An efficient Ranking and Selection procedure for a linear transient mean performance measure

We develop a ranking and selection procedure for selecting the best configuration based on a transient mean performance measure. The procedure extends the OCBA approach to systems whose means are a function of some other variable such as time. In particular, we characterize this as a prediction problem and imbed a regression model in the OCBA procedure. In this paper, we analyze the linear case and discuss a number of extensions. Additionally, we provide some motivating examples for this approach.