Topographic visualization of prefix propagation in the internet

We propose a new metaphor for the visualization of prefixes propagation in the Internet. Such a metaphor is based on the concept of topographic map and allows to put in evidence the relative importance of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) involved in the routing of the prefix. Based on the new metaphor we propose an algorithm for computing layouts and experiment with such algorithm on a test suite taken from the real Internet. The paper extends the visualization approach of the BGPlay service, which is an Internet routing monitoring tool widely used by ISP operators     

Small MultiPiles: Piling Time to Explore Temporal Patterns in Dynamic Networks

We introduce MultiPiles, a visualization to explore time‐series of dense, weighted networks. MultiPiles is based on the physical analogy of piling adjacency matrices, each one representing a single temporal snapshot. Common interfaces for visualizing dynamic networks use techniques such as: flipping/animation; small multiples; or summary views in isolation. Our proposed ‘piling’ metaphor presents a hybrid of these techniques, leveraging each one's advantages, as well as offering the ability to scale to networks with hundreds of temporal snapshots. While the MultiPiles technique is applicable to many domains, our prototype was initially designed to help neuroscientists investigate changes in brain connectivity networks over several hundred snapshots. The piling metaphor and associated interaction and visual encodings allowed neuroscientists to explore their data, prior to a statistical analysis. They detected high‐level temporal patterns in individual networks and this helped them to formulate and reject several hypotheses.     

分子结构与基因序列数据综合可视化方法研究

随着系统生物学的兴起和迅速发展,为了探索不同生物层次信息之间的关联关系,对不同层次生物科学计算数据综合可视化的需求日益迫切。不同层次的生物数据的组织管理是实现综合可视化的基础和关键技术,因此文中面向生物信息可视化领域的需求,基于综合可视化集成框架,提出了一种分子结构与基因序列数据的元数据组织模型与关联数据自动生成方法。该方法通过定义包括分子结构、基因序列以及分子结构/基因序列关联信息三类数据的元数据模型,建立了该两个层次和领域数据的关联关系,确定了关联数据描述格式;利用先进的XML技术实现了分子领域和基因序列领域元数据的自动提取和转换。在此基础之上开发了一个分子结构数据与基因序列数据综合可视化原型系统,取得了良好的试用效果。     

The shaping of information by visual metaphors

The nature of an information visualization can be considered to lie in the visual metaphors it uses to structure information. The process of understanding a visualization therefore involves an interaction between these external visual metaphors and the user's internal knowledge representations. To investigate this claim, we conducted an experiment to test the effects of visual metaphor and verbal metaphor on the understanding of tree visualizations. Participants answered simple data comprehension questions while viewing either a treemap or a node-link diagram. Questions were worded to reflect a verbal metaphor that was either compatible or incompatible with the visualization a participant was using. The results suggest that the visual metaphor indeed affects how a user derives information from a visualization. Additionally, we found that the degree to which a user is affected by the metaphor is strongly correlated with the user's ability to answer task questions correctly. These findings are a first step towards illuminating how visual metaphors shape user understanding, and have significant implications for the evaluation, application, and theory of visualization.     

VirtualDesk: A Comfortable and Efficient Immersive Information Visualization Approach

3D representations are potentially useful under many circumstances, but suffer from long known perception and interaction challenges. Current immersive technologies, which combine stereoscopic displays and natural interaction, are being progressively seen as an opportunity to tackle this issue, but new guidelines and studies are still needed, especially regarding information visualization. Many proposed approaches are impractical for actual usage, resulting in user discomfort or requiring too much time or space. In this work, we implement and evaluate an alternative data exploration metaphor where the user remains seated and viewpoint change is only realisable through physical movements. All manipulation is done directly by natural mid‐air gestures, with the data being rendered at arm's reach. The virtual reproduction of the analyst's desk aims to increase immersion and enable tangible interaction with controls and two dimensional associated information. A comparative user study was carried out against a desktop‐based equivalent, exploring a set of 9 perception and interaction tasks based on previous literature and a multidimensional projection use case. We demonstrate that our prototype setup, named VirtualDesk, presents excellent results regarding user comfort and immersion, and performs equally or better in all analytical tasks, while adding minimal or no time overhead and amplifying user subjective perceptions of efficiency and engagement. Results are also contrasted to a previous experiment employing artificial flying navigation, with significant observed improvements.     

代码依赖可视化系统

分析了代码依赖可视化在智能化软件开发中的作用，在总结代码依赖特点和信息可视化系统一般流程的基础上，提出了代码依赖可视化系统的设计.该系统使用力导向节点连接图和层次边聚合图作为可视化形式，基于对两种可视化形式布局特点的深入分析，分别针对力导向节点连接图和层次边聚合图创造了过滤子节点和聚合叶节点的交互设计.在使用多种软件技术实现了代码依赖可视化原型系统dpViz之后，将系统试用于企业软件开发中，实验结果表明该可视化原型系统可有效增进代码分析效率.     

Impact of visualization type and contextual factors on performance with enterprise resource planning systems

We studied the use of two types of graphic information visualization to support human operators performing tasks using enterprise resource planning systems (ERP). We compared the original display design of a commercial ERP system with a prototype information visualization design. A simulated supply chain was used to test the hypothesis that graphical visualization can improve the performance of the human operator using ERP systems for supply chain management. Tasks from the production and purchasing domains were tested in the experiment in which experienced and inexperienced human operators had to perform tasks of an easy, moderate, and difficult nature. Analysis of the results revealed that the two types of graphical visualization significantly reduced response time, particularly with inexperienced users performing difficult tasks. Our results imply that some graphic information visualization displays for ERP systems can increase the probability of a successful implementation and enhance the capabilities of the human operators.     

Visualization Metaphors

In the paper, a new approach to the notion of visualization metaphor is suggested based on semiotic analysis. The structure of the metaphor and the notion of visualization language are considered. Critical analysis is performed on how the notion of metaphor has been used in the theory of computer–human interface (CHI) and in the modern practice of interactive and visual environment design. Prototype tools for formal and empirical quality evaluation of visualization metaphors and languages based on the notion of adequacy in visualization are described.     

DaisyViz: A model-based user interface toolkit for interactive information visualization systems

While information visualization technologies have transformed our life and work, designing information visualization systems still faces challenges. Non-expert users or end-users need toolkits that allow for rapid design and prototyping, along with supporting unified data structures suitable for different data types (e.g., tree, network, temporal, and multi-dimensional data), various visualization, interaction tasks. To address these issues, we designed DaisyViz, a model-based user interface toolkit, which enables end-users to rapidly develop domain-specific information visualization applications without traditional programming. DaisyViz is based on a user interface model for information (UIMI), which includes three declarative models: data model, visualization model, and control model. In the development process, a user first constructs a UIMI with interactive visual tools. The results of the UIMI are then parsed to generate a prototype system automatically. In this paper, we discuss the concept of UIMI, describe the architecture of DaisyViz, and show how to use DaisyViz to build an information visualization system. We also present a usability study of DaisyViz we conducted. Our findings indicate DaisyViz is an effective toolkit to help end-users build interactive information visualization systems.     

Information retrieval and hypertext: competing technologies or complementary access methods

Abstract. Information retrieval typically involves accessing textual information from a database in response to a user's vague information need. Hypertext or hypermedia, on the other hand, involves a user browsing through a database of textual or multimedia information in response to a variety of types of information need. Thus information retrieval can be said to have a searching metaphor while hypertext has a browsing analogy. Initially, these two technologies for information access appear to be very different, almost competitive in nature. In this paper information retrieval systems are briefly reviewed and hypertext systems are also examined. These two techniques for accessing information have been integrated into a prototype system which is described. The system dynamically generates guided tours in response to a user's query and the tour guides the user through the hypertext. Some experiments reporting on the effectiveness of this as an information access strategy are given.     

基于词典的名词性隐喻识别

隐喻是用一个事物来类比另外一个事物的语言表达,在自然语言中非常普遍,要实现自然语言理解隐喻处理不可避免。该文针对最基本的隐喻类型——名词性隐喻,提出基于词典的识别方法。结合同义词词林的语义距离与HowNet的语义关系来识别隐喻,考察隐喻与语义距离及语义关系之间的关联。     

Interoperable routing for IN and IP Telephony

This paper discusses the problem of interoperability of Internet protocol (IP) telephony and switched-circuit networks (SCN) in the area of routing information. We describe and analyze a solution for directory-based routing. We will present an architecture based on a distributed database on the SCN and the IP network. The aim of the solution is to provide efficient service management, close to optimal routing for all calls including calls to 800- and cellular numbers and personal number portability between both the network technologies. The solution is based on similar, but differing in detail, approaches for each network. In the IP network, we use the telephony routing over IP (TRIP) protocol developed by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Additionally, the described architecture is open for inclusion of the telephone number mapping (ENUM) protocol that is under development. For the circuit-switched network, we suggest a new protocol called circuit telephony routing IP (CTRIP). The protocol provides a distributed method for synchronizing routing information between databases. Furthermore, we propose numbering gateways for transferring number information between the two network types. We utilize the server cache synchronization protocol (SCSP) as the common element for data synchronization and replication among distributed entities. We also discuss briefly the design of a test implementation of the proposed infrastructure functions and protocols under development in our laboratory. In conclusion, we propose designing a common interoperable routing information infrastructure for the emerging hybrid SCN/IP telephony network.     

A personal visual analytics on smartphone usage data

The percentage of individuals frequently using their smartphones in work and life is increasing steadily. The interactions between individuals and their smartphones can produce large amounts of usage data, which contain rich information about smartphone owners’ usage habits and their daily life. In this paper, a personal visual analytic tool is proposed to develop insights and discover knowledge of personal life in smartphone usage data. Four cooperated visualization views and many interactions are provided in this tool to visually explore the temporal features of various interactive events between smartphones and their users, the hierarchical associations among event types, and the detailed distributions of massive event sequences. In the case study, plenty of interesting patterns are discovered by analyzing the data of two smartphone users with different usage styles. We also conduct a one-month user study on several invited volunteers from our laboratory and acquaintance circle to improve our prototype system based on their feedback.     

紧凑路由研究

传统的最短路径路由策略通常需要在每个节点上维护到所有其他节点的路由信息,路由表大小随着网络规模的增加而快速增长,因此可扩展性不好.紧凑路由能够有效降低路由表的增长速度,允许通过路径的小幅拉伸来大幅缩减节点的路由表,从而在路径长度和路由表规模之间获得比最短路径路由更好的平衡.针对通用网络或特定拓扑类型的网络提出了许多紧凑...     

基于多样化业务需求的多态路由模型研究

针对结构固定僵化、功能单一的传统路由机制不能有效适应多样化业务需求这一问题,提出了一种路由功能与业务需求自适配的多态路由模型,为支持多样化业务需求提供个性化定制路由服务,并设计实现了多态路由原型系统。该系统采用可编程路由器软件开源控制平台Quagga、可编程NetFPGA -10G平台作为控制平面和数据平面,通过虚拟化技术以及灵活可编程的数据平面结构实现多种路由协议的共存,并基于NetFPGA-10G平台设计实现了多态路由原型系统。测试实验证明,多态路由系统在保证业务的服务质量方面有很大提升,支持业务定制个性化的路由服务路径,并且转发速率、丢包率以及传输带宽等性能都有提高。     

Utilizing correlated node mobility for efficient DTN routing

In a delay tolerant network (DTN), nodes are connected intermittently and the future node connections are mostly not known. Therefore, effective forwarding based on limited knowledge of contact behavior of nodes is challenging. Most of the previous studies assumed that mobility of a node is independent from mobility of other nodes and looked at only the pairwise node relations to decide routing. In contrast, in this paper, we analyze the temporal correlation between the meetings of each node with other nodes and utilize this correlation for efficient routing. We introduce a new metric called conditional intermeeting time (CIT), which computes the average intermeeting time between two nodes relative to a meeting with a third node. Then, we modify existing DTN routing protocols using the proposed metric to improve their performance. Extensive simulations based on real and synthetic DTN traces show that the modified algorithms perform better than the original ones.     

有限自治域网络节点状态独立性研究

以节点延时为状态研究路由问题是网络路由研究的一个方向,这类问题的研究过程经常假设节点状态是独立的.这一假设为以延时为约束条件的路由问题,特别是以节点延时的概率密度函数为状态信息的QoS路由问题提供了一种较为实际的处理手段.探讨了在节点个数有限的自治域网络(简称有限自治域网络)中,各节点状态具有独立性这一假设的合理性,并通过网络仿真对其合理性进行了验证.在仿真过程中,实际测量了网络中60条链路延时和15条路径延时的概率密度函数.然后,基于独立性假设,用相应链路延时概率密度函数的卷积计算这15条路径延时的概率     

Value and relation display: interactive visual exploration of large data sets with hundreds of dimensions

Few existing visualization systems can handle large data sets with hundreds of dimensions, since high-dimensional data sets cause clutter on the display and large response time in interactive exploration. In this paper, we present a significantly improved multidimensional visualization approach named Value and Relation (VaR) display that allows users to effectively and efficiently explore large data sets with several hundred dimensions. In the VaR display, data values and dimension relationships are explicitly visualized in the same display by using dimension glyphs to explicitly represent values in dimensions and glyph layout to explicitly convey dimension relationships. In particular, pixel-oriented techniques and density-based scatterplots are used to create dimension glyphs to convey values. Multidimensional scaling, Jigsaw map hierarchy visualization techniques, and an animation metaphor named Rainfall are used to convey relationships among dimensions. A rich set of interaction tools has been provided to allow users to interactively detect patterns of interest in the VaR display. A prototype of the VaR display has been fully implemented. The case studies presented in this paper show how the prototype supports interactive exploration of data sets of several hundred dimensions. A user study evaluating the prototype is also reported in this paper     

Metaphors and their meaning for information systems development

Information systems development is rife with problems, as witness the large numbers of systems that fail or fall into disuse. This paper hypothesises that the presence or absence of particular user metaphors might have an impact on the successful development of particular information systems. The paper introduces nine main metaphors – journey, game, war, machine, organism, society, family, zoo and jungle – that we identified in interviews with a cross-section of users. Four key attributes of the metaphors are identified: whether they are goal or alternative oriented; whether their environment is chaotic or ordered; whether their scope is internal or external; and the type of leader featured in each metaphor. Key attributes of six different types of information systems are then identified. Several connections between the presence of metaphors and the successful development of information systems are found after mapping the metaphor attributes onto the six system types: cooperative systems, competitive information systems, traditional MIS, expert systems (and artificial intelligence), decision support systems and executive information systems. Observations suggest that systems analysts may find more success in developing systems that go beyond the traditional information system when organism or game metaphors are used by organizational members. Mappings of attributes revealed that the zoo metaphor was not useful in developing any of the six system types considered. Use of the family metaphor suggested success only for the development of traditional MIS and decision support systems.