In this dissertation, we focus on the problem of self-management in distributed systems. In this context, we propose a new methodology for reactive self-management based on multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA). The general structure of the proposed methodology is extracted from the commonalities of the former well-established approaches that are applied in other problem domains. The main novelty of this work, however, lies in the usage of MCDA during the reaction processes in the context of the two problems that the proposed methodology is applied to. In order to provide a detailed analysis and assessment of this new approach, we have used the proposed methodology to design distributed autonomous agents that can provide self-management in two outstanding problems. These two problems also represent the two distinct ways in which the methodology can be applied to self-management problems. These two cases are: 1) independent self management, and 2) coordinated self-management. In the simulation case study regarding independent self-management, the methodology is used to design and implement a distributed resource consolidation manager for clouds, called IMPROMPTU. In IMPROMPTU, each autonomous agent is attached to a unique physical machine in the cloud, where it manages resource consolidation independently from the rest of the autonomous agents. On the other hand, the simulation case study regarding coordinated self-management focuses on the problem of adaptive routing in mobile ad hoc networks (MANET). The resulting system carries out adaptation through autonomous agents that are attached to each MANET node in a coordinated manner. In this context, each autonomous node agent expresses its opinion in the form of a decision regarding which routing algorithm should be used given the perceived conditions. The opinions are aggregated through coordination in order to produce a final decision that is to be shared by every node in the MANET. Although MCDA has been previously considered within the context of artificial intelligence---particularly with respect to algorithms and frameworks that represent different requirements for MCDA problems, to the best of our knowledge, this dissertation outlines a work where MCDA is applied for the first time in the domain of these two problems that are represented as simulation case studies. / Graduate

In this thesis, we propose a novel trust management scheme for improving routing reliability in wireless ad hoc networks. It is grounded on two classic autoregression models, namely Autoregressive (AR) model and Autoregressive with exogenous inputs (ARX) model. According to this scheme, a node periodically measures the packet forwarding ratio of its every neighbor as the trust observation about that neighbor. These measurements constitute a time series of data. The node has such a time series for each neighbor. By applying an autoregression model to these time series, it predicts the neighbors future packet forwarding ratios as their trust estimates, which in turn facilitate it to make intelligent routing decisions. With an AR model being applied, the node only uses its own observations for prediction; with an ARX model, it will also take into account recommendations from other neighbors. We evaluate the performance of the scheme when an AR, ARX or Bayesian model is used. Simulation results indicate that the ARX model is the best choice in terms of accuracy.

In this dissertation we present deterministic algorithms for reliable and efficient communication in ad hoc networks. In the first part of this dissertation we give a specification for a reliable neighbor discovery layer for mobile ad hoc networks. We present two different algorithms that implement this layer with varying progress guarantees. In the second part of this dissertation we give an algorithm which allows nodes in a mobile wireless ad hoc network to communicate reliably and at the same time maintain local neighborhood information. In the last part of this dissertation we look at the distributed trigger counting problem in the wireless ad hoc network setting. We present a deterministic algorithm for this problem which is communication efficient in terms of the the maximum number of messages received by any processor in the system.

Thesis (MScIng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2006. Graduate Programme in Computer Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves81-86). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=4&did=1240708341&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1194977884&clientId=5220

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-68). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (M. S.)--Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Johnson, Eric N.; Committee Member: Feron, Eric M. J.; Committee Member: Pritchett, Amy R.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 2006. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Faculty of Information and Mathematical Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2006. Includes bibliographical references. Print version also available.

Thesis (M.S. in Engineering Acoustics)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Rice, Joseph A. "December 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 29, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-91). Also available in print.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.93-99).