Programming methodology for a general purpose automation controller

The General Purpose Automation Controller is a multi-processor architecture for automation programming. A methodology has been developed whose aim is to simplify the task of programming distributed real-time systems for users in research or manufacturing. Programs are built by configuring function blocks (low-level computations) into processes using data flow principles. These processes are activated through the verb mechanism. Verbs are divided into two classes: those which support devices, such as robot joint servos, and those which perform actions on devices, such as motion control. This programming methodology was developed in order to achieve the following goals: (1) specifications for real-time programs which are to a high degree independent of hardware considerations such as processor, bus, and interconnect technology; (2) a component approach to software, so that software required to support new devices and technologies can be integrated by reconfiguring existing building blocks; (3) resistance to error and ease of debugging; and (4) a powerful command language interface

The Design, construction, and implementation of an engineering software command processor and macro compiler

This paper presents the design and construction of a software translator that serves as a foundation, or central engine, around which an entire engineering software system can be constructed. To provide the user with a powerful interface to drive an application, a high-level procedural language similar to FORTRAN or BASIC is integrated into the translator. An application shell was also written to provide the user with an interactive command line environment for using the translator. The translator, language, and application shell together mechanize a programming and command interpreter environment. Users can interactively enter commands from the keyboard or load and process pre-written macro files from disk. The language gives users the ability to create variables, arrays, and functions, process complex mathematical expressions, and develop sophisticated macro programs. The language is quite capable of solving very complex engineering problems. Several engineering examples are presented including a solution to a four-bar crank mechanism, adding a material library to an application, a command line integration solver, a Runge-Kutta routine for solving sets of differential equations, and a convolution integral routine. The translator is modular, easily extensible, written entirely in C/C++, and readily portable to different platforms. A set of diagnostic tools is integrated into the translator to aid the developer in future development work. Complete theory and design details for all phases of the translator and language are presented. Performance issues are studied including a comparison against C/C++ and MS-DOS Qbasic. Exploration in application integration for a simulation package similar to CSMP is investigated. A complete Language and Compiler Guide is supplied with the program

Accessible C-programming course from scratch using a MOOC platform without limitations

[EN] The C language has been used for ages in the application development in multidisciplinary environments. However, in the academia, this language is being replaced by other higher-level languages due to they are easier to understand, learn and apply. Moreover, the necessity of professionals with a good knowledge in those high-level languages is constantly increasing because of the boosting of mobile devices. This scenario generates a lack of low-level language programmers, required in other less trendy fields, but equal or more important, such as science, engineering or research.  In order to revive the interest in low-level languages and provide those minority fields with well-prepared staff, we present in this work a MOCC C-programming course that is addressed to any kind of people with or without IT background. A feature that differentiates this course from others programming online-based courses is that we mainly focus on the C language syntax providing, via a self-tuned virtual machine, an encapsulated environment that hides any interaction with the command-line of the underlying operating system. A secondary target of this work is to foster the computer science degree students to enrol the computer architecture specialization at the Universitat Jaume I (Spain). For this purpose, the High Performance Computing and Architectures research group of that University has decided to use this C course as a tool for fulfill the gap of the current syllabus. The results show that half of the participants that completed the first session of the course have satisfactorily finished the course, and the number of computer science degree students that chose the computer architecture specialization the following academic course was increment by 3x.This research has been partly funded by TIN2017-82972-R. Adrián Castelló was supported by the ValI+D 2015 FPI program of the Generalitat Valenciana.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Castelló, A.; Iserte, S.; Belloch, JA. (2018). Accessible C-programming course from scratch using a MOOC platform without limitations. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1197-1204. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8176OCS1197120

An Interactive Graph Theory System

The medium of computer graphics provides a capability for dealing with pictures in man-machine communication. Graph Theory is used to model relationships which are represented by pictures and is therefore an appropriate discipline for the application of an interactive computer graphics system. Previous efforts to solve Graph Theoretic problems by computer have usually involved specialized programs written in a symbolic assembly language or algebraic compiler language. In recent years, graphics equipment with processing power has been commercially available for use as a remote terminal to a large central computer. Although these terminals typically include a small general purpose computer, the potential of using one as programmable subsystem has received little attention. These motivations have led to the design and implementation of an interactive graphics system for solving Graph Theoretic problems. The system operates on an IBM 7040 with a DEC-338 graphics terminal connected by voice-grade telephone line. To provide effective response times, computing power is appropriately divided between the two machines. The remote computer graphics terminal is controlled by a special-purpose executive program. This executive includes an interpreter of a command language oriented towards the control of existence and display of graphs. Several interactive functions such as graph drawing and editing are available to a user through light button and pushbutton selection. These functions which are local to the terminal are programmed in a mixture of the terminal computer\u27s machine language and the interpreted command language. For more significant computational requirements the central computer is used, but response time for interactive operation is then diminished. In order to overcome the speed of the telephone link, the central computer may call upon a program at the terminal as a subroutine. Based on the mathematical terminology used to define graphs, a high level language was developed for the specification of interactive algorithms. A growing library of these algorithms provides routines to aid in the construction and recognition of various types of graphs. Other routines are used for computing certain properties of graphs. Graphs may be transformed by some routines with respect to both connectivity and layout. Any number of graphs my be saved and later restored. A programmer using the terminal as an alphanumeric console may call upon the programming features of the system to develop new interactive algorithms and add them to the library. Programs may also be created for the display terminal, using the central computer for assembly. Examples of system use which are presented include finding a shortest path between any pair of vertices in a weighted directed graph, determining the maximally complete subgraphs of an arbitrary graph, interpreting a graph as a Mealy model of a finite state machine, and laying out a tree for aesthetic presentation

nQuire: a statistical framework for ploidy estimation using next generation sequencing

BACKGROUND: Intraspecific variation in ploidy occurs in a wide range of species including pathogenic and nonpathogenic eukaryotes such as yeasts and oomycetes. Ploidy can be inferred indirectly - without measuring DNA content - from experiments using next-generation sequencing (NGS). We present nQuire, a statistical framework that distinguishes between diploids, triploids and tetraploids using NGS. The command-line tool models the distribution of base frequencies at variable sites using a Gaussian Mixture Model, and uses maximum likelihood to select the most plausible ploidy model. nQuire handles large genomes at high coverage efficiently and uses standard input file formats.  RESULTS: We demonstrate the utility of nQuire analyzing individual samples of the pathogenic oomycete Phytophthora infestans and the Baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using these organisms we show the dependence between reliability of the ploidy assignment and sequencing depth. Additionally, we employ normalized maximized log- likelihoods generated by nQuire to ascertain ploidy level in a population of samples with ploidy heterogeneity. Using these normalized values we cluster samples in three dimensions using multivariate Gaussian mixtures. The cluster assignments retrieved from a S. cerevisiae population recovered the true ploidy level in over 96% of samples. Finally, we show that nQuire can be used regionally to identify chromosomal aneuploidies.  CONCLUSIONS: nQuire provides a statistical framework to study organisms with intraspecific variation in ploidy. nQuire is likely to be useful in epidemiological studies of pathogens, artificial selection experiments, and for historical or ancient samples where intact nuclei are not preserved. It is implemented as a stand-alone Linux command line tool in the C programming language and is available at https://github.com/clwgg/nQuire under the MIT license

Achieving Obfuscation Through Self-Modifying Code: A Theoretical Model

With the extreme amount of data and software available on networks, the protection of online information is one of the most important tasks of this technological age. There is no such thing as safe computing, and it is inevitable that security breaches will occur. Thus, security professionals and practices focus on two areas: security, preventing a breach from occurring, and resiliency, minimizing the damages once a breach has occurred. One of the most important practices for adding resiliency to source code is through obfuscation, a method of re-writing the code to a form that is virtually unreadable. This makes the code incredibly hard to decipher by attackers, protecting intellectual property and reducing the amount of information gained by the malicious actor. Achieving obfuscation through the use of self-modifying code, code that mutates during runtime, is a complicated but impressive undertaking that creates an incredibly robust obfuscating system. While there is a great amount of research that is still ongoing, the preliminary results of this subject suggest that the application of self-modifying code to obfuscation may yield self-maintaining software capable of healing itself following an attack