Aggregation of individual wavelengths into wavebands for their subsequent switching and routing as a single group is an attractive way for scalable and cost-efficient optical networks. We analyze the implications of this waveband hierarchy for a single optical node by analyzing two issues: the proper selection of waveband sizes and the assignment of wavebands for a limited set of input-output p...

We present a five phases approach for the cost-efficient design of communication platforms. We start with complete and executable models of the system function that capture all essential parts of a reference application, i.e. processing kernels, data and control flow, and timing constraints. We analyze such an architectureindependent model to narrow the design space and derive a most flexible i...

The incentive regulation of costs related to physical and cyber security in electricity networks is an important but relatively unexplored and ambiguous issue. These costs can be part of a cost efficiency benchmarking or alternatively dealt separately. This paper discusses the issues and proposes on the options for incorporating network security costs within incentive regulation in a benchmarki...

In most of conventional methods for calculating earthwork, the assessment of accuracy contains many uncertainties. This paper discusses the relationship between the accuracy of terrain data and that of the earthwork calculation. The main research method is propagation of error, and a formula is created which expresses the quantity relationship that how the errors of terrain data effects the acc...

In recent years the management of risk in supply chains has become an important issue in the scientific literature. This aspect is of primary interest in market side decisions of a company such as in the procurement of materials. So far, traditional supply chain planning methods solely focus on improving cost efficiency and reducing inventory buffers in supply chains. These approaches are succe...

Domain-specific modelling (DSM) environments enable experts in a certain domain to actively participate in model-driven development. Developing DSM environments need to be cost-efficient, since they are only used by a limited group of domain experts. Different modeldriven technologies promise to allow this cost-efficient development. [1] presented experiences in developing a DSM environment for...

This paper presents a framework for cost-optimal HTN planning. The framework includes an optimal algorithm combining a branch-and-bound with a heuristic search, which can also be used as a near-optimal algorithm given a time limit. It also includes different heuristics based on weighted cost estimations and different decomposition strategies. The different elements from this framework are empir...

In multimedia applications, the stringent requirements for balancing transmission capacity, flexible service provisioning and cost reduction lead the manufactures to provide highly integrated System-on Chip (SoC) solutions. This paper analyzes the application of high-bandwidth-networking SoCs to improve on the cost efficiency of multimedia service distribution in home networks. We present a cas...

Communication networks have to provide a high level of resilience in order to ensure sufficient Quality of Service for mission-critical services. Currently, dedicated 1+1 path protection is implemented in backbone networks to provide the necessary resilience. On the other hand, there are several possible realization strategies for 1+1 path protection functionality (1PPF), utilizing both diversi...

In transportation via containers, unbalanced movement of loaded containers forces shipping companies to reposition empty containers. This study addresses the problem of empty container repositioning (ECR) in the distribution network of a European logistics company, where some restrictions impose decision making in an uncertain environment. The problem involves dispatching empty contain...