Micro Virtual Machines: Abstraction, contained. This project will address a systemic source of inefficiency in widely used software which leads to many programs running as much as ten times slower and using considerably more energy than necessary, shortening battery life on mobile phones and increasing costs for large server farms. This inefficiency is endemic because it is due to the underlying languages rather than the particular software. This project will address this problem by developing a ....Micro Virtual Machines: Abstraction, contained. This project will address a systemic source of inefficiency in widely used software which leads to many programs running as much as ten times slower and using considerably more energy than necessary, shortening battery life on mobile phones and increasing costs for large server farms. This inefficiency is endemic because it is due to the underlying languages rather than the particular software. This project will address this problem by developing a high efficiency substrate, called a micro virtual machine, on which languages may be built.Read moreRead less
Designing Radiation-Tolerant Reconfigurable Systems for Space. The processing speed, cost and flexibility requirements of future satellite-based applications cannot be satisfied with conventional radiation-hardened processors or custom integrated circuits. This project aims to develop key technology to enable off-the-shelf hardware to be customised for this use without compromising reliability. The project aims to develop the design methods needed to implement a given set of satellite applicatio ....Designing Radiation-Tolerant Reconfigurable Systems for Space. The processing speed, cost and flexibility requirements of future satellite-based applications cannot be satisfied with conventional radiation-hardened processors or custom integrated circuits. This project aims to develop key technology to enable off-the-shelf hardware to be customised for this use without compromising reliability. The project aims to develop the design methods needed to implement a given set of satellite applications on a processing platform composed of application-specific soft processors and accelerator circuits hosted on conventional reconfigurable logic devices. Crucially, the solution architecture is expected to be sufficiently hardened against radiation-induced errors while meeting performance and circuit area constraints.Read moreRead less
Sustainability in Computing: A Holistic View. Green computing must provide sustainable processing capabilities with high energy efficiency (lower carbon footprint) and increased product longevity (reducing the need for product replacement). While advances in technology have afforded significant reduction in power requirements, they come with inherent challenges due to uncertainties in micro-scale behaviour, high complexity of quantifying/optimising energy cost or system lifetime in extreme scale ....Sustainability in Computing: A Holistic View. Green computing must provide sustainable processing capabilities with high energy efficiency (lower carbon footprint) and increased product longevity (reducing the need for product replacement). While advances in technology have afforded significant reduction in power requirements, they come with inherent challenges due to uncertainties in micro-scale behaviour, high complexity of quantifying/optimising energy cost or system lifetime in extreme scale computing, and the interaction of non-computing components with individual computing systems. This project addresses these challenges via a holistic, multi-scale paradigm for modelling, analysis, and optimisation of energy cost, carbon footprint, and product lifetime in emerging computing systems.Read moreRead less
Domain-specific visual languages for big data analytics applications. This project aims to invent domain-specific visual languages and support model-driven engineering based infrastructure so domain experts can specify, generate and apply complex data analytics and visualisation techniques. Many domains, including intelligent transport, business intelligence, and population health, need more effective “big data” analytics and visualisation. A challenge is to combine detailed domain knowledge – w ....Domain-specific visual languages for big data analytics applications. This project aims to invent domain-specific visual languages and support model-driven engineering based infrastructure so domain experts can specify, generate and apply complex data analytics and visualisation techniques. Many domains, including intelligent transport, business intelligence, and population health, need more effective “big data” analytics and visualisation. A challenge is to combine detailed domain knowledge – what the data means and what it can be used for – with sophisticated, scalable computational techniques to mine and present information from the huge volumes of raw data. This project is expected to improve productivity and quality of big data analytics and visualisation in critical domains.Read moreRead less
Metamorphic slices and their applications in fault localization. The main purpose of this project is to enhance the quality of software. The expected outcomes include the delivery of new cost-effective methods to debug software, and the extension of current debugging methods to be applicable in wider contexts.
Cost-effective use of assertions in the verification and validation of distributed and real-time systems. The project will reinforce Australia as a world leader in empirical software engineering and software verification and validation research, thus building on Australia's strengths in ICT research and innovation. Through the involvement of a local software verification and validation company and through industrial case studies, this project will also improve the software verification and valid ....Cost-effective use of assertions in the verification and validation of distributed and real-time systems. The project will reinforce Australia as a world leader in empirical software engineering and software verification and validation research, thus building on Australia's strengths in ICT research and innovation. Through the involvement of a local software verification and validation company and through industrial case studies, this project will also improve the software verification and validation capabilities of local industry, allow them to save software development costs, and improve the quality of the software produced.Read moreRead less
Integration of Metamorphic Testing and Model Checking. This project proposes an innovative approach of integrating metamorphic testing and model checking. Its main outcome will be to deliver a comprehensive testing method that will help to reduce errors and costs in software development and consequently to improve the quality of software systems. Since software is pervasive and ubiquitous, our results will improve the nation's software productivity and quality. Thus, our results will help in ra ....Integration of Metamorphic Testing and Model Checking. This project proposes an innovative approach of integrating metamorphic testing and model checking. Its main outcome will be to deliver a comprehensive testing method that will help to reduce errors and costs in software development and consequently to improve the quality of software systems. Since software is pervasive and ubiquitous, our results will improve the nation's software productivity and quality. Thus, our results will help in raising our nation's competitive advantage towards the goal of becoming a leading nation in the software industry among Asia-Pacific countries. Furthermore, this collaboration will help young Australian researchers to link to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a leading-edge international research institute.Read moreRead less
Mapping the Effectiveness of Automated Software Testing. This project aims to help software engineers build complex software systems in far more reliable and cost-effective ways. It takes an interdisciplinary approach by applying machine learning techniques to automatically test complex software systems. Expected outcomes include a novel methodology for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of test suites generated by automated software testing techniques and the approaches required for generat ....Mapping the Effectiveness of Automated Software Testing. This project aims to help software engineers build complex software systems in far more reliable and cost-effective ways. It takes an interdisciplinary approach by applying machine learning techniques to automatically test complex software systems. Expected outcomes include a novel methodology for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of test suites generated by automated software testing techniques and the approaches required for generating high-quality test cases. Such advances are urgently needed to avoid disasters when deploying software systems in the real world.Read moreRead less
Metamorphic Testing: An In-Depth Study to Enhance the Failure-Detection Capability of Software Testing Without an Oracle. Nowadays, software is pervasive and ubiquitous. It plays a significant role in the daily lives of all kinds of people. The Australian software industry has bloomed in recent years. Our research results will improve the cost-effectiveness of software development, thereby upgrading the nation's software productivity and quality. These factors are conducive to the export of soft ....Metamorphic Testing: An In-Depth Study to Enhance the Failure-Detection Capability of Software Testing Without an Oracle. Nowadays, software is pervasive and ubiquitous. It plays a significant role in the daily lives of all kinds of people. The Australian software industry has bloomed in recent years. Our research results will improve the cost-effectiveness of software development, thereby upgrading the nation's software productivity and quality. These factors are conducive to the export of software produced by Australians and helpful in raising our nation's competitive advantage towards the goal of becoming a leading nation in the software industry among Asia-Pacific countries.Read moreRead less
A Comprehensive Testing Methodology for Embedded Software. Embedded systems are a bedrock technology for many high-technology industries. They are used in many safety-critical situations, such as medical devices and car control systems, amongst hundreds of other applications. Unfortunately, current practice still sometimes results in disastrous mistakes remaining undetected, leading to multi-million dollar losses and in some cases even deaths. Improved testing methods for these systems offer ....A Comprehensive Testing Methodology for Embedded Software. Embedded systems are a bedrock technology for many high-technology industries. They are used in many safety-critical situations, such as medical devices and car control systems, amongst hundreds of other applications. Unfortunately, current practice still sometimes results in disastrous mistakes remaining undetected, leading to multi-million dollar losses and in some cases even deaths. Improved testing methods for these systems offer the potential of reducing such catastrophic losses. Improved embedded system testing techniques can offer Australia a competitive advantage in this strategically important industry. We will work to distribute our results to the Australian embedded systems community.Read moreRead less