Optimizing construction of scheduled data flow graph for on-line testability

The objective of this work is to develop a new methodology for behavioural synthesis using a flow of synthesis, better suited to the scheduling of independent calculations and non-concurrent online testing. The traditional behavioural synthesis process can be defined as the compilation of an algorithmic specification into an architecture composed of a data path and a controller. This stream of synthesis generally involves scheduling, resource allocation, generation of the data path and controller synthesis. Experiments showed that optimization started at the high level synthesis improves the performance of the result, yet the current tools do not offer synthesis optimizations that from the RTL level. This justifies the development of an optimization methodology which takes effect from the behavioural specification and accompanying the synthesis process in its various stages. In this paper we propose the use of algebraic properties (commutativity, associativity and distributivity) to transform readable mathematical formulas of algorithmic specifications into mathematical formulas evaluated efficiently. This will effectively reduce the execution time of scheduling calculations and increase the possibilities of testability

Using formal methods to support testing

Formal methods and testing are two important approaches that assist in the development of high quality software. While traditionally these approaches have been seen as rivals, in recent years a new consensus has developed in which they are seen as complementary. This article reviews the state of the art regarding ways in which the presence of a formal specification can be used to assist testing

Integrated testing and verification system for research flight software design document

The NASA Langley Research Center is developing the MUST (Multipurpose User-oriented Software Technology) program to cut the cost of producing research flight software through a system of software support tools. The HAL/S language is the primary subject of the design. Boeing Computer Services Company (BCS) has designed an integrated verification and testing capability as part of MUST. Documentation, verification and test options are provided with special attention on real time, multiprocessing issues. The needs of the entire software production cycle have been considered, with effective management and reduced lifecycle costs as foremost goals. Capabilities have been included in the design for static detection of data flow anomalies involving communicating concurrent processes. Some types of ill formed process synchronization and deadlock also are detected statically

Teaching and learning in live online classrooms

Online presence of information and services is pervasive. Teaching and learning are no exception. Courseware management systems play an important role in enhancing instructional delivery for either traditional day, full-time students or non-traditional evening, party-time adult learners enrolled in online programs. While online course management tools are with no doubt practical, they limit, however, live or synchronous communication to chat rooms, whose discourse has little in common with face-to-face class communication. A more recent trend in online teaching and learning is the adoption and integration of web conferencing tools to enable live online classrooms and recreate the ethos of traditional face-to-face sessions. In this paper we present the experience we have had with the adoption of the LearnLinc® web conferencing tool, an iLinc Communications, Inc. product. We have coupled LearnLinc with Blackboard®, for the online and hybrid computer science courses we offered in the past academic year in the evening undergraduate and graduate computer science programs at Rivier College. Twelve courses, enrolling over 150 students, have used the synchronous online teaching capabilities of LearnLinc. Students who took courses in the online or hybrid format could experience a comparable level of interaction, participation, and collaboration as in traditional classes. We solicited student feedback by administering a student survey to over 100 students. The 55% response rate produced the data for this paper\u27s study. We report on the study\u27s findings and show students\u27 rankings of evaluation criteria applied to hybrid and online instructional formats, with or without a web conferencing tool. Our analysis shows that students ranked favorably LearnLinc live sessions added to Blackboard-only online classes. In addition, how they learned in live online classrooms was found to be the closest to the hybrid class experience with regard to teaching practices they perceived as most important to them, such as seeking instructor\u27s assistance, managing time on task, and exercising problem solving skills

An overview of decision table literature 1982-1995.

This report gives an overview of the literature on decision tables over the past 15 years. As much as possible, for each reference, an author supplied abstract, a number of keywords and a classification are provided. In some cases own comments are added. The purpose of these comments is to show where, how and why decision tables are used. The literature is classified according to application area, theoretical versus practical character, year of publication, country or origin (not necessarily country of publication) and the language of the document. After a description of the scope of the interview, classification results and the classification by topic are presented. The main body of the paper is the ordered list of publications with abstract, classification and comments.

A study of systems implementation languages for the POCCNET system

The results are presented of a study of systems implementation languages for the Payload Operations Control Center Network (POCCNET). Criteria are developed for evaluating the languages, and fifteen existing languages are evaluated on the basis of these criteria

Applying Formal Methods to Networking: Theory, Techniques and Applications

Despite its great importance, modern network infrastructure is remarkable for the lack of rigor in its engineering. The Internet which began as a research experiment was never designed to handle the users and applications it hosts today. The lack of formalization of the Internet architecture meant limited abstractions and modularity, especially for the control and management planes, thus requiring for every new need a new protocol built from scratch. This led to an unwieldy ossified Internet architecture resistant to any attempts at formal verification, and an Internet culture where expediency and pragmatism are favored over formal correctness. Fortunately, recent work in the space of clean slate Internet design---especially, the software defined networking (SDN) paradigm---offers the Internet community another chance to develop the right kind of architecture and abstractions. This has also led to a great resurgence in interest of applying formal methods to specification, verification, and synthesis of networking protocols and applications. In this paper, we present a self-contained tutorial of the formidable amount of work that has been done in formal methods, and present a survey of its applications to networking.Comment: 30 pages, submitted to IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorial