Computer Sciences Commons^™

The World Wide Web And Technology Transfer At Nasa Langley Research Center, Michael L. Nelson, David J. Bianco

Computer Science Faculty Publications

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) began using the World Wide Web (WWW) in the summer of 1993, becoming the first NASA installation to provide a Center-wide home page. This coincided with a reorganization of LaRC to provide a more concentrated focus on technology transfer to both aerospace and non-aerospace industry. Use of the WWW and NCSA Mosaic not only provides automated information dissemination, but also allows for the implementation, evolution and integration of many technology transfer applications. This paper describes several of these innovative applications, including the on-line presentation of the entire Technology Opportunities Showcase (TOPS), an industrial partnering showcase …

World Wide Web Implementation Of The Langley Technical Report Server, Michael L. Nelson, Gretchen L. Gottlich, David J. Bianco

Computer Science Faculty Publications

On January 14, 1993, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) made approximately 130 formal, 'unclassified, unlimited' technical reports available via the anonymous FTP Langley Technical Report Server (LTRS). LaRC was the first organization to provide a significant number of aerospace technical reports for open electronic dissemination. LTRS has been successful in its first 18 months of operation, with over 11,000 reports distributed and has helped lay the foundation for electronic document distribution for NASA. The availability of World Wide Web (WWW) technology has revolutionized the Internet-based information community. This paper describes the transition of LTRS from a centralized FTP site to …

Electronic Document Distribution: Design Of The Anonymous Ftp Langley Technical Report Server, Michael L. Nelson, Gretchen L. Gottlich

Computer Science Faculty Publications

An experimental electronic dissemination project, the Langley Technical Report Server (LTRS), has been undertaken to determine the feasibility of delivering Langley technical reports directly to the desktops of researchers worldwide. During the first six months, over 4700 accesses occurred and over 2400 technical reports were distributed. This usage indicates the high level of interest that researchers have in performing literature searches and retrieving technical reports at their desktops. The initial system was developed with existing resources and technology. The reports are stored as files on an inexpensive UNIX workstation and are accessible over the Internet. This project will serve as …

A Strategy For Electronic Dissemination Of Nasa Langley Technical Publications, Donna G. Roper, Mary K. Mccaskill, Scott D. Holland, Joanne L. Walsh, Michael L. Nelson, Susan L. Adkins, Manjula Y. Ambur, Bryan A. Campbell

Computer Science Faculty Publications

To demonstrate NASA Langley Research Center's relevance and to transfer technology to external customers in a timely and efficient manner, Langley has formed a working group to study and recommend a course of action for the electronic dissemination of technical reports (EDTR). The working group identified electronic report requirements (e.g., accessibility, file format, search requirements) of customers in U.S. industry through numerous site visits and personal contacts. Internal surveys were also used to determine commonalities in document preparation methods. From these surveys, a set of requirements for an electronic dissemination system was developed. Two candidate systems were identified and evaluated …

A Greedy Hypercube-Labeling Algorithm, D. Bhagavathi, C. E. Grosch, S. Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Due to its attractive topological properties, the hypercube multiprocessor has emerged as one of the architectures of choice when it comes to implementing a large number of computational problems. In many such applications, Gray-code labelings of the hypercube are a crucial prerequisite for obtaining efficient algorithms. We propose a greedy algorithm that, given an n-dimensional hypercube H with N=2² nodes, returns a Gray-code labeling of H, that is, a labeling of the nodes with binary strings of length n such that two nodes are neighbors in the hypercube if, and only if, their labels differ in exactly …

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 …

Intel Nx To Pvm 3.2 Message Passing Conversion Library, Trey Arthur, Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

NASA Langley Research Center has developed a library that allows Intel NX message passing codes to be executed under the more popular and widely supported Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM) message passing library. PVM was developed at Oak Ridge National Labs and has become the defacto standard for message passing. This library will allow the many programs that were developed on the Intel iPSC/860 or Intel Paragon in a Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) design to be ported to the numerous architectures that PVM (version 3.2) supports. Also, the library adds global operations capability to PVM. A familiarity with Intel NX …

Optimal Greedy Algorithms For Indifference Graphs, Peter J. Looges, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

A fundamental problem in social sciences and management is understanding and predicting decisions made by individuals, various groups, or the society as a whole. In this context, one important concept is the notion of indifference. We characterize the class of indifference graphs, that is, graphs which arise in the process of quantifying indifference relations. In particular, we show that these graphs are characterized by the existence of a special ordering of their vertices. As it turns out, this ordering leads naturally to optimal greedy algorithms for a number of computational problems, including coloring, finding a shortest path between two vertices, …

The Morphology Of Convex Polygons, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

A simple polygon P is said to be unimodal if for every vertex of P, the Euclidian distance function to the other vertices of P is unimodal. The study of unimodal polygons has emerged as a fruitful area of computational and discrete geometry. We study unimodality properties of a number of special convex polygons from the morphological point of view. In particular, we establish a hierarchy among three classes of convex polygons in terms of their unimodality properties.

On Sources In Comparability Graphs, With Applications, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We characterize sources in comparability graphs and show that our result provides a unifying look at two recent results about interval graphs.

A Tree Representation For P4-Sparse Graphs, B. Jamison, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

A graph G is P₄-sparse if no set of five vertices in G induces more than one chordless path of length three. P₄-sparse graphs generalize both the class of cographs and the class of P₄-reducible graphs. We give several characterizations for P₄-sparse graphs and show that they can be constructed from single-vertex graphs by a finite sequence of operations. Our characterization implies that the P₄-sparse graphs admit a tree representation unique up to isomorphism. Furthermore, this tree representation can be obtained in polynomial time.

Hidden Markov Model For Visual Guidance Of Robot Motion In Dynamic Environment, Qiuming Zhu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Models and control strategies for dynamic obstacle avoidance in visual guidance of mobile robot are presented. Characteristics that distinguish the visual computation and motion-control requirements in dynamic environments from that in static environments are discussed. Objectives of the vision and motion planning are formulated as: 1) finding a collision-free trajectory that takes account of any possible motions of obstacles in the local environment; 2) such a trajectory should be consistent with a global goal or plan of the motion; and 3) the robot should move at as high a speed as possible, subject to its kinematic constraints. A stochastic motion-control …

A Mergeable Double-Ended Priority Queue, S. Olariu, Z. Wen

Computer Science Faculty Publications

An implementation of a double-ended priority queue is discussed. This data structure referred to as min–max–pair heap can be built in linear time; the operations Delete-min, Delete-max and Insert take O(log n) time, while Find-min and Find-max run in O(1) time. In contrast to the min-max heaps, it is shown that two min–max–pair heaps can be merged in sublinear time. More precisely, two min–max–pair heaps of sizes n and k can be merged in time O(log (n/k) * log k).

Some Aspects Of The Semi-Perfect Elimination, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Several efficient algorithms have been proposed to construct a perfect elimination ordering of the vertices of a chordal graph. We study the behaviour of two of these algorithms in relation to a new concept, namely the semi-perfect elimination ordering, which provides a natural generalization of chordal graphs.

On A Unique Tree Representation For P4-Extendible Graphs, B. Jamison, S. Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Several practical applications in computer science and computational linguistics suggest the study of graphs that are unlikely to have more than a few induced paths of length three. These applications have motivated the notion of a cograph, defined by the very strong restriction that no vertex may belong to an induced path of length three. The class of P₄-extendible graphs that we introduce in this paper relaxes this restriction, and in fact properly contains the class of cographs, while still featuring the remarkable property of admitting a unique tree representation. Just as in the case of cographs, the …

Efficient Schemes To Evaluate Transaction Performance In Distributed Database Systems, R. Mukkamala, S. C. Bruell

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Database designers and researchers often need efficient schemes to evaluate transaction performance. In this paper, we chose two important performance measures: the average number of nodes accessed and the average number of data items accessed per node by a transaction in a distributed database system. We derive analytical expressions to evaluate these metrics. For general applicability, we consider partially replicated distributed database systems. Our first set of analytic results are closed-form expressions for these two measures. These are based on some fairly restrictive simplifying assumptions. When these assumptions are relaxed, no closed-form expressions exist for these averages. Hence, we develop …

Pipelining Data Compression Algorithms, R. L. Bailey, R. Mukkamala

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Many different data compression techniques currently exist. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Combining (pipelining) multiple data compression techniques could achieve better compression rates than is possible with either technique individually. This paper proposes a pipelining technique and investigates the characteristics of two example pipelining algorithms. Their performance is compared with other well-known compression techniques.

Wings And Perfect Graphs, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

An edge uv of a graph G is called a wing if there exists a chordless path with vertices u, v, x, y and edges uv, vx, xy. The wing-graph W(G) of a graph G is a graph having the same vertex set as G; uv is an edge in W(G) if and only if uv is a wing in G. A graph G is saturated if G is isomorphic to W(G). A star-cutset in a graph G is a non-empty set of …

Pattern Classification In Dynamic Environments: Tagged Feature-Class Representation And The Classifiers, Qiuming Zhu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

he classifiers characterized by a tagged feature-class representation, a univariate discrimination approach, a cooperative classification scheme, and a logic-based learning strategy are discussed. Neither of the classifiers bears the constraints to the fixed sets of features and classes. Concepts of the tagged feature-class representation and the properties of feature matching in the dynamic environment are studied. Experimental tests and results of the classifiers are illustrated.

A New Conjecture About Minimal Imperfect Graphs, H. Meyniel, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

H. Meyniel proved that in every minimal imperfect graph, every pair of vertices is joined by a chordless path containing an odd number of edges. We conjectured that in every minimal imperfect graph, every pair of vertices is joined by a path containing an even number of edges. We give an equivalent version of this new conjecture.

The Strong Perfect Graph Conjecture For Pan-Free Graphs, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

A graph G is perfect if for every induced subgraph F of G, the chromatic number χ(F) equals the largest number ω(F) of pairwise adjacent vertices in F. Berge's famous Strong Perfect Graph Conjecture asserts that a graph G is perfect if and only if neither G nor its complement G contains an odd chordless cycle of length at least five. Its resolution has eluded researchers for more than twenty years. We prove that the conjecture is true for a class of graphs which strictly contains the claw-free graphs.

Weak Bipolarizable Graphs, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We characterize a new class of perfectly orderable graphs and give a polynomial-time recognition algorithm, together with linear-time optimization algorithms for this class of graphs.

No Antitwins In Minimal Imperfect Graphs, Stephan Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

It is customary to call vertices x and y twins if every vertex distinct from x and y is adjacent either to both of them or to neither of them. By analogy, we shall call vertices x and yantitwins if every vertex distinct from x and y is adjacent to precisely one of them. Lovász proved that no minimal imperfect graph has twins. The purpose of this note is to prove the analogous statement for antitwins.

Power Series Solution To A Simple Pendulum With Oscillating Support, Mohammad Dadfar, James Geer

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The problem of determining some of the effects of a small forcing term on a regular perturbation solution to a nonlinear oscillation problem is studied via a simple example. In particular, we investigate the periodic solution of a simple pendulum with an oscillating support. A power series solution is constructed in terms of c-=( )2 L,where w0 and w are the natural and driving frequencies respectively, a is the amplitude of the support oscillation, and L is the length of the pendulum. These solutions are analyzed for three cases: above resonance (w > wo), below resonance (w < wo), and at resonance (w = wo). In each case, the approximate location of the nearest singularities which limit the convergence of the power series are obtained by using Pad6 approximants. Using this information, a new expansion parameter 6 is introduced, where the radius of convergence of the transformed series is greater than the original series. The effects of primary and higher order resonances on the convergence of the series solution is noted and discussed.

Finding All Solutions To A System Of Polynomial Equations, Alden H. Wright

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Given a polynomial equation of degree d over the complex domain, the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra tells us that there are d solutions, assuming that the solutions are counted by multiplicity. These solutions can be approximated by deforming a standard n th degree equation into the given equation, and following the solutions through the deformation. This is called the homotopy method. The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra can be proved by the same technique.

In this paper we extend these results and methods to a system of n polynomial equations in I complex variables. We show that the number of solutions …

Perturbation Analysis Of The Limit Cycle Of The Free Van Der Pol Equation, Mohammad Dadfar, James Geer, Carl M. Andersen

Computer Science Faculty Publications

. A power series expansion in the damping parameter E of the limit cycle U(t; E) of the free van der Pol equation Ul + E( U2 _1) U + U =0 is constructed and analyzed. Coefficients in the expansion are computed up to 0(E24) in exact rational arithmetic using the symbolic manipulation system MACSYMA and up to O(E163) using a FORTRAN program. The series is analyzed using Pade approximants. The convergence of the series for the maximum amplitude of the limit cycle is limited by two pairs of complex conjugate singularities in the complex e-plane. These singularities are the …

Recommendations For Master's Level Programs In Computer Science: A Report Of The Acm Curriculum Committee On Computer Science, Kenneth I. Magel, Richard H. Austing, Alfs Berztiss, Gerald L. Engel, John W. Hamblen, A. A. J. Hoffmann, Robert Mathis

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The ACM Committee on Curriculum in Computer Science has spent two years investigating master's degree programs in Computer Science. This report contains the conclusions of that effort. Recommendations are made concerning the form, entrance requirements, possible courses, staffing levels, intent, library resources, and computing resources required for an academic, professional, or specialized master's degree. These recommendations specify minimum requirements which should be met by any master's programs. The Committee believes that the details of a particular master's program should be determined and continually updated by the faculty involved. A single or a small number of model programs are not as …

An Algorithm For The Electromagnetic Scattering Due To An Axially Symmetric Body With An Impedance Boundary Condition, F. Stenger, M. Hagmann, J. Scheing

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Let B be a body in R³, and let S denote the boundary of B. The surface S is described by S = {(x, y, z): (x² + Y²)^½= ƒ(z), -1≤ z ≤ I}, where ƒ analytic function that is real and positive on (-1, 1) and ƒ(±1) = 0. An algorithm is described for computing the scattered field due to a plane wave incident field, under Leontovich boundary conditions. The Galerkin method of solution used here leads to a block diagonal matrix involving 2M …