Leveraging Computational Storage for Power-Efficient Distributed Data Analytics

This thesis presents a family of computational storage drives (CSD) and demonstrates their performance and power improvements due to in-storage processing (ISP) when running big-data analytics applications. CSDs are an emerging class of solid-state drives (SSD) that are capable of running user code while minimizing data-transfer time and energy. Applications that can benefit from in-situ processing include distributed training, distributed inferencing, and databases. To achieve the full advantage of the proposed ISP architecture, we propose software solutions for workload balancing before and at runtime for training and inferencing applications. Other applications such as sharding-based databases can readily take advantage of our ISP structure without additional tooling. Experimental results on different capacity and form factors of CSDs show up to 3.1x speedup in processing while reducing the energy consumption and data transfer by up to 67% and 68%, respectively, compared to regular enterprise SSDs

one6G white paper, 6G technology overview:Second Edition, November 2022

6G is supposed to address the demands for consumption of mobile networking services in 2030 and beyond. These are characterized by a variety of diverse, often conflicting requirements, from technical ones such as extremely high data rates, unprecedented scale of communicating devices, high coverage, low communicating latency, flexibility of extension, etc., to non-technical ones such as enabling sustainable growth of the society as a whole, e.g., through energy efficiency of deployed networks. On the one hand, 6G is expected to fulfil all these individual requirements, extending thus the limits set by the previous generations of mobile networks (e.g., ten times lower latencies, or hundred times higher data rates than in 5G). On the other hand, 6G should also enable use cases characterized by combinations of these requirements never seen before, e.g., both extremely high data rates and extremely low communication latency). In this white paper, we give an overview of the key enabling technologies that constitute the pillars for the evolution towards 6G. They include: terahertz frequencies (Section 1), 6G radio access (Section 2), next generation MIMO (Section 3), integrated sensing and communication (Section 4), distributed and federated artificial intelligence (Section 5), intelligent user plane (Section 6) and flexible programmable infrastructures (Section 7). For each enabling technology, we first give the background on how and why the technology is relevant to 6G, backed up by a number of relevant use cases. After that, we describe the technology in detail, outline the key problems and difficulties, and give a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in that technology. 6G is, however, not limited to these seven technologies. They merely present our current understanding of the technological environment in which 6G is being born. Future versions of this white paper may include other relevant technologies too, as well as discuss how these technologies can be glued together in a coherent system

Human-Robot Interaction architecture for interactive and lively social robots

Mención Internacional en el título de doctorLa sociedad está experimentando un proceso de envejecimiento que puede provocar un desequilibrio entre la población en edad de trabajar y aquella fuera del mercado de trabajo. Una de las soluciones a este problema que se están considerando hoy en día es la introducción de robots en multiples sectores, incluyendo el de servicios. Sin embargo, para que esto sea una solución viable, estos robots necesitan ser capaces de interactuar con personas de manera satisfactoria, entre otras habilidades. En el contexto de la aplicación de robots sociales al cuidado de mayores, esta tesis busca proporcionar a un robot social las habilidades necesarias para crear interacciones entre humanos y robots que sean naturales. En concreto, esta tesis se centra en tres problemas que deben ser solucionados: (i) el modelado de interacciones entre humanos y robots; (ii) equipar a un robot social con las capacidades expresivas necesarias para una comunicación satisfactoria; y (iii) darle al robot una apariencia vivaz. La solución al problema de modelado de diálogos presentada en esta tesis propone diseñar estos diálogos como una secuencia de elementos atómicos llamados Actos Comunicativos (CAs, por sus siglas en inglés). Se pueden parametrizar en tiempo de ejecución para completar diferentes objetivos comunicativos, y están equipados con mecanismos para manejar algunas de las imprecisiones que pueden aparecer durante interacciones. Estos CAs han sido identificados a partir de la combinación de dos dimensiones: iniciativa (si la tiene el robot o el usuario) e intención (si se pretende obtener o proporcionar información). Estos CAs pueden ser combinados siguiendo una estructura jerárquica para crear estructuras mas complejas que sean reutilizables. Esto simplifica el proceso para crear nuevas interacciones, permitiendo a los desarrolladores centrarse exclusivamente en diseñar el flujo del diálogo, sin tener que preocuparse de reimplementar otras funcionalidades que tienen que estar presentes en todas las interacciones (como el manejo de errores, por ejemplo). La expresividad del robot está basada en el uso de una librería de gestos, o expresiones, multimodales predefinidos, modelados como estructuras similares a máquinas de estados. El módulo que controla la expresividad recibe peticiones para realizar dichas expresiones, planifica su ejecución para evitar cualquier conflicto que pueda aparecer, las carga, y comprueba que su ejecución se complete sin problemas. El sistema es capaz también de generar estas expresiones en tiempo de ejecución a partir de una lista de acciones unimodales (como decir una frase, o mover una articulación). Una de las características más importantes de la arquitectura de expresividad propuesta es la integración de una serie de métodos de modulación que pueden ser usados para modificar los gestos del robot en tiempo de ejecución. Esto permite al robot adaptar estas expresiones en base a circunstancias particulares (aumentando al mismo tiempo la variabilidad de la expresividad del robot), y usar un número limitado de gestos para mostrar diferentes estados internos (como el estado emocional). Teniendo en cuenta que ser reconocido como un ser vivo es un requisito para poder participar en interacciones sociales, que un robot social muestre una apariencia de vivacidad es un factor clave en interacciones entre humanos y robots. Para ello, esta tesis propone dos soluciones. El primer método genera acciones a través de las diferentes interfaces del robot a intervalos. La frecuencia e intensidad de estas acciones están definidas en base a una señal que representa el pulso del robot. Dicha señal puede adaptarse al contexto de la interacción o al estado interno del robot. El segundo método enriquece las interacciones verbales entre el robot y el usuario prediciendo los gestos no verbales más apropiados en base al contenido del diálogo y a la intención comunicativa del robot. Un modelo basado en aprendizaje automático recibe la transcripción del mensaje verbal del robot, predice los gestos que deberían acompañarlo, y los sincroniza para que cada gesto empiece en el momento preciso. Este modelo se ha desarrollado usando una combinación de un encoder diseñado con una red neuronal Long-Short Term Memory, y un Conditional Random Field para predecir la secuencia de gestos que deben acompañar a la frase del robot. Todos los elementos presentados conforman el núcleo de una arquitectura de interacción humano-robot modular que ha sido integrada en múltiples plataformas, y probada bajo diferentes condiciones. El objetivo central de esta tesis es contribuir al área de interacción humano-robot con una nueva solución que es modular e independiente de la plataforma robótica, y que se centra en proporcionar a los desarrolladores las herramientas necesarias para desarrollar aplicaciones que requieran interacciones con personas.Society is experiencing a series of demographic changes that can result in an unbalance between the active working and non-working age populations. One of the solutions considered to mitigate this problem is the inclusion of robots in multiple sectors, including the service sector. But for this to be a viable solution, among other features, robots need to be able to interact with humans successfully. This thesis seeks to endow a social robot with the abilities required for a natural human-robot interactions. The main objective is to contribute to the body of knowledge on the area of Human-Robot Interaction with a new, platform-independent, modular approach that focuses on giving roboticists the tools required to develop applications that involve interactions with humans. In particular, this thesis focuses on three problems that need to be addressed: (i) modelling interactions between a robot and an user; (ii) endow the robot with the expressive capabilities required for a successful communication; and (iii) endow the robot with a lively appearance. The approach to dialogue modelling presented in this thesis proposes to model dialogues as a sequence of atomic interaction units, called Communicative Acts, or CAs. They can be parametrized in runtime to achieve different communicative goals, and are endowed with mechanisms oriented to solve some of the uncertainties related to interaction. Two dimensions have been used to identify the required CAs: initiative (the robot or the user), and intention (either retrieve information or to convey it). These basic CAs can be combined in a hierarchical manner to create more re-usable complex structures. This approach simplifies the creation of new interactions, by allowing developers to focus exclusively on designing the flow of the dialogue, without having to re-implement functionalities that are common to all dialogues (like error handling, for example). The expressiveness of the robot is based on the use of a library of predefined multimodal gestures, or expressions, modelled as state machines. The module managing the expressiveness receives requests for performing gestures, schedules their execution in order to avoid any possible conflict that might arise, loads them, and ensures that their execution goes without problems. The proposed approach is also able to generate expressions in runtime based on a list of unimodal actions (an utterance, the motion of a limb, etc...). One of the key features of the proposed expressiveness management approach is the integration of a series of modulation techniques that can be used to modify the robot’s expressions in runtime. This would allow the robot to adapt them to the particularities of a given situation (which would also increase the variability of the robot expressiveness), and to display different internal states with the same expressions. Considering that being recognized as a living being is a requirement for engaging in social encounters, the perception of a social robot as a living entity is a key requirement to foster human-robot interactions. In this dissertation, two approaches have been proposed. The first method generates actions for the different interfaces of the robot at certain intervals. The frequency and intensity of these actions are defined by a signal that represents the pulse of the robot, which can be adapted to the context of the interaction or the internal state of the robot. The second method enhances the robot’s utterance by predicting the appropriate non-verbal expressions that should accompany them, according to the content of the robot’s message, as well as its communicative intention. A deep learning model receives the transcription of the robot’s utterances, predicts which expressions should accompany it, and synchronizes them, so each gesture selected starts at the appropriate time. The model has been developed using a combination of a Long-Short Term Memory network-based encoder and a Conditional Random Field for generating a sequence of gestures that are combined with the robot’s utterance. All the elements presented above conform the core of a modular Human-Robot Interaction architecture that has been integrated in multiple platforms, and tested under different conditions.Programa de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y Automática por la Universidad Carlos III de MadridPresidente: Fernando Torres Medina.- Secretario: Concepción Alicia Monje Micharet.- Vocal: Amirabdollahian Farshi

1995 BRAC Commission

Air Force/Navy - Base Visit Presentations, May 1995. Box 85, L-007

The Civil and Family Law Needs of Indigenous People in Queensland

Background: This report presents key findings and recommendations of research conducted in 2011 - 2014 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in Queensland. 1 The ILNP is a national project, which aims to: • identify and analyse the legal needs of Indigenous communities in non - criminal areas of law (including discrimination, housing and tenancy, child protection, employment, credit and debt, wills and estates, and consumer - related matters); and • provide an understanding of how legal service delivery might work more effectively to address identified civil and family law needs of Indigenous communities. ILNP research is intended to benefit Indigenous people by improving access to civil and family law justice. Methodology: The Queensland research is based on focus groups held with Indigenous participants and interviews with legal and related stakeholders in eight communities. The communities selected were Brisbane, Cairns, Charleville, Mount Isa, Pormpuraaw, Rockhampton, Roma and Thursday Island. These reflect urban, regional and rural communities. Sixteen focus groups were held with a total of 152 Indigenous community members in the se eight communities. Separate women and men's focus groups were conducted in each community. Female participants comprised 53.9% of the total and males 46.1%. Focus group participants completed a questionnaire (see Appendix A), which covered issues including housing and tenancy, neighbourhood disputes, wills and intestacy, victims' compensation, stolen generations and Stolen Wages, employment, social security, family matters, discrimination, accident and injury, education, credit and debt, consumer issues and taxation. Some civil law issues not identified in the questionnaire also arose in focus group discussions and in stake holder interviews (see Section 4.14 of the Report). Over 60 stakeholder organisations servicing or working within the nominated Queensland communities were interviewed to explore the experiences, perspectives and understandings of those providing legal or related services. A full list of stakeholders interviewed in Queensland can be found in Appendix B of the Report

The Civil and Family Law Needs of Indigenous People in Queensland

Background: This report presents key findings and recommendations of research conducted in 2011 - 2014 by the Indigenous Legal Needs Project (ILNP) in Queensland. 1 The ILNP is a national project, which aims to: • identify and analyse the legal needs of Indigenous communities in non - criminal areas of law (including discrimination, housing and tenancy, child protection, employment, credit and debt, wills and estates, and consumer - related matters); and • provide an understanding of how legal service delivery might work more effectively to address identified civil and family law needs of Indigenous communities. ILNP research is intended to benefit Indigenous people by improving access to civil and family law justice. Methodology: The Queensland research is based on focus groups held with Indigenous participants and interviews with legal and related stakeholders in eight communities. The communities selected were Brisbane, Cairns, Charleville, Mount Isa, Pormpuraaw, Rockhampton, Roma and Thursday Island. These reflect urban, regional and rural communities. Sixteen focus groups were held with a total of 152 Indigenous community members in the se eight communities. Separate women and men's focus groups were conducted in each community. Female participants comprised 53.9% of the total and males 46.1%. Focus group participants completed a questionnaire (see Appendix A), which covered issues including housing and tenancy, neighbourhood disputes, wills and intestacy, victims' compensation, stolen generations and Stolen Wages, employment, social security, family matters, discrimination, accident and injury, education, credit and debt, consumer issues and taxation. Some civil law issues not identified in the questionnaire also arose in focus group discussions and in stake holder interviews (see Section 4.14 of the Report). Over 60 stakeholder organisations servicing or working within the nominated Queensland communities were interviewed to explore the experiences, perspectives and understandings of those providing legal or related services. A full list of stakeholders interviewed in Queensland can be found in Appendix B of the Report

1995 BRAC Commission

Long Beach Naval Shipyard, CA-Commission Working Papers-Staff Assessment of DoD Recommendation II. (Box 263

1995 BRAC Commission

Executive Correspondence Tracking System #10 - April 1995 (950410-13 to 950412-13). Box 51, C-007

WEED INFESTATION OF WINTER WHEAT IN DIFFERENT TILLAGE SYSTEMS AND LEVEL OF NITROGEN IN TOP DRESSING

Growing technology, especially tillage and fertilization of economically important crop species such as wheat, plays a very important role in weed control. Successful weed control in the crop in turn significantly affects the formation of grain yield, both in quantity and quality. The aim of this paper was to investigate the influence of sustainable (mulch - and no- tillage) and conventional farming system on weed infestation of winter wheat. Basic fertilization was uniform (600 kg/ha NPK 15:15:15) while weed infestation differences between three levels of nitrogen fertilization in top dressing (0, 60 and 120 kg/ha) were examined. The variety Pobeda, selected at the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops in Novi Sad, served as the object of investigation. The examination was performed at "Radmilovac" on the experimental school property of the Faculty of Agriculture in Zemun within the four- crop rotation (maize-winter wheat-spring barley + red clover-red clover) on leached chernozem soil type in a two-year period. The system of conventional tillage showed the highest efficiency in the weed control (number of weed species and number of weed plants per species) of the two conservation systems. The next is the system of mulch tillage, which may be of interest for practice, while the system of no tillage had the lowest efficiency in the control of weeds, especially perennials. Increasing the amount of nitrogen in the top dressing reduces weeds in all tillage systems, mainly due to the stronger competitiveness of winter wheat. The highest fresh biomass of weeds was measured in the no-tillage system (especially in the second year of investigation) due to the significantly higher presence of perennial broadleaf weeds