78,959 research outputs found
Multi-Sensor Context-Awareness in Mobile Devices and Smart Artefacts
The use of context in mobile devices is receiving increasing attention in mobile and ubiquitous computing research. In this article we consider how to augment mobile devices with awareness of their environment and situation as context. Most work to date has been based on integration of generic context sensors, in particular for location and visual context. We propose a different approach based on integration of multiple diverse sensors for awareness of situational context that can not be inferred from location, and targeted at mobile device platforms that typically do not permit processing of visual context. We have investigated multi-sensor context-awareness in a series of projects, and report experience from development of a number of device prototypes. These include development of an awareness module for augmentation of a mobile phone, of the Mediacup exemplifying context-enabled everyday artifacts, and of the Smart-Its platform for aware mobile devices. The prototypes have been explored in various applications to validate the multi-sensor approach to awareness, and to develop new perspectives of how embedded context-awareness can be applied in mobile and ubiquitous computing
Parallel Computing on a PC Cluster
The tremendous advance in computer technology in the past decade has made it
possible to achieve the performance of a supercomputer on a very small budget.
We have built a multi-CPU cluster of Pentium PC capable of parallel
computations using the Message Passing Interface (MPI). We will discuss the
configuration, performance, and application of the cluster to our work in
physics.Comment: 3 pages, uses Latex and aipproc.cl
Enhanced Management of Personal Astronomical Data with FITSManager
Although the roles of data centers and computing centers are becoming more
and more important, and on-line research is becoming the mainstream for
astronomy, individual research based on locally hosted data is still very
common. With the increase of personal storage capacity, it is easy to find
hundreds to thousands of FITS files in the personal computer of an
astrophysicist. Because Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) is a
professional data format initiated by astronomers and used mainly in the small
community, data management toolkits for FITS files are very few. Astronomers
need a powerful tool to help them manage their local astronomical data.
Although Virtual Observatory (VO) is a network oriented astronomical research
environment, its applications and related technologies provide useful solutions
to enhance the management and utilization of astronomical data hosted in an
astronomer's personal computer. FITSManager is such a tool to provide
astronomers an efficient management and utilization of their local data,
bringing VO to astronomers in a seamless and transparent way. FITSManager
provides fruitful functions for FITS file management, like thumbnail, preview,
type dependent icons, header keyword indexing and search, collaborated working
with other tools and online services, and so on. The development of the
FITSManager is an effort to fill the gap between management and analysis of
astronomical data.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, Accepted for publication in New Astronom
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Ideas for the Arcturus personal workstation
In order to achieve more effective use of interpersonal collaboration, management lifecycle activities, and dynamic retrieval of as well as for ordinary programming chores, it may be useful to take a fresh look at the devices we use to help us conduct our transactions with computers.This paper presents some new ideas for using large flatscreen displays and dedicated computers as personal workstations
The Raincore API for clusters of networking elements
Clustering technology offers a way to increase overall reliability and performance of Internet information flow by strengthening one link in the chain without adding others. We have implemented this technology in a distributed computing architecture for network elements. The architecture, called Raincore, originated in the Reliable Array of Independent Nodes, or RAIN, research collaboration between the California Institute of Technology and the US National Aeronautics and Space Agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The RAIN project focused on developing high-performance, fault-tolerant, portable clustering technology for spaceborne computing . The technology that emerged from this project became the basis for a spinoff company, Rainfinity, which has the exclusive intellectual property rights to the RAIN technology. The authors describe the Raincore conceptual architecture and distributed services, which are designed to make it easy for developers to port their applications to run on top of a cluster of networking elements. We include two applications: a Web server prototype that was part of the original RAIN research project and a commercial firewall cluster product from Rainfinity
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