Search based software engineering: Trends, techniques and applications

© ACM, 2012. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version is available from the link below.In the past five years there has been a dramatic increase in work on Search-Based Software Engineering (SBSE), an approach to Software Engineering (SE) in which Search-Based Optimization (SBO) algorithms are used to address problems in SE. SBSE has been applied to problems throughout the SE lifecycle, from requirements and project planning to maintenance and reengineering. The approach is attractive because it offers a suite of adaptive automated and semiautomated solutions in situations typified by large complex problem spaces with multiple competing and conflicting objectives. This article provides a review and classification of literature on SBSE. The work identifies research trends and relationships between the techniques applied and the applications to which they have been applied and highlights gaps in the literature and avenues for further research.EPSRC and E

TESNA: A Tool for Detecting Coordination Problems

Detecting problems in coordination can prove to be very difficult. This is especially true in large globally distributed environments where the Software Development can quickly go out of the Project Manager’s control. In this paper we outline a methodology to analyse the socio-technical coordination structures. We also show how this can be made easier with the help of a tool called TESNA that we have developed

Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision Making Approach to Assess the Project Quality Management in Project

AbstractProject quality management is all of the processes and activities needed to determine and achieve project quality. It includes the processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. Based on the identified evaluation criteria, a hierarchical structure of three dimensions and fifteen criteria is constructed, and a systematic approach with fuzzy ANP (FANP) was employed to assess the relative importance rates and rankings of these criteria. Discussions for the results are made and a brief conclusion is proposed. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to evaluation project quality management in project. The results found that there were interactive relations between all the criteria, where the dimension of “Quality planning” was the most influential dimensions; Furthermore, criteria “Project management plan”, “Project Scope”, and “Quality management plan” have the higher influences among each dimension, so we suggest to consider them as the major steps to promote the quality of project management

Product assurance technology for custom LSI/VLSI electronics

The technology for obtaining custom integrated circuits from CMOS-bulk silicon foundries using a universal set of layout rules is presented. The technical efforts were guided by the requirement to develop a 3 micron CMOS test chip for the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES). This chip contains both analog and digital circuits. The development employed all the elements required to obtain custom circuits from silicon foundries, including circuit design, foundry interfacing, circuit test, and circuit qualification

Definition and Validation of a Business IT Alignment Method for Enterprise Governance Improvement in the Context of Processes Based Organizations

These days, it is remarkable to note the growing of interest in professional responsibility. Specifically, the responsibility a person commits to when he or she performs a task. Based on a review of research currently performed in the field of policy (from corporate to technical ones), we observe that the perception of responsibility has often been limited to a combination of rights and obligations. In addition, we are seeing a re-emergence in business (for example, in the financial sector) of a belief that business ethics foundation can be improved and that a renewed focus in this area would help to prevent future breakdowns in the system. With regard to improving business/IT alignment and corporate ICT governance, it becomes increasingly important to define a commonly accepted personal responsibility model that embodies important and well-known concepts like accountability, capability and commitment. Moreover, because responsibility constitutes a fundamental notion of management theory, it is likewise identified as a meaningful bridge toward organizational artifacts. Exploiting process-based approach to define policy seems to offer new research opportunities since process-based organization becomes a continuous widely spread structure.ICT Governance, Responsibility model, Capability, Accountability, Commitment.

The IPAC Image Subtraction and Discovery Pipeline for the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory

We describe the near real-time transient-source discovery engine for the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF), currently in operations at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), Caltech. We coin this system the IPAC/iPTF Discovery Engine (or IDE). We review the algorithms used for PSF-matching, image subtraction, detection, photometry, and machine-learned (ML) vetting of extracted transient candidates. We also review the performance of our ML classifier. For a limiting signal-to-noise ratio of 4 in relatively unconfused regions, "bogus" candidates from processing artifacts and imperfect image subtractions outnumber real transients by ~ 10:1. This can be considerably higher for image data with inaccurate astrometric and/or PSF-matching solutions. Despite this occasionally high contamination rate, the ML classifier is able to identify real transients with an efficiency (or completeness) of ~ 97% for a maximum tolerable false-positive rate of 1% when classifying raw candidates. All subtraction-image metrics, source features, ML probability-based real-bogus scores, contextual metadata from other surveys, and possible associations with known Solar System objects are stored in a relational database for retrieval by the various science working groups. We review our efforts in mitigating false-positives and our experience in optimizing the overall system in response to the multitude of science projects underway with iPTF.Comment: 66 pages, 21 figures, 7 tables, accepted by PAS

Space station advanced automation

In the development of a safe, productive and maintainable space station, Automation and Robotics (A and R) has been identified as an enabling technology which will allow efficient operation at a reasonable cost. The Space Station Freedom's (SSF) systems are very complex, and interdependent. The usage of Advanced Automation (AA) will help restructure, and integrate system status so that station and ground personnel can operate more efficiently. To use AA technology for the augmentation of system management functions requires a development model which consists of well defined phases of: evaluation, development, integration, and maintenance. The evaluation phase will consider system management functions against traditional solutions, implementation techniques and requirements; the end result of this phase should be a well developed concept along with a feasibility analysis. In the development phase the AA system will be developed in accordance with a traditional Life Cycle Model (LCM) modified for Knowledge Based System (KBS) applications. A way by which both knowledge bases and reasoning techniques can be reused to control costs is explained. During the integration phase the KBS software must be integrated with conventional software, and verified and validated. The Verification and Validation (V and V) techniques applicable to these KBS are based on the ideas of consistency, minimal competency, and graph theory. The maintenance phase will be aided by having well designed and documented KBS software

Emerging technologies for the non-invasive characterization of physical-mechanical properties of tablets

The density, porosity, breaking force, viscoelastic properties, and the presence or absence of any structural defects or irregularities are important physical-mechanical quality attributes of popular solid dosage forms like tablets. The irregularities associated with these attributes may influence the drug product functionality. Thus, an accurate and efficient characterization of these properties is critical for successful development and manufacturing of a robust tablets. These properties are mainly analyzed and monitored with traditional pharmacopeial and non-pharmacopeial methods. Such methods are associated with several challenges such as lack of spatial resolution, efficiency, or sample-sparing attributes. Recent advances in technology, design, instrumentation, and software have led to the emergence of newer techniques for non-invasive characterization of physical-mechanical properties of tablets. These techniques include near infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray microtomography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging, terahertz pulsed imaging, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, and various acoustic- and thermal-based techniques. Such state-of-the-art techniques are currently applied at various stages of development and manufacturing of tablets at industrial scale. Each technique has specific advantages or challenges with respect to operational efficiency and cost, compared to traditional analytical methods. Currently, most of these techniques are used as secondary analytical tools to support the traditional methods in characterizing or monitoring tablet quality attributes. Therefore, further development in the instrumentation and software, and studies on the applications are necessary for their adoption in routine analysis and monitoring of tablet physical-mechanical properties

A NASA-wide approach toward cost-effective, high-quality software through reuse

NASA Langley Research Center sponsored the second Workshop on NASA Research in Software Reuse on May 5-6, 1992 at the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The workshop was hosted by the Research Triangle Institute. Participants came from the three NASA centers, four NASA contractor companies, two research institutes and the Air Force's Rome Laboratory. The purpose of the workshop was to exchange information on software reuse tool development, particularly with respect to tool needs, requirements, and effectiveness. The participants presented the software reuse activities and tools being developed and used by their individual centers and programs. These programs address a wide range of reuse issues. The group also developed a mission and goals for software reuse within NASA. This publication summarizes the presentations and the issues discussed during the workshop