Debugging real-time software in a host-target environment

A common paradigm for the development of process-control or embedded computer software is to do most of the implementation and testing on a large host computer, then retarget the code for final checkout and production execution on the target machine. The host machine is usually large and provides a variety of program development tools, while the target may be a small, bare machine. A difficulty with the paradigm arises when the software developed has real-time constraints and is composed of multiple communicating processes. If a test execution on the target fails, it may be exceptionally tedious to determine the cause of the failure. Host machine debuggers cannot normally be applied, because the same program processing the same data will frequently exhibit different behavior on the host. Differences in processor speed, scheduling algorithm, and the like, account for the disparity. This paper proposes a partial solution to this problem, in which the errant execution reconstructed and made amenable to source language level debugging on the host. The solution involves the integrated application of a static concurrency analyzer, an interactive interpreter, and a graphical program visualization aid. Though generally applicable, the solution is described here in the context of multi-tasked real-time Ada* programs

Deputizing Company Counsel as Agents of the Federal Government

Policymakers must reexamine the manner in which corporations and other organizations that are suspected of wrongdoing are investigated. In the aftermath of the Enron scandal, laws like Sarbanes-Oxley, combined with recent changes to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, have substantially increased the penalties on companies and individuals for white-collar offenses. The combination of draconian sentences, lack of meaningful judicial control over the imposition of sanctions, and the impossible burdens on company officers have jeopardized the very nature of our adversary system of justice.To avoid the potential catastrophe of a federal indictment, business firms are taking extraordinary steps to placate federal prosecutors. And those prosecutors now regularly insist on the following: That business firms surrender or "waive" their attorney-client privilege, That firms must pressure their employees to waive their constitutional right against self-incrimination, That firms facing indictment refuse to advance legal fees to employees under investigation -- even if a firm concludes that an employee was just following directions or is otherwise innocent of any wrongdoing, and That embattled firms must discharge certain employees at the direction of the government -- even if a firm concludes that an employee was just following directions or is otherwise innocent of any wrongdoing. Any organization that balks at the government's demands risks months of negative publicity as prosecutors characterize a legal defense as "impeding" or "obstructing" the investigation. It is no overstatement to say that the enforcement of the criminal law, at least insofar as it applies to investigations of organizations, amounts to a state-sponsored shakedown scheme in which business firms are extorted to pay penalties that are grossly out of proportion to any actual misconduct

To coordinate or not to coordinate?

Foreign exchange rates

UNITED STATES POLICY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Political Economy,