GriddLeS: Building Grid Applications from Legacy Software. Grid computing is emerging as a major new capability for modern, high performance technical computing. Such Grids couple geographically distributed resources such as high performance computers, workstations, clusters, and scientific instruments. Traditional methods of producing software for Grids are inefficient and error prone, and will not allow the rapid deployment of new applications. This project concerns the development of a tool t ....GriddLeS: Building Grid Applications from Legacy Software. Grid computing is emerging as a major new capability for modern, high performance technical computing. Such Grids couple geographically distributed resources such as high performance computers, workstations, clusters, and scientific instruments. Traditional methods of producing software for Grids are inefficient and error prone, and will not allow the rapid deployment of new applications. This project concerns the development of a tool that will facilitate the construction of complex Grid application using legacy software components. It will test the new ideas with a range of scientific demonstrators, including atmospheric science, geo-science and mechanical engineering.Read moreRead less
Analysing model transformations for combinatorial problems. Maximising the benefits of limited resources is crucial for our industry, our hospitals, our security and our environment. This is achievable through a technology called combinatorial optimisation, which also supports wiser investment, better engineering, and even accelerated bio-informatics. Applying the technology is highly skilled and effort intensive, so most of its potential benefits are unrealised. This project will break down ....Analysing model transformations for combinatorial problems. Maximising the benefits of limited resources is crucial for our industry, our hospitals, our security and our environment. This is achievable through a technology called combinatorial optimisation, which also supports wiser investment, better engineering, and even accelerated bio-informatics. Applying the technology is highly skilled and effort intensive, so most of its potential benefits are unrealised. This project will break down some of the barriers which make it hard to use. The ultimate goal is to let the user state the problem in simple terms, and the computer work out how best to solve it. Our vision is for groups and organisations large and small to reap the benefits of combinatorial optimisation.Read moreRead less
Redesigning Typesetting for the Digital Age: Multilingual Layout on Multiple Media. We propose to create and develop a new model for character-level automatic typesetting, much more flexible than existing approaches. This model will support quality typesetting of all of the modern - and many ancient - languages and scripts, on media such as paper, computer screen, paper maps and online maps, for regular and safety-critical applications.
The fundamental innovations in this proposal are the us ....Redesigning Typesetting for the Digital Age: Multilingual Layout on Multiple Media. We propose to create and develop a new model for character-level automatic typesetting, much more flexible than existing approaches. This model will support quality typesetting of all of the modern - and many ancient - languages and scripts, on media such as paper, computer screen, paper maps and online maps, for regular and safety-critical applications.
The fundamental innovations in this proposal are the use of a tree-structured parameter space (generalization of Unix environment variables) and a multiple-pass approach to typesetting (as used in compilers). These innovative techniques will be integrated into computer software used worldwide.Read moreRead less
Planning and Learning in BDI Agents. Intelligent agents are becoming increasingly important in a range of complex and dynamic applications. BDI agent systems are extremely successful robust and flexible, in real time applications. However they are not actually able to do any traditional planning. Nor do they incorporate learning. This project will incorporate learning and planning capabilities into a BDI system framework, in a focussed and integrated manner that allows benefits from these approa ....Planning and Learning in BDI Agents. Intelligent agents are becoming increasingly important in a range of complex and dynamic applications. BDI agent systems are extremely successful robust and flexible, in real time applications. However they are not actually able to do any traditional planning. Nor do they incorporate learning. This project will incorporate learning and planning capabilities into a BDI system framework, in a focussed and integrated manner that allows benefits from these approaches where appropriate, but without compromising the real-time capability of existing BDI systems. Learned information and new plans will then be fully incorporated for later use by the standard BDI mechanisms.Read moreRead less
Formal Specification and Realisation of Dynamic Reconfiguration in FPGA-based Systems. The project aims are:
to significantly advance our understanding of the key concepts needed to successfully exploit dynamic, run-time reconfigurable computing, a technology that is now becoming increasingly available due to developments in FPGA (Field Progammable Gate Array) devices, and
the development of an innovative high-level programming environment that will include a language, associated design method ....Formal Specification and Realisation of Dynamic Reconfiguration in FPGA-based Systems. The project aims are:
to significantly advance our understanding of the key concepts needed to successfully exploit dynamic, run-time reconfigurable computing, a technology that is now becoming increasingly available due to developments in FPGA (Field Progammable Gate Array) devices, and
the development of an innovative high-level programming environment that will include a language, associated design methodologies, compilation techniques, and run-time support that will make dynamic reconfigurable computing accessible to a wide community of potential users.
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Open Agent Architectures for Intelligent Distributed Decision Making. Sophisticated software systems are part of the essential infrastructure of our daily lives. Complex systems such as the internet, finance, or telecommunications software cannot have a centralised point of control or a single developer. The aim of this project is to develop an architecture and support infrastructure enabling intelligent agents to locate and use services in such open systems. The fundamental questions that must ....Open Agent Architectures for Intelligent Distributed Decision Making. Sophisticated software systems are part of the essential infrastructure of our daily lives. Complex systems such as the internet, finance, or telecommunications software cannot have a centralised point of control or a single developer. The aim of this project is to develop an architecture and support infrastructure enabling intelligent agents to locate and use services in such open systems. The fundamental questions that must be addressed include issues such as how agents will find and use newly added services and how services will communicate with each other, given that they are developed independently.Read moreRead less
Refinement of Temporal and Epistemic Specifications in Asynchronous Systems. Designing distributed systems is a complex activity requiring rigorous mathematical models of designs and specifications. It is desirable for the mathematical notations to be as close as possible to intuitive notions used by designers. One such notion is the idea that components in a distributed system have states of knowledge. Previous work has developed a calculus enabling derivation of systems with global clock by s ....Refinement of Temporal and Epistemic Specifications in Asynchronous Systems. Designing distributed systems is a complex activity requiring rigorous mathematical models of designs and specifications. It is desirable for the mathematical notations to be as close as possible to intuitive notions used by designers. One such notion is the idea that components in a distributed system have states of knowledge. Previous work has developed a calculus enabling derivation of systems with global clock by series of correctness-preserving transformations from a knowledge-based specification. This project will generalize this work to a calculus for systems that lack a global clock, and implement a tool providing automated support for use of the calculus.Read moreRead less