The DMA(direct memory access) controller is a special component in DSP processor used to offload the data transferring from CPU and improve the data access efficiency in the microprocessor. This paper describes the design and implementation of DMA(direct memory access) device for microprocessor developed using C++ Language and SystemC libraries. The main facts covered within this report are the structure of a microprocessor with embedded DMA, and some interesting points of SystemC and TLM library that are useful for the design and implementation of the system level design. This paper starts with an introduction of the theory of DMA , the structure of the microprocessor and the multicore microprocessor. Next it goes further into the DMA specification discussion. The next chapter is the implementation of DMA and the microsystem, later on in this chapter is an explanation of the SystemC methods I used in the system design. At last, the simulation results of the whole system is presented and analyzed. The utility of the DMA is discussed and calculated. With all these aspects covered in the paper, it is easy for the readers to understand the DMA theory , micro architecture as well as the fundamental knowledge of SystemC.

<p><p>Detta är en reflekterande rapport tillhörande ett praktiskt examensarbete i form av en spelomgivning till spelet <em>Unreal Tournament 3</em> (2007). Examensarbetet behandlar trovärdighet i fiktiva medier och hur detta kan uppnås i en spelomgivning med hjälp av ett sammanhängande grafiskt regelverk. I undersökningen av problemområdet används källor inom grafisk kommunikation, film, dataspel och sociologi. Slutsatserna som tas upp är inte definitiva, men rapporten är tänkt att kunna fungera som en möjlig ingång för studier som vidare behandlar trovärdighet i spelomgivningar. Dessutom kan examensarbetet fungera som uppslag för den som vill lära sig mer om miljögrafik i spel och hur denna kan fås att bli sammanhängande.</p></p>

This study is an investigation of the possibilities to create levels that convey a character and its personal narrative with the use of three level design methods. The used methods are: the use of smaller objects and details to convey information, using the player's personal references and memories and having a clear goal for the player. The results are gathered though qualitative interviews with the participant in the study and examining how participants interpret the narrative in game levels that were designed by using these three level design methods. This study uses the game Project Rewind as test bed, which was partially developed for this thesis purpose. The test result have shown that players took more notice of clusters of smaller visual objects, and memorized interactive objects much better than the stationary objects. They also used their own personal and cultural references, memories and stereotypes when analysing the objects in the levels to create an image of the character presented to them. Based on the results that we received from the interviews we found that having a clear demographic is important when designing a narrative level that needs be easy to understand. This is because of each player's own personal references, certain things can be perceived differently based on the player's references. The test results also show that the three level design methods mentioned can to a certain degree be used to convey a narrative when used to design a level. / Denna studie är en utredning av möjligheterna att skapa spelnivåer som förmedlar en karaktär och dess personliga berättelse med användning av tre level design metoder. De använda metoderna är: användning av mindre objekt och detaljer, användning av spelarens personliga referenser och minnen samt att ha ett tydligt mål för spelaren. Resultaten samlas in genom kvalitativa intervjuer med deltagarna i studien och analysera hur deltagarna tolkar berättelsen i spelets nivåer som var designade med hjälp av dessa tre level design metoder. Denna studie använder spelet Project Rewind för testerna, detta spel var delvis utvecklat för denna studiens ändamål. Test resultaten visar att spelaren tog upp mer information genom kluster av mindre visuella föremål, och memorerade interaktiva objekt mycket bättre än de stillastående objekten. De använde också sina egna personliga och kulturella referenser, minnen och stereotyper när de analyserade objekten i nivåerna för att skapa en bild av karaktären presenteras för dem. Baserat på de resultat som vi fått från undersökningen fann vi att det är viktigt att ha ett tydligt demografiskt mål, vilket är viktigt när man utformar en berättelse i en spel nivå som ska vara lätt att förstå. Detta är på grund av varje spelare har sina egna personliga referenser, vissa saker kan uppfattas på olika sätt beroende på vad för referenser man har. Test resultaten visar också att de tre level design metoderna som nämndes tidigare kan till en viss grad bli använda för att förmedla ett narrativ när man använder dem för att designa en nivå.

Στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή προτείνονται μεθοδολογίες σχεδίασης εφαρμογών σε ενσωματωμένες πλατφόρμες ειδικού σκοπού για την βελτίωση της απόδοσης εφαρμογών που εκτελούνται σε αυτές. Τα θεωρούμενα συστήματα στοχεύουν σε αριθμητικά απαιτητικές εφαρμογές, όπως είναι εφαρμογές Ψηφιακής Επεξεργασίας Σήματος και πολυμέσων. Οι περιγραφές των εφαρμογών γίνεται σε γλώσσα υψηλού επιπέδου γεγονός που διευκολύνει την υλοποίηση των εφαρμογών στις θεωρούμενες επεξεργαστικές πλατφόρμες. Οι μεθοδολογίες έχουν αυτοματοποιηθεί, με την χρήση πρωτότυπων και εμπορικά διαθέσιμων εργαλείων, για την αποτελεσματική και γρήγορη αποτίμηση των λύσεων σχεδίασης και απεικόνισης. Αρχικά, προτείνεται μια μέθοδος για την αποτελεσματική υλοποίηση εφαρμογών Ψηφιακής Επεξεργασίας Σήματος σε ένα σύστημα μικροεπεξεργαστή που περιέχει σαν επιταχυντή κρίσιμων τμημάτων ένα ευέλικτο χειριστή δεδομένων (data-path). Η υπεροχή του προτεινόμενου data-path σε σχέση με υπάρχοντες χειριστές δεδομένων δείχνεται για ένα σύνολο χαρακτηριστικών αριθμητικών υπολογιστικών πυρήνων (kernels). Παρουσιάζεται μια αυτοματοποιημένη μέθοδος σύνθεσης πυρήνων για το χειριστή δεδομένων. Αυτή η διαδικασία σύνθεσης ενσωματώνεται σε ένα γενικό περιβάλλον σχεδίασης εφαρμογών για το θεωρούμενο σύστημα που έχει σαν στόχο την βελτίωση της απόδοσης και την μείωση κατανάλωση ενέργειας. Στην συνέχεια, παρουσιάζεται ένα περιβάλλον λογισμικού που υλοποιεί μια φορμαλισμένη μεθοδολογία για τον διαχωρισμό εφαρμογών Ψηφιακής Επεξεργασίας Σήματος μεταξύ επαναπροσδιοριζόμενων τμημάτων μικτής υφής για πρώτη φορά στην βιβλιογραφία. Κρίσιμα τμήματα επιταχύνονται στο επαναπροσδιοριζόμενο υλικό χονδροειδούς υφής για να ικανοποιηθούν οι χρονικοί περιορισμοί του κώδικα της εφαρμογής που απεικονίζεται στην επαναπροσδιοριζόμενη λογική του συστήματος. Η επαναπροσδιοριζόμενη λογική λεπτής υφής υλοποιείται από ένα ενσωματωμένο Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), ενώ η επαναπροσδιοριζόμενη λογική χονδροειδούς υφής από ένα δικό μας αναπτυγμένο χειριστή +δεδομένων υψηλής απόδοσης. Η αποτελεσματικότητα του πρωτότυπου λογισμικού επιβεβαιώνεται χρησιμοποιώντας ρεαλιστικές εφαρμογές. Αναλυτικά πειράματα δείχνουν σημαντικές βελτιώσεις στην απόδοση, ενώ καθορισμένοι χρονικοί περιορισμοί ικανοποιούνται για όλες τις δοκιμασμένες εφαρμογές. Παρουσιάζεται η ενσωμάτωση ενός προτεινόμενου ευέλικτου προτύπου Επαναπροσδιοριζόμενης Αρχιτεκτονικής Πίνακα (ΕΑΠ) χονδροειδούς υφής σε δύο διαφορετικά συστήματα σε ολοκληρωμένα κυκλώματα. Για την αποτελεσματική εκτέλεση υπολογιστικά απαιτητικών τμημάτων στην ΕΑΠ αναπτύχθηκε μια πρωτότυπη αυτοματοποιημένη διαδικασία απεικόνισης, που βασίζεται σε έναν νέο αλγόριθμο διοχέτευσης βρόχου. Η αποτελεσματικότητα της ΕΑΠ και της αντίστοιχης διαδικασίας απεικόνισης διαπιστώνονται με εκτέλεση ρεαλιστικών εφαρμογών. Στο πρώτο σύστημα η ΕΑΠ μαζί με ένα FPGA σχηματίζουν την επαναπροσδιοριζόμενη λογική μιας υβριδικής πλατφόρμας. Στο δεύτερο σύστημα σε ολοκληρωμένο κύκλωμα, η ΕΑΠ συνδέεται άμεσα με έναν μικροεπεξεργαστή γενικού σκοπού ενεργώντας σαν συνεπεξεργαστής για την εκτέλεση κρίσιμων βρόχων. Πρωτότυπα αυτοματοποιημένα περιβάλλοντα σχεδίασης προτείνονται για την αποτελεσματική και εύκολη υλοποίηση ολόκληρων εφαρμογών στα συστήματα. Τέλος, προτείνεται μια πρωτότυπη μεθοδολογία διαχωρισμού υλικού/λογισμικού για την βελτίωση της απόδοσης ρεαλιστικών εφαρμογών σε ένα ενσωματωμένο σύστημα σε ολοκληρωμένο κύκλωμα που αποτελείται από έναν προγραμματιζόμενο μικροεπεξεργαστή και FPGA επαναπροσδιοριζόμενη λογική. Η μεθοδολογία έχει αυτοματοποιηθεί σε μεγάλο βαθμό με την χρήση ακαδημαϊκών και εμπορικών εργαλείων. Το FPGA ενεργεί σαν επιταχυντής κρίσιμων τμημάτων κώδικα βελτιώνοντας την απόδοση των εφαρμογών κοντά σε θεωρητικά μέγιστα όρια επιταχύνσεων. Αναλυτικά πειράματα με διαφορετικού τύπου μικροεπεξεργαστές και FPGA δείχνουν την αποτελεσματικότητα της μεθοδολογίας. / In this Ph.D. dissertation, design methodologies for embedded platforms with the aim of improving the performance of realistic applications executed on them are proposed. The considered system platforms target on arithmetic intensive applications, as in the case of Digital Signal Processing and multimedia applications. The applications are coded in a high-level language, fact that eases the implementation of applications in the considered processing platforms. The methodologies have been automated, with the usage of prototype and commercial tools, for the efficient and rapid evaluation of the design and mapping solutions. Initially, a method is proposed for the effective implementation of Digital Signal Processing applications on a microprocessor system that includes as an accelerator of critical application parts a flexible data-path. The effectiveness of the proposed data-path relative to existing ones is illustrated for a set of characteristic arithmetic intensive kernels. An automated synthesis methodology for kernels is presented. This synthesis method is incorporated on a design flow for the considered system that aims in improving application performance and reducing energy consumption. Afterwards, a software framework that implements a formalized methodology for partitioning Digital Signal Processing and multimedia applications between mixed granularity reconfigurable hardware parts is presented. Critical application parts are accelerated on the coarse-grained reconfigurable hardware for satisfying timing constraints of application code mapped on the reconfigurable logic of the platform. The fine-grained reconfigurable hardware is implemented by an embedded Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), whereas the coarse-grained reconfigurable logic by an our-developed high-performance reconfigurable data-path. The efficiency of the prototype software is justified using realistic applications. Analytical experiments illustrate that important performance improvements are achieved, while the targeted timing constraints are satisfied for all the tested applications. The incorporation of a proposed flexible template of a Coarse Grained Reconfigurable Array (CGRA) in two different system on chip is presented. For the efficient execution of computational intensive parts on the CGRA an automated mapping process, that it is based on a software loop pipelining algorithm, is developed. The efficiency of the CGRA and of its respective mapping procedure are realized with the execution of real-life applications. In the first system, the CGRA together with an FPGA form the reconfigurable logic of a hybrid platform. In the second system on chip, the CGRA is directly attached to a general purposed microprocessor acting as a co-processor for the execution of critical loops. Automated design frameworks are proposed for the efficient and straightforward implementation of complete applications on the systems. Finally, a hardware/software partitioning methodology is proposed for the performance improvements of realistic applications in an embedded system on chip that it is composed by a programmable microprocessor and an FPGA reconfigurable hardware. The methodology has been automated in a large extend with the usage of academic and commercial tools. The FPGA acts as an accelerator for critical code segments improving by this way the performance of applications close to maximum theoretical bounds. Extensive experiments with different types of microprocessors and FPGAs show the effectiveness of the methodology.

No description available.

<p>Denna rapport är av en reflekterande karaktär. Den förmedlar arbetsprocessen och resultatet av ett projekt som gjorts i kursen examensarbete i medier: Dataspelsutveckling vt 2008. Verket som rapporten grundar sig på är en bana gjord för Unreal Tournament 3 (Epic Games, 2007). Banan skall uppnå mina egenstipulerade krav för att en bana skall vara välbalanserad. Texten inleds med en beskrivning av arbetsprocessen och de olika stegen som genomgicks. Den börjar med idén och går vidare i flertalet olika steg till det färdiga resultatet. Därefter visas den färdiga banan upp i form av bilder. Sedan följer en diskussion om resultatet och de problem som uppstod i arbetsprocessen. Slutsatsen är att förutom några få undantag så har min arbetsprocess fungerat bra. Jag anser mig ha skapat en multiplayer-bana som lever upp till mina egenstipulerade krav för en välbalanserad bana.</p>

A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is typically a set of wireless mobile nodes enabled to communicate dynamically in a multi-hop manner without any pre-existing network infrastructure. MANETs have several unique characteristics in contrast to other typical networks, such as dynamic topology, intermittent connectivity, limited resources, and lack of physical security. Securing MANETs is a critical issue as these are vulnerable to many different attacks and failures and have no clear line of defence. To develop effective security services in MANETs, it is important to consider an appropriate trust infrastructure which is tailored to a given MANET and associated application. However, most of the proposed trust infrastructures do not to take the MANET application context into account. This may result in overly secure MANETs that incur an increase in performance and communication overheads due to possible unnecessary security measures. Designing and evaluating trust infrastructures for MANETs is very challenging. This stems from several pivotal overlapping aspects such as MANET constraints, application settings and performance. Also, there is a lack of practical approaches for assessing security in MANETs that take into account most of these aspects. Based on this, this thesis provides a methodological approach which consists of well-structured stages that allows the exploration of possible security alternatives and evaluates these alternatives against dimensions to selecting the best option. These dimensions include the operational level, security strength, performance, MANET contexts along with main security components in a form of a multidimensional security conceptual framework. The methodology describes interdependencies among these dimensions, focusing specifically on the service operational level in the network. To explore these different possibilities, the Server-based Security Architectures for MANETs (SSAM) simulation model has been created in the OMNeT++ simulation language. The thesis describes the conceptualisation, implementation, verification and validation of SSAM, as well as experimentation approaches that use SSAM to support the methodology of this thesis. In addition, three different real cases scenarios (academic, emergency and military domains) are incorporated in this study to substantiate the feasibility of the proposed methodology. The outcome of this approach provides MANET developers with a strategy along with guidelines of how to consider the appropriate security infrastructure that satisfies the settings and requirements of given MANET context.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo elaborar uma sistematização de conhecimentos técnicos, funcionais e compositivos, complementares aos conhecimentos tradicionais da arquitetura e do design, para o desenvolvimento de ambientes virtuais digitais interativos para jogos digitais e cenografia virtual para televisão. Para tanto, é elaborada uma fundamentação teórica baseada em pesquisa bibliográfica e é estudado um caso de produção de um cenário virtual para televisão. Como experiência de validação, é criado um ambiente virtual para jogo digital, utilizando-se a sistematização de conhecimentos proposta. / This paper aims to draw up a systematization of technical, functional and compositional knowledge, complementary to traditional knowledge of architecture and design, to the development of digital interactive virtual environments for videogames and virtual set design for television. Therefore, it is elaborated a theoretical framework based on literature review, and a case is studied where a virtual set for television is developed. As a validation experiment, it is created a virtual environment for a digital game, using the knowledge systematization proposed.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo elaborar uma sistematização de conhecimentos técnicos, funcionais e compositivos, complementares aos conhecimentos tradicionais da arquitetura e do design, para o desenvolvimento de ambientes virtuais digitais interativos para jogos digitais e cenografia virtual para televisão. Para tanto, é elaborada uma fundamentação teórica baseada em pesquisa bibliográfica e é estudado um caso de produção de um cenário virtual para televisão. Como experiência de validação, é criado um ambiente virtual para jogo digital, utilizando-se a sistematização de conhecimentos proposta. / This paper aims to draw up a systematization of technical, functional and compositional knowledge, complementary to traditional knowledge of architecture and design, to the development of digital interactive virtual environments for videogames and virtual set design for television. Therefore, it is elaborated a theoretical framework based on literature review, and a case is studied where a virtual set for television is developed. As a validation experiment, it is created a virtual environment for a digital game, using the knowledge systematization proposed.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo elaborar uma sistematização de conhecimentos técnicos, funcionais e compositivos, complementares aos conhecimentos tradicionais da arquitetura e do design, para o desenvolvimento de ambientes virtuais digitais interativos para jogos digitais e cenografia virtual para televisão. Para tanto, é elaborada uma fundamentação teórica baseada em pesquisa bibliográfica e é estudado um caso de produção de um cenário virtual para televisão. Como experiência de validação, é criado um ambiente virtual para jogo digital, utilizando-se a sistematização de conhecimentos proposta. / This paper aims to draw up a systematization of technical, functional and compositional knowledge, complementary to traditional knowledge of architecture and design, to the development of digital interactive virtual environments for videogames and virtual set design for television. Therefore, it is elaborated a theoretical framework based on literature review, and a case is studied where a virtual set for television is developed. As a validation experiment, it is created a virtual environment for a digital game, using the knowledge systematization proposed.