Since its establishment in 1998, Microsoft Research Asia's trademark and long term commitment has been to foster innovative research and advanced education in the Asia-Pacific region. Through open collaboration and partnership with universities, government and other academic partners, MSRA has been consistently advancing the state-of-the-art in computer science. This book was compiled to record these outstanding collaborations, as Microsoft Research Asia celebrates its 10th Anniversary.

The selected papers are all authored or co-authored by faculty members or students through collaboration with MSRA lab researchers, or with the financial support of MSRA. Papers previously published in top-tier international conference proceedings and journals are compiled here into one accessible volume of outstanding research. Innovation Together highlights the outstanding work of Microsoft Research Asia as it celebrates ten years of achievement and looks forward to the next decade of success.

Part of the broader research field of natural computing, Membrane Computing is an area within computing science that aims to abstract computing ideas and models from the structure and functioning of living cells, as well as from the way the cells are organized in tissues or higher order structures. It studies models of computation (known as P systems) inspired by the biochemistry of cells, in particular by the role of membranes in the compartmentalization of living cells into "protected reactors."
This handbook provides both a comprehensive survey of available knowledge and established research topics, and a guide to recent developments in the field, covering the subject from theory to applications. The handbook is suitable both for introducing novices to this area of research, and as a main source of reference for active researchers. It sets out the necessary biological and formal background, with the introductory chapter serving as a gentle introduction to and overview of membrane computing. Individual chapters, written by leading researchers in membrane computing, present the state of the art of all main research trends and include extensive bibliographies.

Technologic and virtual development is growing, creating an environment of online gaming that can be used as an effective and motivational instrument for math didactics in education. Simulation and Gaming for Mathematical Education: Epistemology and Teaching Strategies provides leading research on ways for various learning environments to be created referring to math didactics through redefinition and reassessment of teaching experiences. A defining collection of field advancements, this publication gradually leads readers through the steps of planning innovative strategies in math education.

This book constitutes Part III of the refereed four-volume post-conference proceedings of the 4th IFIP TC 12 International Conference on Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture, CCTA 2010, held in Nanchang, China, in October 2010. The 352 revised papers presented were carefully selected from numerous submissions. They cover a wide range of interesting theories and applications of information technology in agriculture, including simulation models and decision-support systems for agricultural production, agricultural product quality testing, traceability and e-commerce technology, the application of information and communication technology in agriculture, and universal information service technology and service systems development in rural areas.

This monograph presents novel approaches and new results in fundamentals and applications related to rough sets and granular computing. It includes the application of rough sets to real world problems, such as data mining, decision support and sensor fusion. The relationship of rough sets to other important methods of data analysis – Bayes theorem, neurocomputing and pattern recognition is thoroughly examined. Another issue is the rough set based data analysis, including the study of decision making in conflict situations. Recent engineering applications of rough set theory are given, including a processor architecture organization for fast implementation of basic rough set operations and results concerning advanced image processing for unmanned aerial vehicles. New emerging areas of study and applications are presented as well as a wide spectrum of on-going research, which makes the book valuable to all interested in the field of rough set theory and granular computing.

Asynchronous Circuit Design for VLSI Signal Processing is a collection of research papers on recent advances in the area of specification, design and analysis of asynchronous circuits and systems. This interest in designing digital computing systems without a global clock is prompted by the ever growing difficulty in adopting global synchronization as the only efficient means to system timing. Asynchronous circuits and systems have long held interest for circuit designers and researchers alike because of the inherent challenge involved in designing these circuits, as well as developing design techniques for them. The frontier research in this area can be traced back to Huffman's publications The Synthesis of Sequential Switching Circuits' in 1954 followed by Unger's book, Asynchronous Sequential Switching Circuits' in 1969 where a theoretical foundation for handling logic hazards was established. In the last few years a growing number of researchers have joined force in unveiling the mystery of designing correct asynchronous circuits, and better yet, have produced several alternatives in automatic synthesis and verification of such circuits. This collection of research papers represents a balanced view of current research efforts in the design, synthesis and verification of asynchronous systems.

With the fast development of networking and software technologies, information processing infrastructure and applications have been growing at an impressive rate in both size and complexity, to such a degree that the design and development of high performance and scalable data processing systems and networks have become an ever-challenging issue. As a result, the use of performance modeling and m- surementtechniquesas a critical step in designand developmenthas becomea c- mon practice. Research and developmenton methodologyand tools of performance modeling and performance engineering have gained further importance in order to improve the performance and scalability of these systems. Since the seminal work of A. K. Erlang almost a century ago on the mod- ing of telephone traf c, performance modeling and measurement have grown into a discipline and have been evolving both in their methodologies and in the areas in which they are applied. It is noteworthy that various mathematical techniques were brought into this eld, including in particular probability theory, stochastic processes, statistics, complex analysis, stochastic calculus, stochastic comparison, optimization, control theory, machine learning and information theory. The app- cation areas extended from telephone networks to Internet and Web applications, from computer systems to computer software, from manufacturing systems to s- ply chain, from call centers to workforce management.

With the increased efforts of the analog design community to integrate analog high-frequency front-ends for telecommunications, there has been heightened interest in the behaviour of nonlinear circuits since this can cause considerable degradation of signals. In analog integrated circuits at lower frequencies, such as filters, nonlinear behaviour limits the dynamic range. Analog integrated circuit designers often lack insight into nonlinear circuit behaviour. Indeed, designers are trained to reason in linear or linearized circuits but not in nonlinear ones. Numerical circuit simulations of nonlinear circuit behavior do not provide enough insight to the designer. Distortion Analysis of Analog Integrated Circuits, with a foreword by Robert G. Meyer, provides both qualitative and quantitative insight into the nonlinear behavior of analog integrated circuits at low and high frequencies. General techniques to suppress nonlinear behavior such as pre-distortion, linear and nonlinear feedback are explained in detail and illustrated with realistic examples. In this way the book fills the gap between the theory of nonlinear systems and practical analog integrated circuits. Distortion Analysis of Analog Integrated Circuits provides the reader with an in-depth analysis of elementary transistor stages, both CMOS and bipolar, as well as an analysis of several larger circuits. Hereby use is made of advanced transistor models that are also discussed in the book. The analyses take into account many more effects than in existing publications, thanks to the use of a calculation method that yields closed-form expressions for nonlinear behavior. These expressions are interpreted and illustrated withrealistic numerical examples. Distortion Analysis of Analog Integrated Circuits is essential reading for practicing analog and mixed-signal design engineers and researchers in the field. It is also suitable as a text for an advanced course on the subject. From the foreword: I am sure that the analog circuit design community will [...] welcome this work by Dr. Wambacq and Prof. Sansen as a major contribution to the analog circuit design literature in the area of distortion analysis of electronic circuits. I am personally looking forward to having a copy readily available for reference when designing integrated circuits for communication systems.' Robert G. Meyer, Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley.

After the mainframe and personal computer eras, the third major era in computer science, ubiquitous computing, describes the state of technology in which networked computers would surround every user. The Handbook of Research on Ubiquitous Computing Technology for Real Time Enterprises combines the fundamental methods, algorithms, and concepts of pervasive computing with current innovations and solutions to emerging challenges. With more than 25 authoritative contributions by over 50 of the world's leading experts this groundbreaking resource systemically covers such salient topics as network and application scalability, wireless network connectivity, adaptability and "context-aware" computing, information technology security and liability, and human computer interaction.

Claus Pahl provides fundamental research on the common structures in LTS architectures and solutions for specific forms such as knowledge-based, distributed, or adaptive applications of e-learning.

1. MOTIVATION In many physical situations, a plant model is often provided with a qualitative or quantitative measure of associated model uncertainties. On the one hand, the validity of the model is guaranteed only inside a frequency band, so that nearly nothing can be said about the behavior of the real plant at high frequencies. On the other hand, if the model is derived on the basis of physical equations, it can be parameterized as a function of a few physical parameters, which are usually not perfectly known in practice. This is e.g. the case in aeronautical systems: as an example, the ae- dynamic model of an airplane is derived from the flight mechanics eq- tions. When synthesizing the aircraft control law, it is then necessary to take into account uncertainties in the values of the stability derivatives, which correspond to the physical coefficients of the aerodynamic model. Moreover, this airplane model does not perfectly represent the be- vior of the real aircraft. As a simple example, the flight control system or the autopilot are usually synthesized just using the aerodynamic model, thus without accounting for the flexible mechanicalstructure: the c- responding dynamics are indeed considered as high frequency neglected 1 dynamics, with respect to the dynamics of the rigid model .

As MOS devices are scaled to meet increasingly demanding circuit specifications, process variations have a greater effect on the reliability of circuit performance. For this reason, statistical techniques are required to design integrated circuits with maximum yield. Statistical Modeling for Computer-Aided Design of MOS VLSI Circuits describes a statistical circuit simulation and optimization environment for VLSI circuit designers. The first step toward accomplishing statistical circuit design and optimization is the development of an accurate CAD tool capable of performing statistical simulation. This tool must be based on a statistical model which comprehends the effect of device and circuit characteristics, such as device size, bias, and circuit layout, which are under the control of the circuit designer on the variability of circuit performance. The distinctive feature of the CAD tool described in this book is its ability to accurately model and simulate the effect in both intra- and inter-die process variability on analog/digital circuits, accounting for the effects of the aforementioned device and circuit characteristics. Statistical Modeling for Computer-Aided Design of MOS VLSI Circuits serves as an excellent reference for those working in the field, and may be used as the text for an advanced course on the subject.

As long as humans write software, the key to successful software security is making the software development program process more efficient and effective. Although the approach of this textbook includes people, process, and technology approaches to software security, Practical Core Software Security: A Reference Framework stresses the people element of software security, which is still the most important part to manage as software is developed, controlled, and exploited by humans. The text outlines a step-by-step process for software security that is relevant to today's technical, operational, business, and development environments. It focuses on what humans can do to control and manage a secure software development process using best practices and metrics. Although security issues will always exist, students learn how to maximize an organization's ability to minimize vulnerabilities in software products before they are released or deployed by building security into the development process. The authors have worked with Fortune 500 companies and have often seen examples of the breakdown of security development lifecycle (SDL) practices. The text takes an experience-based approach to apply components of the best available SDL models in dealing with the problems described above. Software security best practices, an SDL model, and framework are presented in this book. Starting with an overview of the SDL, the text outlines a model for mapping SDL best practices to the software development life cycle (SDLC). It explains how to use this model to build and manage a mature SDL program. Exercises and an in-depth case study aid students in mastering the SDL model. Professionals skilled in secure software development and related tasks are in tremendous demand today. The industry continues to experience exponential demand that should continue to grow for the foreseeable future. This book can benefit professionals as much as students. As they integrate the book's ideas into their software security practices, their value increases to their organizations, management teams, community, and industry.

The virtual digital domain allows the capture, processing, transmission, storage, retrieval and display of text, images, audio and animation, without familiar materials such as paper, celluloid, magnetic tape and plastic. But moving from these media to the digital domain introduces all sorts of problems, such as the conversion of analogue archives, multimedia databases, content-based retrieval and the design of new content that exploits the benefits offered by digital systems. It is this issue of digital content creation that is addressed in this book.Different aspects of digital content creation are discussed in this volume, contributed by authors from around the world. Although each chapter addresses an individual aspect of the digital domain, there are common threads that unite them into an exciting vision of the future.

Information engineering and applications is the field of study concerned with constructing information computing, intelligent systems, mathematical models, numerical solution techniques, and using computers and other electronic devices to analyze and solve natural scientific, social scientific and engineering problems. Information engineering is an important underpinning for techniques used in information and computational science and there are many unresolved problems worth studying. The Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Engineering and Applications (IEA 2012), which was held in Chongqing, China, from October 26-28, 2012, discusses the most innovative research and developments including technical challenges and social, legal, political, and economic issues. A forum for engineers and scientists in academia, industry, and government, the Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Information Engineering and Applications presents ideas, results, works in progress, and experience in all aspects of information engineering and applications.

Designing Sorting Networks: A New Paradigm provides an in-depth guide to maximizing the efficiency of sorting networks, and uses 0/1 cases, partially ordered sets and Haase diagrams to closely analyze their behavior in an easy, intuitive manner. This book also outlines new ideas and techniques for designing faster sorting networks using Sortnet, and illustrates how these techniques were used to design faster 12-key and 18-key sorting networks through a series of case studies. Finally, it examines and explains the mysterious behavior exhibited by the fastest-known 9-step 16-key network. Designing Sorting Networks: A New Paradigm is intended for advanced-level students, researchers and practitioners as a reference book. Academics in the fields of computer science, engineering and mathematics will also find this book invaluable.

A smart city utilizes ICT technologies to improve the working effectiveness, share various data with the citizens, and enhance political assistance and societal wellbeing. The fundamental needs of a smart and sustainable city are utilizing smart technology for enhancing municipal activities, expanding monetary development, and improving citizens' standards of living. Data-Driven Mathematical Modeling in Smart Cities discusses new mathematical models in smart and sustainable cities using big data, visualization tools in mathematical modeling, machine learning-based mathematical modeling, and more. It further delves into privacy and ethics in data analysis. Covering topics such as deep learning, optimization-based data science, and smart city automation, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for mathematicians, statisticians, computer scientists, civil engineers, government officials, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Intelligent Multimedia Multi-Agent Systems focuses on building intelligent successful systems. The book adopts a human-centered approach and considers various pragmatic issues and problems in areas like intelligent systems, software engineering, multimedia databases, electronic commerce, data mining, enterprise modeling and human-computer interaction for developing a human-centered virtual machine. The authors describe an ontology of the human-centered virtual machine which includes four components: activity-centered analysis component, problem solving adapter component, transformation agent component, and multimedia based interpretation component. These four components capture the external and internal planes of the system development spectrum. They integrate the physical, social and organizational reality on the external plane with stakeholder goals, tasks and incentives, and organization culture on the internal plane. The human-centered virtual machine and its four components are used for developing intelligent multimedia multi-agent systems in areas like medical decision support and health informatics, medical image retrieval, e-commerce, face detection and annotation, internet games and sales recruitment. The applications in these areas help to expound various aspects of the human-centered virtual machine including, human-centered domain modeling, distributed intelligence and communication, perceptual and cognitive task modeling, component based software development, and multimedia based data modeling. Further, the applications described in the book employ various intelligent technologies like neural networks, fuzzy logic and knowledge based systems, software engineering artifacts like agents and objects, internet technologies like XML and multimedia artifacts like image, audio, video and text.

This book contains extended and revised versions of the best papers that were presented during the fifteenth edition of the IFIP/IEEE WG10.5 International Conference on Very Large Scale Integration, a global System-on-a-Chip Design & CAD conference. The 15th conference was held at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA (October 15-17, 2007). Previous conferences have taken place in Edinburgh, Trondheim, Vancouver, Munich, Grenoble, Tokyo, Gramado, Lisbon, Montpellier, Darmstadt, Perth and Nice. The purpose of this conference, sponsored by IFIP TC 10 Working Group 10.5 and by the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA), is to provide a forum to exchange ideas and show industrial and academic research results in the field of microelectronics design. The current trend toward increasing chip integration and technology process advancements brings about stimulating new challenges both at the physical and system-design levels, as well in the test of these systems. VLSI-SoC conferences aim to address these exciting new issues.

This is the first book to cover verification strategies and methodologies for SOC verification from system level verification to the design sign-off. All the verification aspects in this exciting new book are illustrated with a single reference design for Bluetooth application.

Software architectures have gained wide popularity in the last decade. They generally play a fundamental role in coping with the inherent difficulties of the development of large-scale and complex software systems. Component-oriented and aspect-oriented programming enables software engineers to implement complex applications from a set of pre-defined components. Software Architectures and Component Technology collects excellent chapters on software architectures and component technologies from well-known authors, who not only explain the advantages, but also present the shortcomings of the current approaches while introducing novel solutions to overcome the shortcomings. The unique features of this book are: evaluates the current architecture design methods and component composition techniques and explains their shortcomings; presents three practical architecture design methods in detail; gives four industrial architecture design examples; presents conceptual models for distributed message-based architectures; explains techniques for refining architectures into components; presents the recent developments in component and aspect-oriented techniques; explains the status of research on Piccola, Hyper/JA(R), Pluggable Composite Adapters and Composition Filters. Software Architectures and Component Technology is a suitable text for graduate level students in computer science and engineering, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.

Engineers have long been fascinated by how efficient and how fast biological neural networks are capable of performing such complex tasks as recognition. Such networks are capable of recognizing input data from any of the five senses with the necessary accuracy and speed to allow living creatures to survive. Machines which perform such complex tasks as recognition, with similar ac curacy and speed, were difficult to implement until the technological advances of VLSI circuits and systems in the late 1980's. Since then, the field of VLSI Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have witnessed an exponential growth and a new engineering discipline was born. Today, many engineering curriculums have included a course or more on the subject at the graduate or senior under graduate levels. Since the pioneering book by Carver Mead; "Analog VLSI and Neural Sys tems," Addison-Wesley, 1989; there were a number of excellent text and ref erence books on the subject, each dealing with one or two topics. This book attempts to present an integrated approach of a single research team to VLSI ANNs Engineering."

This book provides a critical discussion of fuzzy controllers from the perspective of classical control theory. Special emphasis is placed on topics of importance for industrial applications, including self-tuning of fuzzy controllers, optimisation and stability analysis. The text begins with a detailed introduction to fuzzy systems and control theory, and guides the reader to a thorough understanding of up-to-date research results.

Online learning is transcending from the text-rich educational experience of the past to a video- and audio-rich learning transformation. The greater levels of media-rich content and media-rich interaction that are currently prevalent in online leisure experiences will help to increase e-learning's future efficiency and effectiveness. ""Enhancing E-Learning with Media-Rich Content and Interactions"" presents instructional designers, educators, scholars, and researchers with the necessary foundational elements, theoretical underpinnings, and practical guidance to aid in the technology selection and design of effective online learning experiences by integrating media-rich interactions and content.