Digital Commons Network^™

Parallel Simulated Annealing, Roger D. Chamberlain, Mark N. Edelman, Mark A. Franklin, Ellen E. Witte

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Since the paper by Kirkpatrick, Gelatt and Vecchi in 1983, the use of Simulated Annealing (SA) in solving combinatoric optimization problems has increased substantially. The SA algorithm has been applied to difficult problems in the difficult problems in the digital design automation such as cell placement and wire routing. While these studies have yielded good or near optimum solutions, they have required very long computer execution times (hours and days). These long times, coupled with the recent availability of the number of commercial parallel processors, has prompted the search for parallel implementations of the SA algorithm. The goal ahs been …

Performance Models For Noahnet, Gurudatta M. Parulkar, Adarshpal S. Sethi, David J. Farber

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Noahnet is an experimental flood local area network with features such as high reliability and high performance. Noahnet uses a randomly connected graph topology with four to five interconnections per node and a flooding protocol to route messages. In Noahnet flooding, the routing of a message from a source to the destination node is a two step process: flooding-growth and flooding-contraction. During the growth of flooding, the message propagates to every node which is not occupied with a message and is reachable from the source node. During the contraction of flooding, the nodes that became occupied during the growth of …

Hierarchical Discrete-Event Simulation On Hypercube Architecture, Roger D. Chamberlain, Mark A. Franklin

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This paper presents model of hierarchical discrete-event simulation algorithm running on a hypercube architecture. We assume a static allocation of system components to processors in the hypercube. We also assume a global clock algorithm, with an event-based time increment. Following development of the performance model, we describe an application of the model in the area of digital systems simulation. Hierarchical levels included are gate level (NAND, NOR, and NOT gates) and MSI level (multiplexors, shift registers, etc.). Example values (gathered from simulations running on standard von Neumann architectures) are provided at the model inputs to show the effect of different …

Lsim2 User's Manual, Roger D. Chamberlain, Mark N. Edelman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Lsim2 is gate/switch-level digital logic simulator. It enables users to model digital circuits both at the gate and switch level and incorporates features the support investigation of the simulation task itself. Lsim2 is an augmented version of the original lsim* with the addition of several new MSI-type components models. This user's manual describes procedures for specifying a circuit in lsim2, mechanisms for controlling the simulation, and approaches to modeling systems.

Automatic Interface Generations From Grammar Specifications, Steve B. Cousins

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This paper presents a method for automatically generating user interfaces to programs. All possible legal strings of input to a moderately interactive program, taken together, specify the input language of that program. A grammar for such a language is fundamentally knowledge about the language, and that knowledge can be used to assist the program's user in constructing legal program input. The set of words which can appear next in an input sentence, the 'Next set', is defined and a technique for calculating it with a modified version of Prologs's Definite Clause Grammar parser is given. One type of interface this …

Teaching In A Virtual Classroom : Volume 2 Of A Virtual Classroom On Eies : Final Evaluation Report, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

A Virtual Classroom is a teaching and learning environment located within a computer-mediated communication system. As a teaching environment, it provides a set of tools, strengths, and limitations which are available to an instructor for delivering course materials and structuring learning experiences. Its characteristics are merely potentials, just as the empty classroom with its chalkboards and desks awaits the efforts and creativity of the instructor and the students to make it "come alive."

This is the second volume of the final research report on experiences with the prototype of a Virtual Classroom system constructed and operated on EIES, the Electronic …

Development Of A Bi-Directional Inference Engine Using An Object-Oriented Approach, Taha A. Sidani

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

An inference engine is the mechanism by which an expert system program uses the domain specific information in the knowledge base to solve a problem at hand. Most of the current systems apply one of three control strategies to perform the reasoning process. These strategies are better known as forward chaining, backward chaining, and hybrid control. However, some of these systems restrict the user by confining him/her to use only the type of control provided. Hybrid systems infer using both forward and backward chaining. In either case, the user is limited to the method in which the knowledge engineer represented …

Master Of Science In Computer Science Catalog, Nova Southeastern University

College of Engineering and Computing Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Center For Computer Science Master Of Science Computer Science 1988-89, Nova Southeastern University

College of Engineering and Computing Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of 3d Voxel Rendering Algorithms For Real-Time Interaction On A Simd Graphics Processor, Don Schreiter, John B. Zimmerman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The display of three-dimensional medical data is becoming more common, but current hardware and image rendering algorithms do not generally allow real-time interaction with the image by the user. Real-time interactions, such as image rotation, utilize the motion processing capabilities of the human visual system, allowing a better understanding of the structures being imaged. Recent advances in general purpose graphics display equipment could make real-time interaction feasible in clinical setting. We have evaluated the capabilities of one type of advanced display architecture, the PIXAR Imaging Computer, for real-time interaction while displaying three-dimensional medical data as two-dimensional projections. It was discovered …

Development Of Techniques To Perform Simulation-Adaptation In A Simulation Training Environment Using Expert System Methods, Cheryl E. Bagshaw

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The use of computers for instructional purposes is steadily increasing, along with an emphasis on developing systems which create environments tailored to human beings. Artificial Intelligence techniques have been incorporated into these systems with an aim at developing better methods of modeling of simulating knowledge and intelligent behavior. One type of these systems, Intelligent Simulation Training Systems (ISTS), utilize a simulation in the training process. This is an ideal environment for the instruction of skills which focus on the ability to understand the time and space relationships of objects.

An intelligent tutor module of an ISTS must configure scenarios for …

An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Adaptive Histogram Equalization For Contrast Enhancement, John B. Zimmerman, Stephen M. Pizer, Edward V. Staab, J. Randolph Perry, William Mccartney, Bradley C. Brenton

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Adaptive Histogram Equalization (AHE), a method of contrast enhancement which is sensitive to local spatial information in an image, has been proposed as a solution to the problem of the inability of ordinary display devices to depict the full dynamic intensity range in some medical images. This method is automatic, reproducible, and simultaneously displays most of the information contained in the grey-scale contrast of the image. However, it has not been known whether the use of AHE causes the loss of diagnostic information relative to the commonly-used method intensity windowing. In the current work, AHE and intensity windowing are compared …

Load And Communications Balancing On Multiprocessor Logic Simulation Engines, Ken Wong, Mark A. Franklin

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The problem considered in this paper is to find an assignment of logic components to processors which will achieve logic simulation speed-ups approaching the ideal for large processor populations. This problem becomes particularly important when a significant portion of the speed-up expected from logic simulation engines is attributed to load sharing (as opposed to obtaining speed-up by employing specialized hardware to carry out specific tasks associated with the simulation process such as event queue manipulation or function evaluation). Our research considers this problem for a particular multiprocessor simulation architecture for which a performance model has bene developed. The model is …

Transaction Network: A Parallel Computation Model Based On Consume/Produce Paradigm, Takayuki Dan Kimura

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This report introduces a new parallel computation model that is suitable for pursuit of large scale concurrency. Our goal is to develop a semantically clean paradigm for distributed computation with fine-grained parallelism. Our approach is to demote the notion of process as the key concept in organizing large scale parallel computation. We promote, instead, the notion of transaction, an anonymous atomic action void of internal state, as the basic element of computation. We propose to organize a computation as a network, called a transaction net, of databases connected by transactions. A transaction, when it is fired, consumes data objects from …

Advanced Communications Systems, Jonathan S. Turner

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The Advanced Communication Systems Project is concerned with new communication technologies that can support a wide range of different communication applications in the context of large public networks. Communications networks in common use today have been tailored to specific applications and while they perform their assigned functions well, they are difficult to adapt to new uses. There currently are no general purpose networks, rather there are telephone networks, low-speed data networks and cable television networks. As new communications applications proliferate, it becomes clear that in the long term, a more flexible communications infrastructure will be needed. The Integrated Services Digital …

Software Tools For Performance Evaluation Of Concurrent Processing, Rodrogo A. Obando

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The development and use of software tools for performance evaluation of concurrent processing is presented in this thesis. The particular concurrent processing architecture proposed by Stoughton and Mielke is investigated. The modelling of this architecture is based on Petri net theory and it can be studied making use of circuit theory. Computation of lower bounds for Time Between Outputs (TBO) and Time Between Input and Output (TBIO) can be accomplished by using principles of circuit theory, among others. This new modelling needs to be deeply evaluated and studied. This evaluation and study is accomplished with the tools developed and presented …

Prodb: An Experimental Generalized Database System User's Manual, Guillermo R. Simari

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The following notes document in a succinct manner the use of the system PRODB. The system is still evolving and several new features are in the process of being added. PRODB is a prototype system that is being used as an exploration vehicle of the possible extensions to the relational model through logic programming. The system consists of a relational database system having a relational algebra type language as a query language. It is written in Prolog and it extends the capabilities of Prolog predicates with the relational algebra operators for handling the database structure. The database system currently provides …

Implementation Of Inversion Algorithms In Reconfigurable Systolic Arrays, Haritini E. Andre

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Reducing the computing time of the matrix inversion has been a concern of many authors. The use of Systolic architectures containing orthogonally connected processing elements capable of few instructions multiple data have allowed for new algorithms to be implemented. Two algorithms are examined that rely on the triangularization methods for matrix inversion. One can be applied to the general non-singular matrix and the other to the symmetric matrix. The throughput in both implementation is revolutionized. The speed improvement over Liu and Young’s implementation of the symmetric matrix inversion is by a factor of three.

The throughput in both implementation is …

The Design Of A Processing Element For The Systolic Array Implementation Of A Kalman Filter, John P. Condorodis

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The Kalman filter is an important component of optimal estimation theory. It has applications in a wide range of high performance control systems including navigational, fire control, and targeting systems. The Kalman filter, however, has not been utilized to its full potential due to the limitations of its inherent computational intensiveness which requires "off-line" processing or allows only low bandwidth real-time applications.

The recent advances in VLSI circuit technology have created the opportunity to design algorithms and data structures for direct implementation in integrated circuits. A systolic architecture is a concept which allows the construction of massively parallel systems in …

Belief Maintenance Systems: Initial Prototype Specification, Roseanne M. Fulcomer, William E. Ball, John P. Tadlock

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

A fundamental need in future information systems is an effective method of accurately representing and monitoring dynamic, real-world situations inside a computer. Information is represented using an Extended Open World Assumption (EOWA), in which the data are explicitly true or false. Reasoning within the EOWA is done through the use of a dynamic dependency net which only represents those beliefs and justifications that are both currently valid and in current use. In this paper, we present definitions and uses of the EOWA and dynamic dependency net in our current research of developing a database with which we can use deductive …

Compiling Unit Clauses For The Warren Abstract Machine, George D. Herbert

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the design, development, and installation of a computer program which compiles unit clauses generated in a Prolog-based environment at Argonne National Laboratories into Warren Abstract Machine (WAM) code. The program enhances the capabilities of the environment by providing rapid unification and subsumption tests for the very significant class of unit clauses. This should improve performance substantially for large programs that generate and use many unit clauses.

Impact Of Automation On Process Control Decision-Making, Steven M. Miller, Susan R. Bereiter

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper investigates changes in the process control of a vehicle assembly plant which had been modernized from a principally manual procedure to one that uses programmable automation extensively. Process control is defined as the information flow and decision-making required to perform basic process operations. We investigate the effects of implementing a computer-integrated production system on the amount and types of process control decision-making and on the distribution of process control decision-making between humans and machines. After automation, the emphasis on decisions regarding product quality specifications increased and the emphasis on decisions related to flexibility in handling a variety of …

A Unified Approach To Mixed-Mode Simulation, Roger D. Chamberlain, Mark A. Franklin

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This paper presents a unified approach to mixed-mode simulation. It investigates the algorithms for both logic and circuit simulation, considering their similarities and differences, and a general framework is presented for integrating the two algorithms in uniform manner. The time advance mechanisms and component functional evaluations of the algorithms are show to be similar in nature, and mechanisms for the translation of information represented uniquely in the two algorithms are given. The resulting integrated algorithms is capable of performing mixed-mode simulation, where a circuit is partitioned into discrete and continuous regions, and each region is simulated at the appropriate level. …

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 …

Centre For Computer Aided Management: An Overview, V B Kaujalagi

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

A Compiler For A Two-Dimensional Programming Language, Julie Wing Kam Choi

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

A visual programming language is presented. This language uses interactive graphics to convey notion such as subroutine, recursion, block structure, parallel and serial processing to school children. Currently the system is interpreter based. To overcome the inefficiency of the interpreter based system, a compiler is implemented for this language. This report gives an overview of the compiler and the details about the parser, semantic analyzer and the code generator. Finally, a performance comparison between the interpreter based system and the compiler based system is given.

Progressive Coding And Transmission Of Digital Diagnostic Pictures, Sharaf E. Elnahas, Kou-Hu Tsou, Jerome R. Cox, Rexford L. Hill, R. Gilbert Jost

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

In radiology, as a result if the increased utilization of digital imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), over a third of the images produced in a typical radiology department are currently in digital form, and this percentage is steadily increasing, Image compression provides a means for the economical storage and efficient transmission of these diagnostic pictures. The level of coding distortion than can be accepted for clinical diagnosis purposes is not yet well-defined. In this paper we introduce some constraints on the design of existing transform codes in order to achieve progressive image transmission …

Deterministic Linear Predictors For Bit Rate Improvement, Dhanvant H. Goradia

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis addresses the application of deterministic linear predictor s for telemetry based systems. Deterministic linear predictors are considered as a viable alternative to block transform coding in order to achieve bit rate reduction. A method of calculating the predictor coefficients of a deterministic linear predictor is presented. The system model is developed parametrically with respect to the bandwidth, polynomial order, signal class and predictor length. Two classes of signals, deterministic and random are analyzed and bounds on the performance of the deterministic linear predictor are established. A family of six pole Butterworth filters are used as presample filters in …

A Systolic Parsing Algorithm For A Visual Programming Language, Adam W. Bojanczyk, Takayuki Dan Kimura

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

In this paper we consider a problem of parsing a two-dimensional visual programming language Show and Tell on a two-dimensional array of processors. A program in Show and Tell is a bit-mapped, two-dimensional pattern satisfying a certain set of grammatical rules. The pattern consists of partially ordered set of rectilinear boxes and arrows distributed over the space of nxn pixel area. The corresponding directed graph, the box graph, where boxes are nodes and arrows are directed edges, may not have a cycle in a Show and Tell program. The cycle detection is the most computationally intensive stage of the parsing …

Show And Tell User's Manual, Peter Mclain, Takayuki Dan Kimura

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The purpose of this report is to introduce essential features of the Show and Tell Language system to those computer users who are already familiar with some high-level programming language such as FORTRAN, BASIC or PASCAL. This manual is not intended for school children. Some familiarity with the Macintosh user interface and the MacPaint application program is assumed. It is also assumed that the Show and Tell application program disk and the Sample program are available to the reader. The basic programming concepts in Show and Tell are introduced in Chapter Three. The reader may find it easer to start …