We consider the deadline problem and budget problem of the nonlinear time-cost tradeoff project scheduling model in a series-parallel activity network. We develop fully polynomial time approximation schemes for both problems using K-approximation sets and functions, together with series and parallel reductions.

The necessary electricity of the workshops and buildings (W&Bs;) located at the metro depot are provided by lighting power substation (LPS). To transmit electricity between LPS and W&Bs;, some trenches should be dig and the requisite cables should be located in the trenches. This paper presents a new mixed integer linear programming (MILP) long-term decision model to find ...

A fundamental question in learning theory is the quantification of the basic tradeoff between the complexity of a model and its predictive accuracy. One valid way of quantifying this tradeoff, known as the “Information Bottleneck”, is to measure both the complexity of the model and its prediction accuracy by using Shannon’s mutual information. In this paper we show that the Information Bottlene...

An important feature of heat exchanger network design is the energy-capital tradeoff. This tradeoff has been regarded as complex due to the number of structural network alternatives usually available, each being subject to continuous optimization. Current procedures tend to first identify minimum energy networks. The total cost (capital and energy) can then be improved by evolution and continuo...

Wireless local area networks still suffer from a severe performance discrepancy between different users in the uplink. This is because of the spatially varying channel conditions provided by the wireless medium. Cooperative medium access control (MAC) protocols as for example CoopMAC were proposed to mitigate this problem. In this work, it is shown that node cooperation implies a tradeoff betwe...

Information Assurance (IA) is of growing concern to the field of distributed systems. However, IA cannot be considered in isolation, as it interacts with Quality of Service (QoS); in the presence of limited resources, the security mechanisms employed for IA (e.g., firewalls, antivirus, encryption) usually adversely affect QoS levels delivered by a system. The system therefore needs to make a tr...