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We study high dimensional integration in the quantum model of computation. We develop quantum algorithms for integration of functions from Sobolev classes \(W^r_p [0,1]^d\) and analyze their convergence rates. We also prove lower bounds which show that the proposed algorithms are, in many cases, optimal within the setting of quantum computing. This extends recent results of Novak on integration of functions from Hölder classes.
In this paper, the complexity of full solution of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind with data from the Sobolev class \(W^r_2\) is studied. The exact order of information complexity is derived. The lower bound is proved using a Gelfand number technique. The upper bound is shown by providing a concrete algorithm of optimal order, based on a specific hyperbolic cross approximation of the kernel function. Numerical experiments are included, comparing the optimal algorithm with the standard Galerkin method.
We survey old and new results about optimal algorithms for summation of finite sequences and for integration of functions from Hölder or Sobolev spaces. First we discuss optimal deterministic and randornized algorithms. Then we add a new aspect, which has not been covered before on conferences
about (quasi-) Monte Carlo methods: quantum computation. We give a short introduction into this setting and present recent results of the authors on optimal quantum algorithms for summation and integration. We discuss comparisons between the three settings. The most interesting case for Monte
Carlo and quantum integration is that of moderate smoothness \(k\) and large dimension \(d\) which, in fact, occurs in a number of important applied problems. In that case the deterministic exponent is negligible, so the \(n^{-1/2}\) Monte Carlo and the \(n^{-1}\) quantum speedup essentially constitute the entire convergence rate.
Free Form Volumes
(1994)
Software development organizations measure their real-world processes, products, and resources to achieve the goal of improving their practices. Accurate and useful measurement relies on explicit models of the real-world processes, products, and resources. These explicit models assist with planning measurement, interpreting data, and assisting developers with their work. However, little work has been done on the joint use of measurem(int and process technologies. We hypothesize that it is possible to integrate measurement and process technologies in a way that supports automation of measurement-based feedback. Automated support for measurementbased feedback means that software developers and maintainers are provided with on-line, detailed information about their work. This type of automated support is expected to help software professionals gain intellectual control over their software projects. The dissertation offers three major contributions. First, an integrated measurement and
process modeling framework was constructed. This framework establishes the necessary foundation for integrating measurement and process technologies in a way that will permit automation. Second, a process-centered software engineering environment was developed to support measurement-based feedback. This system provides personnel with information about the tasks expected of them based on an integrated set of measurement and process views. Third, a set of assumptions and requirements about that system were examined in a controlled experiment. The experiment compared the use of different levels of automation to evaluate the acceptance and effectiveness of measurement-based feedback.
Wireless LANs operating within unlicensed frequency bands require random access schemes such as CSMA/ CA, so that wireless networks from different administrative domains (for example wireless community networks) may co-exist without central coordination, even when they happen to operate on the same radio channel. Yet, it is evident that this Jack of coordination leads to an inevitable loss in efficiency due to contention on the MAC layer. The interesting question is, which efficiency may be gained by adding coordination to existing, unrelated wireless networks, for example by self-organization. In this paper, we present a methodology based on a mathematical programming formulation to determine the
parameters (assignment of stations to access points, signal strengths and channel assignment of both access points and stations) for a scenario of co-existing CSMA/ CA-based wireless networks, such that the contention between these networks is minimized. We demonstrate how it is possible to solve this discrete, non-linear optimization problem exactly for small
problems. For larger scenarios, we present a genetic algorithm specifically tuned for finding near-optimal solutions, and compare its results to theoretical lower bounds. Overall, we provide a benchmark on the minimum contention problem for coordination mechanisms in CSMA/CA-based wireless networks.
This report presents a generalization of tensor-product B-spline surfaces. The new scheme permits knots whose endpoints lie in the interior of the domain rectangle of a surface. This allows local refinement of the knot structure for approximation purposes as well as modeling surfaces with local tangent or curvature discontinuities. The surfaces are represented in terms of B-spline basis functions, ensuring affine invariance, local control, the convex hull property, and evaluation by de Boor's algorithm. A dimension formula for a class of generalized tensor-product spline spaces is developed.
We present a methodology to augment system safety step-by-step and illustrate the approach by the definition of reusable solutions for the detection of fail-silent nodes - a watchdog and a heartbeat. These solutions can be added to real-time system designs, to protect against certain types of system failures. We use SDL as a system design language for the development of distributed systems, including real-time systems.
Interactive graphics has been limited to simple direct illumination that commonly results in an artificial appearance. A more realistic appearance by simulating global illumination effects has been too costly to compute at interactive rates. In this paper we describe a new Monte Carlo-based global illumination algorithm. It achieves performance of up to 10 frames per second while arbitrary changes to the scene may be applied interactively. The performance is obtained through the effective use of a fast, distributed ray-tracing engine as well as a new interleaved sampling technique for parallel Monte Carlo simulation. A new filtering step in combination with correlated sampling avoids the disturbing noise artifacts common to Monte Carlo methods.
Estelle is an internationally standardized formal description technique (FDT) designed for the specification of distributed systems, in particular communication protocols. An Estelle specification describes a system of communicating components (module instances). The specified system is closed in a topological sense, i.e. it has no ability to interact with some environment. Because of this restriction, open systems can only be specified together with and incorporated with an environment. To overcome this restriction, we introduce a compatible extension of Estelle, called "Open Estelle". It allows the specification of (topologically) open systems, i.e. systems that have the ability to communicate with any environment through a well-defined external interface. We define aformal syntax and a formal semantics for Open Estelle, both based on and extending the syntax and semantics of Estelle. The extension is compatible syntactically and semantically, i.e. Estelle is a subset of Open Estelle. In particular, the formal semantics of Open Estelle reduces to the Estelle semantics in the special case of a closed system. Furthermore, we present a tool for the textual integration of open systems into environments specified in Open Estelle, and a compiler for the automatic generation of implementations directly from Open Estelle specifications.
This paper describes some new algorithms for the accurate calculation of surface properties. In the first part an arithmetic on Bézier surfaces is introduced. Formulas are given, which determine the Bézier points and weights of the resulting surface from the points and weights of the operand surfaces. An application of the arithmetic operations to the surface interrogation methods are described in the second part. It turns out, that the quality analysis can be reduced to a few numerical stable operations. Finally the advantages and disadvantages of this method are discussed.
Partitioned chain grammars
(1979)
This paper introduces a new class of grammars, the partitioned chain grammars, for which efficient parsers can be automatically generated. Besides being efficiently parsable these grammars possess a number of other properties, which make them very attractive for the use in parser-generators. They for instance form a large grammarclass and describe all deterministic context-free languages. Main advantage of the partitioned chain grammars however is, that given a language it is usually easier to describe it by a partitioned chain grammar than to construct a grammar of some other type commonly used in parser-generators for it.
The intuitionistic calculus mj for sequents, in which no other logical symbols than those for implication and universal quantification occur, is introduced and analysed. It allows a simple backward application, called mj-reduction here, for searching for derivation trees. Terms needed in mj-reduction can be found with the unification algorithm. mj-Reduction with unification can be seen as a natural extension of SLD-resolution. mj-Derivability of the sequents considered here coincides with derivability in Johansson's minimal intuitionistic calculus LHM in [6]. Intuitionistic derivability of formulae with negation and classical derivability of formulae with all usual logical symbols can be expressed with mj-derivability and hence be verified by mj-reduction. mj-Derivations can be easily translated into LJ-derivations without
"Schnitt", or into NJ-derivations in a slightly sharpened form of Prawitz' normal form. In the first three sections, the systematic use of mj-reduction for proving in predicate logic is emphasized. Although the fourth section, the last and largest, is exclusively devoted to the mathematical analysis of the calculus mj, the first three sections may be of interest to a wider readership, including readers looking for applications of symbolic logic. Unfortunately, the mathematical analysis of the calculus mj, as the study of Gentzen's calculi, demands a large amount of technical work that obscures the natural unfolding of the argumentation. To alleviate this, definitions and theorems are completely embedded in the text to provide a fluent and balanced mathematical discourse: new concepts are indicated with bold-face, proofs of assertions are outlined, or omitted when it is assumed that the reader can provide them.
A natural extension of SLD-resolution is introduced as a goal directed proof procedure
for the full first order implicational fragment of intuitionistic logic. Its intuitionistic semantic fits a procedural interpretation of logic programming. By allowing arbitrary nested implications it can be used for implementing modularity in logic programs. With adequate negation axioms it gives an alternative to negation as failure and leads to a proof procedure for full first order predicate logic.
The use of non-volatile semiconductor memory within an extended storage hierarchy promises significant performance improvements for transaction processing. Although page-addressable semiconductor memories like extended memory, solid-state disks and disk caches are commercially available since several years, no detailed investigation of their use for transaction processing has been performed so far. We present a comprehensive simulation study that compares the performance of these storage types and of different usage forms. The following usage forms are considered: allocation of entire log and database files in non-volatile semiconductor memory, using a so-called write buffer to perform disk writes asynchronously, and caching of database pages at intermediate storage levels (in addition to main memory caching). Our simulations are conducted with both synthetically generated workloads and traces from real-life database applications. In particular, simulation results will be presented for the debit-credit workload frequently used in transaction processing benchmarks. As expected, the greatest performance improvements (but at the highest cost) can be achieved by storing log and database files completely in non-volatile semiconductor memory. For update-intensive
workloads, a limited amount of non-volatile memory used as a write buffer also proved to be very effective. To reduce the number of disk reads; caching of database pages in addition to main memory is best supported by an extended memory buffer. In this respect, disk caches are found to be less effective as they are designed for one-level caching. Different storage costs suggest that it may be cost-effective to use two or even three of the intermediate storage types together. The performance improvements obtainable by the use of non-volatile semiconductor memory is also found to reduce the need for sophisticated DBMS buffer management in order to achieve high transaction processing performance.
The rapid development of any field of knowledge brings with it unavoidable fragmentation and proliferation of new disciplines. The development of computer science is no exception. Software engineering (SE) and human-computer interaction (HCI) are both relatively new disciplines of computer science. Furthermore, as both names suggest, they each have strong connections with other subjects. SE is concerned with methods and tools for general software development based on engineering principles. This discipline has its roots not only in computer science but also in a number of traditional engineering disciplines. HCI is concerned with methods and tools for the development of human-computer interfaces, assessing the usability of computer systems and with broader issues about how people interact with computers. It is based on theories about how humans process information and interact with computers, other objects and other people in the organizational and social contexts in
which computers are used. HCI draws on knowledge and skills from psychology, anthropology and sociology in addition to computer science. Both disciplines need ways of measuring how well their products and development processes fulfil their intended requirements. Traditionally SE has been concerned with 'how software is constructed' and HCI with 'how people use software'. Given the
different histories of the disciplines and their different objectives, it is not surprising that they take different approaches to measurement. Thus, each has its own distinct 'measurement culture.' In this paper we analyse the differences and the commonalties of the two cultures by examining the measurement approaches used by each. We then argue the need for a common measurement taxonomy and framework, which is derived from our analyses of the two disciplines. Next we demonstrate the usefulness of the taxonomy and framework via specific example studies drawn from our own work and that of others and show that, in fact, the two disciplines have many important similarities as well as differences and that there is some evidence to suggest that they are growing closer. Finally, we discuss the role of the taxonomy as a framework to support: reuse, planning future studies, guiding practice and facilitating communication between the two disciplines.
Optimization of Projection Methods for Solving ill-posed Problems. In this paper we propose a modification of the projection scheme for solving ill-posed problems. We show that this modification allows to obtain the best possible order of accuracy of Tikhonov Regularization using an amount of information which is far less than for the standard projection technique.
In this paper we show how Metropolis Light Transport can be extended both in the underlying theoretical framework and the algorithmic implementation to incorporate volumetric scattering.
We present a generalization of the path integral formulation thathandles anisotropic scattering in non-homogeneous media. Based on this framework we introduce a new mutation strategy that is
specifically designed for participating media. It exploits the locality of light propagation by perturbing certain interaction points within the medium. To efficiently sample inhomogeneous media a new ray marching method has been developed that avoids aliasing artefacts and is significantly faster than stratified sampling. The resulting global illumination algorithm provides a physically correct simulation of light transport in the presence of participating media that includes effects such as volume caustics and multiple volume scattering. It is not restricted to certain classes of geometry and scattering models and has minimal memory requirements. Furthermore, it is unbiased and robust, in the sense that it produces satisfactory results for a wide range of input scenes and lighting situations within acceptable time bounds. In particular, we found that it is weil suited for complex scenes with many light sources.
For most applications the used transport service providers are predetermined during the development of the application. This makes it difficult to consider the application communication requirements and to exploit specific features of the network technology. Specialized protocols that are more efficient and offer a qualitative improved service are typically not supported by most applications because they are not commonly available. In this paper we propose a concept for the realization of protocol independent transport services. Only a transport service is predetermined during the development of the application and an appropriate transport service provider is dynamically selected at run time. This enables to exploit specialized protocols if possible, but standard protocols could still be used if necessary. The main focus of this paper is how a transport service could provide a new transport service provider transparently to existing applications. A prototype is presented that maps TCP/IP based applications to an ATM specific transport service provider which offers a reliable and unreliable transport service like TCP/IP.
The Analytic Blossom
(2001)
Blossoming is a powerful tool for studying and computing with Bézier and B-spline curves and surfaces - that is, for the investigation and analysis of polynomials and piecewise polynomials in geometric modeling. In this paper, we define a notion of the blossom for Poisson curves. Poisson curves are to analytic functions what Bézier curves are to polynomials - a representation adapted to geometric design. As in the polynomial setting, the blossom provides a simple, powerful, elegant and computationally meaningful way to analyze Poisson curves. Here, we
define the analytic blossom and interpret all the known algorithms for Poisson curves - subdivision, trimming, evaluation of the function and its derivatives, and conversion between the Taylor and the Poisson basis - in terms of this analytic blossom.
In this work we propose a set of term-rewriting techniques for modelling object-oriented computation. Based on symbolic variants of explicit substitutions calculi, we show how to deal with imperative statements like assignment and sequence in specifications in a pure declarative style. Under our model, computation with classes and objects becomes simply normal form calculation, exactly as it is the case in term-rewriting based languages (for instance the functional languages). We believe this kind of unification between functions and
objects is important because it provides plausible alternatives for using the term-rewriting theory as an engine for supporting the formal and mechanical reasoning about object-oriented specifications.
Visualization of large data sets, especially on small machines, requires advanced techniques in image processing and image generation. Our hybrid raytracer is capable of rendering volumetric and geometric data simultaneously, without loss of accuracy due to data conversion. Compound data sets, consisting of several types of data, are called "hybrid data sets". There is only one rendering pipeline to obtain loss-less and efficient visualization of hybrid data. Algorithms apply to both types of data. Optical material properties are stored in the same data base for both volumetric and geometric objects, and anti-aliasing methods appeal to both data types. Stereoscopic display routines have been added to obtain true three-dimensional visualization on various media, and animation features allow generation of recordable 3-D sequences.
Trimming of surfaces and volumes, curve and surface modeling via Bézier's idea of destortion, segmentation, reparametrization, geometric continuity are examples of applications of functional composition. This paper shows how to
compose polynomial and rational tensor product Bézier representations. The problem of composing Bezier splines and B-spline representations will also be addressed in this paper.
The composition of Bézier curves and tensor product Bézier surfaces, polynomial as well as rational, is applied to exactly and explicitely represent trim curves of tensor product Bézier surfaces. Trimming curves are assumed to be defined as Bézier curves in surface parameter domain. A Bézier spline approximation of lower polynomial degree is built up as weil which is based on the exact trim curve representation in coordinate space.
We propose a framework for the synthesis of temporal logic programs which are formulated in a simple temporal logic programming language from both positive and negative examples. First we will prove that results from the theory of first order inductive logic programming carry over to the domain of temporal logic. After this we will show how programs formulated in the presented language can be generalized or specialized in order to satisfy the specification induced by the sets of examples.
We propose several algorithms for efficient Testing of logical Implication in the case of ground objects. Because the problem of Testing a set of propositional formulas for (un)satisfiability is \(NP\)-complete there's strong evidence that there exist examples for which every algorithm which solves the problem of testing for (un)satisfiability has a runtime that is exponential in the length of the input. So will have our algorithms. We will therefore point out classes of logic programs for which our algorithms have a lower runtime. At the end of this paper we will give an outline of an algorithm for theory refinement which is based on the algorithms described above.
Approximating illumination by point light sources, as done in many professional applications, suffers from the problem of the weak singularity: Numerical exceptions caused by the division by the squared distance between the point light source and the point to be illuminated must be avoided. Multiple importance sampling overcomes these problems by combining multiple sampling techniques by weights. Such a set of weights is called a heuristic. So far the estimators resulting from a heuristic only have been analyzed for variance. Since the cost of sampling is not at all constant for different sampling techniques, it is possible to find more efficient heuristics, even though they may hove higher variance. Based on our new stratification heuristic, we present a robust and unbiased global illumination algorithm. By numerical examples, we show that it is more efficient than previous heuristics. The algorithm is as simple as a path tracer, but elegantly avoids the problem of the weak singularity.
We present an algorithm for determining quadrature rules for computing the direct illumination of predominantly diffuse objects by high dynamic range images. The new method precisely reproduces fine shadow detail, is much more efficient as compared to Monte Carlo integration, and does not require any manual intervention.
As opposed to Monte Carlo integration the quasi-Monte Carlo method does not allow for an (consistent) error estimate from the samples used for the integral approximation. In addition the deterministic error bound of quasi-Monte Carlo integration is not accessible in the setting of computer graphics, since usually the integrands are of unbounded variation. The structure of the high dimensional functionals to be computed for photorealistic image synthesis implies the application of the randomized quasi-Monte Carlo method. Thus we can exploit low discrepancy sampling and at the same time we can estimate the variance. The resulting technique is much more efficient than previous bidirectional path tracing algorithms.
Virtual Reality (VR) is to be seen as the superset of simulation and animation. Visualization is done by rendering. The fundamental model of VR accounts for all phenomenons to be modelled with help of a computer. Examples range from simple dragging actions with a mouse device to the complex simulation of physically based animation.
The calculation of form factors is an important problem in computing the global illumination in the radiosity setting. Closed form solutions often are only available for objects without obstruction and are very hard to calculate. Using Monte Carlo integration and ray tracing provides a fast and elegant tool for the estimation of the form factors. In this paper we show, that using deterministic low discrepancy sample points is superior to random sampling, resulting in an acceleration of more than half an order of magnitude.
Many rendering problems can only be solved using Monte Carlo integration. The noise and variance inherent with the statistical method efficiently can be reduced by stratification. So far only uncorrelated stratification methods were used that in addition depend on the dimension of the integration domain. Based on rank-1-lattices we present a new stratification technique that removes this dependency on dimension, is much more efficient by correlation, is trivial to implement, and robust to use. The superiority of the new scheme is demonstrated for standard rendering algorithms.
The simulation of random fields has many applications in computer graphics such as e.g. ocean wave or turbulent wind field modeling. We present a new and strikingly simple synthesis algorithm for random fields on rank-1 lattices that requires only one Fourier transform independent of the dimension of the support of the random field. The underlying mathematical principle of discrete Fourier transforms on rank-1 lattices breaks the curse of dimension of the standard tensor product Fourier transform, i.e. the number of function values does not exponentially depend on the dimension, but can be chosen linearly.
Quasi-Monte Carlo Radiosity
(1996)
The problem of global illumination in computer graphics is described by a second kind Fredholm integral equation. Due to the complexity of this equation, Monte Carlo methods provide an interesting tool for approximating
solutions to this transport equation. For the case of the radiosity equation, we present the deterministic method of quasi-rondom walks. This method very efficiently uses low discrepancy sequences for integrating the Neumann series and consistently outperforms stochastic techniques. The method of quasi-random walks also is applicable to transport problems in settings other
than computer graphics.
Monte Carlo & Beyond
(2002)
Interleaved Sampling
(2001)
The sampling of functions is one of the most fundamental tasks in computer graphics, and occurs in a variety of different forms. The known sampling methods can roughly be grouped in two categories. Sampling on regular grids is simple and efficient, and the algorithms are often easy to built into graphics hardware. On the down side, regular sampling is prone to aliasing artifacts that are expensive to overcome. Monte Carlo methods, on the other hand,
mask the aliasing artifacts by noise. However due to the lack of coherence, these methods are more expensive and not weil suited for hardware implementations. In this paper, we introduce a novel sampling scheme where samples from several regular grids are a combined into a single irregular sampling pattern. The relative positions of the regular grids are themselves determined by Monte Carlo methods. This generalization obtained by interleaving yields,significantly improved quality compared to traditional approaches while at the same time preserving much of the advantageous coherency of regular sampling. We demonstrate the quality of the new sampling scheme with a number of applications ranging from supersampling over motion blur simulation to volume rendering. Due to the coherence in the interleaved samples, the method is optimally suited for implementations in graphics hardware.
Instant Radiosity
(1997)
We present a fundamental procedure for instant rendering from the radiance equation. Operating directly on the textured scene description, the very efficient and simple algorithm produces photorealistic images without any kernel or solution discretization of the underlying integral equation. Rendering rates of a few seconds are obtained by exploiting graphics hardware, the deterministic
technique of the quasi-random walk for the solution of the global illumination problem, and the new method of jittered low discrepancy sampling.
A fundamental variance reduction technique for Monte Carlo integration in the framework of integro-approximation problems is
presented. Using the method of dependent tests a successive hierarchical function approximation algorithm is developed, which
captures discontinuities and exploits smoothness in the target function. The general mathematical scheme and its highly efficient
implementation are illustrated for image generation by ray tracing,
yielding new and much faster image synthesis algorithms.
The photon map provides a powerful tool for approximating the irradiance in global illumination computations independent from geometry. By presenting new importance sampling techniques, we dramatically improve the memory footprint of the photon map, simplify the caustic generation, and allow for a much faster sampling of direct illumination in complicated models as they arise in a production environment.
The main problem in computer graphics is to solve the global illumination problem,
which is given by a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind, called the radiance equation (REQ). In order to achieve realistic images, a very complex kernel
of the integral equation, modelling all physical effects of light, must be considered. Due to this complexity Monte Carlo methods seem to be an appropriate approach to solve the REQ approximately. We show that replacing Monte Carlo by quasi-Monte Carlo in some steps of the algorithm results in a faster convergence.
Shadow-Mapping
(1993)
Most radiosity techniques store radiosities in certain sample points, typically the vertices of polyhedral scenes. As diffuse radiosities are view independent they can be used for an interactive 'walk-through'. This paper presents an algorithm for storing radiosities independent of the representation of the object. A distributed rendering system, which uses this shadow-mapping technique is described. The basic thermophysical definitions, needed to derive a sum formula for a form factor calculation of polygons, are explained.
In this paper an analytic hidden surface removal algorithm is presented which uses a combination
of 2D and 3D BSP trees without involving point sampling or scan conversion. Errors like aliasing
which result from sampling do not occur while using this technique. An application of this
algorithm is outlined which computes the energy locally reflected from a surface having an
arbitrary BRDF. A simplification for diffuse reflectors is described, which has been implemented
to compute analytic form factors from diffuse light sources to differential receivers as they are needed for shading and radiosity algorithms.
The problem of constructing a geometric model of an existing object from a set of boundary points arises in many areas of industry. In this paper we present a new solution to this problem which is an extension of Boissonnat's method [2]. Our approach uses the well known Delaunay triangulation of the data points as an intermediate step. Starting with this structure, we eliminate tetrahedra until we get an appropriate approximation of the desired shape. The method proposed in this paper is capable of reconstructing objects with arbitrary genus and can cope with different point densities in different regions of the object. The
problems which arise during the elimination process, i.e. which tetrahedra can be eliminated, which order has to be used to control the process and finally, how to stop the elimination procedure at the right time, are discussed in detail. Several examples are given to show the validity of the method.
We study the global solution of Fredholm integral equations of the second kind by the help of Monte Carlo methods. Global solution means that we seek to approximate the full solution function. This is opposed to the usual applications of Monte Carlo, were one only wants to approximate a functional of the solution. In recent years several researchers developed Monte Carlo methods also for the global problem. In this paper we present a new Monte Carlo algorithm for the global solution of integral equations. We use multiwavelet expansions to approximate the solution. We study the behaviour of variance on increasing levels, and based on this, develop a new variance reduction technique. For classes of smooth kernels and right hand sides we determine the convergence rate of this algorithm and show that it is higher
than those of previously developed algorithms for the global problem. Moreover, an information-based complexity analysis shows that our algorithm is optimal among all stochastic algorithms of the same computational
cost and that no deterministic algorithm of the same cost can reach its convergence rate.
A new variance reduction technique for the Monte Carlo solution of integral
equations is introduced. It is based on separation of the main part. A neighboring equation with exactly known solution is constructed by the help of a deterministic Galerkin scheme. The variance of the method is analyzed, and an application to the radiosity equation of computer graphics, together with numerical test results is given.
Approximation properties of the underlying estimator are used to improve the efficiency of the method of dependent tests. A multilevel approximation procedure is developed such that in each level the number of samples is balanced with the level-dependent variance, resulting in a considerable reduction of the overall computational cost. The new technique is applied to the Monte Carlo estimation of integrals depending on a parameter.
The radiance equation, which describes the global illumination problem in computer graphics, is a high dimensional integral equation. Estimates of the solution are usually computed on the basis of Monte Carlo methods. In this paper we propose and investigate quasi-Monte Carlo methods, which means that we replace (pseudo-) random samples by low discrepancy sequences, yielding deterministic algorithms. We carry out a comparative numerical study between Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo methods. Our results show that quasi-Monte Carlo converges considerably faster.
Monte Carlo integration is often used for antialiasing in rendering processes.
Due to low sampling rates only expected error estimates can be stated, and the variance can be high. In this article quasi-Monte Carlo methods are presented, achieving a guaranteed upper error bound and a convergence rate essentially as fast as usual Monte Carlo.
We study summation of sequences and integration in the quantum model of computation. We develop quantum algorithms for computing the mean of sequences which satisfy a \(p\)-summability condition and for integration of functions from Lebesgue spaces \(L_p([0,1]^d)\) and analyze their convergence rates. We also prove lower bounds which show that the proposed algorithms are, in many cases, optimal within the setting of quantum computing. This extends recent results of Brassard, Høyer, Mosca, and Tapp (2000) on computing the mean for bounded sequences and complements results of Novak (2001) on integration of functions from Hölder classes.
The Monte Carlo complexity of computing integrals depending on a parameter is analyzed for smooth integrands. An optimal algorithm is developed on the basis of a multigrid variance reduction technique. The complexity analysis implies that our algorithm attains a higher convergence rate than any deterministic algorithm. Moreover, because of savings due to computation on multiple grids, this rate is also higher than that of previously developed Monte Carlo algorithms for parametric integration.
We study the problem of global solution of Fredholm integral equations. This means that we seek to approximate the full solution function (as opposed to the local problem, where only the value of the solution in a single point or a functional of the solution is sought). We analyze the Monte Carlo complexity, i.e. the complexity of stochastic solution of this problem. The framework for this analysis is provided by information based complexity theory. Our investigations complement previous ones on stochastic complexity of local solution and on deterministic complexity of
both local and global solution. The results show that even in the global case Monte Carlo algorithms can perform better than deterministic ones, although the difference is not as large as in the local case.
The \(L_2\)-discrepancy is a quantitative measure of precision for multivariate quadrature rules. It can be computed explicitly. Previously known algorithms needed \(O(m^2\)) operations, where \(m\) is the number of nodes. In this paper we present algorithms which require
\(O(m(log m)^d)\) operations.
Hardware / Software Codesign
(1994)
Computer processing of free form surfaces forms the basis of a closed construction process starting with surface design and up to NC-production.
Numerical simulation and visualization allow quality analysis before manufacture. A new aspect in surface analysis is described, the stability
of surfaces versus infinitesimal bendings. The stability concept is derived
from the kinetic meaning of a special vector field which is given by the deformation. Algorithms to calculate this vector field together with an appropriate visualization method give a tool able to analyze surface stability.
The CAD/CAM-based design of free-form surfaces is the beginning of a chain of operations, which ends with the numerically controlled (NC-) production of the designed object. During this process the shape control is an important step to amount efficiency. Several surface interrogation methods already exist to analyze curvature and continuity behaviour of the shape. This paper deals with a new aspect of shape control: the stability of surfaces with respect to infnitesimal bendings. Each inEnitesimal bending of a surface determines a so called instability surface, which is used for the stability investigations. The kinematic meaning of this instability surface will be discussed and we present algorithms to calculate it.
UML and SDL are languages for the development of software systems that have different origins, and have evolved separately for many years. Recently, it can be observed that OMG and ITU, the standardisation bodies responsible for UML and SDL, respectively, are making efforts to harmonise these languages. So far, harmonisation takes place mainly on a conceptual level, by extending and aligning the set of language concepts. In this paper, we argue that harmonisation of languages can be approached both from a syntactic and semantic perspective. We show how a common syntactical basis can be derived from the analysis of the UML meta-model
and the SDL abstract grammar. For this purpose, conceptually sound and well-founded mappings from meta-models to abstract grammars and vice versa are defined and applied. On the semantic level, a comparison between corresponding language constructs is performed.
The Basic Reference Model of ODP introduces a number of basic concepts in order to provide a common basis for the development of a coherent set of standards. To achieve this objective, a clear understanding of the basic concepts is one prerequisite. This paper makes an effort at clarifying some of the basic concepts independently of standardized or non-standardized formal description techniques. Among the basic concepts considered here are: agent, action, interaction, interaction point, architecture, behaviour, system, composition, refinement, and abstraction. In a case study, it is then shown how these basic concepts can be represented in a formal specification written in temporal logic.
Today, test methods for communication protocols assume, among other things, that the protocol design is specified as a single, monolithic finite state machine (FSM). From this specification, test suites that are capable of detecting output and/or transfer faults in the protocol implementation are derived. Limited applicability ofthese methods is mainly because oftheir specific assumptions, and due to the size of the derived test suite and the resulting test effort for realistic protocols. In this work, the compositional test method (C-method), which exploits the available structure of a communication protocol, is proposed. The C-method first tests each protocol component separately for output and/or transfer faults, using one of the traditional test methods, then checks for composability, and finally tests the composite system for composition faults. To check for composability and to derive the test suite for the detection of composition faults, it is not required to construct the global state machine. Instead, all information is derived from the component state machines, which avoids a potential state explosion and lengthy test cases. Furthermore, the test suite checks for composition faults only. This substantially reduces the size of the test suite and thus the overall test effort.
This report explains basic notions and concepts of Abstract State Machines (ASM) as well as notation for defining ASM models. The objective here is to provide an intuitive understanding of the formalism; for a rigorous definition of the mathematical foundations of ASM, the reader is referred to [2] and [3]. Further references on ASM-related material can be found on the ASM Web Pages [1].
We introduce two novel techniques for speeding up the generation of digital \((t,s)\)-sequences. Based on these results a new algorithm for the construction of Owen's randomly permuted \((t,s)\)-sequences is developed and analyzed. An implementation of the new techniques is available at http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~ilja/libseq/index.html
A notion of discrepancy is introduced, which represents the integration error on spaces of \(r\)-smooth periodic functions. It generalizes the diaphony and constitutes a periodic counterpart to the classical \(L_2\)-discrepancy as weil as \(r\)-smooth versions of it introduced recently by Paskov [Pas93]. Based on previous work [FH96], we develop an efficient algorithm for computing periodic discrepancies for quadrature formulas possessing certain tensor product structures, in particular, for Smolyak quadrature rules (also called sparse grid methods). Furthermore, fast algorithms of computing periodic discrepancies for lattice rules can easily be derived from well-known properties of lattices. On this basis we carry out numerical comparisons of discrepancies between Smolyak and lattice rules.
In recent years, Smolyak quadrature rules (also called hyperbolic cross points or sparse grids) have gained interest as a possible competitor to number theoretic quadratures for high dimensional problems. A standard way of comparing the quality of multivariate quadrature formulas
consists in computing their \(L_2\)-discrepancy. Especially for larger dimensions, such computations are a highly complex task. In this paper we develop a fast recursive algorithm for computing the \(L_2\)-discrepancy (and related quality measures) of general Smolyak quadratures. We carry out numerical comparisons between the discrepancies of certain Smolyak rules, Hammersley and Monte Carlo sequences.
In this paper the complexity of the local solution of Fredholm integral equations
is studied. For certain Sobolev classes of multivariate periodic functions with dominating mixed derivative we prove matching lower and upper bounds. The lower bound is shown using relations to s-numbers. The upper bound is proved in a constructive way providing an implementable algorithm of optimal order based on Fourier coefficients and a hyperbolic cross approximation.
We study the complexity of local solution of Fredholm integral equations. This means that we want to compute not the full solution, but rather a functional (weighted mean, value in a point) of it. For certain Sobolev classes of multivariate periodic functions we prove matching upper and lower bounds and construct an algorithm of the optimal order, based on Fourier coefficients and a hyperbolic cross approximation.
The local solution problem of multivariate Fredholm integral equations is studied. Recent research proved that for several function classes the complexity of this problem is closely related to the Gelfand numbers of some characterizing operators. The generalization of this approach to the situation of arbitrary Banach spaces is the subject of the present paper.
Furthermore, an iterative algorithm is described which - under some additional conditions - realizes the optimal error rate. The way these general theorems work is demonstrated by applying them to integral equations in a Sobolev space of periodic functions with dominating mixed derivative of various order.
Gauss Frame Offsets
(1992)
Best-Fit Pattern Matching
(1994)
This report shows that dispatching of methods in object oriented languages is in principle the same as best fit pattern matching. A general conceptual description of best fit pattern matching is presented. Many object oriented features are modelled by means of the general concept. This shows that simple methods, multi methods, overloading of functions, pattern matching,
dynamic and union types, and extendable records can be combined in a single comprehensive concept.
The World Wide Web is a medium through which a manufacturer may allow Internet visitors to customize or compose his products. Due to missing or rapidly changing standards these applications are often restricted to relatively simple CGI or JAVA based scripts. Usually, results like images or movies are stored in a database and are transferred on demand to the web-user. Viper (Visualisierung parametrisch editierbarer Raumkomponenten) is a Toolkit [VIP96] written in C++ and JAVA which provides 3D-modeling and visualization methodsfor developing complex web-based applications. The Toolkit has been designed to built a prototype, which can be used to construct and visualize prefabricated homes on the Internet. Alternative applications are outlined in this paper. Within Viper, all objects are stored in a scene graph (VSSG ), which is the basic data structure of the Toolkit. To show the concept and structure of the Toolkit, functionality, and implementation of the prototype are described.
This document offers a concise introduction to the Goal Question Metric Paradigm (GQM Paradigm), and surveys research on applying and extending the GQM Paradigm. We describe the GQM Paradigm in terms of its basic principles, techniques for structuring GQM-related documents, and methods for performing tasks of planning and implementing a measurement program based on GQM. We also survey prototype software tools that support applying the GQM Paradigm in various ways. An annotated bibliography lists sources that document experience gained while using the GQM Paradigm and offer in-depth information about the GQM Paradigm.
User interfaces for large distributed applications have to handle specific problems: the complexity of the application itself and the integration of online-data into the user interface. A main task of the user interface architecture is to provide powerful tools to design and augment the end-user system easily, hence giving the designer more time to focus on user requirements. Our experiences developing a user interface system for a process control room showed that a lot of time during the development process is wasted for the integration of online-data residing anywhere but not in the user interface itself. Furtheron external data may be kept by different kinds of programs, e.g. C-programs running
a numerical process model or PROLOG-programs running a diagnosis system, both in parallel to the process and in parallel to the user interface. Facing these specific requirements, we developed a user interface architecture following two main goals: 1. integration of external information into high-level graphical objects and 2. the system should be open for any program running as a separate process using its own problem-oriented language. The architecture is based on two approaches: an asynchronous, distributed and language independent communication model and an object model describing the problem domain and the interface using object-oriented techniques. Other areas like rule-based programming are involved, too. With this paper, we will present the XAVIA user interface architecture, the (as far as we know) first user inteface architecture, which is consequently based on a distributed object model.
Optimal degree reductions, i.e. best approximations of \(n\)-th degree Bezier curves
by Bezier curves of degree \(n\) - 1, with respect to different norms are studied. It
is shown that for any \(L_p\)-norm the euclidean degree reduction where the norm is applied to the euclidean distance function of two curves is identical to componentwise degree reduction. The Bezier points of the degree reductions are found to lie on parallel lines through the Bezier points of any Taylor expansion of degree \(n\) - 1 of the original curve. This geometric situation is shown to hold also in the case of constrained degree reduction. The Bezier points of the degree reduction are explicitly given in the unconstrained case for \(p\) = 1 and \(p\) = 2 and in the constrained case for \(p\) = 2.
The problem to interpolate Hermite-type data (i.e. two points with attached tangent vectors) with elastic curves of prescribed tension is known to have multiple solutions. A method is presented that finds all solutions of length not exceeding one period of its curvature function. The algorithm is based on algebraic relations between discrete curvature information which allow to transform the problem into a univariate one. The method operates with curves that by construction partially interpolate the given data. Hereby the objective function of the problem is drastically simplified. A bound on the maximum curvature value is established that provides an interval containing all solutions.
Intellectual control over software development projects requires the existence of an integrated set of explicit models of the products to be developed, the processes used to develop them, the resources needed, and the productivity and quality aspects involved. In recent years the development of languages, methods and tools for modeling software processes, analyzing and enacting them has become a major emphasis of software engineering research. The majority of current process research concentrates on prescriptive modeling of small, completely formalizable processes and their execution entirely on computers. This research direction has produced process modeling languages suitable for machine rather than human consumption. The MVP project, launched at the University of Maryland and continued at Universität Kaiserslautern, emphasizes building descriptive models of large, real-world processes and their use by humans and computers for the purpose of understanding, analyzing, guiding and improving software development projects. The language MVP-L has been developed with these purposes in mind. In this paper, we
motivate the need for MVP-L, introduce the prototype language, and demonstrate its uses. We assume that further improvements to our language will be triggered by lessons learned from applications and experiments.
Experience gathered from applying the software process modeling language MVP-L in software development organizations has shown the need for graphical representations of process models. Project members (i.e„ non MVP-L specialists) review models much more easily by using graphical representations. Although several various graphical notations were developed for individual projects in which MVP-L was applied, there was previously no consistent definition of a mapping between textual MVP-L models and graphical representations. This report defines a graphical representation schema for MVP-L
descriptions and combines previous results in a unified form. A basic set of building blocks (i.e., graphical symbols and text fragments) is defined, but because we must first gain experience with the new symbols, only rudimentary guidelines are given for composing basic
symbols into a graphical representation of a model.
We introduce the concept of streamballs for fluid flow visualization. Streamballs are based upon implicit surface generation techniques adopted from the well-known metaballs. Their property to split or merge automatically in areas of significant divergence or convergence makes them an ideal tool for the visualization of arbitrary complex flow fields. Using convolution surfaces generated by continuous skeletons for streamball construction offers the possibility to visualize even tensor fields.
The quality of freeform surfaces is one of the major topics of CAD/CAM. Aesthetic and technical demands require the construction of high quality surfaces with strong shape conditions. Quality diminishing properties like dents or flat points have to be eliminated while approximation conditions must hold at the same time. Our approach combines quality and approximation criteria to a nonlinear multicriteria optimization problem and achieves an automatic approximation and fitting process.
Many applications dealing with geometry acquisition and processing produce polygonal meshes that carry artifacts like discretization noise. While there are many approaches to remove the artifacts by smoothing or filtering the mesh, they are not tailored to any specific application subject to·certain restrictive objectives. We show how to incorporate smoothing schemes based on the general Laplacian approximation to satsify all those objectives at
the same time for the results of flow simulation in the application field of car manufacturing. In the presented application setting the major restrictions come from the bounding volume of the flow simulation, the so-called installation space. In particular, clean mesh regions (without noise) should not be smoothed while at the same time the installation space must not be violated by the smoothing of the noisy mesh regions. Additionally, aliasing effects at the boundary between clean and noisy mesh regions must be prevented. To address the fact that the meshes come from flow simulation, the presented method is versatile enough to preserve their exact volume and to apply anisotropic filters using the flow information.
Although the paper focuses on the results of a specific application, most of its findings can be transferred to different settings as well.
This paper introduces a new high Level programming language for a novel
class of computational devices namely data-procedural machines. These machines are by up to several orders of magnitude more efficient than the von Neumann paradigm of computers and are as flexible and as universal as computers. Their efficiency and flexibility is achieved by using field-programmable logic as the essential technology platform. The paper briefly summarizes and illustrates the essential new features of this language by means of two example programs.
Image synthesis often requires the Monte Carlo estimation of integrals. Based on a generalized concept of stratification we present an efficient sampling scheme that consistently outperforms previous techniques. This is achieved by assembling sampling patterns that are stratified in the sense of jittered sampling and N-rooks sampling at the same time. The faster convergence and improved anti-aliasing are demonstrated by numerical experiments.
One of the fundamental problems in computational structural biology is the prediction of RNA secondary structures from a single sequence. To solve this problem, mainly two different approaches have been used over the past decades: the free energy minimization (MFE) approach which is still considered the most popular and successful method and the competing stochastic context-free grammar (SCFG) approach. While the accuracy of the MFE based algorithms is limited by the quality of underlying thermodynamic models, the SCFG method abstracts from free energies and instead tries to learn about the structural behavior of the molecules by training the grammars on known real RNA structures, making it highly dependent on the availability of a rich high quality training set. However, due to the respective problems associated with both methods, new statistics based approaches towards RNA structure prediction have become increasingly appreciated. For instance, over the last years, several statistical sampling methods and clustering techniques have been invented that are based on the computation of partition functions (PFs) and base pair probabilities according to thermodynamic models. A corresponding SCFG based statistical sampling algorithm for RNA secondary structures has been studied just recently. Notably, this probabilistic method is capable of producing accurate (prediction) results, where its worst-case time and space requirements are equal to those of common RNA folding algorithms for single sequences.
The aim of this work is to present a comprehensive study on how enriching the underlying SCFG by additional information on the lengths of generated substructures (i.e. by incorporating length-dependencies into the SCFG based sampling algorithm, which is actually possible without significant losses in performance) affects the reliability of the induced RNA model and the accuracy of sampled secondary structures. As we will see, significant differences with respect to the overall quality of generated sample sets and the resulting predictive accuracy are typically implied. In principle, when considering the more specialized length-dependent SCFG model as basis for statistical sampling, a higher accuracy of predicted foldings can be reached at the price of a lower diversity of generated candidate structures (compared to the more general traditional SCFG variant or sampling based on PFs that rely on free energies).
SHIM is a concurrent deterministic programming language for embedded systems built on rendezvous communication. It abstracts away many details to give the developer a high-level view that includes virtual shared variables, threads as orthogonal statements, and deterministic concurrent exceptions.
In this paper, we present a new way to compile a SHIM-like language into a set of asynchronous guarded actions, a well-established intermediate representation for concurrent systems. By doing so, we build a bridge to many other tools, including hardware synthesis and formal verification. We present our translation in detail, illustrate it through examples, and show how the result can be used by various other tools.
This report gives an overview of the separate translation of synchronous imperative programs to synchronous guarded actions. In particular, we consider problems to be solved for separate compilation that stem from preemption statements and local variable declarations. We explain how we solved these problems and sketch our solutions implemented in the our Averest framework to implement a compiler that allows a separate compilation of imperative synchronous programs with local variables and unrestricted preemption statements. The focus of the report is the big picture of our entire design flow.
In this article we present a method to generate random objects from a large variety of combinatorial classes according to a given distribution. Given a description of the combinatorial class and a set of sample data our method will provide an algorithm that generates objects of size n in worst-case runtime O(n^2) (O(n log(n)) can be achieved at the cost of a higher average-case runtime), with the generated objects following a distribution that closely matches the distribution of the sample data.
The Chained Lin-Kernighan algorithm (CLK) is one of the best heuristics to solve Traveling Salesman Problems (TSP). In this paper a distributed algorithm is proposed, were nodes in a network locally optimize TSP instances by using the CLK algorithm. Within an Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) network-based framework the resulting tours are modified and exchanged with neighboring nodes. We show that the distributed variant finds better tours compared to the original CLK given the same amount of computation time. For instance fl3795, the original CLK got stuck in local optima in each of 10 runs, whereas the distributed algorithm found optimal tours in each run requiring less than 10 CPU minutes per node on average in an 8 node setup. For instance sw24978, the distributed algorithm had an average solution quality of 0.050% above the optimum, compared to CLK's average solution of 0.119% above the optimum given the same total CPU time (104 seconds). Considering the best tours of both variants for this instance, the distributed algorithm is 0.033% above the optimum and the CLK algorithm 0.099%.
The provision of quality-of-service (QoS) on the network layer is a major challenge in communication networks. This applies particularly to mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) in the area of Ambient Intelligence (AmI), especially with the increasing use of delay and bandwidth sensitive applications. The focus of this survey lies on the classification and analysis of selected QoS routing protocols in the domain of mobile ad-hoc networks. Each protocol is briefly described and assessed, and the results are summarized in multiple tables.
This article focuses on the analytical analysis of the free energy in a realistic model for RNA secondary structures. In fact, the free energy in a stochastic model derived from a database of small and large subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU and LSU rRNA) data is studied. A common thermody-namic model for computing the free energy of a given RNA secondary structure, as well as stochastic context-free grammars and generating functions are used to derive the desired results. These results include asymptotics for the expected free energy and for the corresponding variance of a random RNA secondary structure. The quality of our model is judged by comparing the derived results to the used database of SSU and LSU rRNA data. At the end of this article, it is discussed how our results could be used to help on identifying good predictions of RNA secondary structure.
On Abstract Shapes of RNA
(2008)
As any RNA sequence can be folded in many different ways, there are lots of different possible secondary structures for a given sequence. Most computational prediction methods based on free energy minimization compute a number of suboptimal foldings and we have to identify the native structures among all these possible secondary structures. For this reason, much effort has been made to develop approaches for identifying good predictions of RNA secondary structure. Using the abstract shapes approach as introduced by Giegerich et al., each class of similar secondary structures is represented by one shape and the native structures can be found among the top shape representatives. In this article, we derive some interesting results answering enumeration problems for abstract shapes and secondary structures of RNA. We start by computing symptotical representations for the number of shape representations of length n. Our main goal is to find out how much the search space can be reduced by using the concept of abstract shapes. To reach this goal, we analyze the number of secondary structures and shapes compatible with an RNA sequence of length n under the assumption that base pairing is allowed between arbitrary pairs of bases analytically and compare their exponential growths. Additionally, we analyze the number of secondary structures compatible with an RNA sequence of length n under the assumptions that base pairing is allowed only between certain pairs of bases and that the structures meet some appropriate conditions. The exponential growth factors of the resulting asymptotics are compared to the corresponding experimentally obtained value as given by Giegerich et al.
Guaranteeing correctness of compilation is a ma jor precondition for correct software. Code generation can be one of the most error-prone tasks in a compiler. One way to achieve trusted compilation is certifying compilation. A certifying compiler generates for each run a proof that it has performed the compilation run correctly. The proof is checked in a separate theorem prover. If the theorem prover is content with the proof, one can be sure that the compiler produced correct code. This paper presents a certifying code generation phase for a compiler translating an intermediate language into assembler code. The time spent for checking the proofs is the bottleneck of certifying compilation. We exhibit an improved framework for certifying compilation and considerable advances to overcome this bottleneck. We compare our implementation featuring the Coq theorem prover to an older implementation. Our current implementation is feasible for medium to large sized programs.
Abstraction is intensively used in the verification of large, complex or infinite-state systems. With abstractions getting more complex it is often difficult to see whether they are valid. However, for using abstraction in model checking it has to be ensured that properties are preserved. In this paper, we use a translation validation approach to verify property preservation of system abstractions. We formulate a correctness criterion based on simulation between concrete and abstract system for a property to be verified. For each distinct run of the abstraction procedure the correctness is verified in the theorem prover Isabelle/HOL. This technique is applied in the verification of embedded adaptive systems. This paper is an extended version a previously published work.
On the Complexity of the Uncapacitated Single Allocation p-Hub Median Problem with Equal Weights
(2007)
The Super-Peer Selection Problem is an optimization problem in network topology construction. It may be cast as a special case of a Hub Location Problem, more exactly an Uncapacitated Single Allocation p-Hub Median Problem with equal weights. We show that this problem is still NP-hard by reduction from Max Clique.