Ensuring Correctness During Process Configuration via Partner Synthesis

Variants of the same process can be encountered within one organization or across different organizations. For example, different municipalities, courts, and rental agencies all need to support highly similar processes. In fact, procurement and sales processes can be found in almost any organization. However, despite these similarities, there is also the need to allow for local variations in a controlled manner. Therefore, many academics and practitioners have advocated the use of configurable process models (sometimes referred to as reference models). A configurable process model describes a family of similar process models in a given domain. Such a model can be configured to obtain a specific process model that is subsequently used to handle individual cases, for instance, to process customer orders. Process configuration is notoriously difficult as there may be all kinds of interdependencies between configuration decisions. In fact, an incorrect configuration may lead to behavioral issues such as deadlocks and livelocks. To address this problem, we present a novel verification approach inspired by the “operating guidelines” used for partner synthesis. We view the configuration process as an external service, and compute a characterization of all such services which meet particular requirements via the notion of configuration guideline. As a result, we can characterize all feasible configurations (i. e., configurations without behavioral problems) at design time, instead of repeatedly checking each individual configuration while configuring a process model.

Interactive product browsing and configuration using remote augmented reality sales services

Real-time remote sales assistance is an underdeveloped component of online sales services. Solutions involving web page text chat, telephony and video support prove problematic when seeking to remotely guide customers in their sales processes, especially with configurations of physically complex artefacts. Recently, there has been great interest in the application of virtual worlds and augmented reality to create synthetic environments for remote sales of physical artefacts. However, there is a lack of analysis and development of appropriate software services to support these processes. We extend our previous work with the detailed design of configuration context services to support the management of an interactive sales session using augmented reality. We detail the context and configuration services required, presenting a novel data service streaming configuration information to the vendor for business analytics. We expect that a fully implemented configuration management service, based on our design, will improve the remote sales experience for both customers and vendors alike via analysis of the streamed information.

Context-aware device self-configuration using self-organizing maps

Modern mobile computing devices are versatile, but bring the burden of constant settings adjustment according to the current conditions of the environment. While until today, this task has to be accomplished by the human user, the variety of sensors usually deployed in such a handset provides enough data for autonomous self-configuration by a learning, adaptive system. However, this data is not fully available at certain points in time, or can contain false values. Handling potentially incomplete sensor data to detect context changes without a semantic layer represents a scientific challenge which we address with our approach. A novel machine learning technique is presented - the Missing-Values-SOM - which solves this problem by predicting setting adjustments based on context information. Our method is centered around a self-organizing map, extending it to provide a means of handling missing values. We demonstrate the performance of our approach on mobile context snapshots, as well as on classical machine learning datasets.

Integrated configuration of enterprise systems for interoperability : towards process model and business document specification alignment

Enterprise Systems (ES) can be understood as the de facto standard for holistic operational and managerial support within an organization. Most commonly ES are offered as commercial off-the-shelf packages, requiring customization in the user organization. This process is a complex and resource-intensive task, which often prevents small and midsize enterprises (SME) from undertaking configuration projects. Especially in the SME market independent software vendors provide pre-configured ES for a small customer base. The problem of ES configuration is shifted from the customer to the vendor, but remains critical. We argue that the yet unexplored link between process configuration and business document configuration must be closer examined as both types of configuration are closely tied to one another.

Towards an understanding of model driven process configuration and its support at large

The common presupposition of Enterprise Systems (ES) is that they lead to significant efficiency gains. However, this is only the case for well-implemented ES that meet organisational requirements. The list of major ES implementation failures is as long as the list of success stories. We argue here that this arises from a more fundamental problem, the functionalist approach to ES development and provision. As long as vendors will continue to develop generic, difficult-to-adapt ES packages, this problem will prevail because organisations have a non-generic character. A solution to this problem can only consist in rethinking the way ES packages are provided. We propose a strict abstraction layer of ES functionalities and their representation as conceptual models. ES vendors must provide sufficient means for configuring these conceptual models. We discuss in this paper what generic situations can occur during process model configuration in order to understand process model configuration in depth.

From conceptual process models to running workflows : a holistic approach for the configuration of enterprise systems

The configuration of comprehensive Enterprise Systems to meet the specific requirements of an organisation up to today is consuming significant resources. The results of failing implementation projects are severe and may even threaten the organisation’s existence. This paper proposes a method which aims at increasing the efficiency of Enterprise Systems implementations. First, we argue that existing process modelling languages that feature different degrees of abstraction for different user groups exist and are used for different purposes which makes it necessary to integrate them. We describe how to do this using the meta models of the involved languages. Second, we motivate that an integrated process model based on the integrated meta model needs to be configurable and elaborate on the mechanisms by which this model configuration can be achieved. We introduce a business example using SAP modelling techniques to illustrate the proposed method.

Model-driven process configuration of enterprise systems

The configuration of comprehensive enterprise systems to meet the specific requirements of an organisation up to today is consuming significant resources. The results of failing or delayed enterprise system implementation projects are severe and may even threaten the organisation’s existence. One of the main drivers for implementing comprehensive enterprise systems is to streamline business processes. However, an intuitive conceptual support for business process configuration is insufficiently addressed by enterprise system vendors and inadequately researched in academia. This paper presents a model-driven approach to target this problem and proposes several configuration patterns that describe generic patterns of configuration alternatives, in order to understand what situations can occur during business process configuration. Based on these configuration patterns, a configuration notation is introduced that allows for visually highlighting configuration alternatives. Finally, we will sketch how configurable Event Driven Process Chains and the configuration of business processes can be supported using relational databases.

Effect of Reynolds numbers on flow past four square cylinders in an in-line square configuration for different gap spacings

In this paper two-dimensional (2-D) numerical investigation of flow past four square cylinders in an in-line square configuration are performed using the lattice Boltzmann method. The gap spacing g=s/d is set at 1, 3 and 6 and Reynolds number ranging from Re=60 to 175. We observed four distinct wake patterns: (i) a steady wake pattern (Re=60 and g=1) (ii) a stable shielding wake pattern (80≤Re≤175 and g=1) (iii) a wiggling shielding wake pattern (60≤Re≤175 and g=3) (iv) a vortex shedding wake pattern (60≤Re≤175 and g=6) At g=1, the Reynolds number is observed to have a strong effect on the wake patterns. It is also found that at g=1, the secondary cylinder interaction frequency significantly contributes for drag and lift coefficients signal. It is found that the primary vortex shedding frequency dominates the flow and the role of secondary cylinder interaction frequency almost vanish at g=6. It is observed that the jet between the gaps strongly influenced the wake interaction for different gap spacing and Reynolds number combination. To fully understand the wake transformations the details vorticity contour visualization, power spectra of lift coefficient signal and time signal analysis of drag and lift coefficients also presented in this paper.

Load profile based determination of distribution feeder configuration by dynamic programming

This paper presents a new method to determine feeder reconfiguration scheme considering variable load profile. The objective function consists of system losses, reliability costs and also switching costs. In order to achieve an optimal solution the proposed method compares these costs dynamically and determines when and how it is reasonable to have a switching operation. The proposed method divides a year into several equal time periods, then using particle swarm optimization (PSO), optimal candidate configurations for each period are obtained. System losses and customer interruption cost of each configuration during each period is also calculated. Then, considering switching cost from a configuration to another one, dynamic programming algorithm (DPA) is used to determine the annual reconfiguration scheme. Several test systems were used to validate the proposed method. The obtained results denote that to have an optimum solution it is necessary to compare operation costs dynamically.

Cascade multilevel static synchronous compensator configuration for wind farms

Modulation and control of a cascade multilevel static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) configuration to improve the quality of voltage generated by wind power systems are presented. The proposed STATCOM configuration needs only four dc-link capacitors and 24 switches to synthesise nine-level operation. In addition to that, switching losses are further reduced by splitting the voltage source inverter of the STATCOM into two units called the `bulk inverter` and the `conditioning inverter`. The high-power bulk inverter is operated at low frequency whereas the low-power conditioning inverter is operated at high frequency to suppress harmonics produced by the bulk inverter. Fluctuations at the point of common coupling voltage, caused by sudden wind changes, are suppressed by controlling reactive power of the STATCOM. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the efficacy of the proposed modulation and control techniques used in the STATCOM.

An improved gate driver for power MOSFETs using a cascode configuration

To overcome the limitations of existing gate drive topologies an improved gate drive concept is proposed to provide fast, controlled switching of power MOSFETs. The proposed topology exploits the cascode configuration with the inclusion of an active gate clamp to ensure that the driven MOSFET may be turned off under all load conditions. Key operating principles and advantages of the proposed gate drive topology are discussed. Characteristic waveforms are investigated via simulation and experimentation for the cascode driver in an inductive switching application at 375V and 10A. Experimental waveforms compared well with simulations with long gate charging delays (including the Miller plateau) being eliminated from the gate voltage waveform.

Electropolymerisation of catalytically active PEDOT from an ionic liquid on a flexible carbon cloth using a sandwich cell configuration

We report the electropolymerization of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiopene) (PEDOT) from an ionic liquid, butyl-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (C4mpyrTFSI) onto flexible carbon cloth electrodes. A continuous, homogeneous and well adhered coating of the individual cloth fibres is achieved by employing a sandwich cell arrangement where the carbon cloth which is soaked with electrolyte is placed between two indium tin oxide electrodes isolated from each other by a battery separator. The resultant PEDOT modified carbon cloth electrode demonstrates excellent activity for the oxygen reduction reaction which is due to the doping level, conductivity and morphology of the PEDOT layer and is also tolerant to the presence of methanol in the electrolyte. This simple approach therefore offers a route to fabricate flexible polymer electrodes that could be used in various electronic applications.

Connecting soundscape to landscape: Which acoustic index best describes landscape configuration?

Soundscape assessment has been proposed as a remote ecological monitoring tool for measuring biodiversity, but few studies have examined how soundscape patterns vary with landscape configuration and condition. The goal of our study was to examine a suite of published acoustic indices to determine whether they provide comparable results relative to varying levels of landscape fragmentation and ecological condition in nineteen forest sites in eastern Australia. Our comparison of six acoustic indices according to time of day revealed that two indices, the acoustic complexity and the bioacoustic index, presented a similar pattern that was linked to avian song intensity, but was not related to landscape and biodiversity attributes. The diversity indices, acoustic entropy and acoustic diversity, and the normalized difference soundscape index revealed high nighttime sound, as well as a dawn and dusk chorus. These indices appear to be sensitive to nocturnal biodiversity which is abundant at night in warm, subtropical environments. We argue that there is need to better understand temporal partitioning of the soundscape by specific taxonomic groups, and this should involve integrated research on amphibians, insects and birds during a 24 h cycle. The three indices that best connected the soundscape with landscape characteristics, ecological condition and bird species richness were acoustic entropy, acoustic evenness and the normalized difference soundscape index. This study has demonstrated that remote soundscape assessment can be implemented as an ecological monitoring tool in fragmented Australian forest landscapes. However, further investigation should be dedicated to refining and/or combining existing acoustic indices and also to determine if these indices are appropriate in other landscapes and for other survey purposes.