ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
An object-oriented system for engineering applications
Authors: Alfons Kemper, Peter C. Lockemann, Mechtild Wallrath
Venue: ACM SIGMOD Record (1987)

One of the most promising approaches to database support of engineering applications is the concept of object-oriented database management. Object-orientation is usually approached from either a behavioral or structural viewpoint. The former emphasizes the application-specific manipulation of technical objects while hiding their structural details whereas the latter concentrates on the structural aspects and their efficient implementation. The thesis of the paper is that the two viewpoints may enter into a fruitful symbiosis where a behaviorally object-oriented system is implemented on top of a structurally object-oriented database system, thereby combining ease of use by the engineer with high database system performance. The thesis will be demonstrated in the paper by a user-friendly interface based on user-definable abstract datatypes and its implementation using a prototype for the non-first-normal-form (NF2) relational model, and will be supported by an engineering example application from off-line robot programming.
Implementation of resilient, atomic data types
Authors: William Weihl, Barbara Liskov
Venue: ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems (TOPLAS) (1985)

A major issue in many applications is how to preserve the consistency of data in the presence of concurrency and hardware failures. We suggest addressing this problem by implementing applications in terms of abstract data types with two properties: Their objects are atomic (they provide serializability and recoverability for activities using them) and resilient (they survive hardware failures with acceptably high probability). We define what it means for abstract data types to be atomic and resilient. We also discuss issues that arise in implementing such types, and describe a particular linguistic mechanism provided in the Argus programming language.
Fast Phong shading
Authors: Gary Bishop, David M. Weimer
Venue: ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics (1986)

Computer image generation systems often represent curved surfaces as a mesh of planar polygons that are shaded to restore a smooth appearance. Phong shading is a well known algorithm for producing a realistic shading but it has not been used by real-time systems because of the 3 additions, 1 division, and 1 square-root required per pixel for its evaluation. We describe a new formulation for Phong shading that reduces the amount of computation per pixel to only 2 additions for simple Lambertian reflection and 5 additions and 1 memory reference for Phong's complete reflection model. We also show how to extend our method to compute the specular component with the eye at a finite distance from the scene rather than at infinity as is usually assumed. The method can be implemented in hardware for real-time applications or in software to speed image generation for almost any system.
Opportunities for research on numerical control machining
Authors: David D. Grossman
Venue: Communications of the ACM (1986)

Numerical control (NC) machining could be reinvigorated by adapting robotic software technology. Regrettably, pressures are mounting in industry to constrain robots to NC standards, and the academic community views NC as an obsolete, solved problem, with little remaining scholarly challenge. Grossman examines the current status of APT, an NC language, and proposes the merging of APT with a modern robotics language.
National's Advanced Graphics Chip Set for High-Performance Graphics
Authors: Charles Carinalli, John Blair
Venue: IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (1986)

To reinforce the growth of computer graphics, hardware architectures must be developed to support the rapid growth in display resolution that will occur in the next few years. The architectures must allow a high degree of application independence without requiring significant changes in the overhead software interface. The hardware architecture must be expandable, again avoiding significant software changes. Finally, the architecture must be implemented in VLSI for reasons of cost and speed. This article will describe a graphics hardware architecture that meets these criteria.
GaAs Microprocessors and Digital Systems: An Overview of R&D Efforts
Authors: Harry Vlahos, Veljko Milutinovic
Venue: IEEE Micro (1988)

An overview is provided of existing gallium arsenide microprocessors and related digital designs. The architectures described cover a wide range of applications and were chosen on the basis of their unique design and technology characteristics. The issues considered relate to the processor-design level with some register-transfer-level components covered for the sake of completeness. The discussion covers general-application microprocessors including: RCA 8-bit microprocessor; CDC 32-bit microprocessor; McDonnell Douglas 32-bit microprocessor; and RCA 32-bit microprocessor microprocessors of symbolic applications including: Carnegie Mellon's RISCF; and GAELIC from Magnavox, systolic array processors, and alternative approaches to processor design.
Many-sorted unification
Authors: Christoph Walther
Venue: Journal of the ACM (JACM) (1988)

Many-sorted unification is considered; that is, unification in the many-sorted free algebras of terms, where variables, as well as the domains and ranges of functions, are restricted to certain subsets of the universe, given as a potentially infinite hierarchy of sorts. It is shown that complete and minimal sets of unifiers may not always exist for many-sorted unification. Conditions for sort hierarchies that are equivalent for the existence of these sets with one, finitely many, or infinitely many elements are presented. It is also proved that being a forest-structured sort hierarchy is a necessary and sufficient criterion for the Robinson Unification Theorem to hold for many-sorted unification. An algorithm for many-sorted unification is given.
A Signed Bit-Sequential Multiplier
Authors: T Rhyne, N R Strader,  II
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Computers (1986)

Bit-sequential algorithms for arithmetic processing are good candidates for VLSI signal processing circuits because of their canonical structure and minimal interconnection requirements. Several recent papers have dealt with algorithms that accept unsigned binary inputs, one bit at a time, least significant bit first, and produce an unsigned binary product in a bit-serial fashion.
Set query optimization in distributed database systems
Authors: Bezalel Gavish, Arie Segev
Venue: ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS) (1986)

This paper addresses the problem of optimizing queries that involve set operations (set queries) in a distributed relational database system. A particular emphasis is put on the optimization of such queries in horizontally partitioned database systems. A mathematical programming model of the set query problem is developed and its NP-completeness is proved. Solution procedures are proposed and computational results presented. One of the main results of the computational experiments is that, for many queries, the solution procedures are not sensitive to errors in estimating the size of results of set operations.
Implementation of a high-speed Prolog interpreter
Authors: A. Krall
Venue: ACM SIGPLAN Notices (1987)

This paper describes the implementation of a high speed Prolog interpreter on a standard microprocessor (50 KLIPS on a 16 MHz MC68020). The interpreter is based on direct threaded code. By this method an interpreted program achieves the same speed as a compiled program, but uses only a tenth of memory. The first part of this paper describes the implementation of the interpreter. The second part compares the implementation, the runtime and the storage requirements with that of a compiler.
Exception Handling: Formal Specification and Systematic Program Construction
Authors: Michel Bidoit, Brigitte Biebow, Marie-Claude Gaudel, Christian Gresse, Gérard D. Guiho
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (1985)

We present an algebraic specification language (PLUSS) and a program construction method. Programs are built systematically from an algebraic specification of the data they deal with. The method was tested on a realistic problem (part of a telephone switching system). In these experiments, it turned out that error handling was the difficult part to specify and to program. This paper shows how to cope with this problem at the specification level and during the program development process.
Job histories as predictors of career success in management information systems
Authors: Marilyn A. Morgan
Venue: ACM SIGCPR Computer Personnel (1987)

This research recognizes the lack of knowledge about career issues in data processing and proposes a way of examining the job histories of MIS managers to predict their career success. Job history is defined as a series of job experiences over the span of the person's work life. Results from research in other professional groups suggests that job histories are critical determinants of overall career success. When tested in the MIS environment, the results are expected to show that the series of jobs throughout a data processing manager's career affects the overall level of success achieved and that ability and job history predict career success in an additive rather than an interactive way. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for researchers and practitioners in the MIS area.
Ada-embedded SQL: the options
Authors: J E D Donaho, G K Davis
Venue: ACM SIGAda Ada Letters (1987)

This paper investigates the possibilities for incorporating relational database queries into an Ada application program. The research was done from a language features viewpoint, and only concerned itself with the broadest of implementation issues.Three alternative approaches are investigated. The first tries to express database definitions and queries in pure Ada source code. The second attempts to write Ada code that looks and functions just like SQL. The third approach embeds a distinct query language within an Ada application program.The most feasible approach is found to be that of an embedded query language, in conjunction with pre-processing of the integrated Ada-language/query-language program. The paper then goes on to describe a number of modifications and enhancements to the SQL model which would provide an acceptable Ada-compatible query language.
Reflections on NoteCards: seven issues for the next generation of hypermedia systems
Authors: Frank, G. Halasz
Venue: Communications of the ACM (1988)

NoteCards, developed by a team at Xerox PARC, was designed to support the task of transforming a chaotic collection of unrelated thoughts into an integrated, orderly interpretation of ideas and their interconnections. This article presents NoteCards as a foil against which to explore some of the major limitations of the current generation of hypermedia systems, and characterizes the issues that must be addressed in designing the next generation systems.
An architecture for adaptive learning in rule-based diagnostic expert systems
Authors: D. St. Clair, W. E. Bond, B. B. Flachsbart, A. R. Vigland
Venue: Proceedings of the 1987 Fall Joint Computer Conference on Exploring technology: today and tomorrow (1987)

This paper describes an architecture for incorporating adaptive learning in rule-based diagnostic expert systems. An adaptive experience-based diagnostic expert system prototype is described which develops and maintains its knowledge base by using adaptive learning techniques. By coupling new experience with the current state of its knowledge, the system incrementally refines the rules in its knowledge base. Although the system described performs as an assistant in troubleshooting electronic component failures in aircraft, the inductive learning mechanisms used are applicable to other rule-based diagnostic systems which are located in environments capable of providing feedback to the system.
Interactive digital simulation
Authors: Richard J Reid
Venue: ACM SIGCSE Bulletin (1986)

Simulation of digital networks can be enhanced by interactive graphics to provide an experimental environment that rivals breadboarding as a "hands-on" logic-design experience.The simulator described here allows interactive keyboard entries during the simulation interval providing activation of network switches and pulsers, restarting or slowing the simulation, graphical expansion of modules in terms of their internal components, graphical pan and zoom for better resolution of sub-networks, and multiple viewing windows onto the virtual space of the network. The simulation is three-level and event driven, and allows the specification of periodic clock signals of unlimited duration.A pre-processor allows the macro definition of modules and provides the necessary independence of local variables that is required for multiple instantiation. Although inherently recursive, the macro processor can be supplemented with library macros that support iterative specification. This feature allows the construction of networks with interated cell structures.
A general approach to d-dimensional geometric queries
Authors: A C Yao
Venue: Proceedings of the seventeenth annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing (1985)

It is shown that any bounded region in Ed can be divided into 2d subregions of equal volume in such a way that no hyperplane in Ed can intersect all 2d of the subregions. This theorem provides the basis of a data structure scheme for organizing n points in d dimensions. Under this scheme, a broad class of geometric queries in d dimensions, including many common problems in range search and optimization, can be solved in linear storage space and sublinear time.
Scheduling real-time transactions
Authors: Robert Abbott, Hector Garcia-Molina
Venue: ACM SIGMOD Record (1988)

Scheduling transactions with real-time requirements presents many new problems. In this paper we discuss solutions for two of these problems: what is a reasonable method for modeling real-time constraints for database transactions? Traditional hard real-time constraints (e.g., deadlines) may be too limited. May transactions have soft deadlines and a more flexible model is needed to capture these soft time constraints. The second problem we address is scheduling. Time constraints add a new dimension to concurrency control. Not only must a schedule be serializable but it also should meet the time constraints of all the transactions in the schedule.
Join indices
Authors: Patrick Valduriez
Venue: ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS) (1987)

In new application areas of relational database systems, such as artificial intelligence, the join operator is used more extensively than in conventional applications. In this paper, we propose a simple data structure, called a join index, for improving the performance of joins in the context of complex queries. For most of the joins, updates to join indices incur very little overhead. Some properties of a join index are (i) its efficient use of memory and adaptiveness to parallel execution, (ii) its compatibility with other operations (including select and union), (iii) its support for abstract data type join predicates, (iv) its support for multirelation clustering, and (v) its use in representing directed graphs and in evaluating recursive queries. Finally, the analysis of the join algorithm using join indices shows its excellent performance.
The Performance of Alternative Strategies for Dealing with Deadlocks in Database Management Systems
Authors: Rakesh Agrawal, Michael J. Carey, Lawrence McVoy
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering (1987)

There is growing evidence that, for a fairly wide variety of database workloads and system configurations, locking is the concurrency control strategy of choice. With locking, of course, comes the possibility of deadlocks. Although the database literature is full of algorithms for dealing with deadlocks, very little in the way of practical performance information is available to a database system designer faced with the decision of choosing a good deadlock resolution strategy. This paper is an attempt to bridge this gap in our understanding of the behavior and performance of alternative deadlock resolution strategies. We employ a simulation model of a database environment to study the relative performance of several strategies based on deadlock detection, several strategies based on deadlock prevention, and a strategy based on timeouts. We show that the choice of the best deadlock resolution strategy depends upon the level of data contention, the resource utilization levels, and the types of transactions. We provide guidelines for selecting a deadlock resolution strategy for different operating regions.
DBMS with graph data model for knowledge handling
Authors: H. S. Kunii
Venue: Proceedings of the 1987 Fall Joint Computer Conference on Exploring technology: today and tomorrow (1987)

This paper discusses data models from the viewpoint of knowledge representation and also features of a DBMS desirable for constructing a knowledge handling system. We implemented a DBMS (called G-BASE) employing a graph data model. This model is based on a labeled directed graph and is suitable for representing complex structures of knowledge.
Spreadsheet language level: how high is it?
Authors: Peter Kokol
Venue: ACM SIGPLAN Notices (1988)

In this paper we briefly describe most important features of the spreadsheet software. Then we present an algorithm for measuring its Halstead's language level. Finaly we analyse the obtained measures.
Predicting performance of concurrency control designs
Authors: Michael J. Jipping, Ray Ford
Venue: Proceedings of the 1987 ACM SIGMETRICS conference on Measurement and modeling of computer systems (1987)

Performance is a high-priority consideration when designing concurrent or distributed systems. The process of designing such a system is complicated by two factors: (1) the current state-of-the-art in concurrent system design is very ad hoc &mdash; software design principles for concurrent systems are still in their infancy, and (2) performance evaluation of concurrent systems is quite difficult and it is especially difficult to relate aspects of the design to aspects of the implementation. This paper reports on work with a performance modeling technique for concurrent or distributed systems that allows structured design to be related to the implementation of the concurrency control component of the system. First, a General Process Model (GPM) is used to organize system design information into a six level hierarchy. The abstract performance properties of each level in the hierarchy have been established using concurrency control theory. Next, we describe how to translate the structured system design into efficient concurrency control techniques, using elements of this theory. Finally, a prototype automated design evaluation tool which serves as a central component of the design methodology is described.
VMTP: a transport protocol for the next generation of communication systems
Authors: D Cheriton
Venue: ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review (1986)

The Versatile Message Transaction Protocol (VMTP) is a transport-level protocol designed to support remote procedure call, multicast and real-time communication. The protocol is optimized for efficient page-level network file access in particular. In this paper, we describe the significant aspects of the VMTP design, including the VMTP treatment of sessions, addressing, duplicate suppression, flow control and retransmissions plus its provision for multicast. The VMTP design reflects a change in the use of computer communication as well as a change in the underlying hardware base for the next generation of communication systems. It also challenges certain established notions in the design of protocols.
Computer science homework and grading practices: an alternative to the popular model
Authors: Sidney L. Sanders
Venue: ACM SIGCSE Bulletin (1988)

The approach to homework used in elementary school and high school is also popular in college computer courses, particularly those involving programming. Regardless of its popularity, there are compelling reasons to eschew this approach at the college level. This paper outlines the major problems inherent in the high school approach, and proposes an alternative. The proposed model provides opportunities for learning and maturation, while preventing further erosion of the meaning of an academic grade.
ESPRIT software engineering environments&mdash;a joint European activity
Authors: P. Y. Cunin, J. van Zijl
Venue: Proceedings of the 1987 Fall Joint Computer Conference on Exploring technology: today and tomorrow (1987)

The need for the development of a common European SEE was recognized at the very beginning of the ESPRIT program. In order to provide a language- and method- independent basic support, the project &ldquo;A basis for a Portable Common Tool Environment&rdquo; (known as the PCTE project) was launched during the pilot phase in 1983. Since that time, a complete and coherent strategy was developed within the Software Technology and Advanced Information Processing areas in order to provide the information technology community with a standardized and advanced environment supporting method oriented development tools as well as project and product management tools. Considerable results have already been produced and, due to the always increasing amount of products available, the movement becomes self accelerating and shows that European collaboration within information technologies was a realistic challenge and is a practical objective.
Iris: design of an user interface program for symbolic algebra
Authors: B. L. Leong
Venue: Proceedings of the fifth ACM symposium on Symbolic and algebraic computation (1986)

We present the design of a user interface program that can be used with Maple and other symbolic algebra packages. Through the use of a standard communications protocol to such a program, symbolic algebra packages can shed the bulk of code not directly related to algebraic manipulations but can still use the facilities of a powerful user interface. This interface program is designed to be used on a variety of workstations in a consistent fashion.
Oriented projective geometry
Authors: J. Stolfi
Venue: Proceedings of the third annual symposium on Computational geometry (1987)

Oriented projective geometry is a model for geometric computation that combines the elegance of classical projective geometry with the ability to talk about oriented lines and planes, signed angles, line segments, convex figures, and many other concepts that cannot be defined within the classical version. Classical projective geometry is the implicit framework of many geometric computations, since it underlies the well-known homogeneous coordinate representation. It is argued here that oriented projective geometry &mdash; and its analytic model, based on signed homogeneous coordinates &mdash; provide a better foundation for computational geometry than their classical counterparts. The differences between the classical and oriented versions are largely confined to the mathematical formalism and its interpretation. Computationally, the changes are minimal and do not increase the cost and complexity of geometric algorithms. Geometric algorithms that use homogeneous coordinates can be easily converted to the oriented framework at little cost. The necessary changes are largely a matter of paying attention to the order of operands and to the signs of coordinates, which are frequently ignored or left unspecified in the classical framework.