Synthesis of Distributed Processes from Scenario-Based Specifications
Given a set of sequence diagrams, the problem of synthesis is of deciding whether there exists a satisfying object system and if so, synthesize one automatically. It is crucial in the development of complex systems, since sequence diagrams serve as the manifestation of use cases and if synthesizable they could lead directly to implementation. It is even more interesting (and harder) if the synthesized object system is distributed. In this paper, we propose a systematic way of synthesizing distributed processes from Live Sequence Charts. The basic idea is to first construct a CSP specification from the LSC specification, and then use CSP algebraic laws to group the behaviors of each object effectively. The key point is that the behaviors of each object can be decided locally without constructing the global state machine.

title: A tools environment for developing and reasoning about ontologies
abstract: Started in the beginning of 2001, the semantic Web is regarded by many as the next generation of the Web. Ontology languages are the building blocks of semantic Web as they provide basic vocabularies for data markups: the ontologies. The correctness of shared ontologies is crucial to the proper functioning of agents. Hence ensuring the consistency of ontologies is a central issue in both the design and deployment phases of any semantic Web-aware application. Our experiences show that semantic Web is a novel and fruitful application domain for formal languages and their mature reasoning tool support. In order to ease the application of formal methods and tools to the semantic Web, we developed an integrated tools environment to support systematic development of OWL ontologies and then transformation, reasoning assistance and querying of them.

title: Object-Z web environment and projections to UML
abstract: This paper presents the XML/XSL approach to the development of a web environment for the formal speci cation language Object-Z. The projection techniques and tools from Object-Z (in XML) to UML (in XMI) are developed using XSL Transformations (XSLT). Furthermore, Object-Z (itself) is used to specify and design the essential functionalities of the web environment and the projection tools to UML. In a sense, the paper also demonstrates a formal approach to modeling web applications.

title: XML-Based Static Type Checking and Dynamic Visualization for TCOZ
abstract: Timed Communicating Object Z(TCOZ) combines Object-Z's strengths in modelling complex data and state with TCSP's strengths in modeling real-time concurrency. Based on our previous work on the XML environment for TCOZ, this paper firstly demonstrates the development of a type checker for detecting static semantic errors of the TCOZ specification, then illustrates a transformation tool to automatically project TCOZ models into UML statechart diagrams for visualising the dynamic system behaviour.

title: A Z Approach in Validating ORA-SS Data Models
abstract: The rapid growth of the World Wide Web has resulted in more data being accessed over the Internet. In turn there is an increase in the use of semistructured data, which plays a crucial role in many web applications particularly with the introduction of XML and its related technologies. This increase in use makes the design of good semistructured data structures essential. The Object Relationship Attribute model for Semistructured data (ORA-SS) is a graphical notation for designing and representing semistructured data. In this paper, we demonstrate an approach to formally validate the ORA-SS data models in order to enhance the correctness of semistructured data design. A mathematical semantics for the ORA-SS notation is defined using the Z formal language, and further validation processes are carried out to check the correctness of the semistructured data models at both the schema and instance levels.

title: Validating Semistructured Data Using OWL
abstract: Semistructured data has become prevalent in both web applications and database systems. This rapid growth in use makes the design of good semistructured data essential. Formal semantics and automated reasoning tools enable us to reveal the inconsistencies in a semistructured data model and its instances. The Object Relationship Attribute model for Semistructured data (ORA-SS) is a graphical notation for designing and representing semistructured data. This paper presents a methodology of encoding the semantics of ORA-SS in the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and automatically validating the semistructured data design using the OWL reasoning tool – RACER. Our methodology provides automated consistency checking of an ORA-SS data model at both the schema and instance levels.

title: Bidirectional tracking using trajectory segment analysis
abstract: In this paper, we present a novel approach to keyframe-based tracking, called bi-directional tracking. Given two object templates in the beginning and ending keyframes, the bi-directional tracker outputs the MAP (maximum a posterior) solution of the whole state sequence of the target object in the Bayesian framework. First, a number of 3D trajectory segments of the object are extracted from the input video, using a novel trajectory segment analysis. Second, these disconnected trajectory segments due to occlusion are linked by a number of inferred occlusion segments. Last, the MAP solution is obtained by trajectory optimization in a coarse-to-fine manner. Experimental results show the robustness of our approach with respect to sudden motion, ambiguity, and short and long periods of occlusion.

title: Synchronization protocols in distributed real-time systems
abstract: In many distributed real-time systems, the workload can be modeled as a set of periodic tasks, each of which consists of a chain of subtasks executing on different processors. Synchronization protocols are used to govern the release of subtasks so that the precedence constraints among subtasks are satisfied and the schedulability of the resultant system is analyzable. Tasks have different worst-case and average end-to-end response times when different protocols are used. In this paper, we consider distributed real-time systems with independent, periodic tasks and fixed-priority scheduling algorithms. We propose three synchronization protocols and conduct simulation to compare their performance with respect to the two timing aspects.

title: Spatio-temporal join selectivity
abstract: Given two sets S1, S2 of moving objects, a future timestamp tq, and a distance threshold d, a spatio-temporal join retrieves all pairs of objects that are within distance d at tq. The selectivity of a join equals the number of retrieved pairs divided by the cardinality of the Cartesian product S1 × S2. This paper develops a model for spatio-temporal join selectivity estimation based on rigorous probabilistic analysis, and reveals the factors that affect the selectivity. Initially, we solve the problem for ID (point and rectangle) objects whose location and velocities distribute uniformly, and then extend the results to multi-dimensional spaces. Finally, we deal with non-uniform distributions using a specialized spatio-temporal histogram. Extensive experiments confirm that the proposed formulae are highly accurate (average error below 10%).

title: A Compound Intrusion Detection Model
abstract: Intrusion detection systems (IDSs) have become a critical part of security systems. The goal of an intrusion detection system is to identify intrusion effectively and accurately. However, the performance of misuse intrusion detection system (MIDS) or anomaly intrusion detection system (AIDS) is not satisfying. In this paper, we study the issue of building a compound intrusion detection model, which has the merits of MIDS and AIDS. To build this compound model, we propose an improved Bayesian decision theorem. The improved Bayesian decision theorem brings some profits to this model: to eliminate the flaws of a narrow definition for intrusion patterns, to extend the known intrusions patterns to novel intrusions patterns, to reduce risks that detecting intrusion brings to system and to offer a method to build a compound intrusion detection model that integrates MIDS with AIDS.

title: Analysis of predictive spatio-temporal queries
abstract: Given a set of objects <i>S</i>, a spatio-temporal <i>window query q</i> retrieves the objects of <i>S</i> that will intersect the window during the (future) interval <i>q</i><sub><i>T</i></sub>. A <i>nearest neighbor query q</i> retrieves the objects of <i>S</i> closest to <i>q</i> during <i>q</i><sub><i>T</i></sub>. Given a threshold <i>d</i>, a spatio-temporal <i>join</i> retrieves the pairs of objects from two datasets that will come within distance <i>d</i> from each other during <i>q</i><sub><i>T</i></sub>. In this article, we present probabilistic cost models that estimate the <i>selectivity</i> of spatio-temporal window queries and joins, and the <i>expected distance</i> between a query and its nearest neighbor(s). Our models capture any query/object mobility combination (moving queries, moving objects or both) and any data type (points and rectangles) in arbitrary dimensionality. In addition, we develop specialized spatio-temporal histograms, which take into account both location and velocity information, and can be incrementally maintained. Extensive performance evaluation verifies that the proposed techniques produce highly accurate estimation on both uniform and non-uniform data.