Valuetools 2012 - 2012 6th International ICST Conference on Performance Evaluation Methodologies and Tools (VALUETOOLS)

6th International ICST Conference on Performance Evaluation Methodologies and Tools
Scope
As a result of the massive connectivity and inter-connectivity of our “always-online” era, the study of complex systems that involve several thousands (if not millions) of autonomous individual components has become one of the spearheads of current scientific research. So far, examinations have been focused mostly on complex systems that arise in physics, chemistry or biology, but recent technological advances have also brought complexity to the forefront of fundamental research in the fields of computer science, networks, telecommunications and operations research.
All these systems share the same underlying structure: they are made up of autonomous entities that interact in simple ways, but the sheer number of such interactions creates extremely complex systems that still need to be controlled in a distributed fashion in order to match the demand for timely and efficient performance. The Internet is perhaps the most famous and most intensively studied system of this kind, but it is far from being the only one: grid computing, peer-to-peer networks, road networks and supply chains are just the tip of the iceberg that has attracted the interest of the scientific community.
ValueTools 2012 (the 6th International Conference on Performance Evaluation Methodologies and Tools) is an interdisciplinary gathering of minds from different communities using common advanced methodologies for the purposes of performance evaluation, optimization, and stochastic modeling. Traditionally, ValueTools has attracted significant interest from the communities of Communication Networks, Computer Science, Control and Optimization, Operations Research and Signal Processing, and all these communities are present in the organization and steering committees of ValueTools in order to facilitate the flow of know-how and expertise among researchers working on different fields but who could benefit from the use of common tools and methodologies.
Performance evaluation techniques and Tools will draw from the following:
Complex systems (self-organized criticality, emergent properties)
Control theory (optimal control, multiobjective optimization and control, stochastic control, robust control and stabilization, model predictive control, hybrid and switched systems, control and performances, differential games control)
Discrete event systems (Petri nets, max-plus algebra, automata, timed automata)
Game theory (algorithmic game theory, dynamic games, equilibrium analysis, learning in games, mechanism design, evolutionary game theory)
Machine learning and neural networks (learning automata, learning theory, ODE approximations, stochastic differential equations)
Mean field theory
Queueing theory (Markovian queues and networks, network calculus, analytical methods, approximation methods, (in)sensitivity, dynamic Fluid Models, diffusion models, Dam processes, perturbation approaches, control of queues)
Random matrix theory
Rare events and Monte Carlo simulation (parallel/distributed simulations, variance reduction techniques, large deviations, hybrid system simulation, Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, sequential Monte Carlo methods...)
Stochastic geometry (percolation, random graphs)
Stochastic modeling (stochastic geometry, long-range dependence, self-similarity, point processes, traffic models and measurements)
Envisaged applications encompass the following areas:
Computer networks and systems (peer-to-peer systems, grid computing...)
Economics (manufacturing systems, supply chains and resource allocation)
Population biology
Road traffic and transportation systems
Smart homes, energy aware optimization
Social networks (formation and evolution)