Domain-specific Architectures for Data-intensive Applications

Graphs' versatile ability to represent diverse relationships, make them effective for a wide range of applications. For instance, search engines use graph-based applications to provide high-quality search results. Medical centers use them to aid in patient diagnosis. Most recently, graphs are also being employed to support the management of viral pandemics. Looking forward, they are showing promise of being critical in unlocking several other opportunities, including combating the spread of fake content in social networks, detecting and preventing fraudulent online transactions in a timely fashion, and in ensuring collision avoidance in autonomous vehicle navigation, to name a few. Unfortunately, all these applications require more computational power than what can be provided by conventional computing systems. The key reason is that graph applications present large working sets that fail to fit in the small on-chip storage of existing computing systems, while at the same time they access data in seemingly unpredictable patterns, thus cannot draw benefit from traditional on-chip storage. In this dissertation, we set out to address the performance limitations of existing computing systems so to enable emerging graph applications like those described above. To achieve this, we identified three key strategies: 1) specializing memory architecture, 2) processing data near its storage, and 3) message coalescing in the network. Based on these strategies, this dissertation develops several solutions: OMEGA, which employs specialized on-chip storage units, with co-located specialized compute engines to accelerate the computation; MessageFusion, which coalesces messages in the interconnect; and Centaur, providing an architecture that optimizes the processing of infrequently-accessed data. Overall, these solutions provide 2x in performance improvements, with negligible hardware overheads, across a wide range of applications. Finally, we demonstrate the applicability of our strategies to other data-intensive domains, by exploring an acceleration solution for MapReduce applications, which achieves a 4x performance speedup, also with negligible area and power overheads.PHDComputer Science & EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163186/1/abrahad_1.pd

Secure Communication in Disaster Scenarios

Während Naturkatastrophen oder terroristischer Anschläge ist die bestehende Kommunikationsinfrastruktur häufig überlastet oder fällt komplett aus. In diesen Situationen können mobile Geräte mithilfe von drahtloser ad-hoc- und unterbrechungstoleranter Vernetzung miteinander verbunden werden, um ein Notfall-Kommunikationssystem für Zivilisten und Rettungsdienste einzurichten. Falls verfügbar, kann eine Verbindung zu Cloud-Diensten im Internet eine wertvolle Hilfe im Krisen- und Katastrophenmanagement sein. Solche Kommunikationssysteme bergen jedoch ernsthafte Sicherheitsrisiken, da Angreifer versuchen könnten, vertrauliche Daten zu stehlen, gefälschte Benachrichtigungen von Notfalldiensten einzuspeisen oder Denial-of-Service (DoS) Angriffe durchzuführen. Diese Dissertation schlägt neue Ansätze zur Kommunikation in Notfallnetzen von mobilen Geräten vor, die von der Kommunikation zwischen Mobilfunkgeräten bis zu Cloud-Diensten auf Servern im Internet reichen. Durch die Nutzung dieser Ansätze werden die Sicherheit der Geräte-zu-Geräte-Kommunikation, die Sicherheit von Notfall-Apps auf mobilen Geräten und die Sicherheit von Server-Systemen für Cloud-Dienste verbessert

Geometric modeling for computer aided design

Over the past several years, it has been the primary goal of this grant to design and implement software to be used in the conceptual design of aerospace vehicles. The work carried out under this grant was performed jointly with members of the Vehicle Analysis Branch (VAB) of NASA LaRC, Computer Sciences Corp., and Vigyan Corp. This has resulted in the development of several packages and design studies. Primary among these are the interactive geometric modeling tool, the Solid Modeling Aerospace Research Tool (smart), and the integration and execution tools provided by the Environment for Application Software Integration and Execution (EASIE). In addition, it is the purpose of the personnel of this grant to provide consultation in the areas of structural design, algorithm development, and software development and implementation, particularly in the areas of computer aided design, geometric surface representation, and parallel algorithms

MeasureIt-ARCH: A Tool for Facilitating Architectural Design in the Open Source Software Blender

This thesis discusses the design and synthesis of MeasureIt-ARCH, a GNU GPL licensed software add-on developed by the author in order to add functionality to the Open Source 3D modeling software Blender that facilitates the creation of architectural drawings. MeasureIt-ARCH adds to Blender simple tools to dimension and annotate 3D models, as well as basic support for the definition and drawing of line work. These tools for the creation of dimensions, annotations and line work are designed to be used in tandem with Blender's existing modelling and rendering tool set. While the drawings that MeasureIt-ARCH produces are fundamentally conventional, as are the majority of the techniques that MeasureIt-ARCH employs to create them, MeasureIt-ARCH does provide two simple and relatively novel methods in its drawing systems. MeasureIt-ARCH provides a new method for the placement of dimension elements in 3D space that draws on the dimension's three dimensional context and surrounding geometry order to determine a placement that optimizes legibility. This dimension placement method does not depend on a 2D work plane, a convention that is common in industry standard Computer Aided Design software. MeasureIt-ARCH also implements a new approach for drawing silhouette lines that operates by transforming the silhouetted models geometry in 4D 'Clip Space'. The hope of this work is that MeasureIt-ARCH might be a small step towards creating an Open Source design pipeline for Architects. A step towards creating architectural drawings that can be shared, read, and modified by anyone, within a platform that is itself free to be changed and improved. The creation of MeasureIt-ARCH is motivated by two goals. First, the work aims to create a basic functioning Open Source platform for the creation of architectural drawings within Blender that is publicly and freely available for use. Second, MeasureIt-ARCH's development served as an opportunity to engage in an interdisciplinary act of craft, providing the author an opportunity to explore the act of digital tool making and gain a basic competency in this intersection between Architecture and Computer Science. To achieve these goals, MeasureIt-ARCH's development draws on references from the history of line drawing and dimensioning within Architecture and Computer Science. On the Architectural side, we make use of the history of architectural drawing and dimensioning conventions as described by Mario Carpo, Alberto Pérez Gómez and others, as well as more contemporary frameworks for the classification of architectural software, such as Mark Bew and Mervyn Richard's BIM Levels framework, in order to help determine the scope of MeasureIt-ARCH's feature set. When crafting MeasureIt-ARCH, precedent works from the field of Computer Science that implement methods for producing line drawings from 3D models helped inform the author’s approach to line drawing. In particular this work draws on the overview of line drawing methods produced by Bénard Pierre and Aaron Hertzmann, Arthur Appel's method for line drawing using 'Quantitative Invisibility', the techniques employed in the Freestyle line drawing system created by Grabli et al. as well as other to help inform MeasureIt-ARCH's simple drawing tools. Beyond discussing MeasureIt-ARCH's development and its motivations, this thesis also provides three small speculative discussions about the implications that an Open Source design tool might have on the architectural profession. We investigate MeasureIt-ARCH's use for small scale architectural projects in a practical setting, using it's tool set to produce conceptual design and renovation drawings for cottages at the Lodge at Pine Cove. We provide a demonstration of how MeasureIt-ARCH and Blender can integrate with external systems and other Blender add-ons to produce a proof of concept, dynamic data visualization of the Noosphere installation at the Futurium center in Berlin by the Living Architecture Systems Group. Finally, we discuss the tool's potential to facilitate greater engagement with the Open Source Architecture (OSArc) movement by illustrating a case study of the work done by Alastair Parvin and Clayton Prest on the WikiHouse project, and by highlighting the challenges that face OSArc projects as they try to produce Open Source Architecture without an Open Source design software

A Day in My Law Library Life, Circa 1997

Contributors describe their lives as law librarians by recounting what they did during a single day at their jobs. Given the wide range of positions and libraries represented by the authors, the pieces collectively represent a snapshot - and a historical record - of the law library profession in 1997

Proceedings of the 9th International congress of architectural technology: digitally integrated cities: closing the chasm between social and physical.

Challenges are emerging within the construction industry, causing diversification of roles, workflows and educational transformations. This has resulted in unifying and integrating the built environment on city, country, and global levels due to the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, cloud computing and big data analytics. Architectural Technology is at the centre of the construction industry where the relationship between these factors creates many interfaces. Academics and Professionals associated with Architectural technology are best positioned to enhance the design, delivery and performance of integrated buildings within cities at large. This congress will be a vehicle to disseminate research, education and practice related to this theme investigating both social as well as physical, technical, operational and strategic effects on Digitally integrated Cities

Data Communications and Network Technologies

This open access book is written according to the examination outline for Huawei HCIA-Routing Switching V2.5 certification, aiming to help readers master the basics of network communications and use Huawei network devices to set up enterprise LANs and WANs, wired networks, and wireless networks, ensure network security for enterprises, and grasp cutting-edge computer network technologies. The content of this book includes: network communication fundamentals, TCP/IP protocol, Huawei VRP operating system, IP addresses and subnetting, static and dynamic routing, Ethernet networking technology, ACL and AAA, network address translation, DHCP server, WLAN, IPv6, WAN PPP and PPPoE protocol, typical networking architecture and design cases of campus networks, SNMP protocol used by network management, operation and maintenance, network time protocol NTP, SND and NFV, programming, and automation. As the world’s leading provider of ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure and smart terminals, Huawei’s products range from digital data communication, cyber security, wireless technology, data storage, cloud-computing, and smart computing to artificial intelligence

A Day in My Law Library Life, Circa 1997

Contributors describe their lives as law librarians by recounting what they did during a single day at their jobs. Given the wide range of positions and libraries represented by the authors, the pieces collectively represent a snapshot - and a historical record - of the law library profession in 1997