A survey on discriminatory processor sharing

The Discriminatory Processor Sharing (DPS) model is a multi-class generalization of the egalitarian Processor Sharing model. In the DPS model all jobs present in the system are served simultaneously at rates controlled by a vector of weights {g_k > 0; k = 1,..., K }. If there are N_k jobs of class k present in the system, k = 1,..., K, each class-k job is served at rate . The present article provides an overview of the analytical results for the DPS model. In particular, we focus on response times and numbers of jobs in the system. This work is part of a French-Dutch Van Gogh research project funded by NWO (The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research) and EGIDE under grant VGP 61-520. We also acknowledge the support of EuroNGI Network of Excellence. This work was done while U. Ayesta was an ERCIM Postdoc fellow at CWI.     

Does employee participation matter? An empirical study on the effects of participation on well-being and organizational performance

Central European Journal of Operations Research - Employability, talent and/or motivation of people can be a source of sustainable competitive advantage; difficult for competitors to imitate. The...     

Derivations, the Lawrence–Sullivan interval and the Fiorenza–Manetti mapping cone

We describe the rational homotopy type of any component of the based mapping space map^*(X,Y) as an explicit L _∞ algebra defined on the (desuspended and positive) derivations between Quillen models of X and Y. When considering the Lawrence–Sullivan model of the interval, we obtain an L _∞ model of the contractible path space of Y. We then relate this, in a geometrical and natural manner, to the L _∞ structure on the Fiorenza–Manetti mapping cone of any differential graded Lie algebra morphism, two in principal different algebraic objects in which Bernoulli numbers appear.     

Separation of the high-ceiling diuretic Torasemide and its metabolites by capillary zone electrophoresis with diode-array detection

A capillary zone electrophoretic method was developed for the separation of the high-ceiling loop diuretic Torasemide and three of its metabolites (M1, M3 and M5) using an experimental design approach. Two different experimental designs were employed to optimize the developed method: (i) a fractional factorial design examining six factors at two levels (2(6-2)) and (ii) a central composite design examining two factors at two levels (2(2)+2x2+p). The factors studied were: pH, buffer concentration, proportion of boric acid in the mixed boric acid:potassium dihydrogen phosphate background electrolyte, temperature, applied voltage and percentage of organic modifier. Resolution between peaks was established as response. Separation of the four studied compounds was achieved in less than 8 min, using an electrolyte of 20 mM boric acid:potassium dihydrogen phosphate (75:25 v/v) with 15% MeOH adjusted to pH 9.7 with KOH, at a potential of 28 kV. Detection wavelength and temperature were 206 nm and 35 degrees C, respectively.     

Bandwidth-sharing networks under a diffusion scaling

This paper considers networks operating under α-fair bandwidth sharing. When imposing a peak rate (i.e., an upper bound on the users’ transmission rates, which could be thought of as access rates), the equilibrium point of the fluid limit is explicitly identified, for both the single-node network as well as the linear network. More specifically, a criterion is derived that indicates, for each specific class, whether or not it is essentially transmitting at peak rate. Knowing the equilibrium point of the fluid limit, the steady-state behavior under a diffusion scaling is determined. This allows an explicit characterization of the correlations between the number of flows of the various classes. Part of this research was done while both authors were with CWI, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.     

On the Gittins index in the M/G/1 queue

For an M/G/1 queue with the objective of minimizing the mean number of jobs in the system, the Gittins index rule is known to be optimal among the set of non-anticipating policies. We develop properties of the Gittins index. For a single-class queue it is known that when the service time distribution is of type Decreasing Hazard Rate (New Better than Used in Expectation), the Foreground–Background (First-Come-First-Served) discipline is optimal. By utilizing the Gittins index approach, we show that in fact, Foreground–Background and First-Come-First-Served are optimal if and only if the service time distribution is of type Decreasing Hazard Rate and New Better than Used in Expectation, respectively. For the multi-class case, where jobs of different classes have different service distributions, we obtain new results that characterize the optimal policy under various assumptions on the service time distributions. We also investigate distributions whose hazard rate and mean residual lifetime are not monotonic.     

Multivariate optimisation of a cyclodextrin-assisted-capillary zone electrophoretic method for the separation of torasemide and its metabolites

In this work, a rapid cyclodextrin-assisted capillary electrophoretic method is developed for the separation of the diuretic torasemide and three of its metabolites. Both fractional factorial and central composite designs were employed to optimise the separation method. The factors studied were pH, concentration of methyl-β-cyclodextrin, concentration of the background electrolyte and percentage of acetonitrile as organic modifier. Monitored response was a composite quality response (Q*) which balanced conflicting normalized responses, such as resolution and migration time. Optimal separation of the four studied compounds was achieved in less than 6.5 min, using an electrolyte of 60 mM borate buffer with no organic modifier and 25 mM methyl-β-cyclodextrin concentration adjusted to pH 8.0 at a potential of 30 kV. Detection wavelength and temperature were 197 nm and 20 °C respectively. This work means a significant improvement with regard to a previous separation method for these compounds developed in our laboratory.     

Sojourn times in a processor sharing queue with multiple vacations

We study an M/G/1 processor sharing queue with multiple vacations. The server only takes a vacation when the system has become empty. If he finds the system still empty upon return, he takes another vacation, and so on. Successive vacations are identically distributed, with a general distribution. When the service requirements are exponentially distributed we determine the sojourn time distribution of an arbitrary customer. We also show how the same approach can be used to determine the sojourn time distribution in an M/M/1-PS queue of a polling model, under the following constraints: the service discipline at that queue is exhaustive service, the service discipline at each of the other queues satisfies a so-called branching property, and the arrival processes at the various queues are independent Poisson processes. For a general service requirement distribution we investigate both the vacation queue and the polling model, restricting ourselves to the mean sojourn time.     

SRPT applied to bandwidth-sharing networks

We consider bandwidth-sharing networks, and show how the SRPT (Shortest Remaining Processing Time) discipline can be used in order to improve the delay performance of the system. Our main idea is not to use SRPT globally between the traffic classes, which has been shown to induce instability, but rather deploy SRPT only locally within each traffic class. We show that with this approach, the performance of any stable bandwidth allocation policy can be improved. Importantly, our result is valid for any network topology and any flow size distribution. A numerical study is included to illustrate the results.     

M/G/1/MLPS compared to M/G/1/PS

Multilevel processor sharing scheduling disciplines have recently been resurrected in papers that focus on the differentiation between short and long TCP flows in the Internet. We prove that, for M/G/1 queues, such disciplines are better than the processor sharing discipline with respect to the mean delay whenever the hazard rate of the service time distribution is decreasing.