This text describes a series of models, propositions, and algorithms developed in recent years on time-varying networks. References and discussions on relevant problems and studies that have appeared in the literature are integrated in the book. Its eight chapters consider problems including the shortest path problem, the minimum-spanning tree problem, the maximum flow problem, and many more. The time-varying traveling salesman problem and the Chinese postman problem are presented in a chapter together with the time-varying generalized problem. While these topics are examined within the framework of time-varying networks, each chapter is self-contained so that each can be read – and used – separately.

This book offers a valuable reference guide for researchers in distributed optimization and for senior undergraduate and graduate students alike. Focusing on the natures and functions of agents, communication networks and algorithms in the context of distributed optimization for networked control systems, this book introduces readers to the background of distributed optimization; recent developments in distributed algorithms for various types of underlying communication networks; the implementation of computation-efficient and communication-efficient strategies in the execution of distributed algorithms; and the frameworks of convergence analysis and performance evaluation. On this basis, the book then thoroughly studies 1) distributed constrained optimization and the random sleep scheme, from an agent perspective; 2) asynchronous broadcast-based algorithms, event-triggered communication, quantized communication, unbalanced directed networks, and time-varying networks, from a communication network perspective; and 3) accelerated algorithms and stochastic gradient algorithms, from an algorithm perspective. Finally, the applications of distributed optimization in large-scale statistical learning, wireless sensor networks, and for optimal energy management in smart grids are discussed.

This book presents the latest research in the fields of reliability theory and its applications, providing a comprehensive overview of reliability engineering and discussing various tools, techniques, strategies and methods within these areas. Reliability analysis is one of the most multidimensional topics in the field of systems reliability engineering, and while its rapid development creates opportunities for industrialists and academics, it is also means that it is hard to keep up to date with the research taking place. By gathering findings from institutions around the globe, the book offers insights into the international developments in the field. As well as discussing the current areas of research, it also identifies knowledge gaps in reliability theory and its applications and highlights fruitful avenues for future research. Covering topics from life cycle sustainability to performance analysis of cloud computing, this book is ideal for upper undergraduate and postgraduate researchers studying reliability engineering.

This text presents a modern theory of analysis, control, and optimization for dynamic networks. Mathematical techniques of Lyapunov drift and Lyapunov optimization are developed and shown to enable constrained optimization of time averages in general stochastic systems. The focus is on communication and queueing systems, including wireless networks with time-varying channels, mobility, and randomly arriving traffic. A simple drift-plus-penalty framework is used to optimize time averages such as throughput, throughput-utility, power, and distortion. Explicit performance-delay tradeoffs are provided to illustrate the cost of approaching optimality. This theory is also applicable to problems in operations research and economics, where energy-efficient and profit-maximizing decisions must be made without knowing the future. Topics in the text include the following: - Queue stability theory - Backpressure, max-weight, and virtual queue methods - Primal-dual methods for non-convex stochastic utility maximization - Universal scheduling theory for arbitrary sample paths - Approximate and randomized scheduling theory - Optimization of renewal systems and Markov decision systems Detailed examples and numerous problem set questions are provided to reinforce the main concepts. Table of Contents: Introduction / Introduction to Queues / Dynamic Scheduling Example / Optimizing Time Averages / Optimizing Functions of Time Averages / Approximate Scheduling / Optimization of Renewal Systems / Conclusions

This edited book is dedicated to Professor N. U. Ahmed, a leading scholar and a renowned researcher in optimal control and optimization on the occasion of his retirement from the Department of Electrical Engineering at University of Ottawa in 1999. The contributions of this volume are in the areas of optimal control, non linear optimization and optimization applications. They are mainly the im proved and expanded versions of the papers selected from those presented in two special sessions of two international conferences. The first special session is Optimization Methods, which was organized by K. L. Teo and X. Q. Yang for the International Conference on Optimization and Variational Inequality, the City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1998. The other one is Optimal Control, which was organized byK. ~Teo and L. Caccetta for the Dynamic Control Congress, Ottawa, 1999. This volume is divided into three parts: Optimal Control; Optimization Methods; and Applications. The Optimal Control part is concerned with com putational methods, modeling and nonlinear systems. Three computational methods for solving optimal control problems are presented: (i) a regularization method for computing ill-conditioned optimal control problems, (ii) penalty function methods that appropriately handle final state equality constraints, and (iii) a multilevel optimization approach for the numerical solution of opti mal control problems. In the fourth paper, the worst-case optimal regulation involving linear time varying systems is formulated as a minimax optimal con trol problem.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Optimization and Applications, OPTIMA 2021, held in Petrovac, Montenegro, in September-October 2021. The 22 full and 3 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 63 submissions. The papers are organized into the following topical sub-headings: mathematical programming, global optimization, discrete and combinatorial optimization, optimal control, optimization and data analysis, and game theory and mathematical economics.