Plug-in Structure Research Articles

Веб-ориентированный подход к трансформации систем координат геоцентрического типа

Recently in modern geoinformatics, the task of transforming coordinate systems has been one of the most significant. In this case, coordinate processing is performed for various projections, supported by many geographic information systems and the corresponding software libraries. At the same time, problems associated with transformation into specialized coordinate systems for example geomagnetic ones remain practically unsolved. Moreover, such a conversion is necessary to describe various geophysical processes, the occurrence and course of which largely depend on the parameters of the main magnetic poles of the Earth. In the paper, the authors proposed a web-based approach to transforming a geographic coordinate system into a geomagnetic one and ensuring prompt results based on the original spatiotemporal parameters. The architecture of the web solution was modernized by combining various web patterns; it provides support for a plug-in structure and loose coupling of program modules. It is shown that the proposed solution does not depend on the type of the consumer and can be used with interfaces of various kinds, provided that the appropriate interaction protocol is used. The performed computational experiments showed that calculations of geomagnetic coordinates based on the mentioned algorithm match to the known expressions and models

SimplyFire: An Open-Source, Customizable Software Application forthe Analysis of Synaptic Events.

We have developed an open-source software for neuroscientists to analyze electrophysiological recordings. Named SimplyFire, the software gives the users the flexibility to analyze a variety of recordings using an interactive graphical user interface or as an importable Python package. The software features a simple plugin structure that allows users to create and deploy various electrophysiology analysis tools. SimplyFire is pre-packaged with tools commonly used in electrophysiology, such as noise filtering, trace averaging, miniature analysis, and trace exporting. We discuss in detail the algorithm behind the different features of the analysis tool. We verify the accuracy of the algorithm by testing the software using computer-generated traces with known true values of the events. SimplyFire will be distributed under the GPLv3.0 license. The open nature of this software will allow interested investigators to modify and expand the software for additional capabilities as needed. We believe this software will not only compete with commercially available software packages but will also present a powerful tool to meet the current and unmet needs of electrophysiologists.

Development of Plugins for seamless Integration of the SIMULTAN Meta Data Model with IDA-ICE and RFEM 6

SIMULTAN ComponentBuilder plugins enable individualized development of connections to simulation tools, easing data management of the simulation-driven interdisciplinary planning processes in civil engineering. The Software Development Kit (SDK) is an integral part of ongoing research projects, which aim to exhibit and expand the capability of the SIMULTAN Meta Data Model. The goal is to store digital information necessary for the planning processes in civil engineering and operation and operational performance analysis of buildings via digital twins. A theoretical outline of the plugin structure is given, and the usability of the SDK is shown by presenting two example plugins. Two plugins were developed to enable seamless integration with the proprietary simulation software IDA ICE and RFEM 6 within the same data model. Furthermore, it is shown that the existing data in the SIMULTAN Data Model can be reused by utilizing already existing information and avoiding duplication. Limitations of the SDK will be explained, and concepts for future data model extensions will be discussed. The development and deployment of the two plugins show the benefits of using a Big-open-real-BIM Data Model for civil engineering planning processes, enabling individualization and workflow-enhancing expansion.

Application of Segmented and Prestressed Supporting Structures in Bridge Crane Systems: Potentials and Challenges

In this paper, an alternative design approach to the construction of bridge crane systems is analyzed with respect to the potentials and challenges of use based on two possible construction methods. Compared to conventional crane bridges, which are manufactured as a single part, the innovation of the approach relates to designing the crane bridge in segments and assembling it from standardized individual components, which are small in dimension, to form a plug-in structure. These are then prestressed by means of a tensile member to establish the load-bearing capacity. The motivation of the alternative design concept arises from a challenging manufacturing and costly transportation of common crane bridges. Here, the different design approaches are first presented as to how a segmental crane bridge can be constructed and which function the involved components fulfill. In this context, the novel construction method also gives rise to new constraints that are not covered by the common design standards and are therefore discussed. The paper concludes with a comparative study to identify advantages and disadvantages of both concepts regarding defined criteria with the aim of determining design improvements and elaborates the potentials and challenges of the approach with respect to a future industrial implementation. Moreover, these findings additionally form the basis for further research work in this area.

Characterization of two-dimensional cartridge type bidirectional proportional throttle valve

A novel bidirectional proportional throttle valve with a two-dimensional (2D) plug-in structure is proposed in this paper. The valve integrates the 2D valve module and the logic valve into one component, with high integration degree, response speed, and control accuracy. The mathematical model of the 2D valve module is established based on the continuity equation of flow and kinematic equation, and the stability criterion of the valve is established. The effects of the inclination angle, width, and initial overlapping height of the oblique slot and rectangular slot on the dynamic response of the valve are explored by AMESim simulation, and appropriate structural parameters are selected to design and manufacture the prototype valve. A dedicated test bench is built, and the feasibility of the valve design is verified by testing the valve under different system pressures and different load variations. The experimental results show that, at a system pressure of 21 MPa, the prototype valve has a flow rate of 53.5 L min−1, a hysteresis of 0.8%, a linearity of 5%, and a step response time of 6.5 ms. When the analog valve opening is changed by inputting 0.1 Hz signals with different waveforms under different system pressures, the maximum fluctuation of the main spool displacement is less than 1 μm, and the maximum stabilization time does not exceed 110 ms.

BEATS: An Open-Source, High-Precision, Multi-Channel EEG Acquisition Tool System.

Stable and accurate electroencephalogram (EEG) signal acquisition is fundamental in non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. Commonly used EEG acquisition systems' hardware and software are usually closed-source. Its inability to flexible expansion and secondary development is a major obstacle to real-time BCI research. This paper presents the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications EEG Acquisition Tool System named BEATS. It implements a comprehensive system from hardware to software, composed of the analog front end, microprocessor, and software platform. BEATS is capable of collecting 32-channel EEG signals at a guaranteed sampling rate of 4kHz with wireless transmission. Compared to state-of-the-art systems used in many EEG fields, it displays a better sampling rate. Using techniques including direct memory access, first in first out, and timer, the precision and stability of the acquisition are ensured at the microsecond level. An evaluation is conducted during 24 hours of continuous acquisitions. There are no packet losses and the average maximum delay is only 0.07s/h. Moreover, as an open-source system, BEATS provides detailed design files, and adopts a plug-in structure and easy-to-access materials, which makes it can be quickly reproduced. Schematics, source code, and other materials of BEATS are available at https://github.com/buptantEEG/BEATS.

Corrosion reaction kinetics and high‐temperature corrosion testing of contact element strips in ultra‐high voltage bushing based on the phase‐field method

For the structural characteristics of power transmission equipment such as bushings, the plug-in structure is mostly used for current-carrying connections owing to the large size and long distance at high voltage levels. The contact element strip is the key component of the current-carrying structure, carrying the combined electrical–thermal effect. Its electrical current-carrying performance is important. In recent years, discharge failures caused by the overheating failure of electrical connections have occurred from time to time. However, there have been relatively few studies on the failure mechanism of the electrical connection structures of high-voltage power transmission equipment, such as bushings. In this study, from the perspective of corrosion reaction kinetics, a two-dimensional phase-field model of high-temperature corrosion is established to obtain the carrier concentration distribution in the film. The effects of temperature, gas partial pressure, film thickness, and applied electric field on the growth rate of corrosion reaction film were calculated using the finite element method. At the same time, with the contact element strips used in the bushing as the test object, a corrosion test was carried out in SF6 atmosphere to simulate the high-temperature corrosion caused by the uneven current carrying of the contacts in actual operating conditions. Combined with the effect of temperature on the film growth rate, the contact area was the most severely corroded location. The simulation can provide a qualitative analysis for the contact degradation test and a new method for studying the factors affecting the corrosion mechanism of contact element strips.

Mechanical Design and Electrical Experiment of Large Current Connector for Transformer Terminal and Drain Wire in Distribution Network

The terminal and the drain wire of distribution transformers are generally connected by bolts, which appears not only reliable, convenient and simple in connection and assembling, but also easy to disassemble. However, the bolt connection is prone to fail, and it is easy to loosen under force. In this paper, a bolt-free quick connection design is proposed, which introduces a large current connector plug-in structure between the voltage side terminals of the transformer and the drainage line instead of the existing bolt connection. Through the experiments performed, the performance test indicators of the large-current connector after being connected to the transformer seems to meet the requirements, and is suitable for extreme environment with humidity, dust, ultraviolet rays and other harsh, which effectively improves the flexibility and convenience of the distribution transformers operation.

Plug-in gate-loop compensators for series-connected IGBT drivers in solid-state fault current limiter

Solid-state fault current limiter (SSFCL) is the key protective equipment in direct current distribution network. To meet the high voltage requirement meanwhile reduce the cost, implementing a SSFCL based on series-connected insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) is a promising way. However, voltage unbalancing of IGBTs would be introduced if the gate-loops of the IGBTs are non-identical. In this paper, a plug-in gate-loop compensator with discrete gate voltage feedback and pulsewidth current compensation is proposed. The main merits are 1) with the plug-in structure, the extra current sources only provide small power to fine-tune the gate-loop without affecting the functions provided by the commercial IGBT gate driver; 2) the gate-emitter voltages of IGBTs are compared with the preset thresholds to obtain control criterions, and the pulsewidths of the current sources are controlled for gate-loop compensation, thus both analog-digital and digital-analog converters are avoided; 3) the control law is easy to be implemented in FPGA, and is robust to voltage variation of power-loop. With the proposed compensator, the voltage unbalancing is alleviated immediately at the present switching cycle, and further eliminated cycle-by-cycle during current limitation process. Experimental results verify the feasibility of proposed compensator.

Integration of PD-type Iterative Learning Control with Adaptive Sliding Mode Control

Proportional-Derivative type Iterative Learning Controller (PD-ILC) is combined with an Adaptive Sliding Mode Controller (ASMC) using a plug-in structure to a rotary pendulum. The ASMC adaptation law is used to update a switching gain of sliding surface in Sliding Mode Control (SMC) controller. The proposed hybrid controller stability and convergence are mathematically shown and then experimentally demonstrated using two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) Quanser© QUBETM Servo 2 Rotary Pendulum. Results illustrate that adaptation law helps the controllers to achieve higher accuracy tracking performance compared to the classic SMC controller. Based on the experimental results, the hybrid control of PD-ILC and ASMC has faster and more accurate tracking results than ILC controller indicating the combined controller has better performance than the individual controllers.

Multiple resonant controllers strategy to achieve fault ride‐through and high performance output voltage in UPS applications

A control strategy to achieve fault ride-through capability and to provide high performance of the output voltage of a single-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS) inverter is proposed in this study. This strategy consists in controlling the voltage and current waveforms measured at the inverter output filter, with an inner current control loop and an outer voltage control loop, using a plug-in structure based on multiple resonant stages in addition with proportional controllers. In order to achieve stability from no load to short-circuit conditions, the implementation of the multiple resonant controllers includes a compensation of the system phase lag. Moreover, it presents a comparative analysis between two controller structures, the proposed plug-in and the classical proportional + resonant. From this analysis, it can be concluded that the plug-in structure presents improved characteristics of closed-loop output impedance and output voltage dynamic response during fault ride-through events. A controller design methodology to achieve robustness to parametric uncertainties and UPS standard compliance, is detailed. Experimental results from a single-phase 2 kVA inverter prototype are presented to validate the feasibility of the proposal.

Harmonic vibration suppression for magnetically suspended flywheel with rotor unbalance and sensor runout

Rotor unbalance and sensor runout are the two major interference sources in magnetically suspended flywheel (MSF), which can induce undesirable harmonic vibration and reduce the attitude control precision of spacecraft. To further suppress the harmonic vibration caused by multiple interference sources, a compound control method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the mechanism of harmonic vibration is analyzed. The rotor unbalance mainly generates the single harmonic vibration and the sensor runout generates multiple harmonic vibration. Secondly, on the basis of the characteristics of the two kinds of interference, the generalized notch filter and the repetitive control method are adopted to suppress the harmonic vibration caused by sensor runout and rotor unbalance, respectively. Thirdly, in order to reduce the difficulty of controller design, a plug-in structure is adopted to the repetitive controller. And then the two control methods can be designed independently. The stability and the interference suppression capability of the proposed method were analyzed. Lastly, the effectiveness of the proposed method has been experimentally verified.

A plug-in electrophoresis microchip with PCB electrodes for contactless conductivity detection.

A plug-in electrophoresis microchip for large-scale use aimed at improving maintainability with low fabrication and maintenance costs is proposed in this paper. The plug-in microchip improves the maintainability of a device because the damaged microchannel layer can be changed without needing to cut off the circuit wires in the detection component. Obviously, the plug-in structure reduces waste compared with earlier microchips; at present the whole microchip has to be discarded, including the electrode layer and the microchannel layer. The fabrication cost was reduced as far as possible by adopting a steel template and printed circuit board electrodes that avoided the complex photolithography, metal deposition and sputtering processes. The detection performance of our microchip was assessed by electrophoresis experiments. The results showed an acceptable gradient and stable detection performance. The effect of the installation shift between the microchannel layer and the electrode layer brought about by the plug-in structure was also evaluated. The results indicated that, as long as the shift was controlled within a reasonable scope, its effect on the detection performance was acceptable. The plug-in microchip described in this paper represents a new train of thought for the large-scale use and design of portable instruments with electrophoresis microchips in the future.

PanDA for ATLAS distributed computing in the next decade

The Production and Distributed Analysis (PanDA) system has been developed to meet ATLAS production and analysis requirements for a data-driven workload management system capable of operating at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data processing scale. Heterogeneous resources used by the ATLAS experiment are distributed worldwide at hundreds of sites, thousands of physicists analyse the data remotely, the volume of processed data is beyond the exabyte scale, dozens of scientific applications are supported, while data processing requires more than a few billion hours of computing usage per year. PanDA performed very well over the last decade including the LHC Run 1 data taking period. However, it was decided to upgrade the whole system concurrently with the LHC’s first long shutdown in order to cope with rapidly changing computing infrastructure. After two years of reengineering efforts, PanDA has embedded capabilities for fully dynamic and flexible workload management. The static batch job paradigm was discarded in favor of a more automated and scalable model. Workloads are dynamically tailored for optimal usage of resources, with the brokerage taking network traffic and forecasts into account. Computing resources are partitioned based on dynamic knowledge of their status and characteristics. The pilot has been re-factored around a plugin structure for easier development and deployment. Bookkeeping is handled with both coarse and fine granularities for efficient utilization of pledged or opportunistic resources. An in-house security mechanism authenticates the pilot and data management services in off-grid environments such as volunteer computing and private local clusters. The PanDA monitor has been extensively optimized for performance and extended with analytics to provide aggregated summaries of the system as well as drill-down to operational details. There are as well many other challenges planned or recently implemented, and adoption by non-LHC experiments such as bioinformatics groups successfully running Paleomix (microbial genome and metagenomes) payload on supercomputers. In this paper we will focus on the new and planned features that are most important to the next decade of distributed computing workload management.

Remote device control and monitor system for the LHD deuterium experiments

Upon beginning the LHD deuterium experiment, the opportunity for maintenance work in the torus hall will be conspicuously reduced such that all instruments must be controlled remotely. The LHD data acquisition (DAQ) and archiving system have been using about 110 DAQ front-end, and the DAQ central control and monitor system has been implemented for their remote management. This system is based on the “multi-agent” model whose communication protocol has been unified. Since DAQ front-end electronics would suffer from the “single-event effect” (SEE) of D-D neutrons, software-based remote operation might become ineffective, and then securely intercepting or recycling the electrical power of the device would be indispensable for recovering from a non-responding fault condition. In this study, a centralized control and monitor system has been developed for a number of power distribution units (PDUs). This system adopts the plug-in structure in which the plug-in modules can absorb the differences among the commercial products of numerous vendors. The combination of the above-mentioned functionalities has led to realizing the flexible and highly reliable remote control infrastructure for the plasma diagnostics and the device management in LHD.

마이크로소프트의 차세대 암호 라이브러리 구조에 관한 연구 및 오류-검출 도구 구현

This paper introduces a structure, features and programming techniques for the CNG(Cryptography API: Next Generation), which is the substitution of the CAPI(Cryptography API) from Microsoft. The CNG allows to optimize a scope of functions and features because it is comprised of independent modules based on plug-in structure. Therefore, the CNG is competitive on development costs and agility to extend. In addition, the CNG supports various functions for the newest cryptographic algorithm, audit, kernel-mode programming with agility and possible to contribute for core cryptography services in a new environment. Therefore, based on these advantageous functions, we analyze the structure of CNG to extend it for the enterprise and the public office. In addition, we implement an error-detection tool for program which utilizes CNG library.

Control of Magnetic Bearings for Rotor Unbalance With Plug-In Time-Varying Resonators.

Rotor unbalance, common phenomenon of rotational systems, manifests itself as a periodic disturbance synchronized with the rotor's angular velocity. In active magnetic bearing (AMB) systems, feedback control is required to stabilize the open-loop unstable electromagnetic levitation. Further, feedback action can be added to suppress the repeatable runout but maintain closed-loop stability. In this paper, a plug-in time-varying resonator is designed by inverting cascaded notch filters. This formulation allows flexibility in designing the internal model for appropriate disturbance rejection. The plug-in structure ensures that stability can be maintained for varying rotor speeds. Experimental results of an AMB-rotor system are presented.

ContextMap 2: fast and accurate context-based RNA-seq mapping.

BackgroundMapping of short sequencing reads is a crucial step in the analysis of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data. ContextMap is an RNA-seq mapping algorithm that uses a context-based approach to identify the best alignment for each read and allows parallel mapping against several reference genomes.ResultsIn this article, we present ContextMap 2, a new and improved version of ContextMap. Its key novel features are: (i) a plug-in structure that allows easily integrating novel short read alignment programs with improved accuracy and runtime; (ii) context-based identification of insertions and deletions (indels); (iii) mapping of reads spanning an arbitrary number of exons and indels. ContextMap 2 using Bowtie, Bowtie 2 or BWA was evaluated on both simulated and real-life data from the recently published RGASP study.ConclusionsWe show that ContextMap 2 generally combines similar or higher recall compared to other state-of-the-art approaches with significantly higher precision in read placement and junction and indel prediction. Furthermore, runtime was significantly lower than for the best competing approaches. ContextMap 2 is freely available at http://www.bio.ifi.lmu.de/ContextMap.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12859-015-0557-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A customizable software for fast reduction and analysis of large X-ray scattering data sets: applications of the new DPDAK package to small-angle X-ray scattering and grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering.

X-ray scattering experiments at synchrotron sources are characterized by large and constantly increasing amounts of data. The great number of files generated during a synchrotron experiment is often a limiting factor in the analysis of the data, since appropriate software is rarely available to perform fast and tailored data processing. Furthermore, it is often necessary to perform online data reduction and analysis during the experiment in order to interactively optimize experimental design. This article presents an open-source software package developed to process large amounts of data from synchrotron scattering experiments. These data reduction processes involve calibration and correction of raw data, one- or two-dimensional integration, as well as fitting and further analysis of the data, including the extraction of certain parameters. The software, DPDAK (directly programmable data analysis kit), is based on a plug-in structure and allows individual extension in accordance with the requirements of the user. The article demonstrates the use of DPDAK for on- and offline analysis of scanning small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data on biological samples and microfluidic systems, as well as for a comprehensive analysis of grazing-incidence SAXS data. In addition to a comparison with existing software packages, the structure of DPDAK and the possibilities and limitations are discussed.

BLASTGrabber: a bioinformatic tool for visualization, analysis and sequence selection of massive BLAST data.

BackgroundAdvances in sequencing efficiency have vastly increased the sizes of biological sequence databases, including many thousands of genome-sequenced species. The BLAST algorithm remains the main search engine for retrieving sequence information, and must consequently handle data on an unprecedented scale. This has been possible due to high-performance computers and parallel processing. However, the raw BLAST output from contemporary searches involving thousands of queries becomes ill-suited for direct human processing. Few programs attempt to directly visualize and interpret BLAST output; those that do often provide a mere basic structuring of BLAST data.ResultsHere we present a bioinformatics application named BLASTGrabber suitable for high-throughput sequencing analysis. BLASTGrabber, being implemented as a Java application, is OS-independent and includes a user friendly graphical user interface. Text or XML-formatted BLAST output files can be directly imported, displayed and categorized based on BLAST statistics. Query names and FASTA headers can be analysed by text-mining. In addition to visualizing sequence alignments, BLAST data can be ordered as an interactive taxonomy tree. All modes of analysis support selection, export and storage of data. A Java interface-based plugin structure facilitates the addition of customized third party functionality.ConclusionThe BLASTGrabber application introduces new ways of visualizing and analysing massive BLAST output data by integrating taxonomy identification, text mining capabilities and generic multi-dimensional rendering of BLAST hits. The program aims at a non-expert audience in terms of computer skills; the combination of new functionalities makes the program flexible and useful for a broad range of operations.