Issue 1, Volume 3, 2009

What is the Required Number of Users for the Generation of Aggregated H-ss Traffic?
by C. Sansores-Perez, L. Rizo-Dominguez, J. Ramirez-Pacheco

Abstract: It is well known that network traffic can be well modeled by the use of self-similar processes with parameter H. The use of this kind of traffic is important for the design and performance evaluation of high performance computer networks. Simulation plays a very important role in the context of performance analysis. In the context of simulation, however, the impact of the number of sources has not been sufficiently emphasized for the generation of synthetic self-similar traffic. In this paper we describe a simulation scenario suitable for the testing of performance issues under self-similar traffic. Our analysis was centered on the effect of traffic aggregation over the self-similarity degree, determining the necessary number of sources to approach the verified relation H = (3 ? min )/2. Besides, we highlighted the performance of several Hurst parameters estimators for this type of simulation scenarios, identifying the most suited ones.

Keywords:
Terms—Self-Similar, Heavy-Tail Distributions, Estimators
Full Paper, pp. 1-8

Information Security Risks for Satellite Tracking
by Pasi Kamppi, Jyri Rajamaki, Robert Guinness

Abstract: Satellite tracking is one of the most rapidly growing service business areas in the world, and there are already many commercial applications available. Benefits of the service for the customer are advertised, but very seldom there is any mention of information security of the system. Modern satellite tracking systems contain communication and data processing on many levels, so they are vulnerable to many risks of information security. This paper covers the main satellite tracking system information security vulnerabilities and gives guidelines on how to make systems and services more secure.

Keywords:
Information security, Internet, Mobile network, Satellite tracking
Full Paper, pp. 9-16

Issue 3, Volume 3, 2009

Oscilloscope Control with PC
by Roland Szabo, Aurel Gontean, Ioan Lie, Mircea Babaita

Abstract: In this paper two different oscilloscope control methods are presented. The first method is the classic method to send the SCPI commands via RS232 serial interface. The second method is to use the LabVIEW divers. The first oscilloscope is the HAMEG HM407, which has its control program implemented in MATLAB. The second oscilloscope is the NI PXI-5412 with the control program in LabVIEW. The second control program is much faster and mare simple, but with the classic method we can configure more and have a better control over the oscilloscope. The classic method is also general, because it can be controlled any oscilloscopes and equipment, even if they have no driver. In the first method the driver is made, in the second method a driver is used.

Keywords:
Communication equipment, control equipment, driver, oscilloscope, protocol, remote handling, serial port
Full Paper, pp. 33-40

Softcomputing Approach to Segmentation of Speech in Phonetic Units
by M. Malcangi

Abstract: Speech-To-Text and Text-To-Speech applications are essentially based on an effective separation of phonetic units, so the segmentation of uttered speech into phonetic units is a key processing task for successfully implementing speech recognition systems. Softcomputing methods demonstrate to be more effective than other methods due to the capability neural networks and fuzzy logic to be trained by expert. This work phonetic segmentation of uttered speech that separates vowels from consonants is based on a fuzzy logic inference engine tuned by an expert using speech features distribution. Only time-domain feature-extraction algorithms are applied to speech to extract features, so minimum computational cost was achieved. Fuzzy decision logic is used to infer about phonetic units separation point. A set of tests has been executed to demonstrate that this approach can be effective in separating phonetic units, while requiring minimal computing power and reducing system complexity.

Keywords: Fuzzy decision logic, pitch estimation, speech energy, speech segmentation, speech analysis, speech recognition, speech synthesis, zero-crossing rate

Full Paper, pp. 41-48

ProActive: Using a Java Middleware for HPC Design, Implementation and Benchmarks
by Brian Amedro, Denis Caromel, Fabrice Huet, Vladimir Bodnartchouk, Christian Delbe, Guillermo L. Taboada

Abstract: Although Java is among the most used programming languages, its use for HPC applications is still marginal. This article reports on the design, implementation and benchmarking of a Java version of the NAS Parallel Benchmarks translated from their original Fortran / MPI implementation. We have based our version on ProActive, an open source middleware designed for parallel and distributed computing. This paper gives a description of the ProActive middleware principles, and how we have implemented the NAS Parallel Benchmark on such Java library. We Also gives some basic rules to write HPC code in Java. Finally, we have compared the overall performance between the legacy and the Java ProActive version. We show that the performance varies with the type of computation but also with the Java Virtual Machine, no single one providing the best performance in all experiments. We also show that the performance of the Java version is close to the Fortran one on computational intensive benchmarks. However, on some communications intensive benchmarks, the Java version exhibits scalability issues, even when using a high performance socket implementation (JFS).

Keywords:
ProActive, Benchmarks, Java, HPC, Nas Parallel Benchmarks
Full Paper, pp. 49-57

Issue 2, Volume 3, 2009

The Role of Business Process Management Systems and Business Intelligence Systems in Knowledge Management
by K. Curko, V. Bosilj Vuksic, A. Loncar

Abstract: Knowledge has a strategic role in the modern company. Therefore, company must know how to manage knowledge. Knowledge Management (KM) is the concept of the systematic collection, organisation, archiving and sharing of knowledge aimed at achieving the objectives of the company. The increase of the quantity and dynamics of knowledge have opened the need for use of information technology, referred to as the Knowledge Management System (KMS). The success of a business depends on its successful management of business processes and successful decision making processes. The company can achieve this success by usage of Business Process Management System (BPMS) and Business Intelligence System (BIS) as key parts of proposed knowledge management system framework. The main purpose of this paper is to present features of business process management system and business intelligence system as key segments of knowledge management system and explain their role in knowledge management to support creation of added value.

Keywords:
Organizational knowledge; Business processes; business rules; Data warehouse; OLAP; Data mining, Knowledge discovery, Framework
Full Paper, pp. 17-24

Modeling And Formal verification of Implicit On-Demand Secure Ad Hoc Routing Protocols in HLPSL and AVISPA
by Mihai-Lica Pura, Victor-Valeriu Patriciu, Ion Bica

Abstract: Ad hoc networks are a relatively new and promising communication technology. Its key aspect is represented by the specific routing protocols that assure the ad hoc manner of inter node message exchange. But like any other communication technology, ad hoc networks raise specific security problems, especially related to the routing protocols. Although researchers had been very kind with this field and lots of papers were written regarding this aspect, we see no use of these networks in real life applications. A possible explanation would be the lack of user confidence in the security of these special wireless networks. As a countermeasure we propose the use of formal validation methods, model checking in particular, to formally prove the security properties of these protocols. The idea is not necessary new. What represent the novelty are the used tools: HLPSL and AVISPA. Until now researchers used in this matter only mathematical methods or tools like SPIN, that cannot be automated or the possible automation degree is very low. On the contrary, AVISPA offers the possibility to highly automate the modeling the model checking of these protocols.

Keywords:
Formal verification, model checking, HLPSL, AVSIPA, implicit on-demand secure ad hoc routing protocol, ad hoc networks, ARAN
Full Paper, pp. 25-32

Issue 4, Volume 3, 2009

Comparison of Heuristic Evaluation and User Testing of Public Administration Portal
by Miloslav Hub, Vera Capkova

Abstract: This paper presents results of comparison of heuristic evaluation and user testing of usability of Czech public administration portal. Because there does not a list of heuristics for public administration portal evaluation exist, the methodologies for heuristics creation and heuristics application were suggested. At the same time, suggested methodologies were used for usability evaluation of the Czech public administration portal and results were compared to results of user testing of the same information system. This comparison can be useful when deciding what method to use for usability evaluation of this type of information system.

Keywords:
Heuristic evaluation, public administration portal, usability, usability engineering, user testing
Full Paper, pp. 59-66

Vein and Fingerprint Biometrics Authentication- Future Trends
by Hatim A. Aboalsamh

Abstract: Biometric signatures, or biometrics, are used to identify individuals by measuring certain unique physical and behavioral characteristics. Individuals must be identified to allow or prohibit access to secure areas—or to enable them to use personal digital devices such as, computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), or mobile phone. Virtually all biometric methods are implemented using the following 1) sensor, to acquire raw biometric data from an individual; 2) feature extraction, to process the acquired data to develop a feature-set that represents the biometric trait; 3) pattern matching, to compare the extracted feature-set against stored templates residing in a database; and 4) decision-making, whereby a user’s claimed identity is authenticated or rejected. In this paper, a compact system that consists of a CMOS fingerprint sensor (FPC1011F1) is used with the FPC2020 power efficient fingerprint processor ; which acts as a biometric sub-system with a direct interface to the sensor as well as to an external flash memory for storing finger print templates. Distinct Area Detection (DAD) algorithm; which is a feature based algorithm is used by the fingerprint processor, which offer improvements in performance. Vein authentication is another recent advancement in biometrics. Vein biometrics is discussed and comparison with other biometrics is revealed.

Keywords:
Access control, Vein biometrics, Fingerprint processor, Fingerprint authentication, Biometrics
Full Paper, pp. 67-75