Developing Resource Usage Service in WLCG

According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of the World-wide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) project, participating sites are required to provide resource usage or accounting data to the Grid Operational Centre (GOC) to enrich the understanding of how shared resources are used, and to provide information for improving the effectiveness of resource allocation. As a multi-grid environment, the accounting process of WLCG is currently enabled by four accounting systems, each of which was developed independently by constituent grid projects. These accounting systems were designed and implemented based on project-specific local understanding of requirements, and therefore lack interoperability. In order to automate the accounting process in WLCG, three transportation methods are being introduced for streaming accounting data metered by heterogeneous accounting systems into GOC at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the UK, where accounting data are aggregated and accumulated throughout the year. These transportation methods, however, were introduced on a per accounting-system basis, i.e. targeting at a particular accounting system, making them hard to reuse and customize to new requirements. This paper presents the design of WLCG-RUS system, a standards-compatible solution providing a consistent process for streaming resource usage data across various accounting systems, while ensuring interoperability, portability, and customization

Ensuring Cyber-Security in Smart Railway Surveillance with SHIELD

Modern railways feature increasingly complex embedded computing systems for surveillance, that are moving towards fully wireless smart-sensors. Those systems are aimed at monitoring system status from a physical-security viewpoint, in order to detect intrusions and other environmental anomalies. However, the same systems used for physical-security surveillance are vulnerable to cyber-security threats, since they feature distributed hardware and software architectures often interconnected by ‘open networks’, like wireless channels and the Internet. In this paper, we show how the integrated approach to Security, Privacy and Dependability (SPD) in embedded systems provided by the SHIELD framework (developed within the EU funded pSHIELD and nSHIELD research projects) can be applied to railway surveillance systems in order to measure and improve their SPD level. SHIELD implements a layered architecture (node, network, middleware and overlay) and orchestrates SPD mechanisms based on ontology models, appropriate metrics and composability. The results of prototypical application to a real-world demonstrator show the effectiveness of SHIELD and justify its practical applicability in industrial settings

Making online learning accessible to disabled students: an institutional case study

Based on the authors’ reflections on experience working at the Open University, approaches to making online learning accessible to disabled students are considered. The considerations are applicable to all concerned with online learning and indeed anyone seeking to trade, disseminate information and mediate services online. In reflecting on the Open University experience of making online material accessible, pedagogic, organisational and cultural issues are highlighted and it is argued that it is important to address these issues in order to effect the organisational change needed to ensure that accessibility challenges are effectively met

Effective Virtual Teams for New Product Development

At present, the existing literature shows that the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams for new product development are still ambiguous. To address this problem, a research design was developed, which includes detailed literature review, preliminary model and field survey. From literature review, the factors which influence the effectiveness of virtual teams are identified and these factors are modified using a field survey. The relationship between knowledge workers (people), process and technology in virtual teams is explored in this study. The results of the study suggest that technology and process are tightly correlated and need to be considered early in virtual teams. The use of software as a service, web solution, report generator and tracking system should be incorporated for effectiveness virtual teams

Models simulation and interoperability using MDA and HLA

In the manufacturing context, there have been numerous efforts to use modeling and simulation tools and techniques to improve manufacturing efficiency over the last four decades. While an increasing number of manufacturing system decisions are being made based on the use of models, their use is still sporadic in many manufacturing environments. Our paper advocates for an approach combining MDA (model driven architecture) and HLA (High Level Architecture), the IEEE standard for modeling and simulation, in order to overcome the deficiencies of current simulation methods at the level of interoperability and reuse.Comment: 8 page

The space physics environment data analysis system (SPEDAS)

With the advent of the Heliophysics/Geospace System Observatory (H/GSO), a complement of multi-spacecraft missions and ground-based observatories to study the space environment, data retrieval, analysis, and visualization of space physics data can be daunting. The Space Physics Environment Data Analysis System (SPEDAS), a grass-roots software development platform (www.spedas.org), is now officially supported by NASA Heliophysics as part of its data environment infrastructure. It serves more than a dozen space missions and ground observatories and can integrate the full complement of past and upcoming space physics missions with minimal resources, following clear, simple, and well-proven guidelines. Free, modular and configurable to the needs of individual missions, it works in both command-line (ideal for experienced users) and Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode (reducing the learning curve for first-time users). Both options have “crib-sheets,” user-command sequences in ASCII format that can facilitate record-and-repeat actions, especially for complex operations and plotting. Crib-sheets enhance scientific interactions, as users can move rapidly and accurately from exchanges of technical information on data processing to efficient discussions regarding data interpretation and science. SPEDAS can readily query and ingest all International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP)-compatible products from the Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF), enabling access to a vast collection of historic and current mission data. The planned incorporation of Heliophysics Application Programmer’s Interface (HAPI) standards will facilitate data ingestion from distributed datasets that adhere to these standards. Although SPEDAS is currently Interactive Data Language (IDL)-based (and interfaces to Java-based tools such as Autoplot), efforts are under-way to expand it further to work with python (first as an interface tool and potentially even receiving an under-the-hood replacement). We review the SPEDAS development history, goals, and current implementation. We explain its “modes of use” with examples geared for users and outline its technical implementation and requirements with software developers in mind. We also describe SPEDAS personnel and software management, interfaces with other organizations, resources and support structure available to the community, and future development plans.Published versio

Multilevel Contracts for Trusted Components

This article contributes to the design and the verification of trusted components and services. The contracts are declined at several levels to cover then different facets, such as component consistency, compatibility or correctness. The article introduces multilevel contracts and a design+verification process for handling and analysing these contracts in component models. The approach is implemented with the COSTO platform that supports the Kmelia component model. A case study illustrates the overall approach.Comment: In Proceedings WCSI 2010, arXiv:1010.233