The AdCIM framework : extraction, integration and persistence of the configuration of distributed systems

[Resumen] Este resumen se compone de una introducción, que explica el enfoque y contexto de la Tesis, seguida de una sección sobre su organización en partes y capítulos. Después, sigue una enumeración de las contribuciones recogidas en ella, para finalizar con las conclusiones y trabajo futuro. Introducción Los administradores de sistemas tienen que trabajar con la gran diversidad de hardware y software existente en las organizaciones actuales. Desde el punto de vista del administrador, las infraestructuras homogéneas son mucho más sencillas de administrar y por ello más deseables. Pero, aparte de la dificultad intrínseca de mantener esa homogeneidad a la vez que progresa la tecnología y las consecuencias de estar atado a un proveedor fijo, la propia homogeneidad tiene riesgos; por ejemplo, las instalaciones en monocultivo son más vulnerables contra virus y troyanos, y hacerlas seguras requiere la introducción de diferencias aleatorias en llamadas al sistema que introduzcan diversidad artificial, una medida que puede provocar inestabilidad (ver Birman y Schneider. Esto hace la heterogeneidad en sí casi inevitable, y una característica de los sistemas reales difícil de obviar. Pero de hecho conlleva más complejidad. En muchas instalaciones, la mezcla de Windows y derivados de Unix es usual, ya sea en combinación o divididos claramente en clientes y servidores. Las tareas de administración en ambos sistemas son diferentes debido a las diferencias en ecosistema y modo de conceptualizar los sistemas informáticos acaecidas tras años de divergencia en interfaces, sistemas de configuración, comandos y abstracciones. A lo largo del tiempo ha habido muchos intentos de cerrar esa brecha, y algunos lo hacen emulando o versionando las herramientas Unix, probadas a lo largo de muchos años. Por ejemplo, la solución de Microsoft, Windows Services for Unix permite el uso de NIS, el Network File System (NFS), Perl, y el shell Korn en Windows, pero no los integra realmente en Windows, ya que está más orientado a la migración de aplicaciones. Cygwin soporta más herramientas, como Bash y las Autotools de GNU, pero se centra en la traslación directa a Windows de programas Unix basados en POSIX usando gcc. Outwit es un port muy interesante del conjunto de herramientas Unix que integra los pipelines de Unix en Windows y permite acceder al Registro, los drivers ODBC y al portapapeles desde los shells de Unix, pero los scripts desarrollados para este sistema no son usables directamente en sistemas Unix. Por lo tanto, la separación sigue a pesar de dichos intentos. En esta Tesis presentamos un framework, denominado AdCIM, para la administración de la configuración de sistemas heterogéneos. Como tal, su objetivo es integrar y uniformizar la administración de estos sistemas abstrayendo sus diferencias, pero al mismo tiempo ser flexible y fácil de adaptar para soportar nuevos sistemas rápidamente. Para lograr dichos objetivos la arquitectura de AdCIM sigue el paradigma de orientación a modelo, que propone el diseño de aplicaciones a partir de un modelo inicial, que es transformado en diversos ''artefactos'', como código, documentación, esquemas de base de datos, etc. que formarían la aplicación. En el caso de AdCIM, el modelo es CIM, y las transformaciones se efectúan utilizando el lenguaje declarativo XSLT, que es capaz de expresar transformaciones sobre datos XML. AdCIM realiza todas sus transformaciones con XSLT, excepto la conversión inicial de ficheros de texto plano a XML, hecha con un párser especial de texto a XML. Los programas XSLT, también denominados stylesheets, enlazan y transforman partes específicas del árbol XML de entrada, y soportan ejecución recursiva, formando un modelo de programación declarativo-funcional con gran potencia expresiva. El modelo elegido para representar los dominios de administración cubiertos por el framework es CIM (Common Information Model), un modelo estándar, extensible y orientado a objetos creado por la Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF). Usando esquemas del modelo CIM, los múltiples y distintos formatos de configuración y datos de administración son traducidos por la infraestructura de AdCIM en instancias CIM. Los esquemas CIM también sirven como base para generar formularios web y otros esquemas específicos para validación y persistencia de los datos. El desarrollo de AdCIM como un framework orientado al modelo evolucionó a partir de nuestro trabajo previo, que extraía datos de configuración y los almacenaba en un repositorio LDAP utilizando scripts Perl. En sucesivos trabajos se empezó a trabajar con la orientación a modelo y se demostró la naturaleza adaptativa de este framework, mediante adaptaciones a entornos Grid y a Wireless Mesh Networks. El enfoque e implementación de este framework son novedosos, y usa algunas tecnologías definidas como estándares por organizaciones internacionales como la IETF, la DMTF, y la W3C. Vemos el uso de dichas tecnologías como una ventaja en vez de una limitación en las posibilidades del framework. Su uso añade generalidad y aplicabilidad al framework, sobre todo comparado con soluciones ad-hoc o de propósito muy específico. A pesar de esta flexibilidad, hemos intentado en todo lo posible definir y concretar todos los aspectos de implementación, definir prácticas de uso adecuadas y evaluar el impacto en el rendimiento y escalabilidad del framework de la elección de las distintas tecnologías estándar

Redes em malha sem fios baseadas em contexto

Doutoramento em Engenharia ElectrotécnicaIn the modern society, new devices, applications and technologies, with sophisticated capabilities, are converging in the same network infrastructure. Users are also increasingly demanding in personal preferences and expectations, desiring Internet connectivity anytime and everywhere. These aspects have triggered many research efforts, since the current Internet is reaching a breaking point trying to provide enough flexibility for users and profits for operators, while dealing with the complex requirements raised by the recent evolution. Fully aligned with the future Internet research, many solutions have been proposed to enhance the current Internet-based architectures and protocols, in order to become context-aware, that is, to be dynamically adapted to the change of the information characterizing any network entity. In this sense, the presented Thesis proposes a new architecture that allows to create several networks with different characteristics according to their context, on the top of a single Wireless Mesh Network (WMN), which infrastructure and protocols are very flexible and self-adaptable. More specifically, this Thesis models the context of users, which can span from their security, cost and mobility preferences, devices’ capabilities or services’ quality requirements, in order to turn a WMN into a set of logical networks. Each logical network is configured to meet a set of user context needs (for instance, support of high mobility and low security). To implement this user-centric architecture, this Thesis uses the network virtualization, which has often been advocated as a mean to deploy independent network architectures and services towards the future Internet, while allowing a dynamic resource management. This way, network virtualization can allow a flexible and programmable configuration of a WMN, in order to be shared by multiple logical networks (or virtual networks - VNs). Moreover, the high level of isolation introduced by network virtualization can be used to differentiate the protocols and mechanisms of each context-aware VN. This architecture raises several challenges to control and manage the VNs on-demand, in response to user and WMN dynamics. In this context, we target the mechanisms to: (i) discover and select the VN to assign to an user; (ii) create, adapt and remove the VN topologies and routes. We also explore how the rate of variation of the user context requirements can be considered to improve the performance and reduce the complexity of the VN control and management. Finally, due to the scalability limitations of centralized control solutions, we propose a mechanism to distribute the control functionalities along the architectural entities, which can cooperate to control and manage the VNs in a distributed way.Na sociedade actual, novos dispositivos, aplicações e tecnologias, com capacidades sofisticadas, estão a convergir na mesma infra-estrutura de rede. Os utilizadores são também cada vez mais exigentes nas suas preferências e expectativas pessoais, desejando conetividade `a Internet em qualquer hora e lugar. Estes aspectos têm desencadeado muitos esforços de investigação, dado que a Internet atual está a atingir um ponto de rutura ao tentar promover flexibilidade para os utilizadores e lucros para os operadores, enquanto lida com as exigências complexas associadas `a recente evolução. Em sintonia com a linha de investigação para a Internet do futuro, muitas soluções têm sido propostas para melhorar as arquiteturas e protocolos da Internet atual, de forma a torná-los sensíveis ao contexto, isto é, adaptá-los dinamicamente `a alteração da informação que caracteriza qualquer entidade de rede. Neste sentido, a presente Tese propõe uma nova arquitetura que permite criar várias redes com diferentes características de acordo com o contexto das mesmas, sobre uma única rede em malha sem fios (WMN), cuja infra-estructura e protocolos são muito flexíveis e auto-adaptáveis. Mais especificamente, esta Tese modela o contexto dos utilizadores, que pode abranger as suas preferências de segurança, custo e mobilidade, capacidades dos seus dispositivos ou requisitos de qualidade dos seus serviços, de forma a transformar uma WMN num conjunto de redes lógicas. Cada rede lógica ´e configurada para satisfazer um conjunto de necessidades de contexto do utilizador (como exemplo, suporte de mobilidade elevada e de baixa seguran¸ca). Para implementar esta arquitetura centrada no utilizador, esta Tese utiliza a virtualização de redes, que tem muitas vezes sido defendida como um meio para implementar arquiteturas e serviços de rede de uma forma independente, enquanto permite uma gestão dinâmica dos recursos. Desta forma, a virtualização de redes pode permitir uma configuração flexível e programável de uma WMN, a fim de ser partilhada por várias redes lógicas (ou redes virtuais - VNs). Além disso, o grau de isolamento introduzido pela virtualização de redes pode ser utilizado para diferenciar os protocolos e mecanismos de cada VN baseada em contexto. Esta arquitetura levanta vários desafios para controlar e gerir as VNs em tempo real, e em resposta `a dinâmica dos utilizadores e da WMN. Neste contexto, abordamos os mecanismos para: (i) descobrir e selecionar a VN a atribuir a um utilizador; (ii) criar, adaptar e remover as topologias e rotas das VNs. Também exploramos a possibilidade de considerar a taxa de variação dos requisitos de contexto dos utilizadores de forma a melhorar o desempenho e reduzir a complexidade do controlo e gestão das VNs. Finalmente, devido ´as limitações de escalabilidade das soluções de controlo centralizadas, propomos um mecanismo para distribuir as funcionalidades de controlo ao longo das entidades da arquitectura, que podem cooperar para controlar e gerir as VNs de uma forma distribuída

Portuguese SKA white book

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Resource Constrained Adaptive Sensing.

RESOURCE CONSTRAINED ADAPTIVE SENSING by Raghuram Rangarajan Chair: Alfred O. Hero III Many signal processing methods in applications such as radar imaging, communication systems, and wireless sensor networks can be presented in an adaptive sensing context. The goal in adaptive sensing is to control the acquisition of data measurements through adaptive design of the input parameters, e.g., waveforms, energies, projections, and sensors for optimizing performance. This dissertation develops new methods for resource constrained adaptive sensing in the context of parameter estimation and detection, sensor management, and target tracking. We begin by investigating the advantages of adaptive waveform amplitude design for estimating parameters of an unknown channel/medium under average energy constraints. We present a statistical framework for sequential design (e.g., design of waveforms in adaptive sensing) of experiments that improves parameter estimation (e.g., scatter coefficients for radar imaging, channel coefficients for channel estimation) performance in terms of reduction in mean-squared error (MSE). We derive optimal adaptive energy allocation strategies that achieve an MSE improvement of more than 5dB over non adaptive methods. As a natural extension to the problem of estimation, we derive optimal energy allocation strategies for binary hypotheses testing under the frequentist and Bayesian frameworks which yield at least 2dB improvement in performance. We then shift our focus towards spatial design of waveforms by considering the problem of optimal waveform selection from a large waveform library for a state estimation problem. Since the optimal solution to this subset selection problem is combinatorially complex, we propose a convex relaxation to the problem and provide a low complexity suboptimal solution that achieves near optimal performance. Finally, we address the problem of sensor and target localization in wireless sensor networks. We develop a novel sparsity penalized multidimensional scaling algorithm for blind target tracking, i.e., a sensor network which can simultaneously track targets and obtain sensor location estimates.Ph.D.Electrical Engineering: SystemsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57621/2/rangaraj_1.pd

An Investigation on Benefit-Cost Analysis of Greenhouse Structures in Antalya

Significant population increase across the world, loss of cultivable land and increasing demand for food put pressure on agriculture. To meet the demand, greenhouses are built, which are, light structures with transparent cladding material in order to provide controlled microclimatic environment proper for plant production. Conceptually, greenhouses are similar with manufacturing buildings where a controlled environment for manufacturing and production have been provided and proper spaces for standardized production processes have been enabled. Parallel with the trends in the world, particularly in southern regions, greenhouse structures have been increasingly constructed and operated in Turkey. A significant number of greenhouses are located at Antalya. The satellite images demonstrated that for over last three decades, there has been a continuous invasion of greenhouses on all cultivable land. There are various researches and attempts for the improvement of greenhouse design and for increasing food production by decreasing required energy consumption. However, the majority of greenhouses in Turkey are very rudimentary structures where capital required for investment is low, but maintenance requirements are high when compared with new generation greenhouse structures. In this research paper, life-long capital requirements for construction and operation of greenhouse buildings in Antalya has been investigated by using benefit-cost analysis study

Knowledge Capturing in Design Briefing Process for Requirement Elicitation and Validation

Knowledge capturing and reusing are major processes of knowledge management that deal with the elicitation of valuable knowledge via some techniques and methods for use in actual and further studies, projects, services, or products. The construction industry, as well, adopts and uses some of these concepts to improve various construction processes and stages. From pre-design to building delivery knowledge management principles and briefing frameworks have been implemented across project stakeholders: client, design teams, construction teams, consultants, and facility management teams. At pre-design and design stages, understanding the client’s needs and users’ knowledge are crucial for identifying and articulating the expected requirements and objectives. Due to underperforming results and missed goals and objectives, many projects finish with highly dissatisfied clients and loss of contracts for some organizations. Knowledge capturing has beneficial effects via its principles and methods on requirement elicitation and validation at the briefing stage between user, client and designer. This paper presents the importance and usage of knowledge capturing and reusing in briefing process at pre-design and design stages especially the involvement of client and user, and explores the techniques and technologies that are usable in briefing process for requirement elicitation

Enhancing the bees algorithm using the traplining metaphor

This work aims to improve the performance of the Bees Algorithm (BA), particularly in terms of simplicity, accuracy, and convergence. Three improvements were made in this study as a result of bees’ traplining behaviour. The first improvement was the parameter reduction of the Bees Algorithm. This strategy recruits and assigns worker bees to exploit and explore all patches. Both searching processes are assigned using the Triangular Distribution Random Number Generator. The most promising patches have more workers and are subject to more exploitation than the less productive patches. This technique reduced the original parameters into two parameters. The results show that the Bi-BA is just as efficient as the basic BA, although it has fewer parameters. Following that, another improvement was proposed to increase the diversification performance of the Combinatorial Bees Algorithm (CBA). The technique employs a novel constructive heuristic that considers the distance and the turning angle of the bees’ flight. When foraging for honey, bees generally avoid making a sharp turn. By including this turning angle as the second consideration, it can control CBA’s initial solution diversity. Third, the CBA is strengthened to enable an intensification strategy that avoids falling into a local optima trap. The approach is based on the behaviour of bees when confronted with threats. They will keep away from re-visiting those flowers during the next bout for reasons like predators, rivals, or honey run out. The approach will remove temporarily threatened flowers from the whole tour, eliminating the sharp turn, and reintroduces them again to the habitual tour’s nearest edge. The technique could effectively achieve an equilibrium between exploration and exploitation mechanisms. The results show that the strategy is very competitive compared to other population-based nature-inspired algorithms. Finally, the enhanced Bees Algorithms are demonstrated on two real-world engineering problems, namely, Printed Circuit Board insertion sequencing and vehicles routing problem

Undergraduate engineering and built environment project conference 2017: book of abstracts - Toowoomba, Australia, 18-22 September 2017

Book of Abstracts of the USQ Undergraduate Engineering and Built Environment Conference 2017, held Toowoomba, Australia, 18-22 September 2017. These proceedings include extended abstracts of the verbal presentations that are delivered at the project conference. The work reported at the conference is the research undertaken by students in meeting the requirements of courses ENG4111/ENG4112 Research Project

Dynamical systems : mechatronics and life sciences

Proceedings of the 13th Conference „Dynamical Systems - Theory and Applications" summarize 164 and the Springer Proceedings summarize 60 best papers of university teachers and students, researchers and engineers from whole the world. The papers were chosen by the International Scientific Committee from 315 papers submitted to the conference. The reader thus obtains an overview of the recent developments of dynamical systems and can study the most progressive tendencies in this field of science

Federal Register

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii