Research Projects - Michael R. Lyu

For those who are interested in techniques on distributed systems, particularly the emerging CORBA and DCOM platforms, please come to the course CSC5340 Advanced Topics in Distributed Software Systems, to be offered in the Fall of 2003, which covers many of topics in distributed systems.

2. Title:	Distributed Object Techniques for Mobile Computing
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	The emergence of the global Internet and presonal communications services (PCS) has established the foundations for ubiquitously accessible and highly available distributed computing systems to support applications such as remote access and control, virtual mobile offices, and wide-area collaborative systems. These applications must be usable even in the presence of breaks in the network, or network partitions, which may be caused by, for instance, a broken wireless connection from a mobile computer to the fixed network infrastructure. Achieving high availability in such a mobile ditributed system entails the provision of fault tolerance, ubiquitous access, and high-concurrency resource sharing. The distributed object paradigm has proved to be indispensable in the design of distributed systems due to its inherent ability to hid heterogeneity between various platforms. In this project, we will explore distributed object technologies, particularly CORBA and DCOM, for designing and experimenting mobile computing systems. We define a general physical architecture consisting of mobile hosts, mobile support stations, and fixed hosts interconnected by a fixed wide area network. Mobile hosts communicate with the mobile supporting systems on the fixed network through either a wireless or temporary wired link. The objects encapsulate any software entity which can be represented as a logical grouping of data and methods (files, application components, dynamic libraries, Java applets, etc.). We will investigate how the objects are managed in such a wireless architecture, and how mobile agents can be designed and executed for various applications.
   Area:	Wireless Computing, Distributed Systems
   Reference:	``Designing Mobile Computing Systems Using Distributed Objects,'' L.T. Chen and T. Suda, IEEE Communications Magazine, February 1997. ``Quality of Service Guarantees in a Wireless Network,'' T.-W. Chen, P. Krzyzanowski, M.R. Lyu, C. Sreenan, and J.A. Trotter, in Proceedings Lucent Technologies Wireless Workshop, Holmdel, New Jersey, November 1996. ``Renegotiable Quality of Service -- A New Scheme for Fault Tolerance in Wireless Networks,'' T.-W. Chen, P. Krzyzanowski, M.R. Lyu, C. Sreenan, and J.A. Trotter, in Proceedings FTCS-27, Seattle, Washington, June 1997, pp. 21-30. ``A VC-based API for Renegotiable QoS in Wireless ATM Networks,'' T. Chen, P. Krzyzanowski, M. R. Lyu, C. Sreenan, and J. Trotter, in Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Universal Personal Communications (ICUPC'97), San Diego, California, October 1997. ``A Summary of QoS Support in SWAN ,'' T. Chen, P. Krzyzanowski, M. R. Lyu, C. Sreenan, and J. Trotter, in Proceedings 6th IEEE/IFIP International Workshop on Quality of Service (IWQoS'98), Napa, California, May 18-20 1998.

3. Title:	Fault-Injection and Code-Coverage Techniques and Tools for Software Testing
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	Software testing has been an important subject in sophisticated software systems. The multi-billion dollar Year 2000 problem is mainly a software testing problem. For many modern systems, including networking and telecommunications systems, banking and finance systems, and consumer electronics systems, software plays a crucial role in their daily control, communication, and operations. It is estimated that over 50% of development cost will be spent on the testing for correctness and reliability of these systems. In this project we will focus on advanced testing techniques which use fault injection and coverage analysis to assure the correctness and reliability of a system. We will further develop an automatic and systematic tool to encapsulation these techniques for a comprehensive and integrated testing procedure. This project may be in corporation with Huawei Technologies, Inc., China.
   Area:	Software Engineering
   References:	``CASRE - A Computer-Aided Software Reliability Estimation Tool,'' M.R. Lyu and A. Nikora, in Proceedings of 1992 Computer-Aided Software Engineering Workshop, Montreal, Canada, July 1992, pp. 264-275. ``A Systematic and Comprehensive Tool for So ftware Reliability Modeling and Measurement,'' M.R. Lyu, A. Nikora, and W. Farr, in Proceedings of FTCS-23, Toulouse, France, June 22-24 1993, pp. 648-653. ``A Generalized Software Reliability Process Simulation Technique and Tool,' ' R. Tausworthe and M.R. Lyu, in Proceedings of ISSRE'94, Monterey, California, November 6-9 1994, pp. 264-273. ``ARMOR: Analyzer for Reducing Module Operational Risk,'' M.R. Lyu, J.S. Yu, E. Keramidas, and S.R. Dalal, Proceedings of FTCS'25, Pasadena, California, June 27-30 1995, pp. 137-142. ``Software Reliability Measurements in N-Version Software Execution Environment,'' M.R. Lyu, in Proceedings 3rd International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE'92) , Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, October 8-10 1992, pp. 254-263. ``Software Reliability Measurement Experience,'' A. Nikora and M.R. Lyu, in McGraw-Hill Software Reliability Engineering Handbook, M.R. Lyu (ed.), April 1996. ``Incorporating Code Coverage in the Reliab ility Estimation for Fault-Tolerant Software,'' M. Chen, M.R. Lyu, and E. Wong, in Proceedings 16th IEEE Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems, Durham, North Carolina, October 1997. ``Achieving Software Quality with Testing Coverage Measures,'' J.R. Horgan, S. London, and M.R. Lyu, in IEEE Computer, September 1994, Vol. 27, No. 9, pp. 60-69. ``A Coverage Analysis Tool for the Effectiveness of Software Testing,'' M.R. Lyu, J.R. Horgan, and S. London, in IEEE Transactions on Reliability, December 1994; selected as best papers from Proceedings of ISSRE'93, Denver, Colorado, November 3-6 1993, pp. 25-34. ``An Empirical Study of the Correlation between Code Coverage and Reliability Estimation,'' Proceedings of METRICS'96, M. Chen, M.R. Lyu, and E. Wong, Berlin, Germany, March 1996, pp. 133-141.

4. Title:	Security Issues in Networking and Distributed Systems
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	In this project we will study the security issues for networking and distributed systems. We will survey data encryption and decryption schemes, investigate network authentication protocols, develop firewall systems, and examine several scenarios for possible intrusion or fraud. We are particularly interested in the security research issues for the World Wide Web, for example, digital watermarking and mobile agents.
   Area:	Computer Security
   References:	``Bringing Software Tools to the Web - Architecture Issues and Porting Experience,'' M.R. Lyu and J. Schoenwaelder, in Proceedings International Symposium on Internet Technologies, Taipei, Taiwan, April 1998.

5. Title:	Reliable Distributed Systems for CORBA and DCOM
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	In this project we will study the techniques to develop reliable software in the CORBA and DCOM environment. We will apply software fault tolerance techniques to achieve the reliability and availability goals, and implement several software libraries as the middleware to assure the development of highly reliable distributed systems. Our implementation emphasizes on CORBA and DCOM, which are emerging platforms for distributed systems.
   Area:	Reliable Distributed Systems
   References:	``Assuring Design Diversity in N-Version Software: A Design Paradigm for N-Version Programming,'' M.R. Lyu and A. Avizienis, in Fault-Tolerant Software Systems: Techniques and Applications, H. Pham (ed.), IEEE Computer Society Press Technology Series, October 1992, pp. 45-54; reprinted from Dependable Computing and Fault-Tolerant Systems, Vol. 6, J.F. Meyer, R.D. Schlichting eds., Springer-Verlag, Wien, New York, 1992, pp. 197-218; also in Proceedings Second International Working Conference on Dependable Computing for Critical Applications, Tucson, Arizona, February 18-20 1991, pp. 89-98. ``Improving the N-Version Programming Process Through the Evolution of a Design Paradigm,'' M.R. Lyu and Y. He, in IEEE Transactions on Reliability, Vol. 42, No. 2, June 1993, pp. 179-189. ``Diversity in the Software Development Process,'' V. Hilford, M.R. Lyu, B. Cukic, A. Jamoussi, and F.B. Bastani, in Proceedings of WORDS'97, Newport Beach, California, February 1997. ``Effect of Repair Policies on Software Reliability,'' S.S. Gokhale, P.N. Marinos, K.S. Trivedi, and M.R. Lyu, in Proceedings IEEE COMPASS'97, Gaithersburg, Maryland, June 18-19 1997, pp. 105-116. ``System-Level Reliability and Sensitivity Analyses for Three Fault-Tolerant System Architectures,'' J.B. Dugan and M.R. Lyu, DCCA-4 Proceedings and a Springer-Verlag book, January 1994. ``System Reliability Analysis of an N-Version Programming Application,'' J.B. Dugan and M.R. Lyu, in IEEE Transactions on Reliability, December 1994; selected as best paper from Proceedings of ISSRE'93, Denver, Colorado, November 3-6 1993, pp. 103-111. ``Dependability Modeling for Fault-Tolerant Software & Systems,'' J.B. Dugan and M.R. Lyu, in Software Fault Tolera nce, Wiley Trends in Software book series, Wiley, February 1995. ``Reliability Simulation for Fault-Tolerant Software and System,'' S.S. Gokhale, M.R. Lyu, and K.S. Trivedi, in Proceedings 1997 Pacific-Rim Fault Tolerant Systems Symposium, Taipei, Taiwan, December 1997.

6. Title:	Digital Video Library Creation and Accessing Techniques
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	In this project we will develop a multi-lingual digital video library for multimedia information capture, search, retrieval, summarization, presentation, and delivery. Techniques included in this project are: robust indexing and retrieval of audio and video documents; cross-linking of multiple information streams ("multi-modal"); video segmentation; video extraction; machine translation; multilingual indexing; video OCR; trilingual speech recognition; metadata format; information classification; information structuring and summarization; image understanding; video caching; agent techniques in vedio delivery. The following new technological advances are explored: Robust indexing and retrieval of audio and video documents. Indexing will be image-based derived from visual content, as well as text-based via connected speech recognition and new statistical natural language processing techniques, with graceful degradation if faced with decreased signal/noise ratio. Multilingual access to documents, via queries in English or Chinese. One approach will be the semantic-expansion translation of English queries into an appropriate Chinese dialect. Semantic-expansion is an information-preserving query translation method that has been tested with a broadcast news corpus and Serbo-Croatian data. This method will be refined and tailored to Chinese. On-demand summarization of individual documents, or production of synthetic summaries combining information from multiple documents focusing on maximally query-relevant passages and reducing cross-document redundancy, using novel methods for attaining summary cohesion, sub-document information metrics, and zoom-in/zoom-out variable grain-size summaries. Video segmentation and summarization, with tools for extraction, annotation, and reuse of designated content.
   Area:	Internet computing; information retrieval
   References:	"A Wireless XML-Based Handheld Multimodal Digital Video Library Client System" , K. S. Sze, K. P. Choi, and M.R.Lyu, in Poster Proc. 11th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2002), Hawaii, May 7-11 2002. "ADVISE: Advanced Digital Video Information Segmentation Engine", C.W. Ng and M.R. Lyu, in Poster Proc. 11th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2002), Hawaii, May 7-11 2002. "iVIEW: An Intelligent Video over InternEt and Wireless Access System," M.R. Lyu, E. Yau, and K.S. Sze,  in Proc. 11th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW2002), Practice and Experience Track, Hawaii, May 7-11 2002. "A Multilingual, Multimodal Digital Video Library System", M.R. Lyu, E. Yau, and K.S. Sze, in Proc. Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, Portland, July 14-18 2002.

7. Title:	Multimedia Web-Based Education Techniques for Distance Learning and Collaboration
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	In this project we will research on Web technologies for the design, presentation, and delivery of multimedia information either synchroniously (in real-time) or asynchronously (material on-demand) for distant learning. The first part of the research is to enhance a Multimedia Web Presentation System (MWPS) which is under development (see http://www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/~lyu9804 ). The second part of the research is focused on the development of a collaboratory, which is a collaborative environment for doing distance experiments, e.g., students of a networking class share boards, interfaces to equipment and similar. We will use MPEG2 and advance CODEC packages to set up such an environment for high-quality vedio conferencing and interactive distant learning. Efficient text/vedio/audio search engines for specific contents and quality of service for Web communication are also addressed. We will also explore the Web-based education techniques in a wireless environment, so that the idea of a wireless campus can be explored.
   Area:	Web Technologies
   References:	``Web-Based Education Techniques: Workflow, Collaboration, and Quality of Service,'' M.R. Lyu, Y.S. Moon, W.K. Kan, and M.A. Vouk, 1998 Quality in Teaching and Learning Conference (QTL98), Hong Kong, December 11-12 1998.

8. Title:	Proxy Server Techniques for Integrated Web Management and Service
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	The goal of this project is to implement a generic HTTP proxy server which is reliable, secure, and fault-tolerant. The target proxy server is a middleware designed for applications that access Web services, such as browsers like Netscape and IE, loaders, search engines, vitual machines, indexing tools, robots, intelligent agents, and Intranet applications. This middleware allows accessing, caching, and processing of Web data, and provides its own build-in Web server. A related FYP can be seen at http://www.cse.cuhk.edu.hk/~lyu9803 . This project will be cooperated with my previous colleague at ATT Research Labs .
   Area:	Web Technologies
   References:	``Bringing Software Tools to the Web - Architecture Issues and Porting Experience,'' M.R. Lyu and J. Schoenwaelder, in Proceedings International Symposium on Internet Technologies, Taipei, Taiwan, April 1998.

   Title:	Integrated Thin-Client/Server Software Architecture for Wireless and Enterprise IP Networks
   Supervisor:	Michael Rung-Tsong Lyu
   Abstract:	In this project we propose to design, implement, and distribute an integrated software platform for internet/intranet service providers to build wireless and enterprise IP networks for median size to large size companies. The particular technologies we will focus on are the wireless access schemes on thin-client/server architectures, which provide a cost-effective way for these companies to own a server-centric computing and information sharing intranet for fast and seamless service creation. Such wireless and thin-client based IP networks will provide user-friendly interfaces, ubiquitous connections, abundant server applications, and high system integrity, with minimum operational and maintenance requirements. Our objectives are to (1) define and build thin-client/server architectures; (2) develop reusable software components for thin-client devices, networking protocols, server implementation features, and system integrity; (3) provide wireless access schemes for services including multimedia presentation, voice over IP, video conferencing, and security authentication.
   Area:	Client-Server Software Architecture and Design
   References:	``Renegotiable Quality of Service -- A New Scheme for Fault Tolerance in Wireless Networks,'' T.-W. Chen, P. Krzyzanowski, M.R. Lyu, C. Sreenan, and J.A. Trotter, in Proceedings FTCS-27, Seattle, Washington, June 1997, pp. 21-30. ``A VC-based API for Renegotiable QoS in Wireless ATM Networks,'' T. Chen, P. Krzyzanowski, M. R. Lyu, C. Sreenan, and J. Trotter, in Proceedings IEEE International Conference on Universal Personal Communications (ICUPC'97), San Diego, California, October 1997. ``Bringing Software Tools to the Web - Architecture Issues and Porting Experience,'' M.R. Lyu and J. Schoenwaelder, in Proceedings International Symposium on Internet Technologies, Taipei, Taiwan, April 1998.