Digital Commons Network^™

Architectural Choices In Large Scale Atm Switches, Jonathan Turner, Naoaki Yamanaka

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The rapid development of Asynchronous Transfer Mode technology in the last 10-15 years has stimulated renewed interest in the design and analysis of switching systems, leading to new ideas for system designs and new insights into the performance and evaluation of such systems. As ATM moves closer to realizing the vision of ubiquitous broadband ISDN services, the design of switching systems takes on growing importance. This paper seeks to clarify the key architectural issues for ATM switching system design and provides a survey of the current state-of-the-art.

Balancing Consistency And Lag In Transaction-Based Computational Steering, Eileen Kraemer, Delbert Hart, Gruia-Catalin Roman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Computational steering, the interactive adjustment of application parameters and allocation of resources, is a promising technique for higher-productivity simulation, finer-grained optimization of dynamically varying algorithms, and greater understanding of program behavior and the characteristics of data sets and solution spaces. Tools for computational steering must provide monitoring, visualization, and interaction facilities. In addition, these tools must address issues related to the consistency, latency, and scalability at each of these phases, and must consider the perturbation that results. In this paper we describe transaction-based components for a computational steering system and present an approach that guarantees consistent monitoring and displays, supports …

The Programmers' Playground Application Management System User Guide, William M. Shapiro, T. Paul Mccartney, E.F. Berkley Shands

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Application Management permits the advertising, launching, and configuring of distributed applications created using the Programmers' Playground. Applications can be documented and made available to end-users through the use of application pages on the World Wide Web. The launching and configuring of applications is performed by a brokerage system consisting of an applicatoin broker and one or more hierarchies of module launchers. This document describes how to setup and use the components of the Application Management system.

Computational Detection Of Cpg Islands In Dna, Eric C. Rouchka, Richard Mazzarella, David J. States

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Regions of DNA rich in CpG dinucleotides, also known as CpG islands, are often located upstream of the transcription start side in both tissue specific and housekeeping genes. Overall, CPG dinucleotides are observed at a density of 25% the expected level from base composition alone, partially due to 5-methylcytosine decay (Bird, 1993). Since CpG dinucleotides typically occur with low frequency, CpG islands can be distinguished statistically in the genome. Our method of detecting CpG islands involves a heuristic algorithm employing classic changepoint methods and log-likelihood statistics. A Java applet has been created to allow for user interaction and visualization of …

Compositional Programming Abstractions For Mobile Computing, Peter J. Mccann, Gruia-Catalin Roman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Recent advances in wireless networking technology and the increasing demand for ubiquitous, mobile connectivity demonstrate the importance of providing reliable systems for managing reconfiguration and disconnection of components. Design of such systems requires tools and techniques appropriate to the task. Many formal models of computation, including UNITY, are not adequate for expressing reconfiguration and disconnection and are therefore inappropriate vehicles for investigating the impact of mobility on the construction of modular and composable systems. Algebraic formalisms such as the pi-calculus have been proposed for modeling mobility. This paper addresses the question of whether UNITY, a state-based formalism with a foundation …

Terabit Burst Switching, Jonathan S. Turner

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This report summarizes the results of an architectural study on Terabit Burst Switching. The purpose of this study was to explore alternative architectures for very high performance switching for data communication, using a combination of optical and electronic technologies. We explore two alternative implementations of the burst switching concept in detail, one using a hybrid architecture with an electronic core, and an integrated architecture using an all optical data path. We also briefly discuss an approach using optical TDM. Our results show that using the hybrid architecture, it is feasible to construct systems with aggregate capacities of tens of terabits …

End-User Visualization And Manipulation Of Aggregate Data, T. Paul Mccartney, Kenneth J. Goldman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Aggregate visualization and manipulation enables the viewing and interaction of dynamically changing data sets in a graphically meaningful way. However, off-the-shelf applications generally provide only limited ways to view aggregates. To be truly effective to the end-user, an aggregate visualization should be customizable to suit the individual's needs. This paper describes a software system that empowers end-users to create interactive aggregate visualizations through direct manipulation. Included are mechanisms for specifying how aggregate data is processed from multiple sources, providing functionality similar to project, select, join, and cross product of relational databases. Visualization of distributed data sets is emphasized.

Eliding The Arguments Of Cases, Ronald P. Loui, Jeff Norman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

No abstract provided.

Euphoria Reference Manual, T. Paul Mccartney, Kenneth J. Goldman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

EUPHORIA is a user interface management system that enables end-users to create direct manipulation graphical user interfaces (GUIs) through interactive drawing. Used in conjunction with The Programmers' Playground, a distributed programming environment, end-users can dynamically create and associate GUI components with an underlying application without programming, This document describes EUPHORIA's functionality.

Noise-Tolerant Parallel Learning Of Geometric Concepts, Nader H. Bshouty, Sally A. Goldman, H. David Mathias

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

We present several efficient parallel algorithms for PAC-learning geometric concepts in a constant-dimensional space. The algorithms are robust even against malicious classification noise of any rate less than 1/2. We first give an efficient noise-tolerant parallel algorithm to PAC-learn the class of geometric concepts defined by a polynomial number of (d-1)-dimensional hyperplanes against an arbitrary distribution where each hyperplane has a slope from a set of known slopes. We then describe how boosting techniques can be used so that our algorithms' dependence on {GREEK LETTER} and {DELTA} does not depend on d. Next we give an efficient noise-tolerant parallel algorithm …

Dynamic Flow Switching: A New Communication Service For Atm Networks, Qiyong Bian, Kohei Shimoto, Jonathan Turner

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This paper presents a new communication service for ATM networks that provides one-way, adjustable rate, on-demand communication channels. The proposed dynamic flow service is designed to operate within a multi-service cell switched network that supports both conventional switched virtual circuits and IP packet routing and is designed to complement those services. It is particularly well suited to applications that transmit substantial amounts of data (a few tens of kilobytes or more) in fairly short time periods (up to a few seconds). Much of the current world-wide web traffic falls within this domain. Like IP packet networks, the new service permits …

Replication Of The First Controlled Experiment On The Usefulness Of Design Patterns: Detailed Description And Evaluation, Lutz Prechelt, Barbara Unger, Douglas Schmidt

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Advocates of software design patterns claim that using design patterns improves communication between software developers. The controled experiment that we describe in this report tests the hypothesis that software maintainers of well-structured, well-documented software containing design patterns can make changes (1) faster and (2) with less errors if the use of patterns is explicitly documented in the software. The experiment was performed with 22 participants of a university course on C++ and design patterns; it is similar to a previous experiment performed in Karlsruhe. For one of the two experiment tasks the experiment finds that both hypotheses appear to be …

Enhancements To 4.4 Bsd Unix For Efficient Networked Multimedia In Project Mars, Milind M. Buddhikot, Xin Jane Chen, Dakang Wu, Guru M. Parulkar

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Cluster based architectures that employ high performance inexpensive Personal Computers (PCs) interconnected by high speed commodity interconnect have been recognized as a cost-effective way of building high performance scalable Multimedia-On-Demand (MOD) storage servers [4, 5, 7, 9]. Typically, the PCs in these architectures run operating systems such as UNIX that have traditionally been optimized for interactive computing. They do not provide fast disk-to-network data paths and guaranteed CPU and storage access. This paper reports enhancements to the 4.4 BSD UNIX system carried out to rectify these limitations in the context of our Project Massively-parallel And Real-time Storage (MARS) [7]. We …

An Introduction To Mobile Unity, Gruia-Catalin Roman, Peter J. Mccann

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Traditionally, a distributed system has been viewed as a collection of fixed computational elements connected by a static network. Prompted by recent advances in wireless communications rechnology, the emerging field of mobile computing is challenging these assumptions by providing mobile hosts with connectivity that may change over time, raising the possibility that hosts may be called upon to operate while only weakly connected to or while completely disconnected from other hosts. We define a concurrent mobile system as one where independently executing coponents may migrate through some space during the course of the computation, and where the pattern of connectivity …

Using Snapshot Streams To Support Visual Exploration, Delbert Hart, Eileen Kraemer, Gruia-Catalin Roman

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The non-determinism, complexity, and size of distributed software systems present significant difficulties for designers and maintainers. Visualization can help alleviate these difficulties through interactive exploratory tools that allow both novice and experienced users to investigate a distributed computation using a common tool set. Essential to the success of a visual exploration tool is the ability to provide accurate representations of global states. This paper is concerned with the use of snapshots in support of interactive visual exploration of distributed computations. The nature of the visualization process requires snapshots that (1) are consecutive, thus facilitating smooth animation of state changes, (2) …

Limits On Preemption And Punitive Damages: Can They Be Related?, Peter Zablotsky

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Achievements In Wool 1997, Agriculture Western Australia

Animal production and livestock published reports

The Wool Strategy Group, which I initiated in 1993, and Agriculture Western Australia's Wool Program are strategic partners working together with industry to develop and market this State's wool industry.

Wool is Western Australia's second most important agricultural industry, with a current export value of $643 million. It has the potential to return to a billion dollar industry in the next five years and the industry needs to be strongly focused on producing what the market requires to take advantage of this.

The Wool Strategy Group, led by Chairman Mr Philip Gardiner, and the Wool Program, have established an international …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 5, No. 1, 1997, Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

ARTICLES

Providing Pensions for U.K. Employees with Varied Working Lives • Deborah R. Cooper

Seeking the Profitability-Risk-Competitiveness Frontier Using a Genetic Algorithm • Ronnie Tan

Fuzzy Underwriting: An Application of Fuzzy Logic to Medical Underwriting • Per-Johan Horgby, * Ralf Lohse, and Nicola-Alexander Sittaro

Accelerated Death Benefits, Viatical Settlements, and Viatical Loans: Options for the Terminally III • Paula Schmidt

The Right to Underwrite? An Actuarial Perspective With a Difference • Thomas A. Moultrie and R. Guy Thomast

Discussion of T.A. Moultrie and R.G. Thomas's ''The Right to Underwrite? An Actuarial Perspective With a Difference" • Charles L. Trowbridge

Editor …

Random Number Generators For Parallel Computers, Paul D. Coddington

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

Random number generators are used in many applications, from slot machines to simulations of nuclear reactors. For many computational science applications, such as Monte Carlo simulation, it is crucial that the generators have good randomness properties. This is particularly true for large-scale simulations done on high-performance parallel computers. Good random number generators are hard to find, and many widely-used techniques have been shown to be inadequate. Finding high-quality, efficient algorithms for random number generation on parallel computers is even more difficult. Here we present a review of the most commonly-used random number generators for parallel computers, and evaluate each generator …

Java For Parallel Computing And As A General Language For Scientific And Engineering Simulation And Modeling, Geoffrey C. Fox, Wojtek Furmanski

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

We discuss the role of Java and Web technologies for general simulation. We classify the classes of concurrency typical in problems and analyze separately the role of Java in user interfaces, coarse grain software integration, and detailed computational kernels. We conclude that Java could become a major language for computational science, as it potentially offers good performance, excellent user interfaces, and the advantages of object-oriented structure.

Winchell Posters

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Abstracts from the Winchell Posters given at the Annual Meeting for the Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science.

Effects Of Two (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquito Control Agents On Growth And Reproduction Of Red-Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius Phoeniceus), Joann M. Hanowski, Gerald J. Niemi, Ann R. Lima, Ronald R. Regal

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

We compared red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) reproductive success and nestling growth in 1988 in 10 wetland site treated with methoprene and 10 sites treated with Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti) to 30 sites that had never received any mosquito (Diptera: culicidae) control treatment. No differences were detected between reference and treatment sites for clutch size, egg volume, growth rates, or fledge weight. The probability that an egg survived to the nestling stage was greater in methoprene-treated than reference sites. No other differences were detected among sites for reproductive success estimated using the Mayfield method. We conclude that treatment of the wetlands …

Pcrc-Based Hpf Compilation, Guansong Zhang, Bryan Carpenter, Geoffrey C. Fox, Xiaoming Li

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

This paper describes an ongoing effort supported by ARPA PCRC (Parallel Compiler Runtime Consortium) project. In particular, we discuss the design and implementation of an HPF compilation system based on PCRC runtime. The approaches to issues such as directive analysis and communication detection are discussed in detail. The discussion includes fragments of code generated by the compiler.

A Prototype Fortran-To-Java Converter, Geoffrey C. Fox, Xiaoming Li, Zheng Qiang, Wu Zhigang

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

This is a report on a prototype of a FORTRAN 77 to Java converter, f2j. Translation issues are identified, approaches are presented, a URL is provided for interested readers to download the package, and some unsolved problems are brought up. F2j allows value added to some of the investment onFORTRAN code, in particular, those well established FORTRAN libraries for scientific and engineering computation.

A Comparison Of Optimization Heuristics For The Data Mapping Problem, Nikos Chrisochoides, Nashat Mansour, Geoffrey C. Fox

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

In this paper we compare the performance of six heuristics with suboptimal solutions for the data distribution of two dimensional meshes that are used for the numerical solution of Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) on multicomputers. The data mapping heuristics are evaluated with respect to seven criteria covering load balancing, interprocessor communication, flexibility and ease of use for a class of single-phase iterative PDE solvers. Our evaluation suggests that the simple and fast block distribution heuristic can be as effective as the other five complex and computational expensive algorithms.

Evaluation Of High Performance Fortran Through Application Kernels, Hon W. Yau, Geoffrey C. Fox, Ken Hawick

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

Since the definition of the High Performance Fortran (HPF) standard, we have been maintaining a suite of application kernel codes with the aim of using them to evaluate the available compilers. This paper presents the results and conclusions from this study, for sixteen codes, on compilers from IBM, DEC, and the Portland Group Inc. (PGI), and on three machines: a DEC Alphafarm, an IBM SP-2, and a Cray T3D. From this, we hope to show the prospective HPF user that scalable performance is possible with modest effort, yet also where the current weaknesses lay.

Tango - A Collaborative Environment For The World-Wide Web, Lukasz Michal Beca, Gang Cheng, Geoffrey C. Fox, Tomasz Jurga, Konrad Olszewski, Marek Podgorny, Piotr Sokolowski, Tomasz Stachowiak, Krzysztof Walczak

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

Geographical and logical growth of the World-Wide Web is accompanied by a fast technological development. Web can be successfully used as a platform for implementation of diverse applications. Distributed and collaborative systems are among the most challenging Web applications. TANGO is an integration platform which enables implementation of Web-based collaborative environments. The system provides means for fast integration of Web- and non-Web-applications into one multi-user collaborative systems. In this paper we describe the functional model, requirements, system design and certain implementation issues of the TANGO system.

Orange Peal

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Orange Peal

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Teaching Excellence

Syracuse University Magazine

No abstract provided.