Board-level prototype validation: a built-in controller and extended BST architecture

Prototype validation is a major concern in modern electronic product design and development. Simulation, structural test, functional and timing debug are all forming parts of the validation process, although very often addressed as dissociated tasks. In this paper we describe an integrated approach to board-level prototype validation, based on a set of mandatory/optional BST instructions and a built-in controller for debug and test, that addresses the late mentioned tasks as inherent parts of a whole process

Work-in-progress on a thin IEEE1451.0 - architecture to implement reconfigurable Weblab infrastructures

Institutions have been creating their own specific weblab infrastructures. Usually, they use distinct software and hardware architectures comprehending instruments and modules (I&M) able to be parameterized but difficult to be shared. These aspects are impairing their widespread in education, since collaboration between institutions, in developing and sharing resources, is still low. To handle both aspects, this paper proposes the adoption of the IEEE1451.0 Std. with FPGA technology for creating reconfigurable weblab infrastructures. It is suggested the adoption of an IEEE1451.0 infrastructure with compatible instruments, described in Hardware Description Languages (HDL), to be reconfigured in FPGA-based boards. Besides an overview of the IEEE1451.0 Std., this paper presents a solution currently under development which seeks to enable the reconfiguration and the remote control of weblab infrastructures using a set of IEEE1451.0 HTTP commands.

Remote and mobile experimentation: pushing the boundaries of an ubiquitous learning place

Concepts like E-learning and M-learning are changing the traditional learning place. No longer restricted to well-defined physical places, education on Automation and other Engineering areas is entering the so-called ubiquitous learning place, where even the more practical knowledge (acquired at lab classes) is now moving into, due to emergent concepts such as Remote Experimentation or Mobile Experimentation. While Remote Experimentation is traditionally regarded as the remote access to real-world experiments through a simple web browser running on a PC connected to the Internet, Mobile Experimentation may be seen as the access to those same (or others) experiments, through mobile devices, used in M-learning contexts. These two distinct client types (PCs versus mobile devices) pose specific requirements for the remote lab infrastructure, namely the ability to tune the experiment interface according to the characteristics (e.g. display size) of the accessing device. This paper addresses those requirements, namely by proposing a new architecture for the remote lab infrastructure able to accommodate both Remote and Mobile Experimentation scenarios.

EduMCA: an approach to Educational Mobile Content Adaptation

As the variety of mobile devices connected to the Internet growts there is a correponding increase in the need to deliver content tailored to their heterogeneous characteristics. At the same time, we watch to the increase of e-learning in universities through the adoption of electronic platforms and standards. Not surprisingly, the concept of mLearning (Mobile Learning) appeared in recent years decreasing the limitation of learning location with the mobility of general portable devices. However, this large number and variety of Web-enabled devices poses several challenges for Web content creators who want to automatic get the delivery context and adapt the content to the client mobile devices. In this paper we analyze several approaches to defining delivery context and present an architecture for deliver uniform mLearning content to mobile devices denominated eduMCA - Educational Mobile Content Adaptation. With the eduMCA system the Web authors will not need to create specialized pages for each kind of device, since the content is automatically transformed to adapt to any mobile device capabilities from WAP to XHTML MP-compliant devices.

Creating and optimizing client-server applications on mobile devices

Mobile devices are embedded systems with very limited capacities that need to be considered when developing a client-server application, mainly due to technical, ergonomic and economic implications to the mobile user. With the increasing popularity of mobile computing, many developers have faced problems due to low performance of devices. In this paper, we discuss how to optimize and create client-server applications for in wireless/mobile environments, presenting techniques to improve overall performance.

Multiagent System Architecture for Short-term Operation of Integrated Microgrids

The forthcoming smart grids are comprised of integrated microgrids operating in grid-connected and isolated mode with local generation, storage and demand response (DR) programs. The proposed model is based on three successive complementary steps for power transaction in the market environment. The first step is characterized as a microgrid’s internal market; the second concerns negotiations between distinct interconnected microgrids; and finally, the third refers to the actual electricity market. The proposed approach is modeled and tested using a MAS framework directed to the study of the smart grids environment, including the simulation of electricity markets. This is achieved through the integration of the proposed approach with the MASGriP (Multi-Agent Smart Grid Platform) system.

Environmental/Regatta Buoy: Sensing System

Um dos principais objetivos da ciência é perceber a natureza, i.e., descobrir e explicar o funcionamento do mundo que nos rodeia. Para tal, os cientistas precisam de coligir dados e monitorar o meio ambiente. Em particular, considerando que cerca de 70% da Terra é coberta por água, a coleta de parâmetros de caracterização da água de grandes superfícies é uma prioridade. A monitorização das condições da água é feita principalmente através de bóias. No entanto, as bóias disponíveis no mercado não satisfazem as necessidades existentes. Esta é uma das principais razões que levaram o Laboratório de Sistemas Autónomos (LSA) do Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto a lançarem um projeto para o desenvolvimento de uma bóia reconfigurável e com dois modos de funcionamento: monitorização ambiental e baliza ativa de regata. O segundo modo é destinado a regatas de veleiros autónomos. O projeto começou há um ano com um projeto do European Project Project [1] (EPS), realizado por quatro estudantes internacionais, destinado à construção da estrutura da bóia e à selecção dos componentes mais adequados para o sistema de medição e controlo. A arquitetura que foi definida para este sistema é do tipo mestre-escravo e é composta por uma unidade de controlo mestre para a telemetria e configuração e uma unidade de controlo escrava para a medição e armazenamento de dados. O desenvolvimento do projeto continuou com dois estudantes belgas que trabalharam na comunicação e no armazenamento de dados. Este projeto, que prossegue com o desenvolvimento da medição e do armazenamento de dados do lado da unidade de controlo escrava, tem os seguintes objetivos: (i ) implementar o protocolo de comunicação na unidade de controlo escrava; (ii ) coligir e armazenar os dados dos sensores no cartão SD em tempo real; (iii ) fornecer dados em tempo útil; e (iv) recuperar dados do cartão SD em tempo diferido. As contribuições anteriores foram estudadas e foi feito um levantamento dos projetos congéneres existentes. O desenvolvimento do projeto atual começou com o protocolo de comunicação. Este protocolo, que foi projetado pelos alunos anteriores, foi um bom ponto de partida. No entanto, o protocolo foi atualizado e melhorado com novas funcionalidades. Esta última componente foi um trabalho conjunto com Laurens Allart, que esteve a trabalhar no subsistema de telemetria e de configuração durante este semestre. O protocolo foi implementado do lado da unidade de controlo escrava através de uma estrutura de múltiplas actividades paralelas (multithreaded). Esta estrutura recebe as mensagens da unidade mestre, executa as ações solicitadas e envia de volta o resultado. A bóia é um dispositivo reconfigurável multimodo que pode ser expandido com novos modos de operação no futuro. Infelizmente, sofre de algumas limitações: suporta uma carga máxima de 40 kg e tem uma área de implantação limitada pela distância máxima à estacão base.

TEA: Timing and Energy Aware compression architecture for Efficient Configuration in CGRAs

Coarse Grained Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRAs) are emerging as enabling platforms to meet the high performance demanded by modern applications (e.g. 4G, CDMA, etc.). Recently proposed CGRAs offer time-multiplexing and dynamic applications parallelism to enhance device utilization and reduce energy consumption at the cost of additional memory (up to 50% area of the overall platform). To reduce the memory overheads, novel CGRAs employ either statistical compression, intermediate compact representation, or multicasting. Each compaction technique has different properties (i.e. compression ratio, decompression time and decompression energy) and is best suited for a particular class of applications. However, existing research only deals with these methods separately. Moreover, they only analyze the compaction ratio and do not evaluate the associated energy overheads. To tackle these issues, we propose a polymorphic compression architecture that interleaves these techniques in a unique platform. The proposed architecture allows each application to take advantage of a separate compression/decompression hierarchy (consisting of various types and implementations of hardware/software decoders) tailored to its needs. Simulation results, using different applications (FFT, Matrix multiplication, and WLAN), reveal that the choice of compression hierarchy has a significant impact on compression ratio (up to 52%), decompression energy (up to 4 orders of magnitude), and configuration time (from 33 n to 1.5 s) for the tested applications. Synthesis results reveal that introducing adaptivity incurs negligible additional overheads (1%) compared to the overall platform area.

A Novel Run-Time Monitoring Architecture for Safe and Efficient Inline Monitoring

20th International Conference on Reliable Software Technologies - Ada-Europe 2015 (Ada-Europe 2015), Madrid, Spain.

A module for the XDense architecture in ns-3

Demo in Workshop on ns-3 (WNS3 2015). 13 to 14, May, 2015. Castelldefels, Spain.

A Novel Runtime Monitoring Architecture

Poster presented in 28th GI/ITG International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems (ARCS 2015). 25 to 28, Mar, 2015, Poster Session. Porto, Portugal.

Architecture to Support Quality of Service in Arrowhead Systems

Presented at INForum - Simpósio de Informática (INFORUM 2015). 7 to 8, Sep, 2015. Covilhã, Portugal.

Run-time Monitoring Architecture for RealTime Systems

Presented at INForum - Simpósio de Informática (INFORUM 2015). 7 to 8, Sep, 2015. Portugal.

Crowdsourcing innovation: a proposal for a brokering architecture focused in the innovation needs of SMEs

Crowdsourcing is evolving into powerful outsourcing options for organizations by providing access to the intellectual capital within a vast knowledge community. Innovation brokering services have emerged to facilitate crowdsourcing projects by connecting up companies with potential solution providers within the wider ‘crowd’. Most existing innovation brokering services are primarily aimed at larger organizations, however, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) offer considerable potential for crowdsourcing activity since they are typically the innovation and employment engines in society; they are typically more nimble and responsive to the business environment than the larger companies. SMEs have very different challenges and needs to larger organizations since they have fewer resources, a more limited knowledge and skill base, and immature management practices. Consequently, innovation brokering for SMEs require considerably more support than for larger organizations. This paper identifies the crowdsourcing innovation brokerage facilities needed by SMEs, and presents an architecture that encourages knowledge sharing, development of community, support in mixing and matching capabilities, and management of stakeholders’ risks. Innovation brokering is emerging as a novel business model that is challenging concepts of the traditional value chain and organizational boundaries.