Piotr Gaj

Computer Communication Within Industrial Distributed Environment—a Survey

Nowadays, computer systems are presented in almost all types of human activity and they support any kind of industry as well. Most of these systems are distributed where the communication between nodes is based on computer networks of any kind. Connectivity between system components is the key issue when designing distributed systems, especially systems of industrial informatics. The industrial area requires a wide range of computer communication means, particularly time-constrained and safety-enhancing ones. From fieldbus and industrial Ethernet technologies through wireless and internet-working solutions to standardization issues, there are many aspects of computer networks uses and many interesting research domains. Lots of them are quite sophisticated or even unique. The main goal of this paper is to present the survey of the latest trends in the communication domain of industrial distributed systems and to emphasize important questions as dependability, and standardization. Finally, the general assessment and estimation of the future development is provided. The presentation is based on the abstract description of dataflow within a system.

Remote Monitoring of Geological Activity of Inclined Regions - The Concept

In the article authors consider the possibility of using current IT technologies to create a computer system dedicated to monitoring geological phenomena. Nowadays, there are a few technical solutions dedicated to monitoring various kinds of events. Some of them are standalone devices, other a little bit more complex systems. After seminar, realized together with geologists within the GIT project, the conclusion was born that there are no full-scale, comprehensive systems which can be able to perform a measurement acquisition at an field location, transmit information to a database, and process achieved data online and offline in an unaided way. Therefore, in the article the concept of such a system is presented. The system is dedicated to monitoring rock slides and similar geological activities. There are some techniques involved, which allows to reduce the processing and transmission time of data as well as power consumption and maintenance cost.

Guest editorial: Distributed data processing in industrial applications

The papers in this special section focus on the deployment of distributed data processing in industrial applications. The main objective is both bringing together ideas of the worldwide research community about one common platform and presenting the latest advances and developments in design, modeling, programming, management, and innovative implementations of distributed information systems, including the latest works related to industrial communication technologies to be used in the future.

The Concept of a Multi-network Approach for a Dynamic Distribution of Application Relationships

In the current highly urban zone, home and personal computer devices are implanted in a highly communicative environment. There are computer networks of any kind almost everywhere around us. A potential user can, without any special effort, establish an access to a local network via a wireless or a cable interface in practice anywhere within the public zone. In a given location such access can be run with a good likelihood for more than one local network and via more than one media type. This phenomenon can be observed by an average user. However, please notice that a similar communicative environment was developed in highly industrial zones, and, curiously enough, with easier access. In this article a concept of the utilization of the available communication resources in order to execute communication tasks, depending on various criteria, such as time and safety is being used.

Pessimistic Useful Efficiency of EPL Network Cycle

Nowadays, there are many industrial Ethernet protocols which could act as a fieldbus functionality. There is a necessity to select an independent comparative factor in order to define the scope and the usage domain of the given protocol. In this article the author considers the construction of transactions in EPL (Ethernet PowerLink) protocol and qualification of its features to describe time characteristic and to compare EPL with other protocols of real-time Ethernet type. Author presents advantages and common traits of some of the existing solutions.

Interpretation of Dual Peak Time Signal Measured in Network Systems

During a computer network activity there are many events which occur in certain moments of time with a given likelihood. The statistical aspect of this can be described by a probability density function of a random variable connected with the event time. The function in many cases has a specific feature which is not covered by any well known probability distributions. It has two maxima, in particular when time signal in network systems is measured. It is suggested that the function is a convolution of other ones. However, in order to simplify the probability modeling, a special distribution named if can be defined, especially for discrete variables. Interpretation of dual peak.

Virtualization as a Way to Distribute PC-Based Functionalities

Virtualization theory is well known and successfully used in the computer domain. Personal computer (PC) workstations, as well as their virtual counterparts, are popular for general purposes. PC stations are also popular in networked control systems (NCSs). They are used as system components to deliver user interfaces and to run many important services of the data processing, communication, and database type. In this paper, the usage of virtual PC machines (VMs) is considered in the context of interoperability with NCS. This specific application area requests answers whether virtualization is applicable and secure, and what are the expectations from the temporal characteristics of running services.

Guest Editorial Special Section on Distributed Computer Systems in Industry

The thirteen papers in this special section focus on the deployment of distributed computer systems in industry.

Analysis of Time Measurements in Network Systems Using Decomposition on Subprocesses

The article discusses a simple case of the statistical interpretation of measurement data representing the response time of the wireless network, when during one measuring two phenomena were observed. The measurement data were separated and the two cases of network behavior were distinguished. One case can be used to analyze the quantitative measurement of a best-effort system. The second one can be used for the worst case analysis. The problem of stationarity of the process is also discussed. A measurement series was modeled statistically.

The General Concept of a Distributed Computer System Designed for Monitoring Rock Movements

In this article the authors consider a construction of a computer distributed system designed for monitoring geological phenomena such as big rock falls. In order to create universal IT solutions for this kind of threats, authors designed a general concept of a system without using an off-the-shelf expensive equipment. This is the first step to building a prototype of such a monitoring system as well as conducting additional research related to measurement of dislocation and low power transmission.