Get up to speed with the ThreadX 5 real time operating system - deployed in over 500 million devices worldwide!

This second edition of Real-Time Embedded Multithreading contains the fundamentals of developing real-time operating systems and multithreading with all the new functionality of ThreadX Version 5. ThreadX has been deployed in approximately 500 million devices worldwide. General concepts and terminology are detailed along with problem solving of common pitfalls and problems. The features and services of ThreadX are reviewed. The references to a specific processor have been removed to allow for the book to be technology agnostic and applicable to all types of microprocessors that the reader may be working with. Two e-book supplements will be available with registration of your book at www.newnespress.com, the first on ARM processors and the second, ColdFire processors.

*A great introduction to real-time systems including general concepts and terminology
*Get to know ThreadX 5, a real-time operating system, from an insider
*A limited version of the ThreadX 5 software is available to run all sample projects and the case study

About the Author

Edward L. Lamie is a Professor Emeritus of Computer Science. His areas of academic emphasis during his 31 years in higher education have been in the areas of software engineering and operating systems. He was also the founding chair of computer science departments at Central Michigan University and California State University, Stanislaus. Ed continues to teach occasional graduate-level courses and conducts hands-on RTOS training classes for Express Logic, Inc.

Model Predictive Control (MPC) is unusual in receiving on-going interest in both industrial and academic circles. Issues such as plant optimization and constrained control which are critical to industrial engineers are naturally embedded in its designs.

Model Predictive Control System Design and Implementation Using MATLAB® proposes methods for design and implementation of MPC systems using basis functions that confer the following advantages:

continuous- and discrete-time MPC problems solved in similar design frameworks;

a parsimonious parametric representation of the control trajectory gives rise to computationally efficient algorithms and better on-line performance; and

a more general discrete-time representation of MPC design that becomes identical to the traditional approach for an appropriate choice of parameters.

After the theoretical presentation, detailed coverage is given to three industrial applications: a food extruder, a motor and a magnetic bearing system. The subject of quadratic programming, often associated with the core optimization algorithms of MPC is also introduced and explained.

The technical contents of this book, mainly based on advances in MPC using state-space models and basis functions to which the author is a major contributor, will be of interest to control researchers and practitioners, especially of process control. From a pedagogical standpoint, this volume includes numerous simple analytical examples and every chapter contains problems and MATLAB® programs and exercises to assist the student.

About the Author

Liuping Wang received her PhD in 1989 from the University of Sheffield, UK; subsequently, she was an adjunct associate professor in the Dept. of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada. From 1998 to 2002, she was a senior lecturer and research coordinator in the Center for Integrated Dynamics and Control, University of Newcastle, Australia before joining RMIT University where she is a professor and Head of Discipline of Electrical Engineering. She is the author of two books, joint editor of one book, and has published over 130 papers.

Liuping Wang has been actively engaged in industry-oriented research and development since the completion of her PhD studies. Whilst working at the University of Toronto, Canada, she was a co-founder of an industry consortium for the identification of chemical processes. Since her arrival in Australia in 1998, she has been working with Australian government organisations and companies in the areas of food manufacturing, mining, automotive and power services, including Food Science Australia, Uncle Ben s Australia, CSR, BHP-Billiton, Pacific Group Technologies, Holden Innovation, Alinta, and ANCA. She leads the Control Systems program at the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Cooperative Research Center (AMCRC) that develops next generation technology platforms for the manufacturing industry. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Australian Power Academy that promotes power-engineering education and raises scholarships from the power industry to support undergraduate students.

Network calculus, a theory dealing with queuing systems found in computer networks, focuses on performance guarantees. The development of an information theory for stochastic service-guarantee analysis has been identified as a grand challenge for future networking research. Towards that end, stochastic network calculus, the probabilistic version or generalization of the (deterministic) Network Calculus, has been recognized by researchers as a crucial step.

Stochastic Network Calculus presents a comprehensive treatment for the state-of-the-art in stochastic service-guarantee analysis research and provides basic introductory material on the subject, as well as discusses the most recent research in the area. This helpful volume summarizes results for stochastic network calculus, which can be employed when designing computer networks to provide stochastic service guarantees.

Features and Topics:

• Provides a solid introductory chapter, providing useful background knowledge

• Reviews fundamental concepts and results of deterministic network calculus

• Includes end-of-chapter problems, as well as summaries and bibliographic comments

• Defines traffic models and server models for stochastic network calculus

• Summarizes the basic properties of stochastic network calculus under different combinations of traffic and server models

• Highlights independent case analysis

• Discusses stochastic service guarantees under different scheduling disciplines

• Presents applications to admission control and traffic conformance study using the analysis results

• Offers an overall summary and some open research challenges for further study of the topic

Key Topics:

• Queuing systems

• Performance analysis and guarantees

• Independent case analysis

• Traffic and server models 

• Analysis of scheduling disciplines 

• Generalized processor sharing 

• Open research challenges

Researchers and graduates in the area of performance evaluation of computer communication networks will benefit substantially from this comprehensive and easy-to-follow volume. Professionals will also find it a worthwhile reference text.

Professor Yuming Jiang at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) has lectured using the material presented in this text since 2006.

Dr Yong Liu works at the Optical Network Laboratory, National University of Singapore, where he researches QoS for optical communication networks and Metro Ethernet networks.

Welcome aboard the first book focusing exclusively on PL/SQL techniques, through Oracle 11g. These techniques are tried-tested-true, yet do not compromise performance. You’ll find coverage of all types of scenarios, starting from design to coding and testing to debugging and tuning. PL/SQL is more than just a 3GL sequel to SQL; instead it can be used as a methodology for application development using Oracle. The techniques covered here have a broader scope, in applications ranging from OLTP to OLAP and from data warehousing to business intelligence. The world of PL/SQL is exciting and this book provides a repository of techniques for PL/SQL developers and DBAs alike. This book takes you beyond the existing solutions found in other professional and reference texts or in online documentation. Starting from PL/SQL internals that include PL/SQL program structure, internal representation, compilation, and execution, users are taught PL/SQL concepts and techniques that go way beyond SQL, such as data structure management, error management, data management, application management, and transaction management. It covers the practical “how-to” techniques of applying these PL/SQL concepts in live projects and elaborates on various PL/SQL frameworks, the integration of PL/SQL with Java, and Web-enabling PL/SQL. The last two chapters on PL/SQL tuning and debugging and PL/SQL coding standards contain comprehensive coverage of performance-enhancing techniques and PL/SQL coding standards that can’t be found in anywhere else. All techniques include examples and hands-on code, as well as tips and coding standards. The companion CD-ROM includes all the source code for the examples in the book.

About the Author

Lakshman Bulusu is an experienced Oracle Professional with more than 15 years of extensive experience in software management, design, and development using Oracle and its related technologies, including PL/SQL and Java. He’s the author of Oracle Developer Forms Techniques and Oracle and Java Development, Oracle9i PL/SQL: A Developer’s Guide, and Oracle Programming FAQ. He holds an Oracle Masters credential and an OCP certifi cation from Oracle Corporation, and is a double honors graduate in computer science and engineering and mathematics. He has presented at numerous international and national conferences on Oracle and its tools and published articles in various technical magazines and journals in the United States and the United Kingdom. Currently, as a Technical Manager for Software Development at Genex Technologies, he oversees the management, design, and development of mission-critical Oracle projects for major clients across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

The future direction of game development is towards more flexible, realistic, and interactive game worlds. However, current methods of game design do not allow for anything other than pre-scripted player exchanges and static objects and environments. An emergent approach to game development involves the creation of a globally designed game system that provides rules and boundaries for player interactions, rather than prescribed paths. Emergence in Games provides a detailed foundation for applying the theory and practice of emergence in games to game design. Emergent narrative, characters and agents, and game worlds are covered and a hands-on tutorial and case study allow the reader to the put the skills and ideas presented into practice.

About the Author

Penny Sweetser completed her Ph.D. in computer science on the topic "An Emergent Approach to Game Design - Development and Play." She has contributed to various books, journals and international conference on games. She has been working for the game developer, The Creative Assembly, as a game designer for the last two years, recently releasing the AAA title, Medieval 2: Total War. She previously lectured and researched at the University of Queensland, in the areas of game design, artificial intelligence and user-centered design.

Essential reading for all students new to mechanical engineering workshop practice

Workshop Processes, Practices and Materials is an ideal introduction to the workshop environment for students ready to embark on a career in engineering, or anyone who will be making use of an engineering workshop.

Bruce Black distils workshop techniques and technology in a simple and straightforward style, with hundreds of useful illustrations included throughout the book. The third edition of this comprehensive and well-established text has been updated throughout, now featuring end of chapter review questions to aid student learning, and also includes new chapters on Moving Loads, as well as Drawing, Specifications and Data, with expanded material on Safety and Measuring Equipment.

The broad coverage of this text ensures it will meet the requirements of a wide range of engineering courses world-wide. The new edition has matching to Performing Engineering Operations (PEO Level 2), covering units 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11 and 12, and will continue to cater for other courses at this level such as Intermediate GNVQ, BTEC First, Vocational GCSE and a range of NVQ Level 2 engineering courses from City and Guilds in the UK.

* Practical workshop text, provides the essential information on workshop practice needed by all students new to the field of mechanical engineering
* Simple and straightforward writing style, highly illustrated throughout, to increase accessibility for the reader
* New feature - end of chapter Review Questions, to aid student learning

Crompton's Battery Reference Book has become the standard reference source for a wide range of professionals and students involved in designing, manufacturing, and specifying products and systems that use batteries.

This book is unique in providing extensive data on specific battery types, manufacturers and suppliers, as well as covering the theory an aspect of the book which makes an updated edition important for every professional's library. The coverage of different types of battery is fully comprehensive, ranging from minute button cells to large installations weighing several hundred tonnes.

Must-have information and data on all classes of battery in an accessible form.

Essential reference for design engineers in automotive and aerospace applications, telecommunications equipment, household appliances, etc.

Informs you of developments over the past five years.

The 20th century's pivotal event, the climax of long-running animosities and aggression, and the beginning of the modern globalized world, World War II offers an infinite range of possible approaches and topics for students and teachers. Now there is a groundbreaking new reference that puts the entire scope of World War II in your students' grasp.

ABC-CLIO's World War II: A Student Encyclopedia captures the monumental sweep of the "Big One" with accessible scholarship, a student-friendly, image-rich design, and a variety of tools specifically crafted for the novice researcher. For teachers and curriculum specialists, it is a thoroughly contemporary and authoritative work with everything they need to enrich their syllabi and meet state and national standards.

Ranging from the conflict's historic origins to VJ Day and beyond, it brings all aspects of the war vividly to life—its origins in the rubble of World War I, its inevitable outbreak, its succession of tumultuous battles and unforgettable personalities. Students will understand what the war meant to the leaders, the soldiers, and everyday families on home fronts around the world. Featured essays look at Pearl Harbor, the Holocaust, the atomic bomb, and other crucial events, as well as fascinating topics such as signals intelligence and the role of women in war. A separate primary source volume provides essential source material for homework, test preparation or special projects. With a wealth of new information and new ideas about the war's causes, course, and consequences, World War II will be the first place students turn for the who, what, when, where, and—more importantly—the why, behind this historic conflict.

Systematic Design for Optimisation of Pipelined ADCs proposes and develops new strategies, methodologies and tools for designing low-power and low-area CMOS pipelined A/D converters. The task is tackled by following a scientifically-consistent approach. First of all, the state of the art in pipeline A/D converters is analysed with a double purpose: a) to identify the best suited among different strategies reported in literature and taking into account the objectives pursued; b) to identify the drawbacks of these strategies as a basic first step to improve them. Then, the book proposes a top-down design approach for implementing high-performance low-power and low-area CMOS pipelined A/D converters through:

- The conception, development and implementation of self-calibrated techniques to extend the linearity of some critical stages in the architecture of pipelined ADCs.

- The detailed analysis and modelling of some major non-idealities that limit the physical realisation of pipelined ADCs and the proposal, development and implementation of design methodologies to support systematic design of optimised instances of these converters which combine maximum performance with minimum power dissipation and minimum area occupation.

Several implementations together with consistent measured results are presented. In particular, a practical realisation of a low-power 14-bit 5MS/s CMOS pipelined ADC with background analogue self-calibration is fully described.

The proposed approach is fully in line with the best practice regarding the design of mixed-signal integrated circuits. On the one hand, drawbacks of currently existing solutions are overcame through innovative strategies and, on the other hand, the expert knowledge is packaged and made available for re-usability by the community of circuit designers. Finally, feasibility of the strategies and the associated encapsulated knowledge is granted through experimental validation of working silicon.

Systematic Design for Optimisation of Pipelined ADCs serves as an excellent reference for analogue design engineers especially designers of low-power CMOS A/D converters. The book may also be used as a text for advanced reading on the subject.

Now more than ever, Windows applications have to work well and look good. Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Microsoft's new user interface framework, gives you the ability to create stunning graphics, rich interactions, and highly-usable Windows applications. WPF is the API beneath Windows Vista interfaces, and it's also available for older versions of Windows. Up to this point, it has only been possible to build WPF applications manually, mainly by hand-coding in XAML-WPF's declarative XML-based markup language. The soon-to-be-released Visual Studio 2008 provides the full set of developer tools you need to take advantage of this exciting technology.

The combination of WPF and Visual Studio 2008 represents the start of the next generation of Windows applications. Hand-coding XAML is fine if you're an early adopter, but to put WPF into production, you need to master the tools and application styles you'll use in your day job.

WPF In Action focuses on WPF development using Visual Studio 2008 and other available tools.. The book starts with thorough coverage of the basics-layouts, styles, resources, and themes. It then takes you through several real-world scenarios, exploring common challenges and application-types. You'll build several sample applications, ranging from a simple calculator to a typical line-of-business application. Along the way, you'll add graphical elements, animation, and support for printing, accessibility, and other standard functionality.

Written in a witty, engaging style, WPF In Action can be read cover-to-cover or used to reference specific problems and issues. The approach is practical and always focused on how you'll use WPF in real development scenarios. You'll learn how to handle the many new issues presented by the extreme flexibility of WPF. The authors also provide numerous tips and suggestions for how to work efficiently.

About the Author

Arlen Feldman specializes in meta-data driven applications, particularly focusing on usability issues. He was chief architect for the award-winning HEAT software product, and has been working with .NET since its earliest days. He worked with Microsoft on the direction of .NET, the C# language and Visual Studio as a member of the C# customer advisory group. Arlen is the author of ADO.NET Programming (Manning, 2003), and is the Chief Architect for Cherwell Software.

Maxx Daymon learned BASIC before he learned English. He is MCPD Certified with specialization in both Windows and Web development, and has been working with .NET since its preview releases. He has broad development experience in both internal and external software development, and specializes in metaprogramming and agile development. He is currently a software platform architect at Configuresoft, a leading developer of configuration management and compliance software.

An innovative and analytical approach to Power Electronics!

This book introduces an innovative, highly analytical approach to symbolic, closed-form solutions for switched-mode power converter circuits. This is a highly relevant topic to power electronics students and professionals who are involved in the design and analysis of electrical power converters. The author uses extensive equations to explain how solid-state switches convert electrical voltages from one level to another, so that electronic devices (e.g., audio speakers, CD players, DVD players, etc.) can use different voltages more effectively to perform their various functions. Most existing comparable books published as recently as 2002 do not discuss closed-loop operations, nor do they provide either DC closed-loop regulation equations or AC loop gain (stability) formulae. The author Wu, a leading engineer at Lockheed Martin, fills this gap and provides among the first descriptions of how error amplifiers are designed in conjunction with closed-loop bandwidth selection.

BENEFIT TO THE READER:
Readers will gain a mathematically rigorous introduction to numerous, closed-form solutions that are readily applicable to the design and development of various switch-mode power converters.

* Provides symbolic, closed-form solutions for DC and AC studies
* Provides techniques for expressing close-loop operation
* Gives readers the ability to perform closed-loop regulation and sensitivity studies
* Gives readers the ability to design error amplifiers with precision
* Employs the concept of the continuity of states in matrix form
* Gives accelerated time-domain, steady-state studies using Laplace transform
* Gives accelerated time-domain studies using state transition
* Extensive use of matrix, linear algebra, implicit functions, and Jacobian determinants
* Enables the determination of power stage gain that otherwise could not be obtained

About the Author

Keng Wu is currently a Lead Member of the engineering staff at Lockheed Martin, Maritime Systems & Sensors, where he is responsible for various innovations in high reliability analog and digital circuit design in power electronics & systems for satellites and radar. He is highly experienced in analytical circuit design, system modeling, large-scale system dynamic study, test and integration for power electronics. His hardware design experience includes momentum wheel speed regulation, spacecraft attitude torquers, solar array step motor drivers, switching power converters in voltage-mode and current-mode control, resonant DC-DC power converters, synthetic 3-phase AC induction motor drives (Hubble space telescope), power-factor-corrected high power supplies, full and partial linear shunt, sequential linear shunt, sequential pulse width modulated shunt, limit cycle switching shunt, and battery dischargers for spacecraft. He was the lead engineer for the LANDSAT-7 (NOAA, US government) solar array shunt regulator. He oversaw electrical design, system interface, mechanical layout, design review, documentation, and presentation.