Your job is to evaluate design alternatives for a code breaking machine to be delivered to the GSA. The code breaking machine takes a file containing encrypted text as input and outputs a file containing decrypted “plain text”. The machine is quite simple and consists of a processor, bus, memory, and I/O. You have the following design choices: An Intel multicore 32-bit processor or AMD single-core 64-bit processor, a PCI, NuBus, or HyperTransport, 10 GB of SRAM or 100 GB of FLASH plus 1 GB of SRAM, and a 1 Gb/s Ethernet link for I/O. Answer the following questions:
a) What is the workload?
b) What is the response variable? Should the value be minimized or maximized?
c) What are the factors and factor levels?
d) Describe the experiments needed to evaluate the design alternatives. Give both a full factorial design and simple design. These experiments could be conducted on a simulation model or system prototype.