Massively Parallel Systems (MPSs) with their scalable computation and storage space promises are becoming increasingly important for high-performance computing. The growing acceptance of MPSs in academia is clearly apparent. However, in industrial companies, their usage remains low. The programming of MPSs is still the big obstacle, and solving this software problem is sometimes referred to as one of the most challenging tasks of the 1990's. The 1994 working conference on "Programming Environments for Massively Parallel Systems" was the latest event of the working group WG 10.3 of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) in this field. It succeeded the 1992 conference in Edinburgh on "Programming Environments for Parallel Computing." The research and development work discussed at the conference addresses the entire spectrum of software problems including virtual machines which are less cumbersome to program; more convenient programming models; advanced programming languages, and especially more sophisticated programming tools; but also algorithms and applications.

This volume gives an overview of the state-of-the-art with respect to the development of all types of parallel computers and their application to a wide range of problem areas.

The international conference on parallel computing ParCo97 (Parallel Computing 97) was held in Bonn, Germany from 19 to 22 September 1997. The first conference in this biannual series was held in 1983 in Berlin. Further conferences were held in Leiden (The Netherlands), London (UK), Grenoble (France) and Gent (Belgium).

From the outset the aim with the ParCo (Parallel Computing) conferences was to promote the application of parallel computers to solve real life problems. In the case of ParCo97 a new milestone was reached in that more than half of the papers and posters presented were concerned with application aspects. This fact reflects the coming of age of parallel computing.

Some 200 papers were submitted to the Program Committee by authors from all over the world. The final programme consisted of four invited papers, 71 contributed scientific/industrial papers and 45 posters. In addition a panel discussion on Parallel Computing and the Evolution of Cyberspace was held. During and after the conference all final contributions were refereed. Only those papers and
posters accepted during this final screening process are included in this volume.

The practical emphasis of the conference was accentuated by an industrial exhibition where companies demonstrated the newest developments in parallel processing equipment and software. Speakers from participating companies presented papers in industrial sessions in which new developments in parallel computing were reported.

This book examines some of the underlying processes behind different forms of information management, including how we store information in our brains, the impact of new technologies such as computers and robots on our efficiency in storing information, and how information is stored in families and in society. The editors brought together experts from a variety of disciplines. While it is generally agreed that information reduces uncertainties and that the ability to store it safely is of vital importance, these authors are open to different meanings of "information": computer science considers the bit as the information block; neuroscience emphasizes the importance of information as sensory inputs that are processed and transformed in the brain; theories in psychology focus more on individual learning and on the acquisition of knowledge; and finally sociology looks at how interpersonal processes within groups or society itself come to the fore. The book will be of value to researchers and students in the areas of information theory, artificial intelligence, and computational neuroscience.

Grid and cloud computing both facilitate an increase in computing resources by the development of new connections to existing systems. Evolving Developments in Grid and Cloud Computing: Advancing Research contains investigations of grid and cloud evolution, workflow management, and the impact new computing systems have on education and industry. Targeted at both researchers and IT professionals, this book provides current trends and emerging issues in cloud and grid architectures, standards and performance analysis.

This book discusses the design and performance analysis of SDRAM controllers that cater to both real-time and best-effort applications, i.e. mixed-time-criticality memory controllers. The authors describe the state of the art, and then focus on an architecture template for reconfigurable memory controllers that addresses effectively the quickly evolving set of SDRAM standards, in terms of worst-case timing and power analysis, as well as implementation. A prototype implementation of the controller in SystemC and synthesizable VHDL for an FPGA development board are used as a proof of concept of the architecture template.

This book discusses analysis, design and optimization techniques for streaming multiprocessor systems, while satisfying a given area, performance, and energy budget. The authors describe design flows for both application-specific and general purpose streaming systems. Coverage also includes the use of machine learning for thermal optimization at run-time, when an application is being executed. The design flow described in this book extends to thermal and energy optimization with multiple applications running sequentially and concurrently.

Modern applications of logic, in mathematics, theoretical computer science, and linguistics, require combined systems involving many different logics working together. In this book the author offers a basic methodology for combining - or fibring - systems. This means that many existing complex systems can be broken down into simpler components, hence making them much easier to manipulate.

This book puts the spotlight on how a real-time kernel works using Micrium s C/OS-III as a reference. The book consists of two complete parts. The first describes real-time kernels in generic terms. Part II provide examples for the reader, using Texas Instruments EVM-EVALBOT, a small, robotic evaluation board. The board is based on the Stellaris LM3S9B92 which combines the popular ARM Cortex-M3(r) architecture with Ethernet MAC+PHY, USB OTG (On-The-Go), and I2S. Together with the IAR Systems Embedded Workbench for ARM development tools, the evaluation board provides everything necessary to enable the reader to be up and running quickly, as well as a fun and educational experience, resulting in a high-level of proficiency in a short time.

This book is written for serious embedded systems programmers, consultants, hobbyists, and students interested in understanding the inner workings of a real-time kernel. C/OS-III is not just a great learning platform, but also a full commercial-grade software package, ready to be part of a wide range of products.

C/OS-III is a highly portable, ROMable, scalable, preemptive real-time, multitasking kernel designed specifically to address the demanding requirements of today s embedded systems. C/OS-III is the successor to the highly popular C/OS-II real-time kernel but can use most of C/OS-II s ports with minor modifications. Some of the features of C/OS-III are:

Preemptive multitasking with round-robin scheduling of tasks at the same priority
Supports and unlimited number of tasks and other kernel objects
Rich set of services: semaphores, mutual exclusion semaphores with full priority inheritance, event flags, message queues, timers, fixed-size memory block management, and more. Built-in performance measurements

Covering system architecture, implementation and testing, this work is written by authors who are widely experienced with cellular radio in general and with GSM in particular. It provides a structured overview to help make sense of the GSM specifications and surveys competing cellular systems such as NADC and CDMA. Practical testing applications are explored in depth and compared with similar techniques used with analogue cellular systems.

This book introduces a new level of abstraction that closes the gap between the textual specification of embedded systems and the executable model at the Electronic System Level (ESL). Readers will be enabled to operate at this new, Formal Specification Level (FSL), using models which not only allow significant verification tasks in this early stage of the design flow, but also can be extracted semi-automatically from the textual specification in an interactive manner. The authors explain how to use these verification tasks to check conceptual properties, e.g. whether requirements are in conflict, as well as dynamic behavior, in terms of execution traces.

Readers seeking to gain a handle on the internet's global expansion will find this book rich in scholarly foundations combined with cutting-edge discussion of emerging ICTs and services and the complex societal contexts in which they are embedded. To explore possibilities to the fullest extent, a sociotechnical systems approach is employed, focusing on the interplay of technical, social, cultural, political, and economic dynamics to explore alternative futures (ones that are not part of the dominant discourse about the internet). These shared perspectives are not well addressed elsewhere in current discussions. Awareness of these dynamics, and the fluidity of the future, is important, as humankind moves forward into the uncertain future. Due to the sociotechnical complexity of the Internet, policymakers, businesspeople, and academics worldwide have struggled to keep abreast of developments. This volume's approach is intended to stimulate dialogue between academics and practitioners on a topic that will affect most aspects of human life in the near-term future.

This thesis focuses on the problem of optimizing the quality of network multimedia services. This problem spans multiple domains, from subjective perception of multimedia quality to computer networks management. The work done in this thesis approaches the problem at different levels, developing methods for modeling the subjective perception of quality based on objectively measurable parameters of the multimedia coding process as well as the transport over computer networks. The modeling of subjective perception is motivated by work done in psychophysics, while using Machine Learning techniques to map network conditions to the human perception of video services. Furthermore, the work develops models for efficient control of multimedia systems operating in dynamic networked environments with the goal of delivering optimized Quality of Experience. Overall this thesis delivers a set of methods for monitoring and optimizing the quality of multimedia services that adapt to the dynamic environment of computer networks in which they operate.

This book highlights how real-time kernels work, using Micrium s C/OS-III as a reference. The book consists of two parts: Part I describes real-time kernels in generic terms, while Part II provides practical examples using NXP s LPC1768 Microcontroller, based on the ARM Cortex M3(rev 2) architecture. A companion evaluation board (Keil MCB1700) and IDE (Keil MDK Evaluation Version) enable the reader to quickly and easily evaluate the microcontroller, tools and RTOS. A range of examples are included, providing a unique hands-on experience, and leading to a faster and better understanding of the concepts presented in the book.

This book is written for serious embedded systems programmers, consultants, hobbyists, and students interested in understanding the inner workings of a real-time kernel. C/OS-III is not just a great learning platform, but also a full commercial-grade software package, ready to be part of a wide range of products.

C/OS-III is a highly portable, ROMable, scalable, preemptive real-time, multitasking kernel designed specifically to address the demanding requirements of today s embedded systems. C/OS-III is the successor to the highly popular C/OS-II real-time kernel but can use most of C/OS-II s ports with minor modifications. Some of the features of C/OS-III are:

Preemptive multitasking with round-robin scheduling of tasks at the same priority
Supports and unlimited number of tasks and other kernel objects
Rich set of services: semaphores, mutual exclusion semaphores with full priority inheritance, event flags, message queues, timers, fixed-size memory block management, and more.
Built-in performance measurements

This two-part book puts the spotlight on how a real-time kernel works using Micrium's C/OS-III kernel as a reference. Part I includes an overview of the operation of real-time kernels, and walks through various aspects of C/OS-III implementation and usage. Part II provides application examples (using the versatile Renesas YRDKRX62N Evaluation Board, available separately) that enable readers to rapidly develop their own prototypes. This book is written for serious embedded systems programmers, consultants, hobbyists, and students interested in understanding the inner workings of a real-time kernel. C/OS-III is not just a great learning platform, but also a full commercial-grade software package, ready to be part of a wide range of products. C/OS-III is a highly portable, ROMable, scalable, preemptive real-time, multitasking kernel designed specifically to address the demanding requirements of today 's embedded systems. C/OS-III is the successor to the highly popular C/OS-II real-time kernel but can use most of C/OS-II 's ports with minor modifications. Some of the features of C/OS-III are:

Preemptive multitasking with round-robin scheduling of tasks at the same priority
Supports and unlimited number of tasks and other kernel objects
Rich set of services: semaphores, mutual exclusion semaphores with full priority inheritance, event flags, message queues, timers, fixed-size memory block management, and more.
Built-in performance measurements

This two-volume set focuses on fundamental concepts and design goals (i.e., a switch/router's key features), architectures, and practical applications of switch/routers in IP networks. The discussion includes practical design examples to illustrate how switch/routers are designed and how the key features are implemented. Designing Switch/Routers: Fundamental Concepts, Design Methods, Architectures, and Applications begins by providing an introductory level discussion that covers the functions and architectures of the switch/router. The first book considers the switch/router as a generic Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding device without placing emphasis on any particular manufacturer's device. The underlining concepts and design methods are not only positioned to be applicable to this generic switch/router, but also to the typical switch/router seen in the industry. The discussion provides a better insight into the protocols, methods, processes, and tools that go into designing switch/routers. The second volume explains the design and architectural considerations, as well as, the typical processes and steps used to build practical switch/routers. It then discusses the advantages of using Ethernet in today's networks and why Ethernet continues to play a bigger role in Local Area Network (LAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), and Wide Area Network (WAN) design. This book set provides a discussion of the design of switch/routers and is written in a style to appeal to undergraduate and graduate-level students, engineers, and researchers in the networking and telecoms industry, as well as academics and other industry professionals. The material and discussion are structured in such a way that they could serve as standalone teaching material for networking and telecom courses and/or supplementary material for such courses.

This book-presents new methods and tools for the integration and simulation of smart devices. The design approach described in this book explicitly accounts for integration of Smart Systems components and subsystems as a specific constraint. It includes methodologies and EDA tools to enable multi-disciplinary and multi-scale modeling and design, simulation of multi-domain systems, subsystems and components at all levels of abstraction, system integration and exploration for optimization of functional and non-functional metrics. By covering theoretical and practical aspects of smart device design, this book targets people who are working and studying on hardware/software modelling, component integration and simulation under different positions (system integrators, designers, developers, researchers, teachers, students etc.). In particular, it is a good introduction to people who have interest in managing heterogeneous components in an efficient and effective way on different domains and different abstraction levels. People active in smart device development can understand both the current status of practice and future research directions. * Provides a comprehensive overview of smart systems design, focusing on design challenges and cutting-edge solutions; * Enables development of a co-simulation and co-design environment that accounts for the peculiarities of the basic subsystems and components to be integrated; * Describes development of modeling and design techniques, methods and tools that enable multi-domain simulation and optimization at various levels of abstraction and across different technological domains.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of both theoretical and pragmatic aspects of resource-allocation and scheduling in multiprocessor and multicore hard-real-time systems. The authors derive new, abstract models of real-time tasks that capture accurately the salient features of real application systems that are to be implemented on multiprocessor platforms, and identify rules for mapping application systems onto the most appropriate models. New run-time multiprocessor scheduling algorithms are presented, which are demonstrably better than those currently used, both in terms of run-time efficiency and tractability of off-line analysis. Readers will benefit from a new design and analysis framework for multiprocessor real-time systems, which will translate into a significantly enhanced ability to provide formally verified, safety-critical real-time systems at a significantly lower cost.

This thesis takes an empirical approach to understanding of the behavior and interactions between the two main components of reinforcement learning: the learning algorithm and the functional representation of learned knowledge. The author approaches these entities using design of experiments not commonly employed to study machine learning methods. The results outlined in this work provide insight as to what enables and what has an effect on successful reinforcement learning implementations so that this learning method can be applied to more challenging problems.

A smart building is the state-of-art in building with features that facilitates informed decision making based on the available data through smart metering and IoT sensors. This set provides useful information for developing smart buildings including significant improvement of energy efficiency, implementation of operational improvements and targeting sustainable environment to create an effective customer experience. It includes case studies from industrial results which provide cost effective solutions and integrates the digital SCADE solution. Describes complete implication of smart buildings via industrial, commercial and community platforms Systematically defines energy-efficient buildings, employing power consumption optimization techniques with inclusion of renewable energy sources Covers data centre and cyber security with excellent data storage features for smart buildings Includes systematic and detailed strategies for building air conditioning and lighting Details smart building security propulsion. This set is aimed at graduate students, researchers and professionals in building systems, architectural, and electrical engineering.

This book explores near-threshold computing (NTC), a design-space using techniques to run digital chips (processors) near the lowest possible voltage. Readers will be enabled with specific techniques to design chips that are extremely robust; tolerating variability and resilient against errors. Variability-aware voltage and frequency allocation schemes will be presented that will provide performance guarantees, when moving toward near-threshold manycore chips. * Provides an introduction to near-threshold computing, enabling reader with a variety of tools to face the challenges of the power/utilization wall; * Demonstrates how to design efficient voltage regulation, so that each region of the chip can operate at the most efficient voltage and frequency point; * Investigates how performance guarantees can be ensured when moving towards NTC manycores through variability-aware voltage and frequency allocation schemes.

Addresses innovations in technology relating to the energy efficiency of a wide variety of contemporary computer systems and networks With concerns about global energy consumption at an all-time high, improving computer networks energy efficiency is becoming an increasingly important topic. Large-Scale Distributed Systems and Energy Efficiency: A Holistic View addresses innovations in technology relating to the energy efficiency of a wide variety of contemporary computer systems and networks. After an introductory overview of the energy demands of current Information and Communications Technology (ICT), individual chapters offer in-depth analyses of such topics as cloud computing, green networking (both wired and wireless), mobile computing, power modeling, the rise of green data centers and high-performance computing, resource allocation, and energy efficiency in peer-to-peer (P2P) computing networks. Discusses measurement and modeling of the energy consumption method Includes methods for energy consumption reduction in diverse computing environments Features a variety of case studies and examples of energy reduction and assessment Timely and important, Large-Scale Distributed Systems and Energy Efficiency is an invaluable resource for ways of increasing the energy efficiency of computing systems and networks while simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint.

This book presents techniques necessary to predict cardiac arrhythmias, long before they occur, based on minimal ECG data. The authors describe the key information needed for automated ECG signal processing, including ECG signal pre-processing, feature extraction and classification. The adaptive and novel ECG processing techniques introduced in this book are highly effective and suitable for real-time implementation on ASICs.

This book provides a single-source reference to the state-of-the-art of high-level programming models and compilation tool-chains for embedded system platforms. The authors address challenges faced by programmers developing software to implement parallel applications in embedded systems, where very often they are forced to rewrite sequential programs into parallel software, taking into account all the low level features and peculiarities of the underlying platforms. Readers will benefit from these authors' approach, which takes into account both the application requirements and the platform specificities of various embedded systems from different industries. Parallel programming tool-chains are described that take as input parameters both the application and the platform model, then determine relevant transformations and mapping decisions on the concrete platform, minimizing user intervention and hiding the difficulties related to the correct and efficient use of memory hierarchy and low level code generation.