Automated model generation for performance engineering of building automation networks

Large technical systems need to be designed both reliable and efficient. Specialized design tools offer therefore a simplified, abstract design and extend details autonomously in the background. Analytic and simulation based models could improve the quality by testing and dimensioning the design before implementation, but setting up the necessary models is time-consuming and expensive. Therefore many developers ask for analysis tools which are able to create their models from the available information in the design tools. This paper presents such an automated modeling approach basing on an existing design database at the example of a network analysis for building automation fieldbuses. The process of automated modeling is unfolded, and the potentials and limitations are discussed.     

Distributed coordination of emergency medical service for angioplasty patients

In this paper we study the coordination of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) for patients with acute myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation (STEMI). This is a health problem with high associated mortality. A “golden standard” treatment for STEMI is angioplasty, which requires a catheterization lab and a highly qualified cardiology team. It should be performed as soon as possible since the delay to treatment worsens the patient’s prognosis. The decrease of the delay is achieved by coordination of EMS, which is especially important in the case of multiple simultaneous patients. Nowadays, this process is based on the First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) principle and it heavily depends on human control and phone communication with high proneness to human error and delays. The objective is, therefore, to automate the EMS coordination while minimizing the time from symptom onset to reperfusion and thus to lower the mortality and morbidity resulting from this disease. In this paper, we present a multi-agent decision-support system for the distributed coordination of EMS focusing on urgent out-of-hospital STEMI patients awaiting angioplasty. The system is also applicable to emergency patients of any pathology needing pre-hospital acute medical care and urgent hospital treatment. The assignment of patients to ambulances and angioplasty-enabled hospitals with cardiology teams is performed via a three-level optimization model. At each level, we find a globally efficient solution by a modification of the distributed relaxation method for the assignment problem called the auction algorithm. The efficiency of the proposed model is demonstrated by simulation experiments.     

A proportional share allocation mechanism for coordination of plug-in electric vehiclecharging

The near-future penetration of plug-in electric vehicles is expected to be large enough to have a significant impact on the power grid. If PEVs were allowed to charge simultaneously at the maximum power rate, the distribution grid would face serious problems of stability. Therefore, mechanisms are needed to coordinate various PEVs that charge simultaneously. In this paper we propose an allocation mechanism that aims at balancing allocative efficiency and fairness, providing preferential treatment to the PEVs that have a high valuation of the available power, while guaranteeing a fair share of this power to all thePEVs.     

Vapor- and liquid-phase adsorption of alcohol and water in silicalite-1 synthesized in fluoride media

In this work, batch-adsorption experiments and molecular simulations are employed to probe the adsorption of binary mixtures containing ethanol or a linear alkane-1,n-diol solvated in water or ethanol onto silicalite-1. Since the batch-adsorption experiments require an additional relationship to determine the amount of solute (and solvent) adsorbed, as only the bulk liquid reservoir can be probed directly, molecular simulations are used to provide a relationship between solute and solvent adsorption for input to the experimental bulk measurements. The combination of bulk experimental measurements and simulated solute–solvent relationship yields solvent and solute loadings that are self-consistent with simulation alone, and allow for an assessment of the various assumptions made in the literature. At low solution concentrations, the solute loading calculated is independent of the assumption made. At high concentrations, a negligent choice of assumption can lead to systematic overestimation or underestimation of calculated solute loading.     

Smart consumer load balancing: state of the art and an empirical evaluation in the Spanish electricity market

The basis of an efficient functioning of a power grid is an accurate balancing of the electricity demand of all the consumers at any instant with supply. Nowadays, this task involves only the grid operator and retail electricity providers. One of the facets of the Smart Grid vision is that consumers may have a more active role in the problem of balancing demand with supply. With the deployment of intelligent information and communication technologies in domestic environments, homes are becoming smarter and able to play a more active role in the management of energy. We use the term Smart Consumer Load Balancing to refer to algorithms that are run by energy management systems of homes in order to optimise the electricity consumption, to minimise costs and/or meet supply constraints. In this work, we analyse different approaches to Smart Consumer Load Balancing based on (distributed) artificial intelligence. We also put forward a new model of Smart Consumer Load Balancing, where consumers actively participate in the balancing of demand with supply by forming groups that agree on a joint demand profile to be contracted in the market with the mediation of an aggregator. We specify the business model as well as the optimisation model for load balancing, showing the economic benefits for the consumers in a realistic scenario based on the Spanish electricity market.     

The Design of Communicative Act Libraries: A Linguistic Perspective

The FIPA Agent Communication Language includes a library of communicative acts supporting generic types of social interaction, such as information exchange and action performing. However, when developing specific applications, it is desirable to support agent interaction by means of more expressive constructs. In this paper, a structured approach to the design of communicative act libraries is put forward, which takes into account both the criteria of reusability and expressiveness. A linguistic approach is taken to ensure the expressiveness requirement. The proposal is illustrated by the design of an advisory sub-catalogue of reusable communicative acts.     

Synthesis and in vitro evaluation of alpha-GalCer epimers

alpha-GalCer (also known as KRN7000) is an immunomodulatory glycolipid that is known to potently activate invariant natural killer T (NKT) cells upon CD1d-mediated stimulation. Because Th1 and Th2 cytokines, which are released after alpha-GalCer presentation, antagonize each other's effects, alpha-GalCer analogues that induce a biased Th1/Th2 response are highly awaited. In this context, we report the synthesis and in vitro evaluation of alpha-Gal-D-xylo-Cer and two alpha-Gal-L-lyxo-Cer analogues, one with the natural acyl chain, the other with a truncated chain.     

New Challenges for Integrated Circuit Solutions

Integrated circuit solutions have been one of the enabling technologies, contributing to the success of wireless communications. As the focus of the new generation is moving towards higher bandwidths and new services and applications, challenges for the integrated circuit solutions are ever growing. Development focus has shifted from component design and optimization towards significant system oriented content captured both in the hardware platform and supporting software. This integrated approach challenges existing development models, and affects other disciplines related to wireless system development. This paper explores major challenges for integrated circuit solutions emerging from the system-oriented approach.     

Adaptive and economic data representation in control architectures of autonomous real-world robots

Learning algorithms for autonomous robots in complex, real-world environments usually have to deal with many degrees of freedom and continuous state spaces. Reinforcement learning is a promising concept for unsupervised learning, but common algorithms suffer from huge storage and calculation requirements if they are used to construct an internal model by estimating a value-function for every action in every possible state. In our attempt to approximate this function at the lowest cost, we introduce a flexible method that focuses on the states of greatest interest, and interpolates between them with a fast and easy-to-implement algorithm. In order to provide the highest accuracy to any predefined limit, we enhanced this algorithm by a fast converging multilayer error approximator. This work was presented in part at the Sixth International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Tokyo, January 15–17, 2001