Rational coordination of crowdsourced resources for geo-temporal request satisfaction

Existing mobile devices roaming around the mobility field should be considered as useful resources in geo-temporal request satisfaction. We refer to the capability of an application to access a physical device at particular geographical locations and times as GeoPresence, and we pre- sume that mobile agents participating in GeoPresence-capable applica- tions should be rational, competitive, and willing to deviate from their routes if given the right incentive. In this paper, we define the Hitch- hiking problem, which is that of finding the optimal assignment of re- quests with specific spatio-temporal characteristics to competitive mobile agents subject to spatio-temporal constraints. We design a mechanism that takes into consideration the rationality of the agents for request sat- isfaction, with an objective to maximize the total profit of the system. We analytically prove the mechanism to be convergent with a profit com- parable to that of a 1/2-approximation greedy algorithm, and evaluate its consideration of rationality experimentally.Supported in part by NSF Grants; #1430145, #1414119, #1347522, #1239021, and #1012798

Re-engineering jake2 to work on a grid using the GridGain Middleware

With the advent of Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs), engineers and designers of games came across with many questions that needed to be answered such as, for example, "how to allow a large amount of clients to play simultaneously on the same server?", "how to guarantee a good quality of service (QoS) to a great number of clients?", "how many resources will be necessary?", "how to optimize these resources to the maximum?". A possible answer to these questions relies on the usage of grid computing. Taking into account the parallel and distributed nature of grid computing, we can say that grid computing allows for more scalability in terms of a growing number of players, guarantees shorter communication time between clients and servers, and allows for a better resource management and usage (e.g., memory, CPU, core balancing usage, etc.) than the traditional serial computing model. However, the main focus of this thesis is not about grid computing. Instead, this thesis describes the re-engineering process of an existing multiplayer computer game, called Jake2, by transforming it into a MMOG, which is then put to run on a grid

Distributed Technology-Sustained Pervasive Applications

Technology-sustained pervasive games, contrary to technology-supported pervasive games, can be understood as computer games interfacing with the physical world. Pervasive games are known to make use of 'non-standard input devices' and with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), pervasive applications can be expected to move beyond games. This dissertation is requirements- and development-focused Design Science research for distributed technology-sustained pervasive applications, incorporating knowledge from the domains of Distributed Computing, Mixed Reality, Context-Aware Computing, Geographical Information Systems and IoT. Computer video games have existed for decades, with a reusable game engine to drive them. If pervasive games can be understood as computer games interfacing with the physical world, can computer game engines be used to stage pervasive games? Considering the use of non-standard input devices in pervasive games and the rise of IoT, how will this affect the architectures supporting the broader set of pervasive applications? The use of a game engine can be found in some existing pervasive game projects, but general research into how the domain of pervasive games overlaps with that of video games is lacking. When an engine is used, a discussion of, what type of engine is most suitable and what properties are being fulfilled by the engine, is often not part of the discourse. This dissertation uses multiple iterations of the method framework for Design Science for the design and development of three software system architectures. In the face of IoT, the problem of extending pervasive games into a fourth software architecture, accommodating a broader set of pervasive applications, is explicated. The requirements, for technology-sustained pervasive games, are verified through the design, development and demonstration of the three software system architectures. The ...Comment: 64 pages, 13 figure

An Empirical Comparison of Approaches for Security Requirements Elicitation

Kaasaegne töökeskond on tihedalt seotud infotehnoloogiaga (edaspidi IT). Seoses IT laialdase kasutamisega kõigis eluvaldkondades on üles kerkinud küsimus selle turvalisusest. Turvalisuse tagamine IT valdkonnas on tähtsal kohal. Vaatamata erinevate turvalisuse nõuete saavutamise meetodite rohkusele võib ettevõtetel ja asutustel olla keeruline leida sobivat meetodit tagamaks piisav IT turvalisus. Antud probleemi lahendamiseks võrdlesin kaht meetodit Eesti Jalgpalliliidus (EJL) läbiviidud juhtumuuringus. Security Quality Requirements Engineering (SQUARE) on laialt kasutust leidev turvalisuse nõuete tuletamise metood, mis paneb rõhku varajase disainiastme riskikaalutlustele. Security Requirements Elicitation from Business Processes (SREBP) on uus metood, mis võimaldab tuletada turvalisuse nõudeid äriprotsesside analüüsist. Tuletatud turvalisuse nõuded paigutasin võrdlevatesse kategooriatesse, mille abil sain määrata nende tõhususastme. Uuringu tulemusena selgus, et SREBP meetodi kasutamisel saadud tulem vastas rohkem turvalisuse tagamise nõuetele. See uuring kinnitab SREBP meetodi tulemuslikkust ja usaldusväärsust.The importance of security engineering in the development cycle is widely accepted. In spite of the large variety of security requirements elicitation techniques, organizations struggle to select the most suitable security requirements elicitation method that would enable the elicitation of security requirements with the most complete coverage. Two potential solutions exist to this problem; Security Quality Requirements Engineering (SQUARE) and Security Requirements Elicitation from Business Processes (SREBP). SQUARE is an already established and widely used security requirements elicitation method that addresses security early in the software development cycle. On the other hand, SREBP is a new approach that helps derive security requirements from operational business processes. To address the above mentioned issue, this thesis compares the two methods based on an empirical case study of the Estonian Football Association. The elicited security requirements are categorized and the completeness of their coverage is compared. As a result, it was determined that SREBP provides more coverage of the security requirements. Such a result contributes to the existing literature by further strengthening the validity of SREBP

An adaptive security construct: insurgency in Sudan

Internal wars are by default the business of others, until someone says they are not. Artificially contained within the confines of the current international system, insurgent conflicts are considered domestic affairs only until they threaten external interests. In judging intrastate conflict by and large from a crisis-response perspective, conventional assessment methodologies, oriented largely toward interstate wars, tend to fall short in objectively analyzing the historical and dynamic aspects of internal wars. This thesis develops an Adaptive Security Construct (ASC) that aims to correct such shortcomings through the multi-disciplinary integration of three conceptual lenses: a qualitative situation estimate, a game-theoretic dynamic conflict model, and geospatially oriented nexus topography. Using Sudan's internal wars as a case study, where the existence of signed peace-agreements in both the south and Darfur exist in apparent contradiction of these conflicts' causes, the ASC iteratively correlates the analysis of each of the three lenses to provide an observer a more objective external view of conflicts that are inherently "internal." This thesis presents the ASC as an iterative process and perspective that enables the formulation of general imperatives and specific approaches in response to contemporary arenas of conflict, both in Sudan and within the international community at large.http://archive.org/details/andaptivesecurit109453057Major, United States ArmyMajor, United States Air ForceApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited