Monitoring of a biodiesel production process via reset observer

This paper is concerned with the monitoring of a biodiesel production process, more specifically with the monitoring of the esterification of grease trap wastes, a low quality feedstock for biodiesel production typically characterized by its high content of Free Fatty Acids (FFAs). The esterification takes place in a jacketed Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR). A reset observer is designed and applied in order to provide on-line estimation of the concentration of FFAs from temperature measurements within the CSTR. In addition, the proposed reset observer is compared to two other observers (classical fuzzy observer and extended Kalman filter). According to a multiple range test conducted for analyzing the estimation error, the monitoring task for the process under study has been better fulfilled by the reset observer which is able to update the estimation results every instant when the measurements were available.     

Using simulation to aid decision making in managing the usability evaluation process

ContextThis paper is developed in the context of Usability Engineering. More specifically, it focuses on the use of modelling and simulation to help decision-making in the scope of usability evaluation.ObjectiveThe main goal of this paper is to present UESim: a System Dynamics simulation model to help decision-making in the make-up of the usability evaluation team during the process of usability evaluation.MethodTo develop this research we followed four main research phases: (a) study identification, (b) study development, (c) running and observation and finally, (d) reflexion. In relation with these phases the paper describes the literature revision, the model building and validation, the model simulation and its results and finally the reflexion on it.ResultsWe developed and validated a model to simulate the usability evaluation process. Through three different simulations we analysed the effects of different compositions of the evaluation team on the outcome of the evaluation. The simulation results show the utility of the model in the decision making of the usability evaluation process by changing the number and expertise of evaluators employed.ConclusionOne of the main advantages of using such a simulation model is that it allows developers to observe the evolution of the key indicators of the evaluation process over time. UESim represents a customisable tool to help decision-making in the management of the usability evaluation process, since it makes it possible to analyse how the key process indicators are affected by the main management options of the Usability Evaluation Process.     

Combining OpenFlow and sFlow for an effective and scalable anomaly detection and mitigation mechanism on SDN environments

Software Defined Networks (SDNs) based on the OpenFlow (OF) protocol export control-plane programmability of switched substrates. As a result, rich functionality in traffic management, load balancing, routing, firewall configuration, etc. that may pertain to specific flows they control, may be easily developed. In this paper we extend these functionalities with an efficient and scalable mechanism for performing anomaly detection and mitigation in SDN architectures. Flow statistics may reveal anomalies triggered by large scale malicious events (typically massive Distributed Denial of Service attacks) and subsequently assist networked resource owners/operators to raise mitigation policies against these threats. First, we demonstrate that OF statistics collection and processing overloads the centralized control plane, introducing scalability issues. Second, we propose a modular architecture for the separation of the data collection process from the SDN control plane with the employment of sFlow monitoring data. We then report experimental results that compare its performance against native OF approaches that use standard flow table statistics. Both alternatives are evaluated using an entropy-based method on high volume real network traffic data collected from a university campus network. The packet traces were fed to hardware and software OF devices in order to assess flow-based data-gathering and related anomaly detection options. We subsequently present experimental results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed sFlow-based mechanism compared to the native OF approach, in terms of overhead imposed on usage of system resources. Finally, we conclude by demonstrating that once a network anomaly is detected and identified, the OF protocol can effectively mitigate it via flow table modifications.     

Value creation in software service platforms

In order to benefit from operating an IT service platform (e.g., SaaS platform), platform providers need to find a way to keep their existing users and application services active sources of value. However, the understanding of how to achieve that is limited due to the newness of this kind of business. This paper investigates whether all stakeholders of the platform ecosystem can generate sufficient value when participating in the platform. As stakeholders, we consider application service users, service developers, and service platform providers. We also analyse the interrelationship between these stakeholders. The analysis outcome is a value creation model that allows the calculation of the stakeholders’ values. The model also helps inferring the relative impact of different factors on the evolution of values of the software service platform stakeholders. Our simulation results confirm that all stakeholders of a service platform mainly benefit from a growing installed base of application users. However, in a mature market, a large service variety mainly benefits the service platform provider, while the other stakeholders obtain a reduced increase in their benefits. In particular, the utility growth of application users becomes constrained as the benefit from new connections with other users decreases and the number of new services used decreases. Similarly, the revenue of service developer decreases, making service development less profitable. Therefore, we can state that not only a large fraction of the value creation goes to the platform provider but also that the software service ecosystem can collapse, if no mutually beneficial pricing of services is implemented.     

采用信道估计法的基站VSWR实时检测

为解决无线基站宽带工作频带内电压驻波比(Voltage Standing Wave Ratio,VSWR)的实时测量，提出了一种采用信道估计法的测量方案。该方案实现简单，在基带处理单元高速率位置发送数据，依次抓取射频通道反馈和反射数据，分别求取信道响应序列，结合工厂装备测试数据，计算驻波反射系数和反射点位置。发送信号采用宽带正交频分复用信号，能检测到工作频段内任何频点处的驻波异常。有用信号前加循环前缀，并引入峰值抵消核，能正确检测到多个反射点驻波。仿真结果表明，该方案驻波测量精度和单回波点位置精度达到预期，多回波点测量能抓准外部主要故障点，在基站VSWR实时测量中具有良好的应用前景。     

PBL教学模式在“软件工程”课程教学中的应用

由于学科特性与教学要求,“软件工程”课程教学对实践性和系统性的要求极高。PBL教学模式作为一种自主式教学的新型模式,在教育领域受到广泛关注。文章基于PBL教学模式的特点及优势,结合“软件工程”课程教学改革趋势及教学实践中面临的主要困境,系统分析了PBL教学模式应用于“软件工程”课程教学的途径,以期为促进“软件工程”的课程教学改革及教学质量提高提供参考及借鉴。     

Management of automotive software updates

Software updates are an important topic for increasingly software dependent and automated automotive systems. Besides ongoing technical developments, there are also regulatory requirements in development for such systems. We present here an overview of the automotive domain and the particular requirements on update systems, identify potentially suitable update frameworks and evaluate them based on automotive requirements. A focus is on a holistic view of requirements, considering safety, security, and availability.     

A family of simulation criteria to guide DEVS models validation rigorously,systematically and semi-automatically

The most common method to validate a DEVS model against the requirements is to simulate it several times under different conditions, with some simulation tool. The behavior of the model is compared with what the system is supposed to do. The number of different scenarios to simulate is usually infinite, therefore, selecting them becomes a crucial task. This selection, actually, is made following the experience or intuition of an engineer. Here we present a family of criteria to conduct DEVS model simulations in a disciplined way and covering the most significant simulations to increase the confidence on the model. This is achieved by analyzing the mathematical representation of the DEVS model and, thus, part of the validation process can be automatized.     

Quantitative spectrum occupancy evaluation in China: based on a large scale concurrent spectrum measurement

Due to the usable frequency becomes more and more crowed,dynamic spectrum access (DSA) is a new hope to solve this problem.However,DSA in China requires a quantitative analysis of the current spectrum ...     

Modeling and analysis of customer premise equipments registration process in IEEE 802.22 WRAN cell

The development of the IEEE 802.22 standard is aimed at providing broadband access in rural areas by effectively utilizing the unused TV band, provided no harmful interference is caused to the incumbent operation. The motivation behind TV band selection is of having lower frequencies compared to other licensed bands, which, therefore, results in lower propagation path loss. Due to this quality, the spectral power density of the radio signal reduces slowly, which results in a high coverage area. Further, it has been observed that many TV channels largely remain unoccupied, as most households and businesses rely on cable and satellite TV services. This is the first international standard for a wireless regional area network (WRAN) based on cognitive radio technologies. This standard provides both PHY and MAC layer functionalities in an infrastructure based network for communication between customer premise equipments (CPEs) through a base station (BS). The Spectrum Manager is the central part of the BS, which plays a significant role in maintaining spectrum availability information, channel selection, channel management, scheduling quiet periods for spectrum sensing, accessing to the database and implementing IEEE 802.22 policies. A WRAN can particularly accommodate up to 512 CPEs in a cell. Contention may occur during initial ranging, periodic ranging, bandwidth request and urgent coexistence situation notification. The medium access control (MAC) incorporates several schemes to control contention between CPEs within a cell and overlapping cells sharing the same channel. A CPE has to make decision to resolve collisions in the upstream direction. In the case of initial ranging and periodic ranging, code division multiple access (CDMA) is employed to resolve collisions. For bandwidth and UCS notification, either a CDMA or exponential time backoff approach can be applied for collision resolution. This paper presents the analytical framework to evaluate the number of active CPEs in a cognitive radio network. It is important to note that when the arrival rate becomes equal to the service rate, the active CPEs curve attains a constant value. Further, the active CPEs length is highly dependent on service rate. The different special cases have been addressed and the effectiveness of the proposed framework has been validated through various evaluation results.