Probabilistic analysis of an asymptotically optimal solution for the completion time variance problem

Scheduling a set of n jobs on a single machine so as to minimize the completion time variance is a well‐known NP‐hard problem. In this paper, we propose a sequence, which can be constructed in O(n log n) time, as a solution for the problem. Our primary concern is to establish the asymptotical optimality of the sequence within the framework of probabilistic analysis. Our main result is that, when the processing times are randomly and independently drawn from the same uniform distribution, the sequence is asymptotically optimal in the sense that its relative error converges to zero in probability as n increases. Other theoretical results are also derived, including: (i) When the processing times follow a symmetric structure, the problem has 2^{⌊(n−1)/2⌋} optimal sequences, which include our proposed sequence and other heuristic sequences suggested in the literature; and (ii) when these 2^{⌊(n−1)/2⌋} sequences are used as approximate solutions for a general problem, our proposed sequence yields the best approximation (in an average sense) while another sequence, which is commonly believed to be a good approximation in the literature, is interestingly the worst. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 46: 373–398, 1999     

面向多星观测调度的分层迭代算法

提出一种基于分治策略的多星观测分层调度框架,在该框架下,用蚁群优化算法把任务分配至各轨道圈次上,并利用自适应模拟退火算法求解各轨道圈次的调度问题。根据各轨道圈次调度结果的反馈情况,再调整任务分配方案,重复上述过程直到达到算法终止条件。为了提高算法的性能,在设计蚁群算法的启发式信息模型时,应充分考虑卫星调度问题的领域知识;在模拟退火算法中设计两个邻域结构,采用动态选择策略在优化过程中确定最佳邻域搜索结构。仿真实验表明,该方法有效地降低了问题求解的复杂度,尤其在求解大规模多星观测调度问题时表现出优异的性能。     

SpaceWire网络混合路由机制设计

针对星上系统总线多元性导致的星载网络接口和协议不能标准化的发展瓶颈,基于SpaceWire总线协议,通过将静态路由(时间触发)与动态路由(事件触发)机制结合,实现了控制数据和载荷数据共用网络。静态路由完全遵循SpaceWire-D协议,在保证确定性传输的同时,通过启发式调度算法首次实现了多时间窗并行调度,并提出利用最大公约数法设计时间窗,以提高网络吞吐量;动态路由通过对随机事件和载荷数据分配优先级,实现传输路径冲突时对紧急任务的优先处理。在OPENT中搭建网络系统仿真模型,对所提出的路由机制进行了仿真。实验结果表明,静态路由时段网络吞吐量较现有调度算法有明显提高,动态路由实现了紧急事件优先传输。     

ASLR机制脆弱性自动分析方法

地址随机化是一种针对控制流劫持漏洞的防御机制。已有的漏洞自动分析与利用技术缺少对地址随机化机制影响的分析,导致生成的测试用例在实际环境中的运行效果受到极大限制。针对地址随机化的缺陷及其绕过技术的特点,提出了一种地址随机化脆弱性分析方法。该方法使用有限状态机描述程序运行路径中各关键节点的状态;针对常见的内存泄漏与控制流劫持场景建立约束条件;通过求解内存泄漏状态约束与控制流劫持状态约束的兼容性,分析地址随机化机制在特定场景下的脆弱性。实验结果表明,该方法可有效检测通过内存泄漏导致的地址随机化绕过及控制流劫持攻击,实现自动化的地址随机化脆弱性分析,提高针对软件安全性分析的效率。     

面向卫星的在轨服务任务规划方法

针对空间在轨服务日趋成熟以及在轨服务现实需求增长的背景,以在轨服务航天器为研究对象,研究面向卫星的在轨服务任务规划问题,探讨如何合理安排与调配在轨服务资源。将问题分解为在轨服务资源分配和在轨服务路径规划两层,并建立双层优化数学模型。设计在轨服务任务规划算法求解问题,包括基于多种群并行进化的混沌遗传算法和基于全局坐标转换的NSGA-Ⅱ+GSDE算法,并通过仿真结果对比分析,验证算法的可行性和有效性。     

Replacing nonidentical vital components to extend system life

We consider a system that depends on a single vital component. If this component fails, the system life will terminate. If the component is replaced before its failure then the system life may be extended; however, there are only a finite number of spare components. In addition, the lifetimes of these spare components are not necessarily identically distributed. We propose a model for scheduling component replacements so as to maximize the expected system survival. We find the counterintuitive result that when comparing components' general lifetime distributions based on stochastic orderings, not even the strongest ordering provides an a priori guarantee of the optimal sequencing of components. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

A bidirectional heuristic for maximizing the net present value of large‐scale projects subject to limited resources

We consider the scheduling of large‐scale projects to maximize the project net present value given temporal and resource constraints. The net present value objective emphasizes the financial aspects of project management. Temporal constraints between the start times of activities make it possible to handle practical problem assumptions. Scarce resources are an expression of rising cost. Since optimization techniques are not expedient to solve such problems and most heuristic methods known from literature cannot deal with general temporal constraints, we propose a new bidirectional priority‐rule based method. Scheduling activities with positive cash flows as early and activities with negative cash flows as late as possible results in a method which is completed by unscheduling techniques to cope with scarce resources. In a computational experiment, we compare the well‐known serial generation scheme where all activities are scheduled as early as possible with the proposed bidirectional approach. On the basis of a comprehensive data set known from literature containing instances with up to 1002 activities, the efficiency of the new approach is demonstrated. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2003     

The effectiveness of the longest delivery time rule for the flow shop delivery time problem

In the flow shop delivery time problem, a set of jobs has to be processed on m machines. Every machine has to process each one of the jobs, and every job has the same routing through the machines. The objective is to determine a sequence of the jobs on the machines so as to minimize maximum delivery completion time over all the jobs, where the delivery completion time of a job is the sum of its completion time, and the delivery time associated with that job. In this paper, we prove the asymptotic optimality of the Longest Delivery Time algorithm for the static version of this problem, and the Longest Delivery Time among Available Jobs (LDTA) algorithm for the dynamic version of this problem. In addition, we present the result of computational testing of the effectiveness of these algorithms. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2003     

Scheduling jobs with piecewise linear decreasing processing times

We study the problems of scheduling a set of nonpreemptive jobs on a single or multiple machines without idle times where the processing time of a job is a piecewise linear nonincreasing function of its start time. The objectives are the minimization of makespan and minimization of total job completion time. The single machine problems are proved to be NP‐hard, and some properties of their optimal solutions are established. A pseudopolynomial time algorithm is constructed for makespan minimization. Several heuristics are derived for both total completion time and makespan minimization. Computational experiments are conducted to evaluate their efficiency. NP‐hardness proofs and polynomial time algorithms are presented for some special cases of the parallel machine problems. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 50: 531–554, 2003     

Mean sojourn times in multiclass feedback queues with gated disciplines

In this paper, we investigate multiclass feedback queues with gated disciplines. The server selects the stations by a nonpreemptive priority scheduling algorithm and serves customers in the selected station by either a gated FCFS discipline or a gated priority discipline. We take a rather systematic approach to their mean sojourn times. We define conditional expected sojourn times for all customers and derive their expressions from an analysis of busy periods. Since they are shown to be linear in some components of the system states, their steady state mean values can be derived from simple limiting procedures. These mean values can be obtained from a set of linear equations. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 50: 719–741, 2003.