Patent Grant
11854127
In designing an experiment, a designer may have certain design goals or requirements. For example, if the designer has a hypothesis for an outcome of an experiment, a designer may be interested in designing an experiment to exceed a power where the power indicates a probability the experiment indicates a rejection if the outcome of the experiment is different than the hypothesis outcome. As another example, the designer may be interested in a margin of error or uncertainty in experiment outcome.
In an example embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer profiler tool configured to determine an input parameter given a desired response for a design of an experiment.
In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium. The computer-program product includes instructions implementing a computer profiler tool of a computing system to cause the computing system to generate, by the computer profiler tool, an interactive adjustable power analysis graphically indicating a relationship between one or more adjustable settings and each of a plurality of power profiles. To generate the interactive adjustable power analysis, the instructions are configured to cause the computer profiler tool to obtain, for a design of an experiment, settings comprising a first sample size indicating an amount of members for a first group observed as part of the experiment, a design quality metric that assesses, based on the first sample size, a quality of the design for the experiment prior to conducting the experiment, and a parameter pertaining to the first group. Additionally, the instructions further cause the computing system to generate a graphical user interface by generating a first interactive graph visually representing the design quality metric as a function of the first sample size and a second interactive graph visually representing the design quality metric as a function of the parameter pertaining to the first group. In some embodiments, the second setting comprises a value on an x-axis of the second interactive graph and is different from the first setting. The instructions further cause the computing system to display the first and second interactive graphs to a user in a graphical user interface and update, by the computer profiler tool, the interactive adjustable power analysis. To update the interactive adjustable power analysis, the instructions are configured to cause the computer profiler tool to receive, via the graphical user interface, a target value for the design quality metric, wherein the target value indicates a desired quality of the design of the experiment and wherein the design quality metric is related to an input parameter by a response curve, validate the target value for the design quality metric as being in a feasibility range of values for the design quality metric, determine a candidate value for the input parameter that yields a calculated value for the design quality metric by iteratively adjusting the candidate value for the input parameter until the calculated value for the design quality metric is within a predetermined tolerance of the target value for the design quality metric, update, in the graphical user interface, an interactive graph visually representing the calculated value for the design quality metric as a function of the candidate value for the input parameter, and output the graphical user interface to a display.
In at least one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method comprising generating an interactive adjustable power analysis graphically indicating a relationship between one or more adjustable settings and each of a plurality of power profiles, wherein generating the interactive adjustable power analysis comprises obtaining, for a design of an experiment, settings comprising a first sample size indicating an amount of members for a first group of observed as part of the experiment, a design quality metric that assesses, based on the first sample size, a quality of the design for the experiment prior to conducting the experiment, and a parameter pertaining to the first group. The computer-implemented method further comprises generating a graphical user interface by generating a first interactive graph visually representing the design quality metric as a function of the first sample size and generating a second interactive graph visually representing the design quality metric as a function of the parameter pertaining to the first group. A first setting comprises a value on an x-axis of the first interactive graph and a second setting comprises a value on an x-axis of the second interactive graph and is different from the first setting. The computer-implemented method further comprises displaying the first and second interactive graphs to a user in a graphical user interface and updating the interactive adjustable power analysis. Updating the interactive adjustable power analysis comprises receiving, via the graphical user interface, a target value for the design quality metric, wherein the target value indicates a desired quality of the design of the experiment and wherein the design quality metric is related to an input parameter by a response curve, validating the target value for the design quality metric as being in a feasibility range for the design quality metric, determining a candidate value for the input parameter that yields a calculated value for the design quality metric by iteratively adjusting the candidate value for the input parameter until the calculated value for the design quality metric is within a predetermined tolerance of the target value for the design quality metric, updating, in the graphical user interface, an interactive graph visually representing the calculated value for the design quality metric as a function of the candidate value for the input parameter, and outputting the graphical user interface to a display.
Some embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a computing device comprising a processor and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processor wherein the computing device is configured to generate an interactive adjustable power analysis graphically indicating a relationship between one or more adjustable settings and each of a plurality of power profiles. To generate the interactive adjustable power analysis, the instructions are executable to cause the computing device to obtain, for a design of an experiment, settings comprising a first sample size indicating an amount of members for a first group observed as part of the experiment, a design quality metric that assesses, based on the first sample size, a quality of the design for the experiment prior to conducting the experiment, and a parameter pertaining to the first group. The instructions are executable to further cause the computing device to generate a graphical user interface by generating a first interactive graph visually representing the design quality metric as a function of the first sample size and a second interactive graph visually representing the design quality metric as a function of the parameter pertaining to the first group. A first setting comprises a value on an x-axis of the first interactive graph and a second setting comprises a value on an x-axis of the second interactive graph and is different from the first setting. The instructions are executable to further cause the computing device to display the first and second interactive graphs to a user in a graphical user interface and update the interactive adjustable power analysis. To update the interactive adjustable power analysis, the instructions are executable to cause the computing device to receive, via the graphical user interface, a target value for the design quality metric, wherein the target value indicates a desired quality of the design of the experiment and wherein the design quality metric is related to an input parameter by a response curve, validate the target value for the design quality metric as being within a feasibility range for the design quality metric, determine a candidate value for the input parameter that yields a calculated value for the design quality metric by iteratively adjusting the candidate value for the input parameter until the calculated value for the design quality metric is within a predetermined tolerance of the target value for the design quality metric, update, in the graphical user interface, an interactive graph visually representing the calculated value for the design quality metric as a function of the candidate value for the input parameter, and output the graphical user interface to a display.
Other features and aspects of example embodiments are presented below in the Detailed Description when read in connection with the drawings presented with this application.
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the technology. However, it will be apparent that various embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. The figures and description are not intended to be restrictive.
The ensuing description provides example embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the example embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an example embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the technology as set forth in the appended claims.
Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional operations not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
Systems depicted in some of the figures may be provided in various configurations. In some embodiments, the systems may be configured as a distributed system where one or more components of the system are distributed across one or more networks in a cloud computing system.
Data transmission network 100 may also include computing environment 114. Computing environment 114 may be a specialized computer or other machine that processes the data received within the data transmission network 100. Data transmission network 100 also includes one or more network devices 102. Network devices 102 may include client devices that attempt to communicate with computing environment 114. For example, network devices 102 may send data to the computing environment 114 to be processed, may send signals to the computing environment 114 to control different aspects of the computing environment or the data it is processing, among other reasons. Network devices 102 may interact with the computing environment 114 through a number of ways, such as, for example, over one or more networks 108. As shown in
In other embodiments, network devices may provide a large amount of data, either all at once or streaming over a period of time (e.g., using event stream processing (ESP), described further with respect to
Data transmission network 100 may also include one or more network-attached data stores 110. Network-attached data stores 110 are used to store data to be processed by the computing environment 114 as well as any intermediate or final data generated by the computing system in non-volatile memory. However in certain embodiments, the configuration of the computing environment 114 allows its operations to be performed such that intermediate and final data results can be stored solely in volatile memory (e.g., RAM), without a requirement that intermediate or final data results be stored to non-volatile types of memory (e.g., disk). This can be useful in certain situations, such as when the computing environment 114 receives ad hoc queries from a user and when responses, which are generated by processing large amounts of data, need to be generated on-the-fly. In this non-limiting situation, the computing environment 114 may be configured to retain the processed information within memory so that responses can be generated for the user at different levels of detail as well as allow a user to interactively query against this information.
Network-attached data stores may store a variety of different types of data organized in a variety of different ways and from a variety of different sources. For example, network-attached data storage may include storage other than primary storage located within computing environment 114 that is directly accessible by processors located therein. Network-attached data storage may include secondary, tertiary or auxiliary storage, such as large hard drives, servers, virtual memory, among other types. Storage devices may include portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other mediums capable of storing, containing data. A machine-readable storage medium or computer-readable storage medium may include a non-transitory medium in which data can be stored and that does not include carrier waves and/or transitory electronic signals. Examples of a non-transitory medium may include, for example, a magnetic disk or tape, optical storage media such as compact disk or digital versatile disk, flash memory, memory or memory devices. A computer-program product may include code and/or machine-executable instructions that may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, among others. Furthermore, the data stores may hold a variety of different types of data. For example, network-attached data stores 110 may hold unstructured (e.g., raw) data, such as manufacturing data (e.g., a database containing records identifying products being manufactured with parameter data for each product, such as colors and models) or product sales databases (e.g., a database containing individual data records identifying details of individual product sales).
The unstructured data may be presented to the computing environment 114 in different forms such as a flat file or a conglomerate of data records, and may have data values and accompanying time stamps. The computing environment 114 may be used to analyze the unstructured data in a variety of ways to determine the best way to structure (e.g., hierarchically) that data, such that the structured data is tailored to a type of further analysis that a user wishes to perform on the data. For example, after being processed, the unstructured time stamped data may be aggregated by time (e.g., into daily time period units) to generate time series data and/or structured hierarchically according to one or more dimensions (e.g., parameters, attributes, and/or variables). For example, data may be stored in a hierarchical data structure, such as a ROLAP OR MOLAP database, or may be stored in another tabular form, such as in a flat-hierarchy form.
Data transmission network 100 may also include one or more server farms 106. Computing environment 114 may route select communications or data to the one or more sever farms 106 or one or more servers within the server farms. Server farms 106 can be configured to provide information in a predetermined manner. For example, server farms 106 may access data to transmit in response to a communication. Server farms 106 may be separately housed from each other device within data transmission network 100, such as computing environment 114, and/or may be part of a device or system.
Server farms 106 may host a variety of different types of data processing as part of data transmission network 100. Server farms 106 may receive a variety of different data from network devices, from computing environment 114, from cloud network 116, or from other sources. The data may have been obtained or collected from one or more sensors, as inputs from a control database, or may have been received as inputs from an external system or device. Server farms 106 may assist in processing the data by turning raw data into processed data based on one or more rules implemented by the server farms. For example, sensor data may be analyzed to determine changes in an environment over time or in real-time.
Data transmission network 100 may also include one or more cloud networks 116. Cloud network 116 may include a cloud infrastructure system that provides cloud services. In certain embodiments, services provided by the cloud network 116 may include a host of services that are made available to users of the cloud infrastructure system on demand. Cloud network 116 is shown in
While each device, server and system in
Each communication within data transmission network 100 (e.g., between client devices, between a device and connection management system, between servers 106 and computing environment 114 or between a server and a device) may occur over one or more networks 108. Networks 108 may include one or more of a variety of different types of networks, including a wireless network, a wired network, or a combination of a wired and wireless network. Examples of suitable networks include the Internet, a personal area network, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or a wireless local area network (WLAN). A wireless network may include a wireless interface or combination of wireless interfaces. As an example, a network in the one or more networks 108 may include a short-range communication channel, such as a Bluetooth or a Bluetooth Low Energy channel. A wired network may include a wired interface. The wired and/or wireless networks may be implemented using routers, access points, bridges, gateways, or the like, to connect devices in the network 108, as will be further described with respect to
Some aspects may utilize the Internet of Things (IoT), where things (e.g., machines, devices, phones, sensors) can be connected to networks and the data from these things can be collected and processed within the things and/or external to the things. For example, the IoT can include sensors in many different devices, and high value analytics can be applied to identify hidden relationships and drive increased efficiencies. This can apply to both big data analytics and real-time (e.g., ESP) analytics. IoT may be implemented in various areas, such as for access (technologies that get data and move it), embed-ability (devices with embedded sensors), and services. Industries in the IoT space may include automotive (connected car), manufacturing (connected factory), smart cities, energy and retail. This will be described further below with respect to
As noted, computing environment 114 may include a communications grid 120 and a transmission network database system 118. Communications grid 120 may be a grid-based computing system for processing large amounts of data. The transmission network database system 118 may be for managing, storing, and retrieving large amounts of data that are distributed to and stored in the one or more network-attached data stores 110 or other data stores that reside at different locations within the transmission network database system 118. The compute nodes in the grid-based computing system 120 and the transmission network database system 118 may share the same processor hardware, such as processors that are located within computing environment 114.
As shown in
Although network devices 204-209 are shown in
As noted, one type of system that may include various sensors that collect data to be processed and/or transmitted to a computing environment according to certain embodiments includes an oil drilling system. For example, the one or more drilling operation sensors may include surface sensors that measure a hook load, a fluid rate, a temperature and a density in and out of the wellbore, a standpipe pressure, a surface torque, a rotation speed of a drill pipe, a rate of penetration, a mechanical specific energy, etc. and downhole sensors that measure a rotation speed of a bit, fluid densities, downhole torque, downhole vibration (axial, tangential, lateral), a weight applied at a drill bit, an annular pressure, a differential pressure, an azimuth, an inclination, a dog leg severity, a measured depth, a vertical depth, a downhole temperature, etc. Besides the raw data collected directly by the sensors, other data may include parameters either developed by the sensors or assigned to the system by a client or other controlling device. For example, one or more drilling operation control parameters may control settings such as a mud motor speed to flow ratio, a bit diameter, a predicted formation top, seismic data, weather data, etc. Other data may be generated using physical models such as an earth model, a weather model, a seismic model, a bottom hole assembly model, a well plan model, an annular friction model, etc. In addition to sensor and control settings, predicted outputs, of for example, the rate of penetration, mechanical specific energy, hook load, flow in fluid rate, flow out fluid rate, pump pressure, surface torque, rotation speed of the drill pipe, annular pressure, annular friction pressure, annular temperature, equivalent circulating density, etc. may also be stored in the data warehouse.
In another example, another type of system that may include various sensors that collect data to be processed and/or transmitted to a computing environment according to certain embodiments includes a home automation or similar automated network in a different environment, such as an office space, school, public space, sports venue, or a variety of other locations. Network devices in such an automated network may include network devices that allow a user to access, control, and/or configure various home appliances located within the user's home (e.g., a television, radio, light, fan, humidifier, sensor, microwave, iron, and/or the like), or outside of the user's home (e.g., exterior motion sensors, exterior lighting, garage door openers, sprinkler systems, or the like). For example, network device 102 may include a home automation switch that may be coupled with a home appliance. In another embodiment, a network device can allow a user to access, control, and/or configure devices, such as office-related devices (e.g., copy machine, printer, or fax machine), audio and/or video related devices (e.g., a receiver, a speaker, a projector, a DVD player, or a television), media-playback devices (e.g., a compact disc player, a CD player, or the like), computing devices (e.g., a home computer, a laptop computer, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a computing device, or a wearable device), lighting devices (e.g., a lamp or recessed lighting), devices associated with a security system, devices associated with an alarm system, devices that can be operated in an automobile (e.g., radio devices, navigation devices), and/or the like. Data may be collected from such various sensors in raw form, or data may be processed by the sensors to create parameters or other data either developed by the sensors based on the raw data or assigned to the system by a client or other controlling device.
In another example, another type of system that may include various sensors that collect data to be processed and/or transmitted to a computing environment according to certain embodiments includes a power or energy grid. A variety of different network devices may be included in an energy grid, such as various devices within one or more power plants, energy farms (e.g., wind farm, solar farm, among others) energy storage facilities, factories, homes and businesses of consumers, among others. One or more of such devices may include one or more sensors that detect energy gain or loss, electrical input or output or loss, and a variety of other efficiencies. These sensors may collect data to inform users of how the energy grid, and individual devices within the grid, may be functioning and how they may be made more efficient.
Network device sensors may also perform processing on data it collects before transmitting the data to the computing environment 114, or before deciding whether to transmit data to the computing environment 114. For example, network devices may determine whether data collected meets certain rules, for example by comparing data or values calculated from the data and comparing that data to one or more thresholds. The network device may use this data and/or comparisons to determine if the data should be transmitted to the computing environment 214 for further use or processing.
Computing environment 214 may include machines 220 and 240. Although computing environment 214 is shown in
Computing environment 214 can communicate with various devices via one or more routers 225 or other inter-network or intra-network connection components. For example, computing environment 214 may communicate with devices 230 via one or more routers 225. Computing environment 214 may collect, analyze and/or store data from or pertaining to communications, client device operations, client rules, and/or user-associated actions stored at one or more data stores 235. Such data may influence communication routing to the devices within computing environment 214, how data is stored or processed within computing environment 214, among other actions.
Notably, various other devices can further be used to influence communication routing and/or processing between devices within computing environment 214 and with devices outside of computing environment 214. For example, as shown in
In addition to computing environment 214 collecting data (e.g., as received from network devices, such as sensors, and client devices or other sources) to be processed as part of a big data analytics project, it may also receive data in real time as part of a streaming analytics environment. As noted, data may be collected using a variety of sources as communicated via different kinds of networks or locally. Such data may be received on a real-time streaming basis. For example, network devices may receive data periodically from network device sensors as the sensors continuously sense, monitor and track changes in their environments. Devices within computing environment 214 may also perform pre-analysis on data it receives to determine if the data received should be processed as part of an ongoing project. The data received and collected by computing environment 214, no matter what the source or method or timing of receipt, may be processed over a period of time for a client to determine results data based on the client's needs and rules.
The model can include layers 302-314. The layers are arranged in a stack. Each layer in the stack serves the layer one level higher than it (except for the application layer, which is the highest layer), and is served by the layer one level below it (except for the physical layer, which is the lowest layer). The physical layer is the lowest layer because it receives and transmits raw bytes of data and is the farthest layer from the user in a communications system. On the other hand, the application layer is the highest layer because it interacts directly with a software application.
As noted, the model includes a physical layer 302. Physical layer 302 represents physical communication and can define parameters of that physical communication. For example, such physical communication may come in the form of electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signals. Physical layer 302 also defines protocols that may control communications within a data transmission network.
Link layer 304 defines links and mechanisms used to transmit (i.e., move) data across a network. The link layer manages node-to-node communications, such as within a grid computing environment. Link layer 304 can detect and correct errors (e.g., transmission errors in the physical layer 302). Link layer 304 can also include a media access control (MAC) layer and logical link control (LLC) layer.
Network layer 306 defines the protocol for routing within a network. In other words, the network layer coordinates transferring data across nodes in a same network (e.g., such as a grid computing environment). Network layer 306 can also define the processes used to structure local addressing within the network.
Transport layer 308 can manage the transmission of data and the quality of the transmission and/or receipt of that data. Transport layer 308 can provide a protocol for transferring data, such as, for example, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Transport layer 308 can assemble and disassemble data frames for transmission. The transport layer can also detect transmission errors occurring in the layers below it.
Session layer 310 can establish, maintain, and manage communication connections between devices on a network. In other words, the session layer controls the dialogues or nature of communications between network devices on the network. The session layer may also establish checkpointing, adjournment, termination, and restart procedures.
Presentation layer 312 can provide translation for communications between the application and network layers. In other words, this layer may encrypt, decrypt and/or format data based on data types known to be accepted by an application or network layer.
Application layer 314 interacts directly with software applications and end users, and manages communications between them. Application layer 314 can identify destinations, local resource states or availability and/or communication content or formatting using the applications.
Intra-network connection components 322 and 324 are shown to operate in lower levels, such as physical layer 302 and link layer 304, respectively. For example, a hub can operate in the physical layer and a switch can operate in the link layer. Inter-network connection components 326 and 328 are shown to operate on higher levels, such as layers 306-314. For example, routers can operate in the network layer and network devices can operate in the transport, session, presentation, and application layers.
As noted, a computing environment 320 can interact with and/or operate on, in various embodiments, one, more, all or any of the various layers. For example, computing environment 320 can interact with a hub (e.g., via the link layer) so as to adjust which devices the hub communicates with. The physical layer may be served by the link layer, so it may implement such data from the link layer. For example, the computing environment 320 may control which devices it will receive data from. For example, if the computing environment 320 knows that a certain network device has turned off, broken, or otherwise become unavailable or unreliable, the computing environment 320 may instruct the hub to prevent any data from being transmitted to the computing environment 320 from that network device. Such a process may be beneficial to avoid receiving data that is inaccurate or that has been influenced by an uncontrolled environment. As another example, computing environment 320 can communicate with a bridge, switch, router or gateway and influence which device within the system (e.g., system 200) the component selects as a destination. In some embodiments, computing environment 320 can interact with various layers by exchanging communications with equipment operating on a particular layer by routing or modifying existing communications. In another embodiment, such as in a grid computing environment, a node may determine how data within the environment should be routed (e.g., which node should receive certain data) based on certain parameters or information provided by other layers within the model.
As noted, the computing environment 320 may be a part of a communications grid environment, the communications of which may be implemented as shown in the protocol of
Communications grid computing system (or just “communications grid”) 400 also includes one or more worker nodes. Shown in
A control node may connect with an external device with which the control node may communicate (e.g., a grid user, such as a server or computer, may connect to a controller of the grid). For example, a server or computer may connect to control nodes and may transmit a project or job to the node. The project may include a data set. The data set may be of any size. Once the control node receives such a project including a large data set, the control node may distribute the data set or projects related to the data set to be performed by worker nodes. Alternatively, for a project including a large data set, the data set may be received or stored by a machine other than a control node (e.g., a Hadoop data node).
Control nodes may maintain knowledge of the status of the nodes in the grid (i.e., grid status information), accept work requests from clients, subdivide the work across worker nodes, coordinate the worker nodes, among other responsibilities. Worker nodes may accept work requests from a control node and provide the control node with results of the work performed by the worker node. A grid may be started from a single node (e.g., a machine, computer, server, etc.). This first node may be assigned or may start as the primary control node that will control any additional nodes that enter the grid.
When a project is submitted for execution (e.g., by a client or a controller of the grid) it may be assigned to a set of nodes. After the nodes are assigned to a project, a data structure (i.e., a communicator) may be created. The communicator may be used by the project for information to be shared between the project code running on each node. A communication handle may be created on each node. A handle, for example, is a reference to the communicator that is valid within a single process on a single node, and the handle may be used when requesting communications between nodes.
A control node, such as control node 402, may be designated as the primary control node. A server, computer or other external device may connect to the primary control node. Once the control node receives a project, the primary control node may distribute portions of the project to its worker nodes for execution. For example, when a project is initiated on communications grid 400, primary control node 402 controls the work to be performed for the project in order to complete the project as requested or instructed. The primary control node may distribute work to the worker nodes based on various factors, such as which subsets or portions of projects may be completed most efficiently and in the correct amount of time. For example, a worker node may perform analysis on a portion of data that is already local (e.g., stored on) the worker node. The primary control node also coordinates and processes the results of the work performed by each worker node after each worker node executes and completes its job. For example, the primary control node may receive a result from one or more worker nodes, and the control node may organize (e.g., collect and assemble) the results received and compile them to produce a complete result for the project received from the end user.
Any remaining control nodes, such as control nodes 404 and 406, may be assigned as backup control nodes for the project. In an embodiment, backup control nodes may not control any portion of the project. Instead, backup control nodes may serve as a backup for the primary control node and take over as primary control node if the primary control node were to fail. If a communications grid were to include only a single control node, and the control node were to fail (e.g., the control node is shut off or breaks) then the communications grid as a whole may fail and any project or job being run on the communications grid may fail and may not complete. While the project may be run again, such a failure may cause a delay (severe delay in some cases, such as overnight delay) in completion of the project. Therefore, a grid with multiple control nodes, including a backup control node, may be beneficial.
To add another node or machine to the grid, the primary control node may open a pair of listening sockets, for example. A socket may be used to accept work requests from clients, and the second socket may be used to accept connections from other grid nodes. The primary control node may be provided with a list of other nodes (e.g., other machines, computers, servers) that will participate in the grid, and the role that each node will fill in the grid. Upon startup of the primary control node (e.g., the first node on the grid), the primary control node may use a network protocol to start the server process on every other node in the grid. Command line parameters, for example, may inform each node of one or more pieces of information, such as: the role that the node will have in the grid, the host name of the primary control node, the port number on which the primary control node is accepting connections from peer nodes, among others. The information may also be provided in a configuration file, transmitted over a secure shell tunnel, recovered from a configuration server, among others. While the other machines in the grid may not initially know about the configuration of the grid, that information may also be sent to each other node by the primary control node. Updates of the grid information may also be subsequently sent to those nodes.
For any control node other than the primary control node added to the grid, the control node may open three sockets. The first socket may accept work requests from clients, the second socket may accept connections from other grid members, and the third socket may connect (e.g., permanently) to the primary control node. When a control node (e.g., primary control node) receives a connection from another control node, it first checks to see if the peer node is in the list of configured nodes in the grid. If it is not on the list, the control node may clear the connection. If it is on the list, it may then attempt to authenticate the connection. If authentication is successful, the authenticating node may transmit information to its peer, such as the port number on which a node is listening for connections, the host name of the node, information about how to authenticate the node, among other information. When a node, such as the new control node, receives information about another active node, it will check to see if it already has a connection to that other node. If it does not have a connection to that node, it may then establish a connection to that control node.
Any worker node added to the grid may establish a connection to the primary control node and any other control nodes on the grid. After establishing the connection, it may authenticate itself to the grid (e.g., any control nodes, including both primary and backup, or a server or user controlling the grid). After successful authentication, the worker node may accept configuration information from the control node.
When a node joins a communications grid (e.g., when the node is powered on or connected to an existing node on the grid or both), the node is assigned (e.g., by an operating system of the grid) a universally unique identifier (UUID). This unique identifier may help other nodes and external entities (devices, users, etc.) to identify the node and distinguish it from other nodes. When a node is connected to the grid, the node may share its unique identifier with the other nodes in the grid. Since each node may share its unique identifier, each node may know the unique identifier of every other node on the grid. Unique identifiers may also designate a hierarchy of each of the nodes (e.g., backup control nodes) within the grid. For example, the unique identifiers of each of the backup control nodes may be stored in a list of backup control nodes to indicate an order in which the backup control nodes will take over for a failed primary control node to become a new primary control node. However, a hierarchy of nodes may also be determined using methods other than using the unique identifiers of the nodes. For example, the hierarchy may be predetermined, or may be assigned based on other predetermined factors.
The grid may add new machines at any time (e.g., initiated from any control node). Upon adding a new node to the grid, the control node may first add the new node to its table of grid nodes. The control node may also then notify every other control node about the new node. The nodes receiving the notification may acknowledge that they have updated their configuration information.
Primary control node 402 may, for example, transmit one or more communications to backup control nodes 404 and 406 (and, for example, to other control or worker nodes within the communications grid). Such communications may sent periodically, at fixed time intervals, between known fixed stages of the project's execution, among other protocols. The communications transmitted by primary control node 402 may be of varied types and may include a variety of types of information. For example, primary control node 402 may transmit snapshots (e.g., status information) of the communications grid so that backup control node 404 always has a recent snapshot of the communications grid. The snapshot or grid status may include, for example, the structure of the grid (including, for example, the worker nodes in the grid, unique identifiers of the nodes, or their relationships with the primary control node) and the status of a project (including, for example, the status of each worker node's portion of the project). The snapshot may also include analysis or results received from worker nodes in the communications grid. The backup control nodes may receive and store the backup data received from the primary control node. The backup control nodes may transmit a request for such a snapshot (or other information) from the primary control node, or the primary control node may send such information periodically to the backup control nodes.
As noted, the backup data may allow the backup control node to take over as primary control node if the primary control node fails without requiring the grid to start the project over from scratch. If the primary control node fails, the backup control node that will take over as primary control node may retrieve the most recent version of the snapshot received from the primary control node and use the snapshot to continue the project from the stage of the project indicated by the backup data. This may prevent failure of the project as a whole.
A backup control node may use various methods to determine that the primary control node has failed. In one example of such a method, the primary control node may transmit (e.g., periodically) a communication to the backup control node that indicates that the primary control node is working and has not failed, such as a heartbeat communication. The backup control node may determine that the primary control node has failed if the backup control node has not received a heartbeat communication for a certain predetermined period of time. Alternatively, a backup control node may also receive a communication from the primary control node itself (before it failed) or from a worker node that the primary control node has failed, for example because the primary control node has failed to communicate with the worker node.
Different methods may be performed to determine which backup control node of a set of backup control nodes (e.g., backup control nodes 404 and 406) will take over for failed primary control node 402 and become the new primary control node. For example, the new primary control node may be chosen based on a ranking or “hierarchy” of backup control nodes based on their unique identifiers. In an alternative embodiment, a backup control node may be assigned to be the new primary control node by another device in the communications grid or from an external device (e.g., a system infrastructure or an end user, such as a server or computer, controlling the communications grid). In another alternative embodiment, the backup control node that takes over as the new primary control node may be designated based on bandwidth or other statistics about the communications grid.
A worker node within the communications grid may also fail. If a worker node fails, work being performed by the failed worker node may be redistributed amongst the operational worker nodes. In an alternative embodiment, the primary control node may transmit a communication to each of the operable worker nodes still on the communications grid that each of the worker nodes should purposefully fail also. After each of the worker nodes fail, they may each retrieve their most recent saved checkpoint of their status and re-start the project from that checkpoint to minimize lost progress on the project being executed.
The process may also include receiving a failure communication corresponding to a node in the communications grid in operation 506. For example, a node may receive a failure communication including an indication that the primary control node has failed, prompting a backup control node to take over for the primary control node. In an alternative embodiment, a node may receive a failure that a worker node has failed, prompting a control node to reassign the work being performed by the worker node. The process may also include reassigning a node or a portion of the project being executed by the failed node, as described in operation 508. For example, a control node may designate the backup control node as a new primary control node based on the failure communication upon receiving the failure communication. If the failed node is a worker node, a control node may identify a project status of the failed worker node using the snapshot of the communications grid, where the project status of the failed worker node includes a status of a portion of the project being executed by the failed worker node at the failure time.
The process may also include receiving updated grid status information based on the reassignment, as described in operation 510, and transmitting a set of instructions based on the updated grid status information to one or more nodes in the communications grid, as described in operation 512. The updated grid status information may include an updated project status of the primary control node or an updated project status of the worker node. The updated information may be transmitted to the other nodes in the grid to update their stale stored information.
Similar to in
Each node also includes a data store 624. Data stores 624, similar to network-attached data stores 110 in
Each node also includes a user-defined function (UDF) 626. The UDF provides a mechanism for the DBMS 628 to transfer data to or receive data from the database stored in the data stores 624 that are managed by the DBMS. For example, UDF 626 can be invoked by the DBMS to provide data to the GESC for processing. The UDF 626 may establish a socket connection (not shown) with the GESC to transfer the data. Alternatively, the UDF 626 can transfer data to the GESC by writing data to shared memory accessible by both the UDF and the GESC.
The GESC 620 at the nodes 602 and 610 may be connected via a network, such as network 108 shown in
DBMS 628 may control the creation, maintenance, and use of database or data structure (not shown) within a nodes 602 or 610. The database may organize data stored in data stores 624. The DBMS 628 at control node 602 may accept requests for data and transfer the appropriate data for the request. With such a process, collections of data may be distributed across multiple physical locations. In this example, each node 602 and 610 stores a portion of the total data managed by the management system in its associated data store 624.
Furthermore, the DBMS may be responsible for protecting against data loss using replication techniques. Replication includes providing a backup copy of data stored on one node on one or more other nodes. Therefore, if one node fails, the data from the failed node can be recovered from a replicated copy residing at another node. However, as described herein with respect to
To initiate the project, the control node may determine if the query requests use of the grid-based computing environment to execute the project. If the determination is no, then the control node initiates execution of the project in a solo environment (e.g., at the control node), as described in operation 710. If the determination is yes, the control node may initiate execution of the project in the grid-based computing environment, as described in operation 706. In such a situation, the request may include a requested configuration of the grid. For example, the request may include a number of control nodes and a number of worker nodes to be used in the grid when executing the project. After the project has been completed, the control node may transmit results of the analysis yielded by the grid, as described in operation 708. Whether the project is executed in a solo or grid-based environment, the control node provides the results of the project in operation 712.
As noted with respect to
The ESPE may receive streaming data over a period of time related to certain events, such as events or other data sensed by one or more network devices. The ESPE may perform operations associated with processing data created by the one or more devices. For example, the ESPE may receive data from the one or more network devices 204-209 shown in
The engine container is the top-level container in a model that manages the resources of the one or more projects 802. In an illustrative embodiment, for example, there may be only one ESPE 800 for each instance of the ESP application, and ESPE 800 may have a unique engine name. Additionally, the one or more projects 802 may each have unique project names, and each query may have a unique continuous query name and begin with a uniquely named source window of the one or more source windows 806. ESPE 800 may or may not be persistent.
Continuous query modeling involves defining directed graphs of windows for event stream manipulation and transformation. A window in the context of event stream manipulation and transformation is a processing node in an event stream processing model. A window in a continuous query can perform aggregations, computations, pattern-matching, and other operations on data flowing through the window. A continuous query may be described as a directed graph of source, relational, pattern matching, and procedural windows. The one or more source windows 806 and the one or more derived windows 808 represent continuously executing queries that generate updates to a query result set as new event blocks stream through ESPE 800. A directed graph, for example, is a set of nodes connected by edges, where the edges have a direction associated with them.
An event object may be described as a packet of data accessible as a collection of fields, with at least one of the fields defined as a key or unique identifier (ID). The event object may be created using a variety of formats including binary, alphanumeric, XML, etc. Each event object may include one or more fields designated as a primary identifier (ID) for the event so ESPE 800 can support operation codes (opcodes) for events including insert, update, upsert, and delete. Upsert opcodes update the event if the key field already exists; otherwise, the event is inserted. For illustration, an event object may be a packed binary representation of a set of field values and include both metadata and field data associated with an event. The metadata may include an opcode indicating if the event represents an insert, update, delete, or upsert, a set of flags indicating if the event is a normal, partial-update, or a retention generated event from retention policy management, and a set of microsecond timestamps that can be used for latency measurements.
An event block object may be described as a grouping or package of event objects. An event stream may be described as a flow of event block objects. A continuous query of the one or more continuous queries 804 transforms a source event stream made up of streaming event block objects published into ESPE 800 into one or more output event streams using the one or more source windows 806 and the one or more derived windows 808. A continuous query can also be thought of as data flow modeling.
The one or more source windows 806 are at the top of the directed graph and have no windows feeding into them. Event streams are published into the one or more source windows 806, and from there, the event streams may be directed to the next set of connected windows as defined by the directed graph. The one or more derived windows 808 are all instantiated windows that are not source windows and that have other windows streaming events into them. The one or more derived windows 808 may perform computations or transformations on the incoming event streams. The one or more derived windows 808 transform event streams based on the window type (that is operators such as join, filter, compute, aggregate, copy, pattern match, procedural, union, etc.) and window settings. As event streams are published into ESPE 800, they are continuously queried, and the resulting sets of derived windows in these queries are continuously updated.
Within the application, a user may interact with one or more user interface windows presented to the user in a display under control of the ESPE independently or through a browser application in an order selectable by the user. For example, a user may execute an ESP application, which causes presentation of a first user interface window, which may include a plurality of menus and selectors such as drop down menus, buttons, text boxes, hyperlinks, etc. associated with the ESP application as understood by a person of skill in the art. As further understood by a person of skill in the art, various operations may be performed in parallel, for example, using a plurality of threads.
At operation 900, an ESP application may define and start an ESPE, thereby instantiating an ESPE at a device, such as machine 220 and/or 240. In an operation 902, the engine container is created. For illustration, ESPE 800 may be instantiated using a function call that specifies the engine container as a manager for the model.
In an operation 904, the one or more continuous queries 804 are instantiated by ESPE 800 as a model. The one or more continuous queries 804 may be instantiated with a dedicated thread pool or pools that generate updates as new events stream through ESPE 800. For illustration, the one or more continuous queries 804 may be created to model business processing logic within ESPE 800, to predict events within ESPE 800, to model a physical system within ESPE 800, to predict the physical system state within ESPE 800, etc. For example, as noted, ESPE 800 may be used to support sensor data monitoring and management (e.g., sensing may include force, torque, load, strain, position, temperature, air pressure, fluid flow, chemical properties, resistance, electromagnetic fields, radiation, irradiance, proximity, acoustics, moisture, distance, speed, vibrations, acceleration, electrical potential, or electrical current, etc.).
ESPE 800 may analyze and process events in motion or “event streams.” Instead of storing data and running queries against the stored data, ESPE 800 may store queries and stream data through them to allow continuous analysis of data as it is received. The one or more source windows 806 and the one or more derived windows 808 may be created based on the relational, pattern matching, and procedural algorithms that transform the input event streams into the output event streams to model, simulate, score, test, predict, etc. based on the continuous query model defined and application to the streamed data.
In an operation 906, a publish/subscribe (pub/sub) capability is initialized for ESPE 800. In an illustrative embodiment, a pub/sub capability is initialized for each project of the one or more projects 802. To initialize and enable pub/sub capability for ESPE 800, a port number may be provided. Pub/sub clients can use a host name of an ESP device running the ESPE and the port number to establish pub/sub connections to ESPE 800.
Publish-subscribe is a message-oriented interaction paradigm based on indirect addressing. Processed data recipients specify their interest in receiving information from ESPE 800 by subscribing to specific classes of events, while information sources publish events to ESPE 800 without directly addressing the receiving parties. ESPE 800 coordinates the interactions and processes the data. In some cases, the data source receives confirmation that the published information has been received by a data recipient.
A publish/subscribe API may be described as a library that enables an event publisher, such as publishing device 1022, to publish event streams into ESPE 800 or an event subscriber, such as event subscribing device A 1024a, event subscribing device B 1024b, and event subscribing device C 1024c, to subscribe to event streams from ESPE 800. For illustration, one or more publish/subscribe APIs may be defined. Using the publish/subscribe API, an event publishing application may publish event streams into a running event stream processor project source window of ESPE 800, and the event subscription application may subscribe to an event stream processor project source window of ESPE 800.
The publish/subscribe API provides cross-platform connectivity and endianness compatibility between ESP application and other networked applications, such as event publishing applications instantiated at publishing device 1022, and event subscription applications instantiated at one or more of event subscribing device A 1024a, event subscribing device B 1024b, and event subscribing device C 1024c.
Referring back to
ESP subsystem 1001 may include a publishing client 1002, ESPE 800, a subscribing client A 1004, a subscribing client B 1006, and a subscribing client C 1008. Publishing client 1002 may be started by an event publishing application executing at publishing device 1022 using the publish/subscribe API. Subscribing client A 1004 may be started by an event subscription application A, executing at event subscribing device A 1024a using the publish/subscribe API. Subscribing client B 1006 may be started by an event subscription application B executing at event subscribing device B 1024b using the publish/subscribe API. Subscribing client C 1008 may be started by an event subscription application C executing at event subscribing device C 1024c using the publish/subscribe API.
An event block object containing one or more event objects is injected into a source window of the one or more source windows 806 from an instance of an event publishing application on event publishing device 1022. The event block object may be generated, for example, by the event publishing application and may be received by publishing client 1002. A unique ID may be maintained as the event block object is passed between the one or more source windows 806 and/or the one or more derived windows 808 of ESPE 800, and to subscribing client A 1004, subscribing client B 1006, and subscribing client C 1008 and to event subscription device A 1024a, event subscription device B 1024b, and event subscription device C 1024c. Publishing client 1002 may further generate and include a unique embedded transaction ID in the event block object as the event block object is processed by a continuous query, as well as the unique ID that publishing device 1022 assigned to the event block object.
In an operation 912, the event block object is processed through the one or more continuous queries 804. In an operation 914, the processed event block object is output to one or more computing devices of the event subscribing devices 1024a-c. For example, subscribing client A 1004, subscribing client B 1006, and subscribing client C 1008 may send the received event block object to event subscription device A 1024a, event subscription device B 1024b, and event subscription device C 1024c, respectively.
ESPE 800 maintains the event block containership aspect of the received event blocks from when the event block is published into a source window and works its way through the directed graph defined by the one or more continuous queries 804 with the various event translations before being output to subscribers. Subscribers can correlate a group of subscribed events back to a group of published events by comparing the unique ID of the event block object that a publisher, such as publishing device 1022, attached to the event block object with the event block ID received by the subscriber.
In an operation 916, a determination is made concerning whether or not processing is stopped. If processing is not stopped, processing continues in operation 910 to continue receiving the one or more event streams containing event block objects from the, for example, one or more network devices. If processing is stopped, processing continues in an operation 918. In operation 918, the started projects are stopped. In operation 920, the ESPE is shutdown.
As noted, in some embodiments, big data is processed for an analytics project after the data is received and stored. In other embodiments, distributed applications process continuously flowing data in real-time from distributed sources by applying queries to the data before distributing the data to geographically distributed recipients. As noted, an event stream processing engine (ESPE) may continuously apply the queries to the data as it is received and determines which entities receive the processed data. This allows for large amounts of data being received and/or collected in a variety of environments to be processed and distributed in real time. For example, as shown with respect to
Aspects of the current disclosure provide technical solutions to technical problems, such as computing problems that arise when an ESP device fails which results in a complete service interruption and potentially significant data loss. The data loss can be catastrophic when the streamed data is supporting mission critical operations such as those in support of an ongoing manufacturing or drilling operation. An embodiment of an ESP system achieves a rapid and seamless failover of ESPE running at the plurality of ESP devices without service interruption or data loss, thus significantly improving the reliability of an operational system that relies on the live or real-time processing of the data streams. The event publishing systems, the event subscribing systems, and each ESPE not executing at a failed ESP device are not aware of or effected by the failed ESP device. The ESP system may include thousands of event publishing systems and event subscribing systems. The ESP system keeps the failover logic and awareness within the boundaries of out-messaging network connector and out-messaging network device.
In one example embodiment, a system is provided to support a failover when event stream processing (ESP) event blocks. The system includes, but is not limited to, an out-messaging network device and a computing device. The computing device includes, but is not limited to, a processor and a computer-readable medium operably coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to execute an ESP engine (ESPE). The computer-readable medium has instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to support the failover. An event block object is received from the ESPE that includes a unique identifier. A first status of the computing device as active or standby is determined. When the first status is active, a second status of the computing device as newly active or not newly active is determined. Newly active is determined when the computing device is switched from a standby status to an active status. When the second status is newly active, a last published event block object identifier that uniquely identifies a last published event block object is determined. A next event block object is selected from a non-transitory computer-readable medium accessible by the computing device. The next event block object has an event block object identifier that is greater than the determined last published event block object identifier. The selected next event block object is published to an out-messaging network device. When the second status of the computing device is not newly active, the received event block object is published to the out-messaging network device. When the first status of the computing device is standby, the received event block object is stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium.
Different machine-learning models may be used interchangeably to perform a task. Examples of tasks that can be performed at least partially using machine-learning models include various types of scoring; bioinformatics; cheminformatics; software engineering; fraud detection; customer segmentation; generating online recommendations; adaptive websites; determining customer lifetime value; search engines; placing advertisements in real time or near real time; classifying DNA sequences; affective computing; performing natural language processing and understanding; object recognition and computer vision; robotic locomotion; playing games; optimization and metaheuristics; detecting network intrusions; medical diagnosis and monitoring; or predicting when an asset, such as a machine, will need maintenance.
Any number and combination of tools can be used to create machine-learning models. Examples of tools for creating and managing machine-learning models can include SAS® Enterprise Miner, SAS® Rapid Predictive Modeler, and SAS® Model Manager, SAS Cloud Analytic Services (CAS)®, SAS Viya® of all which are by SAS Institute Inc. of Cary, North Carolina.
Machine-learning models can be constructed through an at least partially automated (e.g., with little or no human involvement) process called training. During training, input data can be iteratively supplied to a machine-learning model to enable the machine-learning model to identify patterns related to the input data or to identify relationships between the input data and output data. With training, the machine-learning model can be transformed from an untrained state to a trained state. Input data can be split into one or more training sets and one or more validation sets, and the training process may be repeated multiple times. The splitting may follow a k-fold cross-validation rule, a leave-one-out-rule, a leave-p-out rule, or a holdout rule. An overview of training and using a machine-learning model is described below with respect to the flow chart of
In block 1104, training data is received. In some examples, the training data is received from a remote database or a local database, constructed from various subsets of data, or input by a user. The training data can be used in its raw form for training a machine-learning model or pre-processed into another form, which can then be used for training the machine-learning model. For example, the raw form of the training data can be smoothed, truncated, aggregated, clustered, or otherwise manipulated into another form, which can then be used for training the machine-learning model.
In block 1106, a machine-learning model is trained using the training data. The machine-learning model can be trained in a supervised, unsupervised, or semi-supervised manner. In supervised training, each input in the training data is correlated to a desired output. This desired output may be a scalar, a vector, or a different type of data structure such as text or an image. This may enable the machine-learning model to learn a mapping between the inputs and desired outputs. In unsupervised training, the training data includes inputs, but not desired outputs, so that the machine-learning model has to find structure in the inputs on its own. In semi-supervised training, only some of the inputs in the training data are correlated to desired outputs.
In block 1108, the machine-learning model is evaluated. For example, an evaluation dataset can be obtained, for example, via user input or from a database. The evaluation dataset can include inputs correlated to desired outputs. The inputs can be provided to the machine-learning model and the outputs from the machine-learning model can be compared to the desired outputs. If the outputs from the machine-learning model closely correspond with the desired outputs, the machine-learning model may have a high degree of accuracy. For example, if 90% or more of the outputs from the machine-learning model are the same as the desired outputs in the evaluation dataset, the machine-learning model may have a high degree of accuracy. Otherwise, the machine-learning model may have a low degree of accuracy. The 90% number is an example only. A realistic and desirable accuracy percentage is dependent on the problem and the data.
In some examples, if the machine-learning model has an inadequate degree of accuracy for a particular task, the process can return to block 1106, where the machine-learning model can be further trained using additional training data or otherwise modified to improve accuracy. If the machine-learning model has an adequate degree of accuracy for the particular task, the process can continue to block 1110.
In block 1110, new data is received. In some examples, the new data is received from a remote database or a local database, constructed from various subsets of data, or input by a user. The new data may be unknown to the machine-learning model. For example, the machine-learning model may not have previously processed or analyzed the new data.
In block 1112, the trained machine-learning model is used to analyze the new data and provide a result. For example, the new data can be provided as input to the trained machine-learning model. The trained machine-learning model can analyze the new data and provide a result that includes a classification of the new data into a particular class, a clustering of the new data into a particular group, a prediction based on the new data, or any combination of these.
In block 1114, the result is post-processed. For example, the result can be added to, multiplied with, or otherwise combined with other data as part of a job. As another example, the result can be transformed from a first format, such as a time series format, into another format, such as a count series format. Any number and combination of operations can be performed on the result during post-processing.
A more specific example of a machine-learning model is the neural network 1200 shown in
The neurons and connections between the neurons can have numeric weights, which can be tuned during training. For example, training data can be provided to the input layer 1202 of the neural network 1200, and the neural network 1200 can use the training data to tune one or more numeric weights of the neural network 1200. In some examples, the neural network 1200 can be trained using backpropagation. Backpropagation can include determining a gradient of a particular numeric weight based on a difference between an actual output of the neural network 1200 and a desired output of the neural network 1200. Based on the gradient, one or more numeric weights of the neural network 1200 can be updated to reduce the difference, thereby increasing the accuracy of the neural network 1200. This process can be repeated multiple times to train the neural network 1200. For example, this process can be repeated hundreds or thousands of times to train the neural network 1200.
In some examples, the neural network 1200 is a feed-forward neural network. In a feed-forward neural network, every neuron only propagates an output value to a subsequent layer of the neural network 1200. For example, data may only move one direction (forward) from one neuron to the next neuron in a feed-forward neural network.
In other examples, the neural network 1200 is a recurrent neural network. A recurrent neural network can include one or more feedback loops, allowing data to propagate in both forward and backward through the neural network 1200. This can allow for information to persist within the recurrent neural network. For example, a recurrent neural network can determine an output based at least partially on information that the recurrent neural network has seen before, giving the recurrent neural network the ability to use previous input to inform the output.
In some examples, the neural network 1200 operates by receiving a vector of numbers from one layer; transforming the vector of numbers into a new vector of numbers using a matrix of numeric weights, a nonlinearity, or both; and providing the new vector of numbers to a subsequent layer of the neural network 1200. Each subsequent layer of the neural network 1200 can repeat this process until the neural network 1200 outputs a final result at the output layer 1206. For example, the neural network 1200 can receive a vector of numbers as an input at the input layer 1202. The neural network 1200 can multiply the vector of numbers by a matrix of numeric weights to determine a weighted vector. The matrix of numeric weights can be tuned during the training of the neural network 1200. The neural network 1200 can transform the weighted vector using a nonlinearity, such as a sigmoid tangent or the hyperbolic tangent. In some examples, the nonlinearity can include a rectified linear unit, which can be expressed using the following equation:
y=max(x,0)
where y is the output and x is an input value from the weighted vector. The transformed output can be supplied to a subsequent layer, such as the hidden layer 1204, of the neural network 1200. The subsequent layer of the neural network 1200 can receive the transformed output, multiply the transformed output by a matrix of numeric weights and a nonlinearity, and provide the result to yet another layer of the neural network 1200. This process continues until the neural network 1200 outputs a final result at the output layer 1206.
Other examples of the present disclosure may include any number and combination of machine-learning models having any number and combination of characteristics. The machine-learning model(s) can be trained in a supervised, semi-supervised, or unsupervised manner, or any combination of these. The machine-learning model(s) can be implemented using a single computing device or multiple computing devices, such as the communications grid computing system 400 discussed above.
Implementing some examples of the present disclosure at least in part by using machine-learning models can reduce the total number of processing iterations, time, memory, electrical power, or any combination of these consumed by a computing device when analyzing data. For example, a neural network may more readily identify patterns in data than other approaches. This may enable the neural network to analyze the data using fewer processing cycles and less memory than other approaches, while obtaining a similar or greater level of accuracy.
Some machine-learning approaches may be more efficiently and speedily executed and processed with machine-learning specific processors (e.g., not a generic CPU). Such processors may also provide an energy savings when compared to generic CPUs. For example, some of these processors can include a graphical processing unit (GPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator, a neural computing core, a neural computing engine, a neural processing unit, a purpose-built chip architecture for deep learning, and/or some other machine-learning specific processor that implements a machine learning approach or one or more neural networks using semiconductor (e.g., silicon (Si), gallium arsenide(GaAs)) devices. Furthermore, these processors may also be employed in heterogeneous computing architectures with a number of and a variety of different types of cores, engines, nodes, and/or layers to achieve various energy efficiencies, processing speed improvements, data communication speed improvements, and/or data efficiency targets and improvements throughout various parts of the system when compared to a homogeneous computing architecture that employs CPUs for general purpose computing.
In one or more embodiments, the computing device obtains using the computing device 1302 and/or the graphical user interface 1330 settings for a design of an experiment. For instance, the experiment may be a type of testing such as a clinical trial, an industrial experiment, or an observational study (e.g., collecting data for a survey). An experiment may observe one or more members in a group. For instance, a clinical trial may observe multiple people treated with a consistent experimental protocol across trial participants (e.g., the participants all get the same dosage amount in the trial). Alternatively, an experiment may observe multiple groups (e.g., to test categorical factors that differ between the groups). For instance, trial participants of a clinical trial at different sites may be in different groups or trial participants getting two different dosage amounts may be in different groups. Settings for the experiment may indicate a sample size for one or more groups in the experiment. The design can be constructed for the experiment (e.g., before data collection according to the design). The settings can include a first sample size indicating a numerical amount of members for a first group of the experiment and/or additional parameters pertaining to the first group. In this example, graphs for only one group are shown. However, experiments can have multiple groups and in other examples described herein there can be more graphs pertaining to more groups.
Additionally, or alternatively, the settings include a design quality metric that assesses a quality of the design for the experiment (e.g., prior to conducting the experiment). For instance, if the experiment design involves hypothesis testing, there may be a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis. For example, if the experiment is a survey test to test heights in a population, the null hypothesis may be that the population will have an average of six feet or more and the alternative hypothesis is that the height will be less than six feet. Power can be a design quality metric because it can indicate the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when, in fact, it is false (i.e., the probability of making a correct decision that the experiment population is different from what is assumed in hypothesis testing). A higher power would indicate a better design. Testing can be simulated such that the outcome will be the alternative hypothesis. Power can be an indication of how well the simulated experiment rejected the null hypothesis as expected. For instance, based on simulated hypothesis outcomes, the experiment indicates a rejection if outcome of the experiment is different than the hypothesis outcome 80 percent of the time. As another example, a design quality metric could indicate one or more of error indications or uncertainty indications. Design quality metrics can be based on a sample size of one or more groups observed as part of the experiment. For instance, generally as sample size increases, power metrics also increase as there are more opportunities to observe the expected outcomes.
In one or more embodiments, the graphical user interface 1330 displays a first graph 1340 of the design quality metric as a function of the first sample size and displays a second graph 1350 of the design quality metric 1332 as a function of a parameter 1352 pertaining to the first group. The graphical user interface 1330 can be interactive. For instance, the computing device can receive, using the graphical user interface, a user indication 1134 to change one or more of the settings. The user indication 1134 may comprise a setting request for a computer-generated setting for the design of the experiment (e.g., based on other user-defined settings). The computing device 1302 can update, in the graphical user interface 1330, both the first graph 1340 and the second graph 1350 accounting for the user indication 1134. For instance, if the first sample size 1342 changes in graph 1340, then the design quality metric 1332 or parameter 1352 can change in graph 1350.
The computing device 1302 has a computer-readable medium 1310 and a processor 1308. Computer-readable medium 1310 is an electronic holding place or storage for information so the information can be accessed by processor 1308. Computer-readable medium 1310 can include, but is not limited to, any type of random access memory (RAM), any type of read only memory (ROM), any type of flash memory, etc. such as magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD)), smart cards, flash memory devices, etc.
Processor 1308 executes instructions (e.g., stored at the computer-readable medium 1310). The instructions can be carried out by a special purpose computer, logic circuits, or hardware circuits. In one or more embodiments, processor 1308 is implemented in hardware and/or firmware. Processor 1308 executes an instruction, meaning it performs or controls the operations called for by that instruction. The term “execution” is the process of running an application or the carrying out of the operation called for by an instruction. The instructions can be written using one or more programming language, scripting language, assembly language, etc. Processor 1308 in one or more embodiments can retrieve a set of instructions from a permanent memory device and copy the instructions in an executable form to a temporary memory device that is generally some form of RAM, for example. Processor 1308 operably couples with components of computing device 1302 (e.g., input interface 1304, with output interface 1306 and with computer-readable medium 1310) to receive, to send, and to process information.
In one or more embodiments, computer-readable medium 1310 stores instructions for execution by processor 1308. In one or more embodiments, one or more applications stored on computer-readable medium 1310 are implemented in software (e.g., computer-readable and/or computer-executable instructions) stored in computer-readable medium 1310 and accessible by processor 1308 for execution of the instructions. For example, in one or more embodiments, the computer-readable medium 1310 comprises instructions for a design quality metric application 1312 for obtaining settings and displaying graphs related to the design quality metric. For instance, the computer-readable medium 1310 may generate settings and/or simulate experiments to determine a design quality metric (e.g., before conducting an experiment). For instance, in hypothesis testing, the computing device 1302 may generate hypothesis outcome for the experiment (e.g., from simulating the experiment), and the design quality metric can indicate a probability related to the hypothesis outcome (e.g., based on a parameter or metric used to generating the hypothesis outcome, and/or indicate a variation from the hypothesis outcome).
One or more applications stored on computer-readable medium 1310 can be implemented as a Web application. For example, an application can be configured to receive hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) responses and to send HTTP requests. The HTTP responses may include web pages such as hypertext markup language (HTML) documents and linked objects generated in response to the HTTP requests. Each web page may be identified by a uniform resource locator (URL) that includes the location or address of the computing device that contains the resource to be accessed in addition to the location of the resource on that computing device. The type of file or resource depends on the Internet application protocol such as the file transfer protocol, HTTP, H.323, etc. The file accessed may be a simple text file, an image file, an audio file, a video file, an executable, a common gateway interface application, a Java applet, an extensible markup language (XML) file, or any other type of file supported by HTTP.
In one or more embodiments, fewer, different, and additional components can be incorporated into computing device 1302 or system 1300. For instance, in one or more embodiments, there are one or more input devices or output devices (e.g., for obtaining the settings or displaying the graphical user interface 1330). As another example, the same interface supports both input interface 1304 and output interface 1306. For example, a touch screen provides a mechanism for user input and for presentation of output to the user. Alternatively, the input interface 1304 has more than one input interface that uses the same or different interface technology. Alternatively, or additionally, the output interface 1306 has more than one output interface that uses the same or different interface technology.
In one or more embodiments, a computing system (e.g., the system 1300 and/or computing device 1302) implements a method as described herein (e.g., a method shown in
By observing different inputs or scenarios affecting the design, the experimenter can use embodiments to optimize a design (e.g., by observing graphical representations of the design inputs). For instance, the method 1400 comprises an operation 1402 of displaying, in a graphical user interface, a first graph of the design quality metric as a function of the first sample size. The method 1400 comprises an operation 1403 of displaying, in the graphical user interface, a second graph of the design quality metric as a function of the parameter pertaining to the first group. The method 1400 comprises an operation 1404 of receiving, using the graphical user interface, a first user indication to change one or more of the settings. The method 1400 comprises an operation 1405 of updating, in the graphical user interface, both the first graph and the second graph accounting for the first user indication. For example, the update can be one or more computer-generated manipulation of a graph in response to a user manipulation of another graph in the graphical user interface to explore different design scenarios. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the operations described herein with respect to a first group can be expanded to support multiple groups and multiple parameters.
Using the Save Settings button 1526 preserves the values in the current display of the graphical user interface 1500. For instance, the user can change the design quality metric, and the computing system can update one or more of a first sample size or parameter (e.g., noise or difference to detect). The user can go back to the previous design quality metric if the updates are not desired. Difference to detect is a parameter that indicates the minimum amount to detect a difference between a hypothesized value and the actual value. For instance, if the test is to detect heights in a population, and the hypothesized value is 6 feet or greater, the difference to detect may be 3 inches, meaning in assessing the quality of the experiment the computing system does not fault rejection within 3 inches of 6 feet because the experiment test is considering that not scientifically significant. However, if the computing system observes a rejection (or failure to reject) of five feet 9 inches, that would be scientifically significant to assessing the design quality.
Other features of the graphical user interface 1500 include the ability to create a Data Collection table using button 1530. For example, the computing system can produce a data table in response with the number of rows equal to the sample size currently displayed and an empty response column ready to be filled with data from conducting an experiment according to the design.
Users can use handles (e.g., handle 1638) and/or textbox (e.g., textbox 1634) in each graph to explore sensitivity to that particular parameter. Further, users can request computer-generated settings. For instance, a user can use the control 1640 (i.e., the drop down Solve For menu) to select which parameter they would like to solve for after inputting a particular value for other settings, keeping all other parameters at their current settings. For example,
In the example shown in
In one or more embodiments, settings can be changed as needed by the user to explore settings (e.g. user-defined selections for settings) and the graphical user interface 1600 will update in response. As an example, the user can request a computing system further update a graph in view of a parameter (e.g., using the control 1640 to select difference to detect in
In some situations, the computing system can be set up (e.g., using advanced user preference options) or pre-configured to find a setting as close to requested settings by finding a solution that achieves a provided value or a value greater than the provided value (e.g., it may be advantageous to have greater power). For instance, the computing system found a value of 80.01% for power in
In one or more embodiments, a user can have control over other settings. For example, in graphical user interface 1600 the user can set a test type setting 1650 indicating whether the test type is one-sided or two-sided. A one-sided test looks in only one direction of a hypothesized result. For example, if an experiment related to heights in a population, and the hypothesis is a mean of 6 feet, a one-sided test would look at heights greater than 6 feet (or less than 6 feet), and a two-sided test would look at heights on both sides. Additionally, or alternatively, the user can set an error estimation setting (e.g., an alpha error setting 1652, which is a probability ranging from 0 to 1 indicating the acceptable probability of rejecting a null hypothesis when it is true or type 1 error). Additionally, or alternatively, the user can set a standard deviation estimation setting 1654 (e.g., indicating whether the standard deviation should be estimated from the data). These options give the user greater control over the design of the experiment.
Embodiments herein can be considered a profiler approach. Profilers are tools that can be used to create a specialized set of plots in which changing one plot changes the other plots. In the case of design quality metrics, there can be multiple inputs affecting the design quality metric. Using a profiler approach to design quality metrics (e.g., power and interval calculations) better reflects the nature of the problem where there are multiple inputs. Where there are multiple inputs, it may be more useful to view the problem through the impact and interplay of these multiple inputs rather than focusing on only one or two (e.g., by having interactive graphs for multiple inputs for the design quality metric). For instance, using only the graph 1728 it is possible to see reduction in power with an increase in sample size. Using additional graphs (e.g., graph 1722 and graph 1724), that insight is extended further, showing that there is also discretization in the effect of the assumed proportion (p0) on power. Here, a small change in p0 does not affect the resulting power, while that same change in pA (the alternative proportion) could potentially result in a 5% drop in power. Depending on the goals of the experiment, this difference could be substantial.
In
As shown by the graphs in graphical user interface 1740, represented behavior curves can represent valleys (e.g., the valleys shown in the curve of graphs 1722 and graph 1724) or hills. One or more embodiments can still solve for values amongst these behaviors. For instance, in
In one or more embodiments, the computing system can indicate issues with providing a computer-generated setting. For instance, in the example in
The computing system determines that satisfying the setting request would violate a configured allowable option for a setting of the settings or a configured processing constraint for generating the computer-generated setting. In this example, the sample size for that power would need to be below 10 which may be a pre-defined limit. The computing system can generate an error message (e.g., error message 1784) in response to the setting request indicating that the computing system will not generate the computer-generated setting. As another example, complying with the request may require a processing burden and the computing system may indicate this concern to the user. Accordingly, one or more embodiments provide computer assistance in exploring options for a design of an experiment.
In one or more embodiments, an experiment may need multiple testing groups (e.g., controlling for blocking factors related to different sites or days for testing).
In one or more embodiments, the computing system displays graphs with parameters pertaining to one or more of the groups (e.g., graph 2020 pertains to group 1 standard deviation and graph 2022 pertains to group 2 standard deviation). One or more embodiments, also allow a user to see the effect of having different group sample sizes rather than visualizing power in terms of a total sample sizes. For instance, if the computing system receives, using the graphical user interface 2000, a first user indication to change the first sample size by adjusting the textbox 2002 (e.g., changing the textbox 2002 to have “40” members), then the computing system would adjust the textbox 2004 of the second group (e.g., to have “20” members to keep the sample size the same according to the lock indication). In response the computing system can update a graph pertaining to the second group in the graphical user interface (e.g., changing the sample size of the second group depicted in graph 2024 or changing the group 2 standard deviation in graph 2022). By visualizing the different sample graph updates on a single graph, the graphical user interface can represent the constraint of the total sample size on the different group samples. Users can visibly see the tradeoffs in a design quality metric (e.g., power or margin of error) with having unequal group sizes.
Techniques described herein can apply to different design quality metrics. For example,
As another example,
In this example, the test time 2220 is a design quality metric indicating a “test time” for the experiment to determine the reliability requirements will be met in a later demonstration. For instance, the test time 2220 can be a computer estimated time to test to ensure that during a later demonstration the products will meet requirements within the allowed time for the demonstration. The computing system can receive additional settings such as a distribution for samples of the groups for simulating the testing (e.g., a Weibull distribution 2240) for determining the test time 2220.
As shown in graphical user interface 2200, the computing system can receive one or more reliability requirements for conducting the experiment. For instance, the graphical user interface 2000 shows settings indicating maximum values during the testing time (e.g., maximum failures in graph 2230), demonstration reliability metrics (e.g., demonstration reliability in graph 2232), and a distribution parameter (e.g., shape parameter in graph 2234). In a lifetime distribution, there are generally two parameters that control the distribution: a scale parameter and a shape parameter. The scale parameter essentially controls a location of the distribution where the values generally concentrate. The shape parameter controls a shape of the distribution. Typically, the lower the value of the shape parameter, the more skewed it is, where higher values mean it is more symmetric. Similar to a standard deviation for a normal distribution, a shape parameter can relate to how noisy the lifetime distribution might be.
Visualization of the reliability can be particularly helpful in test planning because some inputs, such as the maximum number of failures, cannot necessarily be controlled during testing. However, knowing beforehand what changes might occur during testing can allow test planners to build in options for the experiment to account for unforeseen circumstances or account for situations real-time during testing. For example, if during testing a single failure is observed, the test planners can put in the option to increase the testing time for the remaining items on test to ensure demonstration requirements are met. Another key insight from this view is noticing that increases in the shape parameter value do not necessarily result in drastic changes in the test time (at the current settings of the other variables). This would give test planners confidence in their plan since the shape parameter may not be known precisely prior to planning.
In graphical user interface 2300, the profiler is split into two rows. The first row in a graph portion 2308 allows users to see and interact with the relationship between power, group sample size (assumed equal for all groups), and within group variance. The second row in graph portion 2306 shows the relationship between power and each group mean.
As with examples before, setting controls 2330 can be used to save settings to compare test options (e.g., to revert back to saved settings). For instance, as shown in
The table 2350 may indicate a set of group means or information about the group means. For instance, in this first selected example the delta column 2354 shows a value of 1 because there is a difference of 1 in the means as shown in graph 2342. In the unselected example, the group means column 2352 shows a set of means {1.6, 0, 1} with a “1” shown in delta column 2354 representing the difference between the low mean of 0 and the high mean of 1.6.
As shown in the table 2350 in
In some industries, particularly the defense industry, there exist specifications for experiment sizes which involve the use of a power threshold, such as 80%. For instance, tests must show that the experiment will meet this threshold before it can be approved for implementation. Typically, these thresholds are determined based on a maximum difference criterion, such as worst-case or all-but-one as described above. However using other options like the group means option, users can explore different settings which may yield more power for their circumstance or perhaps be less conservative than the maximum difference approach. Accordingly one or more embodiments help users design experiments by adjusting settings within a graphical user interface to see how this affects a design quality metric.
The previously described embodiments provide an interactive graphical user interface for a computer profiler tool configured to determine a design quality metric (e.g. power, margin, reliability, etc.) based on one or more settings and parameters provided, for instance, by a user. For example, a designer may utilize the computer profiler tool to design an experiment that meets certain design goals or requirements. For example, the designer may have a hypothesis for an outcome of an experiment. In these cases, the designer may design an experiment to exceed a power at which the experiment will indicate a rejection if the outcome is different than that of the hypothesis. In another example, the designer may utilize the computer profiler tool to determine a margin of error or uncertainty in the outcome of the experiment.
However, the present disclosure is not limited solely to determining a design quality metric based on obtained settings and parameters. In other embodiments, which are described more fully below, the present disclosure configures the computer profiler tool to determine an input parameter (i.e., an input value) given a desired response (i.e., a desired design quality metric). That is, given a value for a specified setting of the input parameters, the previous embodiments calculate a value for a design quality metric associated with the setting. In contrast to those previous embodiments, however, the embodiments described below are given a user-specified value for the design quality metric, and based on that value, calculate the value for an input parameter associated with the design quality metric.
In one or more embodiments, computing device 2402 obtains a request for a desired design quality metric 2436 for a design of an experiment. This value (e.g., a power value, a margin of error, a reliability factor, etc.) is obtained via the computing device 2402 itself and/or the interactive graphical user interface 2430. Then, based on this value, the computing device 2402 determines a value for a selected input parameter (e.g., first sample size 2442) that is needed to achieve the requested design quality metric 2436.
An experiment may observe one or more members in a group. For instance, a clinical trial may observe multiple people treated with a consistent experimental protocol across trial participants (e.g., the participants all get the same dosage amount in the trial). Alternatively, an experiment may observe multiple groups (e.g., to test categorical factors that differ between the groups). For instance, trial participants of a clinical trial at different sites may be in different groups or trial participants getting two different dosage amounts may be in different groups. Input parameters for the experiment may indicate a sample size for one or more groups in the experiment. The design can be constructed for the experiment (e.g., before data collection according to the design). The input parameters can include a first sample size indicating a numerical amount of members for a first group of the experiment and/or additional parameters pertaining to the first group. In the example illustrated in
Additionally, or alternatively, the requested or desired design quality metric 2436 is a value that assesses a desired quality of the design for the experiment (e.g., prior to conducting the experiment). For instance, if the experiment design involves hypothesis testing, there may be a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis. For example, if the experiment is a survey test to test heights in a population, the null hypothesis may be that the population will have an average of six feet or more and the alternative hypothesis is that the height will be less than six feet. In such cases, power can be the desired design quality metric 2436 because it can indicate the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when, in fact, it is false (i.e., the probability of making a correct decision that the experiment population is different from what is assumed in hypothesis testing). A higher power value would indicate a better design.
Power can also be an indication of how well a simulated experiment would reject the null hypothesis as expected. For instance, based on simulated hypothesis outcomes, the experiment may indicate a rejection if the outcome of the experiment is different than the hypothesis outcome 80% of the time. As another example, a design quality metric could indicate one or more error indications or uncertainty indications. Design quality metrics can be based on a sample size of one or more groups observed as part of the experiment. For instance, generally as sample size increases, power metrics also increase as there are more opportunities to observe the expected outcomes. Regardless of the particular desired or requested design quality metric 2436, however, embodiments of the present disclosure start with the requested or desired design quality metric 2436, and based on that value, determine an input parameter (e.g., the sample size of one or more groups that would need to be observed as part of the experiment) that would yield that value. Additionally, in one or more embodiments, once the input parameter has been determined, the computer device 2402 of the present embodiments controls the graphical user interface 2430 to display and/or update a first graph 2440 of the design quality metric 2432 as a function of the first sample size 2442 and a second graph 2450 of the design quality metric 2432 as a function of a parameter 2452 pertaining to the first group.
The graphical user interface 2430 can be interactive. For instance, the computing device 2402 can receive, using the graphical user interface 2430, a user indication 2434 to change (or set) the design quality metric 2436 for an experiment to a specific desired value. Then, based on that provided value, the computing device 2402 is configured to determine the input parameter (e.g., the first sample size 2442) that yields the value provided for the design quality metric, and update the graph representing the relationship that exists between the design quality metric 2432 and the determined input parameter in graphical user interface 2430.
As seen in
The computing device 2402 has a computer-readable medium 2410 and a processor 2408. Computer-readable medium 2410 is an electronic holding place or storage for information so the information can be accessed by processor 2408. Computer-readable medium 2410 can include, but is not limited to, any type of random access memory (RAM), any type of read only memory (ROM), any type of flash memory, etc. such as magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD)), smart cards, flash memory devices, etc.
Processor 2408 executes instructions (e.g., stored at the computer-readable medium 2410). The instructions can be carried out by a special purpose computer, logic circuits, or hardware circuits. In one or more embodiments, processor 2408 is implemented in hardware and/or firmware. Processor 2408 executes an instruction, meaning it performs or controls the operations called for by that instruction. The term “execution” is the process of running an application or the carrying out of the operation called for by an instruction. The instructions can be written using one or more programming languages, scripting languages, assembly languages, etc. Processor 2408 in one or more embodiments can retrieve a set of instructions from a permanent memory device and copy the instructions in an executable form to a temporary memory device that is generally some form of RAM, for example. Processor 2408 operably couples with components of computing device 2402 (e.g., input interface 2404, with output interface 2406 and with computer-readable medium 2410) to receive, to send, and to process information.
In one or more embodiments, computer-readable medium 2410 stores instructions for execution by processor 2408. In one or more embodiments, one or more applications stored on computer-readable medium 2410 are implemented in software (e.g., computer-readable and/or computer-executable instructions) stored in computer-readable medium 2410 and accessible by processor 2408 for execution of the instructions. For example, in one or more embodiments, the computer-readable medium 2410 comprises instructions for design quality metric application 2412 for receiving a value for the design quality metric (e.g., from a user) and for determining a value of an input parameter associated with the design quality metric based on the received value for the design quality metric. In at least one embodiment, the computer-readable medium 2410 also comprises instructions for design quality metric application 2412 to generate, update, and display graphs 2440 and 2450 related to the design quality metric and the determined input parameter. For instance, the computer-readable medium 2410 may generate settings, input parameters, and/or simulate experiments to determine the first sample size 2442 and/or parameter 2452 from the provided value for design quality metric (e.g., before conducting an experiment). For instance, in hypothesis testing, the computing device 2402 may receive a value from a user, for example, for a design quality metric that indicates a desired hypothesis outcome for an experiment. Such an outcome would indicate a response of system 2400 after executing a computer simulation. In these cases, the received value for the design quality metric can indicate a probability related to the hypothesis outcome. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the computing device 2402 then determines a value for an input parameter associated with the design quality metric (e.g., the first sample size 2442 and/or parameter 2452) based on the received value for that design quality metric and update graphs 2440 and 2450, accordingly.
One or more applications stored on computer-readable medium 2410 can be implemented as a Web application. For example, an application can be configured to receive hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) responses and to send HTTP requests. The HTTP responses may include web pages such as hypertext markup language (HTML) documents and linked objects generated in response to the HTTP requests. Each web page may be identified by a uniform resource locator (URL) that includes the location or address of the computing device that contains the resource to be accessed in addition to the location of the resource on that computing device. The type of file or resource depends on the Internet application protocol such as the file transfer protocol, HTTP, H.323, etc. The file accessed may be a simple text file, an image file, an audio file, a video file, an executable, a common gateway interface application, a Java applet, an extensible markup language (XML) file, or any other type of file supported by HTTP.
In one or more embodiments, fewer, different, and additional components can be incorporated into computing device 2402 or system 2400. For instance, in one or more embodiments, there are one or more input devices or output devices (e.g., for obtaining the value for the desired design quality metric or displaying the graphical user interface 2430). As another example, the same interface supports both input interface 2404 and output interface 2406. For example, a touch screen provides a mechanism for user input and for presentation of output to the user. Alternatively, the input interface 2404 has more than one input interface that uses the same or different interface technology. Alternatively, or additionally, the output interface 2406 has more than one output interface that uses the same or different interface technology.
In one or more embodiments, a computing system (e.g., the system 2400 and/or computing device 2402) implements a method as described herein (e.g., a method shown in
By observing different inputs or scenarios affecting the design, the experimenter can use embodiments to optimize a design (e.g., by observing graphical representations of the design inputs). For instance, the method 2500 comprises an operation 2503 of generating an interactive graphical user interface by generating first and second interactive graphs visually representing the design quality metric as a function of the first sample size, and of the parameter, respectively. The first setting comprises a value on an x-axis of the first interactive graph and the parameter comprises a value on an x-axis of the second interactive graph. Method 2500 then comprises an operation 2504 to display the first and second graphs in the graphical user interface.
Particularly, in this embodiment, the first graph illustrates the design quality metric as a function of the first sample size, while the second graph illustrates the design quality metric as a function of the parameter pertaining to the first group. The method 2500 then comprises an operation 2505 of updating, in the graphical user interface, both the first graph and the second graph accounting for a first user indication (e.g., a desired design quality metric). For example, the update can be one or more computer-generated manipulations of a graph in response to a user manipulation of another graph in the graphical user interface to explore different design scenarios. Additionally, or alternatively, the update can be a computer-generated manipulation of a plurality of graphs (e.g., one or both of the first and second graphs) based on the provided design quality metric and the settings or parameters that are determined based on the provided design quality metric. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the operations described herein with respect to a first group can be expanded to support multiple groups and multiple parameters.
To accomplish the updating according to the present disclosure, method 2500 (in
More specifically, each design quality metric has a corresponding absolute minimum value and absolute maximum value. For example, as stated above, power is a design quality metric. The absolute minimum and absolute maximum values therefore may be 0-100 to represent 0% power to 100% power. Similarly, the absolute minimum and absolute maximum values for reliability (another design quality metric) may be 50 and 80, respectively, to represent a 50% to 80% reliability factor. Regardless of the particular values, however, validation according to the present embodiments ensures that the target value for the design quality metric is between these two values, or equal to at least one of these two values.
Provided the target value is validated (i.e., determined to be in the feasibility range), method 2500 comprises an operation 2508 of determining a candidate value for the input parameter that yields a calculated value for the design quality metric. In one embodiment, the candidate value is determined by iteratively adjusting the candidate value for the input parameter until the calculated value for the design quality metric is within a predetermined tolerance of the target value for the design quality metric. Once the candidate value for the input parameter is determined, method 2500 comprises an operation 2509 of updating, in the graphical user interface, the interactive graph visually representing the calculated value for the design quality metric as a function of the candidate value for the input parameter. Method 2500 also comprises an operation 2010 of outputting the graphical user interface, including the updated graph, to a display.
According to the present embodiments, validating the target value as being in the feasibility range is based on a shape of the response curve. Such response curves can be monotonic or non-monotonic. For example,
If the apex or vertex is not known, however, the present embodiments configure the computing device 2402 to locate those points on the graph. For example, as seen in
MVCURRENT=MIVIP+S
Then, in an operation 2807, method 2800 calculates corresponding response values as a function of MVCURRENT and MIVIP, respectively. The corresponding response values are also on the response curve. Next, based on a comparison of the calculated response values, method 2800 determines whether the response curve is shaped like a hill or a valley in an operation 2808. For example, in one embodiment, if the response value calculated for MVCURRENT is greater than the response value calculated for MIVIP, the response curve is shaped like a hill. If the response value calculated for MVCURRENT is less than the response value calculated for MIVIP, however, the response curve is shaped like a valley. If the two values are equal, it is possible that there is a flat area of the response curve. In these situations, the current value of MVCURRENT is again increased by the predetermined step size and operations 2807 and 2808 are repeated.
Once the shape of the response curve has been determined, method 2800 comprises operations 2809, 2810 to determine first and second candidate midpoint values MVCAND1 and MVCAND2 as:
MVCAND1=MVCURRENT+S, and
MVCAND2=MVCURRENT−S.
Particularly, in this embodiment, the candidate midpoint values MVCAND1 and MVCAND2 are determined to be values that are a step size above the current midpoint value MVCURRENT, and a step size below the current midpoint value MVCURRENT, respectively. According to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure, the predetermined step size is the same as the predetermined tolerance, although it is possible for the predetermined step size to be different than the predetermined tolerance. In an operation 2811, method 2800 determines a plurality of candidate response values as functions of respective midpoint values. Particularly, in this embodiment, method 2800 determines:
In an operation 2812, method 2800 then determines a new value for the current midpoint value MVCURRENT (i.e., updates the value of MVCURRENT) based on the determined candidate response values RVCAND1, RVCAND2, RVCAND3, and on the determined shape of the response curve. For example, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, method 2800 determines and updates the value for MVCURRENT as:
MVCURRENT=MAX(RVCAND1,RVCAND2,RVCAND3)
when the response curve is shaped like a hill, and
MVCURRENT=MIN(RVCAND1,RVCAND2,RVCAND3)
when the response curve is shaped like a valley. In an operation 2813, with MVCURRENT determined, method 2800 identifies the midpoint value of the response curve as being equal to MVCURRENT when the value for RVCAND3 is greater than the values for both RVCAND1 and RVCAND2. If the value for RVCAND3 is not greater than the values of at least one of RVCAND1 and RVCAND2, method 2800 repeats operations 2809-2812 until the value for RVCAND3 is greater than the values of both RVCAND1 and RVCAND2.
As stated above, the step size S used to set MVCAND1 and MVCAND1 in this embodiment is the same as the tolerance used for the input parameter. Additionally, by default, the computing device 2402 will utilize the value of the input parameter (i.e., at MVCURRENT) as an initial input value to determine an initial candidate value for the design quality metric. If the initial candidate value that is calculated as a function of MVCURRENT is feasible, and if the response curve is shaped either as a hill or a valley, an additional check is needed to determine whether the initial input value is or is not on the appropriate side of the response curve (i.e., the “same side” of the response curve where the feasibility range lies).
For example, as seen in
If the response curve is symmetrical, method 2800 ends as the response for the initial input value is in the feasibility range. If, however, the response curve is asymmetrical (e.g., the values of the two endpoints are unequal), method 2800 will determine whether the response for the initial input value is in the feasibility range.
Therefore, in an operation 2816, method 2800 determines first and second response values as a function of the two endpoints of the response curve, respectively. In an operation 2817, method 2800 determines a third response value as a function of the value at the apex (or vertex) of the response curve. Method 2800 then determines a user input response value as a function of the initial input value for the input parameter in an operation 2818 and compares the response values in an operation 2819. Responsive to determining at operation 2819 that the response value calculated for the initial input value is between the first and third response values and the second and third response values, method 2800 ends as the response value for the initial input value is in the feasibility range. Responsive to determining that response value calculated for the initial input value is between either the first and third response values or the second and third response values, however, method 2800 determines, in an operation 2820, whether the initial input value and the feasibility range are on the “same side” of the response curve. If not, method 2800 moves the initial input value to the other side of the response curve in an operation 2821 so that it is on the same side of the response curve as the feasibility range. If so, however, method 2800 ends.
Thus, there are two possible ranges into which the initial input value can fall. The first range is on one side of the response curve and is defined by the first and third response values (i.e., the response values corresponding to a midpoint of the asymmetric response curve, such as the apex/vertex of the asymmetric response curve, and one endpoint of the asymmetric response curve and), while the second range is on the opposite side of the response curve and is defined by the second and third response values (i.e., the response values corresponding to the midpoint of the asymmetric response curve, such as the apex/vertex of the asymmetric response curve, and the other endpoint of the asymmetric response curve). If the user input response falls within both ranges, then there is no need to move the initial input value. However, if the user input response falls within only one of the first and second ranges, and if the initial input value is not on the same side of the response curve as the feasibility range, then the initial input value is moved from one of the first and second sides of the response curve) to the other of the first and second sides of the response curve.
As an illustrative example, consider an asymmetric response curve, such as the one shown in graph 3301 of
Returning to
As seen in
For example, in one embodiment, method 2900 comprises an operation 2906 to determine a plurality of fine-tune candidate values for the input parameter on each side of the candidate value for the input parameter. In an operation 2907, method 2900 calculates a corresponding response value for each of the fine-tune candidate values. In an operation 2908, method 2900 determines the calculated value for the design quality metric to be the fine-tune response value that is closest to the target value for the design quality metric. This closest value may or may not be equal to the user's desired design quality metric (i.e., the provided target value) but is within a specified tolerance of the target value.
As seen in
Next, the algorithm starts with the current value of 30 for the input parameter. However, as seen in
With the sample size at this value (i.e., 32), computing device 2402 determines that the sample size of 32 yields a power of 78.23%. Having overshot the desired target value again, computing device 2402 increases the value for input parameter by the newly determined step size of 7 to 39 to yield a power of 86.05%. Again, the target value of 80 has been overshot. Thus, computing device 2402 decreases the predetermined step size by a value of 7/4 (rounded down to 1). Computing device 2402 then iteratively decreases the value of the input parameter by 1 and solves for the input parameter until the input parameter value is 33. A value of 33, however, yields a power of 79.54%, which is under the 80% target value. In these cases, computing device adjusts the input parameter value by the predetermined step size (i.e., 1) to 34, which yields a power of 80.78%. Computing device 2402 can, in some embodiments, again reduce the predetermined step size by ¼ (i.e., 0.25). However, since a value of 0.25 is less than the predetermined tolerance of 1, the method stops. Further, since the response curve is well behaved (i.e., an increasing monotonic curve), there's no need for any extra operations to determine whether the calculated power value of 80.78% is closest to the desired target value of 80%. Additionally, the calculated power value of 80.78% is slightly above the desired target value of 80%. Therefore, there is no need for computing device 2402 to further adjust the value of the input parameter. Computing device 2402 then sets the value of the input parameter (i.e., the sample size) to 34 and updates all graphs on the interactive graphical user interface based on those calculated values (i.e., 80.78% and 34, respectively).
Referring now to
With the above in mind, consider a scenario in which a researcher wants to assess the efficacy of a new drug for controlling high blood pressure in comparison to an old drug. To accomplish this, the researcher may design an experiment to compare the average blood pressure readings of two groups of patients indicated here as Group A 3006a and Group B 3006b. Group A consists of patients taking the old drug, while Group B consists of patients taking the new drug. However, as is often the case, the researcher only has enough funding to cover a total sample size 3105 of 70 patients. Regardless of the constrained sample size, though, the researcher would like the study to realize a power 3107 of 90%.
Other information is also assumed to be known. For example, based on similar, previously conducted studies, it can be assumed that the patients in both Groups A and B come from populations whose standard deviations are largely similar. Thus, the sample sizes of each group 3106a, 3106b should be equal at 35 patients each. Additionally, based on a previously conducted pilot study, for example, the population standard deviation of each group 3109, 3110 is assumed to be known as 0.8. The remaining unknown is the Difference to Detect 3108— i.e., the difference between the two group averages that is deemed practically significant given the values of sample sizes 3106a, 3106b and the standard deviations 3109, 3110 for both groups of patients, respectively.
As described above, some embodiments of the present disclosure are configured to allow researchers to design experiments in order to determine the power value 3107 based on the values for the sample size 3106a, 3106b of each group, a Difference to Detect 3108, and standard deviations 3109, 3110 for each group. However, in this case, the researcher is constrained by cost and would like to determine the minimum Difference to Detect 3108 between Groups A and B that can be feasibly detected given values for the sample sizes 3106a, 3106b, the standard deviations 3109, 3110, and a desired target power of 90%. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure configure the computing device 2402 to determine this information for the researcher.
Additionally, in at least one embodiment, the computer profiler tool of the present disclosure may be configured to further update the values for the Difference to Detect 3208 and the standard deviations 3209 and 3210, as well as their corresponding graphs 3202, 3203, and 3204 based on the target value of 90% for the desired power, as previously described. For example, in one embodiment, once the computer profiler tool has solved-for the desired sample size 3206a, 3206b and updated corresponding graph 3201, the computer profiler tool might then be configured to solve for the Difference to Detect 3208 and update corresponding graph 3202. The computer profiler tool could then solve for the Group 1 standard deviation 3209 and update corresponding graph 3203, and then follow that by solving for the Group 2 standard deviation 3210 and update corresponding graph 3204. This is, however, simply an embodiment and those of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the values for the different input parameters and their corresponding graphs may be updated in any order.
As seen in
As seen in this figure, the response curve for graph 3301 associated with the Group 1 sample size 3306a is not symmetric. Therefore, if the researcher wants to find the Group 1 sample size 3306a that will result in a target value of 0.48 for the margin of error, it is only possible on one side of the valley-shaped response curve (i.e., side 3301b) and not on the other side of the valley-shaped response curve (i.e., side 3301a).
Therefore, to determine a sample size 3306a that will yield a target value of 0.48 for the margin of error, embodiments of the present disclosure first determine whether the target value of 0.48 is or is not within the feasibility range for the margin of error, as previously described. If so, computing device 2402 determines the sample size 3306a that will yield the desired target value within a pre-specified tolerance, as previously described. Particularly, computing device 2402 is configured, as previously described, to determine whether the value for the input parameter (i.e., sample size 3306a) can only be found on one side of the valley-shaped response curve of graph 3301 and not the other, as previously described. Therefore, computing device 2402 will determine which side 3301a, 3301b of the response curve of graph 3301 the feasibility range is on, and limit operations to that side of graph 3301 when determining the value for the sample size 3306a, as previously described.
For parametric reliability demonstration testing, the researcher will typically have prior knowledge about the distribution of the lifetime of the product being tested or assume such knowledge. The most commonly used lifetime distributions are associated with shape parameters whose values may be assumed as well. Some embodiments of the present disclosure are configured to allow researchers to explore ranges of the values of the shape parameters, thereby enabling the researchers to get a sense of values of the shape parameter that could have a significant impact on the test time and others that may not. This is particularly useful if the user does not have prior knowledge about the shape parameter and is reluctant to simply assume any value. The user may also wish to know the acceptable number of failures (i.e., max failures) given the other input parameters for a specific test time.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/872,072 filed Jul. 25, 2022, which claims the benefit of, and priority based on, 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/297,558, filed Jan. 7, 2022, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/321,613, filed Mar. 18, 2022, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20230343003 A1 | Oct 2023 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 63321613 | Mar 2022 | US | |
| 63297558 | Jan 2022 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 17872072 | Jul 2022 | US |
| Child | 18214640 | US |
