Sustainable and Autonomic Space Exploration Missions

Visions for future space exploration have long term science missions in sight, resulting in the need for sustainable missions. Survivability is a critical property of sustainable systems and may be addressed through autonomicity, an emerging paradigm for self-management of future computer-based systems based on inspiration from the human autonomic nervous system. This paper examines some of the ongoing research efforts to realize these survivable systems visions, with specific emphasis on developments in Autonomic Policies

Hybrid Cloud Model Checking Using the Interaction Layer of HARMS for Ambient Intelligent Systems

Soon, humans will be co-living and taking advantage of the help of multi-agent systems in a broader way than the present. Such systems will involve machines or devices of any variety, including robots. These kind of solutions will adapt to the special needs of each individual. However, to the concern of this research effort, systems like the ones mentioned above might encounter situations that will not be seen before execution time. It is understood that there are two possible outcomes that could materialize; either keep working without corrective measures, which could lead to an entirely different end or completely stop working. Both results should be avoided, specially in cases where the end user will depend on a high level guidance provided by the system, such as in ambient intelligence applications. This dissertation worked towards two specific goals. First, to assure that the system will always work, independently of which of the agents performs the different tasks needed to accomplish a bigger objective. Second, to provide initial steps towards autonomous survivable systems which can change their future actions in order to achieve the original final goals. Therefore, the use of the third layer of the HARMS model was proposed to insure the indistinguishability of the actors accomplishing each task and sub-task without regard of the intrinsic complexity of the activity. Additionally, a framework was proposed using model checking methodology during run-time for providing possible solutions to issues encountered in execution time, as a part of the survivability feature of the systems final goals

Privacy, security, and trust issues in smart environments

Recent advances in networking, handheld computing and sensor technologies have driven forward research towards the realisation of Mark Weiser's dream of calm and ubiquitous computing (variously called pervasive computing, ambient computing, active spaces, the disappearing computer or context-aware computing). In turn, this has led to the emergence of smart environments as one significant facet of research in this domain. A smart environment, or space, is a region of the real world that is extensively equipped with sensors, actuators and computing components [1]. In effect the smart space becomes a part of a larger information system: with all actions within the space potentially affecting the underlying computer applications, which may themselves affect the space through the actuators. Such smart environments have tremendous potential within many application areas to improve the utility of a space. Consider the potential offered by a smart environment that prolongs the time an elderly or infirm person can live an independent life or the potential offered by a smart environment that supports vicarious learning

An RFID Survivability Impact Model in the Military Domain

In recent years, the development of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has led to many applications in the military domain. Compared to the vast amount of research on RFID security, there is little research on RFID survivability. In this paper, we present a theoretical survivability impact model for military RFID. Due to a lack of military data, our research is entirely based on available public sources. The objective is to identify the critical factors that could significantly affect military RFID survivability and lay down groundwork for further research in this area

Improved Adaptation and Survivability via Dynamic Service Composition of Ubiquitous Computing Middleware

These days, ubiquitous computing has radically changed the way users access and interact with services and content on the Internet: novel smart mobile devices and broadband wireless communication channels allow users to seamlessly access them anytime and anywhere. Middleware infrastructures to support ubiquitous computing need to support an extremely dynamic and ever-changing scenario, where novel contents/services, devices, formats, and media channels become available. Service-oriented architectures and service composition techniques have proven to be the key in designing flexible and extensible platforms that are able to reliably support ubiquitous computing. However, current trends in service composition for ubiquitous computing tend to be either too formal and, therefore, poorly used by average final users, or too vertical and poorly flexible and extensible. This paper proposes novel service composition middleware for ubiquitous computing that relies on a translucent composition model to achieve a flexible, extensible, highly-available, but also easily understandable and usable platform. The proposed system has been widely tested, benchmarked, and deployed on a number of different and heterogeneous ubiquitous scenarios

A HOLISTIC APPROACH FOR SECURITY REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATION FOR LOW-COST, DISTRIBUTED UBIQUITOUS SYSTEMS

The class of low-cost, distributed ubiquitous systems represents a computing mode where a system has small, inexpensive networked processing devices, distributed at all scales throughout business activities and everyday life. The unique features of such a class of ubiquitous systems make the security analysis different from that for the centralized computing paradigms. This paper presents a holistic approach for security requirement analysis for low cost, distributed ubiquitous systems. Rigorous security analysis needs both quantitative and qualitative approaches to produce the holistic view and the robust data regarding the security features that a system must have in order to meet users’ security expectations. Our framework can assist system administrators to specify key security properties for a low-cost, distributed ubiquitous system and to define the specific security requirements for such a system. We applied Bayesian network and stochastic process algebra to incorporate probabilistic analysis to the framework

Cyber resilience meta-modelling: The railway communication case study

Recent times have demonstrated how much the modern critical infrastructures (e.g., energy, essential services, people and goods transportation) depend from the global communication networks. However, in the current Cyber-Physical World convergence, sophisticated attacks to the cyber layer can provoke severe damages to both physical structures and the operations of infrastructure affecting not only its functionality and safety, but also triggering cascade effects in other systems because of the tight interdependence of the systems that characterises the modern society. Hence, critical infrastructure must integrate the current cyber-security approach based on risk avoidance with a broader perspective provided by the emerging cyber-resilience paradigm. Cyber resilience is aimed as a way absorb the consequences of these attacks and to recover the functionality quickly and safely through adaptation. Several high-level frameworks and conceptualisations have been proposed but a formal definition capable of translating cyber resilience into an operational tool for decision makers considering all aspects of such a multifaceted concept is still missing. To this end, the present paper aims at providing an operational formalisation for cyber resilience starting from the Cyber Resilience Ontology presented in a previous work using model-driven principles. A domain model is defined to cope with the different aspects and “resilience-assurance” processes that it can be valid in various application domains. In this respect, an application case based on critical transportation communications systems, namely the railway communication system, is provided to prove the feasibility of the proposed approach and to identify future improvements

Consciosusness in Cognitive Architectures. A Principled Analysis of RCS, Soar and ACT-R

This report analyses the aplicability of the principles of consciousness developed in the ASys project to three of the most relevant cognitive architectures. This is done in relation to their aplicability to build integrated control systems and studying their support for general mechanisms of real-time consciousness.\ud To analyse these architectures the ASys Framework is employed. This is a conceptual framework based on an extension for cognitive autonomous systems of the General Systems Theory (GST).\ud A general qualitative evaluation criteria for cognitive architectures is established based upon: a) requirements for a cognitive architecture, b) the theoretical framework based on the GST and c) core design principles for integrated cognitive conscious control systems