This preface tells the story of how Multimodal Usability responds to a special challenge. Chapter 1 describes the goals and structure of this book. The idea of describing how to make multimodal computer systems usable arose in the European Network of Excellence SIMILAR - "Taskforce for cre- ing human-machine interfaces SIMILAR to human-human communication," 2003- 2007, www. similar. cc. SIMILAR brought together people from multimodal signal processing and usability with the aim of creating enabling technologies for new kinds of multimodal systems and demonstrating results in research prototypes. Most of our colleagues in the network were, in fact, busy extracting features and guring out how to demonstrate progress in working interactive systems, while claiming not to have too much of a notion of usability in system development and evaluation. It was proposed that the authors support the usability of the many multimodal pro- types underway by researching and presenting a methodology for building usable multimodal systems. We accepted the challenge, rst and foremost, no doubt, because the formidable team spirit in SIMILAR could make people accept outrageous things. Second, h- ing worked for nearly two decades on making multimodal systems usable, we were curious - curious at the opportunity to try to understand what happens to traditional usability work, that is, work in human-computer interaction centred around tra- tional graphical user interfaces (GUIs), when systems become as multimodal and as advanced in other ways as those we build in research today.

The main objective of pervasive computing systems is to create environments where computers become invisible by being seamlessly integrated and connected into our everyday environment, where such embedded computers can then provide inf- mation and exercise intelligent control when needed, but without being obtrusive. Pervasive computing and intelligent multimedia technologies are becoming incre- ingly important to the modern way of living. However, many of their potential applications have not yet been fully realized. Intelligent multimedia allows dynamic selection, composition and presentation of the most appropriate multimedia content based on user preferences. A variety of applications of pervasive computing and - telligent multimedia are being developed for all walks of personal and business life. Pervasive computing (often synonymously called ubiquitous computing, palpable computing or ambient intelligence) is an emerging ?eld of research that brings in revolutionary paradigms for computing models in the 21st century. Pervasive c- puting is the trend towards increasingly ubiquitous connected computing devices in the environment, a trend being brought about by a convergence of advanced el- tronic - and particularly, wireless - technologies and the Internet. Recent advances in pervasive computers, networks, telecommunications and information technology, along with the proliferation of multimedia mobile devices - such as laptops, iPods, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and cellular telephones - have further stimulated the development of intelligent pervasive multimedia applications. These key te- nologiesarecreatingamultimediarevolutionthatwillhavesigni?cantimpactacross a wide spectrum of consumer, business, healthcare and governmental domains.

This state-of-the-art survey gives a systematic presentation of recent advances in the design and validation of computer architectures. The book covers a comprehensive range of architecture design and validation methods, from computer aided high-level design of VLSI circuits and systems to layout and testable design, including the modeling and synthesis of behavior and dataflow, cell-based logic optimization, machine assisted verification, and virtual machine design.

Wireless technology and handheld devices are dramatically changing the degrees of interaction throughout the world, further creating a ubiquitous network society. The emergence of advanced wireless telecommunication technologies and devices in today's society has increased accuracy and access rate, all of which are increasingly essential as the volume of information handled by users expands at an accelerated pace. The requirement for mobility leads to increasing pressure for applications and wireless systems to revolve around the concept of continuous communication with anyone, anywhere, and anytime. With the wireless technology and devices come ?exibility in network design and quicker deployment time. Over the past decades, numerous wireless telecommu- cation topics have received increasing attention from industry professionals, a- demics, and government agencies. Among these topics are the wireless Internet; multimedia; 3G/4G wireless networks and systems; mobile and wireless network security; wireless network modeling, algorithms, and simulation; satellite based s- tems; 802.11x; RFID; and broadband wireless access.

Model based testing is the most powerful technique for testing hardware and software systems. Models in Hardware Testing describes the use of models at all the levels of hardware testing. The relevant fault models for nanoscaled CMOS technology are introduced, and their implications on fault simulation, automatic test pattern generation, fault diagnosis, memory testing and power aware testing are discussed. Models and the corresponding algorithms are considered with respect to the most recent state of the art, and they are put into a historical context by a concluding chapter on the use of physical fault models in fault tolerance.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Architecture of Computing Systems, ARCS 2012, held in Munich, Germany, in February/March 2012. The 20 revised full papers presented in 7 technical sessions were carefully reviewed and selected from 65 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on robustness and fault tolerance, power-aware processing, parallel processing, processor cores, optimization, and communication and memory.

Evolution through natural selection has been going on for a very long time. Evolution through artificial selection has been practiced by humans for a large part of our history, in the breeding of plants and livestock. Artificial evolution, where we evolve an artifact through artificial selection, has been around since electronic computers became common: about 30 years. Right from the beginning, people have suggested using artificial evolution to design electronics automatically.l Only recently, though, have suitable re configurable silicon chips become available that make it easy for artificial evolution to work with a real, physical, electronic medium: before them, ex periments had to be done entirely in software simulations. Early research concentrated on the potential applications opened-up by the raw speed ad vantage of dedicated digital hardware over software simulation on a general purpose computer. This book is an attempt to show that there is more to it than that. In fact, a radically new viewpoint is possible, with fascinating consequences. This book was written as a doctoral thesis, submitted in September 1996. As such, it was a rather daring exercise in ruthless brevity. Believing that the contribution I had to make was essentially a simple one, I resisted being drawn into peripheral discussions. In the places where I deliberately drop a subject, this implies neither that it's not interesting, nor that it's not relevant: just that it's not a crucial part of the tale I want to tell here."

Parallel Language and Compiler Research in Japan offers the international community an opportunity to learn in-depth about key Japanese research efforts in the particular software domains of parallel programming and parallelizing compilers. These are important topics that strongly bear on the effectiveness and affordability of high performance computing systems. The chapters of this book convey a comprehensive and current depiction of leading edge research efforts in Japan that focus on parallel software design, development, and optimization that could be obtained only through direct and personal interaction with the researchers themselves.

During the last two decades, there have been many reports about the success and failure of investments in ICT and information systems. Failures in particular have drawn a lot of attention. The outcome of the implementation of information and communication systems has often been disastrous. Recent research does not show that results have improved. This raises the question why so many ICT projects perform so badly. Information, Organization and Information Systems Design: An Integrated Approach to Information Problems aims at discussing measures to improve the results of information systems. Bart Prakken identifies various factors that explain the shortfall of information systems. Subsequently, he provides a profound discussion of the measures that can be taken to remove the causes of failure. When organizations are confronted with information problems, they will almost automatically look for ICT solutions. However, Prakken argues that more fundamental and often cheaper solutions are in many cases available. When looking for solutions to information problems, the inter-relationship between organization, information and the people within the organization should explicitly be taken into account. The measures that the author proposes are based on organizational redesign, particularly using the sociotechnical approach. In cases where ICT solutions do have to be introduced, Prakken discusses a number of precautionary measures that will help their implementation. The book aims to contribute to the scientific debate on how to solve information problems, and can be used in graduate and postgraduate courses. It is also helpful to managers.

Software is continuously increasing in complexity. Paradigmatic shifts and new development frameworks make it easier to implement software - but not to test it. Software testing remains to be a topic with many open questions with regard to both technical low-level aspects and to the organizational embedding of testing. However, a desired level of software quality cannot be achieved by either choosing a technical procedure or by optimizing testing processes. In fact, it requires a holistic approach.This Brief summarizes the current knowledge of software testing and introduces three current research approaches. The base of knowledge is presented comprehensively in scope but concise in length; thereby the volume can be used as a reference. Research is highlighted from different points of view. Firstly, progress on developing a tool for automated test case generation (TCG) based on a program's structure is introduced. Secondly, results from a project with industry partners on testing best practices are highlighted. Thirdly, embedding testing into e-assessment of programming exercises is described."

This book presents the technical program of the International Embedded Systems Symposium (IESS) 2009. Timely topics, techniques and trends in embedded system design are covered by the chapters in this volume, including modelling, simulation, verification, test, scheduling, platforms and processors. Particular emphasis is paid to automotive systems and wireless sensor networks. Sets of actual case studies in the area of embedded system design are also included. Over recent years, embedded systems have gained an enormous amount of proce- ing power and functionality and now enter numerous application areas, due to the fact that many of the formerly external components can now be integrated into a single System-on-Chip. This tendency has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the size and cost of embedded systems. As a unique technology, the design of embedded systems is an essential element of many innovations. Embedded systems meet their performance goals, including real-time constraints, through a combination of special-purpose hardware and software components tailored to the system requirements. Both the development of new features and the reuse of existing intellectual property components are essential to keeping up with ever more demanding customer requirements. Furthermore, design complexities are steadily growing with an increasing number of components that have to cooperate properly. Embedded system designers have to cope with multiple goals and constraints simul- neously, including timing, power, reliability, dependability, maintenance, packaging and, last but not least, price.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Traffic Monitoring and Analysis, TMA 2012, held in Vienna, Austria, in March 2012. The thoroughly refereed 10 full papers and 8 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 31 submissions. The contributions are organized in topical sections on traffic analysis and characterization: new results and improved measurement techniques; measurement for QoS, security and service level agreements; and tools for network measurement and experimentation.

Using Subject Headings for Online Retrieval is an indispensable tool for online system designers who are developing new systems or refining existing ones. The book describes subject analysis and subject searching in online catalogs, including the limitations of retrieval, and demonstrates how such limitations can be overcome through system design and programming. The book describes the Library of Congress Subject Headings system and system characteristics, shows how information is stored in machine-readable files, and offers examples of and recommendations for successful retrieval methods. Tables are included to support these recommendations, and diagrams, graphs, and bar charts are used to provide results of data analysis. Practitioners in institutions using or considering the installation of an online catalog will refer to this book often to generate specifications. Researchers in library systems, information retrieval, and user behavior will appreciate the book's detailing of the results of an extensive, empirical study of the subject terms entered into online systems by end users. Using Subject Headings for Online Retrieval also addresses the needs of advanced students in library schools and instructors in library automation, information retrieval, cataloging, indexing, and user behavior.

Service provisioning in ad hoc networks is challenging given the difficulties of communicating over a wireless channel and the potential heterogeneity and mobility of the devices that form the network. Service placement is the process of selecting an optimal set of nodes to host the implementation of a service in light of a given service demand and network topology. The key advantage of active service placement in ad hoc networks is that it allows for the service configuration to be adapted continuously at run time. "Service Placement in Ad Hoc Networks" proposes the SPi service placement framework as a novel approach to service placement in ad hoc networks. The SPi framework takes advantage of the interdependencies between service placement, service discovery and the routing of service requests to minimize signaling overhead. The work also proposes the Graph Cost / Single Instance and the Graph Cost / Multiple Instances placement algorithms.

This book contains the papers presented at the international research sympo sium "Solid Modeling by Computers: From Theory to Applications," held at the General Motors Research Laboratories on September 25-27, 1983. This was the 28th syposium in aseries which the Research Laboratories began sponsor ing in 1957. Each symposium has focused on a topic that is both under active study at the Research Laboratories and is also of interest to the larger technical community. Solid modeling is still a very young research area, young even when com pared with other computer-related research fields. Ten years ago, few people recognized the importance of being able to create complete and unambiguous computer models of mechanical parts. Today there is wide recognition that computer representations of solids are aprerequisite for the automation of many engineering analyses and manufacturing applications. In September 1983, the time was ripe for a symposium on this subject. Re search had already demonstrated the efficacy of solid modeling as a tool in computer automated design and manufacturing, and there were significant re suIts wh ich could be presented at the symposium. Yet the field was still young enough that we could bring together theorists in solid modeling and practition ers applying solid modeling to other research areas in a group sm all enough to allow a stimulating exchange of ideas."

This volume contains papers representing a comprehensive record of the contributions to the fifth workshop at EG '90 in Lausanne. The Eurographics hardware workshops have now become an established forum for the exchange of information about the latest developments in this field of growing importance. The first workshop took place during EG '86 in Lisbon. All participants considered this to be a very rewarding event to be repeated at future EG conferences. This view was reinforced at the EG '87 Hardware Workshop in Amsterdam and firmly established the need for such a colloquium in this specialist area within the annual EG conference. The third EG Hardware Workshop took place in Nice in 1988 and the fourth in Hamburg at EG '89. The first part of the book is devoted to rendering machines. The papers in this part address techniques for accelerating the rendering of images and efficient ways of improv ing their quality. The second part on ray tracing describes algorithms and architectures for producing photorealistic images, with emphasis on ways of reducing the time for this computationally intensive task. The third part on visualization systems covers a num ber of topics, including voxel-based systems, radiosity, animation and special rendering techniques. The contributions show that there is flourishing activity in the development of new algorithmic and architectural ideas and, in particular, in absorbing the impact of VLSI technology. The increasing diversity of applications encourage new solutions, and graphics hardware has become a research area of high activity and importance.

This text has been produced for the benefit of students in computer and infor mation science and for experts involved in the design of microprocessors. It deals with the design of complex VLSI chips, specifically of microprocessor chip sets. The aim is on the one hand to provide an overview of the state of the art, and on the other hand to describe specific design know-how. The depth of detail presented goes considerably beyond the level of information usually found in computer science text books. The rapidly developing discipline of designing complex VLSI chips, especially microprocessors, requires a significant extension of the state of the art. We are observing the genesis of a new engineering discipline, the design and realization of very complex logical structures, and we are obviously only at the beginning. This discipline is still young and immature, alternate concepts are still evolving, and "the best way to do it" is still being explored. Therefore it is not yet possible to describe the different methods in use and to evaluate them. However, the economic impact is significant today, and the heavy investment that companies in the USA, the Far East, and in Europe, are making in gener ating VLSI design competence is a testimony to the importance this field is expected to have in the future. Staying competitive requires mastering and extending this competence.

This book contains the results of an Advanced Research Workshop that took place in Grenoble, France, in June 1988. The objective of this NATO ARW on Advanced Information Technologies for Industrial Material Flow Systems (MFS) was to bring together eminent research professionals from academia, industry and government who specialize in the study and application of information technology for material flow contro ' The current world status was reviewed and an agenda for needed research was discussed and established. The workshop focused on the following subjects: The nature of information within the material flow domain. Status of contemporary databases for engineering and material flow. Distributed databases and information integration. Artificial intelligence techniques and models for material flow problem solving. Digital communications for material flow systems. Robotics, intelligent systems, and material flow contro ' Material handling and storage systems information and contro ' Implementation, organization, and economic research-issues as related to the above. Material flow control is as important as manufacturing and other process control in the computer integrated environment. Important developments have been occurring internationally in information technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and their application in material flow/material handling systems. In a traditional sense, material flow in manufacturing (and other industrial operations) consists of the independent movement of work-in-process between processing entities in order to fulfill the requirements of the appropriate production and process plans. Generally, information, in this environment, has been communicated from processors to movers.

Overview and Goals Data arriving in time order (a data stream) arises in fields ranging from physics to finance to medicine to music, just to name a few. Often the data comes from sensors (in physics and medicine for example) whose data rates continue to improve dramati cally as sensor technology improves. Further, the number of sensors is increasing, so correlating data between sensors becomes ever more critical in orderto distill knowl edge from the data. On-line response is desirable in many applications (e.g., to aim a telescope at a burst of activity in a galaxy or to perform magnetic resonance-based real-time surgery). These factors - data size, bursts, correlation, and fast response motivate this book. Our goal is to help you design fast, scalable algorithms for the analysis of single or multiple time series. Not only will you find useful techniques and systems built from simple primi tives, but creative readers will find many other applications of these primitives and may see how to create new ones of their own. Our goal, then, is to help research mathematicians and computer scientists find new algorithms and to help working scientists and financial mathematicians design better, faster software."

This volume contains the complete proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Institute on various aspects of the reliability of electronic and other systems. The aim of the Insti~ute was to bring together specialists in this subject. An important outcome of this Conference, as many of the delegates have pointed out to me, was complementing theoretical concepts and practical applications in both software and hardware. The reader will find papers on the mathematical background, on reliability problems in establishments where system failure may be hazardous, on reliability assessment in mechanical systems, and also on life cycle cost models and spares allocation. The proceedings contain the texts of all the lectures delivered and also verbatim accounts of panel discussions on subjects chosen from a wide range of important issues. In this introduction I will give a short account of each contribution, stressing what I feel are the most interesting topics introduced by a lecturer or a panel member. To visualise better the extent and structure. of the Institute, I present a tree-like diagram showing the subjects which my co-directors and I would have wished to include in our deliberations (Figures 1 and 2). The names of our lecturers appear underlined under suitable headings. It can be seen that we have managed to cover most of the issues which seemed important to us. VI SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS _---~-I~--_- Performance Safety Reliability ~intenance ~istic Lethality Hazards Support S.N.R. JARDINE Max. Vel. etc.

The book provides an in-depth understanding of the fundamentals of superconducting electronics and the practical considerations for the fabrication of superconducting electronic structures. Additionally, it covers in detail the opportunities afforded by superconductivity for uniquely sensitive electronic devices and illustrates how these devices (in some cases employing high-temperature, ceramic superconductors) can be applied in analog and digital signal processing, laboratory instruments, biomagnetism, geophysics, nondestructive evaluation and radioastronomy. Improvements in cryocooler technology for application to cryoelectronics are also covered. This is the first book in several years to treat the fundamentals and applications of superconducting electronics in a comprehensive manner, and it is the very first book to consider the implications of high-temperature, ceramic superconductors for superconducting electronic devices. Not only does this new class of superconductors create new opportunities, but recently impressive milestones have been reached in superconducting analog and digital signal processing which promise to lead to a new generation of sensing, processing and computational systems. The 15 chapters are authored by acknowledged leaders in the fundamental science and in the applications of this increasingly active field, and many of the authors provide a timely assessment of the potential for devices and applications based upon ceramic-oxide superconductors or hybrid structures incorporating these new superconductors with other materials. The book takes the reader from a basic discussion of applicable (BCS and Ginzburg-Landau) theories and tunneling phenomena, through the structure and characteristics of Josephson devices and circuits, to applications that utilize the world's most sensitive magnetometer, most sensitive microwave detector, and fastest arithmetic logic unit.

The main objective of this workshop was to review and discuss the state of the art and the latest advances* in the area of 1-10 Gbit/s throughput for local and metropolitan area networks. The first generation of local area networks had throughputs in the range 1-20 Mbit/s. Well-known examples of this first generation networks are the Ethernet and the Token Ring. The second generation of networks allowed throughputs in the range 100-200 Mbit/s. Representatives of this generation are the FDDI double ring and the DQDB (IEEE 802.6) networks. The third generation networks will have throughputs in the range 1-10 Gbit/s. The rapid development and deployment of fiber optics worldwide, as well as the projected emergence of a market for broadband services, have given rise to the development of broadband ISDN standards. Currently, the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) appears to be a viable solution to broadband networks. The possibility of all-optical networks in the future is being examined. This would allow the tapping of approximately 50 terahertz or so available in the lightwave range of the frequency spectrum. It is envisaged that using such a high-speed network it will be feasible to distribute high-quality video to the home, to carry out rapid retrieval of radiological and other scientific images, and to enable multi-media conferencing between various parties.

Helps in the development of large software projects.

Uses a well-known open-source software prototype system (Vesta developed at Digital and Compaq Systems Research Lab).

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems, MODELS 2011, held in Wellington, New Zealand, in October 2011. The papers address a wide range of topics in research (foundations track) and practice (applications track). For the first time a new category of research papers, vision papers, are included presenting "outside the box" thinking. The foundations track received 167 full paper submissions, of which 34 were selected for presentation. Out of these, 3 papers were vision papers. The application track received 27 submissions, of which 13 papers were selected for presentation. The papers are organized in topical sections on model transformation, model complexity, aspect oriented modeling, analysis and comprehension of models, domain specific modeling, models for embedded systems, model synchronization, model based resource management, analysis of class diagrams, verification and validation, refactoring models, modeling visions, logics and modeling, development methods, and model integration and collaboration.

This series in Computers and Medicine had its origins when I met Jerry Stone of Springer-Verlag at a SCAMC meeting in 1982. We determined that there was a need for good collections of papers that would help disseminate the results of research and application in this field. I had already decided to do what is now Information Systems for Patient Care, and Jerry contributed the idea of making it part of a series. In 1984 the first book was published, and-thanks to Jerry's efforts - Computers and Medicine was underway. Since that time, there have been many changes. Sadly, Jerry died at a very early age and cannot share in the success of the series that he helped found. On the bright side, however, many of the early goals of the series have been met. As the result of equipment improvements and the consequent lowering of costs, com puters are being used in a growing number of medical applications, and the health care community is very computer literate. Thus, the focus of concern has turned from learning about the technology to understanding how that technology can be exploited in a medical environment."