Orientadores: Eleri Cardozo, Eliane Gomes Guimarães / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Eletrica e de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T01:18:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Coelho_PauloRodolfodaSilvaLeite_M.pdf: 3632525 bytes, checksum: 73b0d774d1efd6416d8fb34cc8abd4d7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Este trabalho apresenta uma arquitetura para a construção de laboratórios de acesso remoto (conhecidos como WebLabs). A arquitetura segue o paradigma de computação orientada a serviço (COS). Nesta abordagem cada recurso físico ou lógico do laboratório é modelado como um Serviço Web. Desta forma, os experimentos podem ser disponibilizados pela composição destes serviços. Um modelo conceitual para WebLabs, bem como a implementação deste modelo são apresentados. Experimentos em robótica móvel também foram desenvolvidos como exemplos de utilização deste laboratório / Abstract: This work presents an architeture for building remote access laboratories (also known as WebLabs). The architecture follows the service oriented computing (SOC). In this approach each logical or physical resource of the laboratory is modeled as a Web Service. In this way, the experiments are built through the composition of such services. A conceptual model of WebLabs, as well as an implementation of this model are presented. Experiments in mobile robotic were also developed for this laboratory / Mestrado / Engenharia de Computação / Mestre em Engenharia Elétrica

With rapid growth in the complexity of large scale engineering systems, the application of multidisciplinary analysis and design optimization (MDO) in the engineering design process has garnered much attention. MDO addresses the challenge of integrating several different disciplines into the design process. Primary challenges of MDO include computational expense and poor scalability. The introduction of a distributed, collaborative computational environment results in better utilization of available computational resources, reducing the time to solution, and enhancing scalability. SORCER, a Java-based network-centric computing platform, enables analyses and design studies in a distributed collaborative computing environment. Two different optimization algorithms widely used in multidisciplinary engineering design---VTDIRECT95 and QNSTOP---are implemented on a SORCER grid. VTDIRECT95, a Fortran 95 implementation of D. R. Jones' algorithm DIRECT, is a highly parallelizable derivative-free deterministic global optimization algorithm. QNSTOP is a parallel quasi-Newton algorithm for stochastic optimization problems. The purpose of integrating VTDIRECT95 and QNSTOP into the SORCER framework is to provide load balancing among computational resources, resulting in a dynamically scalable process. Further, the federated computing paradigm implemented by SORCER manages distributed services in real time, thereby significantly speeding up the design process. Results are included for an aircraft design application. / Master of Science

A evolução dos processos de negócio para uma visão de serviços alavancou um novo modelo computacional, o modelo orientado a serviços. Nesse modelo, os processos de negócio são modelados e implementados sob a ótica de serviços. O governo mostra-se como um domínio potencial de implantação de soluções orientadas a serviços. Embora as organizações governamentais estejam adotando o uso de serviços a fim de alcançar a interoperabilidade de sistemas de informação de governo, os serviços são geralmente criados a partir dos princípios elementares, sem considerar o reuso de soluções orientadas a serviços concebidas por outras entidades públicas. Assim, esta pesquisa tem como propósito fornecer diretrizes para auxiliar a especificação de serviços de governo eletrônico baseadas em padrões de serviços, para subsidiar o desenvolvimento de sistemas de governo, alinhados aos benefícios de computação orientada a serviços e o reuso de soluções para o governo eletrônico. Esta tese apresenta o MESe-gov, um modelo para especificação de serviços de governo eletrônico e o DESe-gov, um conjunto de diretrizes para especificação de serviços de governo eletrônico. Também é proposto um ciclo de vida de serviço para a especificação de novos serviços a partir dos padrões de serviços. A concepção de serviços, aliada ao conceito de padrões de serviços, ajuda engenheiros de software identificar elementos funcionais recorrentes e reduzir a redundância de esforços para a concepção de serviços com propósitos similares. Nesta pesquisa, foram realizados estudos de casos em que foram aplicadas as diretrizes a partir dos serviços existentes na área financeira do governo. Como resultado, os estudos de casos mostram que as diretrizes auxiliam a especificação de padrões de serviços. / The evolution of business processes for an insight on services has boosted a new computational model, the service-oriented model. The business processes in the service-oriented computational model are modelled and implemented from the perspective of services. The government appears to be a high potential scenario for the deployment of service-oriented applications. Although government organizations are adopting the use of services in order to achieve interoperability of government systems, those services are usually created from basic principles, without considering the reuse of service-oriented solutions adopted by other public entities. Thus, this research aims to provide guidelines to assist the specification of e-government services based on service patterns, to support the development of government systems, aligned with the benefits of service-oriented computing and the reuse of solutions for e-government. This thesis presents the MESe-gov, a model for the services specification of electronic government and the DESe-gov, a set of guidelines for the services specification of electronic government. A service lifecycle is also proposed for the specification of new services from service patterns. The conception of services combined with the concept of service patterns can help software engineers to identify recurrent functional elements and reduce redundant efforts in the conception of services with the same purposes. In this research, case studies were conducted in which the guidelines from existing services in the governments financial area were implemented. As a result, the case studies show that the guidelines help to specify service patterns.

Ces dernières années, le contexte d'exécution des applications a beaucoup évolué. Nous sommes passés, en moins de 15 ans, d'applications monolithiques et statiques faiblement distribuées à des applications réparties à grande échelle ayant un comportement très dynamique. Les plates-formes d'exécution qui étaient autrefois fermées sont désormais ouvertes à des équipements nomades et aux contextes des utilisateurs comme dans l'informatique ubiquitaire ou la domotique. Les éléments logiciels, dans ce nouveau contexte, peuvent apparaitre ou disparaître de façon imprédictible (ils sont dits « dynamiques ») et sont souvent issus de technologies hétérogènes (Web Service, OSGi, UPnP, etc.). Le caractère imprévisible de l'environnement, et le fait qu'il faille s'y adapter rend, apparemment, les plates-formes d'exécution non déterministes. Il est impératif de pouvoir maîtriser l'évolution des applications dynamiques. Cette thèse définit une plate-forme pour l'exécution répartie de services hétérogènes. Cette plate-forme fournit un modèle homogène de l'état des services à l'exécution et des opérations d'administration du cycle de vie d'un service, indépendamment des plates-formes réelles. Cette plate-forme fournit également des mécanismes qui permettent d'étendre la supervision et l'administration à d'autres préoccupations (déploiement, versionnement, etc.). Les propriétés d'introspection et de réflexion ainsi obtenues permettent de contrôler l'évolution à l'exécution de l'architecture d'une application et par là même de maîtriser les applications dynamiques. Cette thèse fournit un prototype d'une telle plate-forme nommée SAM-RT. / During recent years, the execution context of modern applications has evolved. We have moved, in less than 15 years, from monolithic and static applications that were weakly distributed to large-scale distributed applications with very dynamic behavior. The execution platforms, which were otherwise closed, are now open to mobile devices and to user's contexts as is the case with ubiquitous computing and home applications. Software units in this new context can appear and disappear very unpredictably (this iscalled dynamic behavior) and are often a series of heterogeneous technologies (e.g., Web Services, OSGi, UPnP). The unpredictability of the environment, and the fact that we must adapt to it, makes the execution platforms seem non-deterministic. It is imperative to control the evolution of dynamic applications. This dissertation defines an execution platform for the distributed execution of heterogeneous services. This platform provides a homogeneous model of the execution state of services and of the administration operations related to the lifecycle of a service, regardless of the underlying technologies. This platform also provides mechanisms to extend monitoring and administration to other concerns (e.g., deployment, versioning). The introspection and reflection properties provided are used to control the evolution of the application's architecture and thereby control dynamic behavior. This dissertation provides a prototype of such a platform named SAM-RT.

A evolução dos processos de negócio para uma visão de serviços alavancou um novo modelo computacional, o modelo orientado a serviços. Nesse modelo, os processos de negócio são modelados e implementados sob a ótica de serviços. O governo mostra-se como um domínio potencial de implantação de soluções orientadas a serviços. Embora as organizações governamentais estejam adotando o uso de serviços a fim de alcançar a interoperabilidade de sistemas de informação de governo, os serviços são geralmente criados a partir dos princípios elementares, sem considerar o reuso de soluções orientadas a serviços concebidas por outras entidades públicas. Assim, esta pesquisa tem como propósito fornecer diretrizes para auxiliar a especificação de serviços de governo eletrônico baseadas em padrões de serviços, para subsidiar o desenvolvimento de sistemas de governo, alinhados aos benefícios de computação orientada a serviços e o reuso de soluções para o governo eletrônico. Esta tese apresenta o MESe-gov, um modelo para especificação de serviços de governo eletrônico e o DESe-gov, um conjunto de diretrizes para especificação de serviços de governo eletrônico. Também é proposto um ciclo de vida de serviço para a especificação de novos serviços a partir dos padrões de serviços. A concepção de serviços, aliada ao conceito de padrões de serviços, ajuda engenheiros de software identificar elementos funcionais recorrentes e reduzir a redundância de esforços para a concepção de serviços com propósitos similares. Nesta pesquisa, foram realizados estudos de casos em que foram aplicadas as diretrizes a partir dos serviços existentes na área financeira do governo. Como resultado, os estudos de casos mostram que as diretrizes auxiliam a especificação de padrões de serviços. / The evolution of business processes for an insight on services has boosted a new computational model, the service-oriented model. The business processes in the service-oriented computational model are modelled and implemented from the perspective of services. The government appears to be a high potential scenario for the deployment of service-oriented applications. Although government organizations are adopting the use of services in order to achieve interoperability of government systems, those services are usually created from basic principles, without considering the reuse of service-oriented solutions adopted by other public entities. Thus, this research aims to provide guidelines to assist the specification of e-government services based on service patterns, to support the development of government systems, aligned with the benefits of service-oriented computing and the reuse of solutions for e-government. This thesis presents the MESe-gov, a model for the services specification of electronic government and the DESe-gov, a set of guidelines for the services specification of electronic government. A service lifecycle is also proposed for the specification of new services from service patterns. The conception of services combined with the concept of service patterns can help software engineers to identify recurrent functional elements and reduce redundant efforts in the conception of services with the same purposes. In this research, case studies were conducted in which the guidelines from existing services in the governments financial area were implemented. As a result, the case studies show that the guidelines help to specify service patterns.

A Realidade Virtual é usada na produção de simulações complexas de ambientes virtuais 3D, envolvendo dispositivos de entrada e saída não triviais, para proporcionar aos usuários sensações de imersão em mundos simulados de tempo real. O projeto e o desenvolvimento de aplicações de realidade virtual caracterizam-se como tarefas complexas, devido à necessidade de integração de técnicas de diferentes áreas da computação e dispositivos não convencionais. Com o objetivo de aumentar o potencial de reutilização e compartilhamento de elementos de aplicações de realidade virtual, este trabalho propõe o RM-VRServices, um modelo conceitual de representação de aplicações de realidade virtual, e o VRServices, um modelo arquitetural para uma plataforma de software que apoia a produção, execução e compartilhamento de elementos de aplicações de realidade virtual em ambiente on-line. O RM-VRServices foi desenvolvido por meio da representação hierárquica de conceitos de mundos virtuais e aplicações de realidade virtual. A plataforma VRServices foi projetada com base no paradigma de computação orientada a serviços, com o objetivo de promover o compartilhamento de conteúdo, a interoperabilidade e a flexibilidade de acesso às funcionalidades da plataforma. O desenvolvimento de protótipos do modelo RM-VRServices e da plataforma VRServices, possibilitou a produção de aplicações de realidade virtual, em um ambiente on-line, acessível por meio de serviços, com interoperabilidade de linguagem de programação e plataforma computacional. / Virtual reality is used in the production of complex simulations of 3D virtual environments, involving nontrivial input and output devices, to provide users with sensations of immersion in the simulated world in real time. The design and development of virtual reality applications are characterized with complex tasks, due to the need to integrate techniques from different areas of computing and non-conventional devices. In order to increase the potential for reuse and sharing of elements of virtual reality applications, this work proposes the RM-VRServices, a conceptual model for representing virtual reality applications, and the VRServices, an architectural model for a software platform to support the production, implementation and element sharing of virtual reality applications in an online environment. The RM-VRServices was developed by using the hierarchical representation of virtual world concepts and virtual reality applications. The VRServices platform was designed based on the paradigm of service-oriented computing, with the goal of promoting content sharing, interoperability and flexibility of access to the features of the platform. The development of prototypes of the RM-VRServices model and the VRServices platform, enabled the production of virtual reality applications in an online environment, accessible through services, with interoperability of programming language and computing platform.

A Realidade Virtual é usada na produção de simulações complexas de ambientes virtuais 3D, envolvendo dispositivos de entrada e saída não triviais, para proporcionar aos usuários sensações de imersão em mundos simulados de tempo real. O projeto e o desenvolvimento de aplicações de realidade virtual caracterizam-se como tarefas complexas, devido à necessidade de integração de técnicas de diferentes áreas da computação e dispositivos não convencionais. Com o objetivo de aumentar o potencial de reutilização e compartilhamento de elementos de aplicações de realidade virtual, este trabalho propõe o RM-VRServices, um modelo conceitual de representação de aplicações de realidade virtual, e o VRServices, um modelo arquitetural para uma plataforma de software que apoia a produção, execução e compartilhamento de elementos de aplicações de realidade virtual em ambiente on-line. O RM-VRServices foi desenvolvido por meio da representação hierárquica de conceitos de mundos virtuais e aplicações de realidade virtual. A plataforma VRServices foi projetada com base no paradigma de computação orientada a serviços, com o objetivo de promover o compartilhamento de conteúdo, a interoperabilidade e a flexibilidade de acesso às funcionalidades da plataforma. O desenvolvimento de protótipos do modelo RM-VRServices e da plataforma VRServices, possibilitou a produção de aplicações de realidade virtual, em um ambiente on-line, acessível por meio de serviços, com interoperabilidade de linguagem de programação e plataforma computacional. / Virtual reality is used in the production of complex simulations of 3D virtual environments, involving nontrivial input and output devices, to provide users with sensations of immersion in the simulated world in real time. The design and development of virtual reality applications are characterized with complex tasks, due to the need to integrate techniques from different areas of computing and non-conventional devices. In order to increase the potential for reuse and sharing of elements of virtual reality applications, this work proposes the RM-VRServices, a conceptual model for representing virtual reality applications, and the VRServices, an architectural model for a software platform to support the production, implementation and element sharing of virtual reality applications in an online environment. The RM-VRServices was developed by using the hierarchical representation of virtual world concepts and virtual reality applications. The VRServices platform was designed based on the paradigm of service-oriented computing, with the goal of promoting content sharing, interoperability and flexibility of access to the features of the platform. The development of prototypes of the RM-VRServices model and the VRServices platform, enabled the production of virtual reality applications in an online environment, accessible through services, with interoperability of programming language and computing platform.

Service composition integrates existing services to fulfill specific tasks using a set of standards and tools. Existing service composition techniques and tools are mainly designed for SOA professionals. The business processes used in the service composition systems are primarily designed by experienced business analysts who have extensive process knowledge. Process knowledge is the information about a process, including the tasks in a process, the control flow and data flow among tasks. It is challenging for end-users without sufficient service composition skills and process knowledge to find desired services then compose services to perform their daily activities, such as planning a trip. Context-aware techniques provide a promising way to help end-users find services using the context of end-users. However, existing context-aware techniques have limited support for dynamic adapting to new context types (e.g., location, time and activity) and context values (e.g., “New York City”). To shelter end-users from the complexity of service composition, we present our techniques that assist non-IT professional end-users in service composition by dynamically composing and recommending services to meet their requirements. To acquire the desired process knowledge for service composition, we propose an approach to automatically extract process knowledge from existing commercial applications on the Web. By analyzing the context of end-users, our techniques can dynamically adapt to new context types or values and provide personalized service recommendation for end-users. Instead of requiring end-users to specify detailed steps for service composition, the end-users only need to describe their goals using a few keywords. Our approach expands the meaning of an end-user's goal using process knowledge then derives a group of tasks to help the end-user fulfill the goal. The effectiveness of our proposed techniques is demonstrated through a set of case studies. / Thesis (Ph.D, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-30 11:43:39.151

The thesis “Acceptance and use of the Service Oriented Computing paradigm: the IT professionals’ perspective” focuses on the question: what are the critical factors that influence IT professionals’ intentions to accept and use the Service Oriented Computing (SOC) approach to systems development? This work considers IT professionals as the key stakeholders in the SOC acceptance and use process and argues that the acceptance and practical use of SOC depends – at an early acceptance stage – primarily on the individual-level acceptance decisions made by senior IT professionals working for an organisation. Consequently, SOC acceptance and use (in its early stage) is seen as a bottom-up process driven, and to a high degree controlled, by the “early adopters” (Rogers 1995) of this technological paradigm (i.e. involved senior IT professionals). Although SOC is considered the enabling technological approach in many different future areas (e.g. eBusiness, eGovernment, eScience etc.), very little research exists on the process of practical acceptance of this paradigm, in particular focusing on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. This thesis consists of four major parts. First, it reviews existing literature on technology acceptance and use and confirms the absence of an established theoretical framework in the domain of individual-level technology acceptance in the IT industry. Second, based on data collected in a series of exploratory interviews with senior IT practitioners, an initial model explaining the acceptance and use of SOC among IT professionals is being proposed. Third, the derived model is revised and reformulated using an eGovernment case study. And forth, based on the refined model, a survey instrument is developed, pilot-tested and administered to senior IT professionals currently using the SOC approach to systems development in their professional work. This thesis makes a contribution to IS research in several ways. While there exists extensive, well-grounded and well-accepted research in the domain of “IT end-user” individual-level technology acceptance, the research on technology acceptance in the IT industry (i.e. technology acceptance by the IT professionals) is very limited, and nearly all studies carried out in this IS research field are concerned with established approaches or technologies. The current study is among the few examining the perspective of “early adopters” or “innovators” (Rogers 1995) instead of investigating the acceptance process of “early majority” or even “late majority”. Moreover, to the author’s knowledge it is the first study examining the process of individual-level SOC acceptance with a particular focus on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. One of the additional strengths of the study is the usage of multiple research methodologies – exploratory open-ended interviews, qualitative case study and web-based survey. This research is expected to be very interesting to researchers focusing on technology acceptance in general and on technology acceptance in the IT industry in particular. This research might also be of interest to IT practitioners considering to accept and use the SOC approach in their future applications.

The thesis “Acceptance and use of the Service Oriented Computing paradigm: the IT professionals’ perspective” focuses on the question: what are the critical factors that influence IT professionals’ intentions to accept and use the Service Oriented Computing (SOC) approach to systems development? This work considers IT professionals as the key stakeholders in the SOC acceptance and use process and argues that the acceptance and practical use of SOC depends – at an early acceptance stage – primarily on the individual-level acceptance decisions made by senior IT professionals working for an organisation. Consequently, SOC acceptance and use (in its early stage) is seen as a bottom-up process driven, and to a high degree controlled, by the “early adopters” (Rogers 1995) of this technological paradigm (i.e. involved senior IT professionals). Although SOC is considered the enabling technological approach in many different future areas (e.g. eBusiness, eGovernment, eScience etc.), very little research exists on the process of practical acceptance of this paradigm, in particular focusing on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. This thesis consists of four major parts. First, it reviews existing literature on technology acceptance and use and confirms the absence of an established theoretical framework in the domain of individual-level technology acceptance in the IT industry. Second, based on data collected in a series of exploratory interviews with senior IT practitioners, an initial model explaining the acceptance and use of SOC among IT professionals is being proposed. Third, the derived model is revised and reformulated using an eGovernment case study. And forth, based on the refined model, a survey instrument is developed, pilot-tested and administered to senior IT professionals currently using the SOC approach to systems development in their professional work. This thesis makes a contribution to IS research in several ways. While there exists extensive, well-grounded and well-accepted research in the domain of “IT end-user” individual-level technology acceptance, the research on technology acceptance in the IT industry (i.e. technology acceptance by the IT professionals) is very limited, and nearly all studies carried out in this IS research field are concerned with established approaches or technologies. The current study is among the few examining the perspective of “early adopters” or “innovators” (Rogers 1995) instead of investigating the acceptance process of “early majority” or even “late majority”. Moreover, to the author’s knowledge it is the first study examining the process of individual-level SOC acceptance with a particular focus on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. One of the additional strengths of the study is the usage of multiple research methodologies – exploratory open-ended interviews, qualitative case study and web-based survey. This research is expected to be very interesting to researchers focusing on technology acceptance in general and on technology acceptance in the IT industry in particular. This research might also be of interest to IT practitioners considering to accept and use the SOC approach in their future applications.