6592348
Scheduling UET-UCT Series-Parallel Graphs on Two Processors
Abstract The scheduling of task graphs on two identical processors is considered. It is assumed that tasks have unit-execution-time, and arcs are associated with unit-communication-time delays. The problem is to assign the tasks to the two processors and schedule their execution in order to minimize the makespan. A quadratic algorithm is proposed to compute an optimal schedule for a class of series-parallel graphs, called SP1 graphs, which includes in particular in-forests and out-forests.
12816052
Worst-Case Analysis of Scheduling Heuristics of Parallel Systems
Abstract It is well-known that most scheduling problems arising from parallel systems are NP -hard, even under very special assumptions. Thus, various suboptimal algorithms, in particular heuristics, were proposed in the literature. Worst-case error bounds are established in this paper for heuristics of makespan minimization of parallel computations. Different parallel computation models are investigated, including interprocessor communication, task duplication, multiprocessor tasks and parallel tasks. Due to the heterogeneity of these systems, scheduling heuristics can be far away from the optimal solutions. These bounds provide insights to the design of scheduling heuristics in order to obtain good performance guarantee than arbitrary heuristics. Moreover, the performance guarantee of these special heuristics is independent of model parameters such as the maximal duplication degree, processor requirement and parallelization degree.
29521719
Improving the Stability Characteristics of Asynchronous Traffic in FDDI Token Ring
The Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) token ring protocol supports two classes of traffic : synchronous and asynchronous. The time constraint mechanism of FDDI garantees the transmission delay of synchronous traffic. A Target Token Rotation Time (TTRT) being fixed, the FDDI protocol ensures that the token rotation time is always bounded above by twice TTRT. In this paper, we consider the stability issues of the asynchronous traffic in the FDDI protocol. We obtain sufficient and necessary stability conditions which indicates how the choice of TTRT affects the stability of the system. We suggest an improvement of the FDDI protocol for which the token rotation time is also bounded by twice TTRT. We show that the stability conditions of the new protocol are weaker (and thus it enables to transmit more asynchronous packets). This protocol is also easier to implement.
17293889
Complexity of Task Graph Scheduling with Fixed Communication Capacity
Consider a scheduling problem of parallel computations in multiprocessor systems. Let a parallel program be modeled by a task graph, where vertices represent tasks and arcs the communications between tasks. An interprocessor communication time incurs when two tasks assigned to two different processors have to communicate. Such a scheduling problem has recently been studied in the literature, mostly for the case where interprocessor communication times are fully determined. In this paper, we consider the scheduling problem with communication resource constraints. More specifically, we consider the case where all interprocessor communications take place on a network of bounded capacity. We consider two variants of the problem: communications with independent-data semantics and common-data semantics. We show that even for very specific subproblems, viz. scheduling of general graphs on two processors and scheduling of binary trees on an infinite number of processors, the minimization of the makespan of parallel programs in such a multiprocessor system is strongly -hard. We first establish the results for the case of capacity 1, referred to as the single-bus system. We then extend the results to the more general case of fixed communication capacities. As a consequence, the general scheduling problem of parallel programs with communication resource constraints is strongly -hard. These results are to be contrasted with the corresponding scheduling problems without contraint on the communication capacity, where the two-processor case has unknown time complexity and the infinite-processor case is polynomial. Our results are also extended to the case of broadcasting communications, and can be applied to multiprocessor systems with shared memory.
3758350
An Analytical Approach to the Performance Evaluation of Master-Slave Computational Models
Abstract Many stochastic models and analysis techniques have been proposed in the literature during the last two decades for the performance evaluation of parallel and distributed systems. However, few of them are directly applicable to practical systems which are generally too complex. In this paper, we analyze performances of the master–slave computational model, one of the most commonly used models in parallel and distributed computations. We propose a hybrid analytical approach by using techniques from the theories of both stochastic task graphs and queueing networks. We apply this method to the analysis of a computational chemistry application running on a Transputer based system. The proposed method turns out to be not only very efficient in time for large systems but also very accurate compared to measuring.
14587701
Routing and Transmitting Problems in de Bruijn Networks
De Bruijn graphs, both directed and undirected, have received considerable attention as architecture for interconnection networks. In this paper, we focus on undirected de Bruijn networks of radix d and dimension 0, denoted by UB(d, 0). We first discuss the shortest-path routing problem. We present properties of the shortest paths between any two vertices of UB(d, 0) and propose two shortest-path routing algorithms, one of which has linear time complexity. Secondly, we study the transmitting problem. We establish a lower bound for the optimal transmitting time which implies in particular that the optimal transmitting problem is trivial for UB(d, 0) when d/spl ges/5. We present a transmitting scheme on undirected binary de Bruijn networks UB(2, n) with transmitting time n-1 for n/spl ges/5, and conjecture that the optimal transmitting time is n-1 for UB(2, n), and n for U8(3, n) and UB(4, n).
31153136
An Adaptive Scheduling Algorithm for Molecule Docking Design on Grid
Grid provides a promising platform for the efficient execution of drug molecular docking design. Scheduling such applications is challenging for the heterogeneity, autonomy, and dynamic adaptability of grid resources. Assuming resource owners have a preemptive priority, we propose an adaptive algorithm of jobs scheduling based on time balancing strategy, which solves parallel molecular docking task by using the idle resources in the Grid. A mathematical model is developed to predict performance, which also considers systems with heterogeneous machine utilization and heterogeneous service distribution. According to the time balancing policy, ligands are partitioned into several subtasks and scheduled. The expected value of molecular docking completion time is predicted with performance model. To get better parallel computing performance, an optimal subset of heterogeneous resources with the shortest parallel executing time of tasks can be selected with the algorithm.
13865796
Virtual Screening of Novel Noncovalent Inhibitors for SARS-CoV 3C-like Proteinase
The SARS coronavirus 3C-like proteinase is considered as a potential drug design target for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Owing to the lack of available drugs for the treatment of SARS, the discovery of inhibitors for SARS coronavirus 3C-like proteinase that can potentially be optimized as drugs appears to be highly desirable. We have built a "flexible" three-dimensional model for SARS 3C-like proteinase by homology modeling and multicanonical molecular dynamics method and used the model for virtual screening of chemical databases. After Dock procedures, strategies including pharmocophore model, consensus scoring, and "drug-like" filters were applied in order to accelerate the process and improve the success rate of virtual docking screening hit lists. Forty compounds were purchased and tested by HPLC and colorimetric assay against SARS 3C-like proteinase. Three of them including calmidazolium, a well-known antagonist of calmodulin, were found to inhibit the enzyme with an apparent K(i) from 61 to 178 microM. These active compounds and their binding modes provide useful information for understanding the binding sites and for further selective drug design against SARS and other coronavirus.
5196479
Odd Wheels in Graphs
For k?1 the odd wheel of 2k+1 spokes, denoted by W2k+1, is the graph obtained from a cycle of length 2k+1 by adding a new vertex and joining it to all vertices of the cycle. In this paper it is shown that if a graph G of order n with minimum degree greater than 7n/12 is at least 4-chromatic then G contains an odd wheel with at most 5 spokes.
34215309
Jini-enabled high performance computing
The vision of computational grids promises an exciting future for high performance computing (HPC). In the project presented we make a small but practical step toward the grand vision of pervasive HPC by using some of the prevailing Internet technologies to enable access of HPC anytime and anywhere. Specifically, the project focuses on HPC that could be accessed by using the World Wide Web. We have conducted experiments based on engineering/scientific applications. Examples include simulations of automated guided vehicles (hereafter AGVs for short) in container port operations, N-body and molecular simulations. We initially build systems based on an ad-hoc approach, whose merits and demerits are identified. Then, we employ Jini technology to reconstruct the system architecture and present a more efficient and robust model. Performance studies are also presented. The objectives are to explore and address relevant issues, evaluate various approaches, demonstrate a workable version and conduct experiments with actual Web-enabled applications. The result is that now we are able to partially realize the dream of using the HPCs anytime and anywhere through devices such as a wireless/mobile computer, as long as they are armed with a common Web browser.
38894685
A Strongly Polynomial Algorithm for the Inverse Shortest Arborescence Problem
Abstract In this paper an inverse problem of the weighted shortest arborescence problem is discussed. That is, given a directed graph G and a set of nonnegative costs on its arcs, we need to modify those costs as little as possible to ensure that T, a given v1 -arborescence of G, is the shortest one. It is found that only the cost of T needs modifying. An O(n3) combinatorial algorithm is then proposed. This algorithm also gives an optimal solution to the inverse weighted shortest path problem.