Tools and algorithms for the construction and analysis of systems

This special section contains the revised and expanded versions of eight of the papers from the 10th International Conference on Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems (TACAS) held in March/April 2004 in Barcelona, Spain. The conference proceedings appeared as volume 2988 in the Lecture Notes in Computer Science series published by Springer. TACAS is a forum for researchers, developers and users interested in rigorously based tools for the construction and analysis of systems. The conference serves to bridge the gaps between different communities – including but not limited to those devoted to formal methods, software and hardware verification, static analysis, programming languages, software engineering, real-time systems, and communications protocols – that share common interests in, and techniques for, tool development. Other more theoretical papers from the conference are collected in a special section of the Theoretical Computer Science journal.     

Some algorithms for the construction of coordinated solutions in hierarchical distributed systems

Algorithms for constructing coordinated solutions in multilevel distributed systems are proposed. These algorithms utilize the nonformalizable knowledge of the decision maker about each subsystem and modify the set of feasible solutions of the local problems. Convergence of the proposed algoritms is proved.Translated from Kibernetika, No. 2, pp. 42–46, March–April, 1990.     

Some algorithms for analysis and synthesis of real-time multiprocessor computing systems

The problem of preemptive scheduling in a real-time multiprocessor computing system with release time/deadline intervals is investigated. Approximate algorithms based on the generalization of a single-processor algorithm of relative priority are developed and compared to the exact maximum flow algorithm. An algorithm has been developed for the case where requests for the tasks occur periodically with given periods. An algorithm for determining the values of the processor performance for which there exists an admissible schedule for a given assembly of tasks with release time/deadline intervals has been developed.     

Tools and algorithms for the construction and analysis of systems: a special issue for TACAS 2019

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - Automated techniques and tools for the construction and analysis of systems are inevitable to manage the complexity of the current...     

Tools and algorithms for the construction and analysis of systems: a special issue for TACAS 2017

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - This special issue of Software Tools for Technology Transfer presents extended versions of two selected papers from the 23rd...     

Tools and algorithms for the construction and analysis of systems: a special issue for TACAS 2020

This special issue of Software Tools for Technology Transfer comprises extended versions of selected papers from the 26th edition of the International Conference on Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems (TACAS 2020). The focus of this conference series is tools and algorithms for the rigorous analysis of software and hardware systems, and the papers in this special cover the spectrum of current work in this field.

     

Support tools for the construction of discrete optimization software systems

The paper examines the main technological stages in the construction of discrete optimization software systems, including their architecture and the support tools for automatic system generation.Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 4, pp. 125–133, July–August, 1992.     

Software support tools for construction of interactive problem-solving systems

The class of so-called route systems is described—systems of productions with dynamic scheduling of stepwise interactive computations. Automated manufacturing of such systems in the DISUPP support system is based on the synthesis of two models: a model of the application domain and a communication model.Translated from Kibernetika, No. 6, pp. 17–27, November–December, 1989.     

Tools for the construction and analysis of systems

In order to develop reliable software and systems, we depend on practical techniques for the construction and analysis of such software and systems. This special issue of Software Tools for Technology Transfer presents various tool-supported techniques that can help with the construction and analysis of such reliable software and systems. The papers in this special issue are extended versions of selected conference papers from the proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems (TACAS 2018).

     

Symbolic data analysis tools for recommendation systems

Recommender systems have become an important tool to cope with the information overload problem by acquiring data about user behavior. After tracing the user’s behavior, through actions or rates, computational recommender systems use information- filtering techniques to recommend items. In order to recommend new items, one of the three major approaches is generally adopted: content-based filtering, collaborative filtering, or hybrid filtering. This paper presents three information-filtering methods, each of them based on one of these approaches. In our methods, the user profile is built up through symbolic data structures and the user and item correlations are computed through dissimilarity functions adapted from the symbolic data analysis (SDA) domain. The use of SDA tools has improved the performance of recommender systems, particularly concerning the find good items task measured by the half-life utility metric, when there is not much information about the user.     

Tools and algorithms for the construction and analysis of systems: a special issue on tool papers for TACAS 2021

This special issue contains six revised and extended versions of tool papers that appeared in the proceedings of TACAS 2021, the 27th International Conference on Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems. The issue is dedicated to the realization of algorithms in tools and the studies of the application of these tools for analysing hard- and software systems.

     

Some advances in the analysis of fluid flows

We review some new solution capabilities developed and available in the ADINA-F CFD (computational fluid dynamics) program and present example solutions. Unique features and advances are that incompressible and compressible flows with structural interactions can be analyzed and that a general radiation heat transfer analysis capability based on specular and diffusive reflectivities and transmittance is available. This paper is largely a continuation of the presentation given in Ref. [1].     

Some recent advances in automated analysis

Due to the increasing complexity of software systems, there is a growing need for automated and scalable software synthesis and analysis. In the last decade, active research in the formal methods community brought interesting results and valuable tools. However, there are still challenges to face and hard problems that need to be solved. We briefly outline some recent trends, and review some of the latest achievements, introducing six papers selected from the 20th International Conference on Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems (TACAS 2014).     

Pi-coefficient analysis of update algorithms for adaptive systems

This paper finds the appropriate pi-coefficients for a parameter estimation adaptive system and uses them to analyze the stability of two estimation algorithms. The estimation error dynamics of the system are modeled by a linear time-invariant subsystem and a nonlinear time-varying update law in a feedback loop. Then the so-called max-p problems are formulated and solved to obtain the pi-coefficients for the linear subsystem and nonlinear update low. For the investigated system, the quantitative results show that the least-squares update algorithm has larger stability range than that of the gradient algorithm, and the σ-modification scheme gives larger stability ranges for both algorithms.     

Some procedures for the construction of coordinated solutions in fractional-linear distributed systems

Distributed procedures for solving systems with both linear and fractional-linear constraints are proposed. Some convergence theorems are proved.Translated from Kibernetika i Sistemnyi Analiz, No. 5, pp. 97–101, September–October, 1992.     

LISPACK-a methodology and tool for the performance analysis ofparallel systems and algorithms

The performance analysis of parallel algorithms and systems is considered. For these, numerical solutions methods quickly show their limits because of the enormous state-space growth. The proposed methodology and software tool, list-manipulation parallel-modeling package (LISPACK) uses string manipulation, lumping, and recursive elimination to define the large Markovian process, its restructuring, and efficient solution. The analysis of a typical parallel system and algorithm model is developed as a case study, to discuss the features of the method. The paper has two contributions. The first is the symbolic-approach methodology proposed for the performance analysis of parallel algorithms and systems. The second is a tool that exploits the capabilities of the symbolic approach in the solution of parallel models, where the numerical techniques reveal their limits     

A multi-level systems approach for the development of tools, equipment and work processes for the construction industry

Ergonomics is a key issue in the construction industry. Many work tasks and associated equipment and tools are not designed with ergonomics principles in mind. Often, in the development of power tools for construction, any attention to ergonomics is restricted to the human-machine interface and handle design. The need for ergonomics intervention in the development process originates from considerations of safety, health, physical work load, and productivity. It is argued that in each of these respects, the construction industry has lower standards than other industries and therefore has a need and opportunity for improvement. A multi-level ergonomics approach is proposed addressing these issues. The approach defines five levels of ergonomics intervention, from designing individual tools for safety, to designing wider aspects of construction and work flow for optimal productivity. This holistic approach is illustrated using case study examples of the development of power tools and work methods.