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 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

This book explains the most prominent and some promising new, general techniques that combine metaheuristics with other optimization methods. A first introductory chapter reviews the basic principles of local search, prominent metaheuristics, and tree search, dynamic programming, mixed integer linear programming, and constraint programming for combinatorial optimization purposes. The chapters that follow present five generally applicable hybridization strategies, with exemplary case studies on selected problems: incomplete solution representations and decoders; problem instance reduction; large neighborhood search; parallel non-independent construction of solutions within metaheuristics; and hybridization based on complete solution archives. The authors are among the leading researchers in the hybridization of metaheuristics with other techniques for optimization, and their work reflects the broad shift to problem-oriented rather than algorithm-oriented approaches, enabling faster and more effective implementation in real-life applications. This hybridization is not restricted to different variants of metaheuristics but includes, for example, the combination of mathematical programming, dynamic programming, or constraint programming with metaheuristics, reflecting cross-fertilization in fields such as optimization, algorithmics, mathematical modeling, operations research, statistics, and simulation. The book is a valuable introduction and reference for researchers and graduate students in these domains.

Conceptual modeling has always been one of the main issues in information systems engineering as it aims to describe the general knowledge of the system at an abstract level that facilitates user understanding and software development. This collection of selected papers provides a comprehensive and extremely readable overview of what conceptual modeling is and perspectives on making it more and more relevant in our society. It covers topics like modeling the human genome, blockchain technology, model-driven software development, data integration, and wiki-like repositories and demonstrates the general applicability of conceptual modeling to various problems in diverse domains. Overall, this book is a source of inspiration for everybody in academia working on the vision of creating a strong, fruitful and creative community of conceptual modelers. With this book the editors and authors want to honor Prof. Antoni Olive for his enormous and ongoing contributions to the conceptual modeling discipline. It was presented to him on the occasion of his keynote at ER 2017 in Valencia, a conference that he has contributed to and supported for over 20 years. Thank you very much to Antoni for so many years of cooperation and friendship.

During the last two decades, structural equation modelling (SEM) has emerged as a powerful multivariate data analysis tool in social science research settings, especially in the fields of sociology, psychology, and education. Social science researchers and students benefit greatly from acquiring knowledge and skills in SEM, since the methods can provide a bridge between the theoretical and empirical aspects of behavioural research. Ramlall explains in a rigorous, concise, and practical manner all the vital components embedded in structural equation modelling (SEM). Focusing on R and Stata to implement and perform various structural equation models, Ramlall examines the types, benefits, and drawbacks of SEM, delving into model specifications and identifications, fit evaluations, and path diagrams.

This book presents an overview of the emerging field of emotion in videogame soundtracking. The emotional impact of music has been well-documented, particularly when used to enhance the impact of a multimodal experience, such as combining images with audio as found in the videogames industry. Soundtracking videogames presents a unique challenge compared to traditional composition (for example film music) in that the narrative of gameplay is non-linear - Player dependent actions can change the narrative and thus the emotional characteristics required in the soundtrack. Historical approaches to emotion measurement, and the musical feature mapping and music selection that might be used in video game soundtracking are outlined, before a series of cutting edge examples are given. These examples include algorithmic composition techniques, automated emotion matching from biosensors, motion capture techniques, emotionally-targeted speech synthesis and signal processing, and automated repurposing of existing music (for example from a players own library). The book concludes with some possibilities for the future.

Transactions are a concept related to the logical database as seen from the perspective of database application programmers: a transaction is a sequence of database actions that is to be executed as an atomic unit of work. The processing of transactions on databases is a well- established area with many of its foundations having already been laid in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The unique feature of this textbook is that it bridges the gap between the theory of transactions on the logical database and the implementation of the related actions on the underlying physical database. The authors relate the logical database, which is composed of a dynamically changing set of data items with unique keys, and the underlying physical database with a set of fixed-size data and index pages on disk. Their treatment of transaction processing builds on the "do-redo-undo" recovery paradigm, and all methods and algorithms presented are carefully designed to be compatible with this paradigm as well as with write-ahead logging, steal-and-no-force buffering, and fine-grained concurrency control. Chapters 1 to 6 address the basics needed to fully appreciate transaction processing on a centralized database system within the context of our transaction model, covering topics like ACID properties, database integrity, buffering, rollbacks, isolation, and the interplay of logical locks and physical latches. Chapters 7 and 8 present advanced features including deadlock-free algorithms for reading, inserting and deleting tuples, while the remaining chapters cover additional advanced topics extending on the preceding foundational chapters, including multi-granular locking, bulk actions, versioning, distributed updates, and write-intensive transactions. This book is primarily intended as a text for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses on database management in general or transaction processing in particular.

This book presents two practical physical attacks. It shows how attackers can reveal the secret key of symmetric as well as asymmetric cryptographic algorithms based on these attacks, and presents countermeasures on the software and the hardware level that can help to prevent them in the future. Though their theory has been known for several years now, since neither attack has yet been successfully implemented in practice, they have generally not been considered a serious threat. In short, their physical attack complexity has been overestimated and the implied security threat has been underestimated. First, the book introduces the photonic side channel, which offers not only temporal resolution, but also the highest possible spatial resolution. Due to the high cost of its initial implementation, it has not been taken seriously. The work shows both simple and differential photonic side channel analyses. Then, it presents a fault attack against pairing-based cryptography. Due to the need for at least two independent precise faults in a single pairing computation, it has not been taken seriously either. Based on these two attacks, the book demonstrates that the assessment of physical attack complexity is error-prone, and as such cryptography should not rely on it. Cryptographic technologies have to be protected against all physical attacks, whether they have already been successfully implemented or not. The development of countermeasures does not require the successful execution of an attack but can already be carried out as soon as the principle of a side channel or a fault attack is sufficiently understood.

Video games have become an increasingly ubiquitous part of society due to the proliferation and use of mobile devices. Video Games and Creativity explores research on the relationship between video games and creativity with regard to play, learning, and game design. It answers such questions as: Can video games be used to develop or enhance creativity? Is there a place for video games in the classroom? What types of creativity are needed to develop video games? While video games can be sources of entertainment, the role of video games in the classroom has emerged as an important component of improving the education system. The research and development of game-based learning has revealed the power of using games to teach and promote learning. In parallel, the role and importance of creativity in everyday life has been identified as a requisite skill for success.

This book is written for engineering students and working professionals. Technical professionals are increasingly involved in IT issues, such as implementing IT systems, managing them, and taking part in requirements analysis/vendor selection. In this book, the basics of production planning systems (PPS) are covered, as well as their implementation in ERP-Systems like SAP. Readers also learn the basics of practical IT management and software creation through detailed, real-world examples. The book serves as a full 5 ECTS study module, which fits into any engineering curriculum. 150 multiple-choice quizzes, practical exercises and a text filled with experiential examples make it a convenient choice for selfstudy and for classroom use.

This book presents a key solution for current and future technological issues, adopting an integrated system approach with a combination of software engineering applications. Focusing on how software dominates and influences the performance, reliability, maintainability and availability of complex integrated systems, it proposes a comprehensive method of improving the entire process. The book provides numerous qualitative and quantitative analyses and examples of varied systems to help readers understand and interpret the derived results and outcomes. In addition, it examines and reviews foundational work associated with decision and control systems for information systems, to inspire researchers and industry professionals to develop new and integrated foundations, theories, principles, and tools for information systems. It also offers guidance and suggests best practices for the research community and practitioners alike. The book's twenty-two chapters examine and address current and future research topics in areas like vulnerability analysis, secured software requirements analysis, progressive models for planning and enhancing system efficiency, cloud computing, healthcare management, and integrating data-information-knowledge in decision-making. As such it enables organizations to adopt integrated approaches to system and software engineering, helping them implement technological advances and drive performance. This in turn provides actionable insights on each and every technical and managerial level so that timely action-based decisions can be taken to maintain a competitive edge. Featuring conceptual work and best practices in integrated systems and software engineering applications, this book is also a valuable resource for all researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and management professionals with an interest in the fields of e-commerce, cloud computing, software engineering, software & system security and analysis, data-information-knowledge systems and integrated systems.

This textbook provides a detailed introduction to the use of software in combination with simple and economical hardware (a sound level meter with calibrated AC output and a digital recording system) to obtain sophisticated measurements usually requiring expensive equipment. It emphasizes the use of free, open source, and multiplatform software. Many commercial acoustical measurement systems use software algorithms as an integral component; however the methods are not disclosed. This book enables the reader to develop useful algorithms and provides insight into the use of digital audio editing tools to document features in the signal. Topics covered include acoustical measurement principles, in-depth critical study of uncertainty applied to acoustical measurements, digital signal processing from the basics, and metrologically-oriented spectral and statistical analysis of signals. The student will gain a deep understanding of the use of software for measurement purposes; the ability to implement software-based measurement systems; familiarity with the hardware necessary to acquire and store signals; an appreciation for the key issue of long-term preservation of signals; and a full grasp of the often neglected issue of uncertainty in acoustical measurements. Pedagogical features include in-text worked-out examples, end-of-chapter problems, a glossary of metrology terms, and extensive appendices covering statistics, proofs, additional examples, file formats, and underlying theory.

This book provides developers, engineers, researchers and students with detailed knowledge about the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. HEVC is the successor to the widely successful H.264/AVC video compression standard, and it provides around twice as much compression as H.264/AVC for the same level of quality. The applications for HEVC will not only cover the space of the well-known current uses and capabilities of digital video they will also include the deployment of new services and the delivery of enhanced video quality, such as ultra-high-definition television (UHDTV) and video with higher dynamic range, wider range of representable color, and greater representation precision than what is typically found today. HEVC is the next major generation of video coding design a flexible, reliable and robust solution that will support the next decade of video applications and ease the burden of video on world-wide network traffic. This book provides a detailed explanation of the various parts of the standard, insight into how it was developed, and in-depth discussion of algorithms and architectures for its implementation."

A concise and thorough handbook on requirements analysis, this book is a desk guide for your systems or software development work. It enables you to identify the real customer requirements for your projects and control changes and additions to these requirements. The book helps you understand the importance of requirements, leverage effective requirements practices, and better utilize resources. You also learn how to strengthen interpersonal relationships and communications, which are major contributors to project effectiveness. Moreover, this reference identifies and describes the roles, desired skills and characteristics of the effective requirements analyst, and includes examples and checklists to help you implement best practices. It goes on to describe what comprises an integrated quality approach on a project or in an organization and explains how to achieve it. The book concludes with a vision for the field of requirements engineering and provides case studies that draw on actual experience.

This book introduces the latest visual effects (VFX) techniques that can be applied to game programming. The usefulness of the physicality-based VFX techniques, such as water, fire, smoke, and wind, has been proven through active involvement and utilization in movies and images. However, they have yet to be extensively applied in the game industry, due to the high technical barriers. Readers of this book can learn not only the theories about the latest VFX techniques, but also the methodology of game programming, step by step. The practical VFX processing techniques introduced in this book will provide very helpful information to game programmers. Due to the lack of instructional books about VFX-related game programming, the demand for knowledge regarding these high-tech VFXs might be very high.

Software testing is indispensable and is one of the most discussed topics in software development today. Many companies address this issue by assigning a dedicated software testing phase towards the end of their development cycle. However, quality cannot be tested into a buggy application. Early and continuous unit testing has been shown to be crucial for high quality software and low defect rates. Yet current books on testing ignore the developer's point of view and give little guidance on how to bring the overwhelming amount of testing theory into practice. Unit Testing in Java represents a practical introduction to unit testing for software developers. It introduces the basic test-first approach and then discusses a large number of special issues and problem cases. The book instructs developers through each step and motivates them to explore further.
*Shows how the discovery and avoidance of software errors is a demanding and creative activity in its own right and can build confidence early in a project.
*Demonstrates how automated tests can detect the unwanted effects of small changes in code within the entire system.
*Discusses how testing works with persistency, concurrency, distribution, and web applications.
*Includes a discussion of testing with C++ and Smalltalk.

This thoroughly class tested text and online tutorial gives a complete introduction to the essentials of the XML standard. It will teach students how to apply web technologies to develop XML based web applications. Through the book, the student will build applications that work together to construct interesting and workable web applications.

This book describes pragmatic instruments and methods that enable business experts and software engineers to develop a common understanding of the software to be created, to determine their key requirements, and to manage the project in a way that fosters trust, encourages innovation and distributes risk fairly between clients and contractors. After an introduction to the fundamentals of agile software development in Part I, Part II describes the Interaction Room, an actual room where digitalization and mobilization strategies are developed, where technology potentials are evaluated, where software projects are planned and managed, and where business and technical stakeholders can communicate face to face, visualize complex relationships intuitively, and highlight value, effort and risk drivers that are keys to the project's success. After addressing these constructive aspects, the book focuses on the commercial aspects of software development: The adVANTAGE contract model described in Part III ensures that the insight-driven innovation process of software development does not just function, but is allowed to flourish in a trusted client-contractor relationship. Even though software contracting and construction may be grounded in two different academic disciplines, they are inseparable in practice, and how they interact is illustrated in the case study of developing a private health insurance benefit system in Part IV. Ultimately though, the success of every software project depends on the skills of the stakeholders. Part V therefore describes the qualification profile that software engineers and domain experts have to satisfy today. This book is aimed at CIOs, project managers and software engineers in industrial software development practice who want to learn how to effectively deal with the inevitable uncertainty of complex projects, who want to achieve higher levels of understanding and cooperation in their relationships with clients and contractors, and who want to run lower-risk software projects despite their inherent uncertainties.

Modern optimization approaches have attracted an increasing number of scientists, decision makers, and researchers. As new issues in this field emerge, different optimization methodologies must be developed and implemented. Exploring Critical Approaches of Evolutionary Computation is a vital scholarly publication that explores the latest developments, methods, approaches, and applications of evolutionary models in a variety of fields. It also emphasizes evolutionary models of computation such as genetic algorithms, evolutionary strategies, classifier systems, evolutionary programming, genetic programming, and related fields such as swarm intelligence and other evolutionary computation techniques. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as neural networks, data mining, and data analytics, this book is designed for IT developers, IT theorists, computer engineers, researchers, practitioners, and upper-level students seeking current research on enhanced information exchange methods and practical aspects of computational systems.