Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multicoordinated Agreement Protocols and the Log Service

Agreement problems are a common abstraction in distributed systems. They appear when the components of the system must concur on reconfigurations, changes of state, or in lines of action in general. Examples of agreement problems are Consensus, Atomic Commitment, and Atomic Broadcast. In this thesis we investigate these abstractions in the context of the environment in which they will run and the applications that they will serve; in general, we consider the asynchronous crash-recovery model. The goal is to devise protocols that explore the contextual information to deliver improved availability. The correctness of our protocols holds even when the extra assumptions do not. In the first part of this thesis we explore the following property: messages broadcast in small networks tend to be delivered in order and reliably. We make three contributions in this part. The first contribution is to turn known Consensus algorithms that harness this ordering property to reach agreement in the crash-stop model into practical protocols. That is, protocols that tolerate message losses and recovery after crashes, efficiently. Our protocols ensure progress even in the presence of failures, if spontaneous ordering holds frequently. In the absence of spontaneous ordering, some other assumption is required to cope with failures. The second contribution of this thesis is to generalize one of our crash-recovery consensus protocols as a “multicoordinated” mode of a hybrid Consensus protocol, that may use spontaneous ordering or failure detection to progress. Compared to other protocols, ours provide improved availability with no price in resilience. The third contribution is to employ this new mode to solve Generalized Consensus, a problem that generalizes a series of other agreement problems and, hence, is of much practical interest. Moreover, we considered several aspects of solving this problem in practice, which had not been considered before. As a result, our Generalized Consensus protocol features graceful degradation, load balancing, and is parsimonious in accessing stable storage. In the second part of this thesis we have considered agreement problems in wide area networks organized hierarchically. More specifically, we considered a topology that is commonplace in the data centers of large corporations: groups of nodes, with large-bandwidth low-latency links connecting the nodes in the same group, and
Passive interconnect reduction algorithm for distributed/measured networks

This paper presents an efficient algorithm for the transient simulation of multiport distributed interconnect networks in the presence of nonlinear subcircuits. The proposed multilevel multipoint model-reduction algorithm combines the merits of recently proposed Krylov-space techniques and block complex frequency-hopping to generate compact time-domain macromodels. The method overcomes the difficulty of slower transient simulation caused by redundant poles in reduced-order models obtained by Krylov-space methods. Also, it provides an efficient means to translate Krylov-space-based reduced models of distributed/measured networks with frequency-dependent descriptions into time-domain macromodels. In addition, a strategy to preserve the passivity of macromodels during multilevel reduction is presented. An important advantage of the proposed algorithm is that it can directly handle distributed stamps such as transmission lines described by Telegrapher's equations, frequency-dependent parameters, full-wave, and measured subnetworks.
A discretized current control technique with delayed input voltage feedback for a voltage-fed PWM inverter

A current control technique for a voltage-fed PWM inverter is presented. The discretized state equation of an inverter and a load independent of operating conditions with the delayed input voltage feedback has been derived using the averaging concept. The discretized current controller is proposed to reduce the current error as fast as possible using the deadbeat control strategy and to stabilize the closed loop system asymptotically when the variations of load parameters are given in the predetermined stabilized region. This proposed control scheme is realized by the symmetrical uniform sampling method and is easily implemented using a microprocessor-based system. Computer simulation for the proposed controller has been carried out and the results show good static and dynamic performances. >
Automated testing framework implementation for post-production and broadcast HW/SW

Testing is a fundamental part of software development process. It allows developers to continuously improve their software quality and certify that the final user has a flawless experience using it. This research work was made in partnership with MOG, a broadcast and post-production company. MOG’s products perform several video related tasks, such as file-based ingest and SDI capture. Due to the products complexity, it is necessary to test them thoroughly, in order to validate them for the final customer. Testing in the company is being made manually. Due to the big amount of variables to be tested, for example video codecs, manual testing provides an incomplete product coverage. This research work goal is to create an automated test framework, that will test all these combinations of variables, providing a complete coverage. The framework was conceived in a modular way, so that modules can be easily added or removed in case of new requirements and functions to be tested. The several modules were responsible for generating the tests, organizing them in a specific order, and performing them using the products SOAP interface. There were also modules responsible for setting up the hardware and software, like the signal generator and license manager modules. The framework was fully integrated with a test modelling tool, testLink, that can create test results reports. This way, it was easier to analyse the results and make decisions concerning the product release. Overall the goals were achieved successfully. The framework was used not only in complete product testing, but also in other tasks, like specific feature and bug testing. In these cases, the plans only contained the necessary test cases to fix the bug or to validate the feature. The testing of several products proved the framework efficiency, and it is currently being used to fully test all the company’s products.
Linear logic and imperative programming

One of the most important and enduring problems in programming languages research involves verification of programs that construct, manipulate and dispose of complex heapallocated data structures. Over the last several years, great progress has been made on this problem by using substructural logics to specify the shape of heap-allocated data structures. These logics can capture aliasing properties in a concise notation. In this dissertation, we present our work on using an extension of Girard’s intuitionistic linear logic (a substructural logic) with classical constraints as the base logic to reason about the memory safety and shape invariants of programs that manipulate complex heap-allocated data structures. To be more precise, we have defined formal proof rules for an intuitionistic linear logic with constraints, ILC, which modularly combines substructural reasoning with general constraint-based reasoning. We have also defined a formal semantics for our logic – program heaps – with recursively defined predicates. Next, we developed verification systems using different fragments of ILC to verify pointer programs. In particular, we developed a set of sound verification generation rules that are used to statically verify pointer programs. We also demonstrated how to interpret the logical formulas as run-time assertions. In the end, we developed a new imperative language that allows programmers to define and manipulate heap-allocated data structures using ILC formulas. The main contributions of this thesis are that (1) the development of a substructural logic that is capable of general constraint-based reasoning; and (2) the idea of incorporating high-level logical formulas into imperative languages; either as dynamic contract specifications, which allow clear, compact and semantically well-defined documentation of heap-shape properties; or as language constructs, which drive safe construction and manipulation of sophisticated heap-allocated data structures.
A new switched reluctance motor drive circuit for torque ripple reduction

This paper presents a new switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive circuit for torque ripple reduction. The main drawbacks of SRMs are large torque ripple and acoustic noise. The torque ripple can be reduced by the stator current waveform shaping. This paper gives ideal stator current waveforms for the flat instantaneous torque. The new SRM drive circuit is proposed to synthesize the actual stator current as close as possible to the ideal ones in waveforms. The computer simulation demonstrates that the new circuit brings much small torque ripple compared with that by the conventional SRM drive circuit.
Application of Analytical Hierarchy Process to Select Lean -Kitting Assembly for an Engine Assembly

This paper focuses on the design of Lean kitting assembly system against Line Side assembly process for the factors like operator distance travelled, floor space required, work in process inventory and operator walking time for a component kitting problem in an automotive assembly process. Here, a mathematical model is developed to quantify the above factors. Also a numerical example is performed to demonstrate the mathematical model. The result shows that Lean kitting consumes less for all the above factors. A Multi Criteria Decision Making model namely Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is done for weighting above said factors among Line Side, Lean Kitting and Kanban Assembly System. The result of AHP shows that Lean Kitting is the best suitable method.
High-frequency CMOS switched-capacitor filters for communications application

Bandpass filters for communications applications are realized using an 80 MHz differential single-stage CMOS operational amplifier and a fully differential identical-resonator elliptic bandpass ladder filter configuration. Experimental results are given for a CMOS sixth-order 260 kHz elliptic bandpass filter with a Q-factor of 40, a clock frequency of 4 MHz, and a power dissipation of 70 mW.
Composite and grouping: extending the realm of semantic modeling

Two constructs for modeling complex objects, composite and grouping, are examined. It is shown that these are necessary and useful in modeling real-world complex objects by analyzing their structural and behavioral semantics. The notions of composite and grouping inheritance are introduced. The analysis illustrates how the proper employment of composite and grouping can lead to more effective modeling of an application. <<ETX>>
Has student learning been improved by the use of online and offline formative assessment opportunities

For almost a decade we have been providing a large group of first year, undergraduate biology students with both offline (paper based) and online assessment resources to support them in their learning. This paper reports on an investigation of the students’ use of these assessment resources, as well as their perceptions of the usefulness of these resources to their learning. The research plan enabled us to investigate any correlations between use or non-use of the assessment resources and final performance in the course. The results show that while the majority of students use and find useful both offline and online assessment resources, use has no differential impact on final learning outcomes.
A programmable VLC core architecture for video compression DSP

A programmable Variable-Length Coder/decoder, "VLC core", is developed for various video compression algorithms and standards. This paper describes the programmable architecture that allows the coding and the decoding process to be performed by the same logical units on a small chip. This VLC core is the first coder and decoder which shares the table memory, the barrel shifter and the code buffer for coding and decoding with sufficient programmability for MPEG 1, 2 and H.261.
Verifying Time-Estelle specification using communicating time Petri nets

Estelle, an internationally standardized Formal Description Technique (FDT), does not have enough expressive power to describe timing behaviours of distributed or multimedia system. To address this limitation, we have developed Time-Estelle, an extended Estelle which is capable of doing so. Past techniques employed for verifying Estelle specifications have not considered time factors and were usually based on a variant or a subset of Estelle and all translating such specifications to another form, such as Finite State Machines or Petri Nets. This paper describes a method of verifying Time-Estelle specification using Communicating Time Petri Nets (CmTPNs).
Effective requirement specification as a precondition for successful software development project

Software development is activity closely connected with requirements. To enable development of software systems that satisfies most of customer demands we propose methodologies for obtaining efficient requirement management infrastructure on software development project. We propose methodologies for requirement discovery and organization according to competence areas available on the project and involved risks. We also propose methodology for managing change of requirements during software development project in order to enable prosperous project conclusion even if major requirement change occurs. Presented methodologies provide means of effective requirement management that can significantly improve quality of complex software systems.
Role Of Sensor Nodes In Wireless Sensor Network

— Wireless Sensor Networks consists of a wireless sensor network, all the nodes communicate with each other by means of wireless. Any given node collects information from environment by means of a sensor and forwards it to another node which in turn forwards the information to another node so that the information can reach at the gateway node. It is the gateway node which interfaces between the nodes and the server where all the collected information from all the nodes are stored and further processed [1]. Sensor nodes that are able to interact with their environment by sensing or controlling physical parameter; these nodes have to collaborate in order to fulfill their tasks as usually, a single node is incapable of doing so; and they use wireless communication to enable this collaboration. A sensor is a small device that has a micro-sensor technology, low power signal processing, low power computation and a short-range communications capability. Sensor nodes are conventionally made up of five basic components: Microcontroller, power supply, transceiver unit, memory unit and sensor unit. IndexTerms
Range Ambiguities For A Polarimetric Spaceborne SAR

Results of modelling are presented of range ambiguities on a spaceborne polarimetric synthetic-aperture radar (SAR). Using 'interleaved-pulse' polarimetry and no additional pulse coding to suppress ambiguities, simulations have been performed of forest and ocean imaging for different numbers of near-range ambiguous swaths. Even neglecting antenna inter-channel crosstalk, which we expect to be serious in the sidelobes of an antenna's gain pattern, cross-polarised measurements become contaminated by ambiguous co-polarised backscatter. For a realistic antenna sidelobe gain of -20 dB, cross-polarised data over forests are expected to be useable (i.e. below -20 dB), while over the ocean they are likely to be overwhelmed by ambiguous responses. This is a consequence of the steep increase in co-polarised ocean backscatter towards nadir and the weakness of cross-polarised backscatter.
Beyond weights adaptation: a new neuron model with trainable activation function and its supervised learning

This paper proposes a new kind of neuron model, which has trainable activation function (TAF) in addition to only trainable weights in the conventional M-P model. The final neuron activation function can be derived by training a primitive neuron activation function. BP like learning algorithm has been presented for MFNN constructed by neurons of TAF model. Two simulation examples are given to show the network capacity and performance advantages of the new MFNN in comparison with that of conventional sigmoid MFNN.
Software Support for Metrology - Good Practice Guide No. 15 - Continuous modelling.

This good practice guide builds on work carried out during the second Software Support for Metrology (SSfM) programme. The guide continues the work carried out for project 1.4, “Continuous Modelling In Metrology”, and relates it to the structure used for describing the modelling process in the best practice guide (BPG) “Software Support for Metrology Best Practice Guide 4: Discrete Modelling” to create a guide to good practice in continuous modelling. The guide is aimed at new and experienced users of continuous modelling techniques who wish to apply good practice to their modelling projects. It may also be of interest to those who want a better understanding of the similarities and differences between different numerical methods for solving models. Please note that the majority of figures in this report are designed to be seen in colour, hence black and white printed copies may be less easy to interpret than the on-screen version.
The Efficiency of the Adapted AntClust Algorithm for Satellite Images Clustering

Th is paper presents a novel algorithm for images satellite clustering using an adapted algorithm based on selforganization and the collective intelligence of ant colonies. The research aims to partition satellite images automatically by discovering the number of thematic classes in multispectral satellite images. Ants normally move in an array in one dimension and can carry objects. The attachment or removal of an object depends on a lot of similarity between this object and the heap objects. The probability that an ant takes the object is greater than leaving the object isolated. When an ant carries an image pixel, the probability that he deposits it as the element density of the same type in the neighbourhood is great. The experimental results of the AntClust adapted algorithm on satellite images can extract the correct class number.
C ritical Review: Does parent-child shared book reading improve oral language skills in low-income preschoolers?

This critical review examines the evidence regarding the effects of parent-child shared book reading on oral language skills in preschoolers from low-income families. A literature search was completed and yielded the following types of articles: mixed (between and within) experimental design, meta-analyses, and randomized control trial. Overall, the results indicate that shared book reading with low-income preschoolers and their parents is less effective than with children from middleto high-income backgrounds. Clinical implications are discussed.
Engineering Identity Development of Hispanic Students

This research paper investigates how Hispanic engineering undergraduate students develop their identity as engineers. Identity is emerging as a potential lens for predicting student persistence in engineering. Hispanic engineering students are of particular interest due to their underrepresentation in the field and prior engineering identity studies. In particular, we seek to understand which factors may influence Hispanic students’ engineering identity development. We begin by answering the following research questions: To do so, we used a quantitative assessment approach to measure engineering identity, extracurricular experiences, post-graduation career plans, and familial influence of Hispanic undergraduates. To assess engineering identity development, we administered an online survey to students at The University of Texas at Austin (the PWI) and The University of Texas at El Paso (the HSI). This survey instrument, validated previously, asks participants to respond to a series of Likert-style and multiple-choice questions related to their intentions to persist in an engineering field. This instrument also includes a direct measure of engineering identity and items related to indirect measures of engineering identity; including constructs of engineering performance/competence, interest, and recognition. Further, we asked questions regarding participants’ demographic information and family backgrounds, such as mother’s educational level. We also surveyed students’ engineering experience, such as participation in engineering-related student organizations. compare results stronger engineering
Building internet caching systems for streaming media delivery

The proxy has been widely and successfully used to cache the static Web objects fetched by a client so that the subsequent clients requesting the same Web objects can be served directly from the proxy instead of other sources faraway, thus reducing the server's load, the network traffic and the client response time. However, with the dramatic increase of streaming media objects emerging on the Internet, the existing proxy cannot efficiently deliver them due to their large sizes and client real time requirements. In this dissertation, we design, implement, and evaluate cost-effective and high performance proxy-based Internet caching systems for streaming media delivery. Addressing the conflicting performance objectives for streaming media delivery, we first propose an efficient segment-based streaming media proxy system model. This model has guided us to design a practical streaming proxy, called Hyper-Proxy, aiming at delivering the streaming media data to clients with minimum playback jitter and a small startup latency, while achieving high caching performance. Second, we have implemented Hyper-Proxy by leveraging the existing Internet infrastructure. Hyper-Proxy enables the streaming service on the common Web servers. The evaluation of Hyper-Proxy on the global Internet environment and the local network environment shows it can provide satisfying streaming performance to clients while maintaining a good cache performance. Finally, to further improve the streaming delivery efficiency, we propose a group of the Shared Running Buffers (SRB) based proxy caching techniques to effectively utilize proxy's memory. SRB algorithms can significantly reduce the media server/proxy's load and network traffic and relieve the bottlenecks of the disk bandwidth and the network bandwidth. The contributions of this dissertation are threefold: (1) we have studied several critical performance trade-offs and provided insights into Internet media content caching and delivery. Our understanding further leads us to establish an effective streaming system optimization model; (2) we have designed and evaluated several efficient algorithms to support Internet streaming content delivery, including segment caching, segment prefetching, and memory locality exploitation for streaming; (3) having addressed several system challenges, we have successfully implemented a real streaming proxy system and deployed it in a large industrial enterprise.