Syftet med var att konstruera ett bussförlängartkort till Qbussen som gör Ethernet-baserad kommunikation med I/O:t möjlig. Kortet ska kunna anslutas till standard 100 Mbits nätverksutrustning och klara autoförhandling och låsning av hastighet och duplex. Detta minskar på många ställen kabeldragningen väsentligt och det är därför önskvärt att SSAB:s egna I/O ska kunna köras så över Ethernet, antingen över vanliga nätverket eller på dedikerad kabel.

A etapa de particionamento em circuitos VLSI 3D é fundamental na distribuição de células e blocos para as camadas do circuito, além de auxiliar na redução da complexidade dos posicionadores. Estes, quando o particionamento é bem realizado, permitem que se atinjam soluções com menor comprimento total de fios, o que reduz a dissipação de potência e aumenta o desempenho dos circuitos. Atualmente, os algoritmos utilizados para resolver o problema de particionamento em circuitos 3D são adaptações daqueles aplicados em circuitos planares. Ou seja, o circuito é particionado como se fosse um hipergrafo tradicional, e as células são assinaladas diretamente para as partições, com o objetivo de reduzir somente as conexões que cruzam as partes. Contudo essa solução é simplista e faz com que o algoritmo não perceba a criação de conexões longas, o que aumenta o número de vias do circuito e, consequentemente, sua área. É importante compreender que o valor dos recursos usados é um múltiplo da distância vertical das camadas. Na verdade, considerando-se que o caminho de uma camada para outra adjacente atravessa todos os níveis de metal, é evidente que qualquer ligação vertical superior à adjacente pode ser proporcionalmente mais custosa para o roteamento, sem mencionar o atraso provocado e o quanto da área ativa é ocupada. Em vista disso, este trabalho apresenta um conjunto de algoritmos desenvolvidos para reduzir o número de vias em circuitos VLSI 3D. A otimização é obtida pelo uso de duas estratégias distintas: a análise prévia da estrutura interna do circuito e a redução do número de conexões verticais não-adjacentes. Os algoritmos propostos, além de reduzir o número de vias-3D, adaptam a lógica dos circuitos 2D para os 3D mantendo o balanceamento de área e dos pinos de I/O entre as diferentes camadas. Os resultados experimentais mostram que essas técnicas reduzem o número total de vias-3D em 19%, 18%, 12% e 16% em duas, três, quatro e cinco tiers, respectivamente, comparados com os resultados das abordagens atuais. / A 3D circuit is the stacking of regular 2D circuits. The advances on the fabrication and packaging technologies allow interconnection of stacked 2D circuits. However, 3D-vias can impose significant obstacles and constraints to the 3D placement problem. Most of the existing placement and partitioning algorithms completely ignore this fact, but they do optimize the number of vias using a min-cut partitioning applied to a generic graph partitioning problem. This work proposes a new approach for I/O pads and cells partitioning addressing 3D-vias reduction and its impact on the 3D circuit design. The approach presents two distinct strategies: the first one is based on circuit structure analyses and the second one reducing the number of connections between nonadjacent tiers. The strategies outperformed a state-of-the-art hypergraph partitioner, hMetis and other approaches by providing a reduction of the number of 3D-vias 19%, 17%, 12% and 16% using two, three, four and five tiers.

This thesis deals with an effective solution of the parallel I/O of the k-Wave tool, which is designed for time domain acoustic and ultrasound simulations. k-Wave is a supercomputer application, it runs on a Lustre file system and it requires to be implemented with MPI and stores the data in suitable data format (HDF5). I designed three methods of optimization which fits k-Wave's needs. It uses accumulation and redistribution techniques. In comparison with the native write, every optimization method led to better write speed, up to 13.6GB/s. It is possible to use these methods to optimize every data distributed application with the write speed issue.

This dissertation introduces FESM (Flood Event Simulation Model), a Geographic Information System (GIS) tool designed for use on gaged river systems that can be used to guide logistic support during disaster events. FESM rapidly generates flood predictions using elevation data from real-world sensors or generated by other models. Verification and validation data for FESM are provided. In order to construct a visualization system for interacting with FESM outputs, single buffer and dual buffer techniques for moving massive datasets to the GPU for processing using OpenCL were rigorously tested and timed, and an analysis of the costs/benefits of using buffers or images was conducted. Finally, DRO (Dynamic Raster Overlay), a visualization system for analysis of datasets composed of multiple overlapping flood maps is introduced, and expert feedback is provided on the effectiveness of DRO with selected case studies.

Many hard drives manufactured today use the Serial ATA (SATA) protocol to communicate with the host machine, typically a PC. SATA is a much faster and much more robust protocol than its predecessor, ATA (also referred to as Parallel ATA or IDE). Many hardware designs, including those using Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), have a need for a long-term storage solution, and a hard drive would be ideal. One such design is the high-speed Data Acquisition System (DAS) created for the NASA Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission. This system utilizes a Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGA. Although the DAS includes a SATA connector for interfacing with a disk, a SATA core is needed to implement the protocol for disk operations. In this work, an open-source SATA core for Virtex-4 FPGAs has been created. SATA cores for Virtex-5 and Virtex-6 devices were already available, but they are not compatible with the different serial transceivers in the Virtex-4. The core can interface with disks at SATA I or SATA II speeds, and has been shown working at rates up to 180MB/s. It has been successfully integrated into the hardware design of the DAS board so that radar samples can be stored on the disk.

In the current development work conducted at BAE Systems Hägglunds AB's electronics department, there are often long lead times from started projects to finished electronic units. This means that it is necessary to take a new approach to development in order to meet changing specifications and new interfaces. To mitigate the risks in design and interfaces, testing of the system needs to start as early as possible. Against the given background, the aim of the project is to develop and evaluate a modular concept for different Input/output (I/O) interfaces between a carrier board and modules. The modular concept where developed using Altium Designer and through schematic design and PCB design the designs was developed for the intended concept regarding modularization. To test the connections between the carrier board and modules and to get a visual picture over how it could look, Altium designers Multi-board Assembly function where used. By analyzing the boundaries between the carrier board and I/O-modules, new limitations were discovered in the contact surfaces between them. The focus turned to improve the existing carrier board by replacing the existing connectors with more modular alternative connectors that better fits the intended concept of the modularity in the I/O-modules. Three different alternatives for the current carrier board were evaluated and the alternative that is the best for modularization is to change the connectors on the current carrier board. The design of the I/O-modules are based on the already existing I/O designs and the I/O-modules designed were Digital Input (DIP) and Digital Output (DOP). The results that emerged during the project are as follows: The designed I/O-modules follow a relationship-based design to produce a combination of the different circuit solution already available at BAE Systems. The circuits DIP and DOP are the most common I/O-interfaces in use and the focus was to develop modules for these. In order to achieve the optimal modularity with respect for the intended concept, the current design of the carrier boards need to change to meet the intended concept regarding modularization. / I det nuvarande utvecklingsarbetet som bedrivs på BAE Systems Hägglunds ABs elektronikavdelning finns det ofta långa ledtider från påbörjade projekt till färdiga elektronikenheter. Detta leder till att omtag i utvecklingen blir nödvändigt för att kunna möta ändrade specifikationer och nya gränsytor. För att mitigera risker i design och gränsytor behöver testning av systemet påbörjas så tidigt som möjligt. Projektet syftar mot den givna bakgrunden att ta fram och utvärdera ett modulärt koncept för olika Input/Output (I/O) gränssnitt mellan bärarkort och moduler. Det modulära konceptet utvecklades i Altium Designer och genom schemaritning och PCB design utvecklades designerna för det tänkta konceptet gällande modularisering. För att testa anslutningar mellan bärarkort och modul och samtidigt få en visuell bild över hur resultatet kan se ut, användes Altium Multi-board Assembly. Genom att analysera avgränsningar mellan bärarkort och I/O-modul upptäcktes nya begränsningar i kontaktytorna mellan dem. Fokus hamnade på att förbättra det befintliga bärarkortet genom att byta ut de befintliga kontakterna till mer modulära kontakter som passar det tänkta konceptet för I/O-modulernas modularitet. Tre olika alternativ för det nuvarande bärarkortet togs upp och det alternativ som är bäst sett till Modularisering är att ändra de kontakter som finns på det nuvarande bärarkortet. Designen av I/O-modulerna utgick ifrån de redan befintliga kretslösningar som finns framtagen och de I/O-moduler som designades var Digital input (DIP) och Digital Output (DOP). De resultat som kom fram genom projektet är följande: De I/O-moduler som framställts följer en relationsbaserad design för att framställa en kombination av de olika kretslösningar som redan finns framtagen av BAE Systems. Kretsarna DIP och DOP är de vanligaste I/O-gränssnitten som används och fokus blev att ta fram moduler för dessa. För att uppnå optimal modularitet med anseende på det tänkta konceptet behöver den nuvarande designen av bärarkortets kontakter ändras för att kunna möta den optimala modulariteten för det tänkta konceptet.

Computer systems now run drastically different workloads than they did two decades ago. The enormous advances in hardware power, such as processor speed, memory and storage capacity, and network bandwidth, enable them to run new kinds as well as a large number of applications simultaneously. Software technologies, such as garbage collection and multi-threading, also reshape applications and their behaviors, introducing more challenges to system resource management. However, existing general-purpose operating systems do not provide adequate support for these modern applications. These operating systems were designed over two decades ago, when garbage-collected applications were not prevalent and users interacted with systems using consoles and command lines, rather than graphical user interfaces. As a result, they fail to allow necessary coordinations among resource management components to ensure consistent performance guarantees. For example, garbage-collected applications cannot adjust themselves to maintain high throughput under dynamic memory pressure, simply because existing virtual memory managers do not collect and expose enough information to them. Furthermore, despite the increasing demand of supporting co-existing interactive applications in desktop environment, resource managers (especially memory and disk I/O) mostly focus on optimizing throughput. They each work independently, ignoring the response time requirements that the CPU scheduler attempts to satisfy. Consequently, pressure on any of these resources can significantly degrade application responsiveness. In order to deliver robust performance to these modern applications, an operating system has to coordinate its resource managers (e.g., CPU, memory, and disk I/O), as well as cooperate with resource managers in the user space, such as the garbage collector and the thread manger. To support garbage-collected applications, we present CRAMM, a system that enables them to predict an appropriate heap size using information supplied by the underlying operating system, allowing them to maintain high throughput in the face of changing memory pressure. To support highly interactive workloads, we present Redline, a system that manages CPU, memory, and disk I/O in an integrated manner. It uses lightweight specifications to drive CPU scheduling and to coordinate memory and disk I/O management to serve the needs of interactive applications. Such coordination enables it to maintain responsiveness in the face of extreme resource contention, without sacrificing resource utilization. We also show that Redline can be used to support response time sensitive multi-threaded server applications. Our experiences and extensive experiments show that we can coordinate resource managers, both inside and outside the operating system, efficiently without destroying the modularity of the existing system. Such coordination prevents resource managers from working at cross purposes, and dramatically improve the performance of applications when facing heavy resource contention, sometimes by orders of magnitude.

No description available.

Industrial-organisational (I-O) Psychology is known for specialising in the study of human behaviour in the workplace (Van Vuuren, 2010). It is clear that the problems associated with individuals in the workplace form the basis for the existence of I-O psychology. Veldsman (2001) stated that it is imperative to reflect upon the future of I-O psychology and that I-O psychology must be repositioned in future. Therefore, it is emphasised that additional roles should be elicited for I-O psychologists in South Africa (Barnard & Fourie, 2007). Moalusi (2001) has recognised the need for I-O psychologists to reposition themselves in future by focusing on significant workplace issues. Upon further investigation it should be noted that many factors that exert an influence upon workplace behaviour do not necessarily derive from the workplace. These factors, such as family responsibilities, cultural influences and traumatic events, suggest that the sphere of influence of the I-O psychologists stretches far beyond the physical borders of the workplace (Landy & Conte, 2004; Van Vuuren, 2010). According to Strümpfer (2007), it is the I-O psychologist who is concerned with the deep-rooted problems of individuals. The objective of the study was therefore to critically review the role I-O psychologists play as counsellors, and to determine whether counselling should form part of the I-O psychologist’ scope of practice. A qualitative research design was utilised in the study following a phenomenology strategy. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to identify (n=22) I-O psychologists across the Gauteng and North West provinces. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, where the participants were asked to reflect upon seven interview questions which were later transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Nine themes were extracted from the data, namely, the meaning of counselling, counselling situations that I-O psychologists face, counselling skills required by I-O psychologists, characteristics displayed by I-O psychologist during counselling, counsellor competencies required of I-O psychologists, post graduate counselling training received by I-O psychologists, additional counselling training received by I-O psychologists, recommendations made for future training of I-O psychology students and lastly the inclusion of counselling in the scope of practice From the results it was clear the I-O psychologists are familiar with the meaning of counselling and that they are faced with a diverse range of counselling situations requiring a unique set of skills and competencies. Participants had divergent experience and opinions with regard to the training received in preparation of their role as counsellor. In relation to their training participants made recommendations for the future training of I-O psychologists. Finally, participants mentioned that it would be in their best interest if counselling is formally included in the scope of practice of the I-O psychologists. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Industrial-organisational (I-O) Psychology is known for specialising in the study of human behaviour in the workplace (Van Vuuren, 2010). It is clear that the problems associated with individuals in the workplace form the basis for the existence of I-O psychology. Veldsman (2001) stated that it is imperative to reflect upon the future of I-O psychology and that I-O psychology must be repositioned in future. Therefore, it is emphasised that additional roles should be elicited for I-O psychologists in South Africa (Barnard & Fourie, 2007). Moalusi (2001) has recognised the need for I-O psychologists to reposition themselves in future by focusing on significant workplace issues. Upon further investigation it should be noted that many factors that exert an influence upon workplace behaviour do not necessarily derive from the workplace. These factors, such as family responsibilities, cultural influences and traumatic events, suggest that the sphere of influence of the I-O psychologists stretches far beyond the physical borders of the workplace (Landy & Conte, 2004; Van Vuuren, 2010). According to Strümpfer (2007), it is the I-O psychologist who is concerned with the deep-rooted problems of individuals. The objective of the study was therefore to critically review the role I-O psychologists play as counsellors, and to determine whether counselling should form part of the I-O psychologist’ scope of practice. A qualitative research design was utilised in the study following a phenomenology strategy. Convenience and snowball sampling were used to identify (n=22) I-O psychologists across the Gauteng and North West provinces. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, where the participants were asked to reflect upon seven interview questions which were later transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Nine themes were extracted from the data, namely, the meaning of counselling, counselling situations that I-O psychologists face, counselling skills required by I-O psychologists, characteristics displayed by I-O psychologist during counselling, counsellor competencies required of I-O psychologists, post graduate counselling training received by I-O psychologists, additional counselling training received by I-O psychologists, recommendations made for future training of I-O psychology students and lastly the inclusion of counselling in the scope of practice From the results it was clear the I-O psychologists are familiar with the meaning of counselling and that they are faced with a diverse range of counselling situations requiring a unique set of skills and competencies. Participants had divergent experience and opinions with regard to the training received in preparation of their role as counsellor. In relation to their training participants made recommendations for the future training of I-O psychologists. Finally, participants mentioned that it would be in their best interest if counselling is formally included in the scope of practice of the I-O psychologists. / MCom (Industrial Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014