ToPoliNano: Nanoarchitectures Design Made Real

Many facts about emerging nanotechnologies are yet to be assessed. There are still major concerns, for instance, about maximum achievable device density, or about which architecture is best fit for a specific application. Growing complexity requires taking into account many aspects of technology, application and architecture at the same time. Researchers face problems that are not new per se, but are now subject to very different constraints, that need to be captured by design tools. Among the emerging nanotechnologies, two-dimensional nanowire based arrays represent promising nanostructures, especially for massively parallel computing architectures. Few attempts have been done, aimed at giving the possibility to explore architectural solutions, deriving information from extensive and reliable nanoarray characterization. Moreover, in the nanotechnology arena there is still not a clear winner, so it is important to be able to target different technologies, not to miss the next big thing. We present a tool, ToPoliNano, that enables such a multi-technological characterization in terms of logic behavior, power and timing performance, area and layout constraints, on the basis of specific technological and topological descriptions. This tool can aid the design process, beside providing a comprehensive simulation framework for DC and timing simulations, and detailed power analysis. Design and simulation results will be shown for nanoarray-based circuits. ToPoliNano is the first real design tool that tackles the top down design of a circuit based on emerging technologie

Algorithm-aided Information Design: Hybrid Design approach on the edge of associative methodologies in AEC

Dissertação de mestrado em European Master in Building Information ModellingLast three decades have brought colossal progress to design methodologies within the common pursuit toward a seamless fusion between digital and physical worlds and augmenting it with the of computation power and network coverage. For this historically short period, two generations of methodologies and tools have emerged: Additive generation and parametric Associative generation of CAD. Currently, designers worldwide engaged in new forms of design exploration. From this race, two prominent methodologies have developed from Associative Design approach – Object-Oriented Design (OOD) and Algorithm-Aided Design (AAD). The primary research objective is to investigate, examine, and push boundaries between OOD and AAD for new design space determination, where advantages of both design methods are fused to produce a new generation methodology which is called in the present study AID (Algorithm-aided Information Design). The study methodology is structured into two flows. In the first flow, existing CAD methodologies are investigated, and the conceptual framework is extracted based on the state of art analysis, then analysed data is synthesized into the subject proposal. In the second flow, tools and workflows are elaborated and examined on practice to confirm the subject proposal. In compliance, the content of the research consists of two theoretical and practical parts. In the first theoretical part, a literature review is conducted, and assumptions are made to speculate about AID methodology, its tools, possible advantages and drawbacks. Next, case studies are performed according to sequential stages of digital design through the lens of practical AID methodology implementation. Case studies are covering such design aspects as model & documentation generation, design automation, interoperability, manufacturing control, performance analysis and optimization. Ultimately, a set of test projects is developed with the AID methodology applied. After the practical part, research returns to the theory where analytical information is gathered based on the literature review, conceptual framework, and experimental practice reports. In summary, the study synthesizes AID methodology as part of Hybrid Design, which enables creative use of tools and elaborating of agile design systems integrating additive and associative methodologies of Digital Design. In general, the study is based on agile methods and cyclic research development mixed between practice and theory to achieve a comprehensive vision of the subject.Last three decades have brought colossal progress to design methodologies within the common pursuit toward a seamless fusion between digital and physical worlds and augmenting it with the of computation power and network coverage. For this historically short period, two generations of methodologies and tools have emerged: Additive generation and parametric Associative generation of CAD. Currently, designers worldwide engaged in new forms of design exploration. From this race, two prominent methodologies have developed from Associative Design approach – Object-Oriented Design (OOD) and Algorithm-Aided Design (AAD). The primary research objective is to investigate, examine, and push boundaries between OOD and AAD for new design space determination, where advantages of both design methods are fused to produce a new generation methodology which is called in the present study AID (Algorithm-aided Information Design). The study methodology is structured into two flows. In the first flow, existing CAD methodologies are investigated, and the conceptual framework is extracted based on the state of art analysis, then analysed data is synthesized into the subject proposal. In the second flow, tools and workflows are elaborated and examined on practice to confirm the subject proposal. In compliance, the content of the research consists of two theoretical and practical parts. In the first theoretical part, a literature review is conducted, and assumptions are made to speculate about AID methodology, its tools, possible advantages and drawbacks. Next, case studies are performed according to sequential stages of digital design through the lens of practical AID methodology implementation. Case studies are covering such design aspects as model & documentation generation, design automation, interoperability, manufacturing control, performance analysis and optimization. Ultimately, a set of test projects is developed with the AID methodology applied. After the practical part, research returns to the theory where analytical information is gathered based on the literature review, conceptual framework, and experimental practice reports. In summary, the study synthesizes AID methodology as part of Hybrid Design, which enables creative use of tools and elaborating of agile design systems integrating additive and associative methodologies of Digital Design. In general, the study is based on agile methods and cyclic research development mixed between practice and theory to achieve a comprehensive vision of the subject

GRASP/Ada (Graphical Representations of Algorithms, Structures, and Processes for Ada): The development of a program analysis environment for Ada. Reverse engineering tools for Ada, task 1, phase 2

The study, formulation, and generation of structures for Ada (GRASP/Ada) are discussed in this second phase report of a three phase effort. Various graphical representations that can be extracted or generated from source code are described and categorized with focus on reverse engineering. The overall goal is to provide the foundation for a CASE (computer-aided software design) environment in which reverse engineering and forward engineering (development) are tightly coupled. Emphasis is on a subset of architectural diagrams that can be generated automatically from source code with the control structure diagram (CSD) included for completeness

Bridging the Gap Between Requirements and Model Analysis : Evaluation on Ten Cyber-Physical Challenge Problems

Formal verfication and simulation are powerful tools to validate requirements against complex systems. [Problem] Requirements are developed in early stages of the software lifecycle and are typically written in ambiguous natural language. There is a gap between such requirements and formal notations that can be used by verification tools, and lack of support for proper association of requirements with software artifacts for verification. [Principal idea] We propose to write requirements in an intuitive, structured natural language with formal semantics, and to support formalization and model/code verification as a smooth, well-integrated process. [Contribution] We have developed an end-to-end, open source requirements analysis framework that checks Simulink models against requirements written in structured natural language. Our framework is built in the Formal Requirements Elicitation Tool (fret); we use fret's requirements language named fretish, and formalization of fretish requirements in temporal logics. Our proposed framework contributes the following features: 1) automatic extraction of Simulink model information and association of fretish requirements with target model signals and components; 2) translation of temporal logic formulas into synchronous dataflow cocospec specifications as well as Simulink monitors, to be used by verification tools; we establish correctness of our translation through extensive automated testing; 3) interpretation of counterexamples produced by verification tools back at requirements level. These features support a tight integration and feedback loop between high level requirements and their analysis. We demonstrate our approach on a major case study: the Ten Lockheed Martin Cyber-Physical, aerospace-inspired challenge problems