P. J. Courtois – Communications of the ACM

Research and Advances Jun 1 1985

On time and space decomposition of complex structures

Models of large and complex systems can often be reduced to smaller sub-models, for easier analysis, by a process known as decomposition. Certain criteria for successful decompositions can be established.

Architecture and Hardware

Author Archives

Research and Advances Jul 1 1975

Decomposability, instabilities, and saturation in multiprogramming systems

A step-by-step approach to model the dynamic behavior and evaluate the performance of computing systems is proposed. It is based on a technique of variable aggregation and the concept of nearly decomposable systems, both borrowed from Econometrics. This approach is taken in order to identify in multiprogramming paging systems (i) unstable regimes of operations and (ii) critical computing loads which bring the system into states of saturation. This analysis leads to a more complete definition of the circumstances in which “thrashing” can set in.

Computing Applications

Research and Advances Oct 1 1971

Concurrent control with “readers” and “writers”

The problem of the mutual exclusion of several independent processes from simultaneous access to a “critical section” is discussed for the case where there are two distinct classes of processes known as “readers” and “writers.” The “readers” may share the section with each other, but the “writers” must have exclusive access. Two solutions are presented: one for the case where we wish minimum delay for the readers; the other for the case where we wish writing to take place as early as possible.

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