A realização de atividades de teste é indispensável para a garantia da qualidade de um produto e para a identificação de defeitos, diminuindo custos de manutenção e evitando ao máximo o risco do cliente encontrar esses defeitos. Nessa linha, testes baseados em modelos têm se mostrado atrativos, pois o custo de geração de casos de testes e de correção de defeitos tende a ser menor. Devido à sua simplicidade conceitual e expressividade na descrição do comportamento de um sistema, um dos modelos mais usados e pesquisados na área de teste baseado em modelos são as Máquinas de Estados Finitos (MEFs). Por meio de MEFs e com apoio de ferramentas apropriadas, a geração de casos de testes para avaliar os comportamentos esperados de um sistema é automatizada, reduzindo tanto o custo da geração e da manutenção quanto as falhas humanas. Desta forma, a aplicabilidade de métodos de geração de casos de teste baseados em modelos no contexto de sistemas embarcados vem sendo investigada. O objetivo deste trabalho de mestrado consiste em investigar a aplicabilidade dos métodos de geração em cenários de teste reais, com foco em sistemas embarcados, identificando as difi- culdades e limitações do processo, bem como os requisitos essenciais para a adequação dos métodos de geração propostos na literatura e de ferramentas de apoio à atividade de teste. O foco principal do projeto é a implementação de mecanismos que atendam aos requisitos levantados, visando a usabilidade, segurança e portabilidade da ferramenta / Test activities are essential to ensure the quality of products and identify faults to reduce maintenance costs and avoid that the client finds these faults. In this sense, model-based tests have been proved useful, because the cost of generating test cases and fault correction tend to be smaller. Due to its conceptual simplicity and expressiveness in describing the behavior of a system, Finite State Machines (FSM) have been used and researched in the model-based testing area. FSMs, employed with the support of appropriate tools, enable the generation of test cases in an automated way to assess the expected behavior of a system, reducing both the generation and maintenance costs and human failures. Thus, the applicability of test cases generation methods based on models in the context of embedded systems should be investigated. Test cases generation methods based on FSM are designed to derive test cases from the model. In this context, this work aims to investigate the applicability of generation methods in real-world scenarios, focusing embedded systems. It should identify the difficulties and limitations of the process, as well as the essential requirements for the adequacy of generation methods proposed in the literature and tools to support the test activity. The main focus of the project is the implementation of mechanisms that meet the elicited requirements in order to provide usability, security and tool portability

MÉTODOS de geração de casos de teste visam a gerar um conjunto de casos de teste com uma boa relação custo/benefício. Critérios de cobertura de teste definem requisitos de teste, os quais um conjunto de teste adequado deve cobrir. Métodos e critérios visam a selecionar casos de teste baseados em especificações, que podem ser descritas por meio de modelos, tais como Máquinas de Estados Finitos (MEF). Existem diversos métodos de geração e critérios de cobertura, diferindo entre si em função das propriedades exigidas da MEF, do custo dos testes gerados e da eficácia na revelação de defeitos. Apesar de pesquisas intensas na definição desses métodos e critérios, são poucas as ferramentas de apoio disponíveis assim como são poucos os relatos de aplicação em termos de custo e eficácia para a definição de estratégias de teste efetivas. Dessa forma, é necessário obter dados reais das vantagens e desvantagens dos métodos e critérios para subsidiar a tomada de decisão no processo de desenvolvimento de software no que tange às atividades de teste e validação. Este trabalho apresenta resultados de experimentos para avaliar o custo e a eficácia de aplicação dos métodos e critérios mais relevantes para subsidiar a definição de estratégias de teste em diversos contextos, como por exemplo, no desenvolvimento de protocolos e de sistemas reativos. Utiliza-se um protótipo desenvolvido a partir de uma reengenharia da ferramenta Plavis/FSM para apoiar os experimentos / TEST case generation methods aim to generate a test suite that offers an acceptable trade-off between cost and avail. Test coverage criteria define testing requirements, which an adequate test suite must fulfill. Methods and criteria help to select test case from specifications, which can be describe as models, for example Finite State Machines (FSM). There are several generation methods and coverage criteria that differ depending on the required properties of the FSM, the cost of generated tests and the effectiveness in revealing faults. In spite of intense researches in the definition of those methods and criteria, there are few available tools to apply them as well as application reports about cost and effectiveness issues to define effective test strategies. Thus, it is necessary to obtain real data of the advantages and disadvantages of the methods and criteria to provide decision-making in the software development process as far in the validation and test activities. This work aimed to lead experiments to evaluate the cost and the effetiveness in applying the most relevant methods and criteria to subsidize test strategies definition in several contexts as the communication protocol development and the reactive systems development. A prototype was developed based on reengineering of the Plavis/FSM tool to support the experiments

O teste de software engloba diferentes técnicas, métodos e conceitos capazes de garantir a qualidade dos mais variados tipos de sistemas. Dentre tais técnicas, encontra-se o teste baseado em Máquinas de Estados Finitos (MEFs), que visa a garantir a conformidade entre a implementação e a especificação de um software. Com esse propósito, diversos métodos foram propostos para a geração de seqüências de verificação que garantam cobertura total das possíveis falhas existentes em uma implementação. A maioria dos métodos conhecidos são baseados na utilização de seqüências de distinção. Esse recurso, porem, não existe para toda MEF. Alguns métodos buscam a geração de seqüências de verificação baseados em recursos alternativos as seqüências de distinção, contudo, as seqüências geradas são exponencialmente longas. Este trabalho apresenta um método para geração de seqüências de verificação que visa a reduzir o tamanho das seqüências geradas para o domínio de MEFs que não dispõem de seqüência de distinção. Para isso, o método proposto baseia-se na utilização de conjuntos de distinção. Uma avaliação experimental foi realizada afim de mensurar a redução proporcionada pelo método proposto em relação aos principais métodos existentes na literatura. Com esse intuito, foram geradas MEFs aleatórias sob a perspectiva diferentes fatores. Em relação a variação do número de estados, os resultados indicaram reduções acima de 99; 5% em comparação com os métodos existentes, quando analisadas 75% das MEFs geradas / Software testing involves several techniques, methods, and concepts employed to guarantee a high level of quality in different application domains. Among such techniques, Finite State Machine (FSM) based testing aims to guarantee the conformance between the implementation and the specification of a system under test. In this context, several methods were proposed to generate checking sequences that cover all the possible faults existing in an implementation. Most of these methods are based on a special sequence, named distinguishing sequence, which does not exist for every minimal machine. Some methods were proposed to generate checking sequences based on alternative solutions in order to be applied on FSMs that do not have distinguishing sequences. However, these methods generate checking sequences exponentially long. This work proposes a method to generate checking sequences using identification sets. These sets exist for every minimal FSM and also lead to shorter checking sequences. We conducted an experimental study to compare the proposed method with the main existing methods. In the experiments, we used random FSMs that have different configurations of states, inputs, and outputs. Concerning the variation of number of states, the results show reductions higher than 99:5% in comparison with the existing methods for 75% of the experimented machines

<p> The urgency for deeper knowledge about nervous system function and dysfunction has never been greater. With increasing rates of mental disorders and expanding healthcare costs, deciphering details of axonal development is essential to meeting this imperative. Models of neuronal growth are improving as roles of microtubules and motor proteins surface. However, traditional motor protein studies focus on intracellular cargo transport, leaving deficits in knowledge about how these proteins organize cytoskeletal filaments in the axon and growth cone during neuronal development. Inconsistent findings on microtubule activity in growing axons also leave gaps in quantitative assessments of microtubule translocation and assembly, limiting the ability to construct a comprehensive model of axonal elongation.</p> The goal of this study was to provide a more complete neuronal growth cone model by determining how individual microtubule translocation and assembly, mass microtubule movements, and motor protein activity contribute to axonal elongation. The underlying mechanisms of these processes were investigated by testing the roles of dynein and microtubule dynamics in axonal elongation of <i>Aplysia </i><i>californica </i>neurons using transillumination, fluorescent speckle, and super-resolution microscopy. Pharmacologically inhibiting either dynein activity or microtubule assembly reduced both bulk and individual microtubule anterograde translocation and neurite elongation rates. Suppressing both processes simultaneously had compensatory rather than additive effects. Super-resolution imaging also revealed fewer dynein motors co-localized with microtubules when microtubule assembly was inhibited. These results strongly suggest that disrupting microtubule assembly blocks neurite outgrowth partly because it inhibits dynein-mediated bulk microtubule translocation.

The field of artificial intelligence has gained much knowledge through the implementation of decision-making systems in video games. One of these systems was the Goal Oriented Action Planning system (GOAP) which directs the behavior of an AI-agent through multiple digital artifacts categorized as goals, actions, and plans. The aim of the thesis is to aid in the understanding and creation of GOAP driven AI-agents in a video game setting to promote research on this topic. The research question of this thesis was about finding out how the GOAP architecture compares to other video game decision-making systems. The theoretical framework introduces the concept of the illusion of intelligence in video games and presents a discussion focused on the different components which make up a GOAP system and other components that support it. Additionally, the theoretical framework explains the need for a comparison between different decision-making systems and explains the social impact of game AI research. The methods section introduces the criteria for the comparison between GOAP and other decision-making systems and presents a comparison process that was driven by a literature review. A GOAP system was designed for this thesis using the unified modeling language and concept maps. It was then implemented using C# code in a free-of-charge game engine called Unity. We present the pseudocode for the implementation of the GOAP system and show that this framework is a modular, customizable, and reusable system that enables AI-agents to create plans from a varied set of actions. Finally, the paper suggests further research within game decision-making AI and emphasizes the importance of game AI research for communities of game developers, hobbyists, and others who could benefit from game AI in their projects.

Les concepts d’architecture orientée service (SOA) ainsi que tout une panoplie de technologies «en tant que service» (XaaS) sont utilisés quasiment partout de nos jours, et l’organisation optimisée d’activités synchronisées devient un défi important. Dans le but de proposer à l’utilisateur final un service sécuritaire et fiable sans compromettre la qualité, les questions concernant la vérification et la validation des compositions des services deviennent d’un grand intérêt tant théorique que pratique. Dans les autres travaux traitant du sujet, de nombreux modèles et techniques sont proposés, mais la plupart mettent l’accent sur les aspects fonctionnels ou non-fonctionnels pris séparément, alors que l’intégration de ces paramètres en un modèle formel unifié reste un problème qui doit être résolu – ce qui est devenu par conséquent un des objectifs fondamentaux de cette thèse. Dans notre travail, nous réfléchissons aux problèmes de la vérification et de l’optimisation des compositions des services web. Tout ceci est étudié dans l’optique de la fonctionnalité des systèmes, de leur qualité et de la sécurité des compositions. Il a été prouvé que les modèles à états finis sont utiles à des fins de tests et de vérification, de même que pour le contrôle qualité à chaque étape du développement du service. C’est pour cette raison que nous proposons d’utiliser le modèle de machine temporisée à états finis (TFSM) pour intégrer une description fonctionnelle du service avec les paramètres de sécurité et de qualité liées au temps. L’extension du modèle permettra alors d’interpréter adéquatement le non-déterminisme significatif causé par un manque d’observabilité ou/et de contrôle sur les services tiers. Dans le but d’optimiser les compositions des systèmes, nous proposons une méthode pour dériver la solution la plus globale contenant tous les composants autorisés pour la mise en œuvre du service, basée sur la résolution de l’équation parallèle du TFSM. Ensuite, les techniques pour extraire des solutions restreintes avec les propriétés requises (paramètres de temps minimisé/maximisé, interblocages actifs ou passifs de sécurité, similarité avec le composant d’origine donné, etc.) ont été proposées. Dans le cas où les spécifications d’un service composite consistent en un ensemble d’exigences fonctionnelles, éventuellement renforcées par des exigences de qualité, nous proposons une technique de minimisation de l’ensemble, dans le respect du composant à optimiser. L’application des résultats obtenus à la découverte et à la mise en place de composants plus efficaces, ainsi que l’extension du modèle à des modes de communication plus complexes font partie des sujets possibles pour des études futures. / Service-oriented architecture (SOA) together with a family of Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) concepts nowadays are used almost everywhere, and the proper organization of collaborative activities becomes an important challenge. With the goal of bringing to the end-user safe and reliable service with the guaranteed level of quality, issues of service compositions verification and validation become of high practical and theoretical interest. In the related works, numerous models and techniques are proposed, but mostly focused on functional and non-functional issues in isolation, while integration of these parameters within unified formal framework still remains a problem to be solved – and therefore became one of the core objectives of this thesis. In our work, we address the problems of web service composition verification and optimization with respect to functional, quality and safety properties of the composition. Finite state models are proven to be useful for testing and verification purposes as well as for service quality evaluation at each step of service development. Therefore, we propose to use the model of Finite State Machine with Timeouts (TFSM) for integrating functional service description with time-related quality and safety parameters, and derive the extension of the model in order to adequately inherit significant nondeterminism due to the lack of observability and control over third-party component services. For the purpose of component optimization in the composition, we propose a method for deriving the largest solution containing all allowed component service implementations, based on solving TFSM parallel equation. Further, techniques for extracting restricted solutions with required properties (minimized/maximized time parameters, deadlock- and livelock-safety, similarity to the initially given component, etc.) have been proposed. In cases when the specification of a composite service is provided as a set of functional requirements, possibly, augmented with quality requirements, we propose a technique to minimize this set with respect to the component under optimization. Application of the obtained results for more efficient candidate component services discovery and binding, alongside with extending the framework for more complex distributed modes of communications, are among the topics for the future work.

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Orientador: Alexandre César Rodrigues da Silva / Banca: Carlos Magnus Carlson Filho / Banca: Norian Marranghello / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta uma nova ferramenta de síntese para projetos de sistemas digitais denominada TAB2VHDL. A partir da descrição em diagrama de transição de estados de uma máquina finita, representada no modelo de Mealy, é gerada uma descrição otimizada do sistema na linguagem de VHDL. Elimina-se dessa forma a tarefa árdua com detalhes de projeto. A TAB2VHDL foi comparada com duas outras ferramentas disponíveis comercialmente. Foram projetados diversos chip-set de códigos de transmissão digital utilizados no setor de telecomunicações. Os resultados comprovaram o desempenho satisfatório com relação ao custo de implementação, ao tempo de execução e uso de memória. / Abstract: This paper presents a new synthesis tool for digital system projects called TAB2VHDL. From the description in states transition diagram of a finite machine, represented in Mealy's model, an optimized system description in VHDL language is generated. Therefore, it is eliminated an arduous task with project details. The TAB2VHDL was compared with two other available commercial tools. It was projected a sort of chip-set digital transmission codes, used in telecommunication sector. The results proved the satisfactory performance related to the implementation cost, to the time of execution and memory use. / Mestre

This thesis describes extensions to state machines in the Umple model-oriented programming language to offer queued state machines (QSM), pooled state machines (PSM) and handing of the arrival of unexpected events. These features allow for modeling the behavior of a system or protocol in a more accurate way in Umple because they enable detecting and fixing common design errors such as unspecified receptions. In addition, they simplify the communication between communicating state machines by allowing for asynchronous calls of events and passing of messages between state machines. Also, a pooled state machine (PSM) has been developed to provide a different policy of handling events that avoid unspecified receptions. This mechanism has similar semantics as a queued state machine, but it differs in the way of detecting unspecified receptions because it helps handling these errors. Another mechanism has been designed to use the keyword ‘unspecified’ in whatever state of a state machine the user wants to detect these errors. In this thesis, the test-driven development (TDD) process has been followed to first modify the Umple syntax to add ‘queued,’ ‘pooled,’ and ‘unspecified’ keywords to Umple state machine’s grammar; and second, to make a change to the Umple semantics in order to implement these extensions in Umple. Then, additional modifications have been made to allow for Java code generation from those types of state machines. Finally, more test cases have been written to ensure that these models are syntactically and semantically correct. In order to show the usefulness and usability of these new features, an example is shown as a case study that is modeled using the queued state machine (QSM) besides other small tests cases.