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At least 91 records · Page 5

The SURE approach to reliability analysis

The SURE computer program, a reliability-analysis tool for ultrareliable computer-system architectures, provides rapid computational capability for semi-Markov models useful in describing the fault-handling behavior of fault-tolerant computer systems. The basic mathematics of SURE and its user interface are described, including a sample interactive session. The basis of the SURE model-pruning capability is presented, and the SURE loop-truncation method is justified. The techniques used to develop a semi-Markov model of a fault-tolerant computer system are also reviewed.

Butler, Ricky W.↗

ASSIST: User's manual

Semi-Markov models can be used to compute the reliability of virtually any fault-tolerant system. However, the process of delineating all of the states and transitions in a model of a complex system can be devastingly tedious and error-prone. The ASSIST program allows the user to describe the semi-Markov model in a high-level language. Instead of specifying the individual states of the model, the user specifies the rules governing the behavior of the system and these are used by ASSIST to automatically generate the model. The ASSIST program is described and illustrated by examples.

Johnson, S. C.↗

A structural-stochastic model for the analysis and synthesis of cloud images

A structural-stochastic image model is developed for the analysis and synthesis of cloud images. The ability of the model to characterize the visual appearance of cloud fields observed by satellite with a limited number of parameters is demonstrated. The model merges structural and stochastic information, the stochastic model acting as a local statistical operator applied to the output of the structural model. The structural or large-scale organization of the scene is retrieved from the two-dimensional Fourier representation of the digital image. The pattern generated by the major Fourier components provides a first guess of the scene. The stochastic aspect is described by a Markov model of texture that assumes a binomial probability distribution for the local grey-level variability. This Markov model provides four parameters that represent the clustering strength in the horizontal, vertical and diagonal directions. These parameters are estimated by a standard maximum-likelihood technique. The image can be reproduced with a fair degree of verisimilitude from these parameters. The data compression factor is of the order of one hundred to several hundreds.

Garand, L.↗

Automated generation of reliability models

The abstract semi-Markov specification interface to the SURE (Semi-Markov Range Evaluator) tool (ASSIST) program allows the user to describe the Markov model in a high-level language. Instead of listing the individual states of the model, the user specifies the rules governing the behavior of the system, and these are used to automatically generate the model. A small number of statements in the abstract language can describe a large, complex model. Becuase no assumptions are made about the system being modeled, ASSIST can be used to generate models describing the behavior of any type of system. The abstract model definition and the automatic model generation strategy are described. Analysis of an example fault-tolerant architecture, a triad of processor with cold spare processors, shows how the behavior of a system can be captured by a few general rules. The syntax of the ASSIST input language is then described and demonstrated by creating a model to describe the fault behavior of the example architecture. The flexibility of the abstract language is demonstrated by expanding the example to model multiple triads of processors sharing a pool of cold spare processors.

Johnson, Sally C.↗

Metabrain for Embedded Cognition (MBEC)

This study presents the application of Hidden Markov Models (HMM) to determine specialized features without expert input. Specifically, the application of such a method for classification of high multi-path fading is targeted, for demonstrating the feasibility of such an approach. This is the first step in the development of a meta-brain for embedded cognition (M-BEC) suite that can be used to apply machine learning to various communication systems at NASA GRC. The project explores the concept of fading and how it affects communication systems in a negative way. Currently, supervised learning methods are used to study the effects of fading on space links. However, such models rely on expert features to make predictions as to the state of a link and whether fading is present. This project offers the possibility of having the HMM learn what characteristics are important and make predictions based on those characteristics. This project explores Hidden Markov Models, their theory and applications to various problems, as well as the underlying equations and assumptions. A preliminary result is presented and recommendations are made as to the use of such an approach for communications systems.

Propagation↗

A Markov chain model for reliability growth and decay

A mathematical model is developed to describe a complex system undergoing a sequence of trials in which there is interaction between the internal states of the system and the outcomes of the trials. For example, the model might describe a system undergoing testing that is redesigned after each failure. The basic assumptions for the model are that the state of the system after a trial depends probabilistically only on the state before the trial and on the outcome of the trial and that the outcome of a trial depends probabilistically only on the state of the system before the trial. It is shown that under these basic assumptions, the successive states form a Markov chain and the successive states and outcomes jointly form a Markov chain. General results are obtained for the transition probabilities, steady-state distributions, etc. A special case studied in detail describes a system that has two possible state ('repaired' and 'unrepaired') undergoing trials that have three possible outcomes ('inherent failure', 'assignable-cause' 'failure' and 'success'). For this model, the reliability function is computed explicitly and an optimal repair policy is obtained.

Siegrist, K.↗

Sensitivity Study for Long Term Reliability

This paper illustrates using Markov models to establish system and maintenance requirements for small electronic controllers where the goal is a high probability of continuous service for a long period of time. The system and maintenance items considered are quality of components, various degrees of simple redundancy, redundancy with reconfiguration, diagnostic levels, periodic maintenance, and preventive maintenance. Markov models permit a quantitative investigation with comparison and contrast. An element of special interest is the use of conditional probability to study the combination of imperfect diagnostics and periodic maintenance.

White, Allan L.↗

Deep Learning Models for Planetary Seismicity Detection

Research in planetary seismology is fundamentally constrained by a lack of data. Seismo-logical science products of future missions can typically only be informed by theoretical signal/noise characteristics of the environment or likely Earth-analogues. Although objectives can be re-assessed after some initial data-collection upon lander arrival, transfer of high-resolution data back to Earth is costly on lander power usage. Over the last several years, development of GPU computing techniques and open-source high-level APIs have led to rapid advances in deep learning within the fields of computer vision, natural language processing, and collaborative filtering. These techniques are actively being adapted in seismology for a variety of tasks, including: earthquake detection, seismic phase discrimination, and ground-motion prediction. Until the recent detection of mars quakes during the Mars InSight mission, the only other measurements of seismicity recorded outside of Earth was on the Moon during the Apollo missions between 1969 to 1977. These unique data sets have been periodically revisited using new seismological methods, including ambient noise interferometry and Hidden Markov Models. Our objective is to develop a deep learning seismic detector and use it to catalog moonquakes from the Apollo 17 Lunar Seismic Profiling Experiment (LSPE) and compare the results with those obtained by other methods. Additionally, we will assess the accuracy tradeoff between using a training set of lunar data and one composed of Earth seismicity. In this document, we present preliminary results using a prototype classifier trained on a small set of earthquakes that was able to obtain detections for LSPE moonquakes with a greater accuracy than a recent study using Hidden Markov Models.

Civilini, F.↗

An approximation formula for a class of Markov reliability models

A way of considering a small but often used class of reliability model and approximating algebraically the systems reliability is shown. The models considered are appropriate for redundant reconfigurable digital control systems that operate for a short period of time without maintenance, and for such systems the method gives a formula in terms of component fault rates, system recovery rates, and system operating time.

White, A. L.↗

Optimal inventories for overhaul of repairable redundant systems - A Markov decision model

A Markovian decision model was developed to calculate the optimal inventory of repairable spare parts for an avionics control system for commercial aircraft. Total expected shortage costs, repair costs, and holding costs are minimized for a machine containing a single system of redundant parts. Transition probabilities are calculated for each repair state and repair rate, and optimal spare parts inventory and repair strategies are determined through linear programming. The linear programming solutions are given in a table.

Schaefer, M. K.↗

Synthetic bounds for semi-Markov reliability models

Upper and lower bounds are derived for the probability of failure for a class of highly reliable process control computers. The bounds are synthetic in the sense that the descriptions of component failure and system recovery are assumed to be obtained from different sources. The reliability model is constructed under the assumption that the processes are independent.

White, A. L.↗

Markov-Tree model of intrinsic transport in Hamiltonian systems

A particle in a chaotic region of phase space can spend a long time near the boundary of a regular region since transport there is slow. This 'stickiness' of regular regions is thought to be responsible for previous observations in numerical experiments of a long-time algebraic decay of the particle survival probability, i.e., survival probability approximately t to the (-z) power for large t. This paper presents a global model for transport in such systems and demonstrates the essential role of the infinite hierarchy of small islands interspersed in the chaotic region. Results for z are discussed.

Meiss, J. D.↗

Speech Acquisition and Automatic Speech Recognition for Integrated Spacesuit Audio Systems

A voice-command human-machine interface system has been developed for spacesuit extravehicular activity (EVA) missions. A multichannel acoustic signal processing method has been created for distant speech acquisition in noisy and reverberant environments. This technology reduces noise by exploiting differences in the statistical nature of signal (i.e., speech) and noise that exists in the spatial and temporal domains. As a result, the automatic speech recognition (ASR) accuracy can be improved to the level at which crewmembers would find the speech interface useful. The developed speech human/machine interface will enable both crewmember usability and operational efficiency. It can enjoy a fast rate of data/text entry, small overall size, and can be lightweight. In addition, this design will free the hands and eyes of a suited crewmember. The system components and steps include beam forming/multi-channel noise reduction, single-channel noise reduction, speech feature extraction, feature transformation and normalization, feature compression, model adaption, ASR HMM (Hidden Markov Model) training, and ASR decoding. A state-of-the-art phoneme recognizer can obtain an accuracy rate of 65 percent when the training and testing data are free of noise. When it is used in spacesuits, the rate drops to about 33 percent. With the developed microphone array speech-processing technologies, the performance is improved and the phoneme recognition accuracy rate rises to 44 percent. The recognizer can be further improved by combining the microphone array and HMM model adaptation techniques and using speech samples collected from inside spacesuits. In addition, arithmetic complexity models for the major HMMbased ASR components were developed. They can help real-time ASR system designers select proper tasks when in the face of constraints in computational resources.

Huang, Yiteng↗

Markov Monitoring with Unknown States

Pattern recognition methods and hidden Markov models can be effective tools for online health monitoring of communications systems. Previous work has assumed that the states in the system model are exhaustive. This can be a significant drawback in real-world fault monitoring applications where it is difficult if not impossible to model all the possible fault states of the system in advance.

Markov models↗

Statistical analysis of geodetic networks for detecting regional events

We present an application of hidden Markov models (HMMs) to analysis of geodetic time series in Southern California. Our model fitting method uses a regularized version of the deterministic annealing expectation-maximization algorithm to ensure that model solutions are both robust and of high quality.

geodetic networks↗

A user's view of CARE III

The present computerized reliability predictor for digital fault-tolerant systems whose sizes are of the order of one million Markovian equivalent states, employs advanced stochastic modeling techniques and implements a mixed Markov model that enables it to drastically reduce the state size of hitherto computationally unobtainable models. Attention is given to the concepts of failure, fault, and error, in the context of the novel system's fault/error-handling models. Examples are drawn from the system's user-friendly interface dialog.

Bavuso, S. J.↗

Predicting Loss-of-Control Boundaries Toward a Piloting Aid

This work presents an approach to predicting loss-of-control with the goal of providing the pilot a decision aid focused on maintaining the pilot's control action within predicted loss-of-control boundaries. The predictive architecture combines quantitative loss-of-control boundaries, a data-based predictive control boundary estimation algorithm and an adaptive prediction method to estimate Markov model parameters in real-time. The data-based loss-of-control boundary estimation algorithm estimates the boundary of a safe set of control inputs that will keep the aircraft within the loss-of-control boundaries for a specified time horizon. The adaptive prediction model generates estimates of the system Markov Parameters, which are used by the data-based loss-of-control boundary estimation algorithm. The combined algorithm is applied to a nonlinear generic transport aircraft to illustrate the features of the architecture.

Barlow, Jonathan↗

Reliability analysis of large, complex systems using ASSIST

The SURE reliability analysis program is discussed as well as the ASSIST model generation program. It is found that semi-Markov modeling using model reduction strategies with the ASSIST program can be used to accurately solve problems at least as complex as other reliability analysis tools can solve. Moreover, semi-Markov analysis provides the flexibility needed for modeling realistic fault-tolerant systems.

Johnson, Sally C.↗