Design and Formal Verification of Control and Data Acquisition Protocols. This research will develop new specification and verification techniques for remote control protocols, used among interconnected sites in supply utilities such as electricity grids, based on a proven formal methods technology. These protocols are used in the monitoring of data from remote sites, and the transmission of control commands to such sites from a central location. Benefits to the industrial partner include increa ....Design and Formal Verification of Control and Data Acquisition Protocols. This research will develop new specification and verification techniques for remote control protocols, used among interconnected sites in supply utilities such as electricity grids, based on a proven formal methods technology. These protocols are used in the monitoring of data from remote sites, and the transmission of control commands to such sites from a central location. Benefits to the industrial partner include increased assurance that their control technology does correctly realise the adopted protocols. Assurance of correctness is significant in that incorrect protocol implementation may cause errant operation of equipment, and lead to economic and environmental damage.Read moreRead less
Automatic software verification: harnessing constraint technologies. As we come to rely on software to manage more and more aspects of our lives, the importance of software reliability increases; yet as programs become increasingly complex, reliability becomes ever more elusive. This project will develop automated tools and techniques to ensure that programs do what they were intended to do.
Analysing Computer Arithmetic to Improve Software Reliability. Most computer programs deal with integers. Automated tools designed to verify the correct behaviour of software usually assume the software deals with idealised mathematical integers, since this simplifies reasoning significantly. In reality, most programs work with integer number representations that approximate the ideal. This compromises the soundness of many verification tools. This project will design sound reasoning tools that ....Analysing Computer Arithmetic to Improve Software Reliability. Most computer programs deal with integers. Automated tools designed to verify the correct behaviour of software usually assume the software deals with idealised mathematical integers, since this simplifies reasoning significantly. In reality, most programs work with integer number representations that approximate the ideal. This compromises the soundness of many verification tools. This project will design sound reasoning tools that are aware of the true nature of computer integer arithmetic.Read moreRead less
An extensible framework for analysis of Java language-based security conformance. Java is a programming language and platform running on 3 billion devices. While Java provides a sandbox-based security architecture within the Java Class Library to protect systems from untrusted code downloaded from Internet, it cannot defend against implementation bugs that occur in the Java Class Library. The goal of this project is to provide a formal model of the Java security architecture, which can be used b ....An extensible framework for analysis of Java language-based security conformance. Java is a programming language and platform running on 3 billion devices. While Java provides a sandbox-based security architecture within the Java Class Library to protect systems from untrusted code downloaded from Internet, it cannot defend against implementation bugs that occur in the Java Class Library. The goal of this project is to provide a formal model of the Java security architecture, which can be used by program analysers to identify faulty or insufficient security checks in the Java Class Library that may lead to the sandbox being bypassed.Read moreRead less
RichProlog, a System for Deducing, Inducing and Learning in the Declarative Programming Paradigm. The aim of the project is to contribute to bridge the gap between learning and logic, theoretically and practically. Our purpose is to extend considerably the scope of the declarative programming paradigm, and build a system that can be used to solve learning or discovery problems as encountered in Artificial Intelligence. The system will enable rapid prototyping when applied to problems involving d ....RichProlog, a System for Deducing, Inducing and Learning in the Declarative Programming Paradigm. The aim of the project is to contribute to bridge the gap between learning and logic, theoretically and practically. Our purpose is to extend considerably the scope of the declarative programming paradigm, and build a system that can be used to solve learning or discovery problems as encountered in Artificial Intelligence. The system will enable rapid prototyping when applied to problems involving deduction, induction, and nonmonotonic reasoning. We intend the system to become a standard tool for tackling a broad range of applications, and the underlying theory to provide new insights on the logical foundations of Artificial Intelligence.
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A Compositional Model for Verifying and Programming Ecologies of Smart Internet Devices. Emerging in 21st century computing is what we perceive as device ecologies, or collections of devices that can exhibit smart behaviour, automate tasks, interact synergistically with one another, with users and Internet resources, and provide aid and value in daily life and work. Device ecologies will be seen in areas as diverse as e-commerce, health care, home automation, office automation, manufacturing, an ....A Compositional Model for Verifying and Programming Ecologies of Smart Internet Devices. Emerging in 21st century computing is what we perceive as device ecologies, or collections of devices that can exhibit smart behaviour, automate tasks, interact synergistically with one another, with users and Internet resources, and provide aid and value in daily life and work. Device ecologies will be seen in areas as diverse as e-commerce, health care, home automation, office automation, manufacturing, and defense. This project will develop a novel model and language for analyzing and programming device ecologies. This will be an Australian contribution towards techniques for constructing advanced applications that work over the computing infrastructure of the future.Read moreRead less
Proof Theoretical Methods for Reasoning about Process Equivalence. The emergence of internet commerce has made the issue of secure computing more urgent than ever. A substantial part of the security issues with today's computer applications are due to design problems.
The principles of secure computation have not been fully understood and adequate tools for the construction of secure applications are still lacking. The understanding of the foundations of secure computation is essential in bu ....Proof Theoretical Methods for Reasoning about Process Equivalence. The emergence of internet commerce has made the issue of secure computing more urgent than ever. A substantial part of the security issues with today's computer applications are due to design problems.
The principles of secure computation have not been fully understood and adequate tools for the construction of secure applications are still lacking. The understanding of the foundations of secure computation is essential in building trusted computer applications. Process calculi and logic represent two promising disciplines in which the principles of analysis and design of secure systems can be studied systematically, out of which formal verification tools can be constructed.Read moreRead less
Towards automated and intelligent processing of web-based information. The successful outcome of this project will enhance Australia's research reputation in an important, practical area of ICT, will contribute to emerging Web standards, will produce frontier technology that will eventually be of benefit to Australian industry, and will train several postgraduate students.
Rule-based reasoning systems for complex and dynamic ontologies. The successful outcome of this project will enhance Australia's research reputation in an important, practical area of ICT, will contribute to emerging Web technologies that will eventually be of benefit to Australian industry, and will train several postgraduate students.