Terminal Software Research Articles

The European project trust—reconfigurable terminals and supporting networks

To date, research into reconfigurable mobile communications has predominantly focussed on the software radio concept, and specifically on the hardware technologies required to move physical layer processing into a programmable environment [1, 2, 3]. Although an interesting and necessary challenge, this only represents a fraction of the overall support and technology required to realise the potential of the concept. Other necessary developments include network/terminal cooperation for seamless inter-standard handoff, QoS management for software download and reconfiguration, a secure software download mechanism, terminal software and mobile radio network architecture supporting terminal reconfiguration, management for software downloads, configuration management, capability negotiation, radio resource management and spectrum allocation policies etc… This paper describes results from the EuropeanIst Trust (Transparently Reconfigurable UbiquitouS Terminal) [4] project concerning user and operator requirements, the proposed overall system environment, security issues, concerted radio resource management, and expected time frame for the development of reconfigurable terminals.

Evolution toward reconfigurable user equipment

To date, research into reconfigurable mobile communications has predominantly focused on the software radio concept, and specifically on the hardware technologies required to move physical layer processing into a programmable environment. Although an interesting and necessary challenge, this only represents a fraction of the overall support and technology required to realize the potential of the concept. Other necessary developments include network/terminal cooperation for seamless interstandard handoff, QoS management, a secure software download mechanism, terminal software architecture supporting reconfiguration, configuration management, capability negotiation, and so on. Summarizing results from early project deliverables from a European Research project, IST-TRUST (Transparently Reconfigurable Ubiquitous Terminal), this article describes the likely overall system environment and the key technical challenges to be researched for realizing a reconfigurable terminal to meet the needs of users within that environment.

Analysis of software bug causes and its prevention

In our software development group we have faced difficulties in improving software quality. In order to find the causes of this problem we have analyzed software bugs that were found in the credit authorization terminal software that our group developed, and found the real causes of the bug. As a result, it was found that about 50% of the real causes were made by the designer's carelessness. Based on this finding, guidelines were established to improve the designers’ behavior. Furthermore, we made clear the causes of software bugs, the phase in which they were made, the relation between the software bugs and their real causes. We also made the measures to prevent the software bugs and implemented them. And we refer to the effect that the substantial amount of software bugs can be decreased by the implementation.

Implementation of the wireless ATM access terminal

Multimedia applications with audio and video connections have created totally new bandwidth and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for the computer data networks. In order to meet the new customer requirements also the wireless access networks have to be enhanced to support the increased demand for broadband services. Wireless ATM (WATM) technology has emerged as one of the most promising alternatives for implementing multimedia capable mobile networks. The Magic WAND (Wireless ATM Network Demonstrator) is an international research project designing a WATM network that provides indoor radio coverage and user mobility. The system is mainly targeted for customer premises networks and hot spots with a large number of people within a restricted area, such as airports. This paper describes the architecture of the wireless ATM terminal developed for the Magic WAND demonstrator. The focus is on the terminal software which supports the user mobility and the native ATM access on the Windows NT operating system environment. The first part of the paper presents the generic reference model for the broadband radio networks and describes the Magic WAND system architecture. The latter part of the document focuses on the terminal implementation presenting the structural breakdown of the terminal, the Windows NT operating system and the actual implementation. Finally, the paper depicts briefly the development process and applied design methods.

Soft QoS control in the WATMnet broadband wireless system

A framework for QoS control in broadband wireless networks is presented. The framework allows terminal and network-initiated bandwidth renegotiation to handle wide spatiotemporal traffic dynamics characteristic of mobile multimedia applications. The concept of softness profiles is used to realize soft QoS control at radio access points. An implementation perspective of the framework's protocol and software components within NEC WATMnet/sup TM/ mobile wireless ATM system is given. The principles of traffic management and signaling extensions required for soft QoS control are outlined. The terminal software architecture is described with a focus on APIs and their use within Winsock's generic QoS architecture. The importance of soft QoS control for future broadband mobile network architectures with integrated IP and ATM transport is discussed.

Development of the Mobile Station in the CDMA Mobile System

This paper describes the development of the CDMA mobile station to support non-speech, mobile office services such as data, fax, and short message service in addition to voice. We developed some important functions of layer 2 and layer 3. To provide non-speech services, we developed a terminal adapter and user interface software. The description of development process, software architecture and external interfaces required to provide such services is given. The description of a TTA-62 message analysis tool, a mobile station monitoring software, and an automatic test system developed for integration tests and performance measurements is also given.

Remote booting in a hostile world: to whom am I speaking? [Computer security

Today's networked computer systems are very vulnerable to attack: terminal software, like that used by the X Window System, is frequently passed across a network, and a trojan horse can easily be inserted while it is in transit. Many other software products, including operating systems, load parts of themselves from a server across a network. Although users may be confident that their workstation is physically secure, some part of the network to which they are attached almost certainly is not secure. Most proposals that recommend cryptographic means to protect remotely loaded software also eliminate the advantages of remote loading-for example, ease of reconfiguration, upgrade distribution, and maintenance. For this reason, they have largely been abandoned before finding their way into commercial products. The article shows that, contrary to intuition, it is no more difficult to protect a workstation that loads its software across an insecure network than to protect a stand-alone workstation. In contrast to prevailing practice, the authors make essential use of a collision-rich hash function to ensure that an exhaustive off-line search by the opponent will produce not one, but many candidate pass words. This strategy forces the opponent into an open, on-line guessing attack and offers the user a defensive strategy unavailable in the case of an off-line attack. >

Electronic journal subscriptions

Electronic journals are the serials equivalent of Detroit’s concept cars: fast, flashy, and future-oriented. They offer high-speed and high-end performance at a currently low cost. There still are some bugs to be worked out, among them transmission problems, long-term maintenance, ownership and property rights, and questionable respectability. The focus of this tutorial, however, is not on broad issues, but rather on the practical aspects of processing electronic journal subscriptions, on the nuts and bolts -and sometimes monkey wrenches of getting e-journals into the library showroom and out to the customer. First, some brief background information on the electronic environment at the University of Houston (UH). The Serials Department at UH has Internet/BITNET access through a VAX machine running VMS. This machine, Jetson-with nodes named appropriately enough George, Jane, Judy, and Elroy-is an Internet host: Internet connection is made through Jetson, with terminal emulation software on a PC. Staff PCs and those of the Electronic Publications Center (EPC) share a token-ring Local Area Network with separate file servers. The EPC consists of 11 networked terminals and 4 other terminals which run stand-

A Microcomputer Database Application for Downloading, Storing, and Trend Reporting of CEA Data

To address long-term storage needs for selected lab analytes, we have developed patient databases on a personal computer(PC). Utilization of these databases is accomplished by directly downloading pending patient requests from a centralized lab information system (LIS) to the PC. With database programming language, patient names are extracted from downloaded text files, a lookup of prior results in the PC database is performed, and a report is generated suitable for either internal lab use or for distribution to physicians. Further linking of the database to a spreadsheet enables graphic presentation of serial patient results. Application to the generation of trending reports for carcinoembryonic antigen is described as an example. Downloading, database lookup, and graphic report production are achieved by integration of commercially available software using MS-DOS batch files that transfer suitable text files between modem / terminal emulation, database, and spreadsheet software modules. Reports are generated in a largely unattended mode with minimal technologist involvement, a feature lacking in many standalone, turnkey, trending software products. PC databases provide an effective interim solution in addressing the problems of long-term storage of clinical data, particularly in the area of tumor markers.

NETWORds

You can use the OCLC Terminal Software to change the typeface your printer uses. For example, if your ribbon is fading away, tell your printer to use boldface. To save paper, decrease the amount of space between each line. If you need lots of room to scribble, print everything double‐spaced. If you're printing on multi‐copy paper, have the printer do each line twice to make the second copy darker. If you're in a hurry; use the draft mode.

DUBLINes

M310 Workstations delivered after July 1 will have a Video Graphics Array (VGA) adapter board instead of the EGA board. The VGA adapter is the same type of board used in high‐end IBM PS/2s and is the current standard in adapter boards. (See p. 5.) The VGA display resolution is much higher than that of the EGA and thus provides crisper screen images. There will be some minor changes in the Terminal Software Installation routine (documentation is currently in preparation) but no problems are anticipated.

Enhancing Terminal Software with DOS and Multiple Function Keys

The Washburn University Law Library has been using the OCLC Terminal Software on an M300 Workstation for several years. We use the Terminal Software SaveScreen feature to copy to diskettes all records PRODUCEd or UPDATEd, so they can be used later for other purposes. Thus, it is often necessary to check disks for available storage space, to format new diskettes, and to backup SaveScreen disks. None of these activities can be performed from the Terminal Software and executing them from DOS requires that the staff be familiar with DOS commands. Also, before producing labels from the OCLC display, we configure our printer for double‐height, emphasized print mode. The Download Printer Commands feature of the Terminal Software doesn't work with our Okidata printer, nor does it save the command string for later use. Therefore, we developed a menu system as a convenient way to issue both DOS and printer commands.

DUBLINes

If you plan to use the Transfer SaveScreen feature of the Cataloging Micro Enhancer software and you want to insert a form feed character and then save a screen, follow the instructions in the second edition of the CAT ME manual, pp. 7:5 (rev. 4; May 1988), to insert the form feed (vs. those in the Terminal Software manual). The instructions in the CAT ME manual will enable you to print the records with the Terminal Software and also transfer the records to the CAT ME.

NETWORds

OCLC Terminal Software (version 4.0) ran only on machines with monochrome display adapters—computers that can produce no color and no graphics. A computer with an Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) ran the software only with a monochrome monitor and couldn't display the OCLC character set. The Cataloging Micro Enhancer (version 3.0) couldn't work at all with an EGA system, so it couldn't work on the M310 Workstation.

NETWORds

If you're using the Cataloging Micro Enhancer (CAT ME) and OCLC Terminal Software on a hard disk, you may have discovered that CAT ME is set up to transfer SaveScreen data only from a disk in drive A, although the Terminal Software, Version 4.0, can save data on any drive.

Authority Control with a Standalone Program

The OCLC Terminal Software SaveScreen function allows M300 Workstation users to save records appearing on the monitor to machine‐readable files. The staff of Xavier University Libraries have created several microcomputer programs to process these files. Perhaps the most unusual of these is the program that manipulates authority and reference records.

Using User‐Defined Function Keys with CAT ME

One feature of the OCLC Terminal Software we like is the user‐defined function keys. They not only save time in entering frequently repeated text and commands but also free us from typing errors. As a result, we define and use these function keys extensively at all four of our M300 Workstations. However, we were faced with a dilemma when we also started using the Cataloging Micro Enhancer (CAT ME) software in our cataloging operation. As readers who are familiar with the CAT ME know, it doesn't allow the use of user‐defined function keys. So, for a while it looked like we would either have to give up the convenience of the function keys or not use the CAT ME—both being undesirable options for us.

Teeny Type for Tiny Things

Teeny Type is a combination of condensed and superscript dot matrix type styles with narrow line spacing. It can be used for labeling small objects such as slides, contents of disks, etc. These directions for creating Teeny Type are for Epson printers but will work on some other models also. You can create Teeny Type with your OCLC Terminal Software and, if you want to use it with other programs, directions for creating a batch file are also given. [Editor: Another method that produces much the same results was described in OCLC Micro, vol. 1, no. 4, on p. 34. None of these methods will work with a daisy‐wheel type letter quality printer, nor will they work if you have set the DIP switches on your dot matrix printer to near‐letter‐quality printing.

Enhancing Smartcom II with “CopyCAT” Macros

The process described here may seem cumbersome to librarians accustomed to using OCLC Terminal Software and the Micro Enhancer programs. But it allows us to use the same “standard” IBM PC and Hayes modem and software that serve other purposes in our library, thereby giving us access to a database we might otherwise not be able to afford. And the process described here can be applied to other databases.

Using Smartco Direct Dial Acc

In 1985, DePaul University established an “electronic” library at the O'Hare Campus (formerly Northwest Center) in Des Plaines, IL, with a dial‐access OCLC M300 Workstation equipped with a Hayes Smart‐modem 1200 and Smartcom II software as well as OCLC Terminal Software, version 3.0. At O'Hare, we use the OCLC Online System primarily for searching and then only when patrons' needs cannot be met through LCS (Illinois' statewide Library Computer System). Therefore, the terminal is not in heavy use. However, because it is a public access terminal, it is important that logon procedures be simple.