Computer Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating Load Adjusted Learning Strategies For Client Service Levels Prediction From Cloud-Hosted Video Servers, Ruairí De Fréin, Obinna Izima, Mark Davis

Conference papers

Network managers that succeed in improving the accuracy of client video service level predictions, where the video is deployed in a cloud infrastructure, will have the ability to deliver responsive, SLA-compliant service to their customers. Meeting up-time guarantees, achieving rapid first-call resolution, and minimizing time-to-recovery af- ter video service outages will maintain customer loyalty.

To date, regression-based models have been applied to generate these predictions for client machines using the kernel metrics of a server clus- ter. The effect of time-varying loads on cloud-hosted video servers, which arise due to dynamic user requests have not been leveraged to improve prediction …

Proactive Service Migration For Long-Running Byzantine Fault-Tolerant Systems, Wenbing Zhao, H. Zhang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A proactive recovery scheme based on service migration for long-running Byzantine fault-tolerant systems is described. Proactive recovery is an essential method for ensuring the long-term reliability of fault-tolerant systems that are under continuous threats from malicious adversaries. The primary benefit of our proactive recovery scheme is a reduced vulnerability window under normal operation. This is achieved in two ways. First, the time-consuming reboot step is removed from the critical path of proactive recovery. Second, the response time and the service migration latency are continuously profiled and an optimal service migration interval is dynamically determined during runtime based on the observed …

Efficient Scheduling For Sdmg Cioq Switches, Mei Yang, S. Q. Zheng

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Combined input and output queuing (CIOQ) switches are being considered as high-performance switch architectures due to their ability to achieve 100% throughput and perfectly emulate output queuing (OQ) switch performance with a small speedup factor S. To realize a speedup factor S, a conventional CIOQ switch requires the switching fabric and memories to operate S times faster than the line rate. In this paper, we propose to use a CIOQ switch with space-division multiplexing expansion and grouped input/output ports (SDMG CIOQ switch for short) to realize speedup while only requiring the switching fabric and memories to operate at the line …

Application Of Control Theory To Modeling And Analysis Of Computer Systems, Molly H. Shor, Kang Li, Jonathan Walpole, David Steere, Calton Pu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Experimentally, we show that Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)’s congestion control algorithm results in dynamic behavior similar to a stable limit cycle (attractor) when data from TCP flow into a fixed-size buffer and data is removed from the buffer at a fixed service rate. This setup represents how TCP buffers packets for transmission onto the network, with the network represented by a fixed-size buffer with a fixed service rate. The closed trajectory may vary slightly from period to period due to the discrete nature of computer systems. The size of the closed trajectory is a function of the network’s buffer size …

3d Outside Cell Interference Factor For An Air-Ground Cdma ‘Cellular’ System, David W. Matolak

Faculty Publications

We compute the outside-cell interference factor of a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) system for a three-dimensional (3-D) air-to-ground (AG) "cellular-like" network consisting of a set of uniformly distributed ground base stations and airborne mobile users. The CDMA capacity is roughly inversely proportional to the outside-cell interference factor. It is shown that for the nearly free-space propagation environment of these systems, the outside-cell interference factor can be larger than that for terrestrial propagation models (as expected) and depends approximately logarithmically upon both the cell height and cell radius.

Teaching Upper Level Computer Science Courses Via Virtual Classroom And Video : Course Reports By Faculty, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Julian M. Scher, Michael Bieber, Murray Turoff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

New Jersey Institute of Technology is the grateful recipient of a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which has enabled it to explore the use of asynchronous learning networks to create and deliver an entire undergraduate degree program in computer and information science. Each of these courses uses some amount of lecture-type material delivered via videotape. These materials are usually available to students in three different ways: by viewing broadcasts on a New Jersey cable station, by renting the set of videotapes, or by viewing in a special room in the library. Videotapes for distance learning are not …

Teaching Lower Level Computer Science Courses Via Virtual Classroom And Video : Course Reports By Faculty, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Fadi Deek, Maura Deek, James Geller, Ajaz R. Rana

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

New Jersey Institute of Technology is the grateful recipient of a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which has enabled it to explore the use of asynchronous learning networks to create and deliver an entire undergraduate degree program in computer and information science. Each of these courses uses some amount of lecture-type material delivered via videotape. These materials are usually available to students in three different ways: by viewing broadcasts on a New Jersey cable station, by renting the set of videotapes, or by viewing in a special room in the library. Videotapes for distance learning are not …

Networking Your Cd-Roms: A Texas Tale, Margaret Sylvia

Faculty Publications

Installation of a CD-ROM network at St. Mary's University Academic Library created a revolution in the way students and faculty do research.

A Comparison Of Queueing, Cluster And Distributed Computing Systems, Joseph A. Kaplan, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Using workstation clusters for distributed computing has become popular with the proliferation of inexpensive, powerful workstations. Workstation clusters offer both a cost effective alternative to batch processing and an easy entry into parallel computing. However, a number of workstations on a network does not constitute a cluster. Cluster management software is necessary to harness the collective computing power. A variety of cluster management and queuing systems are compared: Distributed Queueing Systems (DQS), Condor, Load Leveler, Load Balancer, Load Sharing Facility (LSF - formerly Utopia), Distributed Job Manager (DJM), Computing in Distributed Networked Environments (CODINE), and NQS/Exec. The systems differ in …

Eies 2 : A Distributed Architecture For Supporting Group Work, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, James Whitescarver, Robert M. Czech, Sreenivas Reddy, Ajaz R. Rana, Murray Turoff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The Computerized Conferencing Center (CCCC) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has been researching on-line group communications for 17 years by developing and studying tools to advance the "collective intelligence". The Electronic Information Exchange System 2 (EIES2) provides a research, development and operational environment for distributed computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) systems. The EIES 2 distributed Smalltalk processor provides for rapid prototyping and implementation of muti-media CSCW facilities in the network environment. The Smalltalk support of the object model, and meta-language properties make it ideally suited for incremental development CSCW applications. The EIES2 communication environment supports a decentralized network …

Functional Requirements For Computer Conferencing And Computer Mediated Communications, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Murray Turoff, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, James Whitescarver, John Foster

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This paper is a compilation of the desirable functionality for Computerized Conferencing Systems. It is based upon the research and evaluation activities of the Conferencing Center at NJIT and can he considered as an overall set of objectives for the development of its Conferencing Systems.

The Virtual Classroom: Building The Foundations, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This is a report on the first year of a three-year project concerned with the development and assessment of new types of software capabilities designed to support university level courses. A "virtual classroom" or "university without walls" is being created within a computerized conferencing system. During the first year of the project, students in twelve courses at three universities completed part or all of their coursework online. Pre and post-course questionnaires and automatic monitoring of their computer-mediated communications are the main sources of data. Independent variables include the expectations and attributes of the individual students; characteristics of the particular hardware …

Moderating Online Conferences, Revised Manuscript, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Elaine B. Kerr

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

While considerable lore has accumulated about effective leadership techniques for groups interacting electronically, until now it has not been systematically presented. This material is culled from the experiences of those who have moderated past online conferences, the knowledge common to the EIES User Consultants, and observed behavior from thousands of conferences convened on EIES in the past. While this is a system-specific guide, the general principles ought to be generalizable to other systems, with different structures for group discussion.

Robert Burns put it well:
The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft a-gley;
An' lea'e us nought but …

Integrating Working At Home With Information Systems Management, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Joseph C. Schuh

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The history of computerization has its origin in the automation of manual processes - searching out the segments that could be put on a computer. The intended result was that the entire job would be done faster and cheaper. Thus, current computer-based information systems tend to make more efficient use of computers than people. The management function, on the other hand, often seems to focus on competitive skills and salesmanship rather than on the ability to attract and hold talented people. But, such impersonal factors that have driven management practices are changing. There has been a complete reversal in the …

Determinants Of Acceptance Of Computer Mediated Communication System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Elaine B. Kerr, Kenneth Johnson, Murray Turoff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

Acceptance of Computer-Mediated communication Systems (CMCS) by managers and professionals corresponds to its incorporation into their daily patterns of communication and work. Acceptance includes at least three inter-related dimensions: amount of use, subjective satisfaction with the process of using the system, and a perception that system use has positive impacts upon productivity.

Pre-use and follow-up questionnaires were distributed to 150- 250 new users of four different CMCS. Three are conferencing systems, designed to support "group work." They differ in terms of comprehensiveness or complexity of design, and size and nature of the user communities; COM/KOM, a Swedish system with mostly …

The Effects Of Formal Human Leadership And Computer-Generated Decision Aids On Problem Solving Via Computer : A Controlled Experiment, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Kenneth Johnson, Murray Turoff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

Twenty-four groups of five professionals and managers within a variety of organizations were given the task of using a computer conference to reach agreement on the best solution to a ranking problem.

The independent variable is the structure of the conferencing capability used. Two alternative means of structuring the conferences were employed, in a two-by-two factorial design. Groups with "Human Leadership" elected one of their members to lead the group in its decision making discussion. Groups with "Computer Feedback" were given periodic tables which displayed the current "group decision" in terms of the mean rankings of items, and the degree …

Resources Reference Guide 1 : A Preliminary Reference Guide For The Resources Network Database System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

IT IS EMPHASIZED THAT THIS PRELIMINARY DOCUMENTATION FOR THE RESOURCES NETWORK DATABASE SYSTEM CONFORMS TO THE SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS.

RESOURCES REFERENCE GUIDE 1 is for limited distribution and review. It is not a user manual. Your interaction with the system may not always be exactly as described. All major features except keyword relations are supported in part, if not fully, at this time. Operation of some facilities are some what slow pending funding for optimization.

Groups and individuals wishing to use RESOURCES on the Electronic Information Exchange System should make arrangements through the Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center at the New …

Studies Of Computer Mediated Communications Systems : A Synthesis Of The Findings, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Elaine B. Kerr

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This report is an attempt to collect and synthesize current knowledge about computer-mediated communication systems. It focuses on computerized conferencing systems, for which most evaluational studies have been conducted, and also includes those electronic mail and office support systems for which evaluative information is available. It was made possible only through the participation of the many systems designers and evaluators listed below, who took the time to help to build a common conceptual framework and report their findings in terms of that common framework.

Users' Manual For The Electronic Information Exchange System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Elaine B. Kerr, Murray Turoff, Peter Johnson-Lenz, Trudy Johnson-Lenz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The purpose of this manual is to teach you the simpler parts of the system and make you comfortable with using the one-page User's Guide. As you gain more experience with the system, you may wish to learn some of the advanced features available. But EIES (pronounced "eyes") has been designed so that you don't need to learn more than meets your needs.

Since the best way to learn how to use a computer system is by direct experience, don't be discouraged if some of this manual is confusing at first. The most effective way to learn is to try …

The Impact Of A Computerized Conferencing System On Scientific Research Communities, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The author is indebted to Murray Turoff for coauthoring the sections describing the EIES system and for his suppport and encouragement for this study at all stages. Mary Anne Solimine served as a research assistant, supervising the distribution, coding and tabulations of questionnaire responses. Without her diligent efforts, the study would not have been possible. Ann Marie Rabke, Joanne Garofalo, Diane Price, Duchess Brooks, Margaret Wnorowski, Christine Naegle, Sonia Khalil, and Marion Whitescarver provided valuable assistance with coding and data entry and editing tasks. Larry Landwebber was most cooperative in providing access to the Theory Net group. Alan Leurck, Thomas …

The Evolution Of A Tailored Communications Structure : The Topics System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Peter Johnson-Lenz, Trudy Johnson-Lenz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

A computer-based human communication system should be designed for people's use, in response to their perceived needs and communications styles; no single system can meet the needs of all groups and individuals. It might seem that a general electronic mail or computerized conferencing system with a standard set of features should be able to meet most communications needs, in much the same way that the telephone system meets the needs of a wide range of users. However, there are many communications structures found in everyday life, ranging from one-to-many news broadcasts, to the many-to-many patterns of town meetings, from the …

Guide To The Topics System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Peter Johnson-Lenz, Trudy Johnson-Lenz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

TOPICS is a system for computer-based information exchange among a network of people who share certain areas of interest. The system supports simultaneous discussion of many topics at once by allowing members to raise brief, pointed topics/inquiries and then to enter responses to those inquiries. The responses are shared with all members who express an interest in each topic by selecting it. The system is designed to facilitate the flow of inquiries and responses without overloading members with irrelevant or uninteresting information.

Nested within the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES), this tailored communication system written in the INTERACT programming language …

A Discussion Of Selected Aspects Of Privacy, Confidentiality, And Anonymity In Computerized Conferencing, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Robert Bezilla

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This paper presents a discussion of the potential uses of privacy, confidentiality and anonymity in computerized conferencing.

Section I begins with definitions of the concepts, their aspects and allied terms; and briefly discusses their use in general communications and problem-solving activities.

Section II explores their use in social research, particularly the survey method, a field that may yield useful analogues for computerized conferencing.

Section III outlines the various functions of privacy, confidentiality and anonymity that have been proposed for their constructive use in computerized conferencing.

Section IV reports various difficulties and compromises that have been encountered to date in striving …

Research Options And Imperatives In Computerized Conferencing, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Murray Turoff, Philip Enslow, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, John Mckendree, Raymond Panko

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This is the report resulting from a computerized conferencing workshop held on the subject of potential research opportunities and requirements in the area of utilizing a computer to aid human communications. It was sponsored by the Division of Mathematical and Computer Sciences of the National Science Foundation (grant # MCS76-80514). The views expressed in this report are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect NSF views or policy.

The workshop utilized the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Development And Field Testing Of An Electronic Information Exchange System : Final Report On The Eies Development Project, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Murray Turoff, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) is a particular design of a computerized conferencing system intended to allow both the facilitation of scientific and technical communications and experimentation and research into human information-communication processes. To meet the first objective EIES offers functional components of messaging, conferencing, notebooks and bulletins for its users. To meet the second objective EIES allows for the tailoring of interfaces by individuals and groups, and the incorporation of special processing and interconnect options to other computer and information systems.

EIES is designed as a research tool or laboratory without walls in order to allow information scientists …

Communication Processes In The Design And Implementation Of Models, Simulations And Simulation-Games: A Selective Review And Analysis, From The Vantage Point Of Computerized Conferencing, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Julian M. Scher

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

Computerized conferencing is a new form of communication which permits a group of individuals, who could be separated in time as well as space, to engage in an interactive dialogue with each other through the convenience of their computer terminals. The software for a computerized conferencing system is designed to keep track of all messages communicated in the system, as well as insure that the various protocols for communication are observed by all.

Our objectives in this report are to examine the communication processes found in the design and implementation of models, simulations and simulation-games, and to identify those areas …

Computerized Conferencing And The Homebound Handicapped, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Murray Turoff, Howard Gage

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

Computer conferencing is a relatively new technique which can be applied to improve both the efficiency of education, and communication services available to the homebound handicapped. A system is currently being implemented at the New Jersey Institute of Technology which allows such individuals to engage in a written form of conversation with other individuals or groups. Here the computer stores the discus­sion and keeps track of what everyone has or has not seen, so participants can communicate at a time and pace of their choosing. There is also provision for a range of ancillary facilities such as voting, word processing, …

The Resource Interruption Monitoring System : Basic Reporting Procedures And Sample Reports, United States. General Services Administration. Office Of Preparedness.

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This RIMS training manual was originally prepared by Mrs. Helen R. Nixon for use in her' office, Region 7, Dallas, Texas. It has subsequently been used for training at each OP Regional Office and at the Central Office in Washington. In anticipation of requirements for training of new users of RIMS under crisis reporting conditions, the manual is being issued for library reference and quantity reproduction.

Emisari: A Management Information System Designed To Aid And Involve People, Rod L. Renner, Robert M. Bechtold, Charles W. Clark, David O. Marbray, Ronald L. Wynn, Nancy H. Goldstein, United States. General Services Administration. Office Of Preparedness. Mathematics And Computation Laboratory.

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The EMISARI System described in this paper represents a major departure from conventional MIS design. It is oriented not toward data per se, but rather toward activities of the people who generate and use the data. Thus it provides not merely for reporting up the chain of command, but also for dissemination of policy guidance and reference material down the chain, and for lateral communication among all users. It places a premium upon flexibility, to permit rapid system modifications in response to changes in user functions and needs and it offers a greatly simplified operation, to avoid any necessity for …

Conference System User's Guide, Rod L. Renner, United States. General Services Administration. Office Of Preparedness. Mathematics And Computation Laboratory.

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This paper describes three methods of group communication utilizing computer terminals as the vehicle for conducting a group discussion. The system that provides; these methods was developed by OEP for a UNIVAC 1108 as a convenient form of communication among geographically dispersed individuals and/or as an adjunct to oral communications. Completely normal language is used. Use of the computer permits maintaining a written record automatically and allowing discussions in which participants need not talk and listen in synchronism (in contrast to conventional meetings and telephone conference calls). In two of the methods, the discussants need not even be participating simultaneously. …