An approach to component generation and technology adaptation

Component generation is the task of mapping the abstract functional specification of register-transfer (RT) components, such as decoders and multiplexers, adders and comparators, and multipliers and arithmetic logic units, into configurations of connected physical layout cells. Cells are drawn from a given ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) library.In this dissertation, I describe a symbolic pattern-matching approach to component generation and, relative to this, an approach to automating technology adaptation. I define the component decomposition algorithm and technology compilation algorithm that formalize these two approaches and describe implementations of each, in the DTAS component generation system and the LOLA technology adaptation system, respectively. I present empirical results to validate the utility of my approach to component generation, and I present a demonstration to validate my approach to technology adaptation.My approach to component generation has two significant benefits. First, it enables the use of complex functional library cells, such as adders and CLAs, in the generation of designs for functional units. Second, it effectively searches the design space for designs that make desirable tradeoffs between design constraints, such as area and delay. My approach to technology adaptation is significant because it bootstraps the DTAS component generation system into new ASIC cell libraries, as well as cell libraries as they undergo change. In this way, the technology compilation algorithm automates the task of maintaining technology independence.To validate my approach to component generation, I present the results of four sets of experiments using the DTAS component generation system. The first set examines the effectiveness of search control in DTAS; the second examines the capability to find desirable design alternatives; the third compares designs generated by DTAS with those of MISII; and the fourth shows how the use of complex library cells improves design quality. To validate my approach to automating technology adaptation, I demonstrate the application of the LOLA technology adaptation system to a cell library as it undergoes four phases of evolution

Components Interoperability through Mediating Connector Patterns

A key objective for ubiquitous environments is to enable system interoperability between system's components that are highly heterogeneous. In particular, the challenge is to embed in the system architecture the necessary support to cope with behavioral diversity in order to allow components to coordinate and communicate. The continuously evolving environment further asks for an automated and on-the-fly approach. In this paper we present the design building blocks for the dynamic and on-the-fly interoperability between heterogeneous components. Specifically, we describe an Architectural Pattern called Mediating Connector, that is the key enabler for communication. In addition, we present a set of Basic Mediator Patterns, that describe the basic mismatches which can occur when components try to interact, and their corresponding solutions.Comment: In Proceedings WCSI 2010, arXiv:1010.233

Contemporary Women’s Adaptation to Motherhood: The First 3 to 6 Weeks Postpartum

A better understanding of the process of adaptation to motherhood should enhance nurses’ ability to prepare women for the transition to motherhood and to provide care following childbirth. Knowledge about women’s adaptation to motherhood was developed primarily from the 1960s to the 1990s. Cesarean birthing was a special focus of research throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s, followed by functional status, and more recently, depression and stress associated with birth and postpartum. Adaptation to motherhood in the context of the early 21st century has received limited attention in nursing research, creating an assumption that the process of adaptation is universal and context-free rather than evolving within the life and societal context of women across generations. Although becoming and being a mother has been described as a normative transition rather than a stressor by some, knowledge development about adaptation to motherhood also has been constrained by the limited use of a unified perspective of transition as a process of adaptation. Therefore, the purposes of this exploratory study were to describe contemporary women’s physical, emotional, functional, and social adaptation to motherhood and to examine the relations of selected demographic and perinatal variables to adaptation to motherhood in the first 3 to 6 weeks of the postpartum

Open Programming Language Interpreters

Context: This paper presents the concept of open programming language interpreters and the implementation of a framework-level metaobject protocol (MOP) to support them. Inquiry: We address the problem of dynamic interpreter adaptation to tailor the interpreter's behavior on the task to be solved and to introduce new features to fulfill unforeseen requirements. Many languages provide a MOP that to some degree supports reflection. However, MOPs are typically language-specific, their reflective functionality is often restricted, and the adaptation and application logic are often mixed which hardens the understanding and maintenance of the source code. Our system overcomes these limitations. Approach: We designed and implemented a system to support open programming language interpreters. The prototype implementation is integrated in the Neverlang framework. The system exposes the structure, behavior and the runtime state of any Neverlang-based interpreter with the ability to modify it. Knowledge: Our system provides a complete control over interpreter's structure, behavior and its runtime state. The approach is applicable to every Neverlang-based interpreter. Adaptation code can potentially be reused across different language implementations. Grounding: Having a prototype implementation we focused on feasibility evaluation. The paper shows that our approach well addresses problems commonly found in the research literature. We have a demonstrative video and examples that illustrate our approach on dynamic software adaptation, aspect-oriented programming, debugging and context-aware interpreters. Importance: To our knowledge, our paper presents the first reflective approach targeting a general framework for language development. Our system provides full reflective support for free to any Neverlang-based interpreter. We are not aware of any prior application of open implementations to programming language interpreters in the sense defined in this paper. Rather than substituting other approaches, we believe our system can be used as a complementary technique in situations where other approaches present serious limitations

Fine Grained Component Engineering of Adaptive Overlays: Experiences and Perspectives

Recent years have seen significant research being carried out into peer-to-peer (P2P) systems. This work has focused on the styles and applications of P2P computing, from grid computation to content distribution; however, little investigation has been performed into how these systems are built. Component based engineering is an approach that has seen successful deployment in the field of middleware development; functionality is encapsulated in ‘building blocks’ that can be dynamically plugged together to form complete systems. This allows efficient, flexible and adaptable systems to be built with lower overhead and development complexity. This paper presents an investigation into the potential of using component based engineering in the design and construction of peer-to-peer overlays. It is highlighted that the quality of these properties is dictated by the component architecture used to implement the system. Three reusable decomposition architectures are designed and evaluated using Chord and Pastry case studies. These demonstrate that significant improvements can be made over traditional design approaches resulting in much more reusable, (re)configurable and extensible systems