Showing papers by "Florida Polytechnic University published in 2013"

Collaborative Capability Design: Redundancy of Potentialities

Abstract: In this study we extend the socio-ecological concept of two contrasting design principles applicable to all work systems. Reframing those design principles as strategic as well as operational choices leads us to propose a third design principle, Design Principle 3 (DP3), which has remained undeveloped in social ecology. We call this design principle Redundancy of Potentialities and demonstrate its application in transorganizational work systems. We argue that DP3 is at the core of socio-ecological practice and is therefore appropriate for coping with the highly turbulent environments now experienced in many industries and fields. We offer several illustrations of DP3 in practice and draw implications for enhancing capabilities for creative collaboration in inter-organizational fields through deliberate attention to design.

A stochastic approach for evaluating quality of service in wireless cellular networks

Abstract: Recent increases in application and user data over cellular networks requires networks service providers to guarantee a well-defined quality of service for their customers. As such, network service providers must be able to evaluate and assess the quality of service in different types of applications over their networks. This paper presents a method for assessing quality of service in application-specific and user-centric data on cellular networks. To this end, it formulates the evaluation problem as a stochastic multi-attribute decision problem in which measurement parameters are used as probabilistic attributes of the problem collected in drive testing over three different cellular networks. Matrix relational analysis is applied on the decision matrix to solve the problem by reaching a final ranking of the networks based on the collected measured values of the problem parameters. A case study is used to show how this approach can be effective in evaluating quality of service in cellular networks.

Formal semantics of interactions in sequence diagrams for embedded software

Abstract: Recently, sequence diagrams have been extended with the introduction of a set of operators in the latest specification of the Unified Modeling Language 2 (UML 2). Embedded in combined fragments, these operators are intended to simplify the diagram's structure or alter the order of its events. However, the latest specification introduces a non-trivial degree of ambiguity in the interpretation and understanding of sequence diagrams. As these diagrams are increasingly adopted as modeling tools in embedded software, their ambiguity can exacerbate the challenges encountered in embedded system design. To address this ambiguity, this paper presents a formal model in operational semantics based on Abstract State Machines (ASM) to define the semantics of the loop, break and strict operators in sequence diagrams. Specifically, update rules are devised for ASMs to handle important behaviors present in most embedded software operating in distributed or parallel environments. This formal model can be readily extended to define the semantics of the remaining operators including information about time intervals and their related constraints.

Formalizing the design of embedded software using sequence diagrams and abstract state machines

Abstract: The latest specification of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2.x revised completely the structure and elements of sequence diagrams by expanding their modularity via interaction fragments. These fragments are based on a set of operators that can simplify the diagram's structure or alter the order of events in the diagram. Unfortunately, the new revision introduced a significant degree of ambiguity in the interpretation of these diagrams. This ambiguity is exacerbated by the fact that different styles of sequence diagrams can be used for different purposes of modeling and analysis. To address this ambiguity, this paper presents a formal model in operational semantics based on Abstract State Machines (ASM) to define the semantics of sequence diagrams. Specifically, update rules are devised for ASMs to handle important behaviors present in most embedded software operating in distributed or parallel environments. The approach in this paper assumes that lifeline processes in a sequence diagram act as autonomous agents that communicate by exchanging messages among each other in asynchronous and distributed manner. This formal model can be readily extended to define the semantics of the remaining operators including information about time intervals and constraints.

Engineering graphic user interfaces with protected content

Abstract: Information technology organizations are increasingly having difficulty completing software projects with protected content due to a lack of qualified engineers with proper security credentials. These organizations are turning toward technology to look for advanced software tools that allow them to develop software systems while protecting proprietary or classified content. Many of these software systems require that a graphic user interface (GUI) be developed without accessing protected content. Properly credentialed engineers can later embed the protected content in this GUI. This paper presents a software tool, called GUI Miner, which allows users to edit the contents of GUIs without accessing the source code of the target application. This tool extracts the entire set of GUI widgets in an existing Java application to make them available for editing. Edit changes made on these widgets are automatically reflected on the screen and saved to appropriate class files by modifying their bytecode. Testing of this tool on a set of small Java applications shows that it works as expected without consuming too many memory or processor resources.