Markovian models of three‐on‐one combat involving a hidden defender

In this paper, Markovian models of three‐on‐one stochastic firefights between ground‐based weapon systems are developed. These models address a common scenario of interest to the military, but one which has been much neglected in analytic combat models, that of combat between a hidden defender and an exposed attacking force. Each combatant must detect an opponent before commencing their firing cycle, a task which is considerably more difficult for the attacker. In the models developed here, the defender detects the exposed attacking group after an exponentially distributed time interval, while each attacker has a fixed probability of detecting the defender via the flash signature produced after each shot fired by him. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by investigating what impact the introduction of a coordinated gun‐laying system for the attacking force might have, a system made possible by battlefield digitization. The method used here allows models to be developed incrementally. This and other advantages of the Markovian approach are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 49: 627–646, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/nav.10041     

Analysis of down times of jib cranes—A stochastic approach

In this paper a case study dealing with the maintenance problem of jib cranes is presented. A jib crane is viewed as a complex system whose performance is observed as a single realization over period of time. After pointing out limitations of existing stochastic models to analyze the observed realization a new family of bivariate stochastic processes is introduced. The data of jib crane is analyzed using new model and cross‐validated using part of the data set. It is noted that the new family of stochastic processes is useful to analyze bivariate data where one of the variables is finitely valued and the other is nonnegative and continuous. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 49: 231–243, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/nav.10006     

Optimal control policies in service systems with limited information on the downstream stage

Existing models in multistage service systems assume full information on the state of downstream stages. In this paper, we investigate how much the lack of such information impacts jobs' waiting time in a two‐stage system with two types of jobs at the first stage. The goal is to find the optimal control policy for the server at the first stage to switch between type‐1 and type‐2 jobs, while minimizing the long‐run average number of jobs in the system. We identify control policies and corresponding conditions under which having no or partial information, the system can still capture the most benefit of having full information.     

Technical note: Some structural results on acyclic supply chains

We consider acyclic supply chains under the full backorder assumption and reveal several simple yet unique properties. Most interestingly, we identify conditions for the best dedicated stocking policy to outperform the best shared stocking policy, and for an acyclic supply chain to be decomposable into a simpler network (e.g., tree). We specify ways to decompose them. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2010     

基于马尔可夫更新过程的装甲装备使用可用度模型

针对在装甲装备使用可用度评估中,采用统计评估法存在统计周期长和不能用于研制阶段的缺点,利用马尔可夫更新过程,建立了考虑工作时间、修复性维修时间、延误时间和预防性维修时间的装甲装备的稳态可用度模型,并进行了示例应用。该模型可以在装备研制阶段,根据装备各项时间参数的分布,来估计装甲装备的使用可用度,可为装备设计、装备维修间隔期规划等提供理论和方法指导。     

Technical note: A computationally efficient algorithm for undiscounted Markov decision processes with restricted observations

We present a computationally efficient procedure to determine control policies for an infinite horizon Markov Decision process with restricted observations. The optimal policy for the system with restricted observations is a function of the observation process and not the unobservable states of the system. Thus, the policy is stationary with respect to the partitioned state space. The algorithm we propose addresses the undiscounted average cost case. The algorithm combines a local search with a modified version of Howard's (Dynamic programming and Markov processes, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1960) policy iteration method. We demonstrate empirically that the algorithm finds the optimal deterministic policy for over 96% of the problem instances generated. For large scale problem instances, we demonstrate that the average cost associated with the local optimal policy is lower than the average cost associated with an integer rounded policy produced by the algorithm of Serin and Kulkarni Math Methods Oper Res 61 (2005) 311–328. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 2009     

Design and control of agile automated CONWIP production lines

In this article, we study the design and control of manufacturing cells with a mix of manual and automated equipment, operating under a CONWIP pull protocol, and staffed by a single agile (cross‐trained) worker. For a three‐station line with one automated station, we fully characterize the structure of the optimal control policy for the worker and show that it is a static priority policy. Using analytical models and extensive simulation experiments, we also evaluate the effectiveness of practical heuristic control policies and provide managerial insights on automation configuration design of the line. This characterization of the worker control policy enables us to develop managerial insights into the design issues of how best to locate and concentrate automation in the line. Finally, we show that, in addition to ease of control and greater design flexibility, the CONWIP protocol also offers higher efficiency and robustness than does the push protocol. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 2009     

灰色-马尔科夫模型在机场道面使用性能预测中的应用

介绍利用灰色-马尔科夫模型对机场道面使用性能进行预测的基本方法和具体步骤,并给出了工程实例.应用分析表明,该方法能够充分利用机场道面使用中各段历史数据,较好地对机场道面使用性能进行预测,且预测结果比单纯的灰色模型有更高的精度.     

Simultaneous determination of production and maintenance schedules using in‐line equipment condition and yield information

In many manufacturing environments, equipment condition has a significant impact on product quality, or yield. This paper presents a semi‐Markov decision process model of a single‐stage production system with multiple products and multiple maintenance actions. The model simultaneously determines maintenance and production schedules, accounting for the fact that equipment condition affects the yield of each product differently. It extends earlier work by allowing the expected time between decision epochs to vary by both action and machine state, by allowing multiple maintenance actions, and by treating the outcome of maintenance as less than certain. Sufficient conditions are developed that ensure the monotonicity of both the optimal production and maintenance actions. While the maintenance conditions closely resemble previously studied conditions for this type of problem, the production conditions represent a significant departure from earlier results. The simultaneous solution method is compared to an approach commonly used in industry, where the maintenance and production problems are treated independently. Solving more than one thousand test problems confirms that the combination of both features of the model—accounting for product differences and solving the problems simultaneously—has a significant impact on performance. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

基于马尔柯夫决策过程动态WTA最优化模型分析

在作战过程中,通过把目标群的威胁程度作为目标函数制定决策,可将目标分配决策过程变成马尔柯夫决策过程.即首先对攻防作战态势进行抽象性描述,建立基于马尔柯夫决策过程动态WTA最优化模型,然后提出了有限次迭代求解最优策略的新方法,并进行了算例验证和分析.结果表明该方法可使武器系统获得最大的射击效率,并能有效地减少重点目标突防的概率.