Comp 410 Client Meeting

1. Comp 410 Client Meeting 11-5-11

2. Outline • Revised Use Cases • Design Concept • Implementation on Azure • Revised GUI Mockup • Demo • Future Meetings

3. Revised Use Cases Elizabeth Fudge

4. Basic User • Typical member of public • May have no knowledge of energy industry • No authentication required • “Free” to CFAE

5. Basic User Use Case • Visits CFAE website, goes to simulation page • Selects a predefined model with plan • Views simulation results • Views plan • Views model

6. Authenticated User • Has enough domain knowledge to make basic edits to model and/or plan • Authenticates with credentials supplied by CFAE • Costs money for each set of basic edits they save and for each simulation they run • Paid for by user or by CFAE

7. Authenticated User Use Cases • All use cases for Basic User and … • Logs in • Selects a predefined model with plan • Changes numerical parameters of the model and/or plan • May save numerical parameters for future use • Runs simulation • Views new simulation results

8. Expert Authenticated User • Has enough domain knowledge to make advanced edits to model and/or plan • Authenticates with credentials supplied by CFAE • Costs money for each model they edit and save and for each simulation they run • Paid for by user or by CFAE

9. Expert Authenticated User Use Cases • All uses cases for Authenticated User and … • Selects a predefined model with plan, or one of their own saved models with plan • Uploads code and adds to model • Runs simulation • Views new simulation results

10. Clarification:Publishing Models/ Plans • Would be confusing for Basic User to see all saved models/plans • CFAE may want to change models/plans which are visible to Basic User • Could have “publish” option for authenticated users, would have to be approved by CFAE • Could have “publish” option for only some authenticated users (CFAE staff)

11. Clarification: Worst Case Plan • Is worst case plan no change in current behavior?Or absolutely no actions taken? • Ex., coal power plant goes offline from old age – is it replaced with another coal plant or not replaced at all?

12. Design Concept Andrew Emil

13. Design Concept Goals • Flexible framework able to simulate wide variety of models • Provide ability to run simulations of arbitrary complexity and size • Allow for easy visualization and editing of models

14. Solution: Module-Based Modeling • Modules can have any number of inputs and outputs • Each module can be defined through • Compositing • Code • Composite-based Modules: • Made up of collection of interconnected sub-modules • Each sub-module can itself be a composite • Code-based Modules: • Can contain formulas of arbitrary complexity

15. Module Advantages: Complexity and Elasticity • Modules allow for entire simulation to be broken into small pieces • Simulation framework can maintain arbitrary number of modules for each simulation • Encapsulation of work means that simulations are just a collection of modules and connections between them • No need for centralized computing, work can be spread out as desired

16. Module Advantages: Flexibility • Module definitions allow for varied internal behavior of modules • Arbitrary connectivity relates modules to each other • Any module may connect to any other module with compatible inputs and outputs

17. Module Advantages: Usability • Concept of different levels of view • High level understanding of a model is achievable without having to see details • Easy to follow logic from high level to low level • Encapsulation of sections of model • Can change one aspect of model without having to change others

18. Implementation on Azure Weibo He

19. Why Microsoft Azure? • Scalability • Scalable computation power for simulations • Scalable visitor volume • Cost-Performance • Low initial cost • Low maintenance cost • Stability • Handling hardware failures

20. Revised GUI Mockups Jesus Cortez

21. Mockup Overview

22. Mockup Overview

23. UI Walkthrough: Basic Use Case

24. UI Walkthrough: Basic Use Case

25. UI Walkthrough: Basic Use Case

26. UI Walkthrough: Authenticated Use Case

27. UI Walkthrough: Authenticated Use Case

28. UI Walkthrough: Authenticated Use Case

29. UI Walkthrough: Authenticated Use Case

30. UI Walkthrough: Authenticated Use Case

31. Demo Robert Brockman

32. Future Meetings • Update presentation • Final presentation • Last day of classes for Rice is December 2 • Last day of exams for Rice is December 14

33. Backup Slides

34. Module Representation At the start of the simulation: • Consumer module requires: • Demand curve slope • Price of energy • Producer module requires: • Initial price of energy • Initial supply of energy • Slope of initial supply curve • Environmental module requires: • Strength of regulation • Producer Inputs: • Demand for energy • Environmental Inputs: • Pollution from Producer • Consumer Inputs: • Energy Supply • Energy price • Pollution Regulation • Producer Outputs: • Energy Supply • Energy price • Pollution • Environmental Outputs: • Regulation for Consumer • Consumer Outputs: • Energy demand

35. Terminology • Event: An external change to the behavior of the energy industry • Model: A representation of the energy industry in terms of interconnected modules • Module: A component which takes in a set of inputs and generates a set of outputs using some internal behavior • Module Parameter: A numerical parameter associated with a particular module which affects the behavior of that module • Plan: The set of all events for a given simulation