Szilard Enyedi

Reconfiguration and hardware agents in testing and repair of distributed systems

This paper proposes a new approach for distributed system testing and repairing using mobile hardware agents. This way, we obtain a networked reconfigurable system which does not need human intervention for maintenance and testing. The proposed architecture uses two FPGA boards and a microprocessor (agent host) as components and is flexible and re-programmable.

Reconfiguration security for hardware agents in testing

This paper presents a new method for assuring security in a distributed system using agents and reconfigurable circuits. The agents are used to implement an extension of the El Gamal encryption algorithm, used for conferring a certain level of security to the communication and the reconfiguration of the systems components. The proposed architecture uses FPGA boards and a microprocessor, the agent host, as components and is flexible and re-programmable.

Software Agents Society for the Surveillance and Control of a Hydroelectric Power Plant Chain

The paper presents a software agents society, which implements a more efficient control and monitoring system for a complex heterogeneous system-multiple hydroelectric power plants connected in a chain on Somes river. The agent society can be superimposed over the existing SCADA control and monitoring network and aims to increase performance, efficiency and stability in the existing control and monitoring system

Towards microagent based DBIST/DBISR

We present some ideas and experiments on using microagents for testing and repairing a distributed system, whose elements may or may not have embedded BIST (built in self test) and BISR (built in self repair) facilities. The microagents are software modules that perform monitoring, diagnosis and repair of the faults. They form together a society whose members communicate, set goals and solve tasks. The platforms taken into consideration for mobile tester microagents include Java Micro Edition, BREW, Symbian, PalmOS, as well as more general small scale platforms. Experimental tester agents in Java 2 Micro Edition and PalmOS are also presented, a solution that ensures portability, flexibility, but also a relatively small memory footprint.

SCADA plug-in modules and instruments for federative organisation: Application on water management

Present paper presents an approach related to the question of structuring a federation of SCADA systems, associated with the integrated water resource exploitation, from a certain catchment area. Utilized instruments for federation development there are: (i) DESCRIPTOR component, achieving topology description - resources (roots) associated with protocols, functionality and governance rules, combined in plug-in module TOPOLOGY; (ii) Integrated Supervisor, having supervision role related to exchanges between federation partners. This plug-in application is auto-configurable and is running correlated with the TOPOLOGY modules.

Connected visualization service in a water management system

Large scale water management systems have both high dynamics and low dynamics parts. The “slow” data, comprising logs and long-term predictions, is not time-critical, and so it can be stored and put through data analytics or other processing, when there is time for it. The quick control, however, is managed by automated SCADA routines, which generate near real-time data, and quite a lot of it. The visualization of the slow and quick data should be done accurately and in a timely manner, including new data which is created/stored during the visualization. This work proposes a fast, synchronous solution to getting the data from the SCADA system, through the visualization gateway, to the clients viewer, and updating it automatically, when necessary. Access is role based, with proper credential management. The communication is encrypted and based on open standards, so that further clients and server modules may be developed.

Security concerns regarding a federative web service

In a continuously increasing demand for rapid access to information, the web services represent affordable instruments. The technology is available for numerous software platforms. The need to share sensitive information between authorized entities, using global area networks, and not exclusively a dedicated, hardware separated channel, fosters the risk for malicious attacks. The current paper proposes an analysis of the security risks reported by past and ongoing research regarding data transfer using WaterML/XML. The analysis is extended to an existing federation of water associated SCADAs on the Someş river (F2S), using web services, data access separation and SSL-encrypted communication, among other security resolutions.

Reconfigurable test platform for modular embedded systems in manufacturing processes

This paper presents a platform developed for in production testing of modular embedded systems. These systems are flexible and low cost, with respect to production and maintenance. However, they require a complex testing process, in order to reduce the flaws in the production process and increase the rate of certified modules. For the manufacturers, modular embedded systems offer the possibility of reusing parts of a project in other projects, thus reducing the overall cost. Being reconfigurable, these systems enable the manufacturers to sell devices that fit the requirements of more users.

Multi-agent system with hierarchical private key

A multi-agent system organized hierarchically based on a set of hierarchical keys can analyze, decide and decrypt a message. The message is encrypted using a public key chosen randomly from a set of public keys. The system analyzes and determines the set of keys used for encryption and decrypts the message.

A Load Balancing Algorithm for Multi-agent Systems

Multi-agent societies are often used in manufacturing systems and other large-scale distributed systems. These systems often need an efficient task redistribution strategy in case of component faults or load variations. This chapter presents a simple, algorithmic approach for such a strategy, requiring low processing and communications resources.