ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Robust Collaboration and Interaction in a Multi-agent System Basing on Hierarchical Networks
Authors: Z W. Zhao, I-Ming Chen, Jun Zhang
Venue: Proceedings of the 2003 International Conference on Cyberworlds (2003)

This paper considers the capability of collaborationand interaction between agents in a new architecture ofMulti-Agent Systems (MAS) basing on the thought ofnetwork behavior and co-evolution. Actually, currentdevelopment of MAS nearly synchronously accompanieswith the development of communication networks everincreasingly because the approaches of informationexchange are mainly depended on the modes of datatransmission and the spectacular of advancedcommunication technologies. The real detailed complexityinside the media transmission platform is masked in theproposed architecture of MAS so that the complexprocesses of data dissemination can be coped withreasonably and simply by way of decentralized intelligentagents. According to the simulation result and thecomparison with other typical models of MAS, thepresented architecture of MAS and its running mechanismexhibit better advantages such as flexibility, robustnessand expansibility suited to the collaboration andinteraction among decentralized agents in MAS. Towardthe future research, some related optimal algorithms andrunning mechanisms concerning the integratedperformance and the complexity of the MAS's architecturewill be investigated and developed.
Product Line Engineering: The State of the Practice
Venue: IEEE Software (2003)

Software product lines are powerful tools for ensuring quality, economic efficiency, and manageability of families of software systems. SPL is important for many companies in the software business, ranging from small start-ups to large industrial enterprises. However, SPL is also a challenging technology that's not always easy to implement and maintain. Members from five different organizations formed a work group that investigated and compared their SPL practices over a period of two and a half years. The group identified key practice areas including organization and support, balancing platform versus client interests, requirements engineering practices, and architecture. The investigation's results detail the SPL state of the practice.
Student culture vs group work in computer science
Authors: William M. Waite, Michele H. Jackson, Amer Diwan, Paul M. Leonardi
Venue: ACM SIGCSE Bulletin (2004)

Our industrial advisory boards tell us that our students are well prepared technically, but they lack important group work skills. Simply adding project courses and requiring that assignments be done in groups has not improved the situation. A careful study of student culture in Computer Science has uncovered barriers to collaboration, which can be overcome only by pervasive changes in the way we approach our curriculum.
Clustered calculation of worst-case execution times
Authors: Andreas Ermedahl, Friedhelm Stappert, Jakob Engblom
Venue: Proceedings of the 2003 international conference on Compilers, architecture and synthesis for embedded systems (2003)

Knowing the Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) of a program is necessary when designing and verifying real-time systems. A correct WCET analysis method must take into account the possible program flow, such as loop iterations and function calls, as well as the timing effects of different hardware features, such as caches and pipelines.A critical part of WCET analysis is the calculation, which combines flow information and hardware timing information in order to calculate a program WCET estimate. The type of flow information which a calculation method can take into account highly determines the WCET estimate precision obtainable. Traditionally, we have had a choice between precise methods that perform global calculations with a risk of high computational complexity, and local methods that are fast but cannot take into account all types of flow information.This paper presents an innovative hybrid method to handle complex flows with low computational complexity, but still generate safe and tight WCET estimates. The method uses flow information to find the smallest parts of a program that have to be handled as a unit to ensure precision. These units are used to calculate a program WCET estimate in a demand-driven bottom-up manner. The calculation method to use for a unit is not fixed, but could depend on the included flow information and program characteristics.
Numerical simulation of dual-species biofilms in porous media
Authors: Benito M. Chen-Charpentier, Hristo V. Kojouharov
Venue: Applied Numerical Mathematics (2003)

There are bacteria that can form strong biofilms in porous media. The biofilms can be used as biobarriers to restrict the flow of pollutants. If a second species of bacteria that can actually react with the contaminants is added to the biobarrier, the result is a much more effective way of controlling the pollutants. We propose a mathematical model for the formation of these biobarriers and numerically solve the resulting equations for the flow, transport and reactions. Qualitative comparisons with some experimental results are also given.
Further study on the high-order double-Fourier-series spectral filtering on a sphere
Authors: Hyeong-Bin Cheong, In-Hyuk Kwon, Tae-Young Goo
Venue: Journal of Computational Physics (2004)

A high-order harmonic spectral filter (HSF) is further studied using double Fourier series (DFS), which performs filtering in terms of successive inversion of tridiagonal matrices with complex-valued elements. The high-order harmonics filter equation is split into multiple Helmholtz equations. It is found that the filter provides the same order of accuracy as the spectral filter in [J. Comput. Phys. 177 (2002) 313] that consists of the pentadiagonal matrices with real-valued elements. The advantage of the filter over the previous one lies on the simplicity and easiness of numerical implementation or computer coding, just requiring the same complexity as Poisson's equation solver. However, the operation count associated with the filter increases by a factor of about 2. To circumvent the inefficiency while preserving the simplicity, an easy way to construct pentadiagonal matrices associated with the biharmonic equation is presented in which the tridiagonal matrices related with Poisson's equation are manipulated. Computational efficiency of the spectral filter is discussed in terms of the relative computing time to the spectral transform. It is revealed that the computing cost (requiring O(N2) operations with N being the truncation) for the spectral filtering, even with the complex-valued matrices, is not significant in the DFS spectral model that is characterized by O(N2 log2 N) operations. Filtering with different DFS expansions is discussed with a focus on the accuracy and pole condition. It is shown that the DFS violating the pole conditions produces a discontinuity at poles in case of wave truncation, and its influence spreads over the globe. The spectral filter is applied to two kinds of uniform-grid data, the regular and the shifted grids, and the results are compared with each other. The operator splitting (or spherical harmonics factorization) makes it feasible to apply the finite difference method to the high-order harmonics filter with ease because only the five-point stencil computations are required. The application could also be extended to other numerical methods only if the Helmholtz equation solver is available.
Book reviews
Authors: Benjamin Lev
Venue: Interfaces (2003)

The range of books reviewed is wide, covering theory and applications in operations research, statistics, management science, econometrics, mathematics, computers, and information systems (no software is reviewed). In addition, we include books in other fields that emphasize technical applications. Publishers who wish to have their books reviewed should send them to Professor Benjamin Lev. We list the books received; not all books received can be reviewed because space is limited. Those who would like to review books are urged to send me their names, addresses, and specific areas of expertise. We commission all reviews and do not accept unsolicited book reviews. Readers are encouraged to suggest books that might be reviewed or to ask publishers to send me copies of such books.
Weakly Supervised Learning of Visual Models and Its Application to Content-Based Retrieval
Authors: Cordelia Schmid
Venue: International Journal of Computer Vision (2004)

This paper presents a method for weakly supervised learning of visual models. The visual model is based on a two-layer image description: a set of &ldquo;generic&rdquo; descriptors and their distribution over neighbourhoods. &ldquo;Generic&rdquo; descriptors represent sets of similar rotational invariant feature vectors. Statistical spatial constraints describe the neighborhood structure and make our description more discriminant. The joint probability of the frequencies of &ldquo;generic&rdquo; descriptors over a neighbourhood is multi-modal and is represented by a set of &ldquo;neighbourhood-frequency&rdquo; clusters. Our image description is rotationally invariant, robust to model deformations and characterizes efficiently &ldquo;appearance-based&rdquo; visual structure. The selection of distinctive clusters determines model features (common to the positive and rare in the negative examples). Visual models are retrieved and localized using a probabilistic score. Experimental results for &ldquo;textured&rdquo; animals and faces show a very good performance for retrieval as well as localization.
On solvents of matrix polynomials
Authors: Edgar Pereira
Venue: Applied Numerical Mathematics (2003)

First, the basic theory of matrix polynomials and the construction of solvents are reviewed in terms of the concept of eigenpair. Then a study of the number of solvents is done. Conditions for the number of solvents to be infinite are stated and for a finite (positive) number the minimum and the maximum are estimated.
Consideration of obstacle danger level in path planning using A* and fast-marching optimisation: comparative study
Authors: P. Melchior, B. Orsoni, O. Lavialle, A. Poty, A. Oustaloup
Venue: Signal Processing (2003)

Obstacle danger level is taken into consideration in path planning using fractional potential maps. This paper describes the two optimisation methods tested: the A* algorithm and the Fast-Marching technique. The efficiency of the two approaches is illustrated and compared through a vehicle path planning application in a fixed obstacle environment. A* is a heuristically ordered research algorithm and is complete and admissible. Fast-Marching provides a convex map without local minima and permits real-time evaluation of optimal trajectories. A vehicle path planning application is considered in a fixed obstacle environment. A specific danger level is given to each obstacle. The obtained continuous curve trajectories are compared.
A principled design for scalable internet visual communications with rich media, interactivity, and structured archives
Authors: Ron Baecker
Venue: Proceedings of the 2003 conference of the Centre for Advanced Studies on Collaborative research (2003)

In contrast to video conferencing, webcasting supports scaleable Internet visual communications, yet it is typically viewed as an ephemeral one-way broadcast medium. We present a principled design for interactive webcasts that are accessible both in real-time and retrospectively. We derive system architecture and functionality from project goals, results from the video communications literature, and observations of prototype implementations in real webcasts. The ePresence system is scalable, interactive, and able to support presenters and engage remote audiences with rich media. It also provides automatically derived, structured, navigable, and searchable archives for the retrospective use of webcasts.
Microprocessor controlled functional stimulator utilizing myoelectric inputs
Authors: P. S. Stutman
Venue: Issue 24 (October 1978) (1978)

A self-contained, user-worn, electrical stimulator, incorporating a C/MOS micro-processor as the controller is described. The prototype is aimed at restoring function in upper extremities such as elbow and digit flexors, to those with upper motor neuron lesions. EMGs from user controllable muscles are input to control the micro-processor and effect stimulation. Device characteristics are a function of the internal program which may be changed to accomodate different clinical situations. The processor has also been used to attempt to minimize the effect of change at the electrode tissue interface. Emphasis has been placed on designing a producible, reasonably priced system. Tests with normal subjects are reported. Additional uses are discussed.
Predicting Conserved Hairpin Motifs in Unaligned RNA Sequences
Authors: Giulio Pavesi, Giancarlo Mauri, Graziano Pesole
Venue: Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence (2003)

Several experiments and observations have revealed the fact that small local distinct structural features in RNA molecules are correlated with their biological function, for example in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Thus, finding similar structural features in a set of RNA sequences known to play the same biological function could provide substantial information concerning which parts of the sequences are responsible for the function itself.The main difficulty lies in the fact that in nearly all the cases the structure of the molecules is unknown, has to be somehow predicted, and that sequences with little or no similarity can fold into similar structures. The algorithm we present searches for regions of the sequences that, according to base pairing rules, can fold into similar structures, where the degree of similarity can be defined by the user. Any information concerning sequence similarity in the motifs can be used either as a search constraint, or a posteriori, by post-processing the output. The search for the regions sharing structural similarity is implemented with the affix tree, a novel text-indexing structure that significantly accelerates the search for patterns having a symmetric layout, like those forming RNA hairpins. Tests based on experimentally known structures have shown that the algorithm is able to identify functional motifs in the secondary structure of non coding RNA, such as Iron Responsive Elements (IRE) in the untranslated regions of ferritin mRNA, and the domain IV stem-loop structure in SRP RNA.
Predicting Defect-Tolerant Yield in the Embedded Core Context
Authors: Fred J. Meyer, Nohpill Park
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Computers (2003)

This work addresses the problem of predicting the yield of a chip composed of cores. A center-satellite model is used to directly represent observed spatial autocorrelation of integrated circuit spot defects. This model is compared to another (large-area clustering) model that only indirectly represents intrawafer correlation. We illustrate that, when different portions of a chip have different susceptibility to defects, the chip layout will affect the predicted yield. This is particularly relevant when portions of a chip are defect-tolerant because their susceptibility to defects is dramatically different. We illustrate how the yield models can be used to predict the utility of making much of a chip (or an embedded core) defect-tolerant. Two yield points parameterized the models. The one extra parameter of, and the suitability of, the center-satellite model allowed it to track the yield data points with less than 1/10,000 of the error of the large-area clustering model. However, the simpler large-area clustering model is accurate in some circumstances, especially when the chip area is small.
On the complexity of Simon automata over the Dyck language
Authors: Flavio D'Alessandro
Venue: Journal of Automata, Languages and Combinatorics (2003)

In this paper the following problem is studied. Let Σ = Σ ∪ Σ be a finite alphabet where Σ and Σ, are disjoint and equipotent sets. Let L be a rational language over Σ and let SL be the Simon distance automaton of L. Let C be the square matrix with entries in the extended set of natural numbers given by the formula: for every pair (p, q) of states of SL, Cpq is the minimum weight of a computation in SL from p to q labelled by a Dyck word if such a computation exists, otherwise it is ∞. We exhibit a polynomial time algorithm which allows us to compute the matrix C in the case Σ is the unary alphabet. This result partially solves an open question raised in [4].
Network Topology Exploration of Mesh-Based Coarse-Grain Reconfigurable Architectures
Authors: Nikhil Bansal, Sumit Gupta, Nikil Dutt, Alex Nicolau, Rajesh Gupta
Venue: Proceedings of the conference on Design, automation and test in Europe - Volume 1 (2004)

Several coarse-grain reconfigurable architectures proposed recently consist of a large number of processing elements (PEs) connected in a mesh-like network topology. We study the effects of three aspects of network topology exploration on the performance of applications on these architectures: (a) changing the interconnection between PEs, (b) changing the way the network topology is traversed while mapping operations to the PEs, and (c) changing the communication delays on the interconnects between PEs. We propose network topology traversal strategies that first schedule PEs that are spatially close and that have more interconnections among them. We use an interconnect aware list scheduling heuristic as a vehicle to perform the network topology exploration experiments on a set of designs derived from DSP applications. Our experimental results show that a spiral traversal strategy, coupled with a two neighbor interconnect topology leads to good performance for the DSP benchmarks considered. Our prototype framework thus provides an exploration environment for system architects to explore and tune coarse-grain reconfigurable architectures for particular application domains.
The UniTesK Approach to Designing Test Suites
Authors: V. V. Kuliamin, A. K. Petrenko, A. S. Kossatchev, I. B. Burdonov
Venue: Programming and Computing Software (2003)

Principles of the UniTesK test development technology based on the use of formal models of target software are presented. This technology was developed by the RedVerst group in the Institute for System Programming, Russian Academy of Sciences (ISPRAS) &lsqb;1&rsqb;, which obtained rich experience in testing and verification of complex commercial software.
Fast Normal Basis Multiplication Using General Purpose Processors
Authors: Arash Reyhani-Masoleh, M. Anwar Hasan
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Computers (2003)

For cryptographic applications, normal bases have received considerable attention, especially for hardware implementation. In this article, we consider fast software algorithms for normal basis multiplication over the extended binary field GF (2^m). We present a vector-level algorithm which essentially eliminates the bit-wise inner products needed in the conventional approach to the normal basis multiplication. We then present another algorithm which significantly reduces the dynamic instruction counts. Both algorithms utilize the full width of the data-path of the general purpose processor on which the software is to be executed. We also consider composite fields and present an algorithm which can provide further speed-ups and an added flexibility toward hardware-software codesign of processors for very large finite fields.
Thoroughness of Specification-Based Testing of Synchronous Programs
Authors: Ioannis Parissis, Jérôme Vassy
Venue: Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (2003)

Adequacy criteria for structural testing techniques aredefined in terms of coverage (e.g. of statements orbranches). For black-box testing, such criteria, makingtesters able to decide when to stop testing, are more difficultto define. In this paper, we propose such a definition forthe particular case of specification-based testing techniquesfor synchronous software supplied by the Lutess testing environment.Lutess provides a framework for automaticallybuilding generators interacting with the software under testand feeding it with test input sequences. It requires a Lustrespecification of both the software environment and thesoftware safety properties. This specification is translatedinto an input-output automaton. A critical situation occurswhen a safety property can be violated unless the softwarereacts adequately. Such situations correspond to particularstates of the specification automaton, called suspectstates. Suspect states definition can be used in two complementaryways: First, to design testing techniques able toreach several such states during testing. Second, to assessthe thoroughness of a test input sequence in terms of coveredsuspect states. The above techniques are illustratedon a telephony software specification developed for the firstFeature Interaction Detection Contest and involving 12 differenttelephone features. The thoroughness of the Lutesstesting strategies is assessed as their ability to lead the softwareinto suspect states.
A journey from interpreters to compilers and virtual machines
Authors: Olivier Danvy
Venue: Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on Generative programming and component engineering (2003)

We review a simple sequence of steps to stage a programming-language interpreter into a compiler and virtual machine. We illustrate the applicability of this derivation with a number of existing virtual machines, mostly for functional languages. We then outline its relevance for today's language development [5].The work is joint with Mads Sig Ager, Dariusz Biernacki, and Jan Midtgaard [1-4].
S-Scheme of sliding examination for optimal set features determination in discriminant analysis by the group method of data handling
Authors: Alexander Sarychev
Venue: Systems Analysis Modelling Simulation (2003)

It is shown analytically that the traditional scheme of sliding examination of the Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) allows to solve the problem of discriminant analysis in a broad sense on the basis of finite samples of observations. It is shown that there exists an optimal set of features corresponding to the maximum mathematical expectation of some generalized distance between the observations from two general sets. It is shown analytically that parameters of the general sets and samples sizes influence on a complexity of optimal discriminant function, and conditions under which the optimal discriminant function is simplified are exhibited.