October 1990 - Vol. 33 No. 10
Features
Practical programmer: Software teams
I have often heard the phrase, “We see what we know.” As technicians, we concentrate on technical ways to manage complexity: abstraction, design techniques,…
Introduction—discrete event simulation
This special section deals with the simulation of complex systems, such as computer, communications, and manufacturing systems—specifically focusing on stochastic…
Parallel discrete event simulation
Parallel discrete event simulation (PDES), sometimes called distributed simulation, refers to the execution of a single discrete event simulation program on a parallel…
Expert simulation for on-line scheduling
The state-of-the-art in manufacturing has moved toward flexibility, automation and integration. The efforts spent on bringing computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) to…
NEST: a network simulation and prototyping testbed
The Network Simulation Testbed (NEST) is a graphical environment for simulation and rapid-prototyping of distributed networked systems and protocols. Designers of…
Likelihood ratio gradient estimation for stochastic systems
Consider a computer system having a CPU that feeds jobs to two input/output (I/O) devices having different speeds. Let &thgr; be the fraction of jobs routed to the first…
In the mind of the average computer user, the problem of generating uniform variates by computer has been solved long ago. After all, every computer :system offers one or…
Simulation of a semiconductor manufacturing line
Product turnaround time (TAT) is defined as the clock or elapsed time from wafer release to completed wafer fabrication. It is also known as cycle time, mean elapsed…
Traditional dialogue design applied to modern user interfaces
Several examples show that principles for the design of usable dialogues are just as important for modern graphical user interfaces as they are for traditional text-based…
Economic analysis of microcomputer hardware
Economic analysis of the hardware characteristics of the personal computer segment of the microcomputer market indicates that the variables that most affect cost are the…
Inside risks: ghosts, mysteries and uncertainty
Background: Perhaps the most frustrating of all the Risks Forum cases are those in which uncertainty and doubts remain to spook us long after the event.