Accession Number:

ADA008152

Title:

A Heuristic Approach to Computer Systems Performance Improvement, I: A Fast Prediction Tool

Descriptive Note:

Technical rept.

Corporate Author:

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MARINA DEL REY INFORMATION SCIENCES INST

Personal Author(s):

• Kimbleton, Stephen R.

Report Date:

1975-03-01

Pagination or Media Count:

32.0

Abstract:

The complexity of current computer systems strongly inhibits management usage of analytic modeling techniques in seeking good computer system performance. As a result, heuristically-based approaches are in order. Implementation of such an approach requires 1 a means for determining the performance of a given computer system processing a given collection of jobs in accord with a specified schedule, 2 a means for achieving an improved system from a given system, and 3 a technique for determining when to stop this iterative process. The objective of this paper is to describe an analytically driven approach to computer system performance prediction which can achieve execution speeds of approximately two orders of magnitude faster than real time for production batch installations while providing detailed information on device utilizations and delays. Thus, it provides a basic required capability for the development of heuristic approaches to computer system performance improvement.

Descriptors:

• *CENTRAL PROCESSING UNITS
• *COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
• HEURISTIC METHODS
• MATHEMATICAL MODELS
• QUEUEING THEORY
• REAL TIME
• SCHEDULING
• SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

Subject Categories:

• Computer Programming and Software
• Computer Hardware

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE