Computer Sciences Commons^™

Towards Learning And Verifying Invariants Of Cyber-Physical Systems By Code Mutation, Yuqi Chen, Christopher M. Poskitt, Jun Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Cyber-physical systems (CPS), which integrate algorithmic control with physical processes, often consist of physically distributed components communicating over a network. A malfunctioning or compromised component in such a CPS can lead to costly consequences, especially in the context of public infrastructure. In this short paper, we argue for the importance of constructing invariants (or models) of the physical behaviour exhibited by CPS, motivated by their applications to the control, monitoring, and attestation of components. To achieve this despite the inherent complexity of CPS, we propose a new technique for learning invariants that combines machine learning with ideas from mutation testing. …

Towards Learning And Verifying Invariants Of Cyber-Physical Systems By Code Mutation, Yuqi Chen, Christopher M. Poskitt, Jun Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Cyber-physical systems (CPS), which integrate algorithmic control with physical processes, often consist of physically distributed components communicating over a network. A malfunctioning or compromised component in such a CPS can lead to costly consequences, especially in the context of public infrastructure. In this short paper, we argue for the importance of constructing invariants (or models) of the physical behaviour exhibited by CPS, motivated by their applications to the control, monitoring, and attestation of components. To achieve this despite the inherent complexity of CPS, we propose a new technique for learning invariants that combines machine learning with ideas from mutation testing. …

Locomotion In Virtual Reality For Room Scale Tracked Areas, Evren Bozgeyikli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the recent years, virtual reality has been used as an effective tool for a wide range of areas such as training, rehabilitation, education and games. The affordability of the new generation headsets helped this medium to become more widespread. However, in order for virtual reality to become mainstream, more content that is specifically designed for this medium is needed. Since virtual reality is a different technology than the computer systems, different design principles may be required for these content for better user experience. One of the crucial components of virtual reality applications is locomotion, since the viewpoint of the …

Virtual Reality Serious Games For Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Design Considerations, Lal Bozgeyikli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virtual reality has been a popular training tool for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in recent years. Although virtual reality was proven to be a promising tool for individuals with ASD by many previous studies, effects of virtual reality properties on user experience is still an unexplored area. More comparison studies and reliable data are needed to identify the benefits of different VR methods and properties, and leverage the future VR systems. In this dissertation, we explored effects of virtual reality properties on user experience of high functioning individuals with ASD with four different serious game experiments. The first …

Development Of A Dss And Online Tools To Support Sleep Disorder Consultations Using Design Science., Jacqueline Blake, Don Kerr, John Gammack

All Works

Medical decision making takes place in a complex and dynamic environment, involving various individual and organisational stakeholders. In such contexts supportive information systems are required to be designed for practical efficacy, emphasising transparency, usability, and usefulness to their primary users. At the same time, they need to demonstrate improved efficiency and diagnostic accuracy. In addition, they also need to provide effective communication of relevant information. This paper describes the use of design science to develop and evaluate a DSS incorporated into online tools to support sleep physician’s diagnosis of sleep disorders. The design science approach offers guidance for developing this …

Rapid Deployment Indoor Localization Without Prior Human Participation, Han Xu, Zimu Zhou, Longfei Shangguan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this work, we propose RAD, a RApid Deployment localization framework without human sampling. The basic idea of RAD is to automatically generate a fingerprint database through space partition, of which each cell is fingerprinted by its maximum influence APs. Based on this robust location indicator, fine-grained localization can be achieved by a discretized particle filter utilizing sensor data fusion. We devise techniques for CIVD-based field division, graph-based particle filter, EM-based individual character learning, and build a prototype that runs on commodity devices. Extensive experiments show that RAD provides a comparable performance to the state-of-the-art RSSbased methods while relieving it …

Utilizing Vegetation Indices As A Proxy To Characterize The Stability Of A Railway Embankment In A Permafrost Region, Priscilla Addison, Pasi T. Lautala, Thomas Oommen

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Degrading permafrost conditions around the world are posing stability issues for infrastructure constructed on them. Railway lines have exceptionally low tolerances for differential settlements associated with permafrost degradation due to the potential for train derailments. Railway owners with tracks in permafrost regions therefore make it a priority to identify potential settlement locations so that proper maintenance or embankment stabilization measures can be applied to ensure smooth and safe operations. The extensive discontinuous permafrost zone along the Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) in Northern Manitoba, Canada, has been experiencing accelerated deterioration, resulting in differential settlements that necessitate continuous annual maintenance to avoid …

Game Development Software Engineering Process Life Cycle: A Systematic Review, Saiqa Aleem, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed

All Works

Software game is a kind of application that is used not only for entertainment, but also for serious purposes that can be applicable to different domains such as education, business, and health care. Multidisciplinary nature of the game development processes that combine sound, art, control systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and human factors, makes the software game development practice different from traditional software development. However, the underline software engineering techniques help game development to achieve maintainability, flexibility, lower effort and cost, and better design. The purpose of this study is to assesses the state of the art research on the game …

Improving Quality Of Use Case Documents Through Learning And User Interaction, Shuang Liu, Jun Sun, Hao Xiao, Bimlesh Wadhwa, Jin Song Dong, Xinyu Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Use cases are widely used to capture user requirements based on interactions between different roles in the system. They are mostly documented in natural language and sometimes aided with graphical illustrations in the form of use case diagrams. Use cases serve as an important means to communicate among stakeholders, requirement engineers and system engineers as they are easy to understand and are produced early in the software development process. Having high quality use cases are beneficial in many ways, e.g., in avoiding inconsistency/incompleteness in requirements, in guiding system design, in generating test cases. In this work, we propose an approach …

Towards Using Concurrent Java Api Correctly, Shuang Liu, Guangdong Bai, Jun Sun, Jin Song Dong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Concurrent Programs are hard to analyze or debug due to the complex program logic and unpredictable execution environment. In practice, ordinary programmers often adopt existing well-designed concurrency related API (e.g., those in java.util.concurrent) so as to avoid dealing with these issues. These API can however often be used incorrectly, which results in hardto-debug concurrent bugs. In this work, we propose an approach for enforcing the correct usage of concurrency-related Java API. Our idea is to annotate concurrency-related Java classes with annotations related to misuse of these API and develop lightweight type checker to detect concurrent API misuse based on the …

Image Stitching: Handling Parallax, Stereopsis, And Video, Fan Zhang

Dissertations and Theses

Panorama stitching increases the field of view in an image by assembling multiple views together. Traditional stitching techniques are proven to be effective only when dealing with parallax-free monocular images. Many challenges that remain unsolved in the stitching research area include how to stitch monocular images with large parallax, how to stitch stereoscopic images to maintain their stereoscopic consistency and original disparity distribution, and how to create panoramic videos with temporally coherent content. To provide more powerful stitching techniques with more universality, we first develop a parallax-tolerant image stitching technique. With the help of it, we then effectively extend the …

Smartsignplay: Lily Learns American Sign Language, Jeremiah Doody

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

Many children are born either wholly or partially deaf, leaving parents to wonder how they can communicate with, and teach their child. For a hearing parent, unfamiliar with American Sign Language (ASL), traditional methods can be exasperating. Additional methods are helpful to reinforce this learning process. The teaching method needs to be effective, yet easy enough for a 2 year old to pick up. Likewise, the premise needs to actually hold the child’s attention. SmartSignPlay was proposed as an interactive smartphone, or tablet, game designed to make teaching ASL easier and fun. The game was to be point and click, …

Data Exfiltration Detection And Prevention: Virtually Distributed Pomdps For Practically Safer Networks, Sara Marie Mc Carthy, Arunesh Sinha, Milind Tambe, Pratyusa Manadhata

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We address the challenge of detecting and addressing advanced persistent threats (APTs) in a computer network, focusing in particular on the challenge of detecting data exfiltration over Domain Name System (DNS) queries, where existing detection sensors are imperfect and lead to noisy observations about the network’s security state. Data exfiltration over DNS queries involves unauthorized transfer of sensitive data from an organization to a remote adversary through a DNS data tunnel to a malicious web domain. Given the noisy sensors, previous work has illustrated that standard approaches fail to satisfactorily rise to the challenge of detecting exfiltration attempts. Instead, we …

Scaling-Invariant Description Of Dependence Between Fuzzy Variables: Towards A Fuzzy Version Of Copulas, Gerardo Muela, Vladik Kreinovich, Christian Servin

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

To get a general description of dependence between n fuzzy variables x₁, ..., x_n, we can use the membership function μ(x₁, ..., x_n) that describes, for each possible tuple of values (x₁, ..., x_n) to which extent this tuple is possible.

There are, however, many ways to elicit these degrees. Different elicitations lead, in general, to different numerical values of these degrees -- although, ideally, tuples which have a higher degree of possibility in one scale should have a higher degree in other scales as well. It is …

Use Of Machine Learning To Analyze And -- Hopefully -- Predict Volcano Activity, Justin Parra, Olac Fuentes, Elizabeth Y. Anthony, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Volcanic eruptions cause significant loss of lives and property around the world each year. Their importance is highlighted by the sheer number of volcanoes for which eruptive activity is probable. These volcanoes are classified as in a state of unrest. The Global Volcano Project maintained by the Smithsonian Institution estimates that approximately 600 volcanoes, many proximal to major urban areas, are currently in this state of unrest. A spectrum of phenomena serve as precursors to eruption, including ground deformation, emission of gases, and seismic activity. The precursors are caused by magma upwelling from the Moho to the shallow (2-5 km) …

Formal Performance Guarantees For Behavior-Based Localization Missions, Damian Lyons, Ron Arkin, Shu Jiang, Matt O'Brien, Feng Tang, Peng Tang

Faculty Publications

Abstract— Localization and mapping algorithms can allow a robot to navigate well in an unknown environment. However, whether such algorithms enhance any specific robot mission is currently a matter for empirical validation. In this paper we apply our MissionLab/VIPARS mission design and verification approach to an autonomous robot mission that uses probabilistic localization software.

Two approaches to modeling probabilistic localization for verification are presented: a high-level approach, and a sample-based approach which allows run-time code to be embedded in verification. Verification and experimental validation results are presented for two different missions, each using each method, demonstrating the accuracy …

It Is Advantageous To Make A Syllabus As Precise As Possible: Decision-Theoretic Analysis, Francisco Zapata, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Should a syllabus be precise? Shall we indicate exactly how many points we should assign for each test and for each assignment? On the one hand, many students like such certainty. On the other hand, instructors would like to have some flexibility: if an assignment turns out to be more complex than expected, we should be able to increase the number of points for this assignment, and, vice versa, it it turns out to be simpler than expected, we should be able to decrease the number of points.

In this paper, we analyze this problem from a decision-theoretic viewpoint. Our …

Why Multiplication Has Higher Priority Than Addition: A Pedagogical Remark, Olga Kosheleva, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Traditionally, multiplication has higher priority over addition; this means that there is no need to add parentheses if we want to perform multiplication first, and we need to explicitly add parentheses if we want addition to be performed first. Why not use an alternative arrangement, in which addition has higher priority? In this paper, we explain the traditional priority arrangement by showing that in the general case, the traditional arrangement allows us to use fewer parentheses than the alternative one.

Writing Jml Specifications Using Java 8 Streams, Yoonsik Cheon, Zejing Cao, Khandoker Rahad

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

JML is a formal behavioral interface specification language for Java to document Java program modules such as classes and interfaces. When composing JML specifications, one frequently writes assertions involving a collection of values. In this paper we propose to use Java 8 streams for writing more concise and cleaner assertions on a collection. The use of streams in JML can be minimal and non-invasive in the conventional style of writing assertions. It can also be holistic to write all assertions in the abstract state defined by streams. We perform a small case study to illustrate our approach and show its …

Game Development Software Engineering Process Life Cycle: A Systematic Review, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software game is a kind of application that is used not only for entertainment, but also for serious purposes that can be applicable to different domains such as education, business, and health care. Multidisciplinary nature of the game development processes that combine sound, art, control systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and human factors, makes the software game development practice different from traditional software development. However, the underline software engineering techniques help game development to achieve maintainability, flexibility, lower effort and cost, and better design. The purpose of this study is to assesses the state of the art research on the game …

Neural Network Models For Software Development Effort Estimation: A Comparative Study, Ali Bou Nassif, Mohammad Azzeh, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Danny Ho

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software development effort estimation (SDEE) is one of the main tasks in software project management. It is crucial for a project manager to efficiently predict the effort or cost of a software project in a bidding process, since overestimation will lead to bidding loss and underestimation will cause the company to lose money. Several SDEE models exist; machine learning models, especially neural network models, are among the most prominent in the field. In this study, four different neural network models – Multilayer Perceptron, General Regression Neural Network, Radial Basis Function Neural Network, and Cascade Correlation Neural Network – are compared …

Gaussian And Cauchy Functions In The Filled Function Method -- Why And What Next: On The Example Of Optimizing Road Tolls, José Guadalupe Flores Muñiz, Vyacheslav V. Kalashnikov, Nataliya Kalashnykova, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical problems, we need to find the values of the parameters that optimize the desired objective function. For example, for the toll roads, it is important to set the toll values that lead to the fastest return on investment.

There exist many optimization algorithms, the problem is that these algorithms often end up in a local optimum. One of the promising methods to avoid the local optima is the filled function method, in which we, in effect, first optimize a smoothed version of the objective function, and then use the resulting optimum to look for the optimum of …

A Simplified Derivation Of Confidence Regions Based On Inferential Models, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Recently, a new inferential models approach has been proposed for statistics. Specifically, this approach provides a new random-set-based way to come up with confidence regions. In this paper, we show that the confidence regions obtained by using the main version of this new methodology can also be naturally obtained directly, without invoking random sets.

Towards A Reverse Newman’S Theorem In Interactive Information Complexity, Joshua Brody, H. Buhrman, M. Koucký, B. Loff, F. Speelman, N. Vereshchagin

Computer Science Faculty Works

Newman’s theorem states that we can take any public-coin communication protocol and convert it into one that uses only private randomness with but a little increase in communication complexity. We consider a reversed scenario in the context of information complexity: can we take a protocol that uses private randomness and convert it into one that only uses public randomness while preserving the information revealed to each player? We prove that the answer is yes, at least for protocols that use a bounded number of rounds. As an application, we prove new direct-sum theorems through the compression of interactive communication in …

Towards Using Certificate-Based Authentication As A Defense Against Evil Twins In 802.11 Networks, Travis S. Hendershot

Theses and Dissertations

Wireless clients are vulnerable to exploitation by evil twins due to flaws in the authentication process of 802.11 Wi-Fi networks. Current certificate-based wireless authentication protocols present a potential solution, but are limited in their ability to provide a secure and usable platform for certificate validation. Our work seeks to mitigate these limitations by exploring a client-side strategy for utilizing alternative trust models in wireless network authentication. We compile a taxonomy of various trust models for conducting certificate-based authentication of wireless networks and methodically evaluate each model according to desirable properties of security, usability, and deployability. We then build a platform …

Test Driven Development With Ruby On Rails, Argjend Xhigoli

Theses and Dissertations

Industria softuerike është duke u bërë më kërkuese në kohën zhvilluese dhe resurse. Shpesh, prodhimi i softuerit ka të bëjë me kërkesa që vazhdimisht ndryshojnë dhe me cikle zhvillimi që maten me javë ose muaj. Për t’iu përgjigjur këtyre kërkesave dhe që ende të prodhohet softuer i kualitetit të lartë, ndër vite, praktikuesit e softuerit kanë zhvilluar një numbër strategjish. Një nga to është edhe Test Driven Development (TDD). Kjo është një praktikë për zhvillim e orientuar në objekte që për qëllim ka të ndihmoj në prodhimin e softuerit kualitativ për një kohë të shkurtë. TDD është popullarizuar nëpërmjet programimit …

Deformimet E Sinjaleve, Medina Haliti

Theses and Dissertations

Qëllimi kryesor i kësaj teme diplome është që të përqendrohemi në përgjithësi tek sinjalet dhe deformimet e tyre. Në fillim të punimit do të bëhet fjalë në mënyrë të përgjithshme për sinjalet. Pastaj do të flasim për transmetimin e të dhenave, llojet e sinjalit, për mediumet transmetuese, ndarjen e mediumeve, për deformimet e sinjalit se si rrjedhin këto deformime dhe se0 si mund të reduktohen këto deformime. Gjithashtu do të flasim edhe për përshkrimin në detaje të qdo mediumi të mbyllur. Një vëmendje të posaqme në këtë punim do ti kushtohet fijeve optike duke cekur përparsitë dhe magësite e tyre. …

Krahasimi I Zhvillimit Të Mobile Aplikacioneve Ne Ios Dhe Android, Vlera Hoxha

Theses and Dissertations

Bota në të cilën po jetojmë dhe përdorimi i madh i telefonit, bën që aplikacionet mobile të kenë një rëndësi shumë të madhe. Shkurtesa “app” është një shkurtesë për fjalën aplikacion, kurse me aplikacion nënkuptojmë një program softuerik e në këtë rast një aplikacion softuerik, po për sistemet operative siç janë:iphone, android ose windows. Mënyra se si mund të kemi qasje në atë aplikacion është duke e shkarkuar atë nga programet e caktuara varësisht nga platforma të cilën e përdorni, përshembull në rastin e IOS është AppStore. Se si arrihet deri në fazën kur aplikacionet janë të gatshme për …

Laravel Vs Symfony, Valon Feka

Theses and Dissertations

Në kohën tonë teknologjia po ecën me hapa shumë të shpejtë, sidomos në fushën e paisjeve elektronike si: kompjuterë, telefona të mençur, televizorë të mençur, etj. Numri i përdorueseve të internetit dhe këtyre pajisjeve është në rritje të vazhdueshme. Tashmë çdo biznes, institucion, organizatë kanë web aplikacionin e tyre ku ju ndihmojnë përdoruesve të tyre në marrjen e informacionit dhe ofrimin e shërbimeve online. Për të lehtësuar procesin e krijimit të web faqeve përdoren backend fraemwork dhe front-end framework. Shumica e web faqeve përbëhen nga struktura shumë të ngjashme. Qëllimi i Framework është të ofrojnë një strukturë të përbashkët që …

Passive Rifting Of Thick Lithosphere In The Southern East African Rift: Evidence From Mantle Transition Zone Discontinuity Topography, Cory A. Reed, Kelly H. Liu, Patrick R. N. Chindandali, Belarmino Massingue, Hassan Mdala, Daniel Mutamina, Youqiang Yu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To investigate the mechanisms for the initiation and early-stage evolution of the nonvolcanic southernmost segments of the East African Rift System (EARS), we installed and operated 35 broadband seismic stations across the Malawi and Luangwa rift zones over a 2 year period from mid-2012 to mid-2014. Stacking of over 1900 high-quality receiver functions provides the first regional-scale image of the 410 and 660 km seismic discontinuities bounding the mantle transition zone (MTZ) within the vicinity of the rift zones. When a 1-D standard Earth model is used for time-depth conversion, a normal MTZ thickness of 250 km is found beneath …