Neural density estimation of response times in layered software systems
File(s)TSE_MDN.pdf (1.86 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Niu, Zifeng
Casale, Giuliano
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Layered queueing networks (LQNs) are a class of performance models for software systems in which multiple distributed resources may be possessed simultaneously by a job. Estimating response times in a layered system is an essential but challenging analysis dimension in Quality of Service (QoS) assessment. Current analytic methods are capable of providing accurate estimates of mean response times. However, accurately approximating response time distributions used in service-level objective analysis is a demanding task. This paper proposes a novel hybrid framework that leverages phase-type (PH) distributions and neural networks to provide accurate density estimates of response times in layered queueing networks. The core step of this framework is to recursively obtain response time distributions in the submodels that are used to analyse the network by means of decomposition. We describe these response time distributions as a mixture of density functions for which we learn the parameters through a Mixture Density Network (MDN). The approach recursively propagates MDN predictions across software layers using PH distributions and performs repeated moment-matching based refitting to efficiently estimate end-to-end response time densities. Extensive numerical experiment results show that our scheme significantly improves density estimations compared to the state-of-the-art.
Date Issued
2024-03
Date Acceptance
2024-01-26
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 2024, 50 (3), pp.636-650
ISSN
0098-5589
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Start Page
636
End Page
650
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering
Volume
50
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2024 IEEE. This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Identifier
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10416811
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-01-30