IT Technical Report Series for the Year 2000

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Technical Reports

Programme Management - A Strategy for Continuous Process Improvement (CPI)

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-051200
By : T. Luykx and O. Molloy

Process management views work in terms of objectives, goals, and strategies within the context of an enterprise - its unique organisation and technology. It relies on feedback to evaluate and improve process performance, so establishing meaningful measures is a primary consideration. It is also concerned with the combination of organisational activities, people, and technology to produce useful outputs. Performance measures are used to evaluate process management success with respect to standards of performance. Performance standards are derived from strategic and business objectives and goals. Objectives and goals are based on the mission, enhanced by knowledge gained, in part, through research, benchmarking, and analysis. The traditional approach is to empower self-managed teams to make task-level improvements in quality, cycle time, and cost. Improvements are incremental and sustained. They are creative responses to the constant need to get the job done in changing circumstances. This paper examines how the development of a Programme Management framework can aid Continuous Process Improvement (CPI). Critical issues that need to be addressed within this study have been identified from available research within the fields of project management, programme management, and continuous process improvement.

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Alignment of Business and IT Strategies

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-041200
By : O. Corbett and O. Molloy

Business today is under increasing pressure to improve performance, and success largely depends on a company's ability to re-invent itself to adapt to changing circumstances. To do this, there needs to be close co-operation between business and IT functions within a company. It successful, this enables the company to convert strategic business goals into effective IT solutions. In this paper we look at the issues facing companies in the area of business and IT strategy alignment, the rewards for getting it right, and possible techniques to business and IT closer together.

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Partial synchronicity and the (max,+) semiring

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-091000
By : M. Mc Gettrick

In this paper we illustrate how non-stochastic (max,+) techniques can be used to describe partial synchronization in a Discrete Event Dynamical System. Our work uses results from the spectral theory of dioids and analyses (max,+) equations describing various synchronization rules in a simple network. The network in question is a transport network consisting of two routes joined at a single point, and our Discrete Events are the departure times of transport units along these routes. We calculate the maximum frequency of circulation of these units as a function of the synchronization parameter. These functions allow us further to determine the waiting times on various routes, and here we find critical parameters (dependent on the fixed travel times on each route) which dictate the overall behavoiur. We give explicit equations for these parameters and state the rules which enable optimal performance in the network (corresponding to minimum waiting time).

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The Application of a Communications Audit Methodology to a Systems Development Project

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-051000
By : K. Walsh and J. Duggan

Systems development is a complex endeavour. Despite advances in the discipline of software engineering, this reality is unlikely to change. The software community has responded well over the years to the technical complexity of software systems, and provided tools and techniques that simplify the development process. However, there is another dimension to complexity, one that is often sidelined and relegated to an issue of minor importance as the systems development life-cycle unfolds. This is the interaction of users and developers, and the intense process of human communication that is essential to ensure successful implementations. This paper shows how the application of a methodology confirms the important role human communication plays in the systems development process.

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The Voter's paradox? Evolution of Cooperation in N-player Games

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-240900
By : S. Bradish and C. O' Riordan

Social dilemmas have been researched by people in many fields. One common question or problem regards the existence of cooperation or altruism in situations where selfish behaviour appears to be of more benefit to the individual. Much attention has been payed to interactions involving 2 players where it has been shown that cooperation (altruism) can be beneficial in the long term. It is less obvious why cooperation exists in many-player interactions. This paper provides results to indicate that cooperation is the better strategy in environments where interactions vary from those involving 2 players to those involving many players. Given a sufficiently high proportion of 2-player games, cooperation will evolve as the norm. This paper describes initial results in this ongoing research project.

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Measuring the effectiveness of database backup and replication models

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-190900
By : O. Foley and D. Chambers

The purpose of this paper is to outline research that is being carried out for a MSc with respect to implementing and quantifying a robust and efficient database backup and replication model. The increasing reliance of organisations on databases for their primary business functions has created an ever increasing demand for availability in the area of databases and transaction processing systems. In the case of the Defence Forces (research environment) an immediate availability of Logistics and Personnel systems is now mission critical to the organisation's day to day operations. Local hardware replication techniques (e.g. dual processors, mirrored disks) can contribute to maintenance of services. However for extensive failures (disasters) which may be caused by environmental hazards, malicious acts or operator error there is a requirement for a more robust option. To ensure continuous operations even in the presence of such failures a backup copy of the primary database is often maintained up to date at a remote location. Apart from taking over transaction processing in case of disaster, remote backups can find use during planned downtime of the primary system.

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A forgiving strategy for the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-170900
By : C. O' Riordan

This paper reports results obtained with a strategy for the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. The paper describes a strategy that tries to incorporate a technique to forgive strategies that have defected or retaliated, in the hope of (re-)establishing cooperation. The strategy is compared to well-known strategies in the domain and results presented. The initial findings, as well as echoing past findings, provides evidence to suggest a higher degree of forgiveness can be beneficial and may result in greater rewards.

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Collaborative Filtering

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-160900
By : J. Griffith and C. O' Riordan

This paper presents an overview of the field of collaborative filtering, a set of techniques which attempt to assist with the problem of information overload by selecting information based on recommendations (both implicit and explicit) made by other people. This technique differs from most previous attempts in that the content of the items is not used as a factor in the filtering process. This paper covers the motivations for adopting a collaborative approach, the main techniques and previously developed systems.

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An Inclusive and Extensible Architecture to Facilitate Generic Web-based E-Commerce

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-110900
By : S. Duignan and D. Chambers

This paper describes aspects of a recently initiated research project within the area of web-based electronic commerce. The primary focus is the specification of an architecture that implements a supplier independent virtual clearinghouse for web-based transactions. Objectives for the research are identified. Further, an architecture / model is presented that identifies protocols of interaction for Business-to-Business (B2B), Business-to-Consumer (B2C), and Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) e-commerce activity. Components of the architecture are discussed and appropriate technologies to build a prototype of the model are identified. Future research focus and effort is also identified.

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Internet-Enabled SCADA System via GPS and RTOS Technologies

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-280800
By : H. Melvin and A. Shearer

SCADA (Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition) systems are widely employed in fields ranging from process control to traffic management. SCADA systems generally monitor, analyse and control systems in realtime thus requiring a synchronised timesource and communication channels (generally dedicated). Within the Internet, no guarantees are given about transmission times and this best-effort service presents a significant limiting factor. This article argues that the Internet used in conjunction with GPS (Global Positioning System) and RTOS (RealTime Operating System) technologies provides the means to implement a cost-effective SCADA-like system with better-than-millisecond determinism for diverse applications, whether engineering or not. The article is based on research carried out at the Dept. of Information Technology, NUI, Galway. GPS provides UTC time to microsecond accuracy via a precise pps (pulse-per-second) signal and the NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) GPRMC sentence. The test-system consists of a number of PC-based clients distributed through the Internet. Each client generates data that is timestamped and sent to a server, located anywhere in the Internet. The server receives the timestamped data and processes it chronologically, thus presenting an exact picture of the system in pseudo-realtime. The term pseudo-realtime is used, as a delay needs to be incorporated into the server application to allow for variable transmission times. Interactive systems where such global determinism is required for accurate analysis might include utility companies (Power Engineering), geographic systems (meteorology, seismology) and increasingly, financial systems in an E-Business context. The requirement for millisecond accuracy timestamping is met through use of a realtime operating system (RTOS). In contrast to conventional operating systems, RTOS have more rigorous resource management and scheduling policies. Interfacing GPS to conventional PCs and achieving the required determinism via the RTOS required the development of a customised serial port driver. The use of the Internet as a means to control systems has obvious limitations. Where monitoring and post-analysis of data is the main requirement however, it does offer a very valuable resource. Enabling technologies such as GPS and RTOS are becoming increasingly cost-effective thus broadening the scope of Internet-based ScADA systems.

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Selection of Fuzzification, Inference and Defuzzification Techniques for Fuzzy Logic Control

Technical Report No. : NUIG-IT-230800
By : F. Smith

The aim of this work is to form the basis of a methodology to guide the selection of an appropriate fuzzy logic controller for a given task. Different fuzzy inference and defuzzification techniques used in fuzzy logic controllers are compared initially and then the effects of using different fuzzification techniques on the same fuzzy logic controller are examined. An initial investigation of the performance of the various fuzzy logic controllers revealed those fuzzy logic controllers that failed to perform satisfactorily. A more detailed comparison, between those different controllers that performed satisfactorily, was made using a wide range of criteria. The results of these experiments form a useful basis in providing guidlines for choosing an appropriate fuzzy logic controller.

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