Research on Architecture and Key Technology for Service-Oriented Workflow Performance Analysis
With the advent of SOA and Grid technology, the service has become the most important element of information systems. Because of the characteristic of service, the operation and performance management of workflow meet some new difficulties. Firstly a three-dimensional model of service is proposed. Then the characteristics of workflow in service-oriented environments are presented, based on which the workflow performance analysis architecture is described. As key technologies, workflow performance evaluation and analysis are discussed, including a multi-layer performance evaluation model and three kinds of performance analysis methods.

title: Particle swarm optimization for function optimization in noisy environment
abstract: As a novel evolutionary searching technique, particle swarm optimization (PSO) has gained wide research and effective applications in the field of function optimization. However, to the best of our knowledge, most studies based on PSO are aimed at deterministic optimization problems. In this paper, the performance of PSO for function optimization in noisy environment is investigated, and an effective hybrid PSO approach named PSOOHT is proposed. In the PSOOHT, the population-based search mechanism of PSO is applied for well exploration and exploitation, and the optimal computing budget allocation (OCBA) technique is used to allocate limited sampling budgets to provide reliable evaluation and identification for good particles. Meanwhile, hypothesis test (HT) is also applied in the hybrid approach to reserve good particles and to maintain the diversity of the swarm as well. Numerical simulations based on several well-known function benchmarks with noise are carried out, and the effect of noise magnitude is also investigated as well. The results and comparisons demonstrate the superiority of PSOOHT in terms of searching quality and robustness.

title: An Effective PSO-Based Hybrid Algorithm for Multiobjective Permutation Flow Shop Scheduling
abstract: This paper proposes a hybrid algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) for a multiobjective permutation flow shop scheduling problem, which is a typical NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem with strong engineering backgrounds. Not only does the proposed multiobjective algorithm (named MOPSO) apply the parallel evolution mechanism of PSO characterized by individual improvement, population cooperation, and competition to effectively perform exploration but it also utilizes several adaptive local search methods to perform exploitation. First, to make PSO suitable for solving scheduling problems, a ranked-order value (ROV) rule based on a random key technique to convert the continuous position values of particles to job permutations is presented. Second, a multiobjective local search based on the Nawaz-Enscore-Ham heuristic is applied to good solutions with a specified probability to enhance the exploitation ability. Third, to enrich the searching behavior and to avoid premature convergence, a multiobjective local search based on simulated annealing with multiple different neighborhoods is designed, and an adaptive meta-Lamarckian learning strategy is employed to decide which neighborhood will be used. Due to the fusion of multiple different searching operations, good solutions approximating the real Pareto front can be obtained. In addition, MOPSO adopts a random weighted linear sum function to aggregate multiple objectives to a single one for solution evaluation and for guiding the evolution process in the multiobjective sense. Due to the randomness of weights, searching direction can be enriched, and solutions with good diversity can be obtained. Simulation results and comparisons based on a variety of instances demonstrate the effectiveness, efficiency, and robustness of the proposed hybrid algorithm.

title: A service-oriented business performance evaluation model and the performance-aware service selection method
abstract: In service-oriented architecture, services and business processes are closely related and therefore the research on service-oriented business process (SOBP) attracts the attention of academia as well as industry. Because of the loosely coupled, autonomic and dynamic nature of services, the operation and the performance evaluation of business process meet some challenges, such as the definition of the key performance indicators (KPIs) and the alignment of business performance and IT performance. In this paper, we address these challenges. First, the definition and the characteristics of an SOBP are presented with a motivating scenario. Then a service-oriented business performance evaluation model is described, which integrates the performance of strategy layer, business process layer, business activity layer, service composition layer and IT infrastructure layer. The KPIs corresponding to each layer are also defined with their formal representations. The qualitative and quantitative performance analysis methods, based on the proposed model, are presented, respectively. Finally, the improved analytic hierarchy process is explicated to calculate the correlation between different KPIs and select the most suitable service. An online-shopping example is taken to prove the soundness and the feasibility of the method.

title: Constrained Nonlinear State Estimation - A Differential Evolution Based Moving Horizon Approach
abstract: A solution is proposed to estimate the states in the nonlinear discrete time system. Moving Horizon Estimation (MHE) is used to obtain the approximated states by minimizing a criterion that is the Euclidean form of the difference between the estimated outputs and the measured ones over a finite time horizon. The differential evolution (DE) algorithm is incorporated into the implementation of MHE in order to solve the optimization problem which is presented as a nonlinear programming problem due to the constraints. The effectiveness of the approach is illustrated in simulated systems that have appeared in the moving horizon estimation literature.

title: An Effective PSO-Based Memetic Algorithm for Flow Shop Scheduling
abstract: This paper proposes an effective particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based memetic algorithm (MA) for the permutation flow shop scheduling problem (PFSSP) with the objective to minimize the maximum completion time, which is a typical non-deterministic polynomial-time (NP) hard combinatorial optimization problem. In the proposed PSO-based MA (PSOMA), both PSO-based searching operators and some special local searching operators are designed to balance the exploration and exploitation abilities. In particular, the PSOMA applies the evolutionary searching mechanism of PSO, which is characterized by individual improvement, population cooperation, and competition to effectively perform exploration. On the other hand, the PSOMA utilizes several adaptive local searches to perform exploitation. First, to make PSO suitable for solving PFSSP, a ranked-order value rule based on random key representation is presented to convert the continuous position values of particles to job permutations. Second, to generate an initial swarm with certain quality and diversity, the famous Nawaz-Enscore-Ham (NEH) heuristic is incorporated into the initialization of population. Third, to balance the exploration and exploitation abilities, after the standard PSO-based searching operation, a new local search technique named NEH_1 insertion is probabilistically applied to some good particles selected by using a roulette wheel mechanism with a specified probability. Fourth, to enrich the searching behaviors and to avoid premature convergence, a simulated annealing (SA)-based local search with multiple different neighborhoods is designed and incorporated into the PSOMA. Meanwhile, an effective adaptive meta-Lamarckian learning strategy is employed to decide which neighborhood to be used in SA-based local search. Finally, to further enhance the exploitation ability, a pairwise-based local search is applied after the SA-based search. Simulation results based on benchmarks demonstrate the effectiveness of the PSOMA. Additionally, the effects of some parameters on optimization performances are also discussed

title: Distributed Intelligent Network Management Model for the Large-Scale Computer Network
abstract: Computer networks have become large-scale distributed systems and network management will develop towards the distributed management and the intelligent management. Multi-agent based Distributed Intelligent Network Management model (MDINM) for the large-scale computer network, which utilizes key characteristics of the agent, such as autonomy, reactivity, and mobility, is put forward in this paper. This model can not only avoid transmitting a large amount of original data on the network to realize the distributed network management but also provides network management with more intelligence by realizing the dynamic self-management for the network. The experimental results show that MDINM is better than the existing network management solutions on performance for the large-scale computer network.

title: Distributed network self-management model based on CSCW
abstract: Computer network system has become a large-scale distributed system. But various kinds of existing network management solutions cannot manage it efficiently and network management is facing the new challenges. Applying the principles of CSCW to network management by multi-agent system is a novel train of thought of constructing the new generation network management system. Distributed network self-management model (DNSM), which is based on multi-agent system, adopts the management policies based on management domain and provides users with Web-based management way, was put forward in this paper. This model not only provides network management with more intelligence but also avoids the usage of amounts of network bandwidth. The experimental results show that DNSM is better than the existing network management solutions on performance for the large-scale computer network.

title: A Chinese question classification using one-vs-one method as a learning tool
abstract: Question classification plays an important role in the question answering system and the errors of question classification will probably result in the failure of question answering. Thus, how to enhance the accuracy is an open question. In order to enhance the accuracies of the Chinese question classification, this paper extends one-against-one method based on SVMs to resolve the problems. The results show the good performance of the algorithm for Chinese question classification problems.

title: Integrating Classification and Association Rule Mining
abstract: Classification rule mining aims to discover a small set of rules in the database that forms an accurate classifier. Association rule mining finds all the rules existing in the database that satisfy some minimum support and minimum confidence constraints. For association rule mining, the target of discovery is not pre-determined, while for classification rule mining there is one and only one predetermined target. In this paper, we propose to integrate these two mining techniques. The integration is done by focusing on mining a special subset of association rules, called class association rules (CARs). An efficient algorithm is also given for building a classifier based on the set of discovered CARs. Experimental results show that the classifier built this way is, in general, more accurate than that produced by the state-of-the-art classification system C4.5. In addition, this integration helps to solve a number of problems that exist in the current classification systems.

title: Reprogrammable gate arrays for hardware accelerated IC design verification
abstract: The paper discusses the development of a hardware accelerator environment for ASIC design verification. A reprogrammable gate array serves as a breadboard for the ASIC design. Design entry is accepted in schematic or VHDL description form. An IC test instrument is used to program the gate array and run realtime functional tests on the ASIC design. It is anticipated that significant reductions in the ASIC development cycle can be achieved with this system, as well as allowing for more rapid design space exploration. Hardware accelerated logic and fault simulation is also accommodated when the reprogrammable gate array is configured as either the faulty or fault-free logic block of interest