ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Minimally covering a horizontally convex orthogonal polygon
Authors: J M Keil
Venue: Proceedings of the second annual symposium on Computational geometry (1986)

In this paper we present &Ogr;(n2) time algorithms for the problems of covering a horizontally convex orthogonal polygon with the minimum number of orthogonal convex polygons and with the minimum number of orthogonal star-shaped polygons.
Specification of time dependencies and synthesis of concurrent processes
Authors: P. Ladkin
Venue: Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Software Engineering (1987)

There is a need to incorporate reasoning about time dependencies into program synthesis systems. Such dependencies have often been phrased in terms of temporal logic systems. We present an alternative method of specifying time dependencies, in a calculus of binary relations between time intervals [Lad86.1, Lad86.2]. We show how the interval calculus may be used to give very-high-level specifications of concurrent process protocols, and how these specifications may be automatically refined using interval calculus into a target specification language. We indicate how the target language may be executed, under certain sequencing assumptions.
Symbolic computation and number of zeros of a real parameter polynomial in the unit disk
Authors: B Gleyse
Venue: ACM SIGSAM Bulletin (1986)

In this paper a method is proposed to determine the precise number of zeros of any real parameter polynomial with polynomial coefficients (two by two primes) in the unit disk. It deals with some questions of stability of biomedical, physical systems with parameters [2], [3], [6], [7].
Self-Organization in a Perceptual Network
Authors: Ralph Linsker
Venue: Computer (1988)

The emergence of a feature-analyzing function from the development rules of simple, multilayered networks is explored. It is shown that even a single developing cell of a layered network exhibits a remarkable set of optimization properties that are closely related to issues in statistics, theoretical physics, adaptive signal processing, the formation of knowledge representation in artificial intelligence, and information theory. The network studied is based on the visual system. These results are used to infer an information-theoretic principle that can be applied to the network as a whole, rather than a single cell. The organizing principle proposed is that the network connections develop in such a way as to maximize the amount of information that is preserved when signals are transformed at each processing stage, subject to certain constraints. The operation of this principle is illustrated for some simple cases.
An interactive diagnostic/debugging subsystem for bit-slice processors
Authors: F. J. Burkowski
Venue: Proceedings of the 18th annual workshop on Microprogramming (1985)

This paper discusses the design and implementation of a debugging/diagnostic subsystem for a bit-slice processor. The subsystem uses serial shadow registers under the control of a single chip microcomputer both to observe and to control processor behavior. Serial lines link the microcomputer to a diagnostic host which provides the user with a comprehensive set of interactive diagnostic commands. Using these commands, the user is able to load the writable control store, verify its contents, load mapping facilities, set breakpoints and examine registers during single-stepping sequences. The subsystem can considerably speed up the firmware development process and when incorporated into the design as a permanent feature, it provides a very low-cost facility for register-level diagnostics during the life of the system. Portability of the diagnostic subsystem across a number of processors is also possible and is conducive to the efficient management of machine diagnosis in the field.
Modeling and simulation of medium-access-protocols in local area networks
Authors: Ilan Katz
Venue: ACM SIGSIM Simulation Digest (1987)

Local Area Networks are becoming the most common way of connecting a series of workstations to allow them to communicate with each other and share common resources. It is therefore becoming more and more important for network designers and installers to evaluate the ability of local area networks that use different communication protocols to handle the desired message loads. An issue in LAN performance is related to the properties of the medium access protocol, i.e., its throughput-delay characteristics. By medium access protocol we refer to the MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer as defined by the IEEE-802 and the ISOOSI protocols. This paper focuses on two general classes of protocols: the first is known as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) and the second is known as Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) or Bit-Mapped protocol. Two variations of each class are examined, and comparisons are made between the classes and the variants of each class.
Analysis of backoff protocols for multiple access channels
Authors: J. Hastad, T. Leighton, B. Rogoff
Venue: Proceedings of the nineteenth annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing (1987)

In the paper, we analyze the stochastic behavior of backoff protocols for multiple access channels such as the Ethernet. In particular, we prove that binary exponential backoff is unstable if the arrival rate of new messages at each station is &lgr;/N for any number of stations N exceeding 1 and any overall arrival rate &lgr; exceeding .567 + 1/4N - 2. More importantly, we also prove that any superlinear polynomial backoff protocol (e.g., quadratic backoff) is stable for any set of arrival rates that sum to less than one, and any number of stations. The results significantly extend the previous work in the area, and provide the first examples of acknowledgement based protocols known to be stable for a nonnegligible overall arrival rate distributed over an arbitrarily large number of stations. The results also disprove a popular assumption that exponential backoff is the best choice among acknowledgement based protocols for systems with large overall arrival rates. Finally, we prove that any linear or sublinear backoff protocol is unstable if the arrival rate at each station is &lgr;/N for any fixed &lgr; and sufficiently large N.
Andrew: a distributed personal computing environment
Authors: James H. Morris, Mahadev Satyanarayanan, Michael H. Conner, John H. Howard, David S. Rosenthal, F. Donelson Smith
Venue: Communications of the ACM (1986)

The Information Technology Center (ITC), a collaborative effort between IBM and Carnegie-Mellon University, is in the process of creating Andrew, a prototype computing and communication system for universities. This article traces the origins of Andrew, discusses its goals and strategies, and gives an overview of the current status of its implementation and usage.
Analysis of Quadric-Surface-Based Solid Models
Authors: James R. Miller
Venue: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (1988)

The author discusses data representations and analytical tools commonly used in solid modelers for three analysis operations: boundary evaluation, image generation, and mechanical property calculation. The methods described are generally applicable to solid models bounded by quadric surfaces (e.g. planes, cylinders, spheres, and cones). Only methods applicable to constructive solid geometry or boundary representation modelers are considered. The author concludes with a review of ongoing research into other analysis operations appropriate for solid modeling representations.
Support for heterogeneity in the global distributed operating system
Authors: Martin Turnbull
Venue: ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review (1987)

Heterogeneity in distributed systems is potentially the major restricting factor to effective resource utilisation. In the global distributed operating system, where resource sharing crosses many organisational boundaries on a world-wide scale, this problem is increased. The approach to solving the heterogeneity problem is to provide a simple, coherent and consistent base on which to build services. The global distributed operating system provides support for remote heterogeneous service access. Supporting existing services is an important aspect that is aimed at minimising the changeover effort and cost from the old operating system to the new global distributed operating system.
General Model for Memory Interference in Multiprocessors and Mean Value Analysis
Authors: Bohdan Šmilauer
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Computers (1985)

This correspondence seeks to generalize and clarify the general model for memory interference (GMI) in multiprocessors as proposed by Hoogendoorn. The interference model creates a queueing network where some service centers are FCFS with constant service times; therefore, we also apply the mean value analysis (MVA) approxdmation suggested by Reiser to solve this model. Furthermore, we reduce the computations in this approximation by applying the iterative scheme suggested by Schweitzer. Although many authors have studied the memory interference problem, nobody has used the above-mentioned MVA approximations. We study these MVA approximations in the context of the memory interference problem and show that they produce better results with much less computation.
The relationship between benchmark tests and microcomputer price
Authors: Sumit Sircar, Dinesh Dave
Venue: Communications of the ACM (1986)

A highly accurate model predicts microcomputer price based on benchmark performance by analyzing the impact on predicted price of fluctuations in system configuration and benchmark results.
A conceptual framework for designing ASIC hardware
Authors: S. S. Leung, M. A. Shanblatt
Venue: Proceedings of the 24th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (1987)

A conceptual framework consisting of the design process, the design space, and the design repertoire for ASIC hardware is presented. An Inter-Level Design Process Model (ILDP) is proposed as a general model for expressing and implementing hierarchical design methodologies. The proposed conceptual framework is an effective instrument for bridging the increasingly wider gap between application engineers and VLSI designers.
A state transition model for distributed query processing
Authors: Stéphane Lafortune, Eugene Wong
Venue: ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS) (1986)

A state transition model for the optimization of query processing in a distributed database system is presented. The problem is parameterized by means of a state describing the amount of processing that has been performed at each site where the database is located. A state transition occurs each time a new join or semijoin is executed. Dynamic programming is used to compute recursively the costs of the states and the globally optimal solution, taking into account communication and local processing costs. The state transition model is general enough to account for the possibility of parallel processing among the various sites, as well as for redundancy in the database. The model also permits significant reductions of the necessary computations by taking advantage of simple additivity and site-uniformity properties of a cost model, and of clever strategies that improve on the basic dynamic programming algorithm.
Monte Carlo methods in theoretical high-energy physics
Authors: B. Lautrup
Venue: Communications of the ACM (1985)

Although lattice field theorists have been able to develop new approaches to the Monte Carlo method and to successfully apply them in Bosonic calculations, faster and larger computers are needed for Fermion-field evaluations.
Graphical interface for logic programming
Authors: Angelo Monfroglio
Venue: Issue 101 (July 1987) (1987)

Much of the power of PROLOG language and logic programming is due to the unification process between variables and the matching between patterns. Moreover reasoning and theorem proving is easily achievable through the logic and the backtracking mechanism of the language.
Some mathematical aspects on a problem of the optimal design of a vibrating beam
Authors: Kjell Holmåker
Venue: SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysis (1987)

This article proposes the adoption of a set of publication standards suitable for use by the Association for Computing Machinery, based on the standards adopted by the Machine Computation Committee of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The writer, as a member of this Committee, is acting merely as agent of the Committee in presenting the following upon the request of the Editor for Standards of the ACM. This article is only a summary of the standards adopted by the AIChE; further details are contained in a pamphlet entitled &ldquo;Guide to Abstracts and Manuals for Computer Program Interchange&rdquo;, prepared by the Machine Computation Committee of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.1
High-accuracy arithmetic software&mdash;some tests of the ACRITH problem-solving routines
Authors: Paul Jansen, Peter Weidner
Venue: ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS) (1986)

The program package ACRITH (High-Accuracy Arithmetic Subroutine Library) provides FORTRAN subroutines for the solution of several standard mathematical problems. The routines use floating point operations with extended precision and interval arithmetic and are designated especially for the solution of ill-conditioned problems. Test results for most of the routines are presented with emphasis on the practical usability of the package. It turns out that not all routines are of equal high quality and reliability; in the documentation, hints to the implemented numerical algorithms are completely missing, and the error messages are not always concise. Some possible alternatives like symbolic algebra systems or multiple precision packages are mentioned.
Accelerated transition fault simulation
Authors: M. H. Schultz, F. Brglez
Venue: Proceedings of the 24th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (1987)

This paper presents a new and an effective approach to fault simulation of transition faults in combinational or scan - based logic. An experiment with a set of benchmark circuits demonstrates the efficiency of the approach, achieved by combining a very fast single stuck - at fault simulation algorithm with a quasi - static definition of a transition fault. Tests that cover transition faults are becoming increasingly important as they also provide a cover for most typical transistor stuck - open faults in CMOS.
The role of menu titles as a navigational aid in hierarchical menus
Authors: John Gray
Venue: ACM SIGCHI Bulletin (1986)

A between-subjects experiment was conducted to determine the effects of the presence/absence of menu titles on the search time and the number of incorrect choices made when navigating a hierarchical menu structure. Subjects were required to search for a randomly selected target item in a four level, three choices per level (43) menu structure. Subjects in the experimental group had titles for each sub-menu screen. Titles reflected the path traversed from the previous sub-menu screens. Control group subjects did not have titles displayed. While subjects in the experimental group did not search at a statistically significant faster rate, as the depth of the search (level) increased they did search with greater accuracy than those in the control group.
The input/output complexity of sorting and related problems
Authors: Alok Aggarwal, Jeffrey, S. Vitter
Venue: Communications of the ACM (1988)

We provide tight upper and lower bounds, up to a constant factor, for the number of inputs and outputs (I/OS) between internal memory and secondary storage required for five sorting-related problems: sorting, the fast Fourier transform (FFT), permutation networks, permuting, and matrix transposition. The bounds hold both in the worst case and in the average case, and in several situations the constant factors match. Secondary storage is modeled as a magnetic disk capable of transferring P blocks each containing B records in a single time unit; the records in each block must be input from or output to B contiguous locations on the disk. We give two optimal algorithms for the problems, which are variants of merge sorting and distribution sorting. In particular we show for P = 1 that the standard merge sorting algorithm is an optimal external sorting method, up to a constant factor in the number of I/Os. Our sorting algorithms use the same number of I/Os as does the permutation phase of key sorting, except when the internal memory size is extremely small, thus affirming the popular adage that key sorting is not faster. We also give a simpler and more direct derivation of Hong and Kung's lower bound for the FFT for the special case B = P = O(1).
Distributed operating systems
Authors: Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Robbert Van Renesse
Venue: ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) (1985)

Distributed operating systems have many aspects in common with centralized ones, but they also differ in certain ways. This paper is intended as an introduction to distributed operating systems, and especially to current university research about them. After a discussion of what constitutes a distributed operating system and how it is distinguished from a computer network, various key design issues are discussed. Then several examples of current research projects are examined in some detail, namely, the Cambridge Distributed Computing System, Amoeba, V, and Eden.
A dietary recommendation expert system using OPS5
Authors: C. Koa, C. J. Hwang
Venue: Proceedings of the 1987 Fall Joint Computer Conference on Exploring technology: today and tomorrow (1987)

In this paper, a dietary recommendation expert system known as DIET is developed for dietitians. Dietary information on patients obtained from the five categories: demographics, laboratory results, medical conditions, medications, and eating characteristics are examined to make dietary plans. To combine the effects of each condition, a composition approach is adopted to find the most appropriate diet. DIET is written in OPS5. With the structure of DIET and the method of knowledge representation using OPS5, the current version of DIET can easily be expanded or modified for different areas to use.
Graphical database browsing
Authors: Michael Caplinger
Venue: ACM SIGOIS Bulletin (1986)

The knowledge stored in the information networks of the near future will not resemble that in today's conventional database systems. Instead, systems will look more like electronic libraries, with millions of items in many different media and with widely varying formats and levels of detail. Using foreseeable searching mechanisms, the results of queries will often be very coarse, containing a large fraction of all the items in storage. To make up for this coarseness, users must be able to browse the database, discarding unneeded items rapidly&mdash;but the sheer size of the result sets will make textual presentation useless. As an alternative, we have investigated ways to arrange the data into information spaces that can be presented graphically. Users browse the space simply by moving their viewpoints within it, selecting interesting features of the &ldquo;information landscape&rdquo; for closer examination.
APL2&mdash;a very superior Fortran
Authors: Norman Thomson
Venue: Proceedings of the international conference on APL: APL in transition (1987)

Properly written programs in APL2 exceed the corresponding APL programs in brevity and clarity by as large a margin as APL programs exceed those written in FORTRAN. This paper takes a topic from the area of finance and uses it to illustrate this contention.
A hierarchical spiral model for the software process
Authors: J Iivari
Venue: ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes (1987)

Barry B. Boehm suggested an interesting spiral model for the software development process in the International Workshop on the Software Process and Software Environments last Year (Boe86). The model is particularly interesting to me, since it seems to be highly consistent with some of the basic ideas of the PIOCO model for the information systems (IS) design process (Iiv82, Iiv83a, IiKo86) and also with its application to the development of embedded software (IiKT86). For instance, he characterizes the spiral model as a risk-driven approach. In the PIOCO model we have chosen to use the term uncertainty instead of risk emphasiznig that the IS/SW process, particularly in its earlier phases, is information production for the steering committee deciding about the IS/SW product and process (Iiv83a, Iiv86). In Iiv83a and b we have also formalized this idea in terms of Information Economics (Mar74) leading to the conclusion that IS/SW elaboration should be directed to those aspects of the IS/SW process in which the uncertainty, and therefore the potential value of the new information, is greatest (cf. Boe86).
Theory of Modules
Authors: J. D. Gannon, R. G. Hamlet, H. D. Mills
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (1987)

Because large-scale software development is a struggle against internal program complexity, the modules into which programs are divided play a central role in software engineering. A module encapsulating a data type allows the programmer to ignore both the details of its operations, and of its value representations. It is a primary strength of program proving that as modules divide a program, making it easier to understand, so do they divide its proof. Each module can be verified in isolation, then its internal details ignored in a proof of its use. This paper describes proofs of module abstractions based on functional semantics, and contrasts this with the Alphard formalism based on Hoare logic.
Roving Emulation as a Fault Detection Mechanism
Authors: M A Breuer, A A Ismaeel
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Computers (1986)

In this paper we present a new built-in test methodology for detecting and locating faults in digital systems. The technique is called roving emulation and consists of an off-line snap shot type emulation or simulation of operating components in a system. Its primary application is in testing systems in the field where real-time fault detection is not required. The primary performance measure of this test schema is taken to be the expected value of the error latency, i.e., the time required to detect a fault once it first occurs. The primary results of this paper deal with deriving equations for the error latency. We present both a probabilistic and service-waiting model to analyze the expected error latency in a system tested via roving emulation. The effects of various controllable and uncontrollable system parameters on error latency are studied. Finally, the technique is applied to a system consisting of combinational logic modules, and numerical results are presented.