Lahore University of Management Sciences

About: Lahore University of Management Sciences is a education organization based out in Lahore, Pakistan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Fixed point & Metric space. The organization has 1524 authors who have published 3015 publications receiving 42665 citations. The organization is also known as: LUMS.

Analysis on central and distributed architectures of solar powered DC microgrids

Abstract: In this work, central and distributed architectures of DC microgrids for rural electrification are analyzed under various operating conditions In the proposed scheme, a single household consumer forms the atomic nanogrid unit which may integrate its resources in a scalable model with the community to form a microgrid, without dependence of the national grid The flow of power between houses and the microgrid is implemented through a bidirectional flyback converter The operation of proposed scheme for two different architectures, ie distributed generation distributed storage architecture (DGDSA) and centralized generation centralized storage architecture (CGCSA) is evaluated at various distribution voltage levels and conductor sizes Modified Newton Raphson Method based analysis is performed for both architectures which show that distributed architecture has significant advantages over central architecture due to higher efficiency, low voltage drop and lower line losses Further, the scalable nature with minimum installation cost for distributed architecture makes it more favorable for rural electrification applications in comparison to central architecture The simulated results are also verified using a scaled down version of hardware implementation

Energy-Efficient Multicore Scheduling for Hard Real-Time Systems: A Survey

Abstract: As real-time embedded systems are evolving in scale and complexity, the demand for a higher performance at a minimum energy consumption has become a necessity. Consequently, many embedded systems are now adopting multicore architectures into their design. However, scheduling on multicores is not a trivial task and scheduling to minimize the energy consumption further increases the complexity of the problem. This problem is especially aggravated for hard real-time systems where failure to meet a deadline can be catastrophic. Such scheduling algorithms yearn for a polynomial time complexity for the task-to-core assignment problem with an objective to minimize the overall energy consumption. There is now a trend toward heterogeneous multicores where cores differ in power, performance, and architectural capabilities. The desired performance and energy consumption is attained by assigning a task to the core that is best suited for it. In this article, we present a survey on energy-efficient multicore scheduling algorithms for hard real-time systems. We summarize various algorithms reported in the literature and classify them based on Partitioned, Semi-Partitioned, and Global scheduling techniques for both homogeneous and heterogeneous multicores. We also present a detailed discussion on various open issues within this domain.

The NExus Solutions Tool (NEST) v1.0: an open platform for optimizing multi-scale energy–water–land system transformations

Abstract: . The energy–water–land nexus represents a critical leverage future policies must draw upon to reduce trade-offs between sustainable development objectives. Yet, existing long-term planning tools do not provide the scope or level of integration across the nexus to unravel important development constraints. Moreover, existing tools and data are not always made openly available or are implemented across disparate modeling platforms that can be difficult to link directly with modern scientific computing tools and databases. In this paper, we present the NExus Solutions Tool (NEST): a new open modeling platform that integrates multi-scale energy–water–land resource optimization with distributed hydrological modeling. The new approach provides insights into the vulnerability of water, energy and land resources to future socioeconomic and climatic change and how multi-sectoral policies, technological solutions and investments can improve the resilience and sustainability of transformation pathways while avoiding counterproductive interactions among sectors. NEST can be applied at different spatial and temporal resolutions, and is designed specifically to tap into the growing body of open-access geospatial data available through national inventories and the Earth system modeling community. A case study analysis of the Indus River basin in south Asia demonstrates the capability of the model to capture important interlinkages across system transformation pathways towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, including the intersections between local and regional transboundary policies and incremental investment costs from rapidly increasing regional consumption projected over the coming decades.

Impact of sources of finance on the growth of SMEs: evidence from Pakistan

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the impact of different types of funding sources on the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a developing economy using Pakistan as a case study. We use Enterprise Survey Data of 78 SMEs in Pakistan over 3 years, i.e., 2002, 2007, and 2010. The results show that the banks play positive role toward the growth of SMEs over the sample period. In contrast, the informal sources negatively influence the growth of SMEs between 2002 and 2007 and the effects dissipate between 2007 and 2010 indicating the positive impact of government policies. The paper recommends further initiatives to reduce the impediments encountered by SMEs while accessing finance from banks.