Today media centers are often cluttered with multiple devices each controlled by their own remote control. It is often hard and/or painful to manage and utilize these devices, especially for inexperienced users. Simstream wants to build an innovative smart-TV that as much as possible centralizes functions and controls.  Operating the system should be intuitive and simple, yet experienced users should have access to more advanced operations. This requires acquiring several inputs as well as integrating the communication devices that are necessary to control the attached external devices. Whenever possible, we want to efficiently process every input while minimizing latencies.  As a result, we want all the frequent operation to be as quick and lightweight as possible in order to provide a high quality user experience even under high system loads. This project takes advantage of the widespread availability of touchscreen mobile devices in order to provide an innovative means of control over the television, with remote control mobile applications running on an user’s familiar device. A remote controller will also be sold together with the television, and this remote controller will also have a touchscreen, and will propose the same capabilities as the remote control mobile applications. Finally, this platform will be open to third-party applications, and as a result this thesis project developed a software development kit which is designed to be easy and familiar enough for developers to adopt it and create applications with it. Applications will be developed together with an interface displayed on the remote controllers, in order to tailor the remote control interface to what is currently displayed on the television screen / Idag är mediecentrer ofta belamrade med många enheter som är kontrollerade av sina egna fjärrkontroller. Det är ofta svårt och / eller smärtsamt att använda dessa enheterna, särskilt för oerfarna användare. Simstream vill bygga en innovativ smart TV som centraliserar funktioner och kontroller så mycket som möjligt. Att använda systemet ska vara intuitivt och enkelt, men mer erfarna användare ska också ha tillgång till mer avancerade funktioner. Detta kräver att förvärva flera indata samt att integrera kommunikationsenheterna som är nödvändiga för att kontrollera de anslutna externa enheter. När det är möjligt vill vi behandla varje indata på ett effektivt sätt oh samtidigt minimera latenser. Det här betyder att en operation som utförs ofta skall vara så snabb och så lätt som möjligt, för att förbättra användarupplevelse även när systemet är hårt belastad. Detta projekt drar fördel av den vidsprädda tillgången till pekskärma mobila enheter för att tillföra användaren en innovativ kontroll över sin TV, direkt från sin bekanta enhet. Slutligen kommer denna plattformen att vara öppen för tredjepartsutvecklare, och som ett resultat har detta examensarbete utvecklat ett software development kit som är gjort för att vara enkelt och välbekant nog för att utvecklare ska kunna använda det och skapa applikationer med det.

Web services provide organizations with a powerful infrastructure by which information and products may be distributed, but the task of supporting Web service systems can be difficult due to the complex nature of environment configuration and operation. Tools are needed to monitor and analyze such Enterprise environments so that appropriate engineering, quality control, or business activities can be pursued. This investigation resulted in the development of a software development kit, the WSLogA Framework, which is inspired by the vision of Cruz et al. (2003, 2004). The WSLogA Framework provides distributed Enterprise systems with a platform for comprehensive information capture and environment management. Five component groups are intended for employment to enable integrated workflows addressing monitoring and response activities, but these components may also be used individually to facilitate the phased integration of the WSLogA Framework into existing environments. The WSLogA Framework's design is portable across technology platforms (e.g., Java and .NET) and a variety of technologies may be substituted for the provided implementations to address unique system architectures. The WSLogA Framework supersedes existing logging and monitoring solutions in terms of both capability and intent. Applications based on the WSLogA Framework have an internal, real-time view of their operation and may adjust their environment based on the information provided by events related to their or system activities. The WSLogA Framework is intended as a software development kit around which system functionality may be organized and implemented, which makes the WSLogA Framework an architectural peer or complement to traditional application frameworks such as Spring's Web module. WSLogA Framework based systems should be envisioned as information appliance elements rather than traditionally scoped applications or services.

The interactive nature of web applications or “web apps” makes it an excellent medium for conveying complex scientific concepts to lay audiences and creating decision support tools that harness cutting edge modeling techniques. However, the technical expertise required to develop them represents a barrier for would-be developers. The barrier can be characterized by the following hurdles that developers must overcome: (1) identify, select, and install software that meet the spatial and computational capabilities commonly required for water resources modeling; (2) orchestrate the use of multiple FOSS and FOSS4G projects and navigate their differing application programming interfaces (APIs); (3) learn the multi-language programming skills required for modern web development; and (4) develop a web-safe and fully featured web site to host the app. This research has resulted in two primary products that effectively lower the barrier to water resources web app development: (1) a literature review of free and open source software (i.e. software review) and (2) Tethys Platform. The software review included earth science web apps that were published in the peer-reviewed literature in the last decade and it was performed to determine which FOSS4G and FOSS web software has been used to develop such web apps. The review highlights 11 FOSS4G software projects and 9 FOSS projects for web development that were used to develop 45 earth sciences web apps, which constitutes a significantly reduced list of possible software projects that could be used to meet the needs of water resources web app development—greatly lowering the barrier for entry to water resources web development. While the software review addresses the hurdle of identifying FOSS software to provide a web framework and spatial data capabilities for water resources web apps, there are still other hurdles that needed to be overcome to make development more viable. Tethys Platform was developed to address these other hurdles and streamline the development of water resources web apps. It includes (1) a suite of free and open source software that address the unique data and computational needs common to water resources web app development, (2) a Python software development kit for incorporating the functionality of each software element into web apps and streamlining their development, and (3) a customizable web portal that is used to deploy the completed web apps. Tethys Platform has been used to develop a broad array of web apps for water resources modeling and decision support.

Šiuo metu viena iš labiausiai bei sparčiausiai besivystančių technologijos krypčių yra mobiliesiems telefonams, planšetiniams kompiuteriams bei multimedijos įrenginiams skirta programinė įranga. Vartotojų susidomėjimas šia sritimi bei mobiliųjų įrenginių techninės įrangos tobulėjimas skatina vis daugiau IT kompanijų plėtoti savo veiklą šioje srityje. Viena iš didžiausių klaidų, kurias yra sunkiausia ištaisyti, yra pirminėje projekto stadijoje neteisingai pasirinktos technologijos. Šiame darbe apžvelgiamos ir palyginamos trijų populiariausių, į mobiliuosius įrenginius diegiamų operacinių sistemų: Android, iOS bei Windows Phone programų kūrimo sąsajos ir nustatomi jų privalumai bei trūkumai. Vertinimai yra atliekami atsižvelgiant į operacinės sistemos architektūrą, programų kūrimo įrankius, suderinamumą su technine įranga, programų derinimo galimybėmis, saugumo užtikrinimu, grafinės vartotojo sąsajos kūrimu, daugiakalbystės palaikymu, animacijos, garsų bei video medžiagos pateikimu, HTML turinio atvaizdavimu, integracija su žemėlapiais, vartotojo buvimo vietos nustatymu, sensorių bei tinklų pasiekiamumu, foninių procesų kūrimu, duomenų išsaugojimo bei apsikeitimo su kitomis programomis galimybėmis. Tyrimo metu nustatyta, kad Android turi geriausias sąsajas kurti foninius procesus bei integruotis su kitomis programomis. iOS turi geriausius įrankius bei grafinės vartotojo sąsajos kūrimo priemones, o Windows Phone turi patogiausia karkasą darbui su multimedija, žemėlapiais bei... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / At a present time, one of the most developing area of technology is software for mobile phones, tablets and multimedia devices. Growing numbers of users and improved hardware makes more and more companies to expand their activity in this market. One of the biggest mistakes, that is very hard to solve, is badly chosen technologies in a beginning stage of the projects. The main objective of this project is to compare three of the most popular operating systems Android, iOS and Windows Phone software development kits and to determinate their advantages and disadvantages. Analysis is made based on operating system architecture, tools, compatibility with hardware, debugging, security, graphical user interface, multilanguage support, animation, sounds, video, HTML preview, interaction with maps and user location, sensors, networks, background processes, data persistence and integration with another software. In this research was identified that Android has best interfaces to create background processes and share data between programs. iOS has best tools and components for graphical user interface and Windows Phone has best framework to work with multimedia, maps and user location services.

Οι συστοιχίες προγραμματιζόμενων πυλών (FPGAs) αποτελούν μια σημαντική τεχνολογία, η οποία επιτρέπει στους σχεδιαστές κυκλωμάτων την παραγωγή συγκεκριμένου σκοπού ολοκληρωμένων κυκλωμάτων σε σύντομο χρόνο. Tα σημαντικότερα των χαρακτηριστικών τους είναι η αρχιτεκτονική τους και η δυνατότητα σχεδιασμού τους μέσω υπολογιστών, η χαμηλή κατανάλωση ισχύος καθώς και το μικρό χρονικό διάστημα που απαιτείται για τον επαναπρογραμματισμό τους. Τα FPGAs είναι κατάλληλα σχεδιασμένα για ψηφιακές εφαρμογές φιλτραρίσματος. Η πυκνότητα των προγραμματιζόμενων αυτών συστημάτων είναι τέτοια ώστε πολύ μεγάλος αριθμός αριθμητικών πράξεων όπως αυτές που προκύπτουν μέσω ψηφιακού φιλτραρίσματος να μπορεί να εφαρμοστεί σε μία μόνο συσκευή. Τα πλεονεκτήματα των FPGA στην υλοποίηση ψηφιακών φίλτρων είναι μεταξύ άλλων οι υψηλότεροι ρυθμοί δειγματοληψίας από παραδοσιακούς DSP chip, το χαμηλότερο κόστος από μια μέτρια ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, Kύκλωμα οριζόμενο από εφαρμογή) για εφαρμογές μεγάλου όγκου, καθώς και η μεγαλύτερη ευελιξία από όλες τις εναλλακτικές προσεγγίσεις για την υλοποίηση των FIR φίλτρων. Σπουδαιότερο όλων είναι ότι προγραμματίζονται μέσα στο σύστημα και έχουν δυνατότητα επαναπρογραμματισμού για την υλοποίηση διαφόρων εναλλακτικών λειτουργιών φιλτραρίσματος. Στόχος της παρούσας διπλωματικής είναι να συνδυασθούν τεχνικές VLSI και ψηφιακής επεξεργασίας σήματος και μέσω κατανόησης της αρχιτεκτονικής του υπολογιστή να δημιουργηθεί μια χρήσιμη εφαρμογή. Επιλέχθηκε για τον λόγο αυτό: α) η ανάπτυξη ενός FIR φίλτρου σε γλώσσα περιγραφής υλικού, β) υλοποίησή του σε FPGA, γ) εισαγωγή αυτού σε ενσωματωμένο σύστημα και σύνδεση σε διάδρομο δεδομένων επεξεργαστή και δ) έλεγχος του φίλτρου με τη βοήθεια του επεξεργαστή μέσω γλώσσας υψηλού επιπέδου. Η συγγραφή του κώδικα του φίλτρου έγινε σε γλώσσα VHDL, με structural μεθόδους και η προσομοίωση του συστήματος στο Modelsim. Επιπροσθέτως χρησιμοποιήθηκε ο Project Navigator ISE της Xilinx για τον έλεγχο του κώδικα αλλά και τον προγραμματισμό του FPGA Spartan 3E Starter Board. Χρησιμοποιήθηκαν ακόμα τα υποπρογράμματα Plan Ahead και ChipScope Pro του ISE ώστε να ελεγχθεί η λειτουργία του κυκλώματος στο FPGA. To κύκλωμα τελικά εισάγεται σε ενσωματωμένο σύστημα με τη βοήθεια του εργαλείου σχεδίασης EDK της Xilinx και ελέγχεται η λειτουργία του προγραμματίζοντας τον επεξεργαστή Microblaze. Ακόμα ελέγχεται η λειτουργία του φίλτρου για διαφορετικούς συντελεστές FIR φίλτρων που χρησιμοποιούν διαφορετικά παράθυρα και συγκρίνονται οι «ιδανικές» τιμές που παράγονται από το Matlab με αυτές που παράγονται από το φίλτρο. Τέλος μετράται η ενέργεια (δυναμική και στατική) που καταναλώνεται κατά τη λειτουργία του κυκλώματος στο FPGA με τη βοήθεια του XPower Analyzer. / Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) is a technology of great importance that allows the designers to produce specific purpose integrated circuits in a limited amount of time. The most important of their characteristics are their architecture and the ability of their design with the help of computers, the low power dissipation, as well as the need of a short amount of time to be reprogrammed. FPGAs are properly designed for digital filtering applications. The density of these programmable systems is such that a great amount of numerical calculations such as those that result via digital filtering can be applied to one device only. The advantages of FPGAs as for the implementation of digital filters is between others the great rates of sampling compared to traditional DSP chips, their low cost compared to a moderate ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) for applications that take up a large area, as well as the flexibility compared to alternative approaches for the implementation of FIR filters. Their most important characteristic is that they can be programmed on-chip and that they have the ability of being reprogrammed for the implementation of different filtering purposes. The aim of this thesis is to combine VLSI techniques and digital signal processing techniques and via the understanding of the computer architecture to create a useful application. To fulfill that purpose: a) a FIR filter was designed with the use of a hardware description language b) the filter was implemented by using an FPGA c) the filter was imported to an embedded system and it was connected to the bus of a microprocessor d) the filter was controlled by the microprocessor via a high-level programming language. The filter was designed using the VHDL language, specifically using structural methods, and its simulation was performed with Modelsim. Also the Project Navigator ISE of Xilinx was used to correct unwanted warnings and to program the FPGA Spartan 3E Starter Board. Some other subprograms of ISE were also used, such as Plan Ahead and ChipScope Pro in order to check the performance of the filter. The circuit is finally imported to an embedded system using the Embedded Developer’s Kit (EDK) of Xilinx. Microblaze was the microprocessor that was used to control the filter’s performance. Additionally, the performance of the filter is checked by using different coefficients of FIR filters by different windowing methods. The ideal values that are produced from Matlab are compared to those of the filter. Finally the power dissipation (static and dynamic) of the filter is measured using XPower Analyzer.

This thesis aims to improve a scheduling application’s usability and accessibility by redesigning its interface and implementing it using the Contentful App framework. The application is being used by employees at the company Aktiebolaget Trav Galopp. The existing application is described as difficult and time consuming to use. The Contentful App Framework enables developers to build custom applications and integrations on top of the Contentful content platform. It empowers them to extend content workflows, automate tasks, and enhance collaboration with features like UI extensions and Application Programming Interfaces (API). A heuristic evaluation identifies key areas for improvement, focusing on memorization of dates and times. Three design proposals are developed. Design 1 aims to create a centralized view of dates and times, but implementation limitations prevent its realization. Design 2 introduces a custom component within the Hero Container, providing a practical solution for viewing and editing dates and times. Design 3 represents recreating the existing application in the app framework. Evaluation of the implemented application reveals positive aspects, such as clear presentation of relevant information. Limitations are identified, including the inability to restrict referenced component types and inflexibility in rearranging item order. An automatic unlinking mechanism is implemented to mitigate errors in component linking. Significant improvements are achieved in usability and accessibility. Valuable insights are gained through the heuristic evaluation, emphasizing the benefits of the Contentful App framework. The importance of designing with flexibility in mind and addressing limitations during design and implementation is highlighted. Future work recommendations include exploring alternative designs within Contentful SDK limitations, addressing restrictions on referenced component types, and introducing flexibility in rearranging item order. User testing and feedback collection will further refine usability and address remaining issues. This thesis contributes to improving scheduling application usability, providing insights for future research and development efforts. / Syftet med denna avhandling var att förbättra en schemaläggningsapplikations användbarhet och tillgänglighet genom att förbättra dess gränssnitt och implementera det med Contentfuls App-ramverket. Tre designförslag utvecklades med fokus på att minska mängden datum och tider som en användare behöver memorera. Den implementerade applikationen visade många positiva aspekter, såsom tydlig presentation av information. Begränsningar identifierades även, såsom oförmågan att ändra ordning schemat. Rekommendationer för framtida arbete inkluderar att utforska alternativa designlösningar, hantera begränsningar och genomföra användartester för ytterligare förbättringar. Denna avhandling bidrar till att förbättra användbarheten hos schemaläggningsapplikationer och ger insikter för framtida forskning och utveckling.

This diploma thesis deals with a interface USB and FireWire cameras to a computer through a technology called DirectShow. I used mostly a development kit „MontiVision“, which cooperates with a programming environment as is e.g. Microsoft Visual C++. You find here how to use a direct pixel access, how to get singles photos from a video, how to set up and calibrate a camera and how can look a particular application of the image processing. I wrote an introduction to the stereo-vision above the frame of my task. This thesis is like a manual for students. It includes my personal experiences and experimentations too.