103,254 research outputs found
A coherent sequence of computer architecture laboratory assignments
The Computer Architecture course at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is taken by undergraduate students in their fourth year of study, after they have had an Introduction to Digital Systems, to Programming in C, and to Microprocessor Programming. The course gives students the computer hardware designer’s perspective, with an emphasis on complete logic design. The objective of the laboratory is the design, simulation and implementation of a processor in a reconfigurable hardware device. Each weekly laboratory assignment builds upon the previous one. The bottom-top design process starts with the design of a combinational logic Arithmetic and Logic Unit, of a Register File and Memory Blocks. The design of the Central Processing Unit is divided into the design of the Data Path and Control Unit. The Instruction Set Architecture is enforced, i.e. the students do not have to come up with their own instruction set. All students must follow general and individual design specifications. The latter are selected using a binary code assigned to each student. The value of each bit chooses between design alternatives such as: Von-Neumann versus Harvard, I/O Mapped versus Memory Mapped Peripherals, 3-bus versus 2-bus architecture, tri-state versus multiplexer data transfer, hardwired versus microprogrammed control unit etc. Each final processor implementation is different from any other, but can run the same machine code. The paper presents the organization of the laboratory sequence, describes each weekly assignment and the lesson
Development of a Secured Information System to Manage Malaria Related Cases in South Western region of Nigeria
Effective community based management of malaria incidences in most community health care centers are hampered by failure in the prompt diagnosis and treatment of malaria. This challenge is exacerbated by the emergence of multidrug resistant plasmodium parasites which makes ineffective most of the effective therapeutic drugs used in the treatment of malaria. Furthermore, even at abrupt changes in the therapeutic recommendations does not always translate to an immediate change in the effective management and control of malaria. Thus, the quest for effective diagnosis and appropriate treatment becomes a daunting and necessary task. . In this article, a secured Information system to manage malaria related cases was developed by 2-tier architecture by using the VB.NET programming language within the Microsoft Visual studio 2008 edition. The database employed for storing relevant data was the SQL server 2005 edition and fingerprint device integrated into the information system was the Microsoft fingerprint reader. From the results in this study, we modeled a feasible medical history system for prompt diagnosis, effective drug recommendations and promulgation of policies that would serve as palliatives for community health care centers that suffers shortages in material and human resources handling malaria and its related diseases
A Taxonomy of Workflow Management Systems for Grid Computing
With the advent of Grid and application technologies, scientists and
engineers are building more and more complex applications to manage and process
large data sets, and execute scientific experiments on distributed resources.
Such application scenarios require means for composing and executing complex
workflows. Therefore, many efforts have been made towards the development of
workflow management systems for Grid computing. In this paper, we propose a
taxonomy that characterizes and classifies various approaches for building and
executing workflows on Grids. We also survey several representative Grid
workflow systems developed by various projects world-wide to demonstrate the
comprehensiveness of the taxonomy. The taxonomy not only highlights the design
and engineering similarities and differences of state-of-the-art in Grid
workflow systems, but also identifies the areas that need further research.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figure
Deep Space Network information system architecture study
The purpose of this article is to describe an architecture for the Deep Space Network (DSN) information system in the years 2000-2010 and to provide guidelines for its evolution during the 1990s. The study scope is defined to be from the front-end areas at the antennas to the end users (spacecraft teams, principal investigators, archival storage systems, and non-NASA partners). The architectural vision provides guidance for major DSN implementation efforts during the next decade. A strong motivation for the study is an expected dramatic improvement in information-systems technologies, such as the following: computer processing, automation technology (including knowledge-based systems), networking and data transport, software and hardware engineering, and human-interface technology. The proposed Ground Information System has the following major features: unified architecture from the front-end area to the end user; open-systems standards to achieve interoperability; DSN production of level 0 data; delivery of level 0 data from the Deep Space Communications Complex, if desired; dedicated telemetry processors for each receiver; security against unauthorized access and errors; and highly automated monitor and control
Innovative in silico approaches to address avian flu using grid technology
The recent years have seen the emergence of diseases which have spread very
quickly all around the world either through human travels like SARS or animal
migration like avian flu. Among the biggest challenges raised by infectious
emerging diseases, one is related to the constant mutation of the viruses which
turns them into continuously moving targets for drug and vaccine discovery.
Another challenge is related to the early detection and surveillance of the
diseases as new cases can appear just anywhere due to the globalization of
exchanges and the circulation of people and animals around the earth, as
recently demonstrated by the avian flu epidemics. For 3 years now, a
collaboration of teams in Europe and Asia has been exploring some innovative in
silico approaches to better tackle avian flu taking advantage of the very large
computing resources available on international grid infrastructures. Grids were
used to study the impact of mutations on the effectiveness of existing drugs
against H5N1 and to find potentially new leads active on mutated strains. Grids
allow also the integration of distributed data in a completely secured way. The
paper presents how we are currently exploring how to integrate the existing
data sources towards a global surveillance network for molecular epidemiology.Comment: 7 pages, submitted to Infectious Disorders - Drug Target
Bio-inspired speed detection and discrimination
In the field of computer vision, a crucial task is the detection of motion
(also called optical flow extraction). This operation allows analysis such as
3D reconstruction, feature tracking, time-to-collision and novelty detection
among others. Most of the optical flow extraction techniques work within a
finite range of speeds. Usually, the range of detection is extended towards
higher speeds by combining some multiscale information in a serial
architecture. This serial multi-scale approach suffers from the problem of
error propagation related to the number of scales used in the algorithm. On the
other hand, biological experiments show that human motion perception seems to
follow a parallel multiscale scheme. In this work we present a bio-inspired
parallel architecture to perform detection of motion, providing a wide range of
operation and avoiding error propagation associated with the serial
architecture. To test our algorithm, we perform relative error comparisons
between both classical and proposed techniques, showing that the parallel
architecture is able to achieve motion detection with results similar to the
serial approach
Automated progress identification and feedback in large experimental laboratories
In this work we describe a novel web-based system whose aim is to enhance the learning environment within experimental laboratories, and report on its deployment in undergraduate computer architecture modules. Student progress is tracked and recorded throughout the practical work, and supervisory facilities are provided including the visualisation of the progress of everyone in the laboratory on a management console. The system delivers information concerning the practical work to be undertaken, and uses carefully designed sets of questions based on the observations to be made by students in the laboratory. The responses made in this system are used to feedback further specific information to the student to aid their individual progress
- …