Abstract
The effort of creating virtual city environments is reduced using procedural modelling techniques. However, these typically use split-based approaches which can impose limitations on the final geometry, usually enforcing a grid-like structure and require complex geometry to be imported. Layered shape grammars can increase the variability of procedural buildings, while the vectorial definition of shapes introduces the possibility of creating complex shapes that seamlessly blend into the model. We evaluate the contributions with a modelling example and a comparison with split-based procedural modelling techniques. Results show that layers allow more flexibility than split-based techniques in creating variations. Vectorially defined shapes are a step forward in shape grammar expressiveness.

Abstract
This paper presents CloudAnchor, a brokerage platform conceived to help Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) embrace Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud computing both as providers and consumers. The platform, which transacts automatically single and federated IaaS cloud resources, is a multi-layered Multi-Agent System (MAS) where providers, consumers and virtual providers, representing provider coalitions, are modelled by dedicated agents. Federated resources are detained and negotiated by virtual providers on behalf of the corresponding coalition of providers. CloudAnchor negotiates and establishes Service Level Agreements (SLA) on behalf of SME businesses regarding the provision of brokerage services as well as the provision of single and federated IaaS resources. The discovery, invitation, acceptance and negotiation processes rely on a distributed trust model designed to select the best business partners for consumers and providers and improve runtime.

Abstract
The renewable energy-based distributed generation (DG) implementation in power systems has been an active research area during the last few decades due to several environmental, economic and political factors. Although the integration of DG offers many advantages, several concerns, including protection schemes in systems with the possibility of bi-directional power flow, are raised. Thus, new protection schemes are strongly required in power systems with a significant presence of DG. In this study, an adaptive protection strategy for a distribution system with DG integration is proposed. The proposed strategy considers both grid-connected and islanded operating modes, while the adaptive operation of the protection is dynamically realized considering the availability of DG power production (related to faults or meteorological conditions) in each time step. Besides, the modular structure and fast response of the proposed strategy is validated via simulations conducted on the IEEE 13-node test system.

Abstract

Abstract
Heterogeneous Multi-core Processors (HMPs) have the potential to outperform homogeneous multi-core processors in terms of raw performance and/or energy as both their Instruction-Set Architectures (ISA) and cache configurations (size and set associativity) can be tailored to the specific needs of a computation. In this paper we describe algorithm for the generation of custom HMP and a dynamic run-time core-mapping and scheduling policy that exploits the heterogeneity of such systems customized with respect to the number of cores and L1 cache memory sizes. Experimental results targeting custom HMPs implemented on a contemporary Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) with LEON3 cores as their base for a set of 50 application codes reveal that the proposed core-mapping and scheduling algorithms achieves an average execution time improvement of 18.3% and a 12% energy reduction over a static core-mapping and list-scheduling algorithms. © 2015 IEEE.

Abstract
This paper investigates the effects of Demand Response Programs (DRPs) on the behavior of electricity market players in the day-ahead energy market. To this end, an electricity market environment is proposed based on the multi-agent systems in order to model the strategic self-scheduling of each market player as an individual agent. In such oligopolistic environment, market interactions are considered by using a game theoretic model and the market transactions are cleared by means of a security constrained unit commitment problem. Different types of DRPs are also considered consisting of Time Of Use (TOU), Real Time Pricing (RTP), Critical Peak Pricing (CPP), and Emergency Demand Response Program (EDRP). The proposed model is applied on a modified IEEE six-bus test system. The numerical results indicate that different types of DRPs differently affect the oligopolistic behavior of market players that should be studied by the system operators before their implementation.