We analyze an equilibrium search model in a duopoly setting with bilateral heterogeneities in production and search costs in which firms can advertise by announcing price and location. We study existence, stability, and comparative statics in such a setting, compare the duopolistic advertising level to the socially optimal level, and find conditions in which a duopolist advertises more or less ...

Precision farming, precision agriculture or site-specific management (SSM) is a management system where crop production practices and inputs such as seed, fertilizers and pesticides are variably applied within a field. Input rates are based on the needs for optimum production at each within-field location. Since over-application and under-application of agrochemicals are both minimized, this st...

We consider the periodic-review, single-location, single-product, production/inventory control problem under non stationary demand and service-level constraints. The product is perishable and has a fixed shelf life. Costs comprise fixed ordering costs and inventory holding costs. For this inventory system we discuss a number of control policies that may be adopted. For one of these policies, we...

Two novel particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms are used to track and optimize a 3dimensional parabolic benchmark function where the optimum location changes randomly and with high severity. The new algorithms are based on an analogy of electrostatic energy with charged particles. For comparison, the same experiment is performed with a conventional PSO algorithm. It is found that the bes...

Monte Carlo simulation is used to develop a flexible framework to measure the profitability, risk, and competitiveness of any insurance product. A genetic algorithm is then used to seek the optimum asset allocations that form the profitability-risk-competitiveness frontier and to examine the profitability, risk, and competitiveness trade-off's. We also show how to select the appropriate asset a...

Abstract: This paper investigates the MAC-protocol performance of an IEEE 802.11 Network that deploys Radio over Fibre technology to distribute radio frequency signals from a central location to remote antenna sites for nomadic users. Our study is based on the current DCF access scheme specifications using both the Basic access method and the RTS/CTS access mechanism. The theoretical results sh...

When designing wireless communication systems, it is very important to know the optimum numbers of access points (APs) in order to provide a reliable design. In this paper we describe a mathematical model developed for finding the optimal number and location of APs. A new Global Optimization Algorithm (AGOP) is used to solve the problem. Results obtained demonstrate that the model and software ...