Real-time and fault tolerance in distributed control software

Closed loop control systems typically contain multitude of spatially distributed sensors and actuators operated simultaneously. So those systems are parallel and distributed in their essence. But mapping this parallelism onto the given distributed hardware architecture, brings in some additional requirements: safe multithreading, optimal process allocation, real-time scheduling of bus and network resources. Nowadays, fault tolerance methods and fast even online reconfiguration are becoming increasingly important. All those often conflicting requirements, make design and implementation of real-time distributed control systems an extremely difficult task, that requires substantial knowledge in several areas of control and computer science. Although many design methods have been proposed so far, none of them had succeeded to cover all important aspects of the problem at hand. [1] Continuous increase of production in embedded market, makes a simple and natural design methodology for real-time systems needed more then ever

Huddl: the Hydrographic Universal Data Description Language

Since many of the attempts to introduce a universal hydrographic data format have failed or have been only partially successful, a different approach is proposed. Our solution is the Hydrographic Universal Data Description Language (HUDDL), a descriptive XML-based language that permits the creation of a standardized description of (past, present, and future) data formats, and allows for applications like HUDDLER, a compiler that automatically creates drivers for data access and manipulation. HUDDL also represents a powerful solution for archiving data along with their structural description, as well as for cataloguing existing format specifications and their version control. HUDDL is intended to be an open, community-led initiative to simplify the issues involved in hydrographic data access

Communication blades: modular communications for tangible and embedded interfaces

Bladed Tiles is a modular hardware toolkit for building tangible and embedded interface devices. It includes “function blades” and “interaction tiles,” which can provide a flexible, inexpensive, open-ended platform for constructing a wide variety of tangible and embedded interfaces. In this paper, we propose Communication Blades. These are a class of electronic modules with varied computational capabilities for interfacing devices built using bladed tiles toolkit and also for interfacing embedded devices as adapters with external communication networks. These blades provide flexibility by offering the ability to select between different communication technologies and connectivity by providing devices with interoperability over different communication mediums. Furthermore, the modular blade architecture allows different types of communication blades to be plugged in on demand. This reduces the need for development and knowledge of communication protocols by the developers, thus abstracting the underlying complexity. My research work includes studying and designing various communication blades i.e. Serial, USB, Bluetooth and Gumstix. It also includes prototyping, testing and implementing the communication blades

On Composable Security for Digital Signatures

A digital signature scheme (DSS), which consists of a key-generation, a signing, and a verification algorithm, is an invaluable tool in cryptography. The first and still most widely used security definition for a DSS, existential unforgeability under chosen-message attack, was introduced by Goldwasser, Micali, and Rivest in 1988. As DSSs serve as a building block in numerous complex cryptographic protocols, a security definition that specifies the guarantees of a DSS under composition is needed. Canetti (FOCS 2001, CSFW 2004) as well as Backes, Pfitzmann, and Waidner (CCS 2003) have described ideal functionalities for signatures in their respective composable-security frameworks. While several variants of these functionalities exist, they all share that the verification key and signature values appear explicitly. In this paper, we describe digital signature schemes from a different, more abstract perspective. Instead of modeling all aspects of a DSS in a monolithic ideal functionality, our approach characterizes a DSS as a construction of a repository for authentically reading values written by a certain party from certain assumed repositories, e.g., for transmitting verification key and signature values. This approach resolves several technical complications of previous simulation-based approaches, captures the security of signature schemes in an abstract way, and allows for modular proofs. We show that our definition is equivalent to existential unforgeability. We then model two example applications: (1) the certification of values via a signature from a specific entity, which with public keys as values is the core functionality of public-key infrastructures, and (2) the authentication of a session between a client and a server with the help of a digitally signed assertion from an identity provider. Single-sign-on mechanisms such as SAML rely on the soundness of the latter approach

OpenZmeter: An Efficient Low-Cost Energy Smart Meter and Power Quality Analyzer

Power quality and energy consumption measurements support providers and energy users with solutions for acquiring and reporting information about the energy supply for residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. In particular, since the average number of electronic devices in homes increases year by year and their sensitivity is very high, it is not only important to monitor the total energy consumption, but also the quality of the power supplied. However, in practice, end-users do not have information about the energy consumption in real-time nor about the quality of the power they receive, because electric energy meters are too expensive and complex to be handled. In order to overcome these inconveniences, an innovative, open source, low-cost, precise, and reliable power and electric energy meter is presented that can be easily installed and managed by any inexperienced user at their own home in urban or rural areas. The system was validated in a real house over a period of two weeks, showing interesting results and findings which validate our proposal

Standards and Alliances in Non-Standardized Software Industries

Standards and compatibility issues play a significant role in the software industry. Often, there are no uniform industry wide standards in a standards immature market. To overcome the lack of standards, firms in this market aim to establish alliances. In this work, we adopt a new research framework called network theory drawn from sociology research to represent the complexity of this market. This improves upon traditional microeconomic perspectives by addressing indirect relationships and their causal effects. We also introduce a concept called socio technical capital as substitute measure for a firm’s clout or position among other firms. Using this approach we are able relate alliance formation by business application software firms and compatibility issues. The results of an ongoing study are presented to substantiate this approach

Component test facilities for marine renewable energy converters

This paper describes how the PRIMaRE group at University Exeter is engaging in the establishment of appropriate reliability methods suitable for application to marine renewable devices with a key area being the production of suitable failure rate data for the marine renewable energy industry. This activity seeks to mitigate uncertainties and cost implications associated with the reliability assessment of marine energy converters (MECs) due to an omnipresent lack of applicable failure rate data. The capability of two facilities, namely i) the South Western Mooring Test Facility (SWMTF) and ii) the Dynamic Marine Component Test facility (DMaC), to perform specimen and accelerated component testing is discussed. A case study, using data from wave tank tests and numerical simulations performed for the SWMTF, serves to illustrate how evidence of component reliability under operational conditions could be provided.The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the South West Regional Development Agency through the PRIMaRE institution. They would also like to acknowledge the European Community's Sixth Framework Programme HYDRALAB III, Contract no. 022441 (RII3). The second author would like to acknowledge the funding support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under the SUPERGEN Marine Doctoral Programme. Thanks also to Orcina for provision of their Orcaflex software

Reconfigurable Computing Systems for Robotics using a Component-Oriented Approach

Robotic platforms are becoming more complex due to the wide range of modern applications, including multiple heterogeneous sensors and actuators. In order to comply with real-time and power-consumption constraints, these systems need to process a large amount of heterogeneous data from multiple sensors and take action (via actuators), which represents a problem as the resources of these systems have limitations in memory storage, bandwidth, and computational power. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are programmable logic devices that offer high-speed parallel processing. FPGAs are particularly well-suited for applications that require real-time processing, high bandwidth, and low latency. One of the fundamental advantages of FPGAs is their flexibility in designing hardware tailored to specific needs, making them adaptable to a wide range of applications. They can be programmed to pre-process data close to sensors, which reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred to other computing resources, improving overall system efficiency. Additionally, the reprogrammability of FPGAs enables them to be repurposed for different applications, providing a cost-effective solution that needs to adapt quickly to changing demands. FPGAs' performance per watt is close to that of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), with the added advantage of being reprogrammable. Despite all the advantages of FPGAs (e.g., energy efficiency, computing capabilities), the robotics community has not fully included them so far as part of their systems for several reasons. First, designing FPGA-based solutions requires hardware knowledge and longer development times as their programmability is more challenging than Central Processing Units (CPUs) or Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Second, porting a robotics application (or parts of it) from software to an accelerator requires adequate interfaces between software and FPGAs. Third, the robotics workflow is already complex on its own, combining several fields such as mechanics, electronics, and software. There have been partial contributions in the state-of-the-art for FPGAs as part of robotics systems. However, a study of FPGAs as a whole for robotics systems is missing in the literature, which is the primary goal of this dissertation. Three main objectives have been established to accomplish this. (1) Define all components required for an FPGAs-based system for robotics applications as a whole. (2) Establish how all the defined components are related. (3) With the help of Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques, generate these components, deploy them, and integrate them into existing solutions. The component-oriented approach proposed in this dissertation provides a proper solution for designing and implementing FPGA-based designs for robotics applications. The modular architecture, the tool 'FPGA Interfaces for Robotics Middlewares' (FIRM), and the toolchain 'FPGA Architectures for Robotics' (FAR) provide a set of tools and a comprehensive design process that enables the development of complex FPGA-based designs more straightforwardly and efficiently. The component-oriented approach contributed to the state-of-the-art in FPGA-based designs significantly for robotics applications and helps to promote their wider adoption and use by specialists with little FPGA knowledge