Embedded simulation on a multiprocessor job scheduling system with inspection

This paper first develops architecture for a multiprocessor job scheduling system with an embedded simulation technique. The architecture provides a shell for applications that are characterized by two scheduling policies, a heuristic algorithm policy and a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) policy. These policies are implemented in the simulation model by using the embedded technique. The paper evaluates these two policies using the queue length, waiting time and flow time as the criteria to compare the performance of these two scheduling policies. Next we designed two simulation situations using two different real world applications. The purpose is to examine the performances of multiprocessor systems with and without inspection operations and two different scheduling policies. The two applications, berth allocation for the container terminal operations and production scheduling arrangement in an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) power supply factory, are studied. The final results show that a proper scheduling policy will perform better than the traditional FIFO approach for a multiprocessor system. Our study also provides guidelines on balancing a system with the addition of a final inspection activity. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.