Reconfigurability denotes the Reconfigurable Computing capability of a system, so that its behavior can be changed by reconfiguration, i. e. by loading different configware code. This static reconfigurability distinguishes between reconfiguration time and run time. Dynamic reconfigurability denotes the capability of a dynamically reconfigurable system that can dynamically change its behavior during run time, usually in response to dynamic changes in its environment.
In the context of wirelesscommunication dynamic reconfigurability tackles the changeable behavior of wireless networks and associated equipment, specifically in the fields of radio spectrum, radio access technologies, protocol stacks, and application services.
Research regarding the (dynamic) reconfigurability of wirelesscommunication systems is ongoing for example in working group 6 of the Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF), in the Wireless Innovation Forum (WINNF) (formerly Software Defined Radio Forum), and in the European FP6 project End-to-End Reconfigurability (E²R). Recently, E²R initiated a related standardization effort on the cohabitation of heterogeneous wireless radio systems in the framework of the IEEE P1900.4 Working Group. See cognitive radio.
In the context of Control reconfiguration, a field of fault-tolerant control within control engineering, reconfigurability is a property of faulty systems meaning that the original control goals specified for the fault-free system can be reached after suitable control reconfiguration.
IEEE 802.15 is a working group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802 standards committee which specifies Wireless Specialty Networks (WSN) standards. The working group was formerly known as Working Group for Wireless Personal Area Networks.
Software-defined radio (SDR) is a radio communication system where components that conventionally have been implemented in analog hardware are instead implemented by means of software on a computer or embedded system. While the concept of SDR is not new, the rapidly evolving capabilities of digital electronics render practical many processes which were once only theoretically possible.
Reconfigurable computing is a computer architecture combining some of the flexibility of software with the high performance of hardware by processing with flexible hardware platforms like field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The principal difference when compared to using ordinary microprocessors is the ability to add custom computational blocks using FPGAs. On the other hand, the main difference from custom hardware, i.e. application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) is the possibility to adapt the hardware during runtime by "loading" a new circuit on the reconfigurable fabric, thus providing new computational blocks without the need to manufacture and add new chips to the existing system.
Autonomic computing (AC) is distributed computing resources with self-managing characteristics, adapting to unpredictable changes while hiding intrinsic complexity to operators and users. Initiated by IBM in 2001, this initiative ultimately aimed to develop computer systems capable of self-management, to overcome the rapidly growing complexity of computing systems management, and to reduce the barrier that complexity poses to further growth.
In systems engineering, dependability is a measure of a system's availability, reliability, maintainability, and in some cases, other characteristics such as durability, safety and security. In real-time computing, dependability is the ability to provide services that can be trusted within a time-period. The service guarantees must hold even when the system is subject to attacks or natural failures.
A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. It can also be a form of wireless ad hoc network.
A cognitive radio (CR) is a radio that can be programmed and configured dynamically to use the best channels in its vicinity to avoid user interference and congestion. Such a radio automatically detects available channels, then accordingly changes its transmission or reception parameters to allow more concurrent wireless communications in a given band at one location. This process is a form of dynamic spectrum management.
Wireless USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless radio communication protocol created by the Wireless USB Promoter Group, which is intended to increase the availability of general
In computer networking, a heterogeneous network is a network connecting computers and other devices where the operating systems and protocols have significant differences. For example, local area networks (LANs) that connect Microsoft Windows and Linux based personal computers with Apple Macintosh computers are heterogeneous.
A reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is one designed at the outset for rapid change in its structure, as well as its hardware and software components, in order to quickly adjust its production capacity and functionality within a part family in response to sudden market changes or intrinsic system change.
Control reconfiguration is an active approach in control theory to achieve fault-tolerant control for dynamic systems. It is used when severe faults, such as actuator or sensor outages, cause a break-up of the control loop, which must be restructured to prevent failure at the system level. In addition to loop restructuring, the controller parameters must be adjusted to accommodate changed plant dynamics. Control reconfiguration is a building block toward increasing the dependability of systems under feedback control.
Modular self-reconfiguring robotic systems or self-reconfigurable modular robots are autonomous kinematic machines with variable morphology. Beyond conventional actuation, sensing and control typically found in fixed-morphology robots, self-reconfiguring robots are also able to deliberately change their own shape by rearranging the connectivity of their parts, in order to adapt to new circumstances, perform new tasks, or recover from damage.
Programmable matter is matter which has the ability to change its physical properties in a programmable fashion, based upon user input or autonomous sensing. Programmable matter is thus linked to the concept of a material which inherently has the ability to perform information processing.
This is a glossary of terms used in the field of Reconfigurable computing and reconfigurable computing systems, as opposed to the traditional Von Neumann architecture.
Game theory has been used as a tool for modeling and studying interactions between cognitive radios envisioned to operate in future communications systems. Such terminals will have the capability to adapt to the context they operate in, through possibly power and rate control as well as channel selection. Software agents embedded in these terminals will potentially be selfish, meaning they will only try to maximize the throughput/connectivity of the terminal they function for, as opposed to maximizing the welfare of the system they operate in. Thus, the potential interactions among them can be modeled through non-cooperative games. The researchers in this field often strive to determine the stable operating points of systems composed of such selfish terminals, and try to come up with a minimum set of rules (etiquette) so as to make sure that the optimality loss compared to a cooperative – centrally controlled setting – is kept at a minimum.
The Dynamic Spectrum Access Networks Standards Committee (DySPAN-SC), formerly Standards Coordinating Committee 41 (SCC41), and even earlier the IEEE P1900 Standards Committee, is sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The group develops standards for radio and spectrum management. Its working groups and resulting standards, numbered in the 1900 range, are sometimes referred to as IEEE 1900.X.
Established in 1996, the Wireless Innovation Forum is a non-profit "mutual benefit corporation" dedicated to advocating for spectrum innovation and advancing radio technologies that support essential or critical communications worldwide. Forum members bring a broad base of experience in Software Defined Radio, Cognitive Radio and Dynamic Spectrum Access technologies in diverse markets and at all levels of the wireless value chain to address emerging wireless communications requirements. The forum acts as a venue for its members to collaborate to achieve these objectives.
Software-defined networking (SDN) is an approach to network management that enables dynamic and programmatically efficient network configuration to improve network performance and monitoring in a manner more akin to cloud computing than to traditional network management. SDN is meant to improve the static architecture of traditional networks and may be employed to centralize network intelligence in one network component by disassociating the forwarding process of network packets from the routing process. The control plane consists of one or more controllers, which are considered the brains of the SDN network, where the whole intelligence is incorporated. However, centralization has certain drawbacks related to security, scalability and elasticity.
A reconfigurable antenna is an antenna capable of modifying its frequency and radiation properties dynamically, in a controlled and reversible manner. In order to provide a dynamic response, reconfigurable antennas integrate an inner mechanism that enable the intentional redistribution of the RF currents over the antenna surface and produce reversible modifications of its properties. Reconfigurable antennas differ from smart antennas because the reconfiguration mechanism lies inside the antenna, rather than in an external beamforming network. The reconfiguration capability of reconfigurable antennas is used to maximize the antenna performance in a changing scenario or to satisfy changing operating requirements.
Transition refers to a computer science paradigm in the context of communication systems which describes the change of communication mechanisms, i.e., functions of a communication system, in particular, service and protocol components. In a transition, communication mechanisms within a system are replaced by functionally comparable mechanisms with the aim to ensure the highest possible quality, e.g., as captured by the quality of service.
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