487,212 research outputs found
Model-based Semantic Conflict Analysis for Software- and Data-Integration Scenarios
The semantic conflict analysis, which is the focus of this technical report, is an approach to automate various design-time verification activities which can be applied during software- or data-integration processes. Specifically, the aspects of semantic matching of business processes and the underlying IT infrastructure as well as of technical aspects of the composite heterogeneous systems will be investigated. The report is part of the BIZYCLE project, which examines applicability of model-based methods, technologies and tools to the large-scale industrial software and data integration scenarios. The semantic conflict analysis is thus part of the overall BIZYCLE conflict analysis process, comprising of semantic, structural, communication, behavior and property analysis, aiming at facilitating and improving standard integration practice. Therefore, the project framework will be briefly introduced first, followed by the detailed semantic annotation and conflict analysis descriptions, and further backed up with the semantic conflict analysis motivation/illustration scenario
Factors Affecting Application Development Productivity:An Empirical Investigation
A recent survey [4] shows that 35% to 50% of software projects had an overrun in terms of the development effort and schedule. Such late deliveries of software tend to cause project backlogs on the order of 374% ofcurrent capacity [2]. Many factors have been suggested as root causes for going over the budget, such as inaccurate estimates, inept scheduling, and failure to recognize risks and plan accordingly. Considerable effort has been devoted to the study of software project management techniques to cure these problems [1]. On the other hand, some suggest that we should seek ways to make programmers more productive, just as Henry Ford made auto assembly workers more productive. For instance, Boehm [3] believes that there are opportunities to increase software productivity, and predicts that by 1995 a 20% improvement in software productivity will be worth US90 billion world-wide. As a result, new methodologies and tools for software development have been suggested and developed in order to increase productivity and subsequently alleviate project backlogs. Representative examples include structured analysis and design, computer-aided software engineering (CASE), and fourth generation languages (4GLs). However, the impacts of these new methodologies and tools on productivity have not been clearly realized, and their use is often controversial [8]. Previous research [6,7] suggests that improving programming productivity requires much more than the isolated implementation of new technologies and policies. Unfortunately, the integration of the new technologies with strategies for managing the software development process, such as project and configuration management, characterization of project teams, and process control, has been largely overlooked [5] as a critical contributor to software productivity improvement. Thus, an integrated analysis, which covers both technological and managerial aspects of software development, is needed. Since there has been almost no research of this problem, we began with an exploratory study [9] that examined current practices in application systems development, focusing on utilization of productivity tools in information systems (I/S) organizations. The aim ofthe study was to develop an appreciation of the factors that might affect application development productivity. We found that an integration of technical and managerial interventions accounted for increased productivity. In the present study, we follow up on the exploratory study. Using hypotheses developed in [9], we are collecting data from a large sample of companies through a mail survey. Before proceeding to a detailed description of the research in progress, we present some concepts basic to understanding our research approach
An Adaptive Design Methodology for Reduction of Product Development Risk
Embedded systems interaction with environment inherently complicates
understanding of requirements and their correct implementation. However,
product uncertainty is highest during early stages of development. Design
verification is an essential step in the development of any system, especially
for Embedded System. This paper introduces a novel adaptive design methodology,
which incorporates step-wise prototyping and verification. With each adaptive
step product-realization level is enhanced while decreasing the level of
product uncertainty, thereby reducing the overall costs. The back-bone of this
frame-work is the development of Domain Specific Operational (DOP) Model and
the associated Verification Instrumentation for Test and Evaluation, developed
based on the DOP model. Together they generate functionally valid test-sequence
for carrying out prototype evaluation. With the help of a case study 'Multimode
Detection Subsystem' the application of this method is sketched. The design
methodologies can be compared by defining and computing a generic performance
criterion like Average design-cycle Risk. For the case study, by computing
Average design-cycle Risk, it is shown that the adaptive method reduces the
product development risk for a small increase in the total design cycle time.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure
A requirements engineering framework for integrated systems development for the construction industry
Computer Integrated Construction (CIC) systems are computer environments through which
collaborative working can be undertaken. Although many CIC systems have been developed to demonstrate the
communication and collaboration within the construction projects, the uptake of CICs by the industry is still
inadequate. This is mainly due to the fact that research methodologies of the CIC development projects are
incomplete to bridge the technology transfer gap. Therefore, defining comprehensive methodologies for the
development of these systems and their effective implementation on real construction projects is vital.
Requirements Engineering (RE) can contribute to the effective uptake of these systems because it drives the
systems development for the targeted audience. This paper proposes a requirements engineering approach for
industry driven CIC systems development. While some CIC systems are investigated to build a broad and deep
contextual knowledge in the area, the EU funded research project, DIVERCITY (Distributed Virtual Workspace
for Enhancing Communication within the Construction Industry), is analysed as the main case study project
because its requirements engineering approach has the potential to determine a framework for the adaptation of
requirements engineering in order to contribute towards the uptake of CIC systems
Drivers and Impacts of R&D Adoption on Transport and Logistics Services
Actually, technologies and applications in industries are changing via business restructuring, new business models, new knowledge and supply chains. So R&D is not focused primarily on manufacturing industry as it used to be, but on different kinds of industries as logistics and transport (TLS). Nevertheless, the characteristics of the TLS industry determine the introduction of specific R&D solutions accordingly to sectors operations. The objective of this paper is to describe the R&D opportunities in the TLS industry and how managers use them to make their businesses more innovative and efficient. Using the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) model the paper identifies the links between R&D adoption and innovation dynamics. Relating the findings, on the driver’s side there are three points that are worth mentioning: increasing market competition, the relationships of firms interacting with each other and the availability and quality of complementary assets such as employee skills and IT know-how. On the impacts’ side, firms advanced in terms of implementing R&D solutions are more likely to implement organizational changes. Finally, a set of recommendations on how to further improve the continuous innovation in the TLS industry is presented
ACTS in Need: Automatic Configuration Tuning with Scalability Guarantees
To support the variety of Big Data use cases, many Big Data related systems
expose a large number of user-specifiable configuration parameters. Highlighted
in our experiments, a MySQL deployment with well-tuned configuration parameters
achieves a peak throughput as 12 times much as one with the default setting.
However, finding the best setting for the tens or hundreds of configuration
parameters is mission impossible for ordinary users. Worse still, many Big Data
applications require the support of multiple systems co-deployed in the same
cluster. As these co-deployed systems can interact to affect the overall
performance, they must be tuned together. Automatic configuration tuning with
scalability guarantees (ACTS) is in need to help system users. Solutions to
ACTS must scale to various systems, workloads, deployments, parameters and
resource limits. Proposing and implementing an ACTS solution, we demonstrate
that ACTS can benefit users not only in improving system performance and
resource utilization, but also in saving costs and enabling fairer
benchmarking
Innovative Solutions for Navigation and Mission Management of Unmanned Aircraft Systems
The last decades have witnessed a significant increase in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) of all shapes and sizes. UAS are finding many new applications in supporting several human activities, offering solutions to many dirty, dull, and dangerous missions, carried out by military and civilian users. However, limited access to the airspace is the principal barrier to the realization of the full potential that can be derived from UAS capabilities. The aim of this thesis is to support the safe integration of UAS operations, taking into account both the user's requirements and flight regulations. The main technical and operational issues, considered among the principal inhibitors to the integration and wide-spread acceptance of UAS, are identified and two solutions for safe UAS operations are proposed: A. Improving navigation performance of UAS by exploiting low-cost sensors. To enhance the performance of the low-cost and light-weight integrated navigation system based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) inertial sensors, an efficient calibration method for MEMS inertial sensors is required. Two solutions are proposed: 1) The innovative Thermal Compensated Zero Velocity Update (TCZUPT) filter, which embeds the compensation of thermal effect on bias in the filter itself and uses Back-Propagation Neural Networks to build the calibration function. Experimental results show that the TCZUPT filter is faster than the traditional ZUPT filter in mapping significant bias variations and presents better performance in the overall testing period. Moreover, no calibration pre-processing stage is required to keep measurement drift under control, improving the accuracy, reliability, and maintainability of the processing software; 2) A redundant configuration of consumer grade inertial sensors to obtain a self-calibration of typical inertial sensors biases. The result is a significant reduction of uncertainty in attitude determination. In conclusion, both methods improve dead-reckoning performance for handling intermittent GNSS coverage.
B. Proposing novel solutions for mission management to support the Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system in monitoring and coordinating the operations of a large number of UAS. Two solutions are proposed: 1) A trajectory prediction tool for small UAS, based on Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) Neural Networks. By exploiting flight data collected when the UAS executes a pre-assigned flight path, the tool is able to predict the time taken to fly generic trajectory elements. Moreover, being self-adaptive in constructing a mathematical model, LVQ Neural Networks allow creating different models for the different UAS types in several environmental conditions; 2) A software tool aimed at supporting standardized procedures for decision-making process to identify UAS/payload configurations suitable for any type of mission that can be authorized standing flight regulations. The proposed methods improve the management and safe operation of large-scale UAS missions, speeding up the flight authorization process by the UTM system and supporting the increasing level of autonomy in UAS operations
The Internet-of-Things Meets Business Process Management: Mutual Benefits and Challenges
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of connected devices
collecting and exchanging data over the Internet. These things can be
artificial or natural, and interact as autonomous agents forming a complex
system. In turn, Business Process Management (BPM) was established to analyze,
discover, design, implement, execute, monitor and evolve collaborative business
processes within and across organizations. While the IoT and BPM have been
regarded as separate topics in research and practice, we strongly believe that
the management of IoT applications will strongly benefit from BPM concepts,
methods and technologies on the one hand; on the other one, the IoT poses
challenges that will require enhancements and extensions of the current
state-of-the-art in the BPM field. In this paper, we question to what extent
these two paradigms can be combined and we discuss the emerging challenges
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