Language Design for Reactive Systems: On Modal Models, Time, and Object Orientation in Lingua Franca and SCCharts

Reactive systems play a crucial role in the embedded domain. They continuously interact with their environment, handle concurrent operations, and are commonly expected to provide deterministic behavior to enable application in safety-critical systems. In this context, language design is a key aspect, since carefully tailored language constructs can aid in addressing the challenges faced in this domain, as illustrated by the various concurrency models that prevent the known pitfalls of regular threads. Today, many languages exist in this domain and often provide unique characteristics that make them specifically fit for certain use cases. This thesis evolves around two distinctive languages: the actor-oriented polyglot coordination language Lingua Franca and the synchronous statecharts dialect SCCharts. While they take different approaches in providing reactive modeling capabilities, they share clear similarities in their semantics and complement each other in design principles. This thesis analyzes and compares key design aspects in the context of these two languages. For three particularly relevant concepts, it provides and evaluates lean and seamless language extensions that are carefully aligned with the fundamental principles of the underlying language. Specifically, Lingua Franca is extended toward coordinating modal behavior, while SCCharts receives a timed automaton notation with an efficient execution model using dynamic ticks and an extension toward the object-oriented modeling paradigm

Leveraging Kubernetes in Edge-Native Cable Access Convergence

Public clouds provide infrastructure services and deployment frameworks for modern cloud-native applications. As the cloud-native paradigm has matured, containerization, orchestration and Kubernetes have become its fundamental building blocks. For the next step of cloud-native, an interest to extend it to the edge computing is emerging. Primary reasons for this are low-latency use cases and the desire to have uniformity in cloud-edge continuum. Cable access networks as specialized type of edge networks are not exception here. As the cable industry transitions to distributed architectures and plans the next steps to virtualize its on-premise network functions, there are opportunities to achieve synergy advantages from convergence of access technologies and services. Distributed cable networks deploy resource-constrained devices like RPDs and RMDs deep in the edge networks. These devices can be redesigned to support more than one access technology and to provide computing services for other edge tenants with MEC-like architectures. Both of these cases benefit from virtualization. It is here where cable access convergence and cloud-native transition to edge-native intersect. However, adapting cloud-native in the edge presents a challenge, since cloud-native container runtimes and native Kubernetes are not optimal solutions in diverse edge environments. Therefore, this thesis takes as its goal to describe current landscape of lightweight cloud-native runtimes and tools targeting the edge. While edge-native as a concept is taking its first steps, tools like KubeEdge, K3s and Virtual Kubelet can be seen as the most mature reference projects for edge-compatible solution types. Furthermore, as the container runtimes are not yet fully edge-ready, WebAssembly seems like a promising alternative runtime for lightweight, portable and secure Kubernetes compatible workloads

HbbTV-compliant Platform for Hybrid Media Delivery and Synchronization on Single- and Multi-Device Scenarios

[EN] The combination of broadcast and broadband (hybrid) technologies for delivering TV related media contents can bring fascinating opportunities. It is motivated by the large amount and diversity of media contents, together with the ubiquity and multiple connectivity capabilities of modern consumption devices. This paper presents an end-to-end platform for the preparation, delivery, and synchronized consumption of related hybrid (broadcast/broadband) media contents on a single device and/or on multiple close-by devices (i.e., a multi-device scenario). It is compatible with the latest version of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) standard (version 2.0.1). Additionally, it provides adaptive and efficient solutions for key issues not specified in that standard, but that are necessary to successfully deploy hybrid and multidevice media services. Moreover, apart from MPEG-DASH and HTML5, which are the broadband technologies adopted by HbbTV, the platform also provides support for using HTTP Live Streaming and Real-time Transport Protocol and its companion RTP Control Protocol broadband technologies. The presented platform can provide support for many hybrid media services. In this paper, in order to evaluate it, the use case of multi-device and multi-view TV service has been selected. The results of both objective and subjective assessments have been very satisfactory, in terms of performance (stability, smooth playout, delays, and sync accuracy), usability of the platform, usefulness of its functionalities, and the awaken interest in these kinds of platforms.This work was supported in part by the "Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional" and in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through R&D&I Support Program under Grant TEC2013-45492-R.Boronat, F.; Marfil-Reguero, D.; Montagud, M.; Pastor Castillo, FJ. (2017). HbbTV-compliant Platform for Hybrid Media Delivery and Synchronization on Single- and Multi-Device Scenarios. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBC.2017.2781124S12

Composição de serviços para aplicações biomédicas

Doutoramento em Engenharia InformáticaA exigente inovação na área das aplicações biomédicas tem guiado a evolução das tecnologias de informação nas últimas décadas. Os desafios associados a uma gestão, integração, análise e interpretação eficientes dos dados provenientes das mais modernas tecnologias de hardware e software requerem um esforço concertado. Desde hardware para sequenciação de genes a registos electrónicos de paciente, passando por pesquisa de fármacos, a possibilidade de explorar com precisão os dados destes ambientes é vital para a compreensão da saúde humana. Esta tese engloba a discussão e o desenvolvimento de melhores estratégias informáticas para ultrapassar estes desafios, principalmente no contexto da composição de serviços, incluindo técnicas flexíveis de integração de dados, como warehousing ou federação, e técnicas avançadas de interoperabilidade, como serviços web ou LinkedData. A composição de serviços é apresentada como um ideal genérico, direcionado para a integração de dados e para a interoperabilidade de software. Relativamente a esta última, esta investigação debruçou-se sobre o campo da farmacovigilância, no contexto do projeto Europeu EU-ADR. As contribuições para este projeto, um novo standard de interoperabilidade e um motor de execução de workflows, sustentam a sucesso da EU-ADR Web Platform, uma plataforma para realizar estudos avançados de farmacovigilância. No contexto do projeto Europeu GEN2PHEN, esta investigação visou ultrapassar os desafios associados à integração de dados distribuídos e heterogéneos no campo do varíoma humano. Foi criada uma nova solução, WAVe - Web Analyses of the Variome, que fornece uma coleção rica de dados de variação genética através de uma interface Web inovadora e de uma API avançada. O desenvolvimento destas estratégias evidenciou duas oportunidades claras na área de software biomédico: melhorar o processo de implementação de software através do recurso a técnicas de desenvolvimento rápidas e aperfeiçoar a qualidade e disponibilidade dos dados através da adopção do paradigma de web semântica. A plataforma COEUS atravessa as fronteiras de integração e interoperabilidade, fornecendo metodologias para a aquisição e tradução flexíveis de dados, bem como uma camada de serviços interoperáveis para explorar semanticamente os dados agregados. Combinando as técnicas de desenvolvimento rápidas com a riqueza da perspectiva "Semantic Web in a box", a plataforma COEUS é uma aproximação pioneira, permitindo o desenvolvimento da próxima geração de aplicações biomédicas.The demand for innovation in the biomedical software domain has been an information technologies evolution driver over the last decades. The challenges associated with the effective management, integration, analyses and interpretation of the wealth of life sciences information stemming from modern hardware and software technologies require concerted efforts. From gene sequencing hardware to pharmacology research up to patient electronic health records, the ability to accurately explore data from these environments is vital to further improve our understanding of human health. This thesis encloses the discussion on building better informatics strategies to address these challenges, primarily in the context of service composition, including warehousing and federation strategies for resource integration, as well as web services or LinkedData for software interoperability. Service composition is introduced as a general principle, geared towards data integration and software interoperability. Concerning the latter, this research covers the service composition requirements within the pharmacovigilance field, namely on the European EU-ADR project. The contributions to this area, the definition of a new interoperability standard and the creation of a new workflow-wrapping engine, are behind the successful construction of the EUADR Web Platform, a workspace for delivering advanced pharmacovigilance studies. In the context of the European GEN2PHEN project, this research tackles the challenges associated with the integration of heterogeneous and distributed data in the human variome field. For this matter, a new lightweight solution was created: WAVe, Web Analysis of the Variome, provides a rich collection of genetic variation data through an innovative portal and an advanced API. The development of the strategies underlying these products highlighted clear opportunities in the biomedical software field: enhancing the software implementation process with rapid application development approaches and improving the quality and availability of data with the adoption of the Semantic Web paradigm. COEUS crosses the boundaries of integration and interoperability as it provides a framework for the flexible acquisition and translation of data into a semantic knowledge base, as well as a comprehensive set of interoperability services, from REST to LinkedData, to fully exploit gathered data semantically. By combining the lightness of rapid application development strategies with the richness of its "Semantic Web in a box" approach, COEUS is a pioneering framework to enhance the development of the next generation of biomedical applications

Communication Infrastructure Enabling Participation of SOA Driven Manufacturing Enterprises in Demand Response Programs

Energy is a necessary element for all industrial process and the demand for energy is inevitable. The difference between energy use and energy consumption focus the industrial users to decrease their baseline energy consumption based on their demand. Demand Response program is one such technique which allows the industrial consumers to curtail the energy consumption from their normal energy usage. Therefore, explicating a communication infrastructure for demand response program will allow the manufacturing industries for seamless communication between the demand response program participants. This in turn helps the production planner to optimize their production plan accordingly, thereby reducing the total electricity cost for the manufacturing facilities and optimize their productivity. At first, this paper describes the available Demand Response standards and harmonization between them. Secondly, a model for DR participants will be done followed by a layered approach for constructing the communication infrastructure. On the other hand, the information to be exchanged and protocols used for exchanging this information between the DR participants will be discussed. Finally, the developed communication infrastructure would be demonstrated in a conceptual platform

Communication Infrastructure Enabling Participation of SOA Driven Manufacturing Enterprises in Demand Response Programs

Energy is a necessary element for all industrial process and the demand for energy is inevitable. The difference between energy use and energy consumption focus the industrial users to decrease their baseline energy consumption based on their demand. Demand Response program is one such technique which allows the industrial consumers to curtail the energy consumption from their normal energy usage. Therefore, explicating a communication infrastructure for demand response program will allow the manufacturing industries for seamless communication between the demand response program participants. This in turn helps the production planner to optimize their production plan accordingly, thereby reducing the total electricity cost for the manufacturing facilities and optimize their productivity. At first, this paper describes the available Demand Response standards and harmonization between them. Secondly, a model for DR participants will be done followed by a layered approach for constructing the communication infrastructure. On the other hand, the information to be exchanged and protocols used for exchanging this information between the DR participants will be discussed. Finally, the developed communication infrastructure would be demonstrated in a conceptual platform

Internet of Underwater Things and Big Marine Data Analytics -- A Comprehensive Survey

The Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) is an emerging communication ecosystem developed for connecting underwater objects in maritime and underwater environments. The IoUT technology is intricately linked with intelligent boats and ships, smart shores and oceans, automatic marine transportations, positioning and navigation, underwater exploration, disaster prediction and prevention, as well as with intelligent monitoring and security. The IoUT has an influence at various scales ranging from a small scientific observatory, to a midsized harbor, and to covering global oceanic trade. The network architecture of IoUT is intrinsically heterogeneous and should be sufficiently resilient to operate in harsh environments. This creates major challenges in terms of underwater communications, whilst relying on limited energy resources. Additionally, the volume, velocity, and variety of data produced by sensors, hydrophones, and cameras in IoUT is enormous, giving rise to the concept of Big Marine Data (BMD), which has its own processing challenges. Hence, conventional data processing techniques will falter, and bespoke Machine Learning (ML) solutions have to be employed for automatically learning the specific BMD behavior and features facilitating knowledge extraction and decision support. The motivation of this paper is to comprehensively survey the IoUT, BMD, and their synthesis. It also aims for exploring the nexus of BMD with ML. We set out from underwater data collection and then discuss the family of IoUT data communication techniques with an emphasis on the state-of-the-art research challenges. We then review the suite of ML solutions suitable for BMD handling and analytics. We treat the subject deductively from an educational perspective, critically appraising the material surveyed.Comment: 54 pages, 11 figures, 19 tables, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, peer-reviewed academic journa

Cross-Platform Text Mining and Natural Language Processing Interoperability - Proceedings of the LREC2016 conference

No abstract available