Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper, we develop a multi-objective model to optimally control the lead time of a multistage assembly system, using an interactive method. The multistage assembly system is modelled as an open queueing network, whose service stations represent manufacturing or assembly operations. It is assumed that the product order arrives according to a Poisson process. In each service station, there is either one or infinite number of servers (machines) with exponentially distributed processing time, in which the service rate (capacity) is controllable. The transport times between the service stations are independent random variables with generalized Erlang distributions. The problem is... 

Interior point methods have shown their powers in solving linear optimization problems and large classes of other optimization problems. However, at present there is still a gap between the practical behavior of these algorithms and their theoretical worst case complexity. The so-called large update interior point methods perform in practice much better than the small update methods which have the best known theoretical complexity. Recently, this gap has been reduced by Peng, Roos and Terlaky by introducing new self regular kernel functions. In this paper, by focusing on linear optimization problem and motivated by the self regular family of kernel functions, we impose some mild condition on... 

In this work we study the problem of whether all trajectories of the system ẋ=y-F(x) and ẏ=-g(x) cross the vertical isocline, which is very important for the existence of periodic solutions and oscillation theory. Sufficient conditions are given for all trajectories to cross the vertical isocline. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved  

We present a high-performance and efficiently simplified new neural network which improves the existing neural networks for solving general linear and quadratic programming problems. The network, having no need for parameter setting, results in a simple hardware requiring no analog multipliers, is shown to be stable and converges globally to the exact solution. Moreover, using this network we can solve both linear and quadratic programming problems and their duals simultaneously. High accuracy of the obtained solutions and low cost of implementation are among the features of this network. We prove the global convergence of the network analytically and verify the results numerically. © 2005... 

In this paper, we describe the design, development and preliminary evaluation of a novel animation tool for smartphones and tablets, with the goal of improving creativity and problem-solving ability among novice users, mainly young children. The user first draws the objects with markers and crayons on paper and takes a photo with their mobile or tablet to import their drawings into the app as game sprites. They then design their animation scene and point to a part of the character and selecting its animation type from existing buttons. Hence the selected part is animated in a vertex shader while ensuring a smooth transition with the non-pointed part. The results of a preliminary evaluation... 

The sensor-source geometry has a significant effect on accuracy of source localization problems. In a sensor placement problem, one attempts to optimally place the sensors in the surveillance area so as to optimize a performance criterion. Sensor placement methods mainly solve the associated problems without taking any specific constraint on permissible location of sensors into account. In practical applications, however, possible location for deployment of the sensors are subject to such limitations as environmental, industrial, and communication constraints, which affects the optimal sensor-source geometry. In this article, we consider the problem of optimal sensor placement, based on time... 

Despite the importance of well-being, few studies have been conducted on the relationship between well-being and technology. In this paper, the development of technology from the perspective of well-being studies are divided into three generations. In higher generations, the main criterion of technology development becomes more comprehensive, in order to decrease the side effects of technology. We introduce the fourth generation in which well-being is the main criterion of the design process. Although it may not seem necessary to say that the purpose of most technologies is implicitly well-being, we show that the domination of physical pleasure in terms of “use and convenience” in the modern... 

We present a realization of the transitive signature scheme based on the algebraic properties of bilinear group pairs. The scheme is proven secure, i.e. transitively unforgeable under adaptive chosen message attack, assuming hardness of the computational co-Diffie-Hellman problem in bilinear group pairs and the security of the underlying standard signature scheme under known message attack. Our scheme mostly conforms to previously designed schemes of Micali-Rivest and Bellare-Neven in structure; yet there are two contributions: firstly, we take advantage of bilinear group pairs which were previously used by Boneh, Lynn, and Shacham to build short signature schemes. Secondly, we show that a... 

In this paper, an adaptive random search method, based on continuous action-set learning automata, is studied for solving stochastic optimization problems in which only the noisecorrupted value of a function at any chosen point in the parameter space is available. First, a new continuous action-set learning automaton is introduced and its convergence properties are studied. Then, applications of this new continuous action-set learning automata to the minimization of a penalized Shubert function and pattern classification are presented. © Sharif University of Technology  

Active components in amplifiers generate noise. Thus, amplifiers too, produce noise at their output and, therefore, increase the input signal to noise ratio. This is an undesirable feature, more particularly when one is dealing with weak input signals already combined with noise. Thus, reducing amplifiers' noise becomes a necessity for some applications. To overcome this problem, one approach consists of improving electronic device technology. Another approach is the use of advanced techniques in designing low noise amplifiers by taking advantage of pulse shapers. Pulse shapers generally consist of calculated filters made of integrator(s) and differentiator(s) that limit properly the... 

In this paper, optimal production and maintenance planning of a flexible manufacturing system under a time variant demand is considered. There is a preventive maintenance plan to reduce the failure rate of the machine. It is assumed that the failure rate of the machine is a function of its age and its maintenance rate. It is, also, assumed that the demand of the manufacturing product is time dependent and its rate depends on the level of the advertisement on that product, The objective is to maximize the expected discounted total profit of the firm over an infinite time horizon. To solve this optimization problem, first, an optimal control is characterized by a set of Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman... 

In this paper, a genetic algorithm for solving a class of project scheduling problems, called Resource Investment Problems, is presented. Tardiness of the project is permitted with a defined penalty. The decision variables are the level of resources and the start times of the activities. The objective is to minimize the sum of resources and delay penalty costs, subject to the activities' precedence relations and some other constraints. A revised form of the Akpan heuristic method for this problem is used to find better chromosomes. Elements of the algorithm, such as chromosome structure, unfitness function, crossover, mutation, immigration and local search operations, are explained. The... 

Primal-dual interior-point methods (IPMs) have shown their power in solving large classes of optimization problems. However, there is still a discrepancy between the practical behavior of these algorithms and their theoretical worst-case complexity results with respect to the update strategies of the duality gap parameter in the algorithm. Recently, this discrepancy was significantly reduced by Peng, J., Roos, C. and Terlaky, T., 2002, Self-Regularity: A New Paradigm for Primal-Dual Interior-Point Algorithms (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press) who introduced a new family of self-regular (SR)-proximity functions based IPMs. In this paper, based on a class of SR proximities, we propose... 

In this paper, an anisotropic weight function in the elliptic form is introduced for the Element Free Galerkin Method (EFGM). In the circular (isotropic) weight function, each node has one characteristic parameter that determines its domain of influence. In the elliptic weight function, each node has three characteristic parameters that are major influence radius, minor influence radius and the direction of the major influence. Using the elliptic weight function each point of the domain may be affected by a less number of nodes in certain conditions. Thus, the computational cost of the method is decreased. In addition, the dependency of the solution on the method that is used for the... 

In this paper a model for analyzing elastic-plastic kinematic hardening materials is introduced, based on the additive decomposition of the corotational rate of an Eulerian strain tensor In this model, the elastic constitutive equation as well as the flow rule and the hardening equation is expressed in terms of the elastic and plastic parts of the corotational rate of the mentioned Eulerian strain tensor and its conjugate stress tensor. In the flow rule, the plastic part of the corotational rate of the Eulerian strain tensor is related to the difference of the deviatoric part of the conjugate stress and the back stress tensors. A proportionality factor is used in this flow rule which must be... 

It's well known that "hidden- and exposed-terminal" are among the main problems in ad-hoc WLAN networks. In addition, there are scenarios where the desired destination is located in the range of other transmitters, so that the efforts on setting up communication with this terminal will fail due to collisions occurred between desired control packets and unwanted received data packets at destination. In such scenarios, conventional protocols can not address the problem efficiently, resulting in throughput and channel utilization degradation. In this paper, by using the same PHY of IEEE 802.11 and making slight changes in its MAC layer, a new MAC protocol is presented to address such problems.... 

Link adaptation of a wireless cellular network is of much attention due to the desire of maximizing both the a erage lin throughput and co erage reliability, which have conflicting effect on each other. In this paper, the intra-cell lin adaptation problem is formulated as a non-differentiable constrained optimization problem to maximize average link throughput while guaranteeing the best possible coverage reliability. To achieve this, a cutting plane optimization algorithm is employed. The performance of our method: adaptive modulation/coding with power management (AMCWPM) using proposed algorithm is compared with that of an adaptive modulation/coding (AMC) with no power management.... 

Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a well-known metaheuristic in which a colony of artificial ants cooperate in exploring good solutions to a combinatorial optimization problem. In this paper, an ACO algorithm is presented for the graph coloring problem. This ACO algorithm conforms to Max-Min Ant System structure and exploits a local search heuristic to improve its performance. Experimental results on DIMACS test instances show improvements over existing ACO algorithms of the graph coloring problem  

In this paper we propose a modified Fuzzy Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (modified Fuzzy TOPSIS) for the Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) problem when there is a group of decision makers. Regarding the value of the truth that a fuzzy number is greater than or equal to another fuzzy number, a new distance measure is proposed in this paper. This distance measure calculates the distance of each fuzzy number from both Fuzzy Positive Ideal Solution (FPIS) and Fuzzy negative Ideal Solution (FNIS). Then, the alternative which is simultaneously closer to FPIS and farther from FNIS will be selected as the best choice. To clarify our proposed procedure, a... 

Under voltage load shedding is one of the most important tools to avoid voltage instability. In this paper an optimal load shedding algorithm is developed. This approach is based on the concept of the static voltage stability margin and its sensitivity value at the maximum loading point or the collapse point. The traditional load shedding objective is extended to incorporate both technical and economical effects of load shedding. The voltage stability criterion is modeled as a soft constraint into load shedding scheme. The proposed methodology is implemented over the IEEE14 bus system and solved using a mathematical (GAMS/CONOPT) and two heuristic (P.S.O & GA) methods. © 2006 IEEE