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SIWN Abstracts Index
sai: itssa.2009.06.021 Neuro-Fuzzy Approach for Congestion Control in Differentiated Services Network Trilok Chand Aseri and Asha Rani International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2009, pp. 1-20 Abstract: This paper aims to propose an Active Queue Management (AQM) technique which modifies Random Early Detection (RED) technique. A number of schemes are used to control congestion in the differentiated services network. Random Early Detection (RED) is one of the popularly implemented AQM algorithms. But it is not easy to configure the RED’s parameters. These parameters show some instability under dynamical environment. In this paper, a neuro-fuzzy technique has been proposed which aims to modify the RED algorithm. As Fuzzy-logic based system does not need precise control model. Therefore, Fuzzy Inference Module has been used that accepts the average queue length as input and calculates the packet drop probability. To make the approach more adaptive neural network has been used which regularly modifies the rule-base of fuzzy inference module. Neural network works on queue error signal and packet drop probability and provide packet drop probability as output which is further used as feedback. Simulation results show that Neuro-Fuzzy technique provides better results in terms of throughput, performance and fairness. Keywords: Active Queue Management (AQM), Additive Increase Multiplicative Decrease (AIMD), differentiated services, Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), fuzzy logic, neural network, per hop behavior, Random Early Detection (RED).
sai: itssa.2009.06.022 Application of Functional Analysis for the Design of Supervisory Systems: Case Study of Heavy Fuel-Oil Tanks M. N. Lakhoua International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2009, pp. 21-33 Abstract: This paper presents an application of a functional analysis technique for the design of supervisory systems. For this purpose, we present on the one hand, the concepts of SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system and on the other hand, the functional analysis technique SADT (Structured Analysis and Design Technique) that has been applied on a SCADA system of a thermal power plant (TPP). This technique allows a functional description of a SCADA system of a TPP. A sample of supervision of heavy fuel-oil tanks of a TPP is presented. Keywords: supervisory systems, SCADA, SADT method, thermal power plant, heavy fuel-oil.
sai: itssa.2009.06.023 Run-Time Performance Monitoring and Improvising of Dynamically Composed Media Web Services G. Maria Kalavathy and P. Seethalakshmi International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2009, pp. 34-43 Abstract: The objective of this paper is to monitor the run-time performance of the Dynamically Composed Media Web Services (DCMWS) through Parallel Performance Monitoring Service (PPMS) and improve the dynamic web service composition through recovery actions. The PPMS is a web service that is executed in parallel with media web service using multi threading technology. It monitors the execution of Dynamically Composed Media Web Services (DCMWS) which are represented as BPEL (Business Process Execution Language) processes. The runtime performance of the media web services such as timeouts, external errors, percentage of successful completion of individual media web services and the occurrence of faults are monitored and using this results the improvisation is made by taking recovery actions such as retry, skip and substitute the faulty individual service in the composition. The effectiveness of monitoring using PPMS and improvising using recovery actions have been evaluated for Media-on-demand composite web service and its results show an improvement on the performance of run time monitoring and composition of media web services. Keywords: dynamic service composition, media-on-demand, PPMS, multi threading.
sai: itssa.2009.06.024 Fuzzy-Controlled Intelligent and Robust Broadcasting (Firb) in Ad Hoc Networks Anuradha Banerjee and Paramartha Dutta International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2009, pp. 44-59 Abstract: During broadcast operation in ad hoc networks, each node receives a message multiple times. This generates excessive message overhead and increased signal collision significantly reduces packet delivery ratio. In order to efficiently handle all theses issues, here we propose a fuzzy-controlled algorithm in FIRB, for intelligent and robust broadcasting. Depending on certain well-defined criteria, each node decides its most eligible uplink neighbor. Performance of FIRB is compared with that of conventional flooding and two state-of-the-art broadcast algorithms, namely, tree-based broadcasting (TBB) and double-covered broadcasting (DCB). Results from a wide range of simulation runs show that FIRB attains much higher packet delivery ratio at notably lesser cost and transmission delay. Keywords: Ad Hoc networks, broadcasting, downlink neighbor, fuzzy controller, and uplink neighbor.
sai: itssa.2009.06.025 A Descriptive Computing Cyrus F Nourani International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2009, pp. 60-69 Abstract: A new descriptive model computing paradigm based on generic model diagrams is presented that further provides a basis to a computational epistemology and description logics. Applying a G-diagram formulation of situations and possible worlds a compatibility theorem is proved for situations in terms of generic diagrams. Deterministic and probabilistic epistemology are defined on the specific description logic based on infinitary logics and model theory. An inherent computability theorem is proved, comparing the two computational epistemics. Defining descriptive computing on generic diagrams admissible sets are applied to descriptive computing where we can prove certain admissible sets are descriptive computable. A correspondence between models definable by G-diagrams for models, their computations, and Boolean algebras are presented for descriptive computing. Keywords: descriptive computing, generic diagram, computational epistemology, computation on diagram, Boolean computation, admissible models, description logic.
sai: itssa.2009.06.026 The Price Negotiation Scheme for Forming Community Buyer Coalitions Veera Boonjing, Laor Boongasame and Ho-fung Leung International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2009, pp. 70-89 Abstract: This paper proposes a new solution to the buyer community coalition formation known as the Price Negotiation scheme, for buyers belonging to a community. The buyers in this scheme are concerned with not only their own gains but also such a gain of other buyers in their group. The purposes of the solution in this model are (1) to maximize a community total discount and (2) to recognise and to respect the required minimum discount of each buyer. The approach to generate the total discount is to permit each buyer joining a coalition, a minimum discount that is, at least, his required discount. This means that each buyer should be willing to pay for the requested item at the maximum price so that the coalition with the maximum number of buyers will be formed. Our mathematical analysis results and simulation results show that the total discount of the coalition in this scheme is larger than that in the existing buyer coalition schemes. Keywords: group buying, coalition formation, cooperative game theory, e-commerce.
sai: itssa.2009.06.027 Operation Components of Cognitive Radio System with MB-OFDM UWB Spectrum Jin Tian and Guangguo Bi International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2009, pp. 90-97 Abstract: While wireless services need more frequency band, traditional frequency allocations’ regulatory framework limits the developing trend. The allocated frequency band is often free, but unlicensed users need frequency spectrum to communicate with other peers. This paper proposes a new operation method of wireless frequency spectrum (cognitive radio technology) by sensing licensed bands, which supports high band wide efficiency. In particular, system operation components with MB-OFDM UWB spectrum are put forward, and key components functions of system including a few sense methods and link maintenances model are specified. The model and components functions of system operation may be available for cognitive radio on other frequency bands. Keywords: cognitive radio, link maintenance, operation components, sense, UWB.
sai: itssa.2009.09.031 E-Business Transaction Services Processing in Web Services Computing Systems Hong-Ren Chen International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 99-106 Abstract: This paper presented concerns the efficient processing of e-business real-time transaction services using the web services technology. To meet the goals of satisfied different user needs and high profits for the system, an efficient strategy called sensorial value-planned strategy (SVS) is proposed to accomplish differentiated treatment of e-business real-time transaction services according to their important. It supports to maximize the profit by providing preferred services to the high priority to improve the system performance. Keywords: web services, e-business transaction, service management.
sai: itssa.2009.09.032 Dynamic Service Composition Contracting Based on Agent Coalition Jun Yan International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 107-115 Abstract: Service level agreement management in the Web services environment has become a subject of intensive research over the past a few years. One of the critical issues is for the service consumer to dynamically select and contract a set of service providers for provision of a service composition. This becomes challenging in reverse auction scenarios where service providers need to group themselves together to bid on service composition provision jobs. To address this problem, this paper proposes an agent coalition based approach which is composed of a coalition formation protocol, a decision-making model, and a negotiation mechanism. The protocol guides service providers with complementary capabilities to communicate with one another thoroughly in order to form a coalition. The decision-making model helps a service provider to decide whether to join a coalition or not. The negotiation mechanism allows service providers in a coalition to decide the payoffs which lead to the final bid of the coalition. Keywords: agent coalition, negotiation, service composition, service level agreement.
sai: itssa.2009.09.033 An Aspect-Oriented Component-Based Approach to Seamless Web Service Composition Yankui Feng, Xiaodong Liu and Jon Kerridge International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 116-125 Abstract: The current state of art of web services composition is to use them as what they are without any adaptation. However, in reality it is often the case that pre-qualified existing web services do not perfectly match composition requirements in target systems. To achieve seamless composition and wide reusability of web services, mechanisms to support the adaptability of web services are highly in demand. This paper presents an aspect-oriented component-based approach to building adaptable web services. The adaptability of web services is achieved by applying aspect-oriented generative adaptation to the underlying components implementing the web services. Aspects for adaptation are generated according to adaptation requirements acquired from web service consumers. An expandable library of reusable aspects at multiple abstraction levels is developed. A prototype tool has been developed to scale up the approach. Keywords: web services composition and integration, aspect-oriented programming, software reuse, generative component adaptation, software production line.
sai: itssa.2009.09.034 A Service-Oriented Medical Data Analysis Grid Platform Xin Wang, Jiankun Wu, Linpeng Huang, Gang Huang, Bin Chu International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 126-132 Abstract: Digital medical data analysis is important for health care. But the expanding of data and the need of large-scale computing power in distributed environment are main challenges for it. Grid techniques can provide the high performance of computing environment. It offers an effective way to deal with medical data analysis challenges. So in this paper, we propose a service-oriented medical data analysis grid platform. In the platform, all the resources and functions are wrapped as web services. Service management is provided for these services. This platform introduces MATLAB into grid environment to improve the ability of analyzing medical data. At the end of this paper, we also present the implementation of the platform. Keywords: web service, medical data analysis, grid platform, MATLAB.
sai: itssa.2009.09.035 Evaluation Model for BPEL-Based Web Service Composition Wenli Dong International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 133-143 Abstract: The trustworthiness is the key of service selection, application and integration. The challenge is brought by dynamic characteristics and multi-dimension of Web service composition for evaluating Web service composition. Based on complexity of architecture and application, and dynamics of Web service composition, an adaptive evaluation model for BPEL-based Web service composition is proposed in this paper. In this model, a new approach to rank Web service composition is adopted, and the contribution of quality factor to service evaluation is adjusted dynamically to evaluate the quality of the Web service composition effectively. The quantitative quality of BPEL-based Web service composition is decided by occurrence probability and the quality of constituent activities. The probabilistic analysis is presented to calculate the quality of Web service composition according to the composite way. The evaluation model is supported by fluctuating weight theory, standard quantity metrics, and the probabilistic analysis. We also give an example to illustrate the adaptive evaluation model of BPEL-based Web service composition. Keywords: business process execution language for web services, evaluation model, service quality dimension, fluctuating weight.
sai: itssa.2009.09.036 PERCHE: A Public Registry for Choreographies Liliana Ardissono, Roberto Furnari, Anna Goy, Giovanna Petrone and Marino Segnan International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 144-153 Abstract: When Web Service composition takes place in an open environment, involving services that belong to different organizations, a choreography-level registry can play a major role. Such a registry acts as a “mediator” between companies providing individual services and companies providing complex business models as choreographies. We propose a framework, called PERCHE, that supports the management of public registries for choreographies: when a provider aims at offering a complex service which involves the cooperation of different participants (roles), it publishes the choreography specification onto the registry. The choreography (global view) is splitted into the interaction protocols of the individual roles (local views). To join a choreography, a company applies for a specific role, by providing an implementation of the corresponding interaction protocol. We present the architecture and functionality of the PERCHE framework, discussing the relations between global and local views, briefly facing the issue of the choice of a suitable choreography language, and providing an example, to show how a registry based on the PERCHE framework works. Keywords: choreography, heterogeneous services interoperation, registry, service composition, service discovery, service infrastructure, service interaction, web service.
sai: itssa.2009.09.037 Design of an SLA-Based Service Monitor System Using Agents Li-Der Chou, Chien-Chi Chen, Yung-Shih Wang and Po-Chia Tseng International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 154-160 Abstract: With the development of Web Service technologies, it becomes more and more popular in recent years. Web Service is based on the open standard protocol and provides a platform for distributed system. Besides, in the aspect of service requesters, Quality of Service (QoS) is the key issue to decide whether to use the service or not. In the paper, we propose a mechanism to monitor the service using agent. The mechanism aims to manage the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and monitor the SLA negotiated with service requesters and service providers. While any action infringes SLA, the mechanism will handle it with some appropriate functionality. Keywords: web services, quality of service, service level agreement.
sai: itssa.2009.09.038 Verification and Implementation of Reliable Service Composition for High-Performance Service Computing Ruonan Rao, Qingjun Xiao and Jinyuan You International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 161-167 Abstract: Reliable Service Composition is an important field of high-performance service computing, however it lacks mature formalized methods in modeling and verification. Since there’re many effective tools in concurrent systems such as extension automata and temporal logic, we try to use SPIN -a conventional model-checking tool to analyze reliability and liveness of WS-AT protocol, indicate counter case to locate inappropriateness in current version of WS-AT and propose improvement for the standard. We also suggest a framework to combine WS-AT with WS-BPEL and an implementation for declarative transaction demarcation based on decorator pattern in Petri nets. Keywords: web service, reliable service composition, WS-BPEL, WS-AT, model checking, Petri nets.
sai: itssa.2009.09.039 An Algorithm for Web Service Discovery Based on Semantic Similarity of Service Properties Tian Qiu, Lei Li and Pengfei Li International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 168-177 Abstract: The proliferation of web services raises the challenging problem of service discovery. UDDI has the limitation of lack of semantic inference support, and the search mechanism based on keyword and categorization information leads to a limited performance. The problem can be addressed by adopting OWL-S in web service discovery. In this paper a matching algorithm for service discovery is proposed based on semantic similarity of service properties, aiming at enhancing both recall and precision of web service search. The algorithm includes a key function of semantic similarity measure that produces numeric similarity degree of ontology entity concepts. In this paper the algorithm is described in details, and experimental results are also presented to show the effectiveness of the algorithm. Keywords: web service, semantic similarity, OWL-S.
sai: itssa.2009.09.040 A Web Service Retrieval Method Based on Behavior Specification Matching Fanchao Meng, Dechen Zhan and Xiaofei Xu International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 178-189 Abstract: The capability to accurately and efficiently find useful business process services becomes increasingly critical in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). However, current approaches for web services retrieval are limited to the matching of key words or the input/output of services, which can not meet the needs of business process in efficiency and accuracy. Aiming to this problem, this paper presents a web service retrieval method based on behavior specification matching. We use finite state machine to describe the behavior specification, and OWL-S capture the semantics of type classes contained in web services. Based on the semantics of the type classes, we give the definition of operation specification relationship between operations and present four types of behavior specification relationships between web services. To retrieve most suitable web service from candidate web services, a set of metrics are used to calculate the matching cost between the web service of user requirement and candidate web services. Our approach can not only judge whether the behavior of a web service exactly satisfies user requirement, but also consider an approximate matching. Keywords: web service, service retrieval, behavior specification, finite state automata, matching cost.
sai: itssa.2009.09.041 Towards Collaborative Coping with IT Complexity by Combining SOA and Organic Computing Stefan Thanheiser, Lei Liu and Hartmut Schmeck International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 2, September 2009, pp. 190-197 Abstract: By applying the paradigm of service-oriented architectures (SOA) to existing IT infrastructures, enterprises try to achieve complexity reduction concerning their business IT. However, latest research indicates the presence of an SOA-specific complexity, whose impact on total IT complexity is hard to measure. A plausible strategy for better coping with IT complexity lies in introducing self-organising IT systems as proposed by the ‘Organic Computing’ Initiative. To discuss how a relative reduction of IT complexity to human system participants can be accomplished, this paper presents the approach of an ‘organic SOA’ aiming at collaborative handling of complexity by means of introducing self-organizing systems - and yet maintaining SOA flexibility. Keywords: service-oriented architectures, organic computing, controlled self-organization, IT complexity.
Research on the Complexity of Industrial Network Shou-wei Li, Xing-san Qian and Xia Li International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 199-207 Abstract: Industrial network is a complex system, which has three hierarchical levels of complexity. Based on the correlation ships among enterprises, the IC industrial network of Changjiang Delta is constructed, and then we analyze the complex properties of IC industrial network: degree distribution, clustering coefficient and shortest average path. We find that industrial network is a small world with scale free property, and its local clustering coefficient depends on the degree of node strongly. Based on the character of real industrial development, the model of competing evolution is presented and is explained theoretically. Through theoretic analysis, we obtain three kinds of enterprises which have three different behaviors in the process of evolution. At last, we give some conclusions about our research. Keywords: complexity, competition, evolution, industrial network.
sai: itssa.2009.11.052 A Self-organising Multi-Agent System Managing Complex System Design Application to Conceptual Aircraft Design Jean-Baptiste Welcomme, Marie-Pierre Gleizes and Romaric Redon International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 208-221 Abstract: Many disciplines interact in the design of complex products, and interdependencies between them lead to difficult compromises. To deal with the conceptual design of complex products, designers require software, which is the closest of the design process. Therefore, these softwares need to be conceptually distributed, embedding disciplinary components. Focusing on the preliminary aircraft design, this article provides a self-organising Multi-Agent System (MAS) approach, where each agent embeds one disciplinary component and follows a cooperative reasoning. Experimental results show that self-organising approach provides robustness and adaptive behaviour, because the system is able to take into account perturbations of its environment. In addition, a set of tools provides a view of the system at global and local levels and enables aircraft designers to understand the interdependencies in the system and to reformulate their requirements. Keywords: self-regulation, cooperation, emergence and interaction, engineering design, applications.
sai: itssa.2009.11.053 A QoS-Based Scheduling by Neurodynamic Learning Malika Bourenane, Abdelhamid Mellouk and Djilali Benhamamouch International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 222-230 Abstract: One potential approach to achieve service differentiation in IP networks is through the use of discriminatory scheduling algorithms, because they enforce resource allocation, by deciding when packets are transmitted. Scheduling in a router is done based on local decisions. For optimizing the global scheduling, we want to employ reinforcement learning as optimization algorithm for automatically optimizing the behavior of each scheduler. In this paper, we propose a two-level method to solve the scheduling problem. The presented method is based on neurodynamic programming (reinforcement learning and feed-forward artificial neural networks). In each router the suggested model take into account the delay constraint of traffic classes in addition to bandwidth, so that when this resource is not sufficient, the delay-sensitive class must be treated in priority at the expense of the remaining classes. In addition, we attempt to optimize the global scheduling through all routers. Simulations show a fast convergence of the algorithm and for three traffic classes our model satisfied the mean delay requirements and achieves some performance in terms of throughput. Keywords: delay; reinforcement learning; adaptive resource management; packet scheduling; neural networks.
sai: itssa.2009.11.054 Autonomic Networking: The Knowledge Plane Maïssa Mbaye and Francine Krief International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 231-240 Abstract: Knowledge management is becoming more and more crucial towards the autonomic network management. Indeed, the knowledge plane has been designed to give self-management functions to network elements in the autonomic architecture. This paper focuses on the use of machine learning paradigm to realize the knowledge plane and gives an example of knowledge plane that tries to self-optimize the configuration of a DiffServ router. Keywords: autonomic networking, quality of service, DiffServ, knowledge plane, self-management, machine learning.
sai: itssa.2009.11.055 A Self-organizing Service Discovery System Based on Semantic Overlay Networks Shanshan Jiang, Finn Arve Aagesen and Hao Ding International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 241-251 Abstract: A network of autonomous directories forming a large-scale distributed service discovery system is considered. It is proposed to organize directories into Semantic Overlay Networks (SON) based on service ontology. The various SONs are further organized in super-peer networking structures. The focus is on the functionality for the organization of directories into SONs and the selforganizing construction and maintenance of super-peer SON networks. Simulations indicate that the proposed functionality gives super-peer networks with a small number of SONs and a small SON size that require a small management procedure overhead. The self-organization time is short both for SON initial construction and in node leaving situations. Moreover, discovery procedure overhead is significantly reduced compared to a system based on a random overlay network. Keywords: self-organizing, semantic overlay network, service discovery, super-peer network.
sai: itssa.2009.11.056 The Role of Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS) Models in the Design and Evaluation of Self-Healing Systems Rean Griffith, Ritika Virmani and Gail Kaiser International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 252-263 Abstract: In an idealized scenario, self-healing systems predict, prevent or diagnose problems and take the appropriate actions to mitigate their impact with minimal human intervention. To determine how close we are to reaching this goal we require analytical techniques and practical approaches that allow us to quantify the effectiveness of a system’s remediation mechanisms. In this paper we apply analytical techniques based on Reliability, Availability and Serviceability (RAS) models to evaluate individual remediation mechanisms of select system components and their combined effects on the system. We demonstrate the applicability of RAS-models to the evaluation of self-healing systems by using them to analyze various styles of remediations (reactive, preventative etc.), quantify the impact of imperfect remediations, identify sub-optimal (less effective) remediations and quantify the combined effects of all the activated remediations on the system as a whole. Keywords: self-healing evaluation, RAS-models, Kheiron.
sai: itssa.2009.11.057 On Expressing and Validating Requirements for the Adaptivity of Self-Organizing Multi-Agent Systems Jan Sudeikat and Wolfgang Renz International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 264-274 Abstract: As Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) are composed of organizations of (inter–) acting, autonomous and pro-active agents, they provide means to the construction of self–organizing processes in distributed applications. Engineering approaches to self–organizing dynamics in MAS are supported by simulation–driven development procedures and established decentralized agent coordination mechanisms. In this paper, we examine current approaches to self-organizing MAS development and identify a lack of requirements analysis techniques. As the use of self–organizing mechanisms typically enables continuous MAS reconfiguration, i.e. structural adjustment due to environmental forces, we show how expectations on this MAS adaptivity can be expressed and validated. Corresponding models of intended MAS behaviors consider both the intended system configurations as well as the system dynamics that steer system (re–) configuration. It is argued that self–organizing MAS development typically intends established pattern of dynamics and the specification and validation of these adaptation dynamics is exemplified, transferring software engineering practices to MAS development. Keywords: self-organization, multi-agent system, adaptivity, requirements engineering, decentralized coordination.
sai: itssa.2009.11.058 The Emergence of Order in Goods Distribution Using Information and Competition David Cabanillas and Steven Willmott International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 275-284 Abstract: This paper is concerned with the feasibility of achieving a competitive allocation of goods in a decentralized context. The distribution of a set of goods amongst a set of distributed and autonomous agents is a complex combinatorial problem. The three main challenges involved are: 1) the detection of needs by their members, 2) the structure of the environment within which exchanges occur, and 3) strategic users acting selfishly. A market–based mechanism provides a powerful approach to regulate exchanges between members of a community competing to maximize their utility/satisfaction and multiple factors such as topology and self-interest influence the decision making process. Therefore, we study the emergence of order with respect to goods distribution in a regulated market–based approach and how information and competition affect market performance. Keywords: allocation, market–based approach, bartering.
sai: itssa.2009.11.059 Exploiting MAS Self-organization for Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problems Giovanni Pezzulo International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2009, pp. 285-295 Abstract: Multi Agent Systems are especially suited for solving problems that require collective efforts and cooperation. It is generally assumed that resources such as knowledge and capabilities are distributed among agents. In this paper we illustrate the functioning of a MAS framework, AKIRA, in which energetic resources (i.e., speed and memory) are also distributed among the agents according to two typical principles of self-organizing systems, local excitation and global inhibition. We then demonstrate its behavior in a distributed constraint satisfaction task, the 3-coloring problem, in which each agent has to optimize a local function (its color) and can partially influence the other agents (by exchanging messages). At the same time, the whole MAS has to optimize a global function –a feature that is shared by several real world problems, including traffic management, networking, etc. Our results show that self-organization of agents and resources boundedness of the MAS permit to give priority to the better tentative solutions, and at the same time to identify and exploit hidden relations among them, two of the most critical problems of distributed problem solving. Keywords: DCSP, MAS, self-organization, agents.
sai: itssa.2009.12.061 An Organization-Based Approach to Developing Self-adaptive Multi-Agent Systems Xinjun Mao, Cuiyun Hu and Ji Wang International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 297-317 Abstract: For a long time software engineering has attempted to seek high-level abstractions to deal with complexity of systems. Agent technologies and organization metaphors represent progresses in abstractions that are much more suitable for handling complex and dynamic systems situated in open environment. Self-adaptive system is a kind of such dynamic system that is able to adjust its structure and behaviors, and therefore shows adaptation to the changes of the situated environment in order to satisfy the design objectives. To develop such complex systems is still a great challenge in the literature of software engineering. This paper proposes an organization-based approach to modeling, checking and transforming complex self-adaptive systems. Based on organization metaphors and abstractions, a dynamic binding self-adaptive mechanism and meta-model have been presented to help deal with the dynamic and self-adaptation aspects of self-adaptive systems. The corresponding modeling language AAML is designed. In addition to the language facilities to model the structure and behavior of system, AAML also introduces model and language to specify and analyze the selfadaptation of the systems. In order to check and improve the quality of the established models, a number of model constraints on correctness, completeness and consistency of models are proposed, with which developers can analyze whether the models are well-defined. In this approach, all of models based on organization abstractions are taken as platform-independent models. In order to simplify the development of complex self-adaptive systems, a model transformation method and corresponding algorithms are proposed to map the high-level platform-independent organization models to program code framework that relies on specific platform. A software toolkit called ODAMTools is developed to support the modeling, checking and transforming in an automatic way. Keywords: dynamic binding mechanism, multi-agent system, organization abstraction, self-adaptive.
sai: itssa.2009.12.062 MASSOP: A Self-organizing Protocol for Multi Agents Systems Inspired By Bacteria Colonies Hakima Mellah, Salima Hassas and Habiba Drias International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 318-330 Abstract: When distributed information sources (DIS) interact, and during operation like ‘information source -user’ or ‘information source-information source’ (if the latter exists) the network can break down or the source itself does not response any more (the material can breakdown, or the source contains a bug). This will take us to a blocking situation. Thus in order to avoid the latter and maintain this connection, it is significant to restructure these DIS interactions by the emergence of new network structures. Whenever, if the interaction between the DIS did not exist a selforganization can emerge it. To do so, it is interesting that the system can be able to re-organize itself so as to exploit the existing data in the source in a’ failure state’. For this, we suggest to simulate the DIS by a Multi Agents System based on a self-organizing protocol that we attempt to propose in this work. This protocol can be applied either in DIS as in a robotic or industrial environment. Keywords: protocol, multi agents systems, self-organization, bacteria colonies.
sai: itssa.2009.12.063 Towards Self-configuration in Multiple Network Interfaces Communications Nader Mohamed International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 331-336 Abstract: Multiple network interface cards between a pair of computers can be utilized to enhance communication performance properties such as throughput, transfer time, and reliability between them. One model that can be used for enabling communication through multiple network interface cards is MuniSocket (Multiple-Network-Interface Socket). Unlike regular socket, MuniSocket can be configured to deal with multiple network interfaces to enhance communication. Although the MuniSocket model has some communication performance advantages over the regular socket, it has a number of usability drawbacks including the complexity of connection establishment configuration and configuration for good communication performance. This paper discusses several enhancements for MuniSocket using self-configuration techniques, which enhance communication performance among computers and reduce the complexity of configuring MuniSockets. While these enhancements improve the process of configuring MuniSocket for good communication performance, they also make the MuniSocket interface compatible with the regular TCP socket interface, which enhances usability. Keywords: computer networks, MuniSocket, autonomic communication.
sai: itssa.2009.12.064 Engineering Self-adaptive Service Execution Mechanisms for a Resource Management System Daniele Cammareri and Claudia Raibulet International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 337-356 Abstract: Self-adaptation is one of the most challenging non-functional issues to address during the engineering of today’s information systems. This paper describes our approach to self-adaptation in the context of an Adaptive Resource Management System (ARMS). The main objectives of ARMS are (1) the identification of the most appropriate available resource able to execute the current service request, as well as (2) the runtime supervision of the service execution in order to ensure the expected qualities of the requested services. The first objective is achieved through reflection mechanisms which monitor the resources and the services they provide in order to choose the best solution for the current service request. The second objective is addressed through runtime self-adaptation mechanisms which monitor the actual execution of services and perform changes whenever an execution cannot be fulfilled or it does not meet the requested and expected qualities. In this paper, the attention is focused on the solution designed and implemented to achieve this second objective. Hence, we present the self-adaptation and decision support mechanisms able to observe and control the execution of local and remote services. Furthermore, the paper introduces briefly the main issues raised by self-adaptive systems in order to provide an overview on their requirements and design objectives. Keywords: self-adaptation, adaptive service execution.
sai: itssa.2009.12.065 Self-organization and Adaptation in Socio-Cognitive Systems: A Computational Model Christina Klüver and Jürgen Klüver International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 357-368 Abstract: The concept of adaptation means either that a whole system is adaptive or that the elements of the system are so and generate that way the adaptability of the system. The modeling of socio-cognitive requires the second form of adaptation. We describe this form of adaptation by a model of the evolution of social systems by the individual learning processes of the elements of the system, i.e. the social actors. Each artificial actor consists of different neural networks. It can be demonstrated that this model can capture the factual historical evolutionary processes of human societies. Keywords: socio-cognitive systems, learning processes, evolutionary adaptation, neural networks, social self-organization.
sai: itssa.2009.12.066 Scalability Concerns in Runtime Observation for Autonomic Cloud Service Management David Lamb, Martin Randles and A. Taleb-Bendiab International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 369-381 Abstract: Cloud computing is developing into an all-encompassing term describing virtualised platforms and hosts that deliver on-demand resources and services to users, scaling as required. Sitting atop as desirable application architecture, the Internet of Services suggests a large and complex system requiring core provision of automated management and optimisation, including load management and control of reliability through redundancy. Feedback-control architecture has long been adopted in autonomic systems engineering to facilitate varying degrees of self-management. However, such a control model suffers from a lack of scalability as the number of managed elements by a given controller increases. This is further exacerbated by the prevailing software evolution and unpredictable dynamics which often render design-time created control models inaccurate. Therefore, much recent research is exploring alternative decentralised and self-organising control models to support the design and management of autonomic control. However, engineering support for design and application of these techniques is limited, and as such, their wider applicability still undecided. This paper discusses a signature-based method of adaptive observation allied to existing research in graph theory and complex systems. Primarily, this approach attempts to address the specification and implementation of both the characteristics of the observed structure, and the necessary qualities of a matching and efficient observation overlay. This model is demonstrated in a simulation service hosting environment, which is employing a self-optimisation (load-balancing / self-distributed redundancy) management technique. The application of the model is shown to deliver efficient use of limited resources to target key load hotspots in an evolving system. Keywords: software engineering, self-organisation, observation, cloud computing, Internet of Services, autonomic.
sai: itssa.2009.12.067 AGENDA: A QoS-Aware Agent-Based Resources Manager for P2P-Grid Environments Antonella Di Stefano, Giovanni Morana and Daniele Zito International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 382-389 Abstract: In these last years, paradigms of P2P and Grid computing have affirmed them-selves as the most important solutions for sharing resources and services in heterogeneous, dynamic and wide-area distributed environments. Both paradigms present several specific peculiarities that make each one different from the other. Grid systems, for example, are characterized by a well-structured and rigid internal organization that allows the design and the adoption of optimal resources management mechanisms, guarantees trust relationships among participants but, from the other hand, limits systems scalability and fault tolerance. P2P networks, instead, are more scalable and fault tolerant than Grid systems but fail in the issues related to security and users credential management. In this paper the authors propose and illustrate AGENDA, an agent-based resources manager designed to integrate these two distributed computing paradigms in order to conjugate advantages offered by both solutions. In particular, the paper describes the structure and the components of AGENDA, explaining its functionalities and discussing its differences with the “information system” used in Grid systems. Keywords: Grid computing, P2P computing, software agents, QoS management
sai: itssa.2009.12.068 Using Guarded Experts to Perform Protein Secondary Structure Prediction Giuliano Armano and Francesco Mascia International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2009, pp. 390-396 Abstract: In this paper an ensemble-based approach for predicting protein secondary structure is proposed. Aimed at generating and selecting a population of experts whose competence is limited to proper regions of the input space, the approach enforces heuristics that promote the selection of highly cohesive regions. Expert overlapping is also promoted, to get benefits from the combination of multiple experts involved in a decision. A system has been devised and implemented according to the guidelines of the proposed approach and experiments have been performed on several benchmarking datasets. Experimental results demonstrate the validity of the approach, as the system has reached an accuracy comparable with those shown by the most acknowledged cutting-edge predictors. Keywords: protein secondary structure prediction, classifier ensembles, supervised clustering
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