Building Software Research Articles

Distributed Software Build Assurance for Software Supply Chain Integrity

Computing and networking are increasingly implemented in software. We design and build a software build assurance scheme detecting if there have been injections or modifications in the various steps in the software supply chain, including the source code, compiling, and distribution. Building on the reproducible build and software bill of materials (SBOM), our work is distinguished from previous research in assuring multiple software artifacts across the software supply chain. Reproducible build, in particular, enables our scheme, as our scheme requires the software materials/artifacts to be consistent across machines with the same operating system/specifications. Furthermore, we use blockchain to deliver the proof reference, which enables our scheme to be distributed so that the assurance beneficiary and verifier are the same, i.e., the node downloading the software verifies its own materials, artifacts, and outputs. Blockchain also significantly improves the assurance efficiency. We first describe and explain our scheme using abstraction and then implement our scheme to assure Ethereum as the target software to provide concrete proof-of-concept implementation, validation, and experimental analyses. Our scheme enables more significant performance gains than relying on a centralized server thanks to the use of blockchain (e.g., two to three orders of magnitude quicker in verification) and adds small overheads (e.g., generating and verifying proof have an overhead of approximately one second, which is two orders of magnitude smaller than the software download or build processes).

Accelerating DNA Sequence Alignment using Altera DE2-115

DNA sequence alignment is a technique for discovering information between two base sequences which the Smith-Waterman algorithm is the accurate method that provides a precise result for alignment compared to others. However, the performance was influence by size of dataset and a long DNA base sequence which resulted the time required for the alignment process is much longer in relation to the number of DNA sequence samples. There are many ways to accelerate DNA sequence alignment, and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a good choice due to its parallel processing and cost efficiency. Although FPGA acceleration approaches are not new, this work investigates a purely software-based FPGA acceleration using the Altera Cyclone IV EP4CE115F29C7N FPGA as the target device. The SW algorithm was developed using the C language in Quartus II version 18.1 and the Nios II software build tools for Eclipse. The development starts with setting up the Qsys architecture before developing the code in Eclipse to determine the computational performance. The result shows the computational timing and speed of the implementation, with the highest speed achieved being 198.76 cells per millisecond. To summarise, the computational performance ultimately depends on the maximum matrix size of the FPGA, which is also influenced by the DNA-based pair length and able to complete using low-cost FPGA.

Analysis of Software Tools for Automation of Configuration and Management Functions in It Infrastructures

The work by the authors, using a systematic approach, analyzes a group of software tools that are functionally oriented towards the automated implementation of configuration and management processes in IT infrastructures. The research profile focuses on a methodology known in the professional environment as “Infrastructure as Code” (IaC) and is one of the foundational methodologies implemented in a systemic combination within the DevOps methodology. This methodology is actively used in processes of dynamic formation, deployment, and maintenance of corporate IT infrastructures in many modern successful high-tech companies to achieve the best business performance, efficiency, guaranteed success, and security. The article discusses two basic approaches to building software tools that implement the IaC methodology, namely the declarative and imperative approaches. The main emphasis is placed on the formation of a set of advantages and disadvantages inherent in software tools such as Terraform, ARM, Ansible, and CloudFormation. The focus of researchers on these four software tools is explained by their leading positions in a fairly extensive lineup of possible alternative software products that allow for a comprehensive implementation of the IaC methodology in the context of full and functional systemic deployment of the DevOps methodology in specific implementations of corporate IT infrastructures. The authors' generalized conclusion of original scientific research is that there is currently no single clearly distinguished universal software tool among others that fully satisfies the entire spectrum of requirements and needs. Potential users in this context are communities of DevOps professionals and clients – owners and managers of modern dynamic high- tech and successful companies, firms, and businesses that rely on modern information systems and technologies.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOFTWARE PREFERENCES AND BUILDING TYPOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO

The developments of information technology have affected architectural education methods significantly, especially in the usage of architectural design softwares throughout the design process. Proficiency to operate certain software has become one of important considerations in professional architectural practice, because such skill will affect the whole process and outputs. With excellent skill, one can visualize and communicate design more effectively, rather than other individuals that use more updated software features but still learning to operate them. On the other hand, the learning process in architectural design studios always has a theme that can be classified to certain building typologies. This research aims to study the relation between building typology and software preferences in each design stage, from students point of view. The targeted students are the ones in third and fourth year of study, where the digital media are utilized in the studio process. The data obtained from questionnaires will be analyzed further using descriptive and correlational analysis. The findings from this research will serve as an input for the development of architectural education curriculum, regarding the most relevant and beneficial architectural software in each design process, from students' preferences.

ArborSim: Articulated, branching, OpenSim routing for constructing models of multi-jointed appendages with complex muscle-tendon architecture.

Computational models of musculoskeletal systems are essential tools for understanding how muscles, tendons, bones, and actuation signals generate motion. In particular, the OpenSim family of models has facilitated a wide range of studies on diverse human motions, clinical studies of gait, and even non-human locomotion. However, biological structures with many joints, such as fingers, necks, tails, and spines, have been a longstanding challenge to the OpenSim modeling community, especially because these structures comprise numerous bones and are frequently actuated by extrinsic muscles that span multiple joints-often more than three-and act through a complex network of branching tendons. Existing model building software, typically optimized for limb structures, makes it difficult to build OpenSim models that accurately reflect these intricacies. Here, we introduce ArborSim, customized software that efficiently creates musculoskeletal models of highly jointed structures and can build branched muscle-tendon architectures. We used ArborSim to construct toy models of articulated structures to determine which morphological features make a structure most sensitive to branching. By comparing the joint kinematics of models constructed with branched and parallel muscle-tendon units, we found that among various parameters-the number of tendon branches, the number of joints between branches, and the ratio of muscle fiber length to muscle tendon unit length-the number of tendon branches and the number of joints between branches are most sensitive to branching modeling method. Notably, the differences between these models showed no predictable pattern with increased complexity. As the proportion of muscle increased, the kinematic differences between branched and parallel models units also increased. Our findings suggest that stress and strain interactions between distal tendon branches and proximal tendon and muscle greatly affect the overall kinematics of a musculoskeletal system. By incorporating complex muscle-tendon branching into OpenSim models using ArborSim, we can gain deeper insight into the interactions between the axial and appendicular skeleton, model the evolution and function of diverse animal tails, and understand the mechanics of more complex motions and tasks.

Revealing the Unseen: AI Chain on LLMs for Predicting Implicit Data Flows to Generate Data Flow Graphs in Dynamically-Typed Code

Data flow graphs (DFGs) capture definitions (defs) and uses across program blocks, which is a fundamental program representation for program analysis, testing and maintenance. However, dynamically-typed programming languages like Python present implicit data flow issues that make it challenging to determine def-use flow information at compile time. Static analysis methods like Soot and WALA are inadequate for handling these issues, and manually enumerating comprehensive heuristic rules is impractical. Large pre-trained language models (LLMs) offer a potential solution, as they have powerful language understanding and pattern matching abilities, allowing them to predict implicit data flow by analyzing code context and relationships between variables, functions, and statements in code. We propose leveraging LLMs’ in-context learning ability to learn implicit rules and patterns from code representation and contextual information to solve implicit data flow problems. To further enhance the accuracy of LLMs, we design a five-step Chain of Thought (CoT) and break it down into an AI chain, with each step corresponding to a separate AI unit to generate accurate DFGs for Python code. Our approach’s performance is thoroughly assessed, demonstrating the effectiveness of each AI unit in the AI Chain. Compared to static analysis, our method achieves 82% higher def coverage and 58% higher use coverage in DFG generation on implicit data flow. We also prove the indispensability of each unit in the AI Chain. Overall, our approach offers a promising direction for building software engineering tools by utilizing foundation models, eliminating significant engineering and maintenance effort, but focusing on identifying problems for AI to solve.

Characterization and Validation of ECOSTRESS Sea Surface Temperature Measurements at 70 m Spatial Scale

The ECOSTRESS push-whisk thermal radiometer on the International Space Station provides the highest spatial resolution temperature retrievals over the ocean that are currently available. It is a precursor to the future TRISHNA (CNES/ISRO), SBG (NASA), and LSTM (ESA) 50 to 70 m scale missions. Radiance transfer simulations and triple collocations with in situ ocean observations and NOAA L2P geostationary satellite ocean temperature retrievals were used to characterize brightness temperature biases and their sources in ECOSTRESS Collection 1 (software Build 6) data for the period 12 January 2019 to 31 October 2022. Radiometric noise, non-uniformities in the focal plane array, and black body temperature dynamics were characterized in ocean scenes using L1A raw instrument data, L1B calibrated radiances, and L2 skin temperatures. The mean brightness temperature biases were −1.74, −1.45, and −1.77 K relative to radiance transfer simulations in the 8.78, 10.49, and 12.09 µm wavelength bands, respectively, and skin temperatures had a −1.07 K bias relative to in situ observations. Cross-track noise levels range from 60 to 600 mK and vary systematically along the focal plane array and as a function of wavelength band and scene temperature. Overall, radiometric uncertainty is most strongly influenced by cross-track noise levels and focal plane non-uniformity. Production of an ECOSTRESS sea surface temperature product that meets the requirements of the SST community will require calibration methods that reduce the biases, noise levels, and focal plane non-uniformities.

A deep neural network-based method to predict J-integral for surface cracked plates under biaxial loading

As surface cracks may cause potential failure for engineering structures, it is of vital significance to carry out the fracture assessment for cracked structures. The crack driving force in the form of J-integral is an important input parameter in fracture assessment. This paper focuses on the determination of J-integral for surface cracked plates under biaxial loading. A method for predicting the J-integral based on the deep neural network (DNN) is proposed to estimate J-integral efficiently and accurately. Firstly, extensive three-dimensional (3D) elastic–plastic finite element (FE) analysis is conducted to compute the J-integral along the crack front for developing a FE J-integral datasets containing 1600 cases. Various crack aspect ratios, crack depth ratios, strain hardening exponents, ratios of the loading perpendicular to the crack plane to yield stress, and biaxial ratios, are strategically considered. Secondly, DNN models for predicting the J-integral are constructed and trained according to the obtained datasets by FE analysis. Then, the evaluation criteria for DNN models and the grid search method are utilized to determine the optimal DNN model structure. Finally, test cases are employed to verify the feasibility and prediction accuracy of the determined DNN model. Based on validation results, the determined DNN model exhibits sufficiently accurate prediction performance. This research provides an idea for engineering applications, through building software based on continuously optimized DNN models, the J-integral for surface cracked plates under biaxial loading can be accurately and efficiently predicted for performing fracture assessments.

Control system for noise-resistant electronic speed controller of a brushless electric motor for an unmanned aerial vehicle

Objectives. The high demand for unmanned aircraft and their efficiency makes the production of their components a matter of relevance. One of these components is the speed controller of the brushless electric motor of the propeller motor group. At the current time, Russian industry, however, does not mass-produce them. In order to start production, control methods and algorithms for the hardware and software parts of devices of this type are needed. Criteria for selecting the main components also need to be formalized. The aim of this work is to develop a method for the software control of electric motors. This includes block diagrams and invariant algorithms and methods for the calculated selection of parameters of the main microcontroller of the electronic speed controller.Methods. Methods of algorithmization, expert assessments, linear computational processes and experimental studies were used.Results. The paper presents the theoretical basis for controlling the required motors. It proposes a block diagram of the implementation of the controller, and a technique for switching windings when controlling with a trapezoidal signal is proposed. Examples are given in the form of an oscillogram. Based on theoretical research, an invariant algorithmic apparatus was developed for building software for various types of microcontrollers. Block diagrams of all the main modules of the software are also presented. The main ones include: the event switching algorithm; and the main endless loop of the microcontroller. The requirements for microcontrollers to create the various types of speed controllers are formalized herein and presented in the form of a set of mathematical expressions. They enable the number of required peripheral devices and microcontroller ports to be calculated according to the requirements for the microcontroller, as well as the computing power of the core used.Conclusions. Experimental studies show the reliability of the theoretical research presented herein. The results obtained can be used to select the optimal element base and develop software for speed controllers of electric motors of the propellers of unmanned aircraft.

Managing software build infrastructure at ALICE using Hashicorp Nomad

Managing software build infrastructure at ALICE using Hashicorp Nomad

The influence of current results in a event­oriented data collection system

The article discusses synchronous and asynchronous procedures in the implementation of the microservices management algorithm in an adaptive system for processing large data flows when collecting information on the main event-oriented approach in the implementation of the architecture of a software system that processes information in real-time. This approach is important when processing large volumes of data from heterogeneous information sources, especially when the task is to minimize the total processing time of large data streams and reduce the total number of calls to data sources. The proposed approach makes it possible, based on its adaptability, to manage the selection of the composition and the number of calls of microservices to the sources, by the events that occur during the collection of information. Thus, it is possible to determine the choice of sources based on the assessment of the effectiveness of obtaining relevant information from them. This is especially important when processing large data flows from heterogeneous information sources when the task is to minimize the total time of collection and processing of large data flows. In turn, this poses the task of minimizing the number of requests to information sources to obtain a sufficient number of data units that are relevant to the search query. The creation of effective big data processing systems requires constant development of approaches to the architecture of building software applications. The event-oriented microservice architecture of the system makes it possible to adapt the operation of the system to the loads on individual microservices and the efficiency of their work by forming and responding to relevant events based on the analysis of relevant events that occur during the collection and initial processing of the received data. Depending on the specific task, it is possible to use both a synchronous and an asynchronous microservice management algorithm. The article provides an analysis of the effectiveness of obtaining relevant data depending on the degree of consideration in the evaluation of results and the formation of events, both the depth of the previous history of the results of requests and the size of their quantitative impact. The use of event-oriented microservice architecture can be especially effective when developing various information and analytical systems that need, according to user requests, to access various sources of information, analyze their data for relevance according to the request, and process large data streams.

Data assimilation for the Model for Prediction Across Scales – Atmosphere with the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI-MPAS 2.0.0-beta): ensemble of 3D ensemble-variational (En-3DEnVar) assimilations

Abstract. An ensemble of 3D ensemble-variational (En-3DEnVar) data assimilations is demonstrated with the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) with the Model for Prediction Across Scales – Atmosphere (MPAS-A) (i.e., JEDI-MPAS). Basic software building blocks are reused from previously presented deterministic 3DEnVar functionality and combined with a formal experimental workflow manager in MPAS-Workflow. En-3DEnVar is used to produce an 80-member ensemble of analyses, which are cycled with ensemble forecasts in a 1-month experiment. The ensemble forecasts approximate a purely flow-dependent background error covariance (BEC) at each analysis time. The En-3DEnVar BECs and prior ensemble-mean forecast errors are compared to those produced by a similar experiment that uses the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (DART) ensemble adjustment Kalman filter (EAKF). The experiment using En-3DEnVar produces a similar ensemble spread to and slightly smaller errors than the EAKF. The ensemble forecasts initialized from En-3DEnVar and EAKF analyses are used as BECs in deterministic cycling 3DEnVar experiments, which are compared to a control experiment that uses 20-member MPAS-A forecasts initialized from Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) initial conditions. The experimental ensembles achieve mostly equivalent or better performance than the off-the-shelf ensemble system in this deterministic cycling setting, although there are many obvious differences in configuration between GEFS and the two MPAS ensemble systems. An additional experiment that uses hybrid 3DEnVar, which combines the En-3DEnVar ensemble BEC with a climatological BEC, increases tropospheric forecast quality compared to the corresponding pure 3DEnVar experiment. The JEDI-MPAS En-3DEnVar is technically working and useful for future research studies. Tuning of observation errors and spread is needed to improve performance, and several algorithmic advancements are needed to improve computational efficiency for larger-scale applications.

Stiffness Warming Potential: An Innovative Parameter for Structural and Environmental Assessment of Timber–Concrete Composite Members

Timber hybridization with concrete is a rising widespread strategy to obtain members with a structural performance comparable to traditional ones—e.g., RC members—but characterized by a greater sustainability potential thanks to the presence of timber-based materials; this solution is of great interest due to its low embodied carbon content, which supports the decarbonization goals set, especially for the building sector. Such systems enhance the concrete and timber favorable properties and ameliorate their detrimental characteristics, both from the structural and environmental perspectives. In general, since these two aspects are generally considered separately, a new parameter is proposed to simultaneously combine a structural performance indicator with a warming potential one. Focusing on composite slabs in bending, the stiffness warming potential (λ) is introduced, which combines the evaluation of effective bending stiffness (according to Eurocode 5 γ-method) with the Global Warming Potential—GWP (on the basis of data from Athena Impact Estimator for Building software and data from an Environmental Product Declaration of a timber panel). The method provides a multi-criteria analysis concerning the slab design accounting for vibration, deflection, and acoustic criteria when optimizing the member span. On the other hand, GWP is assessed according to cradle-to-cradle Life Cycle Assessment analysis, where two scenarios with different sustainability levels are encompassed. Results firstly confirm the viability of the novel methodology, with a different outlook on timber–concrete hybrid members, stressing the importance of maintaining thinness of the concrete layer and clearly bringing out the importance of correct re-use and/or a timber recycling management to guarantee effective reductions in terms of CO2 emissions.

Substantiation of the Possibility of Diagnosing the Bearing Assembly of a Turbo-compressor by Consumption Characteristics in the MATLAB Environment

The simulation of the process of oil supply of a plain bearing TKR 6.1 was carried out in the Matlab Simulink software package. Values of liquid consumption – oil SAE 30 at a pressure of 0.3 MPa were obtained with a change in its temperature from 30 to 90°С (viscosity from 167.2 to 15.0 cSt) for various values of the total clearances of TKR 6.1, as well as the values of the liquid flow when modeling pressure in the unit from 0.1 to 0.4 MPa and oil temperature 90°C (viscosity 15.0 cSt). The presented results indicate the possibility of using this method to determine the total clearance of the turbocharger bearing assembly when building hardware and software systems for the study, diagnosis and examination of turbochargers and other similar units using the CIP method.

Impact of stereoisomer multiplicity on the luminescence analysis of europium complexes

The present article explores the challenges arising from the extensive range of plausible stereoisomers found in europium complexes and their implications for the analysis and interpretation of luminescence data. Our main finding reveals that a wide array of plausible stereoisomer geometries, including those generated by the Complex Build Software (which outputs a proven complete set of stereoisomers, given a coordination number and polyhedron shape), can effectively fit photophysical data using regularly employed Judd-Ofelt founded luminescence formalisms. Employing such methodologies always start from a presumed input geometry, usually either solid-state crystallographic geometries, or manually constructed geometries that are later optimized using theoretical model chemistries. But our preliminary analysis of crystallographic databases identified many distinct stereoisomers from several deposited crystallographic input files of europium complexes sharing the same molecular formula. Likewise, the extensive range of theoretically possible stereoisomers available for molecular modeling frequently goes unnoticed. Unaware of this extensive range of both experimental and theoretically possible stereoisomers available, researchers run the risk of inadvertently selecting one that bears no resemblance to reality, potentially overlooking the existence of alternative configurations. Thus, utilizing what ultimately amounts to a randomly selected structure—one that may not faithfully depict the true stereoisomer present in the sample under examination—does not guarantee consistency. Adding intricacy to the matter at hand, the transition from a solid-state environment to a solution can further trigger restructuring phenomena among these stereoisomers. Nevertheless, despite these challenges, our results suggest that luminescence analysis still holds some potential for extracting valuable structural information. For instance, the geometries of cubic shape CU-8, explored for the case studies we present, were the only ones that could not be adjusted, indicating a low likelihood of accurately representing their actual structures.

A scientific process for a sustainable architectural design: A case study of a rural pavilion in a hot semi-arid climate

The present research study is an essential contribution to sustainable design following a new process of rethinking design in architecture. Yet, through researchers’ investigations (building engineers, material engineers, climate and data engineers, etc), open-source data platforms, building and simulation software, products data sheets, built experience and local-know-how, are deemed necessary tools to master each decision concerning the building architectural design and the building construction systems. The present paper is a demonstration to the cited process. Indeed, the case study is a pavilion building located in a rural area characterized by a (BSh) climate according to Köppen-Geiger classification. The current project is designed to reduce the energy needs by passive measures considering the envelope, and the cooling/heating systems. The studied building allies both natural and conventional materials, taking advantage of each one depending on the uses. The results of the simulation study, using TRNSYS software, show that limestone-based variant (V2) and rammed earth-based (V3) perform better as their annual load is reduced by 57.2% and 56%, respectively, compared to cement-block reference case (V1). The variants (V2) and (V3) perform better than the double red clay bricks (V4), by 12% and 9.6%, respectively. However, according to different selection criteria, rammed-earth-based variant is considered, in this context, the most sustainable one among the four. Indeed, the comparison is based on both Life-Cycle-Assessment and the Embodied Energy analysis, contextualized depending on the cost, the local know-how and the social and cultural heritage.

Applying FAIR4RS principles to develop an integrated modeling environment for the magnetic confinement fusion

Over the decades, the integrated modeling (IM) environment for magnetically confined fusion has evolved from a single, isolated, proprietary numerical computing software to an open, flexible platform emphasizing sharing, communication, and workflow. This development direction is consistent with the FAIR4RS principles put forward by the scientific community in recent years. In this article, we describe how the FAIR4RS principles were put into practice during the development of the IM management tool FyDev for the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). FyDev integrates the process of building, deploying, and invoking research software, automating the entire process. FyDev can also assign a unique ID for each software, convert the software ID to a Python module, and encapsulate a package management tool to enhance the software building process, ensuring consistency throughout the entire phase of the research software find, access, use, and invocation in a uniform contextual environment.

Long Term Interoperability of Distributed Research Data Infrastructures

Research institutions have established a variety of research data infrastructures that orient towards discipline or methodology specific needs of their respective research community. Technically, these infrastructures ultimately are based on “off-the-shelf” hardware and software building blocks – both commercial and open-source. While such “enterprise ready” infrastructures can scale well, they apt to data silos and typically do not adhere to scientific standards like the FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability) principles out of the box. Using common architecture concepts such as the FAIR Digital Object (FAIR DO) allows interconnection of these silos by adding a long term interoperability layer on top of the existing infrastructure components.
 The presented approach provides a practical solution for interconnecting distributed research data infrastructures to national (like NFDI) and international (like EOSC and Gaia-X) infrastructures and preventing the creation of data silos. By allowing existing data infrastructures to make data FAIR, we enable researchers to access and reuse data from different domains, facilitating cross-disciplinary research and advancing new methods for scientific discoveries.

PERANCANGAN APLIKASI E-PARTNERSHIP MENGGUNAKAN METODE AGILE BERBASIS WEB PT. INDUSTRI TELEKOMUNIKASI INDONESIA (PERSERO)

PT. The Indonesian Telecommunications Industry is a provider of products and services based on digital service innovation to answer business needs to facilitate automation in consumer company organizations. Every consumer/potential partner who wants to be part of a partnership at PT. The Indonesian Telecommunications Industry previously had to register as a partner manually using a paper registration form for prospective partners, besides that the required documents were still in the form of paper documents that could be lost at any time. The concept of Agile Software Development was coined by Kent Beck and 16 colleagues by stating that agile software development is a way of building software by doing it and helping others build it at once. Agile software development methods or agile methodology is a set of software development methodologies based on iterative development, where requirements and solutions develop through collaboration between organized teams Based on the stages of analysis of admin and user needs, it can be concluded that there are several things that must be considered and made carefully, including the programming structure, database specifications, and user interface design must be in accordance with The e-Partnership system is made to make it easier for companies to provide information about the procurement of goods or services and other informational information. As for partners of PT. The Indonesian Telecommunication Industry makes it easy to get information about procurement and other information. In addition, this system can make it easier for prospective partners to register to become partners online, because to access the main page of procurement information and other information can only be accessed by partners who already have an e-Partnership application account. Admin dashboard made to make it easier to update, add, and delete procurement information and other information. And the information will be informed through the e-Partnership website to the logged in partner.

How to Engineer More Sustainable Software

Abstract Our world is a world of software. Eric Zie, CEO with GoCodeGreen, discusses the practical ways in which we can approach building software that doesn't contribute to global warming.