ppxscal/embedding_network huggingface dataset:
Metadata-driven design of integrated environments for software performance validation
Authors: Andrea D'Ambrogio, Giuseppe Iazeolla
Venue: Journal of Systems and Software (2005)

Lifecycle validation of the performance of software products (i.e., the prediction of the product ability to satisfy the user performance requirements) encompasses the production of performance models from CASE documents.The model production activity is a critical, time-consuming and error-prone activity so that lifecycle validation is still not widely accepted and applied. The reason is twofold: the lack of methods for the automatic derivation of software performance models from CASE documents and the lack of environments that implement and integrate such methods.A number of methods for the automatic derivation of software performance models from CASE documents has been already proposed in literature, without however solving the automation problem. This paper instead faces up to such problem, by introducing an integrated and standards-based environment for the automatic derivation and evaluation of queueing-based performance models.The environment is based on the use of standards for metadata exchange (MOF, XMI), to ease the integration of the most common UML-based CASE tools, thus enabling software designers to smoothly introduce performance validation activities into their best development practices.
Fast Approximation Schemes for Two-Stage, Two-Dimensional Bin Packing
Authors: Alberto Caprara, Andrea Lodi, Michele Monaci
Venue: Mathematics of Operations Research (2005)

We present an asymptotic fully polynomial time approximation scheme for the two-dimensional generalization of Bin Packing, which requires packing (or cutting) a given set of rectangles from the minimum number of square bins, with the further restriction that packing the rectangles in the bins is done in two stages, as is frequently the case in real-world applications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approximation scheme for a nontrivial two-dimensional (and real-world) generalization of a classical one-dimensional packing problem in which rectangles have to be packed in (finite) squares. In addition to the approximability result, we obtain as a byproduct of our analysis an interesting structural result, namely the asymptotic optimality of the lower bound provided by the natural linear programming relaxation of the problem, having one variable for each bin pattern, that can be solved effectively by column generation techniques. Besides its practical relevance, a main reason to concentrate on the two-stage version of the problem is that its study continues to shed light on the general version. In particular, we strongly conjecture that the approximation guarantee of our algorithm for two-dimensional Bin Packing without the two-stage restriction is better than the best known ones. A simplification of the method leads to an approximation scheme for the two-stage version of two-dimensional Strip Packing.
My favorite bash tips and tricks
Authors: Prentice Bisbal
Venue: Linux Journal (2005)

These command-line stunts will have you manipulating lots of files as easily as you would do one before. The sooner you start, the more time you'll save.
Mylar: a degree-of-interest model for IDEs
Authors: Mik Kersten, Gail C. Murphy
Venue: Proceedings of the 4th international conference on Aspect-oriented software development (2005)

Even when working on a well-modularized software system, programmers tend to spend more time navigating the code than working with it. This phenomenon arises because it is impossible to modularize the code for all tasks that occur over the lifetime of a system. We describe the use of a degree-of-interest (DOI) model to capture the task context of program elements scattered across a code base. The Mylar tool that we built encodes the DOI of program elements by monitoring the programmer's activity, and displays the encoded DOI model in views of Java and AspectJ programs. We also present the results of a preliminary diary study in which professional programmers used Mylar for their daily work on enterprise-scale Java systems.
Provider-Based Deterministic Packet Marking against Distributed DoS Attacks
Authors: Vasilios A. Siris, Ilias Stavrakis
Venue: Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS'05) - Workshop 17 - Volume 18 (2005)

One of the most serious security threats in the Internet are Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, due to the significant service disruption they can create and the difficulty to prevent them. In this paper, we propose new deterministic packet marking models in order to characterize DDoS attack streams. Such common characterization can be used to make filtering near the victim more effective. In this direction we propose a rate control scheme that protects destination domains by limiting the amount of traffic during an attack, while leaving a large percentage of legitimate traffic unaffected. The above features enable providers to offer enhanced security protection against such attacks as a value-added service to their customers, hence offer positive incentives for them to deploy the proposed models. We evaluate the proposed marking models using a snapshot of the actual Internet topology, in terms of how well they differentiate attack traffic from legitimate traffic in cases of full andpartial deployment.
A study on the manipulation of 2D objects in a projector/camera-based augmented reality environment
Authors: Stephen Voida, Mark Podlaseck, Rick Kjeldsen, Claudio Pinhanez
Venue: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (2005)

Are the object manipulation techniques traditionally used in head-mounted displays (HMDs) applicable to augmented reality based projection systems? This paper examines the differences between HMD- and projector/camera-based AR interfaces in the light of a manipulation task involving documents and applications projected on common office surfaces such as tables, walls, cabinets, and floor. We report a Wizard of Oz study where subjects were first asked to create gesture/voice commands to move 2D objects on those surfaces and then exposed to gestures created by the authors. Among the options, subjects could select the object to be manipulated using voice command; touching, pointing, and grabbing gesture; or a virtual mouse. The results show a strong preference for a manipulation interface based on pointing gestures using small hand movements and involving minimal body movement. Direct touching of the object was also common when the object being manipulated was within the subjects' arm reach. Based on these results, we expect that the preferred interface resembles, in many ways, the egocentric model traditionally used in AR.
Fault Tolerant Routing and Broadcasting in de Bruijn Networks
Authors: Ngoc Chi Nguyen, Nhat Minh Dinh Vo, Sungyoung Lee
Venue: Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications - Volume 2 (2005)

In this paper, we study fault tolerant routing and broadcasting in interconnection networks based on de Bruijn graph (dBG) for constructing large scale multiprocessors networks. Our paper presents a new approach to provide fault tolerance routing and broadcasting which havenýt been investigated. The proposed approach is based on multi level discrete set concept in order to find a fault free shortest path among several paths provided. In the proposed fault tolerant broadcasting, we can achieve k (network diameter) as maximum time step to finish broadcast process and there is no overhead in the broadcast message.
Chinese wall security for decentralized workflow management systems
Authors: Vijayalakshmi Atluri, Soon Ae Chun, Pietro Mazzoleni
Venue: Journal of Computer Security (2004)

Workflow systems are gaining importance as an infrastructure for automating inter-organizational interactions, such as those in Electronic Commerce. In such an environment, a centralized Workflow Management System is not desirable because: (i) it can be a performance bottleneck, and (ii) the systems are inherently distributed, heterogeneous, and autonomous in nature. Decentralized execution of interorganizational workflows may raise a number of security issues including those related to conflict-of-interest among competing organizations. In this paper, we first provide an approach to realize decentralized workflow execution, in which the workflow is divided into partitions, called self-describing workflows, and handled by a light weight workflow management component, called workflow stub, located at each organizational agent. Second, we identify the limitations of the traditional workflow model with respect to expressing the various types of join dependencies and extend the traditional workflow model suitably. Distinguishing the different types of dependencies among tasks is essential in the efficient execution of self-describing workflows. Finally, we recognize that placing the task execution agents that belong to the same conflict-of-interest class in one self-describing workflow may lead to unfair, and in some cases, undesirable results, akin to being on the wrong side of the Chinese wall. Therefore, to address the conflict-of-interest issues that arise in competitive business environments, we propose a decentralized workflow Chinese wall security model. We propose a restrictive partitioning solution to enforce the proposed model.
SVM that maximizes the margin in the input space
Authors: Shotaro Akaho
Venue: Systems and Computers in Japan (2004)

While the original SVM seeks the discriminative plane that maximizes the margin in the feature space (the Hilbert space), this paper investigates the framework that maximizes the margin in the input space. This framework is considered to be effective for cases in which a priori knowledge is embedded as input space estimates. In the approach taken in this paper, approximating the margin in the input space by Taylor expansion is essential. The algorithm obtained is a kind of alternating optimization comprising the step of obtaining projections onto the discriminative plane from sample points by Newton's method and the step of determining parameters of the discriminative plane by convex quadratic programming. The algorithm converges to a stably local optimal solution under comparatively lenient conditions. In addition, the optimization problem to be solved includes the original SVM as a special case. However, since the amount of computation increases as the dimensions of the input space increase in the proposed algorithm, this paper proposes a simplified algorithm obtained by combining the original SVM and the abridged proposed algorithm. &copy; 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 35(14): 78&ndash;86, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (). DOI 10.1002&sol;scj.10631
Uniform approximation of time-invariant non-linear systems: Research Articles
Authors: Irwin W. Sandberg
Venue: International Journal of Circuit Theory and Applications (2004)

It is shown that the elements of a large class of time-invariant non-linear input&ndash;output maps can be uniformly approximated arbitrarily well, over infinite time intervals, using a certain structure that can be implemented in many ways using, for example, radial basis functions, polynomial functions, piecewise linear functions, sigmoids, or combinations of these functions. For the special case in which these functions are taken to be certain polynomial functions, the input&ndash;output map of our structure is a generalized finite Volterra series. Results are given for the case in which inputs and outputs are defined on &Ropf;. The case in which inputs and outputs are defined on the half-line &Ropf;+ is also addressed, and in both cases inputs need not be functions that are continuous. Copyright &copy; 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Multi-monitor mouse
Authors: Hrvoje Benko, Steven Feiner
Venue: CHI '05 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems (2005)

Multiple-monitor computer configurations significantly increase the distances that users must traverse with the mouse when interacting with existing applications, resulting in increased time and effort. We introduce the Multi-Monitor Mouse (M3) technique, which virtually simulates having one mouse pointer per monitor when using a single physical mouse device. M3 allows for conventional control of the mouse within each monitor's screen, while permitting immediate warping across monitors when desired to increase mouse traversal speed. We report the results of a user study in which we compared three implementations of M3 and two cursor placement strategies. Our results suggest that using M3 significantly increases interaction speed in a multi-monitor environment. All eight study participants strongly preferred M3 to the regular mouse behavior.
Job Allocation Schemes in Computational Grids Based on Cost Optimization
Authors: Satish Penmatsa, Anthony T. Chronopoulos
Venue: Proceedings of the 19th IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS'05) - Workshop 4 - Volume 05 (2005)

In this paper we propose two price-based job allocation schemes for computational grids. A grid system tries to solve problems submitted by various grid users by allocating the jobs to the computing resources governed by different resource owners. The prices charged by these owners are obtained based on a pricing model using a bargaining game theory framework. These prices are then used for job allocation. We present the grid system model and formulate the two schemes as a constraint minimization problem and as a non-cooperative game respectively. The objective of these schemes is to minimize the cost for the grid users. We present algorithms to compute the optimal load (job) fractions to allocate jobs to the computers. Finally, the two schemes are compared under simulations with various system loads and configurations and conclusions are drawn.
Advantages of Grid Computing
Authors: Milan Lathia
Venue: IEEE Distributed Systems Online (2005)

A review of "Grid Computing: A Practical Guide to Technology and Applications," by Ahmar Abbas.
Querying the past, present and future: where we are and where we will be
Authors: Ling Liu, Andrei Z. Broder, Dieter Fensel, Carole Goble, Calton Pu
Venue: Special interest tracks and posters of the 14th international conference on World Wide Web (2005)

This panel will focus on exploring future enhancements of Web technology for active Internet-scale information delivery and dissemination. It will ask the questions of whether the current Web technology is sufficient, what can be leveraged in this endeavor, and how a combination of ideas from a variety of existing disciplines can help in meeting the new challenges of large scale information dissemination. Relevant existing technologies and research areas include: active databases, agent systems, continual queries, event Web, publish/subscribe technology, sensor and stream data management. We expect that some suggestions may be in conflict with current, well-accepted approaches.
Row Modifications of a Sparse Cholesky Factorization
Authors: Timothy A. Davis, William W. Hager
Venue: SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications (2005)

Given a sparse, symmetric positive definite matrix C and an associated sparse Cholesky factorization LDL$\tr$, we develop sparse techniques for updating the factorization after a symmetric modification of a row and column of C. We show how the modification in the Cholesky factorization associated with this rank-2 modification of C can be computed efficiently using a sparse rank-1 technique developed in [T. A. Davis and W. W. Hager, SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl., 20 (1999), pp. 606--627]. We also determine how the solution of a linear system Lx = b changes after changing a row and column of C or after a rank-r change in C.
Logical foundations of peer-to-peer data integration
Authors: Diego Calvanese, Giuseppe De Giacomo, Maurizio Lenzerini, Riccardo Rosati
Venue: Proceedings of the twenty-third ACM SIGMOD-SIGACT-SIGART symposium on Principles of database systems (2004)

In peer-to-peer data integration, each peer exports data in terms of its own schema, and data interoperation is achieved by means of mappings among the peer schemas. Peers are autonomous systems and mappings are dynamically created and changed. One of the challenges in these systems is answering queries posed to one peer taking into account the mappings. Obviously, query answering strongly depends on the semantics of the overall system. In this paper, we compare the commonly adopted approach of interpreting peer-to-peer systems using a first-order semantics, with an alternative approach based on epistemic logic. We consider several central properties of peer-to-peer systems: modularity, generality, and decidability. We argue that the approach based on epistemic logic is superior with respect to all the above properties. In particular, we show that, in systems in which peers have decidable schemas and conjunctive mappings, but are arbitrarily interconnected, the first-order approach may lead to undecidability of query answering, while the epistemic approach always preserves decidability. This is a fundamental property, since the actual interconnections among peers are not under the control of any actor in the system.
An assessment of systems and software engineering scholars and institutions (1999-2003)
Authors: Robert L. Glass, T. Y. Chen
Venue: Journal of Systems and Software (2005)

This paper presents the findings of a five-year study of the top scholars and institutions in the Systems and Software Engineering field, as measured by the quantity of papers published in the journals of the field. The top scholar is Khaled El Emam of the Canadian National Research Council, and the top institution is Carnegie Mellon University and its Software Engineering Institute.This paper is part of an ongoing study, conducted annually, that identifies the top 15 scholars and institutions in the most recent five-year period.
Violin: A Framework for Extensible Block-Level Storage
Authors: Michail D. Flouris, Angelos Bilas
Venue: Proceedings of the 22nd IEEE / 13th NASA Goddard Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies (2005)

In this work we propose Violin, a virtualization framework that allows easy extensions of block-level storage stacks. Violin allows (i) developers to provide new virtualization functions and (ii) storage administrators to combine these functions in storage hierarchies with rich semantics. Violin makes it easy to develop such new functions by providing support for (i) hierarchy awareness and arbitrary mapping of blocks between virtual devices, (ii) explicit control over both the request and completion path of I/O requests, and (iii) persistent metadata management. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach we evaluate Violin in three ways: (i) We loosely compare the complexity of providing new virtual modules in Violin with the traditional approach of writing monolithic drivers. In many cases, adding new modules is a matter of recompiling existing user-level code that provides the required functionality. (ii) We show how simple modules in Violin can be combined in more complex hierarchies. We demonstrate hierarchies with advanced virtualization semantics that are difficult to implement with monolithic drivers. (iii) We use various benchmarks to examine the overheads introduced by Violin in the common I/O path. We find that Violin modules perform within 10% of the corresponding monolithic Linux drivers.
Review of "The Hedonistic Neuron: A Theory of Memory, Learning & Intelligence by A. Harry Klopf", Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, Washington, 1982, ISBN 0-89116-202-X.
Authors: David M. W. Powers
Venue: Issue 89 (July 1984) (1984)

Another reviewer of this work has questioned "whether hedonism is an appropriate metaphor for brain research" [1, p24]. For Klopf however, hedonism is clearly much more than a metaphor. On the contrary, he sees hedonism as a phenomenon which is exhibited by systems - both social structures and individual organisms - as a direct result of their construction from hedonistic building blocks. The hedonistic neuron is hypothesized as being the most elementary such component of living systems.
A study of performance impact of memory controller features in multi-processor server environment
Authors: Chitra Natarajan, Bruce Christenson, Fayé Briggs
Venue: Proceedings of the 3rd workshop on Memory performance issues: in conjunction with the 31st international symposium on computer architecture (2004)

With the growing imbalance between processor and memory performance it becomes more and more important to optimize the memory controller features to obtain the maximum possible performance out of the memory subsystem. This paper presents a study of the performance impact of several memory controller features in multi-processor (MP) server environments that use a DDR/DDR2 based memory subsystem. The results from our studies show that significant performance improvements can be obtained by carefully optimizing the memory controller features. For instance, one of our studies shows that in a system with an in-order shared bus connecting the CPUs and memory controller, an intelligent read-to-write switching memory controller feature can provide the same order of benefit as doubling the number of interleaved memory ranks. Another study shows that much lower average loaded read latency across a wider range of throughput can be obtained by a delayed write scheduling feature.
A tele-experiment on rover motor control via internet
Authors: Klaus Schilling, Hubert Roth, Cristina Spilca
Venue: Journal of Robotic Systems (2005)

Modern Internet and multimedia techniques enable experiments with remote hardware. This way engineering students can gather practical experience even in areas where their own university does not have the related equipment in place. The focus of this paper is on an experiment to develop a motor controller for a remote mobile robot. Implementation details of such an experiment are addressed with emphasis placed on the subject of tuning a PID controller for steering and speed adaptation of a rover. The complete experiment is conceived as a self-explaining learning unit on the web. The learning unit comprises material on theory, exercises to provide feedback to the student about his learning progress, simulations to study motor control effects, and finally the experiment with remote robot hardware. This paper presents software techniques to realize a robust system implementation, the educational considerations necessary to present the experiment material properly for the tele-education context, and experiences obtained during the use of this remote experiment in previously taught classes. &copy; 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Compositional Analysis of Contract Signing Protocols
Authors: Michael Backes, Anupam Datta, Ante Derek, John C. Mitchell, Mathieu Turuani
Venue: Proceedings of the 18th IEEE workshop on Computer Security Foundations (2005)

We develop a general method for reasoning about contract-signing protocols using a specialized protocol logic. The method is applied to prove properties of the Asokan-Shoup-Waidner and theGaray-Jacobson-MacKenzie protocols. Our method offers certain advantages over previous analysis techniques. First, it is compositional: the security guarantees are proved by combining the independent proofs for the three sub-protocols of which each protocol is comprised. Second, the formal proofs are carried out in a "template" form, which gives us a reusable proof that may be instantiated for the ASW and GJM protocols, as well as for other protocols with the same arrangement of messages. Third, the proofs follow the design intuition. In particular, in proving game-theoretic properties like fairness, we demonstrate that the specific strategy that the protocol designer had in mind works, instead of showing that one exists. Finally, our results hold even when an unbounded number of sessions are executed in parallel.