Research in Computing Discipline Prabhas Chongstitvatana What is research? vi-jai -- collect, search, karn-kon-kwa-ha-kor-moon yang-tee-toan tam-luk-vi-cha (American heritage dictionary) research -- scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry scholar -- 1 a learned person 2 one who attends school or studies with a teacher scientific -- employing the methodology of science scientific method -- The totalities of principles and processes regarded as characteristic of or necessary for scientific investigation, including rules for concept formation, conduct of observations and experiments, and validation of hypotheses by observations or experiments. scientific method 1 Hypothesis 2 design of experiment 3 experiment and collect data 4 analysis of data 5 interpretation of results Why research? (left for excercise) How to do research? Curiosity Asking questions Refine questions Formulate method to get the answer -- literature review -- background theory Design (for synthesis problems) Experiment (for analysis problems) Analysis & Validation Interpretation Computing (from IEEE Computer Science Discipline) Current topics The World Wide Web and its applications Networking technologies, particularly those based on TCP/IP Graphics and multimedia Embedded systems Relational databases Interoperability Object-oriented programming The use of sophisticated application programmer interfaces (APIs) Human-computer interaction Software safety Security and cryptography Characteristic of graduates Knowledge Modeling Requirements Critical evaluation and testing Methods and tools Professional responsibility Skills of graduates Design and implementation Evaluation Information management Human-computer interaction Risk assessment Tools Operation Communication Self management Step-by-step of doing research What is your interest? Find the right teacher Work with your advisor Asking the right research question -- doable in a reasonable time -- do you want to publish? Do small project (or initial Design) Experiment with your project/design Work with your advisor Write paper/thesis Examples of the research work Web A Popularity-Based Prediction Model for Web Prefetching The popularity-based PPM model uses grades to rank URL access patterns and builds these patterns into a predictor tree to aid Web prefetching. In a trace-based simulation, this model was more accurate and used less space than other prediction models. Xin Chen, Xiaodong Zhang, A popularity-based prediction model for web prefetching, Computer, 36(3):63-70, March 2003. Computer systems Simulating a $2M commercial server on a $2K PC The Wisconsin Commercial Workload Suite contains scaled and tuned benchmarks for multiprocessor servers, enabling full-system simulations to run on the PCs that are routinely available to researchers. Alameldeen, A.R.; Martin, M.M.K.; Mauer, C.J.; Moore, K.E.; Min Xu; Hill, M.D.; Wood, D.A.; Sorin, D.J., Simulating a $2M commercial server on a $2K PC, Computer, 36(2):50-57, Feb 2003. Graphics Made-to-measure technologies for an online clothing store The Internet is a compelling channel for selling garments. Several recent initiatives by companies such as Nordstrom, Macy's, and Lands End focus on made-to-measure manufacturing and shopping via the Internet. We present a Web application that provides more powerful access to and manipulation of clothing to facilitate clothing design, pattern derivation, and sizing. We apply 3D graphics technology to help create and simulate the virtual store. Cordier, F. Hyewon Seo Magnenat-Thalmann, N., Made-to-measure technologies for an online clothing store, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 23(1):38-48, Jan/Feb 2003 Software engineering Computer-mediated group support, anonymity, and the software inspection process: an empirical investigation this research proposes possible influences of group member anonymity on the outcome of computer-mediated software inspection and empirically examines the validity of the posited relationships in a set of controlled laboratory experiments. Two different inspection tasks with varying levels of software code complexity are employed. While both the control groups (i.e., teams without anonymity) and treatment groups (i.e., teams with support for anonymity) consume more or less the same time in performing the inspection tasks, the treatment groups are more effective in identifying the seeded errors in the more complex task. Vitharana, P.; Ramamurthy, K., Computer-mediated group support, anonymity, and the software inspection process: an empirical investigation IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 29(2):167-180, Feb 2003. Computer architecture Power evaluation of a handheld computer In a comprehensive study using the ITSY pocket computer, the authors measure both total system power and power dissipated by individual subcircuits for representative workloads. The results suggest possible low-power design optimizations and power management strategies. Viredaz, M.A.; Wallach, D.A., Power evaluation of a handheld computer, IEEE Micro, 23(1):66-74, Jan/Feb 2003. Robotics Sharing control Presenting a Framework for the Operation and Coordination of Multiple Miniature Robots. To control a large group of robots, the software architecture must allow for distributed operations and facilitate allocation and use of resources. Rybski, P.E.; Stoeter, S.A.; Papanikolopoulos, N.P.; Burt, I.; Dahlin, T.; Gini, M.; Hougen, D.F.; Krantz, D.G.; Nageotte, F., Sharing control, IEEE Robotics and automation magazine, 9(4):41-48, December 2002. Evolutionary computation Globally convergent algorithms for dc operating point analysis of nonlinear circuits This paper discusses and evaluates a new approach to dc operating-point analysis based on evolutionary computing. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are globally convergent and can find multiple solutions to a problem by using a parallel search. We discuss the development of an analysis tool based on this approach. Several such algorithms have been implemented in a full circuit-analysis tool. The performance and accuracy of the EAs are compared with each other and with NR. EAs are shown to be robust and to have an accuracy comparable to that of NR. The performance is, at best, two orders of magnitude worse than NR. Crutchley, D.A.; Zwolinski, M., Globally convergent algorithms for dc operating point analysis of nonlinear circuits, IEEE trans. on Evolutionary computation, 7(1):2-10, Feb 2003. VLSI Instruction-based system-level power evaluation of system-on-a-chip peripheral cores We propose a new power evaluation technique that is targeted toward peripheral cores. Our approach is the first to combine for peripherals both gate-level-obtained power data with a system-level simulation model written in an object-oriented language. Our approach decomposes peripheral functionality into so-called instructions. We show that our models are sufficiently accurate in order to make power-related system-level design decisions but at a computation time that is orders of magnitude faster than a gate-level simulation. Givargis, T.; Vahid, F.; Henkel, J., Instruction-based system-level power evaluation of system-on-a-chip peripheral cores, IEEE trans. on Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Systems, 10(6): 856-863, Dec 2002. Mobile computing A comprehensive resource management framework for next generation wireless networks In this paper, we propose an integrated resource management approach that can be implemented in next generation wireless networks that support multimedia services (data, voice, video, etc.). Specifically, we combine the use of position-assisted and mobility predictive advanced bandwidth reservation with a call admission control and bandwidth reconfiguration strategy to support flexible QoS management. The comparison of the achievable performance results of our proposed scheme with the corresponding results of a conventional system that supports advanced bandwidth reservation only, as means of supporting the QoS requirements, demonstrate that our integrated scheme can alleviate the problem of overreservation, support seamless operation throughout the wireless network, and increase significantly the system capacity. Jian Ye; Jiongkuan Hou; Papavassiliou, S., A comprehensive resource management framework for next generation wireless networks, IEEE trans. on mobile computing, 1(4):249-264, Oct/Dec 2002. Intelligent systems Intelligent indexing of crime scene photographs The Scene of Crime Information System’s automatic image indexing prototype goes beyond extracting keywords and syntactic relations from captions. The semantic information it gathers gives investigators an intuitive, accurate way to search a database of cases for specific photographic evidence. The automatic extraction of binary relational templates from captions (and queries) is a novel approach to image indexing and retrieval. Pastra, K.; Saggion, H.; Wilks, Y., Intelligent indexing of crime scene photographs, IEEE intelligent systems, 18(1):55-61, Jan/Feb 2003. Programming languages A Programming System for Children that is Designed for Usability This thesis describes a new process for designing programming systems where HCI knowledge, principles and methods play an important role in all design decisions. This information was then used to design HANDS, a new programming system for children. HANDS is an event-based system featuring a concrete model for computation based on concepts that are familiar to non-programmers. In user tests, children using the HANDS system performed significantly better than children using a version of the system that lacked several of these features. A Programming System for Children that is Designed for Usability, John F. Pane, CMU-CS-02-127, May 3, 2002 Caution: All these examples are researches that are extensive and take several years to complete. They are not the representatives for six months Master degree level work. My own observation research is very much social activities [but a lot of time you need quite time and place to think hard.] motivation is very important [find the topic that suite your interest and work with your advisor to make it doable.] publication always takes more time than you expect. start writing a thesis is difficult but finishing one is easy. Exercise Working at home is more comfortable. Why come to school? Many things can be self-taught why need a teacher? How much time is needed to do research? What you will get out of doing a research? Good luck and start talking to faculties!