Aggregating Generalised Stochastic Petri Nets for improved Performance Analysis. Australia's economy is very dependent on the operation of complex man-made systems. Important examples are telecommunication networks and services (e.g. the Internet), manufacturing plants, organisational processes, military logistics and transport systems (e.g. air traffic control). The performance of these systems is critical to their success. Thus being able to predict performance before systems are implemented i ....Aggregating Generalised Stochastic Petri Nets for improved Performance Analysis. Australia's economy is very dependent on the operation of complex man-made systems. Important examples are telecommunication networks and services (e.g. the Internet), manufacturing plants, organisational processes, military logistics and transport systems (e.g. air traffic control). The performance of these systems is critical to their success. Thus being able to predict performance before systems are implemented is very important in their design. This project will develop leading-edge performance analysis techniques and tools for an important class of practical systems. There is potential to commercialise the resulting tools and methodology and to transfer the expertise to industry.Read moreRead less
Extending the scope of modular analysis for the validation of large systems. The increasing complexity of computer systems has severe implications for verification and validation, especially for critical systems (e.g. medical supervision, avionics mission systems). The standard approach is to build a formal model of the system and automatically analyse its behaviour. Such models can be captured in a modular, high-level description, but the number of states is usually so large as to preclude an ....Extending the scope of modular analysis for the validation of large systems. The increasing complexity of computer systems has severe implications for verification and validation, especially for critical systems (e.g. medical supervision, avionics mission systems). The standard approach is to build a formal model of the system and automatically analyse its behaviour. Such models can be captured in a modular, high-level description, but the number of states is usually so large as to preclude analysis. The modular analysis proposed in this project matches the analysis technique to the structure of the model. Preliminary results are promising and motivate the extension of the technique to a larger class of modular descriptions.Read moreRead less
Advanced Sweep-Line State Space Reduction Methods for Verification of Concurrent and Distributed Systems. The rigorous design and analysis of distributed systems, such as the Internet and its applications, is known to be a difficult problem. This project will develop new techniques for reducing the memory and time required for computer-aided verification of concurrent and distributed systems. The technique will be combined with other reduction techniques to increase their range of applicability. ....Advanced Sweep-Line State Space Reduction Methods for Verification of Concurrent and Distributed Systems. The rigorous design and analysis of distributed systems, such as the Internet and its applications, is known to be a difficult problem. This project will develop new techniques for reducing the memory and time required for computer-aided verification of concurrent and distributed systems. The technique will be combined with other reduction techniques to increase their range of applicability. The reduction techniques will be implemented and evaluated using important transaction protocols for electronic commerce and internet enabled wireless communications. The technique will also be applied to so called 'object-oriented' modelling languages.Read moreRead less
Markov Field Theory applied to Sensor Networks Analysis and Design. Ad hoc and sensor networks have a wide range of applications in defence, emergency services and agriculture because they do not require telecommunications infrastructure such as base stations or access points, hence are relatively easy to deploy in harsh environments. This project aims at improving the theoretical understanding of sensor and ad hoc networks, which enable improvements in performance in such networks. Australian d ....Markov Field Theory applied to Sensor Networks Analysis and Design. Ad hoc and sensor networks have a wide range of applications in defence, emergency services and agriculture because they do not require telecommunications infrastructure such as base stations or access points, hence are relatively easy to deploy in harsh environments. This project aims at improving the theoretical understanding of sensor and ad hoc networks, which enable improvements in performance in such networks. Australian defence industry and emergency services will benefit from this research by gaining access to improved ad hoc communications networks. The agricultural sector will also benefit from the improved sensor networks in applications such as monitoring soil conditions, stock and crop levels. Read moreRead less
Advances in the Verification of Communication Protocols. Australia's economy is becoming increasingly dependent on many complex distributed systems. Some important examples are the Internet, electronic commerce, financial networks, transportation systems, health care networks, telecommunication networks, defence systems, intelligent manufacturing systems and organisational workflow management systems. Failure in these systems can result in serious financial loss (in banking applications) and los ....Advances in the Verification of Communication Protocols. Australia's economy is becoming increasingly dependent on many complex distributed systems. Some important examples are the Internet, electronic commerce, financial networks, transportation systems, health care networks, telecommunication networks, defence systems, intelligent manufacturing systems and organisational workflow management systems. Failure in these systems can result in serious financial loss (in banking applications) and loss of life or serious accidents in safety critical areas (medical, transport and defence applications). It is thus of utmost importance that distributed systems are designed correctly. This project aims to advance the state of the art in verifying that distributed systems will work correctly.Read moreRead less
New Analytical Perspectives on the Algorithmic Complexity of the Hamiltonian Cycle Problem. Hamiltonian Cycle Problem (HCP), known - in the complexity theory of
algorithms -to be NP-hard is proposed for study, from three innovative,
separate (yet related) analytical perspectives: singularly perturbed
(controlled) Markov chains, that links the HCP with systems and control
theories; parametric nonconvex optimization, that links HCP with fast
interior point methods of modern optimization an ....New Analytical Perspectives on the Algorithmic Complexity of the Hamiltonian Cycle Problem. Hamiltonian Cycle Problem (HCP), known - in the complexity theory of
algorithms -to be NP-hard is proposed for study, from three innovative,
separate (yet related) analytical perspectives: singularly perturbed
(controlled) Markov chains, that links the HCP with systems and control
theories; parametric nonconvex optimization, that links HCP with fast
interior point methods of modern optimization and the spectral approach
based on a novel adaptation of Ihara-Selberg trace formula for regular
graphs. Our mathematical approach to this archetypal complex problem of graph
theory and discrete optimization promises to enhance the fundamental
understanding - and ultimate "managibility" - of the underlying
difficulty of HCP.
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