bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Modeling and Optimization of Abrasive Water Jet Cutting of Kevlar Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites
Authors: Siddiqui Tauseef Uddin , Shukla Mukul
Published: January 2012

This chapter presents a detailed study of abrasive water jet (AWJ) cutting of thin and thick Kevlar fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites used in transport aircraft and anti-ballistic applications. Kevlar composites are considered to be very challenging to machine using traditional techniques. Most of the research conducted in the area of AWJ cutting has been limited to single response optimization. However, in real life machining, the performance of a process/product demands multi-objective optimization (MOO). No work has been reported till now using different MOO techniques for AWJ cutting of Kevlar FRP composites. Experimental modeling of depth of cut and various design of experiments based single and multi-objective optimization studies are presented here. Statistical analysis of variance has been performed to rank the different process parameters and estimate their effects on various AWJ cut kerf quality characteristics. The studies conducted in this chapter are likely to prove beneficial to the AWJ community in performing modeling and simultaneous optimization of multiple quality characteristics.
A Tutorial to Developing Statistical Models for Predicting Disqualification Probability
Authors: Juutilainen Ilmari , Tamminen Satu , Röning Juha
Published: January 2012

Different industries utilize statistical prediction models that predict the product properties in process planning, control, and optimization. An important aim is to decrease the number of disqualifications. The model can prevent disqualifications efficiently if the disqualification probability is predicted accurately. This study gives step-by-step instructions for developing, validating, comparing, and visualizing models that predict the disqualification probability with high accuracy. The work summarizes industrially applicable statistical modeling methods that are most suitable for the development of accurate predictors for the disqualification probability. Currently, the information on such statistical methods, e.g. quantile regression, modeling of distribution shape, and joint modeling of mean and deviation, is scattered in the existing literature. The main contribution of this work is that it pulls together this methodology into a unified framework which allows the comparative analysis of probability predictors that are based on the different approaches. The proposed modeling procedure (ProPred) is demonstrated using three manufacturing industry applications. In the case applications, the predictors generated using the ProPred procedure are 10-30% more efficient in avoiding disqualifications by means of process planning and control operations than the baseline predictors.
Lessons of Disaster Recovery Learned for Information Systems Management in US Higher Education
Authors: Xing Ruben , Wang Zhongxian , Yao James , Zhang Yanli
Published: January 2012

Most U.S. universities planned and prepared their disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity strategies for their Information Systems after the September 11th attack on the United States. The devastating hurricanes and the most recent catastrophic earthquakes caused unprecedented damage for many campuses within a decade. Some of their plans worked and some of them failed; however, with these lessons learned, Information Systems Management for U.S. higher education must be reexamined, re-planned and redesigned, including DR strategies and procedures. It is equally important that the curriculum of Management Information Systems be updated along with updated DR concerns for all educators in U.S. universities.
An Approach to Using Ontologies for the Development of High Quality Disaster Recovery Plans
Authors: Rao Lila , McNaughton Maurice , Osei-Bryson Kweku-Muata , Haye Manley
Published: January 2012

Disasters have the potential to cripple a country and those countries that are particularly susceptible to disasters must have effective disaster recovery plans (DRP) in place to ensure that the country can return to normalcy as soon as possible after the devastation. However, for the plan to be effective it must be of high quality, which is often viewed as a multidimensional concept containing essential factors for DRP, such as consistency, completeness, reliability and feasibility. Therefore, any methodology for the development of DRP must take these dimensions into account as their affect on quality is considerable. In this regard, the authors describe a quality based methodology for the development of DRP, including a methodology that makes use of ontologies containing properties that are suited to the development of these high quality plans. The applicability of the proposed methodology will be demonstrated through a case study of an electric utility company in Jamaica.
The Relationship between IT Director Values and Extent of IT Disaster Recovery Planning in the Banking Industry
Authors: Shropshire Jordan , Kadlec Christopher
Published: January 2012

Information technology plays a pivotal role in defining the success of organizations. Given its importance, one might assume that modern organizations take steps to ensure the recovery of IT services following disasters. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. To understand the variation in degree of IT disaster recovery planning, this research focused on those responsible for managing IT resources and IT directors. For the study, a survey was mailed to 337 financial service institutions in the southeastern United States. Over 150 IT directors completed self-assessments for measuring the extent to which their organization engages in IT disaster recovery planning. In addition, they responded to a number of questions regarding their work-related values, and over 63% of the variance in degree of IT disaster recovery planning was explained by two predictors: uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. Results show that firms with IT professionals who prefer to avoid uncertainty and who have long-term outlooks have more developed IT disaster recovery plans.
Curriculum Design and Development at the Nexus of International Crisis Management and Information Systems
Authors: Clement Keith
Published: January 2012

This case study discusses the role of education, curriculum development, research, and service in supporting information systems for crisis response management. The study describes the Council for Emergency Management and Homeland Security (CEMHS) organization that designs and develops academic programs and courses in these specialized areas. CEMHS combines all levels of education in California (from K-12 and postsecondary education) into a “state-wide solution” and network of academicians and professionals in emergency and disaster management, crisis response, and homeland security education and training. The organizational purpose is constructing a “vertical track” of academic programs and specialized programs to benefit and enhance information resource and crisis management. The implications and lessons learned from building collaborative partnerships between the crisis and disaster response academic and professional communities in academic program development and research initiatives are also discussed.
Implementing Social Media in Crisis Response Using Knowledge Management
Authors: Jennex Murray E.
Published: January 2012

Social media is being used by individuals during a crisis to alert rescuers to their location, status others on their condition or on environmental conditions, warn of issues, and so forth. However, organizations have been slower to adopt social media for crisis response. This paper explores issues affecting social media adoption by organizations for crisis response and proposes the use of knowledge management strategy as a process for mitigating these issues and guiding organizations in adopting social media into their crisis response plans.
The Role of Social Networks in Emergency Management
Authors: Li Linna , Goodchild Michael F.
Published: January 2012

Lack of relevant information, particularly geospatial information, is one of the major challenges in emergency management. In the past few years, geospatial information created by volunteers and facilitated by social networks has become a promising data source in time-critical situations. This paper discusses the roles that social networks can play in the crowdsourcing of geospatial information for emergency management, data generation and dissemination through social networks, and investigates the relationships and interactions in social networks. Research issues arise in the areas of data access, data quality, information synthesis, emerging patterns of human behaviors in emergencies, analysis and visualization of nested social networks, implementation of information systems for emergency management, privacy, and equity.
Educational Robotics Theories and Practice
Authors: Eguchi Amy
Published: January 2012

Educational robotics is a growing field with “the potential to significantly impact the nature of engineering and science education at all levels, from K-12 to graduate school” (Mataric, 2004, para. 1). It has become one of the most popular activities in K-12 settings in recent years. Educational robotics is a unique learning tool that creates a learning environment that attracts and keeps students interested and motivated with fun, hands-on, learning experiences. Many educators might ask; “What is educational robotics?” and “What does it do, and what is it for?” The purpose of this chapter is to present the foundation of educational robotics – from its background, pedagogical theories relating to educational robotics, learning experiences that educational robotics can provide, to tips for how to do it right. It aims to provide guidance on implementing educational robotics for K-12 educators in their educational settings.
Robots Underwater! Learning Science, Engineering and 21st Century Skills
Authors: McGrath Elisabeth , Lowes Susan , McKay Mercedes , Sayres Jason , Lin Peiyi
Published: January 2012

The underwater environment presents novel challenges that can facilitate unique learning experiences for students engaged in robotics programs. Although the number of underwater educational robotics programs is small by comparison to other forms of K-12 robotics initiatives, several do exist, which have varying learning goals, implementation approaches, and tools. This chapter describes an underwater robotics program using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® components and related materials for middle and high school students. The program, known as WaterBotics™, has undergone an extensive, four-year research and development phase and curriculum redesign effort. This chapter describes the theoretical framework of the curriculum design, the components and resources available in the challenge-based curriculum, and lessons learned about teacher practices and their relationship to student learning outcomes in physical science, Information Technology skills, engineering design, and engineering career interest. “Core elements of success” of the program and curricular adaptations are described in the context of a scale-up initiative that is adapting the curriculum for use in informal education settings.
The Mediating Role of Context in an Urban After-School Robotics Program
Authors: Baker John Y.
Published: January 2012

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the usefulness of cultural-historical activity theory in understanding how context mediates youth activity in a successful urban after-school robotics program. Youth activity is analyzed using activity systems, uncovering the role of tools, rules, community, and division of labor in youth engagement with a set of open-ended engineering tasks. The program supported the youth in making sense of the engineering tasks using their own intuitive methods, and it also helped them to see a purpose for disciplinary practices. The author illustrates that the social context, made up of elements from in and out of school, supported youth in drawing on knowledge from across different settings. A use of activity systems is proposed for practitioners in the design of out-of-school-time educational programs.
Building Technical Knowledge and Engagement in Robotics
Authors: Gomez Kimberley , Bernstein Debra , Zywica Jolene , Hamner Emily
Published: January 2012

In this chapter the authors focus on the opportunities for youth to engage in technical design through participation in two different afterschool robotics programs - the Digital Youth Network (DYN) and Robot Diaries (RD). The programs each take a different approach to motivating and engaging participants with robotic technology and design. Through an analytic comparison of these two programs, the authors offer insight on the relationship between programmatic goals and participant experiences. Specifically, they describe how programmatic goals influenced the opportunities available for participants to engage with technology, increase their comfort level with technology, and build skills in adapting technology to facilitate individual and group–centered design goals. The chapter concludes by offering recommendations regarding programmatic structure (e.g., the role of audience, the importance of materials selection, instructor’s roles, and instructor knowledge-based resources) based on the desired participant outcomes.
STEM Outreach with the Boe-Bot®
Authors: Cole Ronda K.
Published: January 2012

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has come to the forefront as national and state leaders look for ways to foster innovation in the United States. Innovation is the key to maintaining economic and national security, and it is through the application of math and science concepts that scientific and technological innovations are developed. By increasing student interest and motivation to pursue studies in STEM fields, the odds of developing and sustaining a workforce capable of creating the innovations of tomorrow increase. Students need opportunities to explore STEM concepts in contexts that demonstrate the relevance of those concepts in the world around them. This chapter describes the rationale, development, implementation, and outcomes of a STEM outreach robotics activity that uses the Parallax Inc. Boe-Bot® kit as a platform. It is intended to provide an example of how robotics and STEM concepts can be integrated into a project that engages students in problem solving and teamwork, while addressing content standards through student-centered learning. Systems engineering principles were used both in the development and the implementation of this robotics STEM outreach activity.
Developing and Evaluating a Web-Based, Multi-Platform Curriculum for After-School Robotics
Authors: Martin Fred G. , Scribner-MacLean Michelle , Christy Sam , Rudnicki Ivan
Published: January 2012

The University of Massachusetts Lowell and a non-profit partner, Machine Science Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts have developed a Web-based curriculum for after-school robotics, based on two microcontroller platforms: one for middle school students and the other for high school students. The curriculum, which teaches computer programming and design skills in the context of hands-on electronics and robotics activities, was developed and evaluated as part of a four-year National Science Foundation-funded research project called Building an Internet Community of Design Engineers (iCODE). From 2006 to 2010, the project partners used the curriculum to support year-long academic enrichment programs at middle schools, high schools, and community centers in underserved communities within Boston, Lowell, and Lawrence, Massachusetts. This chapter describes the design and development of the iCODE curriculum, explores the project’s assessment strategies, and reflects on lessons learned from four years of offering after-school robotics for an inner-city youth population.
From Grade School to Grad School
Authors: Mead Ross A. , Thomas Susan L. , Weinberg Jerry B.
Published: January 2012

The STEM pipeline is an often-used analogy for efforts to increase the number of people entering the critical areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The analogy references the attempt to get young students into the educational conduit and have them emerge from the other end as professionals with graduate and post-graduate degrees. Much like the trans-Alaskan pipeline that is 800 miles long and has 11 major pumping stations, the educational conduit needs to have its own entrance points and activities that keep the contents flowing. The authors present a model of a pipeline program based on the results of research work examining the impact of robotics competitions on students’ self-perceptions for success in STEM. The model has a unique component of employing older students as informal role models along with formal adult mentors, providing a self-perpetuating cycle in the pipeline.
Modeling and Simulation of IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs
Authors: Sarkar Nurul I. , McHaney Roger
Published: January 2012

Stochastic discrete event simulation methodology is becoming increasingly popular among network researchers worldwide in recent years. This popularity results from the availability of various sophisticated and powerful simulation software packages, and also because of the flexibility in model construction and validation offered by simulation. In this chapter, the authors describe their experience in using the network simulator 2 (ns-2), a discrete event simulation package, as an aid to modeling and simulation of the IEEE 802.11 Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). This chapter provides an overview of ns-2 focusing on simulation environment, architecture, model development and parameter setting, model validation, output data collection and processing, and simulation execution. The strengths and weaknesses of ns-2 are discussed. This chapter also emphasizes that selecting a good simulator is crucial in modeling and performance analysis of wireless networks.
Simulation in Amateur Packet Radio Networks
Authors: Škoric Miroslav
Published: January 2012

Computer programs that radio amateurs use in their packet radio networks give various opportunities in simulating real data communication systems. Such systems include radio-relay networks of digital repeaters that operate in cities or in rural and remote locations, email servers that handle amateur radio messaging and file exchange, and a variety of end-user stations at home or work. This chapter summarizes the results of recent experiments in network simulations by using amateur radio software in a local area network. We tested the main features of those amateur radio programs and their repercussions to the functionality of simulated networks and to the comfort and satisfaction in average network participants. Described tests help practitioners, students, and teachers in computer science and communication technologies, in implementing amateur radio within the existing computer networks and in planning and using telecommunication systems without making any investment in hardware infrastructure.
Investigating the Performance of the TSS Scheme in Noisy MANETs
Authors: Al-Bahadili Hussein , Hussain Shakir M. , Issa Ghassan F. , El-Zayyat Khaled
Published: January 2012

A Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) suffers from high packet-loss due to various transmission impairments, such as: wireless signal attenuation, free space loss, thermal noise, atmospheric absorption, multipath effect, and refraction. All of these impairments are represented by a generic name, noise, and therefore such a network is referred to as a noisy network. For modeling and simulation purposes, the noisy environment is described by introducing a probability function, namely, the probability of reception (pc), which is defined as the probability that transmitted data is successfully delivered to its destination despite the presence of noise. This chapter describes the implementation and investigates the performance of the Threshold Secret Sharing (TSS) node authentication scheme in noisy MANETs. A number of simulations are performed using the MANET Simulator (MANSim) to estimate the authentication success ratio for various threshold secret shares, number of nodes, node speeds, and noise-levels. Simulation results demonstrate that, for a certain threshold secret share, the presence of noise inflicts a significant reduction in the authentication success ratio, while node mobility inflicts no or an insignificant effect. The outcomes of these simulations are important to facilitate efficient network management.
Evaluation of Simulation Models
Authors: Aboud Sattar J.
Published: January 2012

Simulation is employed widely to evaluate complicated systems involving telecommunication networks. This chapter reviews and evaluates different types of discrete event simulation models that are widely used for modeling network models in a practical time-frame. Different methods are presented, but special attention is given to systems that use spatial decomposition. This involves data that may have to be transmitted by mediator tiles to its purpose depending on the decomposition post. For congruent simulation the challenge is to decompose the tool in order to make effective use of the original processor design. This chapter reviews a number of methodologies and architectural design that have been developed for efficient simulation model decomposition.
Network Simulation Tools for Supporting Teaching in Computer Networks
Authors: Zhu Shao Ying , Schaefer Gerald
Published: January 2012

Computer networks have evolved dramatically in recent years and consequently qualified and experienced network administrators are highly sought after, which in turn has led to the development of specialised computer networking courses at many universities. In this chapter, the authors investigate the use of network simulation tools as an alternative to be employed in computer networking laboratories. Network simulation tools provide students with the opportunity to freely experiment with virtual computer networks and equipment without the expensive costs associated with real networking hardware. The results of their research show that students appreciate the use of network simulators and see them as an effective approach to learning computer networking concepts and gaining the relevant experience. This was also confirmed by the actual performance of students who experienced different levels of exposure to networks simulators during their studies. The authors furthermore investigate the use of interactive, electronically assessed lab sessions, where students get immediate and interactive feedback while they are going through lab exercises. Their research shows that this approach not only releases the lecturer from less demanding students to better support weaker students, but that this will also lead to improved student performance and better student retention.
Wire and Wireless Local Area Networks Simulation
Authors: Maqousi Ali , Balikhina Tatiana
Published: January 2012

There has been a tremendous increase in the use of wire/wireless Local Area Networks (LAN) with different network configurations. Therefore, it is vital to have an accurate and a reliable generic platform to enable network developers, managers, security mangers, researchers, and students evaluating and investigating the performance of LANs of different technologies and configurations. Many network simulators have been developed throughout the years, such as: the Optimized Network Engineering Tool (OPNET), the Network Simulator (NS), the Global Mobile Simulator (GloMoSim), etc. One of the most widely-used and powerful general-purpose network simulators is OPNET, which is an object-oriented simulation environment. This chapter provides two walk through tutorials on using OPNET IT Guru (Academic Edition of OPNET) for wire/wireless LANs simulations. These tutorials demonstrate in step-by-step fashion, the procedures of initiating new simulation, setting up the simulation parameters, running the simulation, and viewing the results. The first tutorial (Tutorial #1) simulates a wired LAN of 10 computers and one server connected to a single switch, and the second tutorial (Tutorial #2) simulates a wireless ad hoc network of 10 mobile nodes and one server. This chapter demonstrates that OPNET IT Guru is a powerful tool that can be used by a range of professional users to simulate, evaluate, and investigate the performance of wire and wireless LANs. Moreover, it encourages and helps students to easily perform network simulation for better understanding of the network performance under different network conditions.
How to Use Information Technology Effectively to Achieve Business Objectives
Authors: Goncalves Antonio , Serra Natália , Serra José , Sousa Pedro
Published: January 2012

In this chapter the authors show, by using a case study, how it is possible to achieve the alignment between business and Information Technology (IT). It describes several phases of project development, from planning strategy, enterprise architecture, development of businesses supporting tools and keeping dynamic alignment between the business and the IT. The authors propose a framework, framed under an enterprise architecture that guarantees a high level of response to the applications development or configuration as improves its alignment to business by solving some limitations of traditional software development solutions namely: difficulty in gathering clients requirements, which should be supported by the applications; difficulty to connect the organisation processes used to answer the client, which must also be integrated in the applications and the difficulty to develop the applications that can follow the business cycle. To test the approach, this was applied to a real case study consisting in the configuration of an application that manages the relationship with the clients.
You Can’t Step Into the Same Network Twice
Authors: Conner Trey , Gresham Morgan , McCracken Jill
Published: January 2012

Drawing on experiences of creating a partnership between the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and a social service organization, Mt. Zion Human Services, Inc., the authors of this chapter moved from a plan for installing and directing a program of networking technologies—refurbished computers scavenged by professors, servers built from components by students, operating systems and software coded by the open-source programming community, and communications technologies that enable an open-source “bazaar” or ecology of writing in the client-based classrooms—to a plan for participating in and responding to the dynamics of the social and cultural networks that emerge vis-à-vis technology. This chapter describes the change in metaphor from building a network, which suggests control over this entity and its role in a public space, to participating in evolving networks, where the environment in which these networks may grow is cultivated, participation in that growth occurs as it develops with other participants, advocates, and organizations it is observed. Finally, the authors continued to participate in the engendering of new projects and networks that are grounded in the programmatic and core values.
Ontologies and Controlled Vocabulary
Authors: Lucas da Silva Daniela , Souza Renato Rocha , Almeida Maurício Barcellos
Published: January 2012

This chapter presents an analytical study about methodology and methods to build ontologies and controlled vocabularies, compiled by the analysis of a literature about methodologies for building ontologies and controlled vocabularies and the international standards for software engineering. Through theoretical and empirical research it was possible to build a comparative overview which can help as a support in the defining of methodological patterns for building ontologies, using theories from the computer science and information science.
Exceptions in Ontologies
Authors: Jouis Christophe , Bourdaillet Julien , Habib Bassel , Ganascia Jean-Gabriel
Published: January 2012

This chapter is a contribution to the study of formal ontologies. It addresses the problem of atypical entities in ontologies. The authors propose a new model of knowledge representation by combining ontologies and topology. In order to represent atypical entities in ontologies, the four topological operators of interior, exterior, border and closure are introduced. These operators allow to specify whether an entity, belonging to a class, is typical or not. The authors define a system of topological inclusion and membership relations into the ontology formalism, by adapting the four topological operators with the help of their mathematical properties. These properties are used as a set of axioms which allows to define the topological inclusion and membership relations. Further, the authors define combinations of the operators of interior, exterior, border and closure that allow the construction of an algebra. They model is implemented in AnsProlog, a recent logic programming language that allows negative predicates in inference rules.
Hybrid Intelligent Systems in Ubiquitous Computing
Authors: Gavrilov Andrey V.
Published: January 2012

In this chapter hybrid approach to development of intelligent systems is applied to ubiquitous computing systems, in particular, to smart environment. Different classifications of Hybrid Intelligent Systems (HIS) are looking and two examples of hybrid approach for smart environment are suggested: framework based on expert system and neural network for programming of behavior of smart objects and paradigm of context-based programming-learning of behavior of intelligent agent. Besides this chapter offers an attempt to systematize concepts for development of HIS as any introduction to methodology for development of HIS is suggested. The author hopes that this chapter will be useful for researchers and developers to better understand challenges in development of ambient intelligence and possible ways to overcome them.
Secure by Design
Authors: Mouratidis Haralambos , Kang Miao
Published: January 2012

This paper describes results and reflects on the experience of engineering a secure web based system for the pre-employment screening domain. In particular, the paper presents results from a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project between the School of Computing, IT and Engineering at the University of East London and the London-based award winning pre-employment company Powerchex Ltd. The Secure Tropos methodology, which is based on the principle of secure by design, has been applied to the project to guide the development of a web based system to support employment reference and background checking specifically for the financial services industry. Findings indicate the potential of the methodology for the development of secure web based systems, and support the argument of incorporating security considerations from the early stages of the software development process, i.e., the idea of secure by design. The developed system was tested by a third, independent to the project, party using a well known method of security testing, i.e., penetration testing, and the results provided did not indicate the presence of any major security problems. The experience and lessons learned by the application of the methodology to an industrial setting are also discussed in the paper.
Open Source Health Information Technology Projects
Authors: Katsamakas Evangelos , Janamanchi Balaji , Raghupathi Wullianallur , Gao Wei
Published: January 2012

This chapter discusses the growth of open source software projects in healthcare. It proposes a research framework that examines the roles of project sponsorship, license type, development status and technological complements in the success of open source health information technology (HIT) projects, and it develops a systematic method for classifying projects based on their success potential. Using data from Sourceforge, an open source software development portal, we find that although project sponsorship and license restrictiveness influence project metrics, they are not significant predictors of project success categorization. On the other hand, development status, operating system, and programming language are significant predictors of an OSS project’s success categorization. We discuss research and application implications and suggest future research directions.
Requirements Engineering in the ICT4D Domain
Authors: Pitula Kristina , Sinnig Daniel , Radhakrishnan Thiruvengadam
Published: January 2012

Requirements engineering is an important stage in any software development. It is more so in the case of software development for social development projects in rural areas of the developing countries. ICT4D which stands for “Information and Communication Technologies for Development” is gaining more and more attention as computing is more widely affordable. This article is concerned with requirements engineering in the ICT4D domain. In many developing counties, a significant effort is being put into providing people in rural areas with access to digital content and services by using Information and Communication Technologies. Unfortunately most ICT4D projects pursue a top-down development model which is driven by the technology available and not by the very needs and social problems of the people living in rural communities (Frohlich et al., 2009). Existing technologies are often applied in a non-inclusive manner with respect to the local population, without sufficient adaptation or re-invention, and often without regard for user’s needs and their social contexts.
Architecture-Centered Integrated Verification
Authors: Fu Yujian , Dong Zhijang , He Xudong
Published: January 2012

The approach aims at solving the above problems by including the analysis and verification of two different levels of software development process–design level and implementation level-and bridging the gap between software architecture analysis and verification and the software product. In the architecture design level, to make sure the design correctness and attack the large scale of complex systems, the compositional verification is used by dividing and verifying each component individually and synthesizing them based on the driving theory. Then for those properties that cannot be verified on the design level, the design model is translated to implementation and runtime verification technique is adapted to the program. This approach can highly reduce the work on the design verification and avoid the state-explosion problem using model checking. Moreover, this approach can ensure both design and implementation correctness, and can further provide a high confident final software product. This approach is based on Software Architecture Model (SAM) that was proposed by Florida International University in 1999. SAM is a formal specification and built on the pair of component-connector with two formalisms – Petri nets and temporal logic. The ACV approach places strong demands on an organization to articulate those quality attributes of primary importance. It also requires a selection of benchmark combination points with which to verify integrated properties. The purpose of the ACV is not to commend particular architectures, but to provide a method for verification and analysis of large scale software systems in architecture level. The future research works fall in two directions. In the compositional verification of SAM model, it is possible that there is circular waiting of certain data among different component and connectors. This problem was not discussed in the current work. The translation of SAM to implementation is based on the restricted Petri nets due to the undecidable issue of high level Petri nets. In the runtime analysis of implementation, extraction of the execution trace of the program is still needed to get a white box view, and further analysis of execution can provide more information of the product correctness.
Effort Estimation Model for each Phase of Software Development Life Cycle
Authors: Safavi Sarah Afzal , Shaikh Maqbool Uddin
Published: January 2012

The assessment of main risks in software development discloses that a major threat of delays are caused by poor effort / cost estimation of the project. Low / poor cost estimation is the second highest priority risk [Basit Shahzad]. This risk can affect four out of a total five phases of the software development life cycle i.e. Analysis, Design, Coding and Testing. Hence targeting this risk alone may reduce the overall risk impact of the project by fifty percent. Architectural designing of the system is a great activity which consumes most of the time in SDLC. Obviously, effort is put forth to produce the design of the system. It is evident that none of the existing estimation models try to calculate the effort put on designing of the system. Although use case estimation model uses the use case points to estimate the cost. But what is the cost of creating use cases? One reason of poor estimates produced by existing models can be negligence of design effort/cost. Therefore it shall be well estimated to prevent any cost overrun of the project. We propose a model to estimate the effort in each of these phases rather than just relying upon the cost estimation of the coding phase only. It will also ease the monitoring of project status and comparison against planned cost and actual cost incurred so far at any point of time.
Semidefinite Programming-Based Method for Implementing Linear Fitting to Interval-Valued Data
Authors: Li Minghuang , Yu Fusheng
Published: January 2012

Building a linear fitting model for a given interval-valued data set is challenging since the minimization of the residue function leads to a huge combinatorial problem. To overcome such a difficulty, this article proposes a new semidefinite programming-based method for implementing linear fitting to interval-valued data. First, the fitting model is cast to a problem of quadratically constrained quadratic programming (QCQP), and then two formulae are derived to develop the lower bound on the optimal value of the nonconvex QCQP by semidefinite relaxation and Lagrangian relaxation. In many cases, this method can solve the fitting problem by giving the exact optimal solution. Even though the lower bound is not the optimal value, it is still a good approximation of the global optimal solution. Experimental studies on different fitting problems of different scales demonstrate the good performance and stability of our method. Furthermore, the proposed method performs very well in solving relatively large-scale interval-fitting problems.
Agent-Based Dynamic Route Selection for Multilayer Electronic Supply Network
Authors: Mahdavi Iraj , Cho Namjae , Fazlollahtabar Hamed , Shafieian S. Hosna , Mahdavi-Amiri Nezam , Mohebbi Shima
Published: January 2012

The authors develop an intelligent information system in a multilayer electronic supply network. Using the internet for supply chain management (SCM) is a key interest for contemporary managers and researchers. It has been realized that the internet can facilitate SCM by making real time information available and enabling collaboration between trading partners. Here, the authors propose a multi-agent system to analyze the performance of the elements of a supply network based on the attributes of the information flow. Each layer consists of elements which are differentiated by their performance throughout the supply network. The proposed agents measure and record the performance flow of elements considering their web interactions for a dynamic route selection. A dynamic programming approach is applied to determine the optimal route for a customer in the end-user layer.
DEVS-Based Simulation Interoperability
Authors: Wutzler Thomas , Sarjoughian Hessam
Published: January 2012

This chapter introduces the usage of DEVS for the purpose of implementing interoperability across heterogeneous simulation models. It shows that the DEVS framework provides a simple, yet effective conceptual basis for handling simulation interoperability. It discusses the various useful properties of the DEVS framework, describes the Shared Abstract Model (SAM) approach for interoperating simulation models, and compares it to other approaches. The DEVS approach enables formal model specification with component models implemented in multiple programming languages. The simplicity of the integration of component models designed in the DEVS, DTSS, and DESS simulation formalisms and implemented in the programming languages Java and C++ is demonstrated by a basic educational example and by a real world forest carbon accounting model. The authors hope, that readers will appreciate the combination of generalness and simplicity and that readers will consider using the DEVS approach for simulation interoperability in their own projects.
Optimal Crashing and Buffering of Stochastic Serial Projects
Authors: Trietsch Dan
Published: January 2012

Crashing stochastic activities implies changing their distributions to reduce the mean. This can involve changing the variance too. Therefore, crashing can change not only the expected duration of a project but also the necessary size of its safety buffer. We consider optimal crashing of serial projects where the objective is to minimize total costs including crashing cost and expected delay penalty. As part of the solution we determine optimal safety buffers. They allow for activities that are statistically dependent because they share an error element (e.g., when all durations have been estimated by one person, when weather or general economic conditions influence many activities, etc). We show that under plausible conditions the problem is convex and thus it can be solved by standard numerical search procedures. The purpose of the paper is to encourage software development that will include valid stochastic analysis for scheduling and crashing using current estimates and historical performance records.
Applications of Visual Algorithm Simulation
Authors: Korhonen Ari
Published: January 2012

Understanding data structures and algorithms is an integral part of software engineering and elementary computer science education. However, people usually have difficulty in understanding abstract concepts and processes such as procedural encoding of algorithms and data structures. One way to improve their understanding is to provide visualizations to make the abstract concepts more concrete. In this chapter, we represent a novel idea to promote the interaction between the user and the algorithm visualization system called visual algorithm simulation. As a proof of concept, we represent an application framework called Matrix that encapsulates the idea of visual algorithm simulation. The framework is applied by the TRAKLA2 learning environment in which algorithm simulation is employed to produce algorithm simulation exercises. Moreover, we discuss the benefits of such exercises and applications of visual algorithm simulation in general.
Tools and Datasets for Mining Libre Software Repositories
Authors: Robles Gregorio , González-Barahona Jesús M. , Izquierdo-Cortazar Daniel , Herraiz Israel
Published: January 2012

Thanks to the open nature of libre (free, open source) software projects, researchers have gained access to a rich set of data related to various aspects of software development. Although it is usually publicly available on the Internet, obtaining and analyzing the data in a convenient way is not an easy task, and many considerations have to be taken into account. In this chapter we introduce the most relevant data sources that can be found in libre software projects and that are commonly studied by scholars: source code releases, source code management systems, mailing lists and issue (bug) tracking systems. The chapter also provides some advice on the problems that can be found when retrieving and preparing the data sources for a later analysis, as well as information about the tools and datasets that support these tasks.
MUSTER
Authors: Coulin Chad , Zowghi Didar , Sahraoui Abd-El-Kader
Published: January 2012

In this chapter they present a collaborative and situational tool called MUSTER, that has been specifically designed and developed for requirements elicitation workshops, and which utilizes, extends, and demonstrates a successful application of intelligent technologies for Computer Aided Software Engineering and Computer Aided Method Engineering. The primary objective of this tool is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the requirements elicitation process for software systems development, whilst addressing some of the common issues often encountered in practice through the integration of intelligent technologies. The tool also offers an example of how a group support system, coupled with artificial intelligence, can be applied to very practical activities and situations within the software development process.
Assimilating and Optimizing Software Assurance in the SDLC
Authors: Adeniji Aderemi O. , Lee Seok-Won
Published: January 2012

Software Assurance is the planned and systematic set of activities that ensures software processes and products conform to requirements while standards and procedures in a manner that builds trusted systems and secure software. While absolute security may not yet be possible, procedures and practices exist to promote assurance in the software lifecycle. In this paper, the authors present a framework and step-wise approach towards achieving and optimizing assurance by infusing security knowledge, techniques, and methodologies into each phase of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC).
Implementation of FFT on General-Purpose Architectures for FPGA
Authors: Garzia Fabio , Airoldi Roberto , Nurmi Jari
Published: January 2012

This paper describes two general-purpose architectures targeted to Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementation. The first architecture is based on the coupling of a coarse-grain reconfigurable array with a general-purpose processor core. The second architecture is a homogeneous multi-processor system-on-chip (MP-SoC). Both architectures have been mapped onto two different Altera FPGA devices, a StratixII and a StratixIV. Although mapping onto the StratixIV results in higher operating frequencies, the capabilities of the device are not fully exploited. The implementation of a FFT on the two platforms shows a considerable speed-up in comparison with a single-processor reference architecture. The speed-up is higher in the reconfigurable solution but the MP-SoC provides an easier programming interface that is completely based on C language. The authors’ approach proves that implementing a programmable architecture on FPGA and then programming it using a high-level software language is a viable alternative to designing a dedicated hardware block with a hardware description language (HDL) and mapping it on FPGA.
Extended Time Machine Design using Reconfigurable Computing for Efficient Recording and Retrieval of Gigabit Network Traffic
Authors: Kumar S. Sajan , Prasad M. Hari Krishna , Pilli Suresh Raju
Published: January 2012

Till date there are no systems which promise to efficiently store and retrieve high volume network traffic. Like Time Machine, this efficiently records and retrieves high volume network traffic. The bottleneck of such systems has been to capture packets at such a high speed without dropping and to write a large amount of data to a disk quicklt and sufficiently, without impact on the integrity of the captured data (Ref. Cooke.E., Myrick.A., Rusek.D., & Jahanian.F(2006)). Certain hardware and software parts of the operating system (like drivers, input/output interfaces) cannot cope with such a high volume of data from a network, which may cause loss of data. Based on such experiences the authors have come up with a redesigned implementation of the system which have specialized capture hardware with its own Application Programming Interface for overcoming loss of data and improving efficiency in recording mechanisms.