Comparing cospan-spans and tiles via a Hoare-style process calculus

AbstractThe large diffusion of concurrent and distributed systems has spawned in recent years a variety of new formalisms, equipped with features for supporting an easy specification of such systems. The aim of our note is to compare two recent formalisms for the design of concurrent and distributed systems, namely the tile logic and the cospan-span model. We first present a simple, yet rather expressive Hoare-style process algebra; then, after presenting the basics of both approaches, we compare them via their modeling of the calculus

04241 Abstracts Collection -- Graph Transformations and Process Algebras for Modeling Distributed and Mobile Systems

Recently there has been a lot of research, combining concepts of process algebra with those of the theory of graph grammars and graph transformation systems. Both can be viewed as general frameworks in which one can specify and reason about concurrent and distributed systems. There are many areas where both theories overlap and this reaches much further than just using graphs to give a graphic representation to processes. Processes in a communication network can be seen in two different ways: as terms in an algebraic theory, emphasizing their behaviour and their interaction with the environment, and as nodes (or edges) in a graph, emphasizing their topology and their connectedness. Especially topology, mobility and dynamic reconfigurations at runtime can be modelled in a very intuitive way using graph transformation. On the other hand the definition and proof of behavioural equivalences is often easier in the process algebra setting. Also standard techniques of algebraic semantics for universal constructions, refinement and compositionality can take better advantage of the process algebra representation. An important example where the combined theory is more convenient than both alternatives is for defining the concurrent (noninterleaving), abstract semantics of distributed systems. Here graph transformations lack abstraction and process algebras lack expressiveness. Another important example is the work on bigraphical reactive systems with the aim of deriving a labelled transitions system from an unlabelled reactive system such that the resulting bisimilarity is a congruence. Here, graphs seem to be a convenient framework, in which this theory can be stated and developed. So, although it is the central aim of both frameworks to model and reason about concurrent systems, the semantics of processes can have a very different flavour in these theories. Research in this area aims at combining the advantages of both frameworks and translating concepts of one theory into the other. The Dagsuthl Seminar, which took place from 06.06. to 11.06.2004, was aimed at bringing together researchers of the two communities in order to share their ideas and develop new concepts. These proceedings4 of the do not only contain abstracts of the talks given at the seminar, but also summaries of topics of central interest. We would like to thank all participants of the seminar for coming and sharing their ideas and everybody who has contributed to the proceedings

Semantic Snapping for Guided Multi-View Visualization Design

Visual information displays are typically composed of multiple visualizations that are used to facilitate an understanding of the underlying data. A common example are dashboards, which are frequently used in domains such as finance, process monitoring and business intelligence. However, users may not be aware of existing guidelines and lack expert design knowledge when composing such multi-view visualizations. In this paper, we present semantic snapping, an approach to help non-expert users design effective multi-view visualizations from sets of pre-existing views. When a particular view is placed on a canvas, it is “aligned” with the remaining views-not with respect to its geometric layout, but based on aspects of the visual encoding itself, such as how data dimensions are mapped to channels. Our method uses an on-the-fly procedure to detect and suggest resolutions for conflicting, misleading, or ambiguous designs, as well as to provide suggestions for alternative presentations. With this approach, users can be guided to avoid common pitfalls encountered when composing visualizations. Our provided examples and case studies demonstrate the usefulness and validity of our approach.acceptedVersio

Proceedings of SAT Competition 2021 : Solver and Benchmark Descriptions

Non peer reviewe

Relational data factorization

Motivated by an analogy with matrix factorization, we introduce the problem of factorizing relational data. In matrix factorization, one is given a matrix and has to factorize it as a product of other matrices. In relational data factorization, the task is to factorize a given relation as a conjunctive query over other relations, i.e., as a combination of natural join operations. Given a conjunctive query and the input relation, the problem is to compute the extensions of the relations used in the query. Thus, relational data factorization is a relational analog of matrix factorization; it is also a form of inverse querying as one has to compute the relations in the query from the result of the query. The result of relational data factorization is neither necessarily unique nor required to be a lossless decomposition of the original relation. Therefore, constraints can be imposed on the desired factorization and a scoring function is used to determine its quality (often similarity to the original data). Relational data factorization is thus a constraint satisfaction and optimization problem. We show how answer set programming can be used for solving relational data factorization problems.Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

A Unifying Theory for Graph Transformation

The field of graph transformation studies the rule-based transformation of graphs. An important branch is the algebraic graph transformation tradition, in which approaches are defined and studied using the language of category theory. Most algebraic graph transformation approaches (such as DPO, SPO, SqPO, and AGREE) are opinionated about the local contexts that are allowed around matches for rules, and about how replacement in context should work exactly. The approaches also differ considerably in their underlying formal theories and their general expressiveness (e.g., not all frameworks allow duplication). This dissertation proposes an expressive algebraic graph transformation approach, called PBPO+, which is an adaptation of PBPO by Corradini et al. The central contribution is a proof that PBPO+ subsumes (under mild restrictions) DPO, SqPO, AGREE, and PBPO in the important categorical setting of quasitoposes. This result allows for a more unified study of graph transformation metatheory, methods, and tools. A concrete example of this is found in the second major contribution of this dissertation: a graph transformation termination method for PBPO+, based on decreasing interpretations, and defined for general categories. By applying the proposed encodings into PBPO+, this method can also be applied for DPO, SqPO, AGREE, and PBPO

The hippocampal formation from a machine learning perspective

Nos dias de hoje, existem diversos tipos de sensores que conseguem captar uma grande quantidade de dados em curtos espaços de tempo. Em muitas situações, as informações obtidas pelos diferentes sensores traduzem fenómenos específicos, através de dados obtidos em diferentes formatos. Nesses casos, torna-se difícil saber quais as relações entre os dados e/ou identificar se os diferentes dados traduzem uma certa condição. Neste contexto, torna-se relevante desenvolver sistemas que tenham capacidade de analisar grandes quantidades de dados num menor tempo possível, produzindo informação válida a partir da informação recolhida. O cérebro dos animais é um órgão biológico capaz de fazer algo semelhante com a informação obtida pelos sentidos, que traduzem fenómenos específicos. Dentro do cérebro, existe um elemento chamado Hipocampo, que se encontra situado na área do lóbulo temporal. A sua função principal consiste em analisar os elementos previamente codificados pelo Entorhinal Cortex, dando origem à formação de novas memórias. Sendo o Hipocampo um órgão que foi sofrendo evoluções ao longo do tempos, é importante perceber qual é o seu funcionamento e, se possível, tentar encontrar modelos computacionais que traduzam o seu mecanismo. Desde a remoção do Hipocampo num paciente que sofria de convulsões, ficou claro que, sem esse elemento, não seria possível memorizar lugares ou eventos ocorridos num determinado espaço de tempo. Essa funcionalidade é obtida através de um conjunto específico de células chamadas de Grid Cells, que estão situadas na área do Entorhinal Cortex, mas também das Place Cells, Head Direction Cells e Boundary Vector Cells. Neste âmbito, o principal objetivo desta Dissertação consiste em descrever os principais mecanismos biológicos localizados no Hipocampo e definir modelos computacionais que consigam simular as funções mais críticas de ambos os Hipocampos e da área do Entorhinal Cortex.Nowadays, sensor devices are able to generate huge amounts of data in short periods of time. In many situations, that data, collected by many different sensors, translates a specific phenomenon, but is presented in very different types and formats. In these cases, it is hard to determine how these distinct types of data are related to each other or translate a certain condition. In this context, it would be of great importance to develop a system capable of analysing such data in the smallest amount time to produce valid information. The brain is a biological organ capable of such decisions. Inside the brain, there is an element called Hippocampus, that is situated in the Temporal Lobe area. Its main function is to analyse the sensorial data encoded by the Entorhinal Cortex to create new memories. Since the Hippocampus has evolved for thousands of years to perform these tasks, it is of high importance to try to understand its functioning and to model it, i.e. to define a set of computer algorithms that approximates it. Since the removal of the Hippocampus from a patient suffering from seizures, the scientific community believes that the Hippocampus is crucial for memory formation and for spatial navigation. Without it, it wouldn’t be possible to memorize places and events that happened in a specific time or place. Such functionality is achieved with the help of set of cells called Grid Cells, present in the Entorhinal Cortex area, but also with Place Cells, Head Direction Cells and Boundary Vector Cells. The combined information analysed by those cells allows the unique identification of places or events. The main objective of the work developed in this Thesis consists in describing the biological mechanisms present in the Hippocampus area and to define potential computer models that allow the simulation of all or the most critical functions of both the Hippocampus and the Entorhinal Cortex areas

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationDeep Neural Networks (DNNs) are the state-of-art solution in a growing number of tasks including computer vision, speech recognition, and genomics. However, DNNs are computationally expensive as they are carefully trained to extract and abstract features from raw data using multiple layers of neurons with millions of parameters. In this dissertation, we primarily focus on inference, e.g., using a DNN to classify an input image. This is an operation that will be repeatedly performed on billions of devices in the datacenter, in self-driving cars, in drones, etc. We observe that DNNs spend a vast majority of their runtime to runtime performing matrix-by-vector multiplications (MVM). MVMs have two major bottlenecks: fetching the matrix and performing sum-of-product operations. To address these bottlenecks, we use in-situ computing, where the matrix is stored in programmable resistor arrays, called crossbars, and sum-of-product operations are performed using analog computing. In this dissertation, we propose two hardware units, ISAAC and Newton.In ISAAC, we show that in-situ computing designs can outperform DNN digital accelerators, if they leverage pipelining, smart encodings, and can distribute a computation in time and space, within crossbars, and across crossbars. In the ISAAC design, roughly half the chip area/power can be attributed to the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), i.e., it remains the key design challenge in mixed-signal accelerators for deep networks. In spite of the ADC bottleneck, ISAAC is able to out-perform the computational efficiency of the state-of-the-art design (DaDianNao) by 8x. In Newton, we take advantage of a number of techniques to address ADC inefficiency. These techniques exploit matrix transformations, heterogeneity, and smart mapping of computation to the analog substrate. We show that Newton can increase the efficiency of in-situ computing by an additional 2x. Finally, we show that in-situ computing, unfortunately, cannot be easily adapted to handle training of deep networks, i.e., it is only suitable for inference of already-trained networks. By improving the efficiency of DNN inference with ISAAC and Newton, we move closer to low-cost deep learning that in turn will have societal impact through self-driving cars, assistive systems for the disabled, and precision medicine

Fachlich erweiterbare 3D-Stadtmodelle – Management, Visualisierung und Interaktion

Domain-extendable semantic 3D city models are complex mappings and inventories of the urban environment which can be utilized as an integrative information backbone to facilitate a range of application fields like urban planning, environmental simulations, disaster management, and energy assessment. Today, more and more countries and cities worldwide are creating their own 3D city models based on the CityGML specification which is an international standard issued by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to provide an open data model and XML-based format for describing the relevant urban objects with regards to their 3D geometry, topology, semantics, and appearance. It especially provides a flexible and systematic extension mechanism called “Application Domain Extension (ADE)” which allows third parties to dynamically extend the existing CityGML definitions with additional information models from different application domains for representing the extended or newly introduced geographic object types within a common framework. However, due to the consequent large size and high model complexity, the practical utilization of country-wide CityGML datasets has posed a tremendous challenge regarding the setup of an extensive application system to support the efficient data storage, analysis, management, interaction, and visualization. These requirements have been partly solved by the existing free 3D geo-database solution called ‘3D City Database (3DCityDB)’ which offers a rich set of functionalities for dealing with standard CityGML data models, but lacked the support for CityGML ADEs. The key motivation of this thesis is to develop a reliable approach for extending the existing database solution to support the efficient management, visualization, and interaction of large geospatial data elements of arbitrary CityGML ADEs. Emphasis is first placed on answering the question of how to dynamically extend the relational database schema by parsing and interpreting the XML schema files of the ADE and dynamically create new database tables accordingly. Based on a comprehensive survey of the related work, a new graph-based framework has been proposed which uses typed and attributed graphs for semantically representing the object-oriented data models of CityGML ADEs and utilizes graph transformation systems to automatically generate compact table structures extending the 3DCityDB. The transformation process is performed by applying a series of fine-grained graph transformation rules which allow users to declaratively describe the complex mapping rules including the optimization concepts that are employed in the development of the 3DCityDB database schema. The second major contribution of this thesis is the development of a new multi-level system which can serve as a complete and integrative platform for facilitating the various analysis, simulation, and modification operations on the complex-structured 3D city models based on CityGML and 3DCityDB. It introduces an additional application level based on a so-called ‘app-concept’ that allows for constructing a light-weight web application to reach a good balance between the high data model complexity and the specific application requirements of the end users. Each application can be easily built on top of a developed 3D web client whose functionalities go beyond the efficient 3D geo-visualization and interactive exploration, and also allows for performing collaborative modifications and analysis of 3D city models by taking advantage of the Cloud Computing technology. This multi-level system along with the extended 3DCityDB have been successfully utilized and evaluated by many practical projects.Fachlich erweiterbare semantische 3D-Stadtmodelle sind komplexe Abbildungen und Datenbestände der städtischen Umgebung, die als ein integratives Informationsrückgrat genutzt werden können, um eine Reihe von Anwendungsfeldern wie z. B. Stadtplanung, Umweltsimulationen, Katastrophenmanagement und Energiebewertung zu ermöglichen. Heute schaffen immer mehr Länder und Städte weltweit ihre eigenen 3D-Stadtmodelle auf Basis des internationalen Standards CityGML des Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), um ein offenes Datenmodell und ein XML-basiertes Format zur Beschreibung der relevanten Stadtobjekte in Bezug auf ihre 3D-Geometrien, Topologien, Semantik und Erscheinungen zur Verfügung zu stellen. Es bietet insbesondere einen flexiblen und systematischen Erweiterungsmechanismus namens „Application Domain Extension“ (ADE), der es Dritten ermöglicht, die bestehenden CityGML-Definitionen mit zusätzlichen Informationsmodellen aus verschiedenen Anwendungsdomänen dynamisch zu erweitern, um die erweiterten oder neu eingeführten Stadtobjekt-Typen innerhalb eines gemeinsamen Framework zu repräsentieren. Aufgrund der konsequent großen Datenmenge und hohen Modellkomplexität bei der praktischen Nutzung der landesweiten CityGML-Datensätze wurden jedoch enorme Anforderungen an den Aufbau eines umfangreichen Anwendungssystems zur Unterstützung der effizienten Speicherung, Analyse, Verwaltung, Interaktion und Visualisierung der Daten gestellt. Die bestehende kostenlose 3D-Geodatenbank-Lösung „3D City Database“ (3DCityDB) entsprach bereits teilweise diesen Anforderungen, indem sie zwar eine umfangreiche Funktionalität für den Umgang mit den Standard-CityGML-Datenmodellen, jedoch keine Unterstützung für CityGML-ADEs bietet. Die Schlüsselmotivation für diese Arbeit ist es, einen zuverlässigen Ansatz zur Erweiterung der bestehenden Datenbanklösung zu entwickeln, um das effiziente Management, die Visualisierung und Interaktion großer Datensätze beliebiger CityGML-ADEs zu unterstützen. Der Schwerpunkt liegt zunächst auf der Beantwortung der Schlüsselfrage, wie man das relationale Datenbankschema dynamisch erweitern kann, indem die XML-Schemadateien der ADE analysiert und interpretiert und anschließend dem entsprechende neue Datenbanktabellen erzeugt werden. Auf Grundlage einer umfassenden Studie verwandter Arbeiten wurde ein neues graphbasiertes Framework entwickelt, das die typisierten und attributierten Graphen zur semantischen Darstellung der objektorientierten Datenmodelle von CityGML-ADEs verwendet und anschließend Graphersetzungssysteme nutzt, um eine kompakte Tabellenstruktur zur Erweiterung der 3DCityDB zu generieren. Der Transformationsprozess wird durch die Anwendung einer Reihe feingranularer Graphersetzungsregeln durchgeführt, die es Benutzern ermöglicht, die komplexen Mapping-Regeln einschließlich der Optimierungskonzepte aus der Entwicklung des 3DCityDB-Datenbankschemas deklarativ zu formalisieren. Der zweite wesentliche Beitrag dieser Arbeit ist die Entwicklung eines neuen mehrstufigen Systemkonzepts, das auf CityGML und 3DCityDB basiert und gleichzeitig als eine komplette und integrative Plattform zur Erleichterung der Analyse, Simulationen und Modifikationen der komplex strukturierten 3D-Stadtmodelle dienen kann. Das Systemkonzept enthält eine zusätzliche Anwendungsebene, die auf einem sogenannten „App-Konzept“ basiert, das es ermöglicht, eine leichtgewichtige Applikation bereitzustellen, die eine gute Balance zwischen der hohen Modellkomplexität und den spezifischen Anwendungsanforderungen der Endbenutzer erreicht. Jede Applikation lässt sich ganz einfach mittels eines bereits entwickelten 3D-Webclients aufbauen, dessen Funktionalitäten über die effiziente 3D-Geo-Visualisierung und interaktive Exploration hinausgehen und auch die Durchführung kollaborativer Modifikationen und Analysen von 3D-Stadtmodellen mit Hilfe von der Cloud-Computing-Technologie ermöglichen. Dieses mehrstufige System zusammen mit dem erweiterten 3DCityDB wurde erfolgreich in vielen praktischen Projekten genutzt und bewertet

Fachlich erweiterbare 3D-Stadtmodelle – Management, Visualisierung und Interaktion

Domain-extendable semantic 3D city models are complex mappings and inventories of the urban environment which can be utilized as an integrative information backbone to facilitate a range of application fields like urban planning, environmental simulations, disaster management, and energy assessment. Today, more and more countries and cities worldwide are creating their own 3D city models based on the CityGML specification which is an international standard issued by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to provide an open data model and XML-based format for describing the relevant urban objects with regards to their 3D geometry, topology, semantics, and appearance. It especially provides a flexible and systematic extension mechanism called “Application Domain Extension (ADE)” which allows third parties to dynamically extend the existing CityGML definitions with additional information models from different application domains for representing the extended or newly introduced geographic object types within a common framework. However, due to the consequent large size and high model complexity, the practical utilization of country-wide CityGML datasets has posed a tremendous challenge regarding the setup of an extensive application system to support the efficient data storage, analysis, management, interaction, and visualization. These requirements have been partly solved by the existing free 3D geo-database solution called ‘3D City Database (3DCityDB)’ which offers a rich set of functionalities for dealing with standard CityGML data models, but lacked the support for CityGML ADEs. The key motivation of this thesis is to develop a reliable approach for extending the existing database solution to support the efficient management, visualization, and interaction of large geospatial data elements of arbitrary CityGML ADEs. Emphasis is first placed on answering the question of how to dynamically extend the relational database schema by parsing and interpreting the XML schema files of the ADE and dynamically create new database tables accordingly. Based on a comprehensive survey of the related work, a new graph-based framework has been proposed which uses typed and attributed graphs for semantically representing the object-oriented data models of CityGML ADEs and utilizes graph transformation systems to automatically generate compact table structures extending the 3DCityDB. The transformation process is performed by applying a series of fine-grained graph transformation rules which allow users to declaratively describe the complex mapping rules including the optimization concepts that are employed in the development of the 3DCityDB database schema. The second major contribution of this thesis is the development of a new multi-level system which can serve as a complete and integrative platform for facilitating the various analysis, simulation, and modification operations on the complex-structured 3D city models based on CityGML and 3DCityDB. It introduces an additional application level based on a so-called ‘app-concept’ that allows for constructing a light-weight web application to reach a good balance between the high data model complexity and the specific application requirements of the end users. Each application can be easily built on top of a developed 3D web client whose functionalities go beyond the efficient 3D geo-visualization and interactive exploration, and also allows for performing collaborative modifications and analysis of 3D city models by taking advantage of the Cloud Computing technology. This multi-level system along with the extended 3DCityDB have been successfully utilized and evaluated by many practical projects.Fachlich erweiterbare semantische 3D-Stadtmodelle sind komplexe Abbildungen und Datenbestände der städtischen Umgebung, die als ein integratives Informationsrückgrat genutzt werden können, um eine Reihe von Anwendungsfeldern wie z. B. Stadtplanung, Umweltsimulationen, Katastrophenmanagement und Energiebewertung zu ermöglichen. Heute schaffen immer mehr Länder und Städte weltweit ihre eigenen 3D-Stadtmodelle auf Basis des internationalen Standards CityGML des Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), um ein offenes Datenmodell und ein XML-basiertes Format zur Beschreibung der relevanten Stadtobjekte in Bezug auf ihre 3D-Geometrien, Topologien, Semantik und Erscheinungen zur Verfügung zu stellen. Es bietet insbesondere einen flexiblen und systematischen Erweiterungsmechanismus namens „Application Domain Extension“ (ADE), der es Dritten ermöglicht, die bestehenden CityGML-Definitionen mit zusätzlichen Informationsmodellen aus verschiedenen Anwendungsdomänen dynamisch zu erweitern, um die erweiterten oder neu eingeführten Stadtobjekt-Typen innerhalb eines gemeinsamen Framework zu repräsentieren. Aufgrund der konsequent großen Datenmenge und hohen Modellkomplexität bei der praktischen Nutzung der landesweiten CityGML-Datensätze wurden jedoch enorme Anforderungen an den Aufbau eines umfangreichen Anwendungssystems zur Unterstützung der effizienten Speicherung, Analyse, Verwaltung, Interaktion und Visualisierung der Daten gestellt. Die bestehende kostenlose 3D-Geodatenbank-Lösung „3D City Database“ (3DCityDB) entsprach bereits teilweise diesen Anforderungen, indem sie zwar eine umfangreiche Funktionalität für den Umgang mit den Standard-CityGML-Datenmodellen, jedoch keine Unterstützung für CityGML-ADEs bietet. Die Schlüsselmotivation für diese Arbeit ist es, einen zuverlässigen Ansatz zur Erweiterung der bestehenden Datenbanklösung zu entwickeln, um das effiziente Management, die Visualisierung und Interaktion großer Datensätze beliebiger CityGML-ADEs zu unterstützen. Der Schwerpunkt liegt zunächst auf der Beantwortung der Schlüsselfrage, wie man das relationale Datenbankschema dynamisch erweitern kann, indem die XML-Schemadateien der ADE analysiert und interpretiert und anschließend dem entsprechende neue Datenbanktabellen erzeugt werden. Auf Grundlage einer umfassenden Studie verwandter Arbeiten wurde ein neues graphbasiertes Framework entwickelt, das die typisierten und attributierten Graphen zur semantischen Darstellung der objektorientierten Datenmodelle von CityGML-ADEs verwendet und anschließend Graphersetzungssysteme nutzt, um eine kompakte Tabellenstruktur zur Erweiterung der 3DCityDB zu generieren. Der Transformationsprozess wird durch die Anwendung einer Reihe feingranularer Graphersetzungsregeln durchgeführt, die es Benutzern ermöglicht, die komplexen Mapping-Regeln einschließlich der Optimierungskonzepte aus der Entwicklung des 3DCityDB-Datenbankschemas deklarativ zu formalisieren. Der zweite wesentliche Beitrag dieser Arbeit ist die Entwicklung eines neuen mehrstufigen Systemkonzepts, das auf CityGML und 3DCityDB basiert und gleichzeitig als eine komplette und integrative Plattform zur Erleichterung der Analyse, Simulationen und Modifikationen der komplex strukturierten 3D-Stadtmodelle dienen kann. Das Systemkonzept enthält eine zusätzliche Anwendungsebene, die auf einem sogenannten „App-Konzept“ basiert, das es ermöglicht, eine leichtgewichtige Applikation bereitzustellen, die eine gute Balance zwischen der hohen Modellkomplexität und den spezifischen Anwendungsanforderungen der Endbenutzer erreicht. Jede Applikation lässt sich ganz einfach mittels eines bereits entwickelten 3D-Webclients aufbauen, dessen Funktionalitäten über die effiziente 3D-Geo-Visualisierung und interaktive Exploration hinausgehen und auch die Durchführung kollaborativer Modifikationen und Analysen von 3D-Stadtmodellen mit Hilfe von der Cloud-Computing-Technologie ermöglichen. Dieses mehrstufige System zusammen mit dem erweiterten 3DCityDB wurde erfolgreich in vielen praktischen Projekten genutzt und bewertet