Heterogeneous data source access for mobile devices

The mediator software architecture design has been developed to provide data integration and retrieval in distributed, heterogeneous environments. Since the initial conceptualization of this architecture, many new technologies have emerged that can facilitate the implementation of this design. The purpose of this thesis was to show that a mediator framework supporting users of mobile devices could be implemented using common software technologies available today. In addition, the prototype was developed with a view to providing a better understanding of what a mediator is and to expose issues that will have to be addressed in full, more robust designs. The prototype developed for this thesis was implemented using various technologies including: Java, XML, and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) among others. SOAP was used to accomplish inter-process communication. In the end, it is expected that more data intensive software applications will be possible in a world with ever-increasing demands for information.

Internet Protocol (IP) design and implementation for efficient mobility to devices in wireless networks

The purpose of this thesis was to develop an efficient routing protocol which would provide mobility support to the mobile devices roaming within a network. The routing protocol need to be compatible with the existing internet architecture. The routing protocol proposed here is based on the Mobile IP routing protocol and could solve some of the problems existing in current Mobile IP implementation e.g. ingress filtering problem. By implementing an efficient timeout mechanism and introducing Paging mechanism to the wireless network, the protocol minimizes the number of control messages sent over the network. The implementation of the system is primarily done on three components: 1) Mobile devices that need to gain access to the network, 2) Router which would be providing roaming support to the mobile devices and 3) Database server providing basic authentication services on the system. As a result, an efficient IP routing protocol is developed which would provide seamless mobility to the mobile devices on the network.

Design and evaluation of a consulting system for database design

Database design is a difficult problem for non-expert designers. It is desirable to assist such designers during the problem solving process by means of a knowledge based (KB) system. Although a number of prototype KB systems have been proposed, there are many shortcomings. Firstly, few have incorporated sufficient expertise in modeling relationships, particularly higher order relationships. Secondly, there does not seem to be any published empirical study that experimentally tested the effectiveness of any of these KB tools. Thirdly, problem solving behavior of non-experts, whom the systems were intended to assist, has not been one of the bases for system design. In this project, a consulting system, called CODA, for conceptual database design that addresses the above short comings was developed and empirically validated. More specifically, the CODA system incorporates (a) findings on why non-experts commit errors and (b) heuristics for modeling relationships. Two approaches to knowledge base implementation were used and compared in this project, namely system restrictiveness and decisional guidance (Silver 1990). The Restrictive system uses a proscriptive approach and limits the designer's choices at various design phases by forcing him/her to follow a specific design path. The Guidance system approach, which is less restrictive, involves providing context specific, informative and suggestive guidance throughout the design process. Both the approaches would prevent erroneous design decisions. The main objectives of the study are to evaluate (1) whether the knowledge-based system is more effective than the system without a knowledge-base and (2) which approach to knowledge implementation - whether Restrictive or Guidance - is more effective. To evaluate the effectiveness of the knowledge base itself, the systems were compared with a system that does not incorporate the expertise (Control). An experimental procedure using student subjects was used to test the effectiveness of the systems. The subjects solved a task without using the system (pre-treatment task) and another task using one of the three systems, viz. Control, Guidance or Restrictive (experimental task). Analysis of experimental task scores of those subjects who performed satisfactorily in the pre-treatment task revealed that the knowledge based approach to database design support lead to more accurate solutions than the control system. Among the two KB approaches, Guidance approach was found to lead to better performance when compared to the Control system. It was found that the subjects perceived the Restrictive system easier to use than the Guidance system.

Gamification e rilevazione di barriere architettoniche: un caso di studio con applicazioni mobili

Questo volume di tesi descrive lo sviluppo di un'applicazione cross-platform per la raccolta dati sull'accessibilità urbana. E' stato creato un Pervasive GWAP strutturato in modo tale da raccogliere, tramite un gioco in mixed-reality, dati sulla geolocalizzazione delle barriere/facility architettoniche in ambiente urbano, in modo da mappare il territorio. Il gioco è rivolto a bambini accompagnati da insegnanti/genitori e prevede l'utilizzo di dispositivi mobili quali tablet e smartphone con sistema operativo Andoid. E' stata utilizzata la funzione GPS dei dispositivi per la geolocalizzazione dei giocatori e delle barriere/facility segnalate e la CAMERA per lo scan dei Qr-Code utilizzati come incentivo per intrattenere gli utenti. L'applicazione è scritta utilizzando tecnologie web quali HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, JSON e grazie all'utilizzo del framework Apache Cordova è stato possibile lo sviluppo multipiattaforma. Questo strumento permette di utilizzare tecnologie web per lo sviluppo di applicazioni mobile, generando codice nativo supportato da sistemi operativi quali Android, iOS, BlackBerry.

Design de interfaces dinâmicos em sistemas de gestão de conteúdos

Relatório de Estágio para a obtenção do grau de Mestre na área de Educação e Comunicação Multimédia

Development of a New Client-Server Architecture for Context Aware Mobile Computing

This dissertation studies the context-aware application with its proposed algorithms at client side. The required context-aware infrastructure is discussed in depth to illustrate that such an infrastructure collects the mobile user’s context information, registers service providers, derives mobile user’s current context, distributes user context among context-aware applications, and provides tailored services. The approach proposed tries to strike a balance between the context server and mobile devices. The context acquisition is centralized at the server to ensure the usability of context information among mobile devices, while context reasoning remains at the application level. Hence, a centralized context acquisition and distributed context reasoning are viewed as a better solution overall. The context-aware search application is designed and implemented at the server side. A new algorithm is proposed to take into consideration the user context profiles. By promoting feedback on the dynamics of the system, any prior user selection is now saved for further analysis such that it may contribute to help the results of a subsequent search. On the basis of these developments at the server side, various solutions are consequently provided at the client side. A proxy software-based component is set up for the purpose of data collection. This research endorses the belief that the proxy at the client side should contain the context reasoning component. Implementation of such a component provides credence to this belief in that the context applications are able to derive the user context profiles. Furthermore, a context cache scheme is implemented to manage the cache on the client device in order to minimize processing requirements and other resources (bandwidth, CPU cycle, power). Java and MySQL platforms are used to implement the proposed architecture and to test scenarios derived from user’s daily activities. To meet the practical demands required of a testing environment without the impositions of a heavy cost for establishing such a comprehensive infrastructure, a software simulation using a free Yahoo search API is provided as a means to evaluate the effectiveness of the design approach in a most realistic way. The integration of Yahoo search engine into the context-aware architecture design proves how context aware application can meet user demands for tailored services and products in and around the user’s environment. The test results show that the overall design is highly effective,providing new features and enriching the mobile user’s experience through a broad scope of potential applications.

Redefinición de las TIC en el museo: del discurso invasivo al inclusivo

Las TIC son inseparables de la museografía in situ e imprescindibles en la museografía en red fija y móvil. En demasiados casos se han instalado prótesis tecnológicas para barnizar de modernidad el espacio cultural, olvidando que la tecnología debe estar al servicio de los contenidos de manera que resulte invisible y perfectamente imbricada con la museografía tradicional. Las interfaces móviles pueden fusionar museo in situ y en red y acompañar a las personas más allá del espacio físico. Esa fusión debe partir de una base de datos narrativa y abierta a obras materiales e inmateriales de otros museos de manera que no se trasladen las limitaciones del museo físico al virtual. En el museo in situ tienen sentido las instalaciones hipermedia inmersivas que faciliten experiencias culturales innovadoras. La interactividad (relaciones virtuales) debe convivir con la interacción (relaciones físicas y personales) y estar al servicio de todas las personas, partiendo de que todas, todos tenemos limitaciones. Trabajar interdisciplinarmente ayuda a comprender mejor el museo para ponerlo al servicio de las personas.

N-opcode analysis for android malware classification and categorization

Malware detection is a growing problem particularly on the Android mobile platform due to its increasing popularity and accessibility to numerous third party app markets. This has also been made worse by the increasingly sophisticated detection avoidance techniques employed by emerging malware families. This calls for more effective techniques for detection and classification of Android malware. Hence, in this paper we present an n-opcode analysis based approach that utilizes machine learning to classify and categorize Android malware. This approach enables automated feature discovery that eliminates the need for applying expert or domain knowledge to define the needed features. Our experiments on 2520 samples that were performed using up to 10-gram opcode features showed that an f-measure of 98% is achievable using this approach.

Dynalog: an automated dynamic analysis framework for characterizing android applications

Android is becoming ubiquitous and currently has the largest share of the mobile OS market with billions of application downloads from the official app market. It has also become the platform most targeted by mobile malware that are becoming more sophisticated to evade state-of-the-art detection approaches. Many Android malware families employ obfuscation techniques in order to avoid detection and this may defeat static analysis based approaches. Dynamic analysis on the other hand may be used to overcome this limitation. Hence in this paper we propose DynaLog, a dynamic analysis based framework for characterizing Android applications. The framework provides the capability to analyse the behaviour of applications based on an extensive number of dynamic features. It provides an automated platform for mass analysis and characterization of apps that is useful for quickly identifying and isolating malicious applications. The DynaLog framework leverages existing open source tools to extract and log high level behaviours, API calls, and critical events that can be used to explore the characteristics of an application, thus providing an extensible dynamic analysis platform for detecting Android malware. DynaLog is evaluated using real malware samples and clean applications demonstrating its capabilities for effective analysis and detection of malicious applications.

JCML: A specification language for the runtime verification of Java Card programs

COSTA, Umberto Souza; MOREIRA, Anamaria Martins; MUSICANTE, Matin A.; SOUZA NETO, Plácido A. JCML: A specification language for the runtime verification of Java Card programs. Science of Computer Programming. [S.l]: [s.n], 2010.

Specification and Runtime Verification of Java Card Programs

COSTA, Umberto Souza da; MOREIRA, Anamaria Martins; MUSICANTE, Martin A. Specification and Runtime Verification of Java Card Programs. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science. [S.l:s.n], 2009.

Sviluppo di una app di ausilio per persone non vedenti per Android

La tesi prevede lo sviluppo di una app di ausilio per persone non vedenti per ambiente Android. L'applicazione ha due scopi principali: rilevazione degli ostacoli che l'utente incontra nel proprio cammino, tramite un apposito visore, con successivo invio di informazioni sugli ostacoli rilevati tramite output audio e tattili e realizzazione di una versione personalizzata di Google Maps che l'utente può utilizzare nella maniera più comoda e sicura possibile.

JCML: A specification language for the runtime verification of Java Card programs

COSTA, Umberto Souza; MOREIRA, Anamaria Martins; MUSICANTE, Matin A.; SOUZA NETO, Plácido A. JCML: A specification language for the runtime verification of Java Card programs. Science of Computer Programming. [S.l]: [s.n], 2010.

Specification and Runtime Verification of Java Card Programs

COSTA, Umberto Souza da; MOREIRA, Anamaria Martins; MUSICANTE, Martin A. Specification and Runtime Verification of Java Card Programs. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science. [S.l:s.n], 2009.

Design de interfaces dinâmicos em sistemas de gestão de conteúdos

Relatório de Estágio para a obtenção do grau de Mestre na área de Educação e Comunicação Multimédia