Engineering Commons^™

Taking Dcop To The Real World: Efficient Complete Solutions For Distributed Event Scheduling, Rajiv Maheswaran, Milind Tambe, Emma Bowring, Jonathan Pearce, Pradeep Varakantham

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Distributed Constraint Optimization (DCOP) is an elegant formalism relevant to many areas in multiagent systems, yet complete algorithms have not been pursued for real world applications due to perceived complexity. To capably capture a rich class of complex problem domains, we introduce the Distributed Multi-Event Scheduling (DiMES) framework and design congruent DCOP formulations with binary constraints which are proven to yield the optimal solution. To approach real-world efficiency requirements, we obtain immense speedups by improving communication structure and precomputing best case bounds. Heuristics for generating better communication structures and calculating bound in a distributed manner are provided and tested on …

Notes On Equilibria In Symmetric Games, Shih-Fen Cheng, Daniel M. Reeves, Yevgeniy Vorobeychik, Michael P. Wellman

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In a symmetric game, every player is identical with respect to the game rules. We show that a symmetric 2strategy game must have a pure-strategy Nash equilibrium. We also discuss Nash’s original paper and its generalized notion of symmetry in games. As a special case of Nash’s theorem, any finite symmetric game has a symmetric Nash equilibrium. Furthermore, symmetric infinite games with compact, convex strategy spaces and continuous, quasiconcave utility functions have symmetric pure-strategy Nash equilibria. Finally, we discuss how to exploit symmetry for more efficient methods of finding Nash equilibria.

Review Of The Product Development Process And Information Flow In The Manufacturing Industry: Problems And A Possible Wav Forward, E Opiyo

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

No abstract provided.

Multi-Period Multi-Dimensional Knapsack Problem And Its Application To Available-To-Promise, Hoong Chuin Lau, M. K. Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper is motivated by a recent trend in logistics scheduling, called Available-to-Promise. We model this problem as the multi-period multi-dimensional knapsack problem. We provide some properties for a special case of a single-dimensional problem. Based on insights obtained from these properties, we propose a two-phase heuristics for solving the multi-dimensional problem. We also propose a novel time-based ant colony optimization algorithm. The quality of the solutions generated is verified through experiments, where we demonstrate that the computational time is superior compared with integer programming to achieve solutions that are within a small percentage of the upper bounds.

Logistics Outsourcing And 3pl Challenges, Michelle L. F. Cheong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Logistics has been an important part of every economy and every business entity. The worldwide trend in globalization has led to many companies outsourcing their logistics function to Third-Party Logistics (3PL) companies, so as to focus on their core competencies. This paper attempts to broadly identify and categorize the challenges faced by 3PL companies and discover potential gaps for future research. Some of the challenges will be related with the experience and information collected from interviews with two 3PL companies.

Task Allocation Via Multi-Agent Coalition Formation: Taxonomy, Algorithms And Complexity, Hoong Chuin Lau, L. Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Coalition formation has become a key topic in multiagent research. In this paper, we propose a preliminary classification for the coalition formation problem based on three driving factors (demands, resources and profit objectives). We divide our analysis into 5 cases. For each case, we present algorithms and complexity results. We anticipate that with future research, this classification can be extended in similar fashion to the comprehensive classification for the job scheduling problem.

Multi-Agent Coalition Via Autonomous Price Negotiation In A Real-Time Web Environment, Hoong Chuin Lau, Wei Sian Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In e-marketplaces, customers specify job requests in real-time and agents form coalitions to service them. This paper proposes a protocol for self-interested agents to negotiate prices in forming successful coalitions. We propose and experiment with two negotiation schemes: one allows information sharing while the other does not.

A Computer-Based Articulation Training Aid For Short Words (Cata), Mukund Devarajan

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Several improvements in the vowel articulation training aid (VATA) are described, as well as the efforts to extend the visual feedback system to operate with short words in the form of consonant, vowel and consonant (CVC). The extended version of the visual feedback system is referred to as CATA (Computer-based Articulation Training Aid); the vowel version of the aid (VATA) only operates with ten American English monopthong vowels. Improvements in VATA include the use of a neural network (NN) recognizer method to prune a large database of vowel recordings to eliminate noisy and/or mispronounced tokens. The spectral jitter problem, previously …

Solving Multi-Objective Multi-Constrained Optimization Problems Using Hybrid Ants System And Tabu Search, Hoong Chuin Lau, Min Kwang Lim, Wee Chong Wan, Hui Wang, Xiaotao Wu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Many real-world optimization problems today are multi-objective multi-constraint generalizations of NP-hard problems. A classic case we study in this paper is the Inventory Routing Problem with Time Windows (IRPTW). IRPTW considers inventory costs across multiple instances of Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW). The latter is in turn extended with time-windows constraints from the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), which is extended with optimal fleet size objective from the single-objective Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). While single-objective problems like TSP are solved effectively using meta-heuristics, it is not obvious how to cope with the increasing complexity systematically as the problem is …

A Generic Object-Oriented Tabu Search Framework, Hoong Chuin Lau, Wee Chong Wan, Xiaomin Jia

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Presently, most tabu search designers devise their applications without considering the potential of design and code reuse, which consequently prolong the development of subsequent applications. In this paper, we propose a software solution known as Tabu Search Framework (TSF), which is a generic C++ software framework for tabu search implementation. The framework excels in code recycling through the use of a welldesigned set of generic abstract classes that clearly define their collaborative roles in the algorithm. Additionally, the framework incorporates a centralized process and control mechanism that enhances the search with intelligence. This results in a generic framework that is …

A Generic Object-Oriented Tabu Search Framework, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Presently, most tabu search designers devise their applications without considering the potential of design and code reuse, which consequently prolong the development of subsequent applications. In this paper, we propose a software solution known as Tabu Search Framework (TSF), which is a generic C++ software framework for tabu search implementation. The framework excels in code recycling through the use of a welldesigned set of generic abstract classes that clearly define their collaborative roles in the algorithm. Additionally, the framework incorporates a centralized process and control mechanism that enhances the search with intelligence. This results in a generic framework that is …

Automatic Speaker Identification Using Reusable And Retrainable Binary-Pair Partitioned Neural Networks, Ashutosh Mishra

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents an extension of the work previously done on speaker identification using Binary Pair Partitioned (BPP) neural networks. In the previous work, a separate network was used for each pair of speakers in the speaker population. Although the basic BPP approach did perform well and had a simple underlying algorithm, it had the obvious disadvantage of requiring an extremely large number of networks for speaker identification with large speaker populations. It also requires training of networks proportional to the square of the number of speakers under consideration, leading to a very large number of networks to be trained …

System Login Authentication Using Voice Recognition And Ai Methods, Benedict Sunggoh Metrius

Student Works (2000-2009)

This thesis will show how the voice recognition technique can be combined with template matching technique (Vector Quantization) to validate a login process. This system will be divided into two modules; Enrollment and Verification During the Enrollment process,the person offers a 'live sample' of his/her voice.The feature of this voice will be extracted using MFCC technique which involves Frame Blocking, Windowing, Fast Fourier Transform, Mel-frequency Wrapping and Cepstrum. The feature extracted by the MFCC will be processed and stored as codebooks. A codebook is created for each user. To confirm the identity at a future time, the individual will present …

A Multilevel Neural Network Architecture For Digital Implementation Of A Face Recognition System Based On Eigenface Approach, Linda Rajan

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The design and development of the digital implementation of a multilevel feed forward neural network architecture for face recognition based on statistical features representing Eigenfaces is presented in this thesis. The architecture is divided into three parts: feature extractor, classifier and identifier, The Eigenface extractor architecture is developed based on an efficient design strategy in which all the M weight values corresponding to the Eigenfaces are generated simultaneously from M images representing the Eigen vectors and the test input image. The multilayer neural network classifier is trained using error backpropagation algorithm. A novel multilevel digital architecture is developed for the …

Trends. War On Personality And Personality And War: Comments On Nass And Lee (2002), Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses another article – Identity and deconstruction, by Clifford Nass and Kwan Min Yee – published in volume 3 (2002) of Archives of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy in which the authors demonstrate that people reliably attribute personality characteristics to computer-synthesized speech, exploring the ramifications in a political psychological context.

Pickup And Delivery Problem With Time Windows: Algorithms And Test Case Generation, Hoong Chuin Lau, Zhe Liang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In the pickup and delivery problem with time windows (PDPTW), vehicles have to transport loads from origins to destinations respecting capacity and time constraints. In this paper, we present a two-phase method to solve the PDPTW. In the first phase, we apply a novel construction heuristics to generate an initial solution. In the second phase, a tabu search method is proposed to improve the solution. Another contribution of this paper is a strategy to generate good problem instances and benchmarking solutions for PDPTW, based on Solomon' s benchmark test cases for VRPTW. Experimental results show that our approach yields very …

Analysis For Cooperative Behavior Effectiveness Of Autonomous Wide Area Search Munitions, Sang M. Park

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate how a simulation model can accurately represent the performance of the autonomous wide area search munitions, and to find the effectiveness of the cooperative behavior on the autonomous munitions. Though it does not provide a practical solution for the development of the autonomous wide area search munitions, this research will show some meaningful allocations of the munitions tasks that are applicable to the development of the autonomous munitions. For the first phase, this thesis presents how accurately a simplified simulation model can represent a proposed weapon system by comparing the simulation results …

Organizing And Personalizing Intelligence Gathering From The Web, Hwee-Leng Ong, Ah-Hwee Tan, Jamie Ng, Pan Hong, Qiu-Xiang Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we describe how an integrated web‐based application, code‐named FOCI (Flexible Organizer for Competitive Intelligence), can help the knowledge worker in the gathering, organizing, tracking and dissemination of competitive intelligence (CI). It combines the use of a novel user‐configurable clustering, trend analysis and visualization techniques to manage information gathered from the web. FOCI allows its users to define and personalize the organization of the information clusters according to their needs and preferences into portfolios. These personalized portfolios created are saved and can be subsequently tracked and shared with other users. The paper runs through an example to show …

Integrating Local Search And Network Flow To Solve The Inventory Routing Problem, Hoong Chuin Lau, Q Liu, H. Ono

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The inventory routing problem is one of important and practical problems in logistics. It involves the integration of inventory management and vehicle routing, both of which are known to be NP-hard. In this paper, we combine local search and network flows to solve the inventory management problem, by utilizing the minimum cost flow sub-solutions as a guiding measure for local search. We then integrate with a standard VRPTW solver to present experimental results for the overall inventory routing problem, based on instances extended from the Solomon benchmark problems.

Modular Machine Learning Methods For Computer-Aided Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer, Mia Kathleen Markey '94

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to improve breast cancer diagnosis by reducing the number of benign biopsies performed. To this end, we investigated modular and ensemble systems of machine learning methods for computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) of breast cancer. A modular system partitions the input space into smaller domains, each of which is handled by a local model. An ensemble system uses multiple models for the same cases and combines the models' predictions.

Five supervised machine learning techniques (LDA, SVM, BP-ANN, CBR, CART) were trained to predict the biopsy outcome from mammographic findings (BIRADS™) and patient age based on a …

A New Approach For Weighted Constraint Satisfaction, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We consider the Weighted Constraint Satisfaction Problem which is an important problem in Artificial Intelligence. Given a set of variables, their domains and a set of constraints between variables, our goal is to obtain an assignment of the variables to domain values such that the weighted sum of satisfied constraints is maximized. In this paper, we present a new approach based on randomized rounding of semidefinite programming relaxation. Besides having provable worst-case bounds for domain sizes 2 and 3, our algorithm is simple and efficient in practice, and produces better solutions than some other polynomial-time algorithms such as greedy and …

Investigation Of Cooperative Behavior In Autonomous Wide Search Munitions, Robert E. Dunkel Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of wide-area search munitions in various scenarios using different cooperative behavior algorithms. The general scenario involves multiple autonomous munitions searching for an unknown number of targets of different priority in unknown locations. Three cooperative behavior algorithms are used in each scenario: no cooperation, cooperative attack only, and cooperative classification and attack. In the cooperative cases, the munitions allocate tasks on-line as a group, using linear programming techniques to determine the optimum allocation. Each munition provides inputs to the task allocation routine in the form of probabilities of successfully being able …

Level Set Segmentation Of Mr Images For Extraction Of Femur Bone And Tissues, Christina Shanti Nayagam

Student Works (2000-2009)

This research explores a potentially useful segmentation algorithm, known as the level set method. It is suitable for images obtained from the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRJ) modality, despite the fact that MR images have low contrast between bone and tissue. The level set method is a numerical technique designed to track the evolution of an interface. The fast marching version of the method is implemented for two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) segmentation in this research. Femur segmentation is the main thrust of this thesis, however brain and heart images are also presented. Pre-processing steps are first performed for the 2-0 …

A Genetic Algorithm Solution To The Shortest Path Problem In Ospf And Mpls, Wee Jing Tee Wee Jing

Student Works (2000-2009)

This project studies and explores the potential of using genetic algorithm to solve the shortest path problem in Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS). The most critical task for developing a genetic algorithm to the shortest path problem is to how to encode a path in a network. In this project, two genetic algorithm solutions arc developed for the above two problem domains, i.e. Previous-node-based Encoding to solve the shortest path problem in OSPF and Priority-based Encoding to solve the shortest path problem in MPLS. For each of the shortest path problem domains, the proposed solution …

Pickup And Delivery Problem With Time Windows: Algorithms And Test Case Generation, Hoong Chuin Lau, Zhe Liang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In the pickup and delivery problem with time windows (PDPTW), vehicles have to transport loads from origins to destinations respecting capacity and time constraints. In this paper, we present a two-phase method to solve the PDPTW. In the first phase, we apply a novel construction heuristics to generate an initial solution. In the second phase, a tabu search method is proposed to improve the solution. Another contribution of this paper is a strategy to generate good problem instances and benchmarking solutions for PDPTW, based on Solomon's benchmark test cases for VRPTW. Experimental results show that our approach yields very good …

A Multi-Agent Framework For Supporting Intelligent Fourth-Party Logistics, Hoong Chuin Lau, G. Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A distributed intelligent agent-based framework that supports fourth-party logistics optimization under a web-based e-Commerce environment has been proposed in this paper. In the framework, customer job requests come through an e-Procurement service. These requests are consolidated and pushed to the e-Market Place service periodically. The e-Market Place then serves as a broker that allows intelligent agents to bid to serve these requests optimally in real-time by solving multiple instances of underlying logistics optimization problem. The resulting system was implemented based on the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) platform using distributed system technology for communication between objects.

Aurora Working Group: Dsr Front End Lvcsr Evaluation — Baseline Recognition System Description, Naveen Parihar, Joseph Picone

Publications

In this document we describe the features of the baseline system to be used in the Distributed Speech Recognition (DSR) front end large vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR) evaluations being conducted by the Aurora Working Group of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The objective of these evaluations is to determine the robustness of different front ends for use in client/server type telecommunications applications. As such, our experiments are designed to test the following focus conditions on the DARPA Wall Street Journal (WSJ0) corpus using a 5000-word closed-loop vocabulary and a bigram language model:

1. Additive Noise: six noise conditions …

Comparison Of Two Distributed Fuzzy Logic Controllers For Flexible-Link Manipulators, Linda Z. Shi, Mohamed Trabia

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Presentations

The paper suggests that fuzzy logic controllers present a computationally efficient and robust alternative to conventional controllers. The paper presents two possible structures for the distributed fuzzy logic controller of a single-link flexible manipulator. A linear quadratic regulator method is used to prove the effectiveness of fuzzy logic controllers.

Hopfield Model For Shortest Path Computation And Routing In Atm Network, Chee Weng Lee

Student Works (2000-2009)

This research focuses on the application of Hopfield neural network and Boltmann machine in solving the shortest path routing problem in the ATM network environment. Hopfield neural network and Boltzmann machine are two types of neural network which are commonly used for solving optimization problem such as the shortest path routing problem. The objectives of this research are to construct a Hopfield neural network and a Boltzmann machine for solving the shortest path routing problem in the ATM network. Both of these two types of neural network are built based on a chosen example of an A TM network. The …

Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation Using Neural-Fuzzy In Atm Network, Yan Sing Chua

Student Works (2000-2009)

Dynamic bandwidth allocation is becoming one of the crucial issues in the design and research in the computer network. This is due to the continuous increasing demand of intensive applications that require more bandwidth while retaining higher quality. Dynamic bandwidth allocation utilises the current network state information to optimise the bandwidth distribution. The state information can be gathered through prediction using past data and measurement on current state. Agility and flexibility of dynamic bandwidth allocation using Neural-Fuzzy has the advantage that it can adapt to the state changes of the network. ATM network carries heterogeneous traffic and this causes the …