Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Objectism 3.0: A Software Architecture For The Development Of Portable Visual Simulation Applications, Shawn M. Hannan

Theses and Dissertations

A visual simulation software architecture is a reusable design for visual simulation applications. This thesis effort was the third stage in an ongoing refinement of such an architecture, named ObjectSim. The primary goals of this stage were to improve the architecture by eliminating its dependence on two platform-specific graphics libraries (named GL and Performer, from Silicon Graphics, Inc.), and to examine the potential for expanding the architecture to accommodate distributed simulations. The effort resulted in a new version of the architecture which allows the development of visual simulation applications which take full advantage of the aforementioned libraries without calling those …

Transforming Algebraically-Based Object Models Into A Canonical Form For Design Refinement, Charles G. Beem

Theses and Dissertations

The understandability of object-oriented design techniques and the rigor of formal methods have improved the state of software development; however, both ideas have limitations. Object-oriented techniques, which are semi-formal, can still result in incorrect designs, while formal methods are complex and require an extensive mathematical background. The two approaches can be coupled, however, to produce designs that are both understandable and verifiable, and to produce executable code. This research proposes an approach where object-oriented models are first represented algebraically in a formal specification language such as LARCH and then transformed into a canonical form suitable for design refinement. In the …

An Object-Oriented, Formal Methods Approach To Organizational Process Modeling, Vincent S. Hibdon

Theses and Dissertations

This document presents a methodology for developing an organizational process model which is based on the principles of object oriented design and formal software engineering methods. The methodology begins with the development of an object oriented Rumbaugh model (27). The Rumbaugh model is then formally specified in Z (Zed) schemas. Finally, the Z specifications are translated into an executable model in the Software Refinery Environment(TM). This model is described based on the AF wing domain and developed in this domain. The proposed methodology is then shown to produce a very general model which is extendable across almost any domain. The …

Calibration Of The System Evaluation And Estimation Of Resources Software Estimation Model (Seer-Sem) For The Air Force Space And Missile Systems Center (Smc), Kolin D. Rathmann

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined whether calibration of the SEER-SEM impacted the effort estimates generated by the model for software developments- A historical database was provided by the Space and Missile System's Center Los Angeles, and used as the model's input data. The data was stratified into four usable platforms, military ground command and-control, military ground signal processing, military specification avionics, and military mobile. Each platform's data sets were split, the majority of points for calibration of the model, and the rest for model validation. The accuracy of SEER to this particular data set is limited, yet the model did respond to …

Calibration Of The Software Architecture Sizing And Estimation Tool (Saset), Carl D. Vegas

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempted to analyze the effect of calibration on the performance of the SASET computer software cost estimating model. Data used for input into the model were drawn from the most current USAF SMC Software Database (SWDB). Once all the records to be used for analysis were identified, the DBMS-Calibration tool (which is part of SASET) was used to perform regression analysis on the relationship between program size (measured in SLOC) and the effort required to develop the program (measured in man-months). Productivity information reported from this tool was then input into equations used to calculate the Productivity Calibration …

The Rotations Of Maxillary Molars, Mandibular Molars, And Maxillary First Premolars In Acceptable Occlusions, G. Kristian Hansen

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The rotation of the maxillary molars is considered important in the orthodontic treatment of malocclusions. In this study a computer analysis program was developed to examine the rotations of maxillary molars, mandibular molars, and maxillary first premolars in casts of permanent dentitions with acceptable occlusions. Ninety three sets of untreated "acceptable occlusion" models from the collection of the Foundation for Orthodontic Research (FOR) were scanned on a flat bed scanner at 600 dots per inch (dpi). The images were analyzed using custom software on a computer. Measurements were made by relating maxillary first permanent molars to the midline, the archform, …

Box-Structured Requirement Determination Methods, A. R. Hevner, Harlan D. Mills

The Harlan D. Mills Collection

Requirements determination is an iterative process of eliciting, gathering, modeling, specifying, and analyzing system requirements information. It is the most critical, yet least understood, phase of systems development. This paper presents a rigorous approach for performing requirements determination with box-structured methods. By capturing requirements information in black box transactions and transaction hierarchies, intellectual control is maintained over large amounts of requirements information. The results of the box-structured requirements determination methods provide the basis for formal system design techniques. A concise example of box-structured requirements determination is included in an appendix.

Formal Foundations For The Specification Of Software Architecture, Mark J. Gerken

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation establishes a formal foundation for software architecture that allows for the specification of large, non-trivial software systems using well founded, consistency preserving construction techniques. Two fundamental problems were addressed: how to define and express architectures formally using the concept of theories, and how architecture theories can be practically applied in specification construction. The initial stages of this investigation sought to establish a formal, mathematical relationship between functional specifications of behavior and specifications defining system structure. Experimental results lead to the conclusion that architectures defining the structure of functional operations can be defined using functional logic, but more complex …

Book Review: Reasoning Agents In A Dynamic World: The Frame Problem. Kenneth M. Ford And Patrick J. Hayes, Eds.,, Jozsef A. Toth

Jozsef A Toth Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Exploiting High Performance Fortran For Computational Fluid Dynamics, Volume 919, Ken Hawick, Geoffrey C. Fox

Northeast Parallel Architecture Center

We discuss the High Performance Fortran data parallel programming language as an aid to software engineering and as a tool for exploiting High Performance Computing systems for computational uid dynamics applications. We discuss the use of intrinsic functions, data distribution directives and explicitly parallel constructs to optimize performance by minimizing communications requirements in a portable manner. In particular we use an implicit method such as the ADI algorithm to illustrate the major issues. We focus on regular mesh problems, since these can be efficiently represented by the existing HPF definition, but also discuss issues arising from the use of irregular …

Critical Success Factors For Organizational Case Success, Chad Strauss

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Practitioners and researchers have suggested that Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) technology can significantly improve the productivity of systems analysts and the quality of systems development. Before CASE can succeed, however, specific components must exist. This paper explores CASE and the components necessary for its widespread acceptance and use within information systems departments. Specifically, this paper will examine the systems development life cycle (SDLC), the possible benefits of CASE, the current state of CASE, critical success factors for CASE, and finally CASE use.

Object Interactions As First Class Objects: From Design To Implementation, Mahesh Dodani, Benjamin Kok Siew Gan, Lizette Velazquez

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Collaborations between objects make up the dynamic behavior of OO software. These collaborations among objects require careful design and implementation. Treating the interactions as responsibilities that are integrated in the participating objects, results in tight coupling between objects. Tight coupling increases complexity and reduces reusability. Object interactions need to be first class objects from design to implementation. Our research provides a unified approach to model and implement these interactions as first class objects. During analysis and design, they are modeled using DynaSpecs. During implementation, they are coded with a new language construct called Compositions. DynaSpecs and Compositions provide a consistent …

A Proposal For A Development Platform For Microcontroller-Based Devices, Michael L. Wetton

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is concerned with designing, implementing and testing a miniaturised temperature data logging device. Investigations demonstrated that a microcontroller could provide a low-cost single-chip solution to this problem and after a detailed review of 8-bit microcontrollers, the MC68HCll was chosen for this task. This document also includes discussion on an environment that was developed for creating and testing MC68HC11 software and the use of Motorola's evaluation boards. To ensure that the device was designed to software engineering standards an investigation into software engineering analysis techniques took place. This resulted in the Jackson Structured Programming (JSP) methodology being adapted to …

Analysis And Extension Of Model-Based Software Executives, Keith E. Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

This research developed a comprehensive description of the simulation environment of Architect, a domain-oriented application composition system being developed at the Air Force Institute of Technology to explore new software engineering technologies. The description combines information from several previous research efforts and Architect's source code into a single, comprehensive document. A critical evaluation of the simulation environment was also performed, identifying improvements and modifications that enhance Architecture's application execution capabilities by reducing complexity and execution time. The analysis was then taken one step further and presented extensions to the current simulation environment. The extensions included investigating the feasibility of mixed-mode …

Software Reliability Issues: An Experimental Approach, Mary Ann Hoppa

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, we present methodologies involving a data structure called the debugging graph whereby the predictive performance of software reliability models can be analyzed and improved under laboratory conditions. This procedure substitutes the averages of large sample sets for the single point samples normally used as inputs to these models and thus supports scrutiny of their performances with less random input data.

Initially, we describe the construction of an extensive database of empirical reliability data which we derived by testing each partially debugged version of subject software represented by complete or partial debugging graphs. We demonstrate how these data …