Popularity-Guided Cost Optimization for Live Streaming in Mobile Edge Computing

Live streaming service usually delivers the content in mobile edge computing (MEC) to reduce the network latency and save the backhaul capacity. Considering the limited resources, it is necessary that MEC servers collaborate with each other and form an overlay to realize more efficient delivery. The critical challenge is how to optimize the topology among the servers and allocate the link capacity so that the cost will be lower with delay constraints. Previous approaches rarely consider server collaborations for live streaming service, and the scheduling delay is usually ignored in MEC, leading to suboptimal performances. In this paper, we propose a popularity-guided overlay model which takes the scheduling delay into consideration and utilizes MEC collaboration to achieve efficient live streaming service. The links and servers are shared among all channel streams and each stream is pushed from cloud servers to MEC servers via the trees. Considering the optimization problem is NP-hard, we propose an effective optimization framework called cost optimization for live streaming (COLS) to predict the channel popularity by a LSTM model with multiscale input data. Finally, we compute topology graph by greedy scheme and allocate the capacity with convex programming. Experimental results show that the proposed approach achieves higher prediction accuracy, reducing the capacity cost by more than 40% with an acceptable delay compared with state-of-the-art schemes.

Development of the grain crops supply chain model

The possibility of optimization of the grain crops supply chain taking into account the interests of the farm is investigated in the work. The main trends in the agricultural sector of Ukraine, which directly or indirectly affect the activities of the farm, are analyzed in the work. It is established that the choice of the most optimal means of transport for grain crops transportation allows the farm to reduce the cost of the logistics supply chain, which in turn will lead to increased profitability and expansion of the agricultural sector. The solution to this problem is possible through the modeling of the grain crops logistics supply chain. To form a model of the grain crops supply chain the process of grain delivery as a system that contains many acceptable alternatives for making the most rational decision. The proposed model is presented in form of a "black box" model. The objective function of this model for farms is to make a rational decision on the process of grain delivery in order to maximize profits by optimizing the costs of such supply chain and ensuring the development of farming as an activity. The original variables of this model are: grain crops yields and grain crops humidity; farm’s sown area; harvesting equipment efficiency; own granaries capacity; cost for grain storage in own granary or for elevator service; grain share depending on the storage place; sales price of grain crops: to the internal buyer, at the grain reception center, at the port terminal, and also weather and climate conditions during harvest (favorable / unfavorable conditions). The initial indicators that will characterize the success of the grain delivery process will be the following one: harvest duration, harvest amount, trucking cost, average daily harvest duration, additional costs obtained by managing grain humidity, magnitude of crop losses due to the harvest duration, magnitude of losses due to the grain quality reduction (with mixing, without mixing). The proposed model will consider all these factors and their impact on harvesting, storage and transportation of grain crops, and will help to take into account the costs for farms depending on the situation.

Analysis of Time Driven Activity Based Costing Implementation in Calculation of Cost Efficiency Level Capacity in Government Agencies (Case Study of KPP Pratama Binjai)

Currently, Indonesia still uses tax revenue as the main source of state revenue. However, the problem occurred when for several years it turned out that tax revenues did not meet the target. The percentage of realized tax revenues compared to the tax revenue target from year to year indicates that the ratio of tax revenues did not reach the target. One of the factors causing the non-achievement of tax revenue is related to the number of employees of the Directorate General of Taxes who are still not ideal with their workload. This study aims to determine how to calculate the efficiency level of capacity costs by using the theory of Time Driven Activity Based Costing (TDABC) in the utilization of currently available resources at the Tax Service Office, Kantor Pelayanan Pajak (KPP) Pratama Binjai. The population of this research is all the executor of the Service Section and Account Representative who are in KPP Pratama Binjai. The researcher uses descriptive (qualitative) data analysis method which only aims to explain the observed facts/practices based on certain theories. This study uses primary and secondary data from KPP Pratama Binjai. The results show that through the TDABC theory, the level of capacity cost efficiency at KPP Pratama Binjai is included in the less efficient category, which means that there is still a lot of unused capacity that should be maximized from available capacity and used capacity. Keywords: Time Driven Activity Based Costing (TDABC), Efficiency, Available Capacity, Used Capacity, Unused Capacity.

Techno-commercial study of a solar hybrid renewable energy generator with an initial sizing strategy

Solar energy based hybrid renewable energy generators are techno-economically designed for various standalone uses like, far distance area electrification, commercial building electrification, polygeneration, industrial application, etc. This paper attempts to address the problem of high cost of energy of such generators, which needs to be optimized. The research gap is that there is hardly any work on techno-economic optimization of such generators using an initial sizing technique, thereby resulting in a design with higher cost of energy. In this work, a hybrid renewable energy generator comprising of solar PV-biogas-battery storage is techno-economically optimized with the aim of minimizing its cost of energy for electrification of a radio-broadcasting station in India by using simulation software named hybrid optimization model for electric renewables. An initial sizing strategy has been proposed in the modelling of the hybrid system. Optimal designs are obtained under different scenarios, like in standalone mode with and without capacity shortage fraction, and in grid connected mode with scheduled and random outages. The results show that during initial sizing in standalone mode, consideration of larger size (25 kW) of the component with lower unit capacity cost (biogas unit), and higher load sharing by it (102625 kWh/year) in the energy management of the hybrid design with a small capacity shortage (5%) reduces the levelized cost of energy to 0.0956 /kWh compared to some of the literature designs. Out of all the optimal designs, the grid connected system has the lowest levelized cost of energy of 0.0873/kWh with a renewable fraction of 0.821. The present work contributes in the component size planning of hybrid renewable energy generator to generate lower levelized cost of energy. The novelty of the present work is that in the component size planning in standalone mode, following the initial sizing strategy, if the component with lower unit capacity cost shares majority of the load, then the levelized cost of energy with or without grid connected mode can be further reduced compared to some existing designs, which can be verified from the simulation results. Therefore, the present results will be useful for component planning and sizing of hybrid renewable generators so as to preset the size of its components as per their unit capacity cost to result in a lower cost of energy.

Edge Computing - The Way Forward

As of late, the Edge Computing worldview has acquired significant notoriety in scholastic and mechanical circles. It fills in as a key empowering influence for some, future advances like 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality by interfacing distributed computing offices and administrations to the end clients. The Edge registering worldview gives low idleness, versatility, and area mindfulness backing to delay-delicate applications. Edge figuring can possibly address the worries of reaction time necessity, transmission capacity cost saving, just as information wellbeing and protection. In this paper, we present the meaning of edge Computing, trailed by a few contextual investigations, going from cloud offloading to smart home and city.

Rightsizing the Design of a Hybrid Microgrid

Selecting the sizes of distributed energy resources is a central planning element when designing a microgrid. Decision makers may consider several important factors, including, but not limited to, capacity, cost, reliability and sustainability. We introduce a method for rightsizing capacity that presents a range of potential microgrid design solutions, allowing decision makers to weigh their upsides and downsides based on a variety of measurable factors. We decouple component-specific modeling assumptions, energy management system logic and objective measurements from our simulation-based nested binary search method for rightsizing to meet power loads. In doing so, we develop a flexible, customizable and extensible approach to microgrid design planning. Aspects which have traditionally been incorporated directly in optimization-centric frameworks, such as resilience and reliability, can be treated as complementary analyses in our decoupled approach. This enables decision makers to gain exposure to a wide range of relevant information and actively participate in the microgrid design assessment process.

A Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Approach for Identifying Variability in Costs of Childbirth Between and within Types of Delivery

Background Recently, time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) is put forward as an alternative, more accurate costing method to calculate the cost of a medical treatment because it allows the assignment of costs directly to patients. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how the overall cost of childbirth at the maternity department can be calculated by implementing a TDABC analysis. In addition, this study outlines how this costing method can be utilized to provide insights into how patient and disease characteristics drive variability within childbirth cost. Through the use of process mapping, TDABC allows to exactly identify which activities and corresponding resources are impacted by these characteristics, leading to a more detailed understanding of childbirth cost.Methods Process maps were developed for two types of childbirth, vaginal delivery (VD) and caesarean section (CS). Costs were obtained from the financial department and capacity cost rates were calculated accordingly. Results Overall, the cost of childbirth equals €1894,12 and is mainly driven by personnel costs (89,0%). Monitoring after birth is the most expensive activity on the pathway, costing €1149,70. Significant cost variations between type of delivery were found, with VD costing €1808,66 compared to €2463,98 for a CS. Prolonged clinical visit (+33,3 min) and monitoring (+775,2 min) in CS were the main contributors to this cost difference. Within each delivery type, age, parity, number of gestation weeks and education attainment were found to drive cost variations. In particular, for VD an age >25 years, nulliparous, gestation weeks > 40 weeks and higher education attainment were associated with higher costs. Similar results were found within CS for age, parity and number of gestation weeks.Conclusions TDABC is a valuable approach to measure and understand the variability in costs of childbirth and its associated drivers over the full care cycle. Accordingly, these findings can inform health care providers, managers and regulators on process improvements and cost containment initiatives.

Feasibility study on the implementation of Mahalanobis-Taguchi system and time driven activity-based costing in electronic industry

Electrical and electronic industry is one of Malaysia’s leading industries which covers around 24.5% in manufacturing production sector. With a continuous innovation of the Industry, inductor component gets higher demand from customer and it is good if there is a study to convince that those factors are really significant to the production as well. Meanwhile, the current costing being used is difficult to access the complete activities required for each workstation and need separate analysis to measure the un-used capacity in term of resources and cost. The objective of this work is to clarify the relationship between Mahalanobis-Taguchi system (MTS) and time driven activity-based costing (TDABC) in the electronic industry. The data collection is focused on inductor component by consiedring the historical data in 2018. MTS is used as a method to optimize various parameters while TDABC is used to measure the un-used capacity by constructing the time equation and capacity cost rate. There are 7 parameters considered which are condition of wire, condition of winding, condition of epoxy, condition of core, condition of lead part, condition of marking and condition of soldering. As a result, MTS is successfully developed the normal and abnormal Mahalanobis distance (MD). In February, the normal MD is 0.9998 and the abnormal is 15.6538 with 2 significant parameters with signal to noise is 0.1244. In addition, there are 3 parameters consistently influenced along 10 months such as condition of core, condition of lead part and condition of soldering and 2 parameters are not consistently influenced such as condition of epoxy and condition marking. On the other hand, the total used and un-used capacity of time are 257124.02 minutes and 5217031.43 minutes respectively while the total of used and un-used of cost are MYR6,296,493.10 and MYR6214807.07 respectively. Eventually, this work concludes that both methods are a great tool and feasible to be implemented in the electronic industry.