| BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY FACS SPECIALIST GROUP |
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Formal Aspects of Computing Science
BCS-FACS Evening Seminar Series
Joint Event with BCS Women
Process Algebra for Collective Dynamics
Professor Jane HillstonUniversity of Edinburgh
10 December 2007
5.45pmBCS London Offices
First Floor, The Davidson Building
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Process algebra have had considerable success over the last two
decades as a formal modelling technique. They have been used to
develop both qualitative and quantitative understanding of a wide
variety of systems. For example, in the context of performance
analysis, stochastic process algebras such as PEPA have been used to
describe both software and hardware systems and have helped to
incorporate early performance prediction into the design process.
By modelling systems as collections of individual agents, the process algebra approach allows the modeller to capture the exact form of interactions and constraints between components. However, there are situations where although we model the behaviour of individuals we aim to analyse the behaviour of the populations to which they belong. Examples range from representing the biochemical signalling that underlies many cellular processes to studying the scalability of software systems under increasing numbers of clients. In this talk I will discuss recent work on such population-oriented models described in the process algebra PEPA. Individual-oriented PEPA models have been mapped to discrete state space, continuous time Markov chains. The new approach uses an alternative mathematical framework based on sets of ordinary differential equations. I will discuss the relationship between these alternative forms of representation and show that the new approach becomes feasible in many cases when the previous discrete approach becomes impossible due to problems of state space explosion. The talk will aim to give the intuition and examples, rather than detailed technical exposition. Refreshments will be served from 5.15pm. The seminar is free of charge and open to everyone. If you would like to attend, please email Paul Boca your by 6 December 2007. Pre-registration is required, as security at the BCS Offices is tight. |
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