Many-core architectures provide an efficient way of harnessing the growing numbers of transistors available in modern fabrication processes; however, the parallel programs run on these platforms are increasingly limited by the energy and latency costs of communication. Existing designs provide a functional communication layer but do not necessarily implement the most efficient solution for chip-multiprocessors, placing limits on the performance of these complex systems. In an era of increasingly power limited silicon design, efficiency is now a primary concern that motivates designers to look again at the challenge of cache coherence. The first step in the design process is to analyse the communication behaviour of parallel benchmark suites such as Parsec and SPLASH-2. This thesis presents work detailing the sharing patterns observed when running the full benchmarks on a simulated 32-core x86 machine. The results reveal considerable locality of shared data accesses between threads with consecutive operating system assigned thread IDs. This pattern, although of little consequence in a multi-node system, corresponds to strong physical locality of shared data between adjacent cores on a chip-multiprocessor platform. Traditional cache coherence protocols, although often used in chip-multiprocessor designs, have been developed in the context of older multi-node systems. By redesign- ing coherence protocols to exploit new patterns such as the physical locality of shared data, improving the efficiency of communication, specifically in chip-multiprocessors, is possible. This thesis explores such a design - Proximity Coherence - a novel scheme in which L1 load misses are optimistically forwarded to nearby caches via new dedicated links rather than always being indirected via a directory structure.

This thesis presents the development of an instrumented compliant wrist mechanism which serves as an interface between robotic platforms and their environments in order to detect surface positions and orientations. Although inspired by similar existing devices, additional features such as noncontact distance estimations, a simplified physical structure, and wireless operation were incorporated into the design. The primary role envisioned for this mechanism was for enabling robotic manipulators to perform surface following tasks prior to contact as this was one requirement of a larger project involving inspection of surfaces. The information produced by the compliant wrist system can be used to guide robotic devices in their workspace by providing real-time proximity detection and collision detection of objects. Compliance in robotic devices has attracted the attention of many researchers due to the multitude of benefits it offers. In the scope of this work, the main advantage of compliance is that it allows rigid structures to come into contact with possibly fragile objects. Combined with instrumentation for detecting the deflections produced by this compliance, closed-loop control can be achieved, increasing the number of viable applications for an initially open-loop system. Custom fabrication of a prototype device was completed to physically test operation of the designed system. The prototype incorporates a microcontroller to govern the internal operations of the device such as sensor data collection and processing. By performing many computation tasks directly on the device, robotic controllers are able to dedicate more of their time to more important tasks such as path planning and object avoidance by using the pre-conditioned compliant device data. Extensive work has also gone into the refinement of sensor signals coming from the key infrared distance measurement sensors used in the device. A calibration procedure was developed to decrease inter-sensor variability due to the method of manufacturing of these sensors. Noise reduction in the signals is achieved via a digital filtering process. The evaluation of the performance of the device is achieved through the collection of a large amount of sensor data for use in characterisation of the sensor and overall system behavior. This comes in the form of a statistical analysis of the sensor outputs to determine signal stability and accuracy. Additionally, the operation of the device is validated by its integration onto a manipulator robot and incorporating the data generated into the robot’s control loop.

La capacité dynamique d'une organisation est son aptitude à constamment modifier et faire évoluer ses ressources, ses compétences et ses processus afin de répondre aux exigences de son environnement, et d'être proactive vis-à-vis de celui-ci. Cependant, il est constaté que le lien entre capacités dynamiques et relations inter-organisationnelles reste peu développé dans la littérature. Pour cette raison, notre questionnement est de savoir si l'environnement réticulaire, de par ses caractéristiques structurelles et contextuelles, est propice au déploiement et à la création des capacités dynamiques. Il s'agit de s'interroger sur les processus qui permettent le déploiement, la détection et la création de capacités dynamiques, de voir si elles opèrent individuellement ou en combinaison, et comprendre comment elles évoluent. Aussi, nous nous interrogeons sur le caractère inter-organisationnel des capacités dynamiques. Peuvent-elles être construites ou émerger de l'interaction ? Pour répondre à ces questions, nous avons choisi de mener notre étude dans des réseaux territorialisés dans la région PACA. Les entretiens menés montrent la nécessité de prendre en compte les actions collectives initiées par ces réseaux d'organisations et le rôle de la proximité (au sens large) comme leviers à la mise en oeuvre des capacités dynamiques des entreprises adhérentes ou d'émergence des « capacités dynamiques réticulaires ». Les résultats de recherche nous permettent d'affirmer le rôle des facteurs structurels et contextuels des réseaux sur le déploiement et la création des CD et de caractériser celles-ci dans ce contexte de réseau territorialisé. / The dynamic capability of an organization is its ability to constantly change and develop its resources, skills and processes to meet the needs of, and act upon its changing environment. However, the link between dynamic capabilities (DC) and inter-organizational relationships is rarely developed in the literature. Therefore, our dissertation deals with whether the network environment, through its structural and contextual characteristics, is suitable for the deployment and the development of DC. We question the processes that enable the deployment, detection and the creation of DC to understand whether DCs operate individually or in combination, and try to understand which DCs operate. Also, we question the inter-organizational nature of dynamic capabilities in territorial networks. Can DC be built or emerge from interactions in these networks? To answer these questions, we chose to conduct in-depth interviews in different territorial networks in the PACA region in France. Results of this empirical study show the need to take into account collective actions initiated by these networks of organizations, underline the role of proximity (broadly defined) as a means to deploy dynamic capabilities, and indicate the emergence of "network dynamic capabilities". Research results allow us to confirm the role of structural and contextual characteristics of territorial networks on the deployment and the creation of these capabilities and allow us to identify them in these contexts.

This thesis investigates the local innovation system of public research organisations in the Thai context, in which research centres and firms are co-located in a planned science park, with particular emphasis on the influence of co-location on interactions between research centres and local firms, and the research collaboration between the research centres and industrial firms. It aims to gain insight into the factors that influence the interaction of research centres and firms located in close proximity and the ways in which research centres and firms interrelate in relation to their research collaboration. This thesis draws upon three theoretical concepts: the concept of local innovation system, the concept of proximity, and the theories of inter-organisational relationships.The study suggests that co-location (i.e. physical proximity) to research centres does not normally lead to formal interaction between local firms and research centres in this context. Most of the interactions between them were found to be informal. Thus, the influence of physical proximity on the interactions and linkages of actors in this local innovation system is to some extent over-estimated. There is insufficient synergy to create an innovative surplus from co-location of firms and research centres in this context. The study also suggests that promoting social and technological proximity between research centres and local firms, by introducing institutional or organisational arrangements that would facilitate these two dimensions of proximity, encourages greater extent of formal interaction between them as well as facilitates benefits from spatial relation of these local actors. Despite the absence of formal interaction with local firms, research centres collaborate with firms located outside the science park. The study introduces a typology to understand how research centres work with firms and shows that most of the collaborative projects involved industrial application and utilisation of technological knowledge accumulated within the research centres, which applied to the firms' products or development processes. Many of these projects resulted from collective projects or partnering experience between the research centre and firm, and were likely to follow with subsequent collaborations. In addition, the study reveals that technological factors, i.e. technological relatedness between the knowledge base of firms and research centres and firm's technological capacity, influence the way in which research centres work with firms in collaborative projects. Organisational and institutional settings of research centres, as well as cultural factors are identified as barriers of research collaboration in this study.The thesis concludes by indicating that physical proximity alone cannot trigger interaction of actors, especially formal interaction such as research collaboration, bounded by spatial relation. Interaction between public research organisations and firms can take place without closeness in distance. Other dimensions of their relationship are important factors influencing their interaction. The research collaboration between research centres and firms is a complex process and requires supportive organisational and institutional arrangements and effective policy intervention.

There has been an enormous growth in the usage of smartphones in recent times. Smartphones are not limited to communication purposes. It has various applications designed as per the daily requirements of humans such as web-searching, online shopping, bank transactions, games, etc. With the increase in the usage of the smartphone, the more useful information is captured and stored by it, which raises the question of security. The goal of this research is to develop two android applications. One is a sensor detector application and the second is a screen lock application. The first application will help the user to identify all the hidden sensors and working sensors on the mobile phone. This application even describes the features and usage of every sensor in detail. Using a graphical description of each sensor which depicts the behaviour of each sensor as per environment/movement. The second application is designed using a combination of two sensors. Screen lock applications contain two main factors. One is to work properly in all cases and efficiently do the functions that are required to do. The second is to maintain a smooth inner system interaction because in addition to locking the screen this application should make sure to hide the display of all the other applications without closing the process of these applications. With the increase in the usage of the smartphone, it becomes difficult for older generations to memorize the security pattern techniques and use them. This thesis develops a simple technique in the mobile authentication android application. The thesis is developed on the Android studio platform. The background functionality of the app is coded in java using android SDK tool and frontend of the application is designed using XML files. The GENYMOTION emulator and a mobile phone are used to test the output.

This study examines Slovak dialect perceptions from 311 participants in 9 municipalities in Slovakia. Data were collected between 2016 and 2017, utilizing a map task, degree of difference ratings, and other Likert scale tasks to assess participants’ perceptions of and attitudes about dialects in Slovakia. Participants received blank maps of Slovakia on which to elicit participants’ perceptions of where isoglosses (dialect boundaries) lie. They drew their own isoglosses and were asked to label each dialect region contained within them. Content Analysis was used to code each label for semantic field in order to create composite maps for each label. After analyzing data from each municipality separately, 22 salient categories emerged. To be determined salient in this study, a category had to be marked by at least ten percent of participants per municipality. The most salient boundaries that emerged from this study were those between central (“correct”) Slovak and “other,” “not central” Slovak; those between “The East” and the rest of Slovakia, and those between “The South” (or, more accurately, “The Hungarian South”) and the rest of Slovakia. This thesis explores those ideologies in detail, and takes Nitra as a case study for the discussion.

La théorie néo institutionnelle nous renseigne sur les facteurs structurant les organisations et les marchés. Elle offre une grille de lecture adaptée pour tous ceux qui sont soucieux de comprendre et maîtriser les évolutions d’un champ organisationnel, en particulier s’ils sont acteurs de cette évolution. Cette grille de lecture est particulièrement riche d’enseignement pour les entrepreneurs qui cherchent à modifier durablement le domaine dans lequel ils interviennent. Un des axes peu étudié de l’action entrepreneuriale, concerne la dimension spatiale, c’est-à-dire la capacité à arranger la disposition des réalités sociales distinctes. La littérature sur les territoires nous renseigne sur le lien fort qui existe entre espace et institutions. Ce qui nous mène à la question de recherche principale : comment une action forte sur l’espace va modifier les institutions, et transformer l’entrepreneur en entrepreneur institutionnel ? Cette recherche se propose d’étudier plusieurs cas de parcours d’entrepreneurs suivant une stratégie spatiale et de vérifier si leur démarche s’inscrit dans le processus du travail institutionnel. Le premier intérêt de cette recherche sera de définir ce qu’est une « stratégie spatiale » en matière de gestion et, plus précisément, en matière entrepreneuriale, en détaillant son processus, les compétences clés et en fournissant des modèles génériques. Le second intérêt sera d’apporter un éclairage théorique nouveau sur l’entrepreneur institutionnel, « boson de Higgs » de la Théorie Néo Institutionnelle. / The new institutional theory plays an important part to our understanding of the structural elements shaping organizations and markets. It brings an analytical framework for anyone interested in understanding and managing changes in an organizational field, and more specifically for those who want to be actor of that change. This framework is particularly helpful for entrepreneurs wishing to change their field of operation. Spatial activity, namely the capacity to organize social distinct realities, is a dimension of the entrepreneurial activity that has remained quite unexplored. The literature on territories gives us an indication of the strong relationship between space and institution. This brings us to the backbone question of this research: how can deliberate actions on space (or “doing with space” as written by Michel Lussault) change institutions and turn the entrepreneur into an institutional entrepreneur? This research will be based on several case studies about entrepreneurs who follow a spatial strategy, to test whether it fits the definition of institutional work. First, it will define what a “spatial strategy” is in management studies, and in particular for entrepreneurship, by detailing its process and the key competences and by proposing various generic models. Finally, it will shed a new light on the institutional entrepreneur, “Higgs boson” of the New Institutional Theory.

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京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第22442号 / 工博第4703号 / 新制||工||1734(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科原子核工学専攻 / (主査)教授 斉藤 学, 教授 神野 郁夫, 准教授 松尾 二郎 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(生命科学) / 甲第23555号 / 生博第466号 / 新制||生||62(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院生命科学研究科高次生命科学専攻 / (主査)教授 朝長 啓造, 教授 野田 岳志, 教授 千坂 修 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy in Life Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM