Patents and Dual-use Technology: An Empirical Study of the World's Largest Defence Companies

Abstract

This paper examines the generation of technological knowledge by leading companies in the defence industry. In particular, we test whether the characteristics of large defence companies are related to both the production of different types of patents (civilian, military and mixed), and the generation of dual-use technologies. To explore these links, we rely on economic data for the top 100 defence companies from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute database, and patent information from the Worldwide Patent Statistical Database. Our results show that the relationship between the production of civilian patents and the size of the company is positive and significant. However, this relationship does not hold for the production of military patents. Furthermore, the military commercial profile is unrelated to the generation of military patents. Regarding the involvement in dual-use technologies, firms engaged in dual-use are those with higher military sales, a greater number of employees and a larger number of patents (civilian, military and mixed) than those not engaged in dual-use. Furthermore, we found a skill effect (more involvement in dual-use per employee) in European firms compared to US firms. These findings help to identify which firms should be targeted by government policies if increasing dual-use technologies becomes a political objective.     

复杂电磁环境下大型铁路枢纽暴露征候及伪装防护对策

大型交通设施既是战时交通保障的物质基础,又是战时交通保障的对象,其安全与否对战争的进程有着重要的影响,而如何提高其在战时的防护能力,是当前一个亟待研究的问题。本文对复杂电磁环境下大型铁路枢纽各主要组成部分的光学、红外、雷达暴露征候进行了分析,并提出了相应的伪装防护对策。     

目标识别中的传感器管理方法

基于假设检验的方法,研究了目标识别中的传感器管理方法。分别以用于假设检验问题中的最大后验概率、最小代价函数和最大正确检测概率为目标函数,给出了用于目标识别问题的多传感器管理方法,并针对目标识别问题的特点,对其进行了相应的改进。通过对一定场景的仿真,比较了三种不同方法的识别正确率和平均采样次数,分析了各种方法的特点。     

油管油压信号的载荷识别

在高速柴油发动机喷油系统性能检测中,一般以燃油压力信号作为喷油系统性能检测参量。通过对油压波形进行分析来判断喷油系统的工作状况,阐述了采用载荷识别技术识别油压信号的频谱特性,进而得到其时域波形的理论与方法,并在模拟试验中获得了识别结果。     

Waiting time analysis for a queueing system with time‐limited service and exponential timer

We consider a single‐queue with exhaustive or gated time‐limited services and server vacations, in which the length of each service period at the queue is controlled by a timer, i.e., the server serves customers until the timer expires or the queue becomes empty, whichever occurs first, and then takes vacations. The customer whose service is interrupted due to the timer expiration may be attended according to nonpreemptive or preemptive service disciplines. For the M/G/1 exhaustive/gated time‐limited service queueing system with an exponential timer and four typical preemptive/nonpreemptive service disciplines, we derive the Laplace—Stieltjes transforms and the moment formulas for waiting times and sojourn times through a unified approach, and provide some new results for these time‐limited service disciplines. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 48: 638–651, 2001.     

The building evacuation problem with shared information

In this article, the Building Evacuation Problem with Shared Information (BEPSI) is formulated as a mixed integer linear program, where the objective is to determine the set of routes along which to send evacuees (supply) from multiple locations throughout a building (sources) to the exits (sinks) such that the total time until all evacuees reach the exits is minimized. The formulation explicitly incorporates the constraints of shared information in providing online instructions to evacuees, ensuring that evacuees departing from an intermediate or source location at a mutual point in time receive common instructions. Arc travel time and capacity, as well as supply at the nodes, are permitted to vary with time and capacity is assumed to be recaptured over time. The BEPSI is shown to be NP‐hard. An exact technique based on Benders decomposition is proposed for its solution. Computational results from numerical experiments on a real‐world network representing a four‐story building are given. Results of experiments employing Benders cuts generated in solving a given problem instance as initial cuts in addressing an updated problem instance are also provided. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Callable products for an implicit time model with dependent demands

Capacity providers such as airlines and hotels have traditionally increased revenues by practicing market segmentation and revenue management, enabling them to sell the same capacity pool to different consumers at different prices. Callable products can enhance profits and improve consumers' welfare by allowing the firm to broker capacity between consumers with different willingness to pay. A consumer who buys a callable product gives the capacity provider the right to recall capacity at a prespecified recall price. This article studies callable products in the context of the model most commonly used in industry, which handles time implicitly imposing fewer restrictions on the nature of randomness compared to the Poisson arrival process favored in academia. In the implicit time model, capacity providers set booking limits to protect capacity for future high-fare demand. Our numerical study identifies conditions where callable products result in significant gains in profits.     

A dual criteria sequencing problem with earliness and tardiness penalties

We consider the problem of sequencing n jobs on a single machine, with each job having a processing time and a common due date. The common due date is assumed to be so large that all jobs can complete by the due date. It is known that there is an O(n log n)‐time algorithm for finding a schedule with minimum total earliness and tardiness. In this article, we consider finding a schedule with dual criteria. The primary goal is to minimize the total earliness and tardiness. The secondary goals are to minimize: (1) the maximum earliness and tardiness; (2) the sum of the maximum of the squares of earliness and tardiness; (3) the sum of the squares of earliness and tardiness. For the first two criteria, we show that the problems are NP‐hard and we give a fully polynomial time approximation scheme for both of them. For the last two criteria, we show that the ratio of the worst schedule versus the best schedule is no more than . © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 49: 422–431, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/nav.10020     

Optimization and mediated bartering models for ground delay programs

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airline community within the United States have adopted a new paradigm for air traffic flow management, called Collaborative Decision Making (CDM). A principal goal of CDM is shared decision‐making responsibility between the FAA and airlines, so as to increase airline control over decisions that involve economic tradeoffs. So far, CDM has primarily led to enhancements in the implementation of Ground Delay Programs, by changing procedures for allocating slots to airlines and exchanging slots between airlines. In this paper, we discuss how these procedures may be formalized through appropriately defined optimization models. In addition, we describe how inter‐airline slot exchanges may be viewed as a bartering process, in which each “round” of bartering requires the solution of an optimization problem. We compare the resulting optimization problem with the current procedure for exchanging slots and discuss possibilities for increased decision‐making capabilities by the airlines. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2006     

一种高速实时数据采集处理系统设计

针对目前高速数据采集中的实时性和同步性问题,提出了一种高速实时数据采集处理设计方案。根据上述方案进行了系统的硬件和软件设计,该系统以FPGA器件作为下位机控制核心,设计了时钟同步、数据采集、数据处理、数据缓存、数据通讯等功能模块;整个系统采用ARM微处理器作为上位机控制核心,基于嵌入式Linux 2.6内核进行软件编程,负责向FPGA发送设置参数和控制指令,同时对数据前端采样和处理数据进行存储、显示、统计等。经测试验证,该方案具有高速率、高精度、同步测量、实时处理、体积小、功耗低等优点。