Foundations of the B method

B is a method for specifying, designing and coding software systems. It is based on Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory with the axiom of choice, the concept of generalized substitution and on structuring mechanisms (machine, refinement, implementation). The concept of refinement is the key notion for developing B models of (software) systems in an incremental way. B models are accompanied by mathematical proofs that justify them. Proofs of B models convince the user (designer or specifier) that the (software) system is effectively correct. We provide a survey of the underlying logic of the B method and the semantic concepts related to the B method; we detail the B development process partially supported by the mechanical engine of the prover

The composition of Event-B models

The transition from classical B [2] to the Event-B language and method [3] has seen the removal of some forms of model structuring and composition, with the intention of reinventing them in future. This work contributes to thatreinvention. Inspired by a proposed method for state-based decomposition and refinement [5] of an Event-B model, we propose a familiar parallel event composition (over disjoint state variable lists), and the less familiar event fusion (over intersecting state variable lists). A brief motivation is provided for these and other forms of composition of models, in terms of feature-based modelling. We show that model consistency is preserved under such compositions. More significantly we show that model composition preserves refinement

Specifying and Refining Internal Operations in Z

Abstract An important aspect in the specification of distributed systems is the role of the internal (or unobservable) operation. Such operations are not part of the interface to the environment (i.e. the user cannot invoke them), however, they are essential to our understanding and correct modelling of the system. In this paper we are interested in the use of the formal specification notation Z for the description of distributed systems. Various conventions have been employed to model internal operations when specifying such systems in Z. If internal operations are distinguished in the specification notation, then refinement needs to deal with internal operations in appropriate ways. Using an example of a telecommunications protocol we show that standard Z refinement is inappropriate for refining a system when internal operations are specified explicitly. We present a generalization of Z refinement, called weak refinement, which treats internal operations differently from observable operations when refining a system. We discuss the role of internal operations in a Z specification, and in particular whether an equivalent specification not containing internal operations can be found. The nature of divergence through livelock is also discussed. Keywords: Z; Refinement; Distributed Systems; Internal Operations; Process Algebras; Concurrency

Shared Event Composition/Decomposition in Event-B

The construction of specifications is often a combination of smaller sub-components. Composition and decomposition are techniques that support reuse and allow us to formally combine sub-components through refinement steps while reusing their properties. Sub-components can result from a design or architectural goal and a refinement framework should allow further parallel development over the sub-components. We propose the definition of composition and decomposition in the Event-B formalism following a shared event approach where sub-components interact via synchronisation over shared events and shared states are not allow. We define the necessary proof obligations to ensure a valid composition or decomposition. We also show that shared event composition preserves refinement proofs for sub-components, that is, in order to maintain refinement of compositions, it is sufficient to prove refinement between corresponding subcomponents. A case study applying these two techniques is illustrated using Rodin, the Event-B toolset

State-Based Formal Methods for Distributed Processing: From Z to Object-Z

In this paper, we look at state-based specification notations and how they may be extended with concepts from object orientation. In particular, we focus on the Z specification language and one of its object-oriented extensions Object-Z. The state-based paradigm is introduced by specifying an ODP trader object in Z. The paper provides an overview of other state-based notations and discusses how such notations have been extended to support object orientation. Finally, we present a specification of the ODP trading function in Object-Z

Development of a Thermoelectric Characterization Platform for Electrochemically Deposited Materials

Die erfolgreiche Optimierung der Leistung von thermoelektrischen Materialien, die durch zT beschrieben wird, ist entscheidend für ihre Anwendung für das Wärmemanagement und die Kühlung von Leistungselektronik. Im Gegensatz zu Bulk-Proben bleibt die vollständige zT-Charakterisierung von Dünn- und Dickfilmmaterialien eine große Herausforderung. Dies ist insbesondere relevant für Filme, die durch elektrochemische Abscheidung synthetisiert werden, wo das Material auf eine elektrisch leitende Schicht abgeschieden wird. In dieser Dissertation habe ich ein Transport-Device für eine vollständige zTCharakterisierung von elektrochemisch abgeschiedenen Materialien entwickelt, während der Einfluss der elektrisch leitenden Schicht, sowie des Substrats beseitigt wird. Die zT-Charakterisierung erfolgt unter Verwendung eines auf einer freistehenden Membran suspendierten thermoelektrischen Materials innerhalb des entwickelten Transport-Devices, die durch eine Kombination von Fotolithografie und Mikrostrukturierungstechnik zusammen mit Ätzprozessen hergestellt wurde. Für die Messung der Wärmeleitfähigkeit habe ich eine eindimensionale, analytische, stationäre Methode eingesetzt, welche mit Hilfe von dreidimensionalen Finite-Elemente-Simulationen bestätigt wurde. Darüber hinaus habe ich die temperaturabhängigen thermoelektrischen Eigenschaften von zwei Dickschichten mit Hilfe des entwickelten Devices untersucht und mit Bulk-Proben und Dünnfilmen verglichen. Auf diese Weise konnte die Validität des Transport-Devices nachgewiesen werden. Neben der Optimierung von mikro-thermoelektrischen Materialien, die mit dem Transport- Device charakterisiert werden, ist die Leistung von thermoelektrischen Devices von den Faktoren Design, Geometrie und Konstruktion beeinflusst. Daher habe ich den Einfluss der Geometrie auf die Leistung eines elektrochemisch hergestellten mikrothermoelektrischen Generators mit Hilfe einer Finite-Elemente-Simulation untersucht

LIGA cavity resonators and filters for microwave and millimetre-wave applications

High performance microwave cavities for various circuits in the front-end of transceivers such as filters, diplexers, and oscillators have conventionally been built with rectangular or cylindrical metallic waveguides, which typically have low loss, high quality (Q) factor, and higher power handling capability. However such waveguide cavity based circuits made by traditional metal machining techniques tend to be costly, particularly for complex multiple cavity based circuits, and not well suited to high volume commercial applications and integration with planar microwave integrated circuits. As commercial transceiver applications progress toward higher microwave and millimetre-wave frequencies, the use of waveguide based circuits for compact, highly integrated transceivers is becoming feasible, along with an increasing need for cost effective batch fabrication processes for realizing complex metallic cavity circuits without sacrificing structural quality and performance. It is expected that significant advancements in both microwave performance and integration will be achieved through the development of novel technologies for realizing vertically oriented three-dimensional (3-D) structures.Although improvement has been made on increasing the resonator Q factor by exploiting silicon micromachining and low-temperature cofired ceramics (LTCC) techniques, there are some drawbacks inherent to silicon cavity micromachining and LTCC technology, including non-vertical sidewalls, depth limitations, and surface roughness for the silicon resonator, and dielectric and radiation loss for LTCC resonator.Polymer-based fabrication is a promising alternative to silicon etching and LTCC technologies for the batch fabrication of ultra-deep microwave cavity structures. In particular, deep X-ray lithography (XRL), as part of the LIGA process, is a microfabrication technology for precisely structuring polymers, and is increasingly being applied to RF/microwave microstructures. In addition to precise patterning capabilities, deep XRL is able to structure ultra-deep cavities due to the penetration ability of hard X-rays. Cavities of several millimetres are possible in a single lithographic exposure, and with excellent sidewall quality, including verticality near 90 degrees and surface roughness on the order of tens of nanometres. These structured polymers are subsequently used as electroforming templates for fabricating metal structures with correspondingly good sidewall quality.This thesis investigates the possibility of realizing high-Q cavity resonators and filters at microwave frequencies using the LIGA microfabrication process. Finite element method (FEM) electromagnetic simulation results based on the cavity models representing different fabrication conditions show that smooth LIGA cavity structures result in promising Q improvement over silicon and LTCC structures. And the potential advantages of LIGA resonators are more dramatic with cavity height and increasing operating frequency. Deep polymer cavity structures (1.8 mm) fabricated using deep XRL demonstrate excellent sidewall verticality in the PMMA structure, with only slight shrinkage at the top surface of 8.5 2.5 mm in either lateral dimensions. This corresponds to sidewalls with verticality between 89.82o and 89.9o. The structure polymers are subsequently used as templates for metal electroforming to produce cavity resonators. The performance of the resonator is measured in a planar environment. A RT/duroid6010 soft substrate patterned with coupling structures forms the sixth side, and thus completes the cavity. Despite the rather crude test assembly for the sixth side made by clamping, the measured resonator has a high unloaded Q of 2122.2 85 at the resonant frequency of 24 GHz, indicating that LIGA cavities are especially promising for high performance applications. The relatively simple, single-step lithographic exposure also facilitates extension to more structurally complicated waveguide and multiple cavity-based circuits. This research work also proposes a high performance ``split-post' 3-pole cylindrical post coupled Chebyshev bandpass filter suitable for LIGA fabrication. In addition to potentially batch fabricating such a filter lithographically by exposing the entire waveguide depth in a single exposure, the filter structures composed of three cavities with metallic multi-post coupling would be extremely difficult to fabricate using traditional machining techniques, due to the extremely fine post structure and high vertical aspect ratio required. However, these types of structures could be ideal for LIGA fabrication, which offers sub-micron features, aspect ratios of 100:1 or higher, resist thicknesses of up to 3 mm, and almost vertical and optically smooth sidewalls. Also, representative LIGA sidewall roughness is used to predict very low loss and high performance, suggesting that complicated structures with multiple resonator circuits and high internal components with high aspect ratios are possible

A Design Science Research Approach to Smart and Collaborative Urban Supply Networks

Urban supply networks are facing increasing demands and challenges and thus constitute a relevant field for research and practical development. Supply chain management holds enormous potential and relevance for society and everyday life as the flow of goods and information are important economic functions. Being a heterogeneous field, the literature base of supply chain management research is difficult to manage and navigate. Disruptive digital technologies and the implementation of cross-network information analysis and sharing drive the need for new organisational and technological approaches. Practical issues are manifold and include mega trends such as digital transformation, urbanisation, and environmental awareness. A promising approach to solving these problems is the realisation of smart and collaborative supply networks. The growth of artificial intelligence applications in recent years has led to a wide range of applications in a variety of domains. However, the potential of artificial intelligence utilisation in supply chain management has not yet been fully exploited. Similarly, value creation increasingly takes place in networked value creation cycles that have become continuously more collaborative, complex, and dynamic as interactions in business processes involving information technologies have become more intense. Following a design science research approach this cumulative thesis comprises the development and discussion of four artefacts for the analysis and advancement of smart and collaborative urban supply networks. This thesis aims to highlight the potential of artificial intelligence-based supply networks, to advance data-driven inter-organisational collaboration, and to improve last mile supply network sustainability. Based on thorough machine learning and systematic literature reviews, reference and system dynamics modelling, simulation, and qualitative empirical research, the artefacts provide a valuable contribution to research and practice

Thermoelectric properties of Higher Manganese Silicides

This work aims to cover a variety of aspects relating to the Higher Manganese Silicide (HMS) system, e.g. composites, substitutions, synthesis methods, and structural evolutions. The composites made of HMS-based compounds and nano-inclusions have been prepared via two different procedures, i.e. (i) solid state reaction, manually mixing, and hot pressing, or (ii) soft ball milling and reactive spark plasma sintering. The later approach has proved its effectiveness in preparing the multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/HMS-based material composites mainly containing the HMS phases with a homogeneous distribution of MWCNTs. It was demonstrated that a fine distribution of the nano-inclusions played a crucial role in reducing thermal conductivity through enhancing phonon scattering in HMS-based materials, resulting in an improvement by about 20% for the maximum efficiency for the MWCNT/HMS-based material composite with 1.0 wt.-% MWCNTs. The substitution of molybdenum, tungsten, or silver at the Mn sites, and of germanium or aluminium at the Si sites has been studied for the HMS-based materials. The best thermoelectric efficiency among different Ge contents was achieved for the phase mixture of the non-stoichiometric composition MnSi1.75Ge0.02, which was then chosen to be the base material for further substitutions. No crucial modification of the electrical properties of the base material was observed, but large decreases of lattice thermal conductivity were achieved because of enhanced phonon scattering, with the highest reduction up to 25% for molybdenum substitution. The maximum figure of merit, ZT, value was approximately 0.40 for the material with 2 at.-% molybdenum substitution at the Mn sites. The maximum ZT values ranging from 0.31 to 0.42 have been achieved for various compositions prepared by mechanical alloying, mechanical milling and heat treating in conventional furnace, as well as by solid state reaction, which could possibly be improved by completely eliminating the side products. Subsequently, a simple and effective process was used to synthesize undoped HMS, involving ball milling in n-hexane under soft conditions to obtain homogeneous mixtures of constituting elements, and subsequent spark plasma sintering for a direct solid state reaction. The obtained fine particles after the milling process in n-hexane helped to improve the reaction rate later on, resulting in pure HMS materials. As a consequence, the maximum thermoelectric figure of merit obtained was 0.55 at 850 K, a high value for undoped HMS. Moreover, single crystals of HMS have been prepared using chemical vapor transport with very low yield, but their poor qualities resulted in low resolution in single crystal XRD. HMS-based materials including the ones with different Si/Mn atomic ratios and various dopants, e.g. Ge, Al, Cr, and Mo, have been prepared for the investigation of structural evolution upon heating up from room temperature to high temperature. The average structural formula at room temperature and its temperature dependence were strongly impacted by the phase compositions of the starting materials as well as the nature of dopants. Physical property measurements on the MnSi1.75 compound revealed that a correlation between the thermoelectric properties and the average structural formula of bulk HMS-based materials could be expected