Knowledge, learning and reflection : consulting in communities of practice

Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Business Administration: University of BedfordshireThe objectives of the research was to identify how knowledge, learning and reflection is mediated in communities of practice. The overall aim was to base the evidence from the lived experiences of those who are part of the communities of practice under study. The research was undertaken through a qualitative inquiry using a social constructionist perspective. The research was pursued through participative action research in one case study organisation, and through participative observation, or observation in fifteen others. The key findings of this inquiry include six sociological elements which were common to all sixteen organisations. Further, four key knowledge flow processes were consistent across all cases. In total forty-one main findings were identified to the pursued research questions. Two conceptual models of learning and reflection were presented as ways to help understand how knowledge, learning and reflection are mediated in communities of practice. The models can be used at different levels of abstraction and conceptualisation. The study provides original insights into consulting activity within communities of practice, and highlights key themes based upon the lived experiences of the participants in the inquiry

A signal integrity engineer's companion: real-time test and measurement and design simulation

This is the industry’s most comprehensive, authoritative, and practical guide to modern Signal Integrity (SI) test and measurement for high-speed digital designs. Three of the field’s leading experts guide you through systematically detecting, observing, analyzing, and rectifying both modern logic signal defects and embedded system malfunctions. The authors cover the entire life cycle of embedded system design from specification and simulation onward, illuminating key techniques and concepts with easy-to-understand illustrations. Writing for all electrical engineers, signal integrity engineers, and chip designers, the authors show how to use real-time test and measurement to address today’s increasingly difficult interoperability and compliance requirements. They also present detailed, start-to-finish case studies that walk you through commonly encountered design challenges, including ensuring that interfaces consistently operate with positive timing margins without incurring excessive cost; calculating total jitter budgets; and managing complex tradeoffs in high-speed serial interface design

On-line real-time scheduling of multiple version material tasks on FPGA

Ce papier s'inscrit dans la problématique de conception des RSoC (Reconfigurable System-On-a-Chip) disposant d'un système d'exploitation temps réel (RTOS). Nous étudions l'ordonnancement et le placement en ligne des tâches matérielles multi-versions sur FPGA partiellement reconfigurable. En effet, une tâche matériellle peut être synthetisée en plus d'une version et avoir plusieurs tailles et/ou formes avec les caractéristiques temporelles conséquentes. Nous évaluons l'apport de cette approche à tâches multi-versions sur quelques algorithmes d'ordonnancement dans un contexte en ligne. A travers des métriques pertinentes (taux de réjection des tâches, taux d'occupation, makespan), les résultats montrent que cette approche améliore significativement l'ordonnancement sans modifier sa complexité algorithmique. Par exemple, pour les tâches de classe de laxité B ayant 2 versions, le taux de rejection des tâches est diminué de 46\% pour un temps d'exécution moyen de l'algorithme d'ordonnancement inchangé en comparaison à l'algorithme EDF (Earliest Deadline First) utilisant des tâches mono-version