Asynchronous Communication

We define three abstract protocols which are appropriate for characterising communications in real-time system designs. These protocols abstract from details of distribution and synchronisation. This makes them suitable for use early in the design process, before the details of hardware network and software design deployment are finalised. The specifications are given in CSP, and are shown by model-checking to be valid abstractions of various distributed and local implementations. The utility of the protocols is demonstrated by showing that important properties can be established of designs which employ them, such as whether data must be processed once, or whether it may be processed more than once

We first advocate that the AUML (Agent Unified Modeling Language) notation, even in its new version, is not precise enough to adequately describe protocols. This problem was long identified by Harel and we propose to follow his solution: extend sequence diagrams with a ...

Among the panoply of applications enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT), the essential part of the system is the internet as they link the devices together. The existing problem is the inability to know the status of a remote sensor or tracking device that is connected to the internet from a moving vehicle or a device fixed in a remote industrial location where there is lack of access to good quality internet. The other area where a remote speed test is useful is for service providers to monitor the status of their Internet Servers to enable them to provide better quality services to their clients. This project focuses on the use of Node.js, Express and Socket.IO to solve this very specific problem. Through the Remote Internet Speed Test (RIST) application, we resolve this issue by enabling the administrators of these devices to always know the quality and status of the internet connected to it irrespective of where they are and where the devices are located. Specifically, it does not matter even if the device and the person trying to remotely test the speed of the device are behind NAT or Firewalls as long as they both have access to the internet. The ability to connect to each other across routers and firewalls is enabled by the Socket IO server. Devices register to the server using their unique device id’s. The results of the application enable the administrators to improve their services as faster speed equates to better performance.

This paper is an introduction to Real-Time Networks (RTNs) and to the literature on them. RTNs are a fundamental model of computation that consists of a collection of parallel 'activities' (i.e. single-threaded processes with internal state) which only communicate along explicit paths, each of which imposes a specific protocol. RTNs have underpinned various software design notations, such as MASCOT and DORIS, and RTNs are still often used by software architects when designing real-time software in other notations, such as UML. Important transferable concepts from MASCOT-3 and DORIS are introduced , including a rich family of predefined formalised RTN protocols. Sophisticated asynchronous implementations have been developed for the 'pool' protocol, making implementations of it possible which minimise the temporal interference between different parts of a system. Various formal analysis techniques have been taxed in showing the validity of these implementations. In particular, Simpson's 4-Slot asynchronous communication mechanism (ACM) has received extensive academic attention, and the conflicting results of this work have led to insights into how to classify ACMs; the importance, when modelling ACMs, of taking into account the way that the metastability phenomenon in asynchronous circuits is min-imalised; and the dangers and limitations of the 'atomicity' abstraction when specifying asynchronous protocols. Other formalisation and analysis techniques that have been developed for RTNs are described, including: ADL, a activity formal specification language; and SHARD, a hazard analysis technique for RTNs. It is explained why notations based on the synchrony hypothesis (such as Statecharts) are inadequate for specifying the behaviour of arbitrary RTN systems, and alternative proposals are introduced, including: Mode-machines; Transactions; and Interactions. Finally, RTNs are compared with the currently reigning 'OO' design paradigm, and it is argued that RTNs embody a sophisticated concurrent object-oriented computational paradigm that has yet to be fully appreciated by many OO software architects. RTNs and dynamic reconfigurable systems are briefly discussed.

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with evaluating the characteristics of asynchrono popular asynchronous tools; email, discussion boards and online asses ed to engineer and sustain asynchronous support proc educational value for lecturers and students, using techniques to explore the onomic value of reusable online support, thus enhancing online asynchronous support. ywords: quality, asynchronous support, email, discussion board, online sessments

In most of today's campus-like learning settings, students are frequently confronted with e-learning systems that do not only deliver and display learning content, but are equipped with a number of integrated tools for file sharing, communication, personalisation (personal annotations, text marking, etc) and cooperation. However, recent observations show that these functions are rarely used. One reason for not using the technological opportunities for informal communication and interaction is the poor design of such ...

Reflective thinking has become a fundamental component of teacher training programmes. Not only is there a need for trainees to engage in critical reflection on relevant literature, observations and one’s own teaching experiences, but also to share such thinking with their peers. The importance of collaborative reflectivity has been continuously highlighted as a means to foster teacher development among trainees, and computer-mediated communication has become a powerful tool in facilitating such reflectivity over the past decade. This study ex- plores asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs) as a tool for foster- ing teacher development through online reflectivity among teacher trainees at The University of Siena by analysing the types of reflec- tion present. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied to the study to observe the potential of the tool in order to recognise its importance in teacher training. An analysis of the ADFs revealed that during their first year, a supportive online community had developed, and trainees’ reflections progressed from a descrip- tive form to a more deliberative form, demonstrating a marked usage of specific terminology related to English language teaching.

Nicovideo is a popular video-sharing site in Japan that incorporates several aspects of social media into its design. Key among these is the projection of user-made comments into the video display by having text scroll across the screen like an animated subtitle-track. The movement of comments across the screen and the ‘pseudo-synchronicity’ created by the way they are projected produces a feeling of ‘live’ viewing via a sense of virtual time shared between users. In this article I argue that the feeling of movement and time on the site directs users toward a certain kind of vision that, when considered alongside the modes of counter-transparent communication taken up by its user base through things like orthographic ‘mistypes’, is part of a shift between denotational and pictorial forms of text production that troubles the distinction between reading and other modes of vision. The article conceptualizes what kind of vision Nicovideo’s interface suggests and its relationship to a distinct kind of polyphonic, anonymous communication that intersects with ideas of animation and performance. It is particularly through the intensity of textual representation that I will pursue these questions.

Online learning has become a reality for many students in higher education. Unfortunately, something that has also become a reality is a sense of isolation in online courses, and Moore (1980) has warned that students’ sense of distance can threaten their ability to learn. The community of inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) has provided insight into ways that online interactions can improve students’ and instructors’ social presence and learning. Emerging video technologies may be able to improve these interactions and thus more easily support the development of communities of inquiry. In this study we interviewed students in three distinct courses using different video-based instructional strategies. Many students indicated feeling that the video-based communication made their instructors seem more real, present, and familiar, and several students indicated that these relationships were similar to face-to-face instruction. Video communication impacted students’ social presence in similar ways, although to a lesser degree than they believed it impacted instructor social presence. We conclude with discussion for future research and practice. 2

This qualitative study explored health sciences students' perceptions of their experiences in online problem based learning (PBL) and focused on their views about learning and group process in the online environment. Participants were novices to online learning and highly experienced in PBL, therefore, they could reflect on past face-to-face PBL experiences. Three groups of learners were involved, including undergraduate nursing and midwifery students and graduate students in a neonatal nurse practitioner program. Findings are presented using the six steps of the PBL process (Rideout & Carpio, 2001). Results indicated that it is feasible to conduct PBL online. Students felt that it increased their flexibility for learning, enhanced their ability to deeply process content, and provided access to valuable learning resources. Students experienced a period of adaptation to the online environment, perceived a heavy workload, and had difficulties making group decisions online. In addition to using asynchronous communication, chats (synchronous communication) were valued to support group decision-making online. Students appreciated validation of their online contributions from their peers and wanted clear expectations of what constituted successful tutorial participation from their tutors. Although online PBL can work effectively, tutors and students need to develop online literacy skills to smooth their transition to an online PBL environment.

A strategy for adaptive control and energetic optimization of aerobic fermentors was implemented, with both air flow and agitation speed as manipulated variables. This strategy is separable in its components: control, optimization, estimation. We optimized parameter’s estimation (from the usual KLa correlation) using sinusoidal excitation of air flow and agitation speed. We have implemented parameter’s estimation trough recursive least squares algorithm with forgetting factor. We carried separate essays on control, optimization and estimation algorithms. We carried our essays using an original computational simulation environment, with noise and delay generating facilities for data sampling and filtering.

Our results show the convergence and robustness of the estimation algorithm used, improved with use of both forgetting factor and KLa dead-band facilities. Control algorithm used in our work compares favorably with PID using the integrated area criteria for deviation between oxygen molarity and critical molarity (set point). Optimization algorithm clearly reduces energetic consumption, respecting critical molarity. Integration of control, optimization and adaptive algorithms was implemented, but future work is needed for stability. Methods were defined and implemented for stability improvement. We have implemented data acquisition and computer manipulation of air flow and agitation speed for actual fermentors.

"The aim of this master’s thesis is to identify design challenges and opportunities for mobile based community communication services for marginalized communities belonging to Indian urban slums.

The thesis is based on two ethnographic field studies done in urban slums of India and it is grounded in the conceptual frameworks of Community Informatics, Communicative Ecology and Communities of Practices. This qualitative research is best identified as participatory bottom-up exploration.

In the context of Indian urban slums, this thesis discusses the existing practices of mobile phone's use, identifies the 'Human Nodes' of community communication, presents design opportunities and challenges for community communication services, and proposes a design concept called 'Asynchronous Voice based Community Communication Service'."

The jalt call Journal 2020: Regular Papers in comparison with their male counterparts. The most frequently used strategy among female teachers was direct feedback, the provision of cues and information tutoring, while male teachers made more use of questioning and in a number of emails, they provided no feedback. In light of the findings of the present study, some pedagogical implications might come to the fore.

This article combines a sociocultural model of classroom talk with a linguistically-oriented model (systemic functional linguistics) to explore what characterizes effective asynchronous online discussion in higher education (HE). While the benefits of discussion are commonly accepted in face-to-face learning, engaging students in effective asynchronous discussion can often be 'hit or miss', due in part to the shift to interacting asynchronously. This hybrid mode of spoken-like/written-like communication demands skills which are rarely made explicit, often with the assumption that students (and lecturers) are proficient. The combined framework presented here enabled macro-and micro-understandings of discussion forums through an array of resources in the SFL model and the talk type descriptors to map linguistic features of knowledge constructing talk in an Australian postgraduate HE context. The notion of 'listening' (or attending to others) is proposed as a crucial condition for whether discussion progresses beyond simply 'posting'. Consequently, this article provides much needed insight into the murky space of asynchronous discussion forums.