Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Educating Professional Software Engineers: Pathways And Progress In The Australian Experience, Rick Duley, David Veal, Stanislaw P. Maj

Research outputs pre 2011

Australia has seized the international initiative in the recognition of software engineers as professionals. Of the 37 universities in Australia offering undergraduate courses in computing, eleven offer courses in software engineering which are accredited by the Institute of Engineers, Australia (IEAust) and which may lead the graduate to membership of the Institute. In this way, the Institute has plausible claim to being the first national professional engineering body in the world to have accredited four-year undergraduate software engineering degrees as professional qualifications. The paper traces the development of the relationship between the Institute of Engineers and the computing industry and …

A Distributed Annotation System, Robin Dowell

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

One goal of any genome project is the elucidation of hte primary sequence of DNA contained within a given species. While the availability ot the primary sequence itself is valuable, it does not reach its full potential until i has been annotated. Generally defined, annotation is descriptive information or commentary added to text, in this case genomic sequence. Without a mechanism for collecting, recording, and disseminating community-based annotation, a valuable source of information is severely diminshed. In this report I outline the design and implementation of a Distributed Annotation System (DAS). DAS allowes sequence annotations to be decentralized among multiple …

Diffserver: Application Level Differentiated Services For Web Servers, Gautam Rao, Byrav Ramamurthy

CSE Conference and Workshop Papers

Web content hosting, in which a Web server stores and provides Web access to documents for different customers, is becoming increasingly common. For example, a web server can host webpages for several different companies and individuals. Traditionally, Web Service Providers (WSPs) provide all customers with the same level of performance (best-effort service). Most service differentiation has been in the pricing structure (individual vs. business rates) or the connectivity type (dial-up access vs. leased line, etc.). This report presents DiffServer, a program that implements two simple, server-side, application-level mechanisms (server-centric and client-centric) to provide different levels of web service. The results …

The Impact Of Software Evolution On Code Coverage Information, Sebastian Elbaum, David Gable, Gregg Rothermel

CSE Conference and Workshop Papers

Many tools and techniques for addressing software maintenance problems rely on code coverage information. Often, this coverage information is gathered for a specific version of a software system, and then used to perform analyses on subsequent versions of that system without being recalculated. As a software system evolves, however, modifications to the software alter the software’s behavior on particular inputs, and code coverage information gathered on earlier versions of a program may not accurately reflect the coverage that would be obtained on later versions. This discrepancy may affect the success of analyses dependent on code coverage information. Despite the importance …

Proof Without Words: The Pigeonhole Principle, Ran Libeskind-Hadas

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

This article contains one image and no text.

Multicast Communication In Circuit-Switched Optical Networks, Ran Libeskind-Hadas, Rami Melhem

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In this paper we examine the problem of multicast routing in Wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical networks. In particular, we examine wavelength and routing assignment problems in circuit-switched WDM networks. We show that although the routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problem is NP-complete in general, the wavelength assignment (WA) problem can be solevd in a polynomial time.

Optimal Token Allocations In Solitaire Knock 'M Down, Arthur Benjamin, Matthew T. Fluet, Mark L. Huber

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In the game Knock ’m Down, tokens are placed in N bins. At each step of the game, a bin is chosen at random according to a fixed probability distribution. If a token remains in that bin, it is removed. When all the tokens have been removed, the player is done. In the solitaire version of this game, the goal is to minimize the expected number of moves needed to remove all the tokens. Here we present necessary conditions on the number of tokens needed for each bin in an optimal solution, leading to an asymptotic solution. MR Subject Classifications: …

Multi -Mission Attitude Determination System For Balloon Flight, Liping Mo

Doctoral Dissertations

MADS (Multi-mission Attitude Determination System) is a new software package used to determine the attitude of instruments on a high-altitude balloon employed for scientific experiments. There is no existing system for the automated determination of the attitude of instruments in balloon experiments, so we have developed MADS to do the data analysis for balloon experiments to find the location of astrophysical sources such as gamma-ray or x-ray sources.

The two areas that required most work were modeling star trackers and modeling the motion of the balloon. Star trackers are used on satellites, but are far too expensive and sophisticated to …

The Partial Evaluation Approach To Information Personalization, Naren Ramakrishnan, Saverio Perugini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Information personalization refers to the automatic adjustment of information content, structure, and presentation tailored to an individual user. By reducing information overload and customizing information access, personalization systems have emerged as an important segment of the Internet economy. This paper presents a systematic modeling methodology— PIPE (‘Personalization is Partial Evaluation’) — for personalization. Personalization systems are designed and implemented in PIPE by modeling an information-seeking interaction in a programmatic representation. The representation supports the description of information-seeking activities as partial information and their subsequent realization by partial evaluation, a technique for specializing programs. We describe the modeling methodology at a …

On-Line Tutorial Project: Intellectual Property In E-Commerce, William J. Murphy

Law Faculty Scholarship

Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents make up most of the area of law known as Intellectual Property. Intellectual Property's importance in Electronic Commerce is difficult to overstate. The Internet has been defined as a global network of networks through which computers communicate by sending information in packets, and each network consists of computers connected by cables or wireless links. It is the Intellectual Property laws of Copyright, Trademark and Patents that are attempting to harmonize the effects that E-Commerce and the Internet have had on the individual's ability to access and use this information. It should be remembered that most countries …

Incorporating Window-Based Passage-Level Evidence In Document Retrieval, Wensi Xi, Richard Xu-Rong, Christopher Soo Guan Khoo, Ee Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study investigated whether document retrieval can be improved if documents are divided into smaller sub-documents or passages and the retrieval score for these passages are incorporated in the final retrieval score for the whole document. The documents were segmented by sliding a window of a certain size across the document and extracting the words displayed each time the window stopped. A retrieval score was calculated for each of the passages extracted and the highest score obtained by a passage of that size was taken as the document’s passage-level score for that window size. A range of window sizes was …

Accurate Parameter Estimation For An Articulatory Speech Synthesizer With An Improved Neural Network Mapping, Hali̇s Altun, Tankut Yalçinöz, K. Mervyn Curtis

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Neural network (NN) applications have recently been employed to extract the parameters of an articulatory speech synthesizer from a given speech signal. Results from these attempts showed that a single NN is insufficient to cover all of the possible configurations uniquely. Moreover, apart from their computational advantages, NN mapping is so far not superior to the other mapping techniques [1]. Thus there is a clear need to improve NN solution to the inverse problem. Results from our earlier experiments with an articulatory speech synthesizer have shown that the statistical characteristic of the articulatory target pattern vectors can be exploited for …

Ota-C Based Proportional-Integral-Derivative (Pid) Controller And Calculating Optimum Parameter Tolerances, Cevat Erdal, Ali̇ Toker, Cevdet Acar

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers are one of the most important control elements used in the process control industry. In practice, operational amplifiers are generally used in analog controllers. On the other hand, the operational transconductance amplifiers recently developed, which have some positive properties compared to operational amplifiers, are not used in analog controller design at present. Furthermore, the optimum parameter tolerances for the proposed PID circuit by the use of parameter sensitivities are determined. These tolerances keep the relative error at the output of the controller due to parameter variations in the tolerance region.

Isolated Ramp Metering Feedback Control Utilizing Mixed Sensitivity For Desired Mainline Density And The Ramp Queues, Pushkin Kachroo, Kaan Ozbay, Donald E. Grove

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

This paper presents a feedback control design for isolated ramp metering control. This feedback control design, unlike the existing isolated feedback ramp controllers, also takes into account the ramp queue length. Using a nonlinear H∞ control design methodology, we formulate the problem in the desired setting to be able to utilize the results of the methodology.

Spider Ii: A Component-Based Distributed Computing System, Koping Wang

Theses Digitization Project

Spider II system is the second version implementation of the Spider project. This system is the first distributed computation research project in the Department of Computer Science at CSUSB. Spider II is a distributed virtual machine on top of the UNIX or LINUX operating system. Spider II features multi-tasking, load balancing and fault tolerance, which optimize the performance and stability of the system.

Virtual Online Stock Trading System, Tao Zhu

Theses Digitization Project

Stock trading provides a relatively low risk and hassle free channel for people to invest, when compared with other methods. However, it is unfortunate that, for those other people who may be equally interested and financially able in stock trading, they have yet to experience the simplicity of, and the wealth accumulated from stock investments. Reasons for their hesitation to be involved in stock trading vary; but primarily it is due to their lack of experience in trading.

Design And Implementation Of An Intranet-Solution Especially With Workflow Aspects, Robert Loew

Theses

An Intranet support a new or simply an easier information system for all the workers within a company using internet technology. On the one hand, employees can use Web technology and very simple tools to provide and navigate information. On the other hand, the costly and time-consuming business of installing and maintaining software on local PCs can be avoided by using Browser-based Intranet applications. Ideally, it would be possible to access all forms of information processing using one and the same Web browser. This is the aim of the Intranet Project upon which this thesis is based.

Various technologies for …

A Fresh Look At The Provision Of Bandwidth To A Health Agency, James G. Leahy

Theses

This thesis describes development of a networking infrastructure to support a Regional Health Service in Ireland. It covers:-

• The design, building, commissioning and delivery of a Forward Emergency Control Vehicle to provide the video, voice and data communications needed to enhance delivery of patient care in Disaster Situations. The main focus here is on the integration of satellite and terrestrial communications.

• By studying the history of telecommunications provision over copper, the best use is made of the legacy copper cabling in and between existing buildings on a campus to provide both voice and data services.

• A financial …

Mobile Data Management, Sanjay Kumar Madria, Sourav S. Bhowmick

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The management of data in the mobile computing environment offers new challenging problems. Existing software needs to be upgraded to accommodate this environment. To do so, the critical parameters need to be understood and defined. We have surveyed some problems and existing solutions

Workstation Clusters For Parallel Computing, J. Stone, Fikret Erçal

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Workstation clusters have become an increasingly popular alternative to traditional parallel supercomputers for many workloads requiring high performance computing. The use of parallel computing for scientific simulations has increased tremendously in the last ten years, and parallel implementations of scientific simulation codes are now in widespread use. There are two dominant parallel hardware/software architectures in use today: distributed memory, and shared memory. Systems implementing shared memory provide cooperating processes with a shared memory address space that can be accessed by all processors. In shared memory systems, parallel processing occurs through the use of shared data structures, or through emulation of …

A Visual Query System For The Specification And Scientific Analysis Of Continual Queries, Jennifer Leopold, A. Ambler, M. Heimovics, T. Palmer

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The lack of a facility that would allow nonprogrammers to easily formulate temporal ad hoc analyses over a network of heterogeneous, constantly-updated data sources has been a significant impediment to research, particularly in the scientific community. In this paper we describe WebFormulate, an Internet-based system which facilitates the development of analyses using information obtained from databases on the Internet. The main distinction between this system and existing Internet facilities to retrieve information and assimilate it into computations is that WebFormulate provides the necessary facilities to perform continual queries, developing and maintaining dynamic links such that computations and reports automatically maintain …

Modal Rules Are Co-Implications, Alexander Kurz

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

In [13], it was shown that modal logic for coalgebras dualises—concerning definability— equational logic for algebras. This paper establishes that, similarly, modal rules dualise implications:It is shown that a class of coalgebras is definable by modal rules iff it is closed under H (images) and Σ (disjoint unions). As a corollary the expressive power of rules of infinitary modal logic on Kripke frames is characterised.

Wholes And Parts In General Systems Methodology, Martin Zwick

Systems Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reconstructability analysis (RA) decomposes wholes, namely data in the form either of set-theoretic relations or multivariate probability distributions, into parts, namely relations or distributions involving subsets of variables. Data is modeled and compressed by variablebased decomposition, by more general state-based decomposition, or by the use of latent variables. Models, which specify the interdependencies among the variables, are selected to minimize error and complexity.

Hierarchical Ring Network Configuration And Performance Modeling, V. Carl Hamacher, Hong Jiang

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Approximate analytical queuing network models for expected message packet delay in 2-level and 3-level hierarchical ring interconnection networks (INs) are developed. A major class of traffic carried by these INs consists of cache line transfers between processor caches and remote memory modules in shared-memory multiprocessors. Such traffic consists of short, fixed-length messages; they can be conveniently transported by the slotted-ring transmission technique which is studied here. The packet delay results derived from the models are shown to be quite accurate when checked against a simulation study. As well as facilitating analysis, the analytical models can be used to determine optimal …

Latent Maximum Entropy Principle For Statistical Language Modeling, Shaojun Wang, Ronald Rosenfeld, Yunxin Zhao

Kno.e.sis Publications

We describe a unified probabilistic framework for statistical language modeling, the latent maximum entropy principle. The salient feature of this approach is that the hidden causal hierarchical dependency structure can be encoded into the statistical model in a principled way by mixtures of exponential families with a rich expressive power. We first show the problem formulation, solution, and certain convergence properties. We then describe how to use this machine learning technique to model various aspects of natural language, such as syntactic structure of sentences, semantic information in a document. Finally, we draw a conclusion and point out future research directions.

Using Computers In The Administration Of Primary Schools, Donncha Ó Fiannachta

Theses

This project investigates the use of computers in the administration of primary schools. A survey has been undertaken to determine current usage and future needs of schools such as training requirements.

It contains an overview of international thinking in this area and looks at aspects such as the legal issues involved in the keeping of electronic data on individuals in schools. Reference is made to the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act and the Education Act.

The author has determined the type of data that is most commonly needed by primary schools in Ireland. Some of this information must …

Tackling The Deficit - It Solutions For Art Appreciation - Needs Study And Provision Project At Primary School Level., Séan Ó Hargáin

Theses

This project looks at the changing environment in terms of the approach to the Visual Arts curriculum at Primary School level. It aims to provide an innovative solution to the art appreciation area, which is being given equal status with the art creation area, which traditionally has been the main focus of the curriculum.

The Project includes a review of the curricular climate, both at home and abroad. In this context it focusses particularly on the role of Information Technology in addressing access problems from those living remote from major population, and therefore major artistic centres.

Primary Research included involved …

An Approach To Networking In Irish Primary Schools, Donal A. O'Connor

Theses

In this Thesis, I hope to develop an approach to networking in the Irish Primary school which will provide practical as well as theoretical advice to Primary Teachers. In the pages that follow, I will detail a general outline of the principles of computer networking and detail models appropriate to the primary school.

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge that there are as many solutions to the primary school’s networking requirements as there are individual schools. This document is intended as a general set of guidelines for the average Primary school in this country. By this, I mean schools …

Expanding The Notion Of Relevance In Is Research: A Proposal And Some Recommendations, Deepak Khazanchi, Bjørn Erik Munkvold

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

Based on an analysis of a priori discussion on the notion of relevance, this paper proposes a holistic view of relevance in IS research. This expanded notion of relevance incorporates a broader definition of audience/stakeholder, and includes additional dimensions such as scope/value of relevant research, time frame, and "situatedness" of relevance. In view of this definition, it is argued that "practical relevance" is not the sole goal of academic research. Hence, the authors recommend, for example, that knowledge claims in IS need to be better communicated and targeted for the future development and recognition of the IS discipline.

B-Nodes: A New Scalable High Level Abstraction Model, Stanislaw P. Maj, Craig William Caulfield

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper proposes a new modeling technique called B-Nodes. B-Nodes represent a new, high-level abstraction that allows technical detail to be controlled using top-down recursive decomposition. This abstraction. is independent of architectural detail and can therefore accommodate rapid changes in technology. The use of recursive decomposition allows B-Nodes to be used not only for entire e-commerce system but also sub-modules within this system. The use of fundamental units allows the performance of heterogeneous technologies to be compared and other units to be derived. Results to date indicate no comparable model exists. Should further work validate this technique the authors recommend …