Cyber Resilience through Real-Time Threat Analysis in Information Security

This paper examines how cybersecurity is developing and how it relates to more conventional information security. Although information security and cyber security are sometimes used synonymously, this study contends that they are not the same. The concept of cyber security is explored, which goes beyond protecting information resources to include a wider variety of assets, including people [1]. Protecting information assets is the main goal of traditional information security, with consideration to the human element and how people fit into the security process. On the other hand, cyber security adds a new level of complexity, as people might unintentionally contribute to or become targets of cyberattacks. This aspect presents moral questions since it is becoming more widely accepted that society has a duty to protect weaker members of society, including children [1]. The study emphasizes how important cyber security is on a larger scale, with many countries creating plans and laws to counteract cyberattacks. Nevertheless, a lot of these sources frequently neglect to define the differences or the relationship between information security and cyber security [1]. The paper focus on differentiating between cybersecurity and information security on a larger scale. The study also highlights other areas of cybersecurity which includes defending people, social norms, and vital infrastructure from threats that arise from online in addition to information and technology protection. It contends that ethical issues and the human factor are becoming more and more important in protecting assets in the digital age, and that cyber security is a paradigm shift in this regard [1].

Review on the Usage of Synchronous and Asynchronous FIFOs in Digital Systems Design

First-Input-First-Output (FIFO) buffers are extensively used in contemporary digital processors and System-on-Chips (SoC). There are synchronous FIFOs and asycnrhonous FIFOs. And different sized FIFOs should be implemented in different ways. FIFOs are used not only for the pipeline design within a processor, for the inter-processor communication networks, for example Network-on-Chips (NoCs), but also for the peripherals and the clock domain crossing at the whole SoC level. In this paper, we review the interface, the circuit implementation, and the various usages of FIFOs in various levels of the digital design. We can find that the usage of FIFOs could greatly facilitate the signal storage, signal decoupling, signal transfer, power domain separation and power domain crossing in digital systems. We hope that more attentions are paid to the usages of synchronous and asynchronous FIFOs and more sophististicated usages are discovered by the digital design communities.

An Efficient Real-Time Fault-Tolerant Scheduling Algorithm Based on Multiprocessor Systems

In the context of real-time fault-tolerant scheduling in multiprocessor systems, Primary-backup scheme plays an important role. A backup copy is always preferred to be executed as passive backup copy whenever possible because it can take the advantages of backup copy de-allocation technique and overloading technique to improve schedulability. In this paper, we propose a novel efficient fault-tolerant ratemonotonic best-fit algorithm efficient fault-tolerant rate-monotonic best-fit （ERMBF） based on multiprocessors systems to enhance the schedulability. Unlike existing scheduling algorithms that start scheduling tasks with only one processor. ERMBF pre-allocates a certain amount of processors before starting scheduling tasks, which enlarge the searching spaces for tasks. Besides, when a new processor is allocated, we reassign the task copies that have already been assigned to the existing processors in order to find a superior tasks assignment configuration. These two strategies are all aiming at making as many backup copies as possible to be executed as passive status. As a result, ERMBF can use fewer processors to schedule a set of tasks without losing real-time and fault-tolerant capabilities of the system. Simulation results reveal that ERMBF significantly improves the schedulability over existing, comparable algorithms in literature.

Scheduling transactions in mobile distributed real-time database systems

A DMVOCC-MVDA （distributed multiversion optimistic concurrency control with multiversion dynamic adjustment） protocol was presented to process mobile distributed real-time transaction in mobile broadcast environments. At the mobile hosts, all transactions perform local pre-validation. The local pre-validation process is carried out against the committed transactions at the server in the last broadcast cycle. Transactions that survive in local pre-validation must be submitted to the server for local final validation. The new protocol eliminates conflicts between mobile read-only and mobile update transactions, and resolves data conflicts flexibly by using multiversion dynamic adjustment of serialization order to avoid unnecessary restarts of transactions. Mobile read-only transactions can be committed with no-blocking, and respond time of mobile read-only transactions is greatly shortened. The tolerance of mobile transactions of disconnections from the broadcast channel is increased. In global validation mobile distributed transactions have to do check to ensure distributed serializability in all participants. The simulation results show that the new concurrency control protocol proposed offers better performance than other protocols in terms of miss rate, restart rate, commit rate. Under high work load （think time is ls） the miss rate of DMVOCC-MVDA is only 14.6%, is significantly lower than that of other protocols. The restart rate of DMVOCC-MVDA is only 32.3%, showing that DMVOCC-MVDA can effectively reduce the restart rate of mobile transactions. And the commit rate of DMVOCC-MVDA is up to 61.2%, which is obviously higher than that of other protocols.

A State-of-the-Art Survey on Real-Time Issues in Embedded Systems Virtualization

Virtualization has gained great acceptance in the server and cloud computing arena. In recent years, it has also been widely applied to real-time embedded systems with stringent timing constraints. We present a comprehensive survey on real-time issues in virtualization for embedded systems, covering popular virtualization systems including KVM, Xen, L4 and others.

Partitioned k-Exclusion Real-Time Locking Protocol Motivated by Multicore Multi-GPU Systems

Graphic processing units （GPUs） have been widely recognized as cost-efficient co-processors with acceptable size, weight, and power consumption. However, adopting GPUs in real-time systems is still challenging, due to the lack in framework for real-time analysis. In order to guarantee real-time requirements while maintaining system utilization ~in modern heterogeneous systems, such as multicore multi-GPU systems, a novel suspension-based k-exclusion real-time locking protocol and the associated suspension-aware schedulability analysis are proposed. The proposed protocol provides a synchronization framework that enables multiple GPUs to be efficiently integrated in multicore real-time systems. Comparative evaluations show that the proposed methods improve upon the existing work in terms of schedulability.

Quasi Serializable Concurrency Control in Distributed Real-Time Database Systems

This paper formally defines and analyses the new notion of correctness called quasi serializability, and then outlines corresponding concurrency control protocol QDHP for distributed real-time databases. Finally, through a series of simulation studies, it shows that using the new concurrency control protocol the performance of distributed real-time databases can be much improved.

Energy-Efficient Deterministic Fault-Tolerant Scheduling for Embedded Real-Time Systems

By combining fault-tolerance with power management, this paper developed a new method for aperiodic task set for the problem of task scheduling and voltage allocation in embedded real-time systems. The scbedulability of the system was analyzed through checkpointing and the energy saving was considered via dynamic voltage and frequency scaling. Simulation results showed that the proposed algorithm had better performance compared with the existing voltage allocation techniques. The proposed technique saves 51.5% energy over FT-Only and 19.9% over FT ＋ EC on average. Therefore, the proposed method was more appropriate for aperiodic tasks in embedded real-time systems.

Assigning Real-Time Tasks in Environmentally Powered Distributed Systems

Harvesting energy for execution from the environment (e.g., solar, wind energy) has recently emerged as a feasible solution for low-cost and low-power distributed systems. When real-time responsiveness of a given application has to be guaranteed, the recharge rate of obtaining energy inevitably affects the task scheduling. This paper extends our previous works in?[1] [2] to explore the real-time task assignment problem on an energy-harvesting distributed system. The solution using Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and several significant improvements are presented. Simulations compare the performance of the approaches, which demonstrate the solutions effectiveness and efficiency.

Systematic error real-time registration based onmodified input estimation

In order to estimate the systematic error in the processof maneuvering target adaptive tracking, a new method is proposed.The proposed method is a linear tracking scheme basedon a modified input estimation approach. A special augmentationin the state space model is considered, in which both the systematicerror and the unknown input vector are attached to thestate vector. Then, an augmented state model and a measurementmodel are established in the case of systematic error, andthe corresponding filter formulas are also given. In the proposedscheme, the original state, the acceleration and the systematicerror vector can be estimated simultaneously. This method can notonly solve the maneuvering target adaptive tracking problem in thecase of systematic error, but also give the system error value inreal time. Simulation results show that the proposed tracking algorithmoperates in both the non-maneuvering and the maneuveringmodes, and the original state, the acceleration and the systematicerror vector can be estimated simultaneously.

Neural Network Based Adaptive Tracking Control for a Class of Pure Feedback Nonlinear Systems With Input Saturation

In this paper, an adaptive neural networks(NNs)tracking controller is proposed for a class of single-input/singleoutput(SISO) non-affine pure-feedback non-linear systems with input saturation. In the proposed approach, the original input saturated nonlinear system is augmented by a low pass filter.Then, new system states are introduced to implement states transformation of the augmented model. The resulting new model in affine Brunovsky form permits direct and simpler controller design by avoiding back-stepping technique and its complexity growing as done in existing methods in the literature.In controller design of the proposed approach, a state observer,based on the strictly positive real(SPR) theory, is introduced and designed to estimate the new system states, and only two neural networks are used to approximate the uncertain nonlinearities and compensate for the saturation nonlinearity of actuator. The proposed approach can not only provide a simple and effective way for construction of the controller in adaptive neural networks control of non-affine systems with input saturation, but also guarantee the tracking performance and the boundedness of all the signals in the closed-loop system. The stability of the control system is investigated by using the Lyapunov theory. Simulation examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Robust Output Feedback Control for a Class of Nonlinear Systems with Input Unmodeled Dynamics

The robust global stabilization problem of a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with input unmodeled dynamics is considered using output feedback, where the uncertain nonlinear terms satisfy a far more relaxed condition than the existing triangulartype condition. Under the assumption that the input unmodeled dynamics is minimum-phase and of relative degree zero, a dynamic output compensator is explicitly constructed based on the nonseparation principle. An example illustrates the usefulness of the proposed method.

Self-triggered Consensus Control for Linear Multi-agent Systems With Input Saturation

In this paper, we study the consensus problem for a class of linear multi-agent systems(MASs) with consideration of input saturation under the self-triggered mechanism. In the context of discrete-time systems, a self-triggered strategy is developed to determine the time interval between the adjacent triggers. The triggering condition is designed by using the current sampled consensus error. Furthermore, the consensus control protocol is designed by means of a state feedback approach. It is shown that the considered multi-agent systems can reach consensus with the presented algorithm. Some sufficient conditions are proposed in the form of linear matrix inequalities(LMIs) to show the positively invariant property of the domain of attraction(DOA). Moreover, some sufficient conditions of controller synthesis are provided to enlarge the volume of the DOA and obtain the control gain matrix. A numerical example is simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis results.

Design of unknown input observer with H_∞ performance for linear time-delay systems

A unknown input observer （UIO） design for a class of linear time-delay systems when the observer error can＇t completely decouple from unknown input is dealt with. A sufficient condition to its existence is presented based on Lyapunov stability method. Design problem of the proposed observer is formulated in term of linear matrix inequalities. Two design problems of the observer with internal delay and without internal delay are formulated. Based on H∞ control theory in time-delay systems, the proposed observer is designed in term of linear matrix inequalities （LMI）. A design algorithm is proposed. The effective of the proposed approach is illustrated by a numerical example.

Tracking Control of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems With Unknown Constant Input Delay

A robust delay compensator has been developed for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems with an unknown constant input delay.The control law consists of feedback terms based on the integral of past control values and a novel filtered tracking error,capable of compensating for input delays.Suitable Lyapunov-Krasovskii functionals are used to prove global uniformly ultimately bounded(GUUB)tracking,provided certain sufficient gain conditions,dependent on the bound of the delay,are satisfied.Simulation results illustrate the performance and robustness of the controller for different values of input delay.

Adaptive Consensus of Non-Strict Feedback Switched Multi-Agent Systems With Input Saturations

This paper considers the leader-following consensus for a class of nonlinear switched multi-agent systems(MASs)with non-strict feedback forms and input saturations under unknown switching mechanisms.First,in virtue of Gaussian error functions,the saturation nonlinearities are represented by asymmetric saturation models.Second,neural networks are utilized to approximate some unknown packaged functions,and the structural property of Gaussian basis functions is introduced to handle the non-strict feedback terms.Third,by using the backstepping process,a common Lyapunov function is constructed for all the subsystems of the followers.At last,we propose an adaptive consensus protocol,under which the tracking error under arbitrary switching converges to a small neighborhood of the origin.The effectiveness of the proposed protocol is illustrated by a simulation example.

A Concept of Dynamically Reconfigurable Real-time Vision System for Autonomous Mobile Robotics

This paper describes specific constraints of vision systems that are dedicated to be embedded in mobile robots. If PC-based hardware architecture is convenient in this field because of its versatility, flexibility, performance, and cost, current real-time operating systems are not completely adapted to long processing with varying duration, and it is often necessary to oversize the system to guarantee fail-safe functioning. Also, interactions with other robotic tasks having more priority are difficult to handle. To answer this problem, we have developed a dynamically reconfigurable vision processing system, based on the innovative features of Cleopatre real-time applicative layer concerning scheduling and fault tolerance. This framework allows to define emergency and optional tasks to ensure a minimal quality of service for the other subsystems of the robot, while allowing to adapt dynamically vision processing chain to an exceptional overlasting vision process or processor overload. Thus, it allows a better cohabitation of several subsystems in a single hardware, and to develop less expensive but safe systems, as they will be designed for the regular case and not rare exceptional ones. Finally, it brings a new way to think and develop vision systems, with pairs of complementary operators.

Constrained sliding mode control of nonlinear fractional order input affine systems

Asymptotic stability of nonlinear fractional order affine systems with bounded inputs is dealt.The main contribution is to design a new bounded fractional order chattering free sliding mode controller in which the system states converge to the sliding surface at a determined finite time.To eliminate the chattering in the sliding mode and make the input controller bounded,hyperbolic tangent is used for designing the proposed fractional order sliding surface.Finally,the stability of the closed loop system using this bounded sliding mode controller is guaranteed by Lyapunov theory.A comparison with the integer order case is then presented and fractional order nonlinear polynomial systems are also studied as the special case.Finally,simulation results are provided to show the effectiveness of the designed controller.

Optimal Neuro-Control Strategy for Nonlinear Systems With Asymmetric Input Constraints

In this paper,we present an optimal neuro-control scheme for continuous-time(CT)nonlinear systems with asymmetric input constraints.Initially,we introduce a discounted cost function for the CT nonlinear systems in order to handle the asymmetric input constraints.Then,we develop a Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation(HJBE),which arises in the discounted cost optimal control problem.To obtain the optimal neurocontroller,we utilize a critic neural network(CNN)to solve the HJBE under the framework of reinforcement learning.The CNN's weight vector is tuned via the gradient descent approach.Based on the Lyapunov method,we prove that uniform ultimate boundedness of the CNN's weight vector and the closed-loop system is guaranteed.Finally,we verify the effectiveness of the present optimal neuro-control strategy through performing simulations of two examples.

Robust Adaptive Control for Robotic Systems With Input Time-Varying Delay Using Hamiltonian Method

This paper addresses the problem of robust adaptive control for robotic systems with model uncertainty and input time-varying delay. The Hamiltonian method is applied to develop the stabilization results of the robotic systems. Firstly, with the idea of shaping potential energy and the pre-feedback skill, the n degree-of-freedom(DOF) uncertain robotic systems are realized as an augmented dissipative Hamiltonian formulation with delay.Secondly, based on the obtained Hamiltonian system formulation and by using of the Lyapunov-Krasovskii(L-K) functional method, an adaptive controller is designed to show that the robotic systems can be asymptotically stabilized depending on the input delay. Meanwhile, some sufficient conditions are spelt out to guarantee the rationality and validity of the proposed control law. Finally, study of an illustrative example with simulations shows that the controller obtained in this paper works very well in handling uncertainties and input delay in the robotic systems.