A Comparison of Software Analysis and Design Methods for Real Time Systems

This paper examines and compares several of the most common real time methods. These methods are CORE, YSM, MASCOT, JSD, DARTS, RTSAD, ADARTS, CODARTS, HOOD, HRT-HOOD, ROOM, UML, UML-RT. The methods are compared using attributes like i) usability, ii) compositionality and iii) proper RT notations available. Finally some comparison results are given and discussed.

Grid Coordination with Marketmaker Agents

Market based models are frequently used in the resource allocation on the computational grid. However, as the size of the grid grows, it becomes difficult for the customer to negotiate directly with all the providers. Middle agents are introduced to mediate between the providers and customers and facilitate the resource allocation process. The most frequently deployed middle agents are the matchmakers and the brokers. The matchmaking agent finds possible candidate providers who can satisfy the requirements of the consumers, after which the customer directly negotiates with the candidates. The broker agents are mediating the negotiation with the providers in real time. In this paper we present a new type of middle agent, the marketmaker. Its operation is based on two parallel operations - through the investment process the marketmaker is acquiring resources and resource reservations in large quantities, while through the resale process it sells them to the customers. The operation of the marketmaker is based on the fact that through its global view of the grid it can perform a more efficient resource allocation than the one possible in one-to-one negotiations between the customers and providers. We present the operation and algorithms governing the operation of the marketmaker agent, contrasting it with the matchmaker and broker agents. Through a series of simulations in the task oriented domain we compare the operation of the three agents types. We find that the use of marketmaker agent leads to a better performance in the allocation of large tasks and a significant reduction of the messaging overhead.

Using Mean-Shift Tracking Algorithms for Real-Time Tracking of Moving Images on an Autonomous Vehicle Testbed Platform

This paper describes new computer vision algorithms that have been developed to track moving objects as part of a long-term study into the design of (semi-)autonomous vehicles. We present the results of a study to exploit variable kernels for tracking in video sequences. The basis of our work is the mean shift object-tracking algorithm; for a moving target, it is usual to define a rectangular target window in an initial frame, and then process the data within that window to separate the tracked object from the background by the mean shift segmentation algorithm. Rather than use the standard, Epanechnikov kernel, we have used a kernel weighted by the Chamfer distance transform to improve the accuracy of target representation and localization, minimising the distance between the two distributions in RGB color space using the Bhattacharyya coefficient. Experimental results show the improved tracking capability and versatility of the algorithm in comparison with results using the standard kernel. These algorithms are incorporated as part of a robot test-bed architecture which has been used to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Statistical Models of Network Traffic

Model-based approaches have been applied successfully to a wide range of tasks such as specification, simulation, testing, and diagnosis. But one bottleneck often prevents the introduction of these ideas: Manual modeling is a non-trivial, time-consuming task. Automatically deriving models by observing and analyzing running systems is one possible way to amend this bottleneck. To derive a model automatically, some a-priori knowledge about the model structure–i.e. about the system–must exist. Such a model formalism would be used as follows: (i) By observing the network traffic, a model of the long-term system behavior could be generated automatically, (ii) Test vectors can be generated from the model, (iii) While the system is running, the model could be used to diagnose non-normal system behavior. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of a model formalism called 'probabilistic regression automaton' suitable for the tasks mentioned above.

Eclectic Rule-Extraction from Support Vector Machines

Support vector machines (SVMs) have shown superior performance compared to other machine learning techniques, especially in classification problems. Yet one limitation of SVMs is the lack of an explanation capability which is crucial in some applications, e.g. in the medical and security domains. In this paper, a novel approach for eclectic rule-extraction from support vector machines is presented. This approach utilizes the knowledge acquired by the SVM and represented in its support vectors as well as the parameters associated with them. The approach includes three stages; training, propositional rule-extraction and rule quality evaluation. Results from four different experiments have demonstrated the value of the approach for extracting comprehensible rules of high accuracy and fidelity.

Techniques for Video Mosaicing

Video Mosaicing is the stitching of selected frames of a video by estimating the camera motion between the frames and thereby registering successive frames of the video to arrive at the mosaic. Different techniques have been proposed in the literature for video mosaicing. Despite of the large number of papers dealing with techniques to generate mosaic, only a few authors have investigated conditions under which these techniques generate good estimate of motion parameters. In this paper, these techniques are studied under different videos, and the reasons for failures are found. We propose algorithms with incorporation of outlier removal algorithms for better estimation of motion parameters.

Analyzing Transformation of 1D-Functions for Frequency Domain based Video Classification

In this paper we illuminate a frequency domain based classification method for video scenes. Videos from certain topical areas often contain activities with repeating movements. Sports videos, home improvement videos, or videos showing mechanical motion are some example areas. Assessing main and side frequencies of each repeating movement gives rise to the motion type. We obtain the frequency domain by transforming spatio-temporal motion trajectories. Further on we explain how to compute frequency features for video clips and how to use them for classifying. The focus of the experimental phase is on transforms utilized for our system. By comparing various transforms, experiments show the optimal transform for a motion frequency based approach.

Support Vector Machine for Persian Font Recognition

In this paper we examine the use of global texture analysis based approaches for the purpose of Persian font recognition in machine-printed document images. Most existing methods for font recognition make use of local typographical features and connected component analysis. However derivation of such features is not an easy task. Gabor filters are appropriate tools for texture analysis and are motivated by human visual system. Here we consider document images as textures and use Gabor filter responses for identifying the fonts. The method is content independent and involves no local feature analysis. Two different classifiers Weighted Euclidean Distance and SVM are used for the purpose of classification. Experiments on seven different type faces and four font styles show average accuracy of 85% with WED and 82% with SVM classifier over typefaces

Optimal Criteria for Non-Minimal Phase Plants

The paper describes the evaluation of quality of control for cases of controlled non-minimal phase plants. Control circuits containing non-minimal phase plants have different properties, they manifest reversed reaction at the beginning of unit step response. For these types of plants are developed special criterion of quality of control, which considers the difference and can be helpful for synthesis of optimal controller tuning. All results are clearly presented using Matlab/Simulink models.

Genetic Algorithms and Kernel Matrix-based Criteria Combined Approach to Perform Feature and Model Selection for Support Vector Machines

Feature and model selection are in the center of attention of many researches because of their impact on classifiers- performance. Both selections are usually performed separately but recent developments suggest using a combined GA-SVM approach to perform them simultaneously. This approach improves the performance of the classifier identifying the best subset of variables and the optimal parameters- values. Although GA-SVM is an effective method it is computationally expensive, thus a rough method can be considered. The paper investigates a joined approach of Genetic Algorithm and kernel matrix criteria to perform simultaneously feature and model selection for SVM classification problem. The purpose of this research is to improve the classification performance of SVM through an efficient approach, the Kernel Matrix Genetic Algorithm method (KMGA).

Efficient Block Matching Algorithm for Motion Estimation

Motion estimation is a key problem in video processing and computer vision. Optical flow motion estimation can achieve high estimation accuracy when motion vector is small. Three-step search algorithm can handle large motion vector but not very accurate. A joint algorithm was proposed in this paper to achieve high estimation accuracy disregarding whether the motion vector is small or large, and keep the computation cost much lower than full search.

Edge Detection in Digital Images Using Fuzzy Logic Technique

The fuzzy technique is an operator introduced in order to simulate at a mathematical level the compensatory behavior in process of decision making or subjective evaluation. The following paper introduces such operators on hand of computer vision application. In this paper a novel method based on fuzzy logic reasoning strategy is proposed for edge detection in digital images without determining the threshold value. The proposed approach begins by segmenting the images into regions using floating 3x3 binary matrix. The edge pixels are mapped to a range of values distinct from each other. The robustness of the proposed method results for different captured images are compared to those obtained with the linear Sobel operator. It is gave a permanent effect in the lines smoothness and straightness for the straight lines and good roundness for the curved lines. In the same time the corners get sharper and can be defined easily.

An Semantic Algorithm for Text Categoritation

Text categorization techniques are widely used to many Information Retrieval (IR) applications. In this paper, we proposed a simple but efficient method that can automatically find the relationship between any pair of terms and documents, also an indexing matrix is established for text categorization. We call this method Indexing Matrix Categorization Machine (IMCM). Several experiments are conducted to show the efficiency and robust of our algorithm.

FPGA based Relative Distance Measurement using Stereo Vision Technology

In this paper, we propose a novel concept of relative distance measurement using Stereo Vision Technology and discuss its implementation on a FPGA based real-time image processor. We capture two images using two CCD cameras and compare them. Disparity is calculated for each pixel using a real time dense disparity calculation algorithm. This algorithm is based on the concept of indexed histogram for matching. Disparity being inversely proportional to distance (Proved Later), we can thus get the relative distances of objects in front of the camera. The output is displayed on a TV screen in the form of a depth image (optionally using pseudo colors). This system works in real time on a full PAL frame rate (720 x 576 active pixels @ 25 fps).

Performance Comparison between Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and PD-PID Controllers for a Nonlinear Inverted Pendulum System

The objective of this paper is to compare the time specification performance between conventional controller PID and modern controller SMC for an inverted pendulum system. The goal is to determine which control strategy delivers better performance with respect to pendulum-s angle and cart-s position. The inverted pendulum represents a challenging control problem, which continually moves toward an uncontrolled state. Two controllers are presented such as Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and Proportional- Integral-Derivatives (PID) controllers for controlling the highly nonlinear system of inverted pendulum model. Simulation study has been done in Matlab Mfile and simulink environment shows that both controllers are capable to control multi output inverted pendulum system successfully. The result shows that Sliding Mode Control (SMC) produced better response compared to PID control strategies and the responses are presented in time domain with the details analysis.

Random Projections for Dimensionality Reduction in ICA

In this paper we present a technique to speed up ICA based on the idea of reducing the dimensionality of the data set preserving the quality of the results. In particular we refer to FastICA algorithm which uses the Kurtosis as statistical property to be maximized. By performing a particular Johnson-Lindenstrauss like projection of the data set, we find the minimum dimensionality reduction rate ¤ü, defined as the ratio between the size k of the reduced space and the original one d, which guarantees a narrow confidence interval of such estimator with high confidence level. The derived dimensionality reduction rate depends on a system control parameter β easily computed a priori on the basis of the observations only. Extensive simulations have been done on different sets of real world signals. They show that actually the dimensionality reduction is very high, it preserves the quality of the decomposition and impressively speeds up FastICA. On the other hand, a set of signals, on which the estimated reduction rate is greater than 1, exhibits bad decomposition results if reduced, thus validating the reliability of the parameter β. We are confident that our method will lead to a better approach to real time applications.

Object Alignment for Military Optical Surveillance

Electro-optical devices are increasingly used for military sea-, land- and air applications to detect, recognize and track objects. Typically, these devices produce video information that is presented to an operator. However, with increasing availability of electro-optical devices the data volume is becoming very large, creating a rising need for automated analysis. In a military setting, this typically involves detecting and recognizing objects at a large distance, i.e. when they are difficult to distinguish from background and noise. One may consider combining multiple images from a video stream into a single enhanced image that provides more information for the operator. In this paper we investigate a simple algorithm to enhance simulated images from a military context and investigate how the enhancement is affected by various types of disturbance.

An Approach to Adaptive Load Balancing for RFID Middlewares

Recently, there have been an increasing interest in RFID system and RFID systems have been applied to various applications. Load balancing is a fundamental technique for providing scalability of systems by moving workload from overloaded nodes to under-loaded nodes. This paper presents an approach to adaptive load balancing for RFID middlewares. Workloads of RFID middlewares can have a considerable variation according to the location of the connected RFID readers and can abruptly change at a particular instance. The proposed approach considers those characteristics of RFID middle- wares to provide an efficient load balancing.

Sperm Whale Signal Analysis: Comparison using the Auto Regressive model and the Daubechies 15 Wavelets Transform

This article presents the results using a parametric approach and a Wavelet Transform in analysing signals emitting from the sperm whale. The extraction of intrinsic characteristics of these unique signals emitted by marine mammals is still at present a difficult exercise for various reasons: firstly, it concerns non-stationary signals, and secondly, these signals are obstructed by interfering background noise. In this article, we compare the advantages and disadvantages of both methods: Auto Regressive models and Wavelet Transform. These approaches serve as an alternative to the commonly used estimators which are based on the Fourier Transform for which the hypotheses necessary for its application are in certain cases, not sufficiently proven. These modern approaches provide effective results particularly for the periodic tracking of the signal's characteristics and notably when the signal-to-noise ratio negatively effects signal tracking. Our objectives are twofold. Our first goal is to identify the animal through its acoustic signature. This includes recognition of the marine mammal species and ultimately of the individual animal (within the species). The second is much more ambitious and directly involves the intervention of cetologists to study the sounds emitted by marine mammals in an effort to characterize their behaviour. We are working on an approach based on the recordings of marine mammal signals and the findings from this data result from the Wavelet Transform. This article will explore the reasons for using this approach. In addition, thanks to the use of new processors, these algorithms once heavy in calculation time can be integrated in a real-time system.

Improving Packet Latency of Video Sensor Networks

Video sensor networks operate on stringent requirements of latency. Packets have a deadline within which they have to be delivered. Violation of the deadline causes a packet to be treated as lost and the loss of packets ultimately affects the quality of the application. Network latency is typically a function of many interacting components. In this paper, we propose ways of reducing the forwarding latency of a packet at intermediate nodes. The forwarding latency is caused by a combination of processing delay and queueing delay. The former is incurred in order to determine the next hop in dynamic routing. We show that unless link failures in a very specific and unlikely pattern, a vast majority of these lookups are redundant. To counter this we propose source routing as the routing strategy. However, source routing suffers from issues related to scalability and being impervious to network dynamics. We propose solutions to counter these and show that source routing is definitely a viable option in practical sized video networks. We also propose a fast and fair packet scheduling algorithm that reduces queueing delay at the nodes. We support our claims through extensive simulation on realistic topologies with practical traffic loads and failure patterns.