Improving the Performance, Scalability and Reliability of the Linux Operating System. This project aims to improve the scalability of the Linux operating system to large systems without loss of performance on small, embedded, systems. It will improve Linux robustness and security by de-privileging particularly error-prone code, such as device drivers, without undue impact on performance. It will improve configurability and ease tuning by making critical components, such as processor, disk and me ....Improving the Performance, Scalability and Reliability of the Linux Operating System. This project aims to improve the scalability of the Linux operating system to large systems without loss of performance on small, embedded, systems. It will improve Linux robustness and security by de-privileging particularly error-prone code, such as device drivers, without undue impact on performance. It will improve configurability and ease tuning by making critical components, such as processor, disk and memory schedulers, pluggable and their policies controllable at user level. It will investigate the feasibility and benefits of user-level file systems and processor and memory scheduling and will demonstrate that these can improve system reliability without undermining performance.Read moreRead less
Operating systems meeting the challenges of modern computer architectures. This project will develop operating system techniques that allow extracting the best performance out of modern computer architectures. It will concentrate on the latest architecture, Itanium, whose innovative features make it a particular challenge for operating systems. The techniques will be implemented in the open source Linux operating system and will result in significantly reduced operating system overheads and enh ....Operating systems meeting the challenges of modern computer architectures. This project will develop operating system techniques that allow extracting the best performance out of modern computer architectures. It will concentrate on the latest architecture, Itanium, whose innovative features make it a particular challenge for operating systems. The techniques will be implemented in the open source Linux operating system and will result in significantly reduced operating system overheads and enhanced application performance.Read moreRead less
A safe and efficient multi-language component framework based on dynamic compilation. Components are a versatile mechanism for the construction of extendible systems and for improved code reusability. Emerging environments like Microsoft's .NET support the interaction of components written in different programming languages. To date, such systems do not adequately isolate components which therefore must trust each other. This is unacceptable for components loaded across the Internet. We will dev ....A safe and efficient multi-language component framework based on dynamic compilation. Components are a versatile mechanism for the construction of extendible systems and for improved code reusability. Emerging environments like Microsoft's .NET support the interaction of components written in different programming languages. To date, such systems do not adequately isolate components which therefore must trust each other. This is unacceptable for components loaded across the Internet. We will develop a framework for secure execution of component software, based on hardware-enforced protection domains. To minimize the resulting runtime overheads we will provide a component model with lightweight context switching. A novel typed intermediate language and dynamic compilation techniques will offer complementary optimisations.
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High-performance real-time OS framework for low-power applications. Wireless network adapters, as they are being developed by Cisco, will find widespread use in the near future, as they are the basis of all mobile or otherwise disconnected intelligent devices. These devices must process data very rapidly, yet operate with minimal power consumption. We will develop operating system kernels that will support the secure, efficient and protected execution of the core processing firmware, and provide ....High-performance real-time OS framework for low-power applications. Wireless network adapters, as they are being developed by Cisco, will find widespread use in the near future, as they are the basis of all mobile or otherwise disconnected intelligent devices. These devices must process data very rapidly, yet operate with minimal power consumption. We will develop operating system kernels that will support the secure, efficient and protected execution of the core processing firmware, and provide application frameworks for the controlling higher software layers. We will also investigate and design hardware mechanisms that support the software while keeping power consumption minimal.Read moreRead less
Gaze Tracking Haptic User Interface for the Blind. It is estimated over 40 million people suffer from sever visual impairment in the modern world. Although blind people are able to use the computer with the aid of a screen reader and output devices like Braille displays, it remains difficult for the blind to use many applications with Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) due to the need for hand-eye coordination when manipulating screen objects with the mouse. This project intends to overcome this d ....Gaze Tracking Haptic User Interface for the Blind. It is estimated over 40 million people suffer from sever visual impairment in the modern world. Although blind people are able to use the computer with the aid of a screen reader and output devices like Braille displays, it remains difficult for the blind to use many applications with Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) due to the need for hand-eye coordination when manipulating screen objects with the mouse. This project intends to overcome this difficulty by providing a means for the blind to perceive and control the GUI of typical computer applications. This potentially could provide increased computer access, job opportunities and education for the blind.Read moreRead less
Security for Virtual Machine based Systems. Secure information systems have become paramount importance to our society and economies, which are increasingly based on online services and Internet infrastructures. Trusted interactions are a strategic necessity for businesses, governments and individuals in this ever-increasing digital world. It is critically important for Australia to develop new technologies to anticipate and respond to security threats to its industry and society. The outcomes ....Security for Virtual Machine based Systems. Secure information systems have become paramount importance to our society and economies, which are increasingly based on online services and Internet infrastructures. Trusted interactions are a strategic necessity for businesses, governments and individuals in this ever-increasing digital world. It is critically important for Australia to develop new technologies to anticipate and respond to security threats to its industry and society. The outcomes of this research will result in novel policy based secure and trusted system models and new techniques for malicious attacks detection, which will help to achieve secure Internet applications and large scale systems in Grid computing and e-Science.Read moreRead less
Service Ecosystems Management for Collaborative Process Improvement. Australian government agencies currently explore opportunities for streamlining their business processes. A promising approach relates to the improvement of cross-agency processes based on service-enabled technologies. This project will use requirements within Queensland Government for the design of a service ecosystem and methodological and management concepts to derive a general framework for intra-organisational ecosystems. ....Service Ecosystems Management for Collaborative Process Improvement. Australian government agencies currently explore opportunities for streamlining their business processes. A promising approach relates to the improvement of cross-agency processes based on service-enabled technologies. This project will use requirements within Queensland Government for the design of a service ecosystem and methodological and management concepts to derive a general framework for intra-organisational ecosystems. Though the focus will be on government processes, the project will generalise beyond this scope for a wider uptake of service ecosystems in Australian organisations. This will lead to reduced process costs and risks and will leverage the exploration of new revenue streams, e.g. shared services and reward schemes.Read moreRead less
Intelligent Design Advisor for Manufacturing Process Knowledge within Concurrent Engineering in the Aerospace Industry. At present the design of engineering components in the aerospace industry is accomplished by experts from design and manufacturing either sequentially or in collaboration. If performed in sequence then time and quality is jeopardised. If performed in collaboration then more manpower than is necessary is expended. The aim of this project is to develop an intelligent design advis ....Intelligent Design Advisor for Manufacturing Process Knowledge within Concurrent Engineering in the Aerospace Industry. At present the design of engineering components in the aerospace industry is accomplished by experts from design and manufacturing either sequentially or in collaboration. If performed in sequence then time and quality is jeopardised. If performed in collaboration then more manpower than is necessary is expended. The aim of this project is to develop an intelligent design advisor for Manufacturing Process Knowledge that will provide this expert knowledge to the design engineer in order to speed up the design process while reducing costs and still maintaining the high standard of quality necessary in the Aerospace industry.Read moreRead less
Robust Control Design using Micro-Actuators. Recent advances in micro-actuators have enabled many new applications in complex systems. Examples include ultra-high density disk drives, low-cost vibration tables, and micro-robotic systems. However, control design for these systems is very challenging because the micro-actuators have severely limited dynamic ranges and strong couplings. The proposed project aims to study new control design approaches for these complex systems. The work will focus o ....Robust Control Design using Micro-Actuators. Recent advances in micro-actuators have enabled many new applications in complex systems. Examples include ultra-high density disk drives, low-cost vibration tables, and micro-robotic systems. However, control design for these systems is very challenging because the micro-actuators have severely limited dynamic ranges and strong couplings. The proposed project aims to study new control design approaches for these complex systems. The work will focus on both theoretical studies and experimental applications of such systems. The outcome of the project will help put Australia in a more advanced position in this niche area of leading age technology.Read moreRead less
Leveraging open innovation: software and processes for engaging with online communities. The research could help transform the ability of Australian industry to design software systems and processes that (i) engage with online communities to create and enhance organizational knowledge, (ii) accelerate innovation processes, and (iii) exploit existing intellectual property (IP).