagnosis In Electrical Power Systems, Brian W. Ricks, Ole J. Mengshoel

Ole J Mengshoel

Reliable systems health management is an important research area of NASA. A health management system that can accurately and quickly diagnose faults in various on-board systems of a vehicle will play a key role in the success of current and future NASA missions. We introduce in this paper the ProDiagnose algorithm, a diagnostic algorithm that uses a probabilistic approach, accomplished with Bayesian Network models compiled to Arithmetic Circuits, to diagnose these systems. We describe the ProDiagnose algorithm, how it works, and the probabilistic models involved. We show by experimentation on two Electrical Power Systems based on the ADAPT testbed, used …