The Property Specification Language (PSL) is an IEEE standard which allows developers to specify precise behavioral properties of hardware designs. PSL assertions can be embedded within code written in hardware description languages (HDL) such as Verilog to monitor signals of interest. Debugging simulations at the register transfer level (RTL) is often required to verify the functionality of a design before synthesis. Traditional methods of RTL debugging can help locate failures, but do not necessarily immediately help in discovering the reasons for the failures. The P2VSim tool presents the ability to combine multiple Verilog signals not only instantaneously, but also across multiple clock cycles, producing a graphical display of the state of active PSL assertions in a given RTL simulation. When using the P2VSim tool, users will write PSL assertions directly into their Verilog source files. After the tool searches for and loads the embedded assertions, execution trace monitors for the relevant Verilog signals are dynamically generated and written back into the Verilog source code. P2VSim then invokes an RTL simulator, Modelsim, to generate a simulation execution trace, requiring that the designer has some hardware or software testbench already in place. Next, the input PSL assertions are parsed into time intervals that have logical and temporal properties. These intervals are to be displayed graphically when PSL property checking is performed. Finally, the user is allowed to step through simulation one cycle at a time, while the tool applies the simulation execution trace to the instantiated time intervals, performing PSL property checking at each clock cycle. From this, the user can witness the exact clock cycles when PSL assertions are satisfied or violated, along with the causes of such results.

Cette thèse se situe dans le contexte de la vérification fonctionnelle des circuits intégrés complexes. L’objectif de ce travail est de créer un flot de vérification conjoint au flot de conception basé sur une technique appelée "vérification basée sur les assertions(ABV)". Le concept de base du flot est le raffinement automatique des spécifications formelles données sous la forme d’assertions PSL du niveau TLM au niveau RTL. La principale difficulté est la disparité des deux domaines : au niveau TLM, les communications sont modélisées par des appels de fonctions atomiques. Au niveau RTL, les échanges sont assurés par des signaux binaires évoluant selon un protocole de communication précis. Sur la base d’un ensemble de règles de transformation temporelles formelles, nous avons réalisé un outil permettant d’automatiser le raffinement de ces spécifications. Comme le raffinement des modèles, le raffinement des assertions n’est pas entièrement automatisable : des informations temporelles et structurelles doivent être fournies par l’utilisateur. L’outil réalise la saisie de ces informations de façon ergonomique, puis procède automatiquement à la transformation temporelle et structurelle de l’assertion. Il permet la génération d’assertions RTL mais aussi hybrides. Les travaux antérieurs dans ce domaine sont peu nombreux et les solutions proposées imposent de fortes restrictions sur les assertions considérées. À notre connaissance, le prototype que nous avons mis en oeuvre est le premier outil qui réalise un raffinement temporel fondé sur la sémantique formelle d’un langage de spécification standard (PSL). / The context of this thesis is the functional verification of complex integrated circuits.The objective of our work is to create a seamless verification flow joint to the design flowand based on a proved technique called Assertions-Based Verification (ABV). The mainchallenge of TLM to RTL refinement is the disparity of these two domains : at TLM,communications are modeled as atomic function calls handling all the exchanged data.At RTL, communications are performed by signals according to a specific communicationprotocol. The proposed temporal transformation process is based on a set of formaltransformation rules. We have developed a tool performing the automatic refinement ofPSL specifications. As for design refinement assertion refinement is not fully automated.Temporal and structural information must be provided by the user, using an ergonomicinterface. The tool allows the generation of assertions in RTL but also hybrid assertions.Little work has been done before in this area, and the proposed solutions suffer from severerestrictions. To our knowledge, our prototype is the first tool that performs a temporaltransformation of assertions based on the formal semantics of a standard specificationlanguage (PSL).

Zugl.: Darmstadt, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2009

This work aims at methods, which are suitable for mixed-signal integrated circuit verification. The emphasis is on the Assertion-based verification. In practice there are two languages, which can be used for this method - PSL and SystemVerilog. These languages are compared between each other and individually tested to find their capabilities, functional limits and restrictions. One of them will be integrated into verification flow of SCG Czech Design Center s. r. o. company to develop ABV methodology in analog and mixed-signal domain.

Wood products tend to have a very large variability resulting in over design of engineered products. A relatively new structural composite wood material, Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL) has been introduced with the expectation to reduce the inherent biological variation wood products tend to have between specimens and species. A probabilistic approach is being taken to model effective properties, strain, and strength of PSL. Biological variation of grain angle, effective properties, biological defects such as voids, strand dimensions, and constitutive species composing each PSL member were taken into account. Methods will be used to verify experimental results for the ultimate stress or maximum stress, modulus of elasticity, lengthwise variability, and stress-strain behavior of Parallel Strand Lumber made from southern yellow pine. Experimental compression data is measured from 64 A specimens with the dimensions 1.10 in x 1.10 in x 3.25 in and 162 B specimens with the dimensions 1.55 in x 1.55 in x 5.00 in. This data yields compression modulus of elasticity values of 1840 ksi with a standard deviation of 300 ksi for the A specimens and 1860 ksi with a standard deviation of 400 ksi for the B specimens. The ultimate stress at failure of the A specimens is 7.71 ksi with a standard deviation of 1.09 ksi and the ultimate stress at failure of the B specimens is 8.97 ksi with a standard deviation of 1.02 ksi. Experimental bending data is measured from 1 A specimen with the dimensions 5.25 in x 5.25 in x 192 in and 9 B specimens with the dimensions 1.55 in x 1.55 in x 96 in. These experiments yield edgewise modulus of elasticity values in bending of 1775 ksi with a standard deviation of 25 ksi for the A specimen and 1648 ksi with a standard deviation of 150 ksi for the B specimens.

No description available.

Les travaux présentés dans cette thèse visent à produire automatiquement des prototypes de circuits de communication et de contrôle à partir de spécifications temporelles déclaratives. Partant d'un ensemble de propriétés écrites en langage PSL, nous produisons un modèle RTL synthétisable automatiquement. La méthode proposée est modulaire, contrairement aux méthodes publiées antérieurement qui étaient fondées sur la théorie des automates. Pour chaque propriété, nous produisons un composant qui observe certains opérandes et génère des chronogrammes pour les autres opérandes : le module réactif. Tout d'abord, une bibliothèque des modules réactifs primitifs a été développée pour les opérateurs FL et SERE. Pour ce faire, une relation de dépendance a été définie pour chaque opérateur : fondée sur la sémantique de l'opérateur, elle exprime la dépendance entre ses opérandes. Ensuite, la relation de dépendance de chaque opérateur est interprétée comme un composant matériel qui met en œuvre l'opérateur : c'est le module réactif primitif de l'opérateur. À l'aide de cette formalisation, nous proposons une méthode pour déterminer automatiquement quels signaux d'une propriété sont observés et lesquels sont générés. Dans le cas où il n'est pas possible de déterminer le sens du signal, un solveur est ajouté pour identifier la valeur du signal. Le solveur sert aussi à déterminer la valeur d'un signal généré par plusieurs propriétés. Le circuit final est l'interconnexion des modules réactifs et des solveurs pour l'ensemble des propriétés. Un outil prototype, SyntHorus2, qui est une extension d'HORUS, a été mis développé. Il prend les propriétés PSL comme entrées et génère le code VHDL synthétisable du circuit. En outre, il génère des propriétés complémentaires pour vérifier si l'ensemble des spécifications est cohérent et complet. La méthode est efficace et synthétise des circuits de commande en quelques secondes. Les résultats que nous avons obtenus sur des jeux d'essais classiques montrent que notre technique compile les propriétés plus efficacement que les outils prototypes qui l'ont précédée. / The work presented in this thesis aims at automatically prototype communication and control designs from declarative temporal specifications. From a set of PSL properties, we produce a synthesizable RTL design automatically. The proposed method is modular, in contrast to previously published methods that were based on automata theory. From each property, we produce a component that observes some operands and generates waveforms for the other operands: the reactant. First, a library of primitive reactants has been provided for FL and SERE operators. To this goal, a dependency relation is defined for each operator that expresses the dependency among its operands using the operator's semantics. Then, the dependency relation of each operator is interpreted as a hardware component that implements the operator: the operator's primitive reactant. Using this formalization, a method is proposed to automatically decide which signals of a property are observed and which are generated. In the cases when specifying the signal direction is not possible, a solver is implemented to identify the signal value. In addition, the way of identifying the value of the signal that is generated in several properties is addressed. The final circuit is the interconnection of the properties' reactants and solvers. A prototype tool SyntHorus2, which is an extension to HORUS, has been developed. It takes PSL properties as its inputs, and generates the synthesizable VHDL code of the circuit. In addition, it generates some complementary properties to verify if the set of specification is coherent and complete. The method is efficient, and synthesizes control circuits in a few seconds. Results obtained on classical benchmarks show that our technique compiles properties more efficiently than previous prototype tools.

Ce travail a pour objectif d'étudier les perfomances et la régiosélectivité de deux lipases lors de l'acylation de flavonoïdes en milieu organique. Cette étude a permis de montrer que la solubilité dans l'acétonitrile, l'acétone et le tert-amyl alcool dépend de la nature du flavonoïde. La solubilité la plus élevée a été obtenue avec la naringénine et l'hepéritine et la plus faible pour la rutine et l'isoquercitrine. Les propriétés thermophysiques sont également affectées par la nature du flavonoïde. Ainsi, les flavonoïdes glycosylés possèdent un point de fusion moins élevé et une enthalpie de fusion plus élevée que ceux des aglycones. Du point de vue cinétique d'acylation, des rendements de conversion de 99% ont été obtenus avec la quercétine. Ces rendements varient en fonction de la nature du flavonoïde et du donneur d'acyle, du rapport molaire (vinyle acétate/ flavonoïde) et de la nature du solvant. Le rendement le plus faible a été obtenu avec l'hespéritine. La modélisation moléculaire de flavonoïdes dans le vide et dans des solvants a permis d'étudier le rôle de la conformation sur la solubilité et de dégager des relations structure-activité pour un certain nombre de descripteurs moléculaires. Enfin des modèles OPLS tout atomes ont été construits pour étudier par dynamique moléculaire la quercétine dans des phases condensées de solvants organiques / This work aims to study the performances and the regioselcetivity of two lipases throughout the acylation of flavonoids in organic medium. This study showed that the solubility in acetonitrile, acetone and tert-amyl alcohol depends on the nature of the flavonoid. The highest solubility, in actonitrile, was obtained with the naringenin and hesperitin and the lowest with rutin and isoquercitrin. The thermophysical properties are also affected by the nature of flavonoids. Thus glycosylated flavonoids are characterized by a low melting point and a high enthalpy of fusion compared to the aglycon ones. From the kinetic acylation data, the highest conversion yields of 99% were obtained with quercetin. These conversion yields vary according to the nature of the flavonoid and the acyl donor, the molar ratio (vinyl acetate/flavonoid) and the nature of the solvent. The lowest conversion yield was obtained with hesperitin. Molecular modeling of flavonoids in vacuum and solvents allows to study the role of conformation structure on solubility and to release the structure-activity relationship with many electronic descriptors. Finally, OPLS all atoms were built to study, by molecular dynamics, quercetin in condensed phases of organic solvents.

Organizations are seen as custodians of portfolio of projects and are increasingly delivering their businesses through multiple complex programs. To be successful in delivering their businesses, these organizations are required to build a project management capability within their structures. Projects today have become far more than solving of technical problems; they have become more of venues for mastering business and change. Project maturity is used as an indication of or a measurement of the organisation’s ability to use projects for different purposes. An organisational Project Management Maturity Assessment is an effective method for establishing a baseline and provides an impetus for organisational change. Project Management Maturity Models are regarded as effective tools for benchmarking and implementing improvements in organisational performance. In this Dissertation, a study in applying project management maturity model to review, assess, and analyze the degree of organizational project management maturity of one of the Professional Soccer clubs participating in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in South Africa is presented. The project management practices and capabilities of the PSL Soccer clubs are reflected. The purpose of this paper is to not only demonstrate the methodology and results of the assessment, but to also report on the outcome of the study and propose the necessary recommendations for improvement. The research was strictly focused on those Professional Soccer clubs which are participating in the South African PSL. For confidentiality purposes, the club in this dissertation is referred to as “The Club”. There has been no similar study that has been carried out in this field before. Therefore, this study aims to break new grounds in conducting a research of this kind in this specific sports field. The main research question posed in this study is: What is the level of organizational project management maturity of the South African PSL Soccer clubs? This research question is supported by five other sub-questions which are answered in a research chapter dealing with the synthesis and analysis of the research results. These research questions were motivated by the following reasons: Organizations are changing drastically in their fundamental ways of conducting business. This change is happening within a short period of time and at an accelerated pace. This change occurs both structurally, operationally, and culturally in response to factors such as globalization, new technology, competition, and the world economy that is various challenges in the marketplace. Organizations are also under pressure to improve on their performance in order to maintain high levels of competitiveness and continue to be successful in the global marketplace and therefore, consistent improvement on their projects or program delivery is required in order to attain competitive advantage and sustained growth. Therefore, considering the reasons presented above, the researcher found it necessary to evaluate the current levels of project management maturity in the PSL Soccer clubs. In order to achieve the study objectives two models were used as tools to assess the degree of The Club’s project management maturity and further highlighted a recommended path for improvement. Firstly, Organisational Project Management Maturity (OPM3) model, which is a standard developed under the stewardship of Project Management Institute (PMI), was used as the main model. Secondly, the Integrated Management Systems Incorporated’s (IMSI) project management assessment model was also used as a supporting model.

There has been a significant amount of growth in soccer game attendance and media coverage since the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in South Africa was established in 1996. However, match attendance started to decline from the 2013 season. PSL teams need to do something to get the fans back into the stadiums. A stable fan base is of vital importance for a team’s competitive advantage since the growing commercialisation of sport. The South African PSL is no exception and teams need to comprehend the importance of loyal fans. Team identification is linked to higher game attendance and more fans that are loyal and, therefore, it is relevant to the PSL teams. Higher game attendance will increase the teams’ revenues through ticket sales. Highly identified fans are loyal fans and increase the likelihood of better sponsorship deals for a team. Higher levels of team identification with a team could be obtained through a unique brand personality. Brand personality is necessary for sport team managers in order to understand fans’ perception regarding a team brand. As such, managers will be able to better position the teams’ brand and reach the target market accordingly. In South Africa, members of the Generation Y cohort made up 38 percent of the country’s population in 2014 (Statistics South Africa, 2014:9), which in terms of its size, make this cohort a highly relevant market segment. Generation Y, specifically African Generation Y, represents an important current and future market segment for PSL teams. This study focuses on the student segment of the Generation Y cohort. Given that a tertiary qualification generally is associated with a higher future earning capacity and a greater role model status within a society, university students are likely to be of particular interest to marketers. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of African Generation Y students’ perceived brand personality of South African PSL teams on their PSL team identification. The study used an adapted version of a team identification scale (Swanson et al., 2003) and sport brand personality scale (Braunstein & Ross, 2010) to measure the perceptions. The sampling frame for the study comprised the 26 public registered higher education institutions (HEIs) situated in South Africa. The study used one traditional university and one university of technology located in the Gauteng province. A non-probability convenience sample of 450 full time African Generation Y students was taken from the two HEIs. Of the questionnaires completed, 438 were usable. The statistical analysis of the collected data included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis and independent sample t-tests. The findings suggested that Generation Y students exhibit a positive level of team identification towards their favourite team. Generation Y students perceived their favourite PSL team more hard working, confident, respected, skilled and successful. The results also suggest that the level of team identification with the PSL teams could be predicted by two dimensions (successfulness and ruggedness) of brand personality. Generation Y male and female students only differ regarding the perception of two of the brand personality dimensions (successfulness and sophistication). The findings of this study contribute to the limited literature available concerning the level of team identification and brand personality perceptions of sport teams in the South African context. The study shed light specifically on the level of team identification and brand personality perceptions of Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. These were the top two teams identified by the respondents. These findings will assist these PSL teams to understand the brand personality perceptions of the team amongst African Generation Y fans better. The study also indicates some relationship between brand personality and team identification. The results suggest teams can use their brand personality to influence team identification amongst fans positively. These results can be used to assess and alter their current marketing strategies.