Academic literature on the topic 'Graphe de communication'

We examined the use of graphs as an aid to communicating statistical risk among forensic clinicians. We first tested four graphs previously used or recommended for forensic risk assessment among 442 undergraduate students who made security recommendations about two offenders whose risk differed by one actuarial category of risk for violent recidivism (Study 1). Effective decision making was defined as actuarially higher risk offenders being assigned to greater security than lower risk offenders. The graph resulting in the largest distinction among less numerate students was a probability bar graph. We then tested this graph among 54 forensic clinicians (Study 2). The graph had no overall effect. Among more experienced staff, however, decisions were insensitive to actuarial risk in the absence of the graph and in the desirable direction with the addition of the graph. Further research into the benefit of graphs in violence risk communication appears viable.

In the management of large enterprise communication networks, it becomes difficult to detect and identify causes of abnormal change in traffic distributions when the underlying logical topology is dynamic. This paper describes a novel approach to abnormal network change detection by representing periodic observations of logical communications within a network as a time series of graphs. A number of graph distance measures are proposed to assess the difference between successive graphs and identify abnormal behaviour. Localisation techniques have also been described to show where in the network most change occurred.

In a previous paper we defined the black and white SAT problem which has exactly two solutions, where each variable is either true or false. We showed that black and white 2-SAT problems represent strongly connected directed graphs. We presented also the strong model of communication graphs. In this work we introduce two new models, the weak model, and the Balatonboglár model of communication graphs. A communication graph is a directed graph, where no self loops are allowed. In this work we show that the weak model of a strongly connected communication graph is a black and white SAT problem. We prove a powerful theorem, the so called transitions theorem. This theorem states that for any model which is between the strong and the weak model, we have that this model represents strongly connected communication graphs as black and white SAT problems. We show that the Balatonboglár model is between the strong and the weak model, and it generates 3-SAT problems, so the Balatonboglár model represents strongly connected communication graphs as black and white 3-SAT problems. Our motivation to study these models is the following: The strong model generates a 2-SAT problem from the input directed graph, so it does not give us a deep insight how to convert a general SAT problem into a directed graph. The weak model generates huge models, because it represents all cycles, even non-simple cycles, of the input directed graph. We need something between them to gain more experience. From the Balatonboglár model we learned that it is enough to have a subset of a clause, which represents a cycle in the weak model, to make the Balatonboglár model more compact. We still do not know how to represent a SAT problem as a directed graph, but this work gives a strong link between two prominent fields of formal methods: the SAT problem and directed graphs.

Communication networks must be constructed to be as stable as possible, not only with the respect to the initial disruption, but also with respect to the possible reconstruction. Many graph theoretical parameters have been used to describe the stability of communication networks. Tenacity is a reasonable one, which shows not only the difficulty to break down the network but also the damage that has been caused. Total graphs are the largest graphs formed by the adjacent relations of elements of a graph. Thus, total graphs are highly recommended for the design of interconnection networks. In this paper, we determine the tenacity of the total graph of a path, cycle and complete bipartite graph, and thus give a lower bound of the tenacity for the total graph of a graph.

In this study, we investigate a new kind of mean labeling of graph. The ladder graph plays an important role in the area of communication networks, coding theory, and transportation engineering. Also, we found interesting new results corresponding to classical mean labeling for some ladder-related graphs and corona of ladder graphs with suitable examples.

In this paper, a generic technique for mapping arbitrary heterogeneous task graphs onto arbitrary heterogeneous system graphs is presented. The heterogeneous task and system graphs studied in this paper have nonuniform computation and communication weights associated with the nodes and the edges. Two clustering algorithms have been proposed that can be used to obtain a multilayer clustered graph called a Spec graph from a given task graph and a multilayer clustered graph called a Rep graph from a given system graph. We present a mapping algorithm that produces a suboptimal matching of a given Spec graph containing M task modules onto a Rep graph of N processors, in O(M2) time, where N ≤ M. Our experimental results indicate that our mapping algorithm is the fastest one and generates results that are better than, or similar to, those of other leading techniques, some of which work only for restricted task or system graphs.

Set domination in fuzzy graphs is very useful for solving traffic problems during communication in computer networks and travelling networks. In this article, the concept of set domination in fuzzy graphs using strong arcs is introduced. The strong set domination number of complete fuzzy graph and complete bipartite fuzzy graph is determined. It is obtained the properties of the new parameter and related it to some other known domination parameters of fuzzy graphs. An upper bound for the strong set domination number of fuzzy graphs is also obtained.

Building up graph models to simulate scale-free networks is an important method since graphs have been used in researching scale-free networks and communication networks, such as graph colorings can be used for distinguishing objects of communication and information networks. In this paper we determine the avdtc chromatic numbers of some models related with researching networks.

In this paper we derive a lower bound for the total communication volume when mapping arbitrary task graphs onto a distributed processor system. For a K processor system this lower bound can be computed with only the K (possibly) largest eigen values of the adjacency matrix of the task graph and the eigen values of the adjacency matrix of the processor graph. We also derive the eigen values of the adjacency matrix of the processor graph for a hypercube multiprocessor and illustrate the concept with a simple example for the two processor case.

PurposeSeveral online services offer functionalities to access information from “big research graphs” (e.g. Google Scholar, OpenAIRE, Microsoft Academic Graph), which correlate scholarly/scientific communication entities such as publications, authors, datasets, organizations, projects, funders, etc. Depending on the target users, access can vary from search and browse content to the consumption of statistics for monitoring and provision of feedback. Such graphs are populated over time as aggregations of multiple sources and therefore suffer from major entity-duplication problems. Although deduplication of graphs is a known and actual problem, existing solutions are dedicated to specific scenarios, operate on flat collections, local topology-drive challenges and cannot therefore be re-used in other contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis work presents GDup, an integrated, scalable, general-purpose system that can be customized to address deduplication over arbitrary large information graphs. The paper presents its high-level architecture, its implementation as a service used within the OpenAIRE infrastructure system and reports numbers of real-case experiments.FindingsGDup provides the functionalities required to deliver a fully-fledged entity deduplication workflow over a generic input graph. The system offers out-of-the-box Ground Truth management, acquisition of feedback from data curators and algorithms for identifying and merging duplicates, to obtain an output disambiguated graph.Originality/valueTo our knowledge GDup is the only system in the literature that offers an integrated and general-purpose solution for the deduplication graphs, while targeting big data scalability issues. GDup is today one of the key modules of the OpenAIRE infrastructure production system, which monitors Open Science trends on behalf of the European Commission, National funders and institutions.

Répondre à des requêtes de routage requiert que les entités du réseau, nommées routeurs, aient une connaissance à jour sur la topologie de celui-ci, cette connaissance est appelée table de routage. Le réseau est modélisé par un graphe dans lequel les noeuds représentent les routeurs, et les arêtes les liens de communication entre ceux ci.Cette thèse s'intéresse au calcul des tables de routage dans un modèle distribué.Dans ce modèle, les calculs sont effectués par un ensemble de processus placés sur les noeuds. Chaque processus a pour objectif de calculer la table de routage du noeud sur lequel il se trouve. Pour effectuer ce calcul les processus doivent communiquer entre eux. Dans des réseaux de grande taille, et dans le cadre d'un calcul distribué, le maintien à jour des tables de routage peut être coûteux en terme de communication. L'un des thèmes principaux abordés et celui de la réduction des coûts de communication lors de ce calcul. L'une des solutions apportées consisteà réduire la taille des tables de routage, permettant ainsi de réduire les coûts de communication. Cette stratégie classique dans le modèle centralisé est connue sous le nom de routage compact. Cette thèse présente notamment un algorithme de routage compact distribué permettant de réduire significativement les coûts de communication dans les réseaux tels que le réseau internet, i.e. le réseau des systèmes autonomes ainsi que dans des réseaux sans-échelle. Ce document contient également une étude expérimentale de différents algorithmes de routage compact distribués.Enfin, les problèmes liés à la dynamique du réseau sont également abordés. Plusprécisément le reste de l'étude porte sur un algorithme auto-stabilisant de calcul d'arbre de plus court chemin, ainsi que sur l'impact de la suppression de noeuds ou d'arêtes sur les tables de routage stockées aux routeurs.

Avec l’arrivée massive des technologies sans fil, le nombre de terminaux mobiles n’a cessé de croître, pour des usages et des ressources de communication diversifiés. En intégrant les objets du quotidien, nos réseaux de communications sont devenus dynamiques aussi bien en termes de ressources que de topologie physique, offrant accès à des informations de plus en plus riches. La tâche de gestion s’est ainsi complexifiée et requiert des temps de réponse de plus en plus courts difficilement réalisables par un administrateur humain. Il devient indispensable de mettre en œuvre des capacités de gestion autonomes pour les nouveaux réseaux. Dans tous les cas, la gestion d’un système implique une étape essentielle : sa mesure et sa supervision. Peu importe sa nature, c’est cette étape de prise d’information qui permet sa caractérisation, son analyse et son contrôle. Le domaine des réseaux n’échappe pas à cette règle et les objets qui le composent auront besoin d’acquérir des informations sur leur environnement pour mieux s’y adapter. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons au partage efficace de ces informations de mesures à des fins d’auto-analyse et d’évaluation distribuée de la performance. Après avoir formalisé le problème de la mesure distribuée, nous nous consacrons dans un premier temps à l’organisation des échanges de mesures dans les graphes dynamiques. Nous proposons une nouvelle heuristique pour le consensus de la moyenne qui converge plus rapidement que celles de l’état de l’art. Dans un second temps, nous considérons des topologies plus stables pouvant utiliser des flux TCP comme moyen d’échange. Nous proposons un mécanisme d’ordonnancement de ces flux qui conserve le même comportement face à la congestion, tout en réduisant leur latence moyenne. Enfin, nous nous intéressons à l’information de mesure échangée. Nous montrons comment les nœuds peuvent superviser diverses métriques telles que la performance d’un système en se basant sur l’utilité de ses agents, et proposons une méthode pour qu’ils puissent analyser l’évolution de cette performance
With the massive rise of wireless technologies, the number of mobile stations is constantly growing. Both their uses and their communication resources are diversified. By integrating our daily life objects, our communication networks become dynamic in terms of physical topology but also in term of resources. Furthermore, they give access to a richer information. As a result, the management task has become complex and requires shorter response time that a human administrator can not respect. It becomes necessary to develop an autonomic management behavior in next generation networks. In any manner, managing a system requires essential steps which are : its measurement and its supervision. Whatever the nature of a system, this stage of information gathering, allows its characterization and its control. The field of networks is not the exception to the rule and objects that compose them will need to acquire information on their environment for a better adaptation. In this thesis, we focus on the efficient sharing of this information, for self-analysis and distributed performance evaluation purposes. After having formalized the problem of the distributed measurement, we address in a first part the fusion and the diffusion of measures in dynamic graphs. We develop a new heuristic for the average consensus problem offering a better contraction rate than the ones of the state of the art. In a second part, we consider more stable topologies where TCP is used to convey measures. We offer a scheduling mechanism for TCP flows that guaranty the same impact on the network congestion, while reducing the average latency. Finally, we show how nodes can supervise various metrics such as the system performance based on their utilities and suggest a method to allow them to analyze the evolution of this performance

L'objectif est la definition d'un modele et d'une methode d'etude au niveau logique d'un systeme de communication prenant en compte l'ensemble des aspects qui caracterisent les liaisons de communication et plus particulierement leur aspect dynamique. Le modele repose, pour traduire l'aspect dynamique, sur une representation discrete du fonctionnement observe a un niveau macroscopique

Actuellement, des systèmes complets, contenant une partie logicielle et une partie matérielle, sont intégrés sur une même puce nommée Système-sur-Silicium (SoC). Pour faire face à la complexité d'intégration et maîtriser les contraintes, les équipes de recherche proposent de nouvelles méthodologies de conception qui reposent sur (1) la réutilisation de blocs logiciels ou matériels préconçus (Composant Virtuel VC, Intellectual Property IP), (2) sur l'élévation du niveau de description des applications (System-Level Design) et (3) sur l'orthogonalisation de différents aspects (fonctionnalité/architecture, calculs/communication, besoins/contraintes/choix d'implantation). Malheureusement la difficulté de réutilisation liée au niveau de description RTL (Register Transfer Level), auquel sont fournis les IPs, ne permet pas une intégration aisée et optimisée. Ainsi, les méthodologies d'intégration à base d'adaptateurs additionnels sont souvent inadaptées aux contraintes et à la spécificité des algorithmes utilisés dans le domaine du traitement du signal et de l'image (TDSI). Elles peuvent de ce fait aboutir à la violation des contraintes en terme de surface, consommation et performances du système. La synthèse de l'unité de traitement (UT) est réalisée à l'aide de l'outil GAUT (Générateur Automatique d'Unité de Traitement) dont l'ordonnancement est contraint par les paramètres temporel de l'intégrateur du composant virtuel. La synthèse de l'UT génère un ensemble de contraintes au E/S, modélisé sous la forme d'un IPERM (IP Execution Requirement Model). Ce dernier modélise (1) les dates de production et de consommation des données dans l'UT et (2) les bus sur lesquels elles transitent entre l'unité de communication et l'unité de traitement. Les modèles IPERM et IOCG sont finalement utilisés pour synthétiser l'unité de communication. Nous avons appliqué notre méthode à des algorithmes des domaines du TDSI et des Télécommunications. La première expérience est réalisée sur un exemple de Transformée de Fourrier Rapide (FFT). Pour les conditions d'expérimentation retenues, l'optimisation du nombre d'opérateurs est en moyenne de 20% et celle des registres de 7%, par rapport à une approche classique. La deuxième expérience utilise une Transformée en Cosinus Discrète (DCT) pour comparer les résultats, obtenus en appliquant l'approche d'intégration proposée dans ce manuscrit, avec les résultats des méthodes utilisant des adaptateurs. Pour l'exemple considéré, le gain sur les registres de communications varie de -2% à 88% à débit d'E/S constant. La dernière expérience, réalisée en partenariat industriel, démontre l'applicabilité de notre méthodologie sur un composant virtuel comportemental complexe (Maximum A Posteriori MAP) dans le contexte d'une application de Turbo décodage temps réel.

Nous proposons dans ce mémoire une approche de réutilisation des IPs dans les applications orientées traitement du signal, de l'image et des télécommunications. Pour cela, nous basons notre approche sur la notion de composants virtuels de niveau algorithmique, définie dans le cadre des projets RNRT MILPAT (Méthodologie et Développement pour les Intellectual Properties pour Applications Telecom). Le flot de conception proposé s'inscrit dans la démarche Adéquation Algorithme Architecture du projet RNRT ALITPA (Définition et Application d'une méthodologie de développement pour les (IP) intellectual property de niveau comportemental dans les applications de télécommunication) et est basé sur l'utilisation de techniques de synthèse haut niveau sous contraintes d'intégration. Les unités fonctionnelles constituant l'architecture cible du composant sont (re)conçues en fonction des caractéristiques de l'architecture de communication du système et de la spécificité de l'application.

Dans ce contexte, la spécification de l'IP est modélisée par un Graphe Flot de Signaux (SFG) qui, couplé aux temps de propagations des opérateurs et à la cadence d'itération, permet la génération d'un graphe de contrainte algorithmique ACG. Nous avons développé une d'analyse formelle des contraintes, qui repose sur les calculs de cycles, et permet de vérifier la cohérence entre la cadence, les dépendances de données de l'algorithme et les contraintes technologiques.

Les contraintes d'intégration, spécifiées pour chacun des bus (ports) connectants l'IP aux autres composants du système, sont modélisées par un graphe de contraintes d'Entrée/Sortie IOCG (IO Constraint Graph) dont la sémantique est issue des travaux de Ku et De Micheli. Ce modèle supporte, entre autre, la modélisation (1) du type de transferts, (2) des varations temporelles des dates d'arrivées des données, (3) du séquencement des données échangées (4) des mécanismes liés aux protocoles. Les contraintes d'intégration et les contraintes algorithmiques de l'IP sont fusionnées pour fournir un graphe détaillé des contraintes GCG (Global Constraint Graph) exhibant les points de synchronisation entre l'environnement et le composant. Des optimisations pour l'implémentations sont proposées à partir de transformations formelles du graphe.

La synthèse de l'unité de traitement (UT) est réalisée à l'aide de l'outil GAUT (Générateur Automatique d'Unité de Traitement) dont l'ordonnancement est contraint par les paramètres temporel de l'intégrateur du composant virtuel. La synthèse de l'UT génère un ensemble de contraintes au E/S, modélisé sous la forme d'un IPERM (IP Execution Requirement Model). Ce dernier modélise (1) les dates de production et de consommation des données dans l'UT et (2) les bus sur lesquels elles transitent entre l'unité de communication et l'unité de traitement. Les modèles IPERM et IOCG sont finalement utilisés pour synthétiser l'unité de communication.

Nous avons appliqué notre méthode à des algorithmes des domaines du TDSI et des Télécommunications. La première expérience est réalisée sur un exemple de Transformée de Fourrier Rapide (FFT). Pour les conditions d'expérimentation retenues, l'optimisation du nombre d'opérateurs est en moyenne de 20% et celle des registres de 7%, par rapport à une approche classique. La deuxième expérience utilise une Transformée en Cosinus Discrète (DCT) pour comparer les résultats, obtenus en appliquant l'approche d'intégration proposée dans ce manuscrit, avec les résultats des méthodes utilisant des adaptateurs. Pour l'exemple considéré, le gain sur les registres de communications varie de -2% à 88% à débit d'E/S constant. La dernière expérience, réalisée en partenariat industriel, démontre l'applicabilité de notre méthodologie sur un composant virtuel comportemental complexe (Maximum A Posteriori MAP) dans le contexte d'une application de Turbo décodage temps réel.

La baisse des coûts de communication, l'amélioration de la performance des réseaux et l'évolution des plateformes de services dédiées permettant de gérer une multitude d'objets, a conduit à l'apparition de nouveaux usages et de nouvelles applications rassemblées sous l'appellation "Machine-à-Machine'' abrégée en M2M. Ce travail de thèse propose de répondre aux défis d'autogestion caractérisés par les récentes études de l'informatique autonomique. Il traite de la modélisation et de la validation des systèmes M2M opérant dans un contexte dynamique et sous un ensemble de propriétés structurelles et temporisées. Pour ce faire, nous proposons de nous appuyer sur les grammaires de graphes et des techniques de model checking. Dans un premier temps, nous nous sommes intéressés à la vérification au moment de la conception des communications M2M opérant sous des contraintes temporisées. Pour ce faire, nous avons proposé une approche de vérification formelle basée sur les techniques de model checking. Pour caractériser les entités M2M ainsi que leurs propriétés temporisées, un modèle formel basé sur les automates temporisés a été introduit. Étant donné que les systèmes M2M impliquent un grand nombre d'éléments, une approche de vérification partielle du système a été adoptée. La vérification au moment de la conception est une étape très importante, cependant elle n'est pas suffisante. En effet, les systèmes M2M sont hautement dynamiques et leur adaptation au moment de l'exécution est cruciale pour garantir leur bon fonctionnement. Dans un premier temps, nous nous sommes intéressés à la gestion des propriétés structurelles des systèmes M2M. Pour ce faire, nous nous sommes référés au standard européen smartM2M pour définir un style architectural décrivant les organisations acceptables du système. Afin de conduire des actions de reconfiguration dynamiques, nous nous sommes basés sur les grammaires de graphes et des règles de transformation de graphes. L'approche de reconfiguration proposée a été ensuite étendue pour prendre en compte les contraintes temporisées lors de la reconfiguration des systèmes M2M. Pour ce faire, nous avons caractérisé les systèmes M2M en trois couches : une couche application qui exprime les propriétés temporisées entre les applications M2M, une couche service pour décrire les composants nécessaires à l'exécution des applications et une couche infrastructure décrivant le déploiement de ces derniers sur une infrastructure physique. Des mécanismes de reconfiguration dynamique guidés par les contraintes temporisées ont été proposés et implémentés dans un gestionnaire autonomique qui interagit avec ces différentes couches. Son rôle est de superviser, de contrôler, et de garantir le comportement temporisé du système
The decrease in communication costs, the improvement of networks performance and the evolution of the dedicated services platforms managing multiple objects, led to the appearance of new practices and applications gathered under the designation of Machine-to-Machine communications (M2M). M2M systems have to integrate in a coordinated way various devices and software modules such as sensors, actuators, displays, middleware, etc. M2M expansion gives rise to extensive data exploitation, effective routing and reasoning mechanisms for an appropriate decision making and a coordinated control in a predictive and reactive way. This work aims to meet self-management challenges characterized by recent studies of autonomic computing. It deals with the modeling and the validation of M2M systems operating in a dynamic context and under a set of functional and non-functional properties, specifically temporal ones. To do so, we propose to rely on graph grammars and model checking related techniques. This allows to configure and to reconfigure a set of communicating objects by considering a set of constraints. First, we were interested in the validation at design time of M2M communications operating under temporal constraints. A verification and validation approach based on timed automata was proposed. A smart grid scenario was developed to validate the proposed model. This step is necessary, however it is not sufficient. Indeed, M2M systems are dynamic and verification at run time is important. To validate the execution of an M2M system, we focused on in its functional and temporal aspects. We referred to the European standard smartM2M to define an architectural style for M2M systems. This standard was selected for the following reasons: (1) its independence of the application domain and the objects' communication technology, (2) its broad scope and (3) its deployment on industrial systems. To validate the M2M system' functionalities, a multi-model approach was proposed: a first model, named functional, representing a real-time view of M2M system and a second model, named formal, based on a graph grammar incorporating the concepts of the functional layer. To conduct dynamic reconfiguration actions, graph transformation rules have been defined. Bi-directional communication mechanisms have been set up to maintain coherence between the real system and its models. A smart metering use case was developed to validate the proposed approach. With the aim of validating temporal properties of an M2M system during its execution, this approach has been extended with new concepts. We have defined a three-layers based approach to describe the features and temporal properties of an M2M system: an application layer which incorporates the concepts defined in the formal layer of the previous approach with extensions to express temporal properties between applications M2M, a service layer to describe the necessary components to meet the specification of the upper layer and infrastructure layer describing their deployment. An autonomic manager interacts with these layers to supervise and control the temporal behavior of the system. These layers are part of the autonomic manager knowledge base. The autonomic manager architecture and dynamic reconfiguration mechanisms were detailed. An eHealth scenario has been designed to illustrate the proposed approach

Les systèmes de commande en réseau (SCR) sont de plus en plus répandus dans le milieu industriel. Ils procurent en effet de nombreux avantages en termes de coût, de flexibilité, de maintenance, etc. Cependant,l’introduction d’un réseau, qui par nature est composé de ressources partagées, impacte considérablement les performances temporelles des systèmes de commande. Un signal de commande par exemple n’arrive à destination qu’après un certain délai. Pour s’assurer que ce délai soit inférieur à un certain seuil de sécurité ou du respect d’autres contraintes temps réels de ces systèmes, une évaluation au préalable, avant la mise en service d’un SCR, s’avère donc nécessaire. Dans nos travaux de recherche, nous nous intéressons à la réactivité des SCR client/serveur et évaluons leur temps de réponse.Notre contribution dans ces travaux est d’adopter une approche analytique à base de l’algèbre (Max,+) et remédier aux problèmes des méthodes existantes comme l’explosion combinatoire de la vérification formelle ou de la non exhaustivité des approches par simulation. Après modélisation des SCR client/serveur à l’aide de Graphe d’Evénements Temporisés puis représentation de leurs dynamiques à l’aides d’équations (Max,+) linéaires, nous obtenons des formules de calcul direct du temps de réponse. Plus précisément, nous adoptons une analyse déterministe pour calculer les bornes, minimale et maximale, du temps de réponse puis une analyse stochastique pour calculer la fonction de sa distribution. De plus, nous prenons en compte dans nos travaux tous les délais élémentaires qui composent le temps de réponse, y compris les délais de bout-en-bout, dus à la traversée du seul réseau de communication. Ce dernier étant naturellement composé de ressources partagées, rendant l’utilisation des modèles (Max,+) classiques impossibles, nous introduisons une nouvelle approche de modélisation à base du formalisme (Max,+) mais prenant en compte le concept de conflit ou ressource partagée.L’exemple d’un réseau de type Ethernet est considéré pour évaluer ces délais de bout-en-bout. Par ailleurs, cette nouvelle méthode (Max,+) est assez générique et reste applicable à de nombreux systèmes impliquant des ressources partagées, au delà des seuls réseaux de communication. Enfin, pour vérifier la validité des résultats obtenus dans nos travaux, notamment la formule de la borne maximale du temps de réponse, une compagne de mesures expérimentales sont menées sur une plateforme dédiée. Différentes configurations et conditions de trafic dans un réseau Ethernet sont considérées
Networked automation systems (NAS) are more and more used in industry, given the several advantages they provide like flexibility, low cost, ease of maintenance, etc. However, the use of a communication network in SCR means in essence sharing some resources and therefore strikingly impacts their time performances. For instance, a control signal does get to its destination (actuator) only after a non zero delay. So, to guarantee that such a delay is shorter than a given threshold or other time constraints well respected, an a priori evaluation is necessary before operating the SCR. In our research activities, we are interested in client/server SCR reactivity and the evaluation of their response time.Our contribution in this investigation is the introduction of a (Max,+) Algebra-based analytic approach to solve some problems, faced in the existing methods like state explosion of model checking or the non exhaustivity of simulation. So, after getting Timed Event Graphs based models of the SCR and their linear state (Max,+) representation, we obtain formulae that enables to calculate straightforwardly the SCR response times. More precisely, we obtain formulae of the bounds of response time by adopting a deterministic analysis and other formulae to calculate the probability density of response time by considering a stochastic analysis. Moreover, in our investigation we take into account every single elementary delay involved in the response time, including the end-to-end delays, due exclusively to crossing the communication network. This latter being however constituted of shared resources, making by the way the use of TEG and (Max,+) Algebra impossible, we introduce a novel approach to model the communication network. This approach brings to life a new class of Petri nets, called Conflicting Timed Event Graphs (CTEG), which enables us to solve the problem of the shared resources. We also manage to represent the CTEG dynamics using recurrent (Max,+) equations and therefore calculate the end to-end delays. An Ethernet-based network is studied as an example to apply this novel approach. Note by the way that the field of application of this approach borders largely communication networks and is quite possible when dealing with other systems.Finally, to validate the different results of our research activities and the related hypotheses, especially the maximal bound of response time formula, we carry out lots of experimental measurements on a lab facility. We compare the measures to the formula predictions and check their agreement under different conditions

Dans le but de remédier aux problèmes aujourd’hui omniprésents dans le secteur du transport, qu’ils soient financiers, environnementaux ou autres, nous nous intéressons à l’établissement d’un système de covoiturage dynamique optimisé. La voiture partagée est venue subvenir à des besoins restés insatisfaits en matière de déplacement (flexibilité spatiotemporelle…) encourageant l’émergence d’un mode de transport révolutionnaire qu’est la comodalité. Le focus est alors mis sur la complémentarité entre les modes collectifs et individuels et vient considérer la voiture partagée et plus particulièrement le covoiturage comme des modes de transport à part entière. Placés dans ce cadre, nous nous intéressons à l’aspect temps réel dans les systèmes de covoiturage et développons nos travaux dans ce sens. Ce problème ayant une complexité qui n’est pas des moindres, tous nos efforts sont dirigés dans le but de contrecarrer cet obstacle et mettre en œuvre une application logicielle compétitive à grande échelle offrant satisfaction et qualité de service. Pour ce faire, nous considérons une alliance des systèmes multi-agents et des techniques d’optimisation donnant lieu à des agents optimisateurs répartis selon une modélisation de graphe dynamique distribué. Celui-ci est établi sur la base d’un principe de décomposition du réseau géographique desservi inspiré des techniques de classification pour la mise en exergue des zones de concentration des abonnés. Cette modélisation favorise le traitement parallèle des requêtes de par la décentralisation et décomposition du processus initial sur une multitude d’agents optimisateurs chargés chacun d’une ou plusieurs tâches de moindre complexité
In an attempt to address the transportation problems now ubiquitous, may them be financial, environmental or any, we are mainly involved with the establishment of a dynamic optimized carpooling service. Shared cars came to remedy these problems and meet the longtime remained unsatisfied needs (spatiotemporal flexibility…) and so promote the comodal practice. The stress is then put on the complementarity between collective and individual means of transportation and comes to confirm the shared car and more particularly the carpooling as a transport mode as a whole. Based on this, we are mainly interested in setting up a real time ridesharing service providing the needed efficiency in such a context. In fact, the problem we tackle has a complexity of exponential order which must be wiped out preventing from adverse impacts. Blending the agent paradigm with the optimization technics helped reach our goals of implementing a large-scale competitive and fully automated support and providing the necessary efficiency and quality of service. The proposed alliance is realized through communicating optimizing agents spread according to a distributed dynamic graph modeling. The latter is established through a subdivision process of the served geographic network and has been inspired from clustering technics to put the stress on limited and intersecting areas of high density. This helps to promote the parallel requests treatment over a decentralized process. Thus, each optimizing agent firstly manage the requests parts included within the zone it is responsible for and then recompose global responses in coalition with concerned agents in a distributed artificial intelligence context

This thesis studies a problem that has been proposed as a novel way to disrupt communication networks: the load maximization problem. The load on a member of a network represents the amount of communication that the member is forced to be involved in. By maximizing the load on an important member of the network, we hope to increase that member's visibility and susceptibility to capture. In this thesis we characterize load as a combinatorial property of graphs and expose possible connections between load and spectral graph theory. We specifically describe the load and how it changes in several canonical classes of graphs and determine the range of values that the load can take on. We also consider a connection between load and liquid paint flow and use this connection to build a heuristic solver for the load maximization problem. We conclude with a detailed discussion of open questions for future work.

La technologie sans fil est un catalyseur clé des promesses de l’industrie 4.0 (fabrication intelligente). En tant que telle, la technologie sans fil sera adoptée comme mode de communication principal au sein de l’usine en général et dans les unités de production en particulier. La communication des unités de production en usine a des exigences particulières en matière de latence, de fiabilité, d’échelle et de sécurité qui doivent d’abord être satisfaites par la technologie de communication sans fil utilisée. Le sans fil est considéré comme une forme de communication non idéale dans la mesure où par rapport aux communications câblées, il est considéré comme moins fiable (avec perte) et moins sécurisé. Ces dégradations possibles entraînent un retard et une perte de données dans un système d’automatisation industrielle où le déterminisme, la sécurité et la sûreté sont considérés comme primordiaux. Cette thèse étudie les exigences d’une communication sans fil dans les unités de production et l’applicabilité de la technologie sans fil existante dans ce domaine. Elle présente une modélisation SysML de l’architecture du système et des flux de données. Elle fournit une méthode d’utilisation des bases de données de type graphe pour l’organisation et l’analyse des données de performance collectées à partir d’un environnement de test. Enfin, la thèse décrit une approche utilisant l’apprentissage automatique pour l’évaluation des performances d’un système d’objets connectés dans le domaine de fabrication
Wireless technology is a key enabler of the promises of Industry 4.0 (Smart Manufacturing). As such, wireless technology will be adopted as a principal mode of communication within the factory beginning with the factory enterprise and eventually being adopted for use within the factory workcell. Factory workcell communication has particular requirements on latency, reliability, scale, and security that must first be met by the wireless communication technology used. Wireless is considered a non-ideal form of communication in that when compared to its wired counterparts, it is considered less reliable (lossy) and less secure. These possible impairments lead to delay and loss of data in industrial automation system where determinism, security, and safety is considered paramount. This thesis investigates the wireless requirements of the factory workcell and applicability of existing wireless technology, it presents a modeling approach to discovery of architecture and data flows using SysML, it provides a method for the use of graph databases to the organization and analysis of performance data collected from a testbed environment, and finally provides an approach to using machine learning in the evaluation of cyberphysical system performance

Les schémas de routage locaux basés sur des coordonnées prises dans le plan hyperbolique ont attiré un intérêt croissant depuis quelques années. Cependant, les solutions proposées sont toutes appliquées à des réseaux au topologie aléatoire et au nombre de nœuds limités. Dans le même temps, plusieurs travaux se sont concentrés sur la création de modèle topologique basé sur les lois de la géométrie hyperbolique. Dans ce cas, Il est montré que les graphes ont des topologies semblables à Internet et qu'un routage local hyperbolique atteint une efficacité proche de la perfection. Cependant, ces graphes ne garantissent pas le taux de réussite du routage même si aucune panne ne se produit. Dans cette thèse, l'objectif est de construire un système passant à l'échelle pour la création de réseau recouvrant capable de fournir à ses membres un service d'adressage et de routage résilient dans un environnement dynamique. Ensuite, nous étudions de quelle manière les réseaux P2PTV pourraient supporter un nombre d'utilisateur croissant. Dans cette thèse, nous essayons de répondre à cette question en étudiant les facteurs d'efficacité et de passage à l'échelle dans un système de diffusion vidéo P2P typique. Au travers des données fournies par Zattoo, producteur de réseau P2PTV, nous réalisons des simulations dont les résultats montrent qu'il y a encore des obstacles à surmonter avant que les réseaux P2P de diffusion vidéo puissent dépendre uniquement de leurs utilisateurs
Local routing schemes based on virtual coordinates taken from the hyperbolic plane have attracted considerable interest in recent years.However, solutions have been applied to ad-hoc and sensor networks having a random topology and a limited number of nodes. In other hand, some research has focused on the creation of network topology models based on hyperbolic geometric laws. In this case, it has been shown that these graphs have an Internet-like topology and that local hyperbolic routing achieves a near perfect efficiency. However, with these graphs, routing success is not guaranteed even if no failures happen. In this thesis, we aim at building a scalable system for creating overlay networks on top of the Internet that would provide reliable addressing and routing service to its members in a dynamic environment.Next, we investigate how well P2PTV networks would support a growing number of users. In this thesis, we try to address this question by studying scalability and efficiency factors in a typical P2P based live streaming network. Through the use of the data provided by Zattoo a production P2PTV network, we carry out simulations whose results show that there are still hurdles to overcome before P2P based live streaming could depend uniquely of their users

Visuals and graphics have been used for communicating complex ideas since 1786 when William Playfair first invented the line graph and bar chart. Graphs and charts are useful for interpretation and making sense of data. For instance, John Snow’s scatter plot helped pinpoint the source of a cholera outbreak in London in 1854 and also changed understandings of how germs were spread. While popular in the field of information graphics, rarely are graphs beyond the bar chart found in educational research articles. When present, the graphs do not necessarily enhance the findings of the data. Nor do educational research methods textbooks promote or instruct how to create visual representations to aid with interpretation and communication of findings. This paper attempts to address this void by sharing our processes for creating meaningful visual graphs for communicating multi-dimensional statistical findings more effectively. A working hypothesis was that carefully crafted visual graphics would convey our longitudinal research findings more effectively to broader audiences than existing forms. Three visuals were constructed from survey data three-year longitudinal design based research study of teacher and student learning in a one-to-one laptop school. The study focused on learning designs that changed and improved student learning experiences and outcomes by adopting inquiry approaches to teaching that incorporate meaningful uses of technology. In field tests, our audiences found the visuals were useful for interpreting the findings. More and more frequently, academics are required to communicate their findings to broader audiences. A well-designed and well-constructed graph(ic) can provide a means for effective communication of complex, multi-dimensional statistical data. Such effective communication is beneficial for both an academic audience as well as for broader audiences. The authors presented this paper that was previously published in JITE: Research

The concept of domination has a wide field of research in graph theory. The dominating set of a graph G is a subset S of vertices of G such that every vertex not in S is adjacent to at least one vertex in S [1]. The concept of domination has various types defined on vertices and edges. If each vertex in a dominating set S of the graph G is also a member of the geodetic set, then the set S is called a geodetic dominating set [2]. A communication network is a connection between centers and those centers that allow them to communicate with each other it consists of lines. These network centers can be modeled as the vertices of the graph and the connecting lines as the edges of the graph. Some parameters have been defined to measure the vulnerability of the graph in case some vertex or edge of the graph modeling a communication network is damaged. One of these parameters is the geodetic domination integrity [3]. In this study, the geodetic domination integrity of graphs is considered, and some general results are obtained for the geodetic domination integrity of some transformation graphs.

Perimeter detection and surveillance by a distributed swarm of autonomous agents offers a solution in multiple cases where human safety or environmental protection is of concern. An algorithmic method is developed for detection and surveillance of one or more dynamic perimeters via distributed control under local-area sensing and communication. Local graphs among neighbors are formed based on proximity, at which point communication among graph members becomes possible. Hardware-in-the-loop mixed-simulation experiments validate the method utilizing iRobot Create® ground robots and a NaturalPoint OptiTrack vision system.

Constructing appropriate representations of molecules lies at the core of numerous tasks such as material science, chemistry, and drug designs. Recent researches abstract molecules as attributed graphs and employ graph neural networks (GNN) for molecular representation learning, which have made remarkable achievements in molecular graph modeling. Albeit powerful, current models either are based on local aggregation operations and thus miss higher-order graph properties or focus on only node information without fully using the edge information. For this sake, we propose a Communicative Message Passing Transformer (CoMPT) neural network to improve the molecular graph representation by reinforcing message interactions between nodes and edges based on the Transformer architecture. Unlike the previous transformer-style GNNs that treat molecule as a fully connected graph, we introduce a message diffusion mechanism to leverage the graph connectivity inductive bias and reduce the message enrichment explosion. Extensive experiments demonstrated that the proposed model obtained superior performances (around 4% on average) against state-of-the-art baselines on seven chemical property datasets (graph-level tasks) and two chemical shift datasets (node-level tasks). Further visualization studies also indicated a better representation capacity achieved by our model.

Constructing proper representations of molecules lies at the core of numerous tasks such as molecular property prediction and drug design. Graph neural networks, especially message passing neural network (MPNN) and its variants, have recently made remarkable achievements in molecular graph modeling. Albeit powerful, the one-sided focuses on atom (node) or bond (edge) information of existing MPNN methods lead to the insufficient representations of the attributed molecular graphs. Herein, we propose a Communicative Message Passing Neural Network (CMPNN) to improve the molecular embedding by strengthening the message interactions between nodes and edges through a communicative kernel. In addition, the message generation process is enriched by introducing a new message booster module. Extensive experiments demonstrated that the proposed model obtained superior performances against state-of-the-art baselines on six chemical property datasets. Further visualization also showed better representation capacity of our model.

We present a graph theoretic and optimization based method for attitude and position consensus of a team of communicating vehicles navigating in three dimensional space. Coordinated control of such vehicles has applications in planetary scale mobile sensor networks, and multiple vehicle navigation in general. Using the Laplacian matrix of the communication graph, and attitude quaternions, a synthesis of the optimal stochastic matrix that drives the attitudes to consensus, is done, by solving a constrained semidefinite program. This novel methodology attempts to extend quadratically constrained attitude control (Q-CAC), to the consensus framework. The solutions obtained are used to realize coordinated rendezvous, and formation acquisition, in the presence of static and dynamic obstacles.

In this paper we propose distributed algorithms to automatically deploy a group of robotic agents and provide coverage of a discretized environment represented by a graph. We present a discrete coverage algorithm which converges to a centroidal Voronoi partition while requiring only pairwise “gossip” communication between the agents. Our theoretical analysis is based on a dynamical system on partitions of the graph’s vertices. We also establish bounds on the computational requirements of the algorithm and demonstrate its functionality with simulations.

We document large gaps between parents knowledge and school reports of students attendance and grades. Sending frequent text messages with information on attendance, grades and school behavior shrinks those gaps. Parents of at-risk students adjust their understanding of their children's performance to the greatest degree. High-frequency text messages had positive impacts on grades and attendance. Math GPA increased 0.08 of a standard deviation; the probability of earning a passing grade in math increased by 2.7 percentage points (relative to a mean of 90 percent). The intervention also reduced school absenteeism by 1 percentage point and increased the share of students who met attendance requirements for grade promotion by 4.5 percentage points.

The paper presents an analysis of the importance of studying graph algorithms, the reasons for the need to implement this project and its subsequent use. The existing analogues analysis is carried out, due to which a list of advantages and disadvantages is formed and taken into account in developing the virtual laboratory. A web application is created that clearly illustrates the work of graph algorithms, such as Depth-First Search, Dijkstra’s Shortest Path, Floyd- Warshall, Kruskal Minimum Cost Spanning Tree Algorithm. A simple and user- friendly interface is developed and it is supported by all popular browsers. The software product is provided with user registration and authorization functions, chat communication, personal cabinet editing and viewing the statistics on web- application use. An additional condition is taken into account at the design stage, namely the flexibility of the architecture, which envisaged the possibility of easy expansion of an existing functionality. Virtual laboratory is used at Kryvyi Rih National University to training students of specialty 121 Software Engineering in the disciplines “Algorithms and Data Structures” and “Discrete Structures”.

The article deals with scaffolding strategy for teaching creative writing in the English classroom. The importance of using the creative writing technique, which is an effective means of optimization and intensification of the process of foreign language study, for forming students' communicative competence in writing is highlighted. It is supposed that an elaborated scaffolding strategy might help lecturers to organize the educational process with maximum capacity and successful results. A variety of techniques such as intensive usage of graphic organizers ("Plan Think Sheet", "Mind-map", "Concept Map", "Clustering", "Spider Map", "Cycle", "Chain of Events", "Web"), "Teaching by Example", "Sentence Stem Completion" / "Close procedures", “Stream of Consciousness”, Genre scaffolding techniques are recommended to empower learners' creative abilities to write and express themselves on any topic using the wide range of writing techniques with the relevant structure and vocabulary.

Disruptive socio-natural transformations and climatic change, where system invariants and symmetries break down, defy the traditional complexity paradigms such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. In order to overcome this, we introduced non-ergodic Information Physics, bringing physical meaning to inferential metrics, and a coevolving flexibility to the metrics of information transfer, resulting in new methods for causal discovery and attribution. With this in hand, we develop novel dynamic models and analysis algorithms natively built for quantum information technological platforms, expediting complex system computations and rigour. Moreover, we introduce novel quantum sensing technologies in our Meteoceanics satellite constellation, providing unprecedented spatiotemporal coverage, resolution and lead, whilst using exclusively sustainable materials and processes across the value chain. Our technologies bring out novel information physical fingerprints of extreme events, with recently proven records in capturing early warning signs for extreme hydro-meteorologic events and seismic events, and do so with unprecedented quantum-grade resolution, robustness, security, speed and fidelity in sensing, processing and communication. Our advances, from Earth to Space, further provide crucial predictive edge and added value to early warning systems of natural hazards and long-term predictions supporting climatic security and action.

Macroeconomic summary Several factors contributed to an increase in projected inflation on the forecast horizon, keeping it above the target rate. These included inflation in December that surpassed expectations (5.62%), indexation to higher inflation rates for various baskets in the consumer price index (CPI), a significant real increase in the legal minimum wage, persistent external and domestic inflationary supply shocks, and heightened exchange rate pressures. The CPI for foods was affected by the persistence of external and domestic supply shocks and was the most significant contributor to unexpectedly high inflation in the fourth quarter. Price adjustments for fuels and certain utilities can explain the acceleration in inflation for regulated items, which was more significant than anticipated. Prices in the CPI for goods excluding food and regulated items also rose more than expected. This was partly due to a smaller effect on prices from the national government’s VAT-free day than anticipated by the technical staff and more persistent external pressures, including via peso depreciation. By contrast, the CPI for services excluding food and regulated items accelerated less than expected, partly reflecting strong competition in the communications sector. This was the only major CPI basket for which prices increased below the target inflation rate. The technical staff revised its inflation forecast upward in response to certain external shocks (prices, costs, and depreciation) and domestic shocks (e.g., on meat products) that were stronger and more persistent than anticipated in the previous report. Observed inflation and a real increase in the legal minimum wage also exceeded expectations, which would boost inflation by affecting price indexation, labor costs, and inflation expectations. The technical staff now expects year-end headline inflation of 4.3% in 2022 and 3.4% in 2023; core inflation is projected to be 4.5% and 3.6%, respectively. These forecasts consider the lapse of certain price relief measures associated with the COVID-19 health emergency, which would contribute to temporarily keeping inflation above the target on the forecast horizon. It is important to note that these estimates continue to contain a significant degree of uncertainty, mainly related to the development of external and domestic supply shocks and their ultimate effects on prices. Other contributing factors include high price volatility and measurement uncertainty related to the extension of Colombia’s health emergency and tax relief measures (such as the VAT-free days) associated with the Social Investment Law (Ley de Inversión Social). The as-yet uncertain magnitude of the effects of a recent real increase in the legal minimum wage (that was high by historical standards) and high observed and expected inflation, are additional factors weighing on the overall uncertainty of the estimates in this report. The size of excess productive capacity remaining in the economy and the degree to which it is closing are also uncertain, as the evolution of the pandemic continues to represent a significant forecast risk. margin, could be less dynamic than expected. And the normalization of monetary policy in the United States could come more quickly than projected in this report, which could negatively affect international financing costs. Finally, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty related to the duration of supply chocks and the degree to which macroeconomic and political conditions could negatively affect the recovery in investment. The technical staff revised its GDP growth projection for 2022 from 4.7% to 4.3% (Graph 1.3). This revision accounts for the likelihood that a larger portion of the recent positive dynamic in private consumption would be transitory than previously expected. This estimate also contemplates less dynamic investment behavior than forecast in the previous report amid less favorable financial conditions and a highly uncertain investment environment. Third-quarter GDP growth (12.9%), which was similar to projections from the October report, and the fourth-quarter growth forecast (8.7%) reflect a positive consumption trend, which has been revised upward. This dynamic has been driven by both public and private spending. Investment growth, meanwhile, has been weaker than forecast. Available fourth-quarter data suggest that consumption spending for the period would have exceeded estimates from October, thanks to three consecutive months that included VAT-free days, a relatively low COVID-19 caseload, and mobility indicators similar to their pre-pandemic levels. By contrast, the most recently available figures on new housing developments and machinery and equipment imports suggest that investment, while continuing to rise, is growing at a slower rate than anticipated in the previous report. The trade deficit is expected to have widened, as imports would have grown at a high level and outpaced exports. Given the above, the technical staff now expects fourth-quarter economic growth of 8.7%, with overall growth for 2021 of 9.9%. Several factors should continue to contribute to output recovery in 2022, though some of these may be less significant than previously forecast. International financial conditions are expected to be less favorable, though external demand should continue to recover and terms of trade continue to increase amid higher projected oil prices. Lower unemployment rates and subsequent positive effects on household income, despite increased inflation, would also boost output recovery, as would progress in the national vaccination campaign. The technical staff expects that the conditions that have favored recent high levels of consumption would be, in large part, transitory. Consumption spending is expected to grow at a slower rate in 2022. Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) would continue to recover, approaching its pre-pandemic level, though at a slower rate than anticipated in the previous report. This would be due to lower observed GFCF levels and the potential impact of political and fiscal uncertainty. Meanwhile, the policy interest rate would be less expansionary as the process of monetary policy normalization continues. Given the above, growth in 2022 is forecast to decelerate to 4.3% (previously 4.7%). In 2023, that figure (3.1%) is projected to converge to levels closer to the potential growth rate. In this case, excess productive capacity would be expected to tighten at a similar rate as projected in the previous report. The trade deficit would tighten more than previously projected on the forecast horizon, due to expectations of an improved export dynamic and moderation in imports. The growth forecast for 2022 considers a low basis of comparison from the first half of 2021. However, there remain significant downside risks to this forecast. The current projection does not, for example, account for any additional effects on economic activity resulting from further waves of COVID-19. High private consumption levels, which have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels by a large margin, could be less dynamic than expected. And the normalization of monetary policy in the United States could come more quickly than projected in this report, which could negatively affect international financing costs. Finally, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty related to the duration of supply chocks and the degree to which macroeconomic and political conditions could negatively affect the recovery in investment. External demand for Colombian goods and services should continue to recover amid significant global inflation pressures, high oil prices, and less favorable international financial conditions than those estimated in October. Economic activity among Colombia’s major trade partners recovered in 2021 amid countries reopening and ample international liquidity. However, that growth has been somewhat restricted by global supply chain disruptions and new outbreaks of COVID-19. The technical staff has revised its growth forecast for Colombia’s main trade partners from 6.3% to 6.9% for 2021, and from 3.4% to 3.3% for 2022; trade partner economies are expected to grow 2.6% in 2023. Colombia’s annual terms of trade increased in 2021, largely on higher oil, coffee, and coal prices. This improvement came despite increased prices for goods and services imports. The expected oil price trajectory has been revised upward, partly to supply restrictions and lagging investment in the sector that would offset reduced growth forecasts in some major economies. Elevated freight and raw materials costs and supply chain disruptions continue to affect global goods production, and have led to increases in global prices. Coupled with the recovery in global demand, this has put upward pressure on external inflation. Several emerging market economies have continued to normalize monetary policy in this context. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Federal Reserve has anticipated an end to its asset buying program. U.S. inflation in December (7.0%) was again surprisingly high and market average inflation forecasts for 2022 have increased. The Fed is expected to increase its policy rate during the first quarter of 2022, with quarterly increases anticipated over the rest of the year. For its part, Colombia’s sovereign risk premium has increased and is forecast to remain on a higher path, to levels above the 15-year-average, on the forecast horizon. This would be partly due to the effects of a less expansionary monetary policy in the United States and the accumulation of macroeconomic imbalances in Colombia. Given the above, international financial conditions are projected to be less favorable than anticipated in the October report. The increase in Colombia’s external financing costs could be more significant if upward pressures on inflation in the United States persist and monetary policy is normalized more quickly than contemplated in this report. As detailed in Section 2.3, uncertainty surrounding international financial conditions continues to be unusually high. Along with other considerations, recent concerns over the potential effects of new COVID-19 variants, the persistence of global supply chain disruptions, energy crises in certain countries, growing geopolitical tensions, and a more significant deceleration in China are all factors underlying this uncertainty. The changing macroeconomic environment toward greater inflation and unanchoring risks on inflation expectations imply a reduction in the space available for monetary policy stimulus. Recovery in domestic demand and a reduction in excess productive capacity have come in line with the technical staff’s expectations from the October report. Some upside risks to inflation have materialized, while medium-term inflation expectations have increased and are above the 3% target. Monetary policy remains expansionary. Significant global inflationary pressures and the unexpected increase in the CPI in December point to more persistent effects from recent supply shocks. Core inflation is trending upward, but remains below the 3% target. Headline and core inflation projections have increased on the forecast horizon and are above the target rate through the end of 2023. Meanwhile, the expected dynamism of domestic demand would be in line with low levels of excess productive capacity. An accumulation of macroeconomic imbalances in Colombia and the increased likelihood of a faster normalization of monetary policy in the United States would put upward pressure on sovereign risk perceptions in a more persistent manner, with implications for the exchange rate and the natural rate of interest. Persistent disruptions to international supply chains, a high real increase in the legal minimum wage, and the indexation of various baskets in the CPI to higher inflation rates could affect price expectations and push inflation above the target more persistently. These factors suggest that the space to maintain monetary stimulus has continued to diminish, though monetary policy remains expansionary. 1.2 Monetary policy decision Banco de la República’s board of directors (BDBR) in its meetings in December 2021 and January 2022 voted to continue normalizing monetary policy. The BDBR voted by a majority in these two meetings to increase the benchmark interest rate by 50 and 100 basis points, respectively, bringing the policy rate to 4.0%.