ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Estimation of maximum transition counts at internal nodes in CMOS VLSI circuits
Authors: Chin-Chi Teng, Anthony M. Hill, Sung-Mo Kang
Venue: Proceedings of the 1995 IEEE/ACM international conference on Computer-aided design (1995)

In combinational logic circuits, a single switching event on the primary inputs may give rise to multiple switchings at the internal nodes. This glitching effect is caused primarily by unequal delay paths and results in increased power consumption and decreased device reliability. In this paper, we present a new algorithm to estimate the maximum number of transitions at internal nodes in combinational CMOS VLSI circuits. Unlike exhaustive simulation, our algorithm is based on the technique of propagating uncertainty waveforms throughout the circuit and using these waveforms to count the maximum switching activity at every node. Our approach guarantees a tight upper bound on the number of transitions which is necessary to assess the minimum circuit reliability lifetime and maximum power dissipation.
User interface design and HCI: identifying the training needs of practitioners
Authors: Steve Howard
Venue: ACM SIGCHI Bulletin (1995)

Though many published curricula in HCI now exist, little has been done to map those curricula onto the needs of user interface designers. This paper reports such an attempt. A number of published curricula in HCI were synthesised into a checklist of 'things a users interface designer might need to know'. The checklist was then used as the basis of a series of structured interviews with practising user interface designers. Essentially, each designer was asked if they 'needed to know about each item on the checklist in order to do their job?'. The results, interesting and sometimes surprising, suggest that whilst knowledge of some aspects of published curricula (e.g. user interface technology and design techniques) is considered vital to the practice of interface design, knowledge of other components (e.g. psychological foundations of the user) is required for other than straightforward or practical reasons. The implications of this and other findings for curricula, and education in general, is discussed.
Algorithm 741: least-squares solution of a linear, bordered, block-diagonal system of equations
Authors: Richard D. Ray
Venue: ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS) (1995)

A package of Fortran subroutines is presented for the least-squares solution of a system of overdetermined, full-rank, linear equations with single-bordered block-diagonal structure. This structure allows for a natural sequential processing, one block diagonal at a time, so that large systems can be handled even on smaller machines. Orthogonal transformations in the form of Householder reflections are used to factor the system. The routines make heavy use of the Levels 1, 2, and 3 BLAS.
Mixin modules
Authors: Dominic Duggan
Venue: Proceedings of the first ACM SIGPLAN international conference on Functional programming (1996)

Mixin modules are proposed as a new construct for module languages, allowing recursive definitions to span module boundaries. Mixin modules are proposed specifically for the Standard ML language. Several applications are described, including the resolution of cycles in module import dependency graphs, as well as functionality related to Haskell type classes and CLOS generic functions, though without any complications to the core language semantics. Mixin modules require no changes to the core ML type system, and only a very minor change to its run-time semantics. A type system and reduction semantics are provided, and the former is verified to be sound relative to the latter.
Modular modeling for network simulation languages: concepts and examples
Authors: Charles R. Standridge
Venue: Proceedings of the 27th conference on Winter simulation (1995)

Modeling supports the fundamental strategy of dividing problems into component parts, solving each part, and linking the solutions together. We discuss the concepts and capabilities necessary to build modular network simulation languages and apply them to problem solving. Necessary modeling constructs are defined as a part of a new modular network simulation language, ModNet, and examples are given.
Selected papers from the sixth international conference on information systems
Authors: Gordon B. Davis
Venue: Communications of the ACM (1986)

There are a number of alternative tools and methods for building and designing information systems for organizational use. Each tool or design alternative has its advocates. Benefits and advantages are proposed or claimed; little empirical evidence is presented. The two selected papers from the 1985 International Conference on Information Systems (Indianapolis, December 15-18) present empirical laboratory experiments to provide evidence as to tools and design alternatives. The first paper by Dickson, DeSanctis, and McBride describes three experiments to compare traditional tabular presentation with graphic presentation. The experiments are designed to build cumulative research results around the issue of the task the reader of the information is to perform upon receiving the information. The second paper by Vessey and Weber provides experimental evidence comparing methods for documenting a problem: decision tree, decision table, and structured English. The three methods are frequently presented as alternatives; the experiments compare them. Two studies do not settle an issue as complex as comparison of alternative tools and methods: they begin to provide the evidence needed. They also illustrate one well-established research approach&mdash;the laboratory experiment. The advantage of laboratory experiments is the control that can be obtained; field studies and experience of practitioners can be understood more fully in the context of such laboratory results.
Architecture-adaptable finite element modelling: a case study using ocean circulation simulation
Authors: Santosh Kumaran, Michael J. Quinn, Robert N. Miller
Venue: Proceedings of the 1995 ACM/IEEE conference on Supercomputing (CDROM) (1995)

We describe an architecture-adaptable methodology for the parallel implementation of finite element numerical models of physical systems. We use a model of time-dependent ocean currents as our working example. The heart of the computation is the solution of a banded linear system, and we describe an algorithm based on the domain decompositionmethod to solve the banded system. The algorithm is represented in a divide-and-conquer framework facilitates easy implementation of various algorithmic options. The process is straightforward and amenable to automation. We demonstrate the validity of this approach using two radically different target machine, a workstation network and a supercomputer. Our results show very good speedup on both platforms.
Digital inversive pseudorandom numbers
Authors: Jürgen Eichenauer-Herrmann, Harald Niederreiter
Venue: ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS) (1994)

A new algorithm, the digital inversive method, for generating uniform pseudorandom numbers is introduced. This algorithm starts from an inversive recursion in a large finite field and derives pseudorandom numbers from it by the digital method. If the underlying finite field has q elements, then the sequences of digital inversive pseudorandom numbers with maximum possible period length q can be characterized. Sequences of multiprecision pseudorandom numbers with very large period lengths are easily obtained by this new method. Digital inversive pseudorandom numbers satisfy statistical independence properties that are close to those of truly random numbers in the sense of asymptotic discrepancy. If q is a power of 2, then the digital inversive method can be implemented in a very fast manner.
Polling watchdog: combining polling and interrupts for efficient message handling
Authors: Olivier Maquelin, Guang R. Gao, Herbert H. J. Hum, Kevin B. Theobald, Xin-Min Tian
Venue: ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News (1996)

Parallel systems supporting multithreading, or message passing in general, have typically used either polling or interrupts to handle incoming messages. Neither approach is ideal; either may lead to excessive overheads or message-handling latencies, depending on the application. This paper investigates a combined approach---Polling Watchdog, where both are used depending on the circumstances. The Polling Watchdog is a simple hardware extension that limits the generation of interrupts to the cases where explicit polling fails to handle the message quickly. As an added benefit, this mechanism also has the potential to simplify the interaction between interrupts and the network accesses performed by the program.We present the resulting performance for the EARTH-MANNA-S system, an implementation of the EARTH (Efficient Architecture for Running THreads) execution model on the MANNA multiprocessor. In contrast to the original EARTH-MANNA system, this system does not use a dedicated communication processor. Rather, synchronization and communication tasks are performed on the same processor as the regular computations. Therefore, an efficient message-handling mechanism is essential to good performance. Simulation results and performance measurements show that the Polling Watchdog indeed performs better than either polling or interrupts alone. In fact, this mechanism allows the EARTH-MANNA-S system to achieve the same level of performance as the original EARTH-MANNA multithreaded system.
Optimal Test Distributions for Software Failure Cost Estimation
Authors: Walter J. Gutjahr
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (1995)

In this article, we generalize the input-domain based software reliability measures by Nelson and by Weiss and Weyuker, introducing expected failure costs under the operational distribution as a measure for software unreliability. This approach incorporates in the reliability concept a distinction between different degrees of failure severity. It is shown how to estimate the proposed quantity by means of random testing, using the Importance Sampling technique from Rare Event Simulation. A test input distribution that yields an unbiased estimator with minimum variance is determined. The practical application of the presented method is outlined, and a detailed numerical example is given.
Algorithm 644: A portable package for Bessel functions of a complex argument and nonnegative order
Authors: D. E. Amos
Venue: ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS) (1986)

This algorithm is a package of subroutines for Computing Bessel functions Hv(1)(z), Hv(2)(z), Iv(z), Jv(z), Kv(z), Yv(z) and Airy functions Ai(z), Ai&prime;(z), Bi(z), Bi&prime;(z) for ordersv&ge;0 and complex z in &minus;&pgr;<arg z&le;&pgr;. Eight callable subroutines and their double-precision counterparts are provided. Exponential scaling and sequence generation are auxiliary options.
An intelligent dynamic load balancer for workstation clusters
Authors: Jiubin Ju, Gaochao Xu, Kun Yang
Venue: ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review (1995)

A key issue of dynamic load balancing in a loosely couple distributed system is selecting appropriate jobs to transfer. In this paper, a job selection policy based on on-line predicting behaviors of jobs is proposed. Tracing is used at the beginning of execution of a job to predicate the approximate execution time and resource requirements of the job to make a correct decision about whether transferring the job is worthwhile. A dynamic load balancer using the job selection policy has been implemented. Experimental measurement results show that it is able to improve mean response time of jobs and resource utilization of systems substantially compared with the one without selecting job policy.
The spin-off illusion: reuse is not a by-product
Authors: Michael Wasmund
Venue: ACM SIGSOFT Software Engineering Notes (1995)

Based on the desire of enterprise management to find a smooth, low-risk way of introducing reuse methodology, this paper discusses several approaches taken. The illusion of using the by-product of software development to obtain reusable assets is the subject of the second approach. The third successful approach follows the software factory paradigm and has been successfully implemented at several IBM sites.
Optimizing Jan Jannink's Implementation of B+-tree deletion
Authors: R. Maelbrancke, H. Olivié
Venue: ACM SIGMOD Record (1995)

In this note we propose optimization strategies for the B+-tree deletion algorithm. The optimizations are focused on even order B+-trees and on the reduction of the number of block accesses.
Compiler optimizations for eliminating barrier synchronization
Authors: Chau-Wen Tseng
Venue: ACM SIGPLAN Notices (1995)

This paper presents novel compiler optimizations for reducing synchronization overhead in compiler-parallelized scientific codes. A hybrid programming model is employed to combine the flexibility of the fork-join model with the precision and power of the single-program, multiple data (SPMD) model. By exploiting compile-time computation partitions, communication analysis can eliminate barrier synchronization or replace it with less expensive forms of synchronization. We show computation partitions and data communication can be represented as systems of symbolic linear inequalities for high flexibility and precision. These optimizations has been implemented in the Stanford SUIF compiler. We extensively evaluate their performance using standard benchmark suites. Experimental results show barrier synchronization is reduced 29% on average and by several orders of magnitude for certain programs.
Parallel implementations of the power system transient stability problem on clusters of workstations
Authors: Monika ten Bruggencate, Suresh Chalasani
Venue: Proceedings of the 1995 ACM/IEEE conference on Supercomputing (CDROM) (1995)

Power system transient stability analysis computes the response of the rapidly changing electrical components of a power system to a sequence of large disturbances followed by operations to protect the system against the disturbances. Transient stability analysis involves repeatedly solving large, very sparse, time varying non-linear systems over thousands of time steps. In this paper, we present parallel implementations of the transient stability problem in which we use direct methods to solve the linearized systems. One method uses factorization and forward and backward substitution to solve the linear systems. Another method, known as the W-Matrix method, uses factorization and partitioning to increase the amount of parallelism during the solution phase. The third method, the Repeated Substitution method, uses factorization and computations which can be done ahead of time to further increase the amount of parallelism during the solution phase. We discuss the performance of the different methods implemented on a loosely coupled, heterogeneous network of workstations (NOW) and the SP2 cluster of workstations.
Requisite technical skills for technical support analysts: a survey
Authors: James J. Jiang, Gary Klein
Venue: ACM SIGCPR Computer Personnel (1995)

Technical skills are critical for computer related professions. Specific skills will often vary by job classification and may vary over time as new technology is developed and adopted. An understanding of skills for a given profession can be used to advantage by companies and educators in planning for future requirements and opportunities. The research reported in this paper examines twenty technical skills required of technical support analysts and system analysts. A survey questions a sample in both professions to determine the perceived importance of the different skills. The results confirm previous studies on skills required of system analysts and show that they differ from those required of technical support analysts. Both professions perceive hardware, communication, and software skills as being important while their perceptions differ on database and advanced application skills. Career training and hiring decisions would perhaps be improved by taking these differences into account.
Semantics of query languages for network databases
Authors: Kazimierz Subieta
Venue: ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS) (1985)

Semantics determines the meaning of language constructs; hence it says much more than syntax does about implementing the language. The main purpose of this paper is a formal presentation of the meaning of basic language constructs employed in many database languages (sublanguages). Therefore, stylized query languages SSL (Sample Selection Language) and J (Joins) are introduced, wherein most of the typical entries present in other query languages are collected. The semantics of SSL and J are defined by means of the denotational method and explained informally. In SSL and J, four types of expressions are introduced: a selector (denotes a set of addresses), a term (denotes a set of values), a formula (denotes a truth value), and a join (denotes a set of n-tuples of addresses or values). In many cases alternative semantics are given and discussed. In order to obtain more general properties of the proposed languages, a new database access model is introduced, intended to be a tool for the description of the logical access paths to data. In particular, the access paths of the network and relational models can be described. SSL and J expressions may be addressed to both data structures. In the case of the relational model, expressions of J are similar to SQL or QUEL statements. Thus J may be considered a generalization of relational query languages for the network model. Finally, a programming language, based on SSL and J, is outlined, and the issues of SSL and J implementation are considered.
Polymorphic queries across sets, bags, and lists
Authors: Limsoon Wong
Venue: ACM SIGPLAN Notices (1995)

Bulk data types such as sets, bags, and lists are an important component of a modern query language. It is desirable that operations on one bulk data type (such as sets) that have analogous counterparts in other bulk data types (such as bags and list) be expressed using the same expression. This kind of uniformity is achieved only to a limited degree in object-oriented languages, as these languages have the type information loss problem. Languages based on parametric polymorphism achieve this uniformity in a much better way, but only upto "bracket-switching." That is, in these languages, a query over bags that is analogous to a query over sets, are identical upto interchanging the set and bag brackets. This paper presents a simple extension to a popular parametric polymorphic type system. We show that it is possible to construct a query language around this type system so that the same expression can be used to implement analogous queries across sets, bags, and lists. Furthermore, this uniformity is achieved without any loss in type information.
Parallelism in sequential multiprocessor simulation models: a case study
Authors: Hatem Sellami, Sudhakar Yalamanchili
Venue: ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS) (1995)

The design and analysis of multiprocessor simulation models represents a complex and computationally demanding application that is a candidate for parallel simulation. This paper examines the application of conservative parallel discrete event simulation on a set of existing &ldquo;real-world&rdquo; models created over the years with no thought given to the parallel execution. These models are based on a subset of Petri Nets known as Marked graphs. The results of the study of the transparent and automatic parallel execution of the simulation of these models will be presented. Focus will be on the amount of inherent parallelism in such models, means of exploiting it, obstacles prohibiting parallelization, and sensitivity to different system and model parameters.
A framework for run-time systems and its visual programming language
Authors: Alan M. Durham, Ralph E. Johnson
Venue: ACM SIGPLAN Notices (1996)

Frameworks and domain-specific visual languages are two different reuse techniques, the first targeted at expert programmers, the second at domain experts. In fact, these techniques are closely related. This paper shows how to develop a domain-specific visual language by first developing a white-box framework for the domain, then turning it into a black-box framework, and finally building a graphical front end for it. We used this technique in a compiler to specify run-time systems.
Mining quantitative association rules in large relational tables
Authors: Ramakrishnan Srikant, Rakesh Agrawal
Venue: ACM SIGMOD Record (1996)

We introduce the problem of mining association rules in large relational tables containing both quantitative and categorical attributes. An example of such an association might be "10% of married people between age 50 and 60 have at least 2 cars". We deal with quantitative attributes by fine-partitioning the values of the attribute and then combining adjacent partitions as necessary. We introduce measures of partial completeness which quantify the information lost due to partitioning. A direct application of this technique can generate too many similar rules. We tackle this problem by using a "greater-than-expected-value" interest measure to identify the interesting rules in the output. We give an algorithm for mining such quantitative association rules. Finally, we describe the results of using this approach on a real-life dataset.
Case tool for ODBMS design of the functional description of the battlespace
Authors: Donna L. Cornwell
Venue: Proceedings of the 27th conference on Winter simulation (1995)

The paper summarizes the role of a commercial CASE (computer aided system engineering) tool in the design of the Functional Description of the Battlespace (FDB). The CASE tool product was selected based on specific requirements of the project. It was used as the medium to contain and document the design in a language independent form. Products created included diagrams, reports, and schema definitions for both object oriented database management systems (ODBMS) and relational database management systems (RDBMS). Experience with the CASE tool demonstrated many benefits as well as some drawbacks to using such a tool.
Network traffic measurement and modeling
Authors: Carey L. Williamson
Venue: Proceedings of the 1995 ACM SIGMETRICS joint international conference on Measurement and modeling of computer systems (1995)

Network traffic measurement and workload characterization are key steps in the workload modeling process. Much has been learned through network measurement and workload modeling in the last ten years, but new challenges are now at the forefront: measuring network traffic in the Internet environment, understanding the implications of network traffic structure (e.g., self-similarity, autocorrelation, long range dependence), and accurate modeling of network traffic workloads for high speed network environments.This "hot topic" session brings together three prominent speakers to address each of these topics, in turn.
SOAR/IFOR: intelligent agents for air simulation and control
Authors: Paul E. Nielsen
Venue: Proceedings of the 27th conference on Winter simulation (1995)

Producing realistic computer generated forces in a distributed integrated simulation requires flexible mission execution and behavior coordination within the agent itself as well as in its interactions with other agents. This paper focuses on the types of behavior required to produce a realistic airborne forward air controller in closely coordinated attack missions.