Integration of a road traffic noise model (ASJ) and traffic simulation (AVENUE) for a built-up area

A road traffic noise prediction model (ASJ MODEL-1998) has been integrated with a road traffic simulator (AVENUE) to produce the Dynamic areawide Road traffic NoisE simulator-DRONE. This traffic-noise-GIS based integrated tool is upgraded to predict noise levels in built-up areas. The integration of traffic simulation with a noise model provides dynamic access to traffic flow characteristics and hence automated and detailed predictions of traffic noise. The prediction is not only on the spatial scale but also on temporal scale. The linkage with GIS gives a visual representation to noise pollution in the form of dynamic areawide traffic noise contour maps. The application of DRONE on a real world built-up area is also presented.

N2O emissions from agricultural lands: a synthesis of simulation approaches

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is primarily produced by the microbially-mediated nitrification and denitrification processes in soils. It is influenced by a suite of climate (i.e. temperature and rainfall) and soil (physical and chemical) variables, interacting soil and plant nitrogen (N) transformations (either competing or supplying substrates) as well as land management practices. It is not surprising that N2O emissions are highly variable both spatially and temporally. Computer simulation models, which can integrate all of these variables, are required for the complex task of providing quantitative determinations of N2O emissions. Numerous simulation models have been developed to predict N2O production. Each model has its own philosophy in constructing simulation components as well as performance strengths. The models range from those that attempt to comprehensively simulate all soil processes to more empirical approaches requiring minimal input data. These N2O simulation models can be classified into three categories: laboratory, field and regional/global levels. Process-based field-scale N2O simulation models, which simulate whole agroecosystems and can be used to develop N2O mitigation measures, are the most widely used. The current challenge is how to scale up the relatively more robust field-scale model to catchment, regional and national scales. This paper reviews the development history, main construction components, strengths, limitations and applications of N2O emissions models, which have been published in the literature. The three scale levels are considered and the current knowledge gaps and challenges in modelling N2O emissions from soils are discussed.

Computer simulation and modeling in railway applications

An electrified railway system includes complex interconnections and interactions of several subsystems. Computer simulation is the only viable means for system evaluation and analysis. This paper discusses the difficulties and requirements of effective simulation models for this specialized industrial application; and the development of a general-purpose multi-train simulator.

Power network in loop : a paradigm for real-time simulation and hardware testing

This paper discusses a new paradigm of real-time simulation of power systems in which equipment can be interfaced with a real-time digital simulator. In this scheme, one part of a power system can be simulated by using a real-time simulator; while the other part is implemeneted as a physical system. The only interface of the physical system with the computer-based simulator is through data-acquisition system. The physical system is driven by a voltage-source converter (VSC)that mimics the power system simulated in the real-time simulator. In this papar, the VSC operates in a voltage-control mode to track the point of common coupling voltage signal supplied by the digital simulator. This type of splitting a network in two parts and running a real-time simulation with a physical system in parallel is called a power network in loop here. this opens up the possibility of study of interconnection o f one or several distributed generators to a complex power network. The proposed implementation is verified through simulation studies using PSCAD/EMTDC and through hardware implementation on a TMS320G2812 DSP.

Simulation and measurement of an electrostatic discharge

Electrostatic discharge is the sudden and brief electric current that flashes between two objects at different voltages. This is a serious issue ranging in application from solid-state electronics to spectacular and dangerous lightning strikes (arc flashes). The research herein presents work on the experimental simulation and measurement of the energy in an electrostatic discharge. The energy released in these discharges has been linked to ignitions and burning in a number of documented disasters and can be enormously hazardous in many other industrial scenarios. Simulations of electrostatic discharges were designed to specifications by IEC standards. This is typically based on the residual voltage/charge on the discharge capacitor, whereas this research examines the voltage and current in the actual spark in order to obtain a more precise comparative measurement of the energy dissipated.

Parallel linear system solution and its application to railway power network simulation

The Streaming SIMD extension (SSE) is a special feature embedded in the Intel Pentium III and IV classes of microprocessors. It enables the execution of SIMD type operations to exploit data parallelism. This article presents improving computation performance of a railway network simulator by means of SSE. Voltage and current at various points of the supply system to an electrified railway line are crucial for design, daily operation and planning. With computer simulation, their time-variations can be attained by solving a matrix equation, whose size mainly depends upon the number of trains present in the system. A large coefficient matrix, as a result of congested railway line, inevitably leads to heavier computational demand and hence jeopardizes the simulation speed. With the special architectural features of the latest processors on PC platforms, significant speed-up in computations can be achieved.

A review of simulation models for railway systems

With the advances in computer hardware and software development techniques in the past 25 years, digital computer simulation of train movement and traction systems has been widely adopted as a standard computer-aided engineering tool [1] during the design and development stages of existing and new railway systems. Simulators of different approaches and scales are used extensively to investigate various kinds of system studies. Simulation is now proven to be the cheapest means to carry out performance predication and system behaviour characterisation. When computers were first used to study railway systems, they were mainly employed to perform repetitive but time-consuming computational tasks, such as matrix manipulations for power network solution and exhaustive searches for optimal braking trajectories. With only simple high-level programming languages available at the time, full advantage of the computing hardware could not be taken. Hence, structured simulations of the whole railway system were not very common. Most applications focused on isolated parts of the railway system. It is more appropriate to regard those applications as primarily mechanised calculations rather than simulations. However, a railway system consists of a number of subsystems, such as train movement, power supply and traction drives, which inevitably contains many complexities and diversities. These subsystems interact frequently with each other while the trains are moving; and they have their special features in different railway systems. To further complicate the simulation requirements, constraints like track geometry, speed restrictions and friction have to be considered, not to mention possible non-linearities and uncertainties in the system. In order to provide a comprehensive and accurate account of system behaviour through simulation, a large amount of data has to be organised systematically to ensure easy access and efficient representation; the interactions and relationships among the subsystems should be defined explicitly. These requirements call for sophisticated and effective simulation models for each component of the system. The software development techniques available nowadays allow the evolution of such simulation models. Not only can the applicability of the simulators be largely enhanced by advanced software design, maintainability and modularity for easy understanding and further development, and portability for various hardware platforms are also encouraged. The objective of this paper is to review the development of a number of approaches to simulation models. Attention is, in particular, given to models for train movement, power supply systems and traction drives. These models have been successfully used to enable various ‘what-if’ issues to be resolved effectively in a wide range of applications, such as speed profiles, energy consumption, run times etc.

Positive relationships among collaboration for innovation, past innovation abandonment and future product introduction in manufacturing SMEs

The importance of collaboration for firm level innovation has been well established but much of the research focuses on large firms, with little research on small and medium enterprises. This paper investigates the links between product innovation and external collaboration and between future product innovation and past abandonment in small and medium sized firms, analysing data from 449 manufacturing firms, collected through the Australian Business Longitudinal Database. Our findings indicate firms that sought ideas or solutions from external network such as suppliers, or business partners reported higher level of new product introduction than firms that did not have any external collaboration. Further, firms with past abandonment experiences reported higher levels of new product introduction than firms that did not have such experience. Additionally, the findings indicated that firms with external collaboration were more likely to introduce new products even if they had previously experienced abandonment of a product innovation than firms without external collaboration. Implications, limitations and future research are outlined.

Parallel solution for railway power network simulation

The Streaming SIMD extension (SSE) is a special feature that is available in the Intel Pentium III and P4 classes of microprocessors. As its name implies, SSE enables the execution of SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) operations upon 32-bit floating-point data therefore, performance of floating-point algorithms can be improved. In electrified railway system simulation, the computation involves the solving of a huge set of simultaneous linear equations, which represent the electrical characteristic of the railway network at a particular time-step and a fast solution for the equations is desirable in order to simulate the system in real-time. In this paper, we present how SSE is being applied to the railway network simulation.

Real-time simulation for power systems based on parallel computing - an empirical study

Abstract Computer simulation is a versatile and commonly used tool for the design and evaluation of systems with different degrees of complexity. Power distribution systems and electric railway network are areas for which computer simulations are being heavily applied. A dominant factor in evaluating the performance of a software simulator is its processing time, especially in the cases of real-time simulation. Parallel processing provides a viable mean to reduce the computing time and is therefore suitable for building real-time simulators. In this paper, we present different issues related to solving the power distribution system with parallel computing based on a multiple-CPU server and we will concentrate, in particular, on the speedup performance of such an approach.

Examining the covert nature of product placement : implications for public policy

As consumers become better educated and more skeptical of traditional advertising, alternate forms of marketing communication have emerged that aim to influence audiences unobtrusively. One such example is product placement. Product placement has attracted ongoing debate as to whether it is covert, unethical, and influences consumption. The current article examines the nature and practice of product placement in this light. This taxonomy of product placement attributes is based on current marketing practice and examines whether this is, indeed, a covert marketing strategy. Further, it presents a conceptualization of the influence of product placement on consumer welfare. We highlight that the many forms of product placement necessitate independent evaluation to determine ethical and regulatory standards. Operational solutions for developing public policy are offered.

Boosting your product's country of origin

This article offers managerial implications for improving consumer perceptions of a product’s country of origin.