In this paper we propose a protocol for load sharing among a cluster of heterogeneous Unix workstations. Our protocol called the distributed process management protocol (DPMP), not only enables load sharing using nonpreemptive process migration but also seamlessly integrates the processes running on a network of machines. Remote processes can be accessed (for signalling, for example), in the same way as local processes making process migration highly transparent to the users and the applications. DPMP also has built in mechanisms to detect and recover from node and network failures. DPMP can be implemented at either the kernel or the user level. We also describe an implementation of DPMP within the Linux kernel. Preliminary performance studies show that the performance gains obtained by using DPMP are substantial.

This paper addresses the problem of finding globally optimal trajectories of multi-degree-of-freedom open-chain systems while minimizing integral cost functionals. The contributions of this paper are: (i) explicit optimality equations in terms of inertia matrix and potential energy of the system, (ii) compatability conditions on the terminal conditions of the system consistent with the cost functional, (iii) robust computational procedure for solving the two-point boundary value problem in differential-algebraic equations using multiple shooting method, and (iv) an integrated software for dynamic optimization and simulation of open-chain systems.