BCE: a tool for software integration

The integration of software into special-purpose systems (e.g. for gene sequence analysis) can be a difficult task. We describe a general-purpose software integration tool, the BCE program, that facilitates assembly of VAX-based software into application systems and provides an easy-to-use, intuitive user interface. We describe the use of BCE to integrate a heterogeneous collection of sequence analysis tools. Many BCE design features are generally applicable and can be implemented in other language or hardware environments.     

Task-specific information retrieval systems for software engineers

This paper discusses the development of task-specific information retrieval systems for software engineers. We discuss how software engineers interact with information and information retrieval systems and investigate to what extent a domain-specific search and recommendation system can be developed in order to support their work related activities. We have conducted a user study which is based on the “Cognitive Research Framework” to identify the relation between the information objects used during the code development (code snippets and search queries), the tasks users engage in and the associated use of search interfaces. Based on our user studies, a questionnaire and an automated observation of user interactions with the browser and software development environment, we identify that software engineers engage in a finite number of work related tasks and they also develop a finite number of “work practices”/“archetypes of behaviour”. Secondly we identify a group of domain specific behaviours that can successfully be used as a source of strong implicit relevance feedback. Based on our results, we design a snippet recommendation interface, and a code related recommendation interface which are embedded within the standard search engine.     

A software tool for parametric design of turbomachinery blades

This paper presents a software tool for the conceptual design of turbomachinery bladings named “T4T” (Tools for Turbomachinery). It provides the ability to interactively construct parametric 3D blade rows of various types, including for multistage machines. The design procedure is parametric and a variety of different rotating machinery components may be produced. The design parameters used for the blades as well as the hub and shroud surfaces construction correspond to 2D sections. However, the resulting geometries are modeled as NURBS 3D surfaces and can be imported to other CAD or analysis software via standard exchange protocols. The geometry definition is empowered by the object oriented structure of the software and an easy-to-use graphical interface, which makes the design phase a straightforward procedure. The software’s structure and geometric algorithms, the blading design procedure, along with sample designs which demonstrate the capabilities of the software, are presented in this paper.     

Formal methods integration in software engineering

This paper presents an extract from our works on a software engineering method for avionic real-time systems [3], the C-Method, which covers the whole software lifecycle thanks to a seamless process, and integrates formal methods in its process. Because distributed, real-time and embedded (DRE) systems have safety critical concerns, they require the use of formal languages (that allow non-ambiguous and rigorous specifications) in order to be able to prove their non-functional properties. Therefore, the “C-Method” relies on the use of formal languages in the earliest steps of the system specification and on the use of semi-formal languages in the analysis, design and programming steps. The fundamental question is how to integrate several languages with different levels of formalization and abstraction. The previous software engineering methods were based on a single language or notation, so they did not address this issue. In order to make the transitions more continuous between semi-formal and formal specifications, we have introduced in the development process what we call “intermediate” languages (+CAL and Why), that are easy to manipulate but directly linked to a formal language (TLA+ for +CAL, Why for PVS).     

Development of a Windows-based indoor air quality simulation software package

A Microsoft Windows-based indoor air quality (IAQ) simulation software package has been developed and has completed a small-scale beta test and quality assurance review. Tentatively named Simulation Tool Kit for Indoor Air Quality and Inhalation Exposure, or STKi for short, this package complements and supplements existing IAQ simulation packages and is designed mainly for advanced users. STKi Version 1 consists of a general-purpose simulation program and four stand-alone, special-purpose programs. The general-purpose program performs multi-zone, multi-pollutant simulations and allows gas-phase chemical reactions. With a large collection of models for sources, sinks, and air filters/cleaners, it can perform simulations for a wide range of indoor air pollution scenarios. The special-purpose programs implement fundamentally based models, which are often excluded from existing IAQ simulation programs despite their improved performance over statistical models. In addition to performing conventional IAQ simulation, which generates time–concentration profiles, STKi can estimate the adequate ventilation rate when certain air quality criteria are given, a unique feature useful for product stewardship and risk management. STKi will be developed in a cumulative manner. More special-purpose simulation programs will be added to the package. Key numerical methods used in STKi are discussed. Ways to convert the STKi programs into language-independent simulation modules that can be used by multi-pathway exposure models are also being explored.     

基于CPCI总线的嵌入式计算机通用接口设计

针对基于CPCI总线的嵌入式计算机设计中遇到的底层驱动软件与具体硬件芯片相互关联的问题,开展了嵌入式计算机通用接口设计的研究.采用软件、硬件与现场可编程技术相互结合的设计方法,通过通用硬件接1:1电路设计、共享存储区设计、通用函数设计,实现了基于CPCI总线的嵌入式计算机通用接口,并成功应用于具体的工程实践.     

Risk analysis in software design

Risk analysis is, at best, a good general-purpose yardstick by which we can judge our security design's effectiveness. Because roughly 50 percent of security problems are the result of design flaws, performing a risk analysis at the design level is an important part of a solid software security program. Taking the trouble to apply risk-analysis methods at the design level for any application often yields valuable, business-relevant results. The risk analysis process is continuous and applies to many different levels, at once identifying system-level vulnerabilities, assigning probability arid impact, arid determining reasonable mitigation strategies. The paper looks at how, by considering the resulting ranked risks, business stakeholders can determine how to manage particular risks and what the most cost-effective controls might be.     

Embedded software debugging using virtual filesystem abstractions

We present a scalable technique to simplify the software debugging process for embedded systems that is based on the use of distributed filesystem abstractions. In this technique, the principal building blocks within embedded systems comprising “system-on-chip” (SoC) devices export debugging interfaces realized with filesystem abstractions. These filesystem interfaces are composed in a manner consistent with the hardware hierarchy and provide a portable interface to concurrently debug software executing in the various processing elements within the embedded system. We illustrate application of the model to support the various software debugging requirements unique to SoCs, many of which traditional methods are ill-equipped to deal with. We also present an architecture that may be used to realize distributed filesystem abstractions within resource constrained embedded architectures.     

Document based rational software development

A software development process can be considered rational if each design decision can be justified based on given facts and design decisions that were made, reviewed, and accepted earlier. This paper describes a set of documents that can serve as a “knowledge base” for more rational software development. Each of these documents can be viewed as a place where the decisions made in one phase of a software development can be recorded for those who work in the next phase. These documents make it possible to develop software in a rational and reviewable way. We describe why each document is needed, how it should be organized, and how the information in the whole set of documents can be represented in a precise, checkable, and accessible way. We illustrate the approach with a detailed discussion of one of these documents, module interface documentation.     

Softcar测试软件包与Python语言的集成

Softcar和SoftcarRT是某企业自行研发的测试平台专用软件包,其功能用于车辆内置控制器的性能测试。为了面向更多的用户,欲采用Python语句来操作控制Softcar及SoftcarRT测试软件包。设计、编译及构建其中的软件接口,以达到拓展专用测试软件包的功能及强化其适用性的目的。     

Creating documents [book and software package review]

The author reviews a book and a software package. The book sets out to help you create documents that are “less ugly and less confusing”. The software package helps you produce printed and online hypertext documents from a single source. Its documentation could have benefited from the precepts in the book     

A comparative study of software systems from the optimization viewpoint

Analysis technology is widely accepted and quite popular these days. Incorporation of the analysis result into a design process is a key factor for the success of an analysis area. A few design software products have been commercialized. Generally, they are trying to make an interface between various design methods and analysis software. Optimization is a typical automatic design method. The software products of optimization are investigated and compared for user convenience and algorithm performance. A few popular products are selected. A graphical user interface (GUI) is compared for capability and efficiency. The performances of the optimization algorithms are tested by mathematical and engineering examples, and the results are discussed.     

A novel Ising model processing achieving all interactions only by adjacent spins for a high-speed solver for versatile Ising machines

To implement the Ising model on hardware and create “things” with optimization capability for a future IoT society, two methods for solving an optimization and recognition problem by using a new general-purpose Ising model suitable for LSI chip implementation are proposed. An ordinary model cannot solve many optimization problems, by searching for the ground-state, because the number of interactions is not enough for mapping the problems to the model. This ordinary Ising model considers only interactions of adjacent spins. Actually, to solve an optimization problem, interactions between all spins must be considered. However, all interactions are impossible to implement in an LSI chip. Therefore, to consider all interactions equivalently by adjacent spins only, two models are proposed. By using these model that implements all interactions, it is possible to obtain good candidates for optimal solutions for the “traveling salesman problem” and the “support vector machine”. Moreover, since the features of original Ising model with all interactions is known as a general-purpose model, this result means that the proposed model can be used to obtain the optimal solution candidates for most optimization problems. Further, LSI block diagrams of the two models are presented.     

Use of modular design in the production of portable CAL software: A case study

The paper discusses a number of difficulties associated with the economic production of CAL software. The concept of modular programming is then proposed as a viable solution to the problem and is illustrated using, as an example, the production of a matrix algebra package. Use of specially designed “CAL modules” and facilities provided by subroutine libraries are discussed and cited as a strategy for future CAL developments.This paper also discusses the development of a CAL package used to assist in teaching matrix theory, within the diversity of disciplines and abilities, typical of those encountered in “service teaching” mathematics to undergraduates.Although the topic of matrix theory has received much attention by CAL authors, the objective of this paper is to concentrate on the development strategy, which is considered to be both cost-effective and efficient and applicable to many other CAL projects in unrelated subject areas.     

Composing domain-specific physical models with general-purpose software modules in embedded control software

A considerable portion of software systems today are adopted in the embedded control domain. Embedded control software deals with controlling a physical system, and as such models of physical characteristics become part of the embedded control software. In current practices, usually general-purpose languages (GPL), such as C/C++ are used for embedded systems development. Although a GPL is suitable for expressing general-purpose computation, it falls short in expressing the models of physical characteristics as desired. This reduces not only the readability of the code but also hampers reuse due to the lack of dedicated abstractions and composition operators. Moreover, domain-specific static and dynamic checks may not be applied effectively. There exist domain-specific modeling languages (DSML) and tools to specify models of physical characteristics. Although they are commonly used for simulation and documentation of physical systems, they are often not used to implement embedded control software. This is due to the fact that these DSMLs are not suitable to express the general-purpose computation and they cannot be easily composed with other software modules that are implemented in GPL. This paper presents a novel approach to combine a DSML to model physical characteristics and a GPL to implement general-purpose computation. The composition filters model is used to compose models specified in the DSML with modules specified in the GPL at the abstraction level of both languages. As such, this approach combines the benefits of using a DSML to model physical characteristics with the freedom of a GPL to implement general-purpose computation. The approach is illustrated using two industrial case studies from the printing systems domain.     

A brief review of FEM software technique

This paper gives the names and main features of the current nearly 100 large-scale general-purpose programs in use worldwide. The progress and development of current finite element methods (FEM) software technique are analysed, and the notion that the advance in FEM methodology, which is as yet a developing frontier science, will be gradual is presented. Thereby, the traditional structural analysis calculation can be transformed into a procedure of design decision for engineers. On this basis, database management techniques and computer-aided design (CAD), which is adopted widely in modern FEM software, are introduced. It is shown that the fully integrated building block structure, the graphical I/O feature and the auto-generating feature, which are the main characteristics of the modern FEM technique, will replace the traditional program structure and pre-post processing. This paper provides the constructions, features, managements, menus, manipulative techniques, etc., of a CAD system for finite element analysis, which can be used as reference for structural engineers to develop a structural analysis CAD/CAM in this field.     

Using task analysis to improve usability of fatigue modelling software

The design of any interactive computer system requires consideration of both humans and machines. Software usability is one aspect of human–computer interaction that can benefit from knowledge of the user and their tasks. One set of methods for determining whether an application enables users to achieve their predetermined goals effectively and efficiently is task analysis. In the present study, a task analysis was applied to the graphical user interface of fatigue modelling software used in industry. The task analysis procedure allowed areas of usability improvement to be identified and then addressed with alternate interface prototypes. The present method of task analysis illustrates a practical and efficient way for software designers to improve software usability, user effectiveness and satisfaction, by involving users in the design process.     

General-purpose modular hardware and software framework for mobile outdoor augmented reality applications in engineering

This paper presents a reusable, general-purpose, mobile augmented reality (AR) framework developed to address the critical and repetitive challenges specific to visualization in outdoor AR. In all engineering applications of AR developed thus far, basic functionality that supports accurate user registration, maximizes the range of user motion, and enables data input and output has had to be repeatedly re-implemented. This is primarily due to the fact that designed methods have been traditionally custom created for their respective applications and are not generic enough to be readily shared and reused by others. The objective of this research was to remedy this situation by designing and implementing a reusable and pluggable hardware and software framework that can be used in any AR application without the need to re-implement low-level communication interfaces with selected hardware. The underlying methods of hardware communication as well as the object-oriented design (OOD) of the reusable interface are presented. Details on the validation of framework reusability and pluggability are also described.     

SnAM: a simulation software on serial manipulators

The solution of kinematics problems for serial manipulators is fundamental for their synthesis, analysis, simulation, and computer control; for this reason, this paper introduces a public domain package and open software called SnAM (Serial n-Axis Manipulators), which is developed under the ADEFID (ADvanced Engineering soFtware for Industrial Development) framework, where the manipulator is conceptualized as a derived class from CRobokin, CMachine and CIpiSModel, which are fundamental ADEFID classes. SnAM has been developed with efficient algorithms in a closed-loop solution to solve direct kinematics, whereas for the case of inverse kinematics, matrix formulation, elimination and numerical methods are implemented. Furthermore, for the architecture definition, the user is able to display a dialog box in which the design parameters are set based on the Denavit–Hartenberg convention with the aid of sliding bars, while the solid model is updated simultaneously showing the actual configuration. Since ADEFID provides tools to graphical interface with embedded control components SnAM adopt them to not only simulate virtually, but also with an adaptive prototype designed for this purpose. Furthermore, SnAM assists the user in tasks related to trajectory planning, collision-avoidance and three-dimension objects scanning.