Search

Modern coal preparation plants are designed to achieve maximum overall clean coal yield with an acceptable amount of impurities to meet end-user requirements. LIMN is commonly used to design and si...

The purpose of this paper is to explore elders’ perspectives about self-monitoring and using specially developed sensor technology for measuring health indicators. The qualitative research method is focus-groups with guidelines that were designed for understanding elder’s requirements about monitoring health indicators. We present them two devices: the first sensor is a device for monitoring of cardiac action potential fixed into an armchair, the second sensor for monitoring vital signs is placed in a bathtub. The people express their needs and expectations regarding the idea of having sensors for monitoring health indicators and body movement in their own house.

Smart Home (SH) systems are considered one of the prominent applications in the era of Internet of Things (IoT), where it is possible to control home devices to achieve a better usage in terms of cost and convenience. IoT offers the internet connection and remote management of home automation, integrated with numerous sensors. SHs constitute to be an innovative and popular form of residence in the modern cities, therefore designers need to comply with users preferences and requirements. The current paper defines requirements by chosen features, describing the either non-functional or functional technical, social and financial aspects of a SH. PairWise Comparison (PWC) framework, a fundamental part of many decision making problems, is applied and ranks the users requirements and also presents and prioritizes SHs services, such as e-health and entertainment.

This chapter identifies why the collection of end user requirements is such a defining and important stage of any serious game development project. It outlines requirements elicitation techniques and discusses their strengths, weaknesses and where they are useful. It will then discuss how to analyse the data that has been obtained. Finally, it will describe the processes and lessons learned along the various stages of end user requirements gathering using a concrete case example.

The importance of the Internet of Things (IoT) in our society is reflected by its exponential growth over recent and years to come. The Web of Things (WoT) emerged as a special case of IoT, allowing end-users to deal with their devices through Web applications, with which they are familiar. However, as more users are reached by this technology, it becomes more difficult to fulfil specific user needs, i.e., user requirements these technologies are not prepared to cover. For that matter, this paper presents an approach to augmenting smart devices for the WoT through the augmentation of their corresponding Web applications. In this way, devices may be enriched with new behavior (composed by the existing ones) to better fit further user needs. We propose Domoto as a solution for achieving device augmentation, composed by a framework to build browser extensions that augments devices behavior, and a Web Application that manages devices and extensions.

Smart Grid (SG)-aware cellular networks are expected to decrease their energy consumption and consequently decrease the global carbon emissions. At the same time, cellular operators are required to meet the end-user requirements in terms of throughput. In this paper we propose a novel strategy to pave the way for the cellular operators to integrate with the SG. Our strategy is based on Dynamic Spectrum Assignment (DSA) approach. We formulate the trade-off situation of the operators as a reward function. The objective is to maximize the reward while decreasing the energy consumption. We study homogeneous, spatial-heterogeneous and spatio-temporal heterogeneous types of traffic. We study the performance of the proposed strategy in a dynamic electricity pricing context. We show that by adapting the spectrum utilization properly, the cellular operator can achieve higher rewards while using less energy compared to an operator deploying classical reuse, for low and intermediate traffic loads. We show also that the proposed DSA-based strategy is capable of adapting to the system dynamics; electricity pricing as well as end-users traffic1. Scopus

Given a set of end user requirements that establish the overall performance goals of a system, the error budget allows a system architect to seek an optimum balance between various subsystems to achieve the most efficient design. When factors that contribute to the overall error budget are poorly understood the result is likely a suboptimal design that relies on the designer’s knowledge of the “art” as opposed to the desired but absent scientific understanding. This typically leads to overengineering of other subsystems to compensate. One factor not strongly quantified is drift due to charging. In this article, the authors explicitly examine contributions due to particle contamination, voids in conductive coatings that expose insulating material, and contamination induced insulating films on conductors in the electron optic subsystem.

Purpose – The study was set to determine the environmental objectives of building end‐user organizations in an office environment and to anticipate the environmental management demands this could set on facility management.Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative study uses four independent data sets and triangulation approach by combining data archives with time series analysis method, semi‐structured interviews, case study and a survey.Findings – The results of the paper state the gap between the environmental objectives and practical management of environmental issues. Same environmental management themes, namely energy efficiency, waste management and reduction of climate change emissions, seem to be important for end‐users of buildings. A new trend, in which the end‐users require facility organizations to provide environmental management services, was observed as well. End‐user companies wish to receive comprehensive reporting and recommendations on improving a company's or facilities' environm...

This paper describes a cost benefit modelling approach to introducing EUD technology. Costs are incurred in configuring and learning the technology then in developing and debugging applications. These are set against the perceived and actual benefits of producing better applications that fit end user requirements. The approach is illustrated with a case study of a web Content Management System.

In principle, trends have always been driven by two elements: the requirements of the end user and technical development. What end users want and very soon this will apply to all users throughout the world - can be put in a nutshell: products with a consistent premium quality at affordable prices, incorporating as many customised options as possible. In other words: Lot size one for the price of a mass produced item. The drivers on the technological side are microelectronics and software. Allow me at this point to comment on what is sometimes regarded as the over-automation of manufacturing. This debate clearly lacks cogency. The actual point is the flexibilization of production, and hence also that of automation and power distribution. This paper describes current trends in automation that will help meet customers' requirements at profitable terms.

The phase of requirements elicitation is specifically important due to its widespread impact on the succeeding phases of software development. Elicitation of requirements from varying perspectives is an active research issue concerning the researchers and practitioners for decades. The aim of this research study is to strengthen and optimize the elicitation of ‘futuristic requirements’ by proposing a technique named as, ‘Contributory Appreciative Inquiry’. The technique is based on philosophy of appreciative perspective rather than deficit based perspective. The technique along with various constituents and building components is presented. Afterwards a comprehensive comparative analysis is conducted to evaluate its performance in comparison to other competing techniques. Results indicate a marked improvement in eliciting futuristic and unique requirements as compared to Observation, Interviewing, Brainstorming and Appreciative Inquiry itself.

CMOS technology progress is still high, despite the process challenges and the system designers need such advanced technologies. The problem is that the process specifications are not always discussed with the end-users and this creates diverging roadmaps, that may have a negative impact on future developments. We were happy to be invited at the last workshop in Brussels (29–30th March, 1995) to show some of our needs, based on our past experience.

Ancillary services comprise both system support requirements and end user requirements, which should be distinguished and treated separately. End user requirements could be met most efficiently locally rather than via the bulk power network. System support requirements should be provided or procured by the transmission entity, with costs folded into load-sensitive tariffs.

This paper presents requirements elicitation study for a EUD tool for composing service-based applications. WIRE aims at enabling EUD by harvesting and recommending community composition knowledge (the wisdom), thus facilitating knowledge transfer from developers to end-users. The idea was evaluated with 10 contextual interviews to accountants, eliciting a rich set of information, which can lead to requirements for Wisdom-Aware EUD.

The interoperability of equipment as sensors, actuators, PLC regulation or DCS is their global capability to exchange information in order to meet the end user requirements. The conformance testing of each system to a communication standard is not sufficient to prove interoperability. Examples are given. After a presentation of the interoperability problem, different test methods are presented, starting from the conformance testing approach. The interoperability testing solution for components as sensors (or actuators) implies various constraints which are not identical in other areas (interoperability of computers, operating systems with some communication profile). Several types of interoperability have been introduced and are analysed. A particular kind of test to verify the capabilities of equipment to be configured in the right way is explained. This test method is applied to test the interoperability of FIP compatible equipment.

End-user involvement in software engineering is an ambivalent topic. However, novel paradigms such as service-oriented computing suggest more active end-user involvement to gather individual needs for software personalization. In this paper, we present a mobile requirements elicitation tool which enables end-users to blog needs in situ without analysts' facilitation.

In this paper we present a novel approach for collecting end user requirements. Our approach is based on two serious games and allows the end users to act as players in an artificial and virtual environment, which is supposed to reflect realistic business processes at the end users. The first game is representing such a simulation and enables the players to go through all the phases of the VO (virtual organisation) life cycle. Thus the players experience all activities beginning from the preparation and formation, over the operation and management, to the dissolution of a networked organisation. Hidden needs are identified during this process, which are in the second game further refined by means of idea generation processes. In this paper we provide a detailed description of our requirements elicitation method, including first promising and satisfactory results, as well as a first evaluation of the approach.

Summarization: In the present article we discuss, evaluate and improve the IDEF0 modeling language. In order to meet end user requirements, we suggest concrete improvements which empower the language to face real world problems such as: human errors, process delays, parallel processes and detail information description. The experimentation field comprised from a common production system. Improved IDEF0 seem to overcome several deficiencies and increase its modeling performance. Results showed that language deficiencies were clarified. Thus, the improvements made, constitute better modeling performance and the development of more reliable models. Presented on: International Journal of Business and Management

Computer games become more and more important, as a tool to support education and training at school and university, as well as vocational training in industry. Contrary to the development of business software, the design of a computer game has to follow other development principles, specifically when collecting the end user (potential gamer) requirements. This paper presents two different approaches used to collect end user requirements for the development of computer games to be applied as vocational training tool in the manufacturing industry. These approaches are compared with each other, and analyzed against traditional requirements methods from software engineering. The paper presents the result of the analysis, along with the lessons learnt.

Machinability tends to remain a term which means ‘all things to all men’.We have investigate the possibility of quantifying machinability by an “easy to run” cutting test that can be adapted to end user requirements, based on a cutting force signal processing by a neural network. Results are encouraging but they need some improvement.

IMN networks are a reality in the United States. Corporations, both large and small have found the enhanced services provided by ISDN to be productive and beneficial. The ATTvalive techniques, determined end user requirements for both voice and data. Voice requirements in cluded capacity, call coyerage@ andjeature configurations, while data engineering included performance requirements and ex pected network usage This paper highlights the early experiences with the AT&T ISDN 5ESS Switch in the United States. It also describes, in delai4 theplatutingprocess used to determine the ISDN require ownts, and the ongoing effort needed, for implementing a large scale corporate integrated voice and data network for Bell Laboratories.

Identifying and understanding end-user requirements is a critical activity throughout system design. To be effective, system design engineers must ask 'Who are we designing for?' but equally important are the questions 'What will they be doing with it?' and 'What level of performance or safety do they need to achieve?'. Only by answering these questions is it possible to design a system that takes account of human capabilities and limitations, ultimately promoting performance and safety. To achieve this, human factors (HF) integration within design can help ensure the suitability of the physical workplace and environment as well as the tasks which staff are required to carry out. Case studies from the oil and gas industry are used to illustrate good practice in HF integration, where involvement of HF from an early lifecycle stage avoided the need for costly rework later. These are contrasted with a case where failure to consider end-user requirements in an offshore control room re-engineering project resulted in remedial work being carried out to address a range of HF problems being experienced by control room personnel. From this it is argued that HF integration is neither costly, time consuming nor a matter of common sense.

The NYNEX Shuttle is a research and development testbed for prototyping concepts for public switched network based multimedia communication services with special emphasis on video services. The Shuttle provides services to employees of NYNEX who need to communicate between its two laboratories in Cambridge, MA and White Plains, NY, by utilizing mixed-media telecommunications facilities and prototype applications. The primary objective of the NYNEX Shuttle project is to evaluate end user requirements for multimedia communications. Since the emphasis is on user applications and not on the technologies, the services are provided using a combination of off-the-shelf technologies and laboratory prototypes requiring both analog and digital transmission. >

The delivery of effective human performance in railway operations requires human factors approaches and expertise to be integrated into projects from an early stage of design. Significant influence is currently required with both project and operations contributors to ensure that human factors requirements are actually delivered. The following topics are discussed: assessing and ensuring human reliability; addressing end user requirements in engineering design; and delivering the right people and processes. (5 pages)

In designing a medical device where assembly is required, one must take into account not only the part design, but also the assembly process, the joint design and the level of process control. Factors, such as, material, part size, and geometry and end user requirements are critical and need to be considered to insure that identical results are obtained in the laboratory and the actual production environment. This chapter discusses some of the problems that can occur during the development process, along with possible solutions to rectify them. Today's medical device manufacturers are under tremendous pressure to bring products to market faster than their competition. It also explains that there are three considerations for medical plastics manufacturers: choosing the appropriate process and alternative methods, joint and general part design, and process control.

The control and monitoring systems used in conjunction with electric trace heating applications have become increasingly sophisticated over recent years, as end user requirements of process information has grown. Here, the authors describe how the development of fibre optic technology lends itself to providing total process information point-to-point along a continuous length of `heated system' in what is known as distributed temperature sensing. (6 pages)

This paper deals with the main role of timing properties in communication stacks (respectively Application processes) to achieve interoperability (respectively interworking) of equipment (respectively Application processes) in real-time distributed applications. The inter-operability (respectively interworking) property expresses the global capability of equipment (respectively Application processes) to exchange informations and cooperate in order to meet the end user requirements.

Acrylesterol/isocyanate chemistry makes possible a whole new economical method to produce structural composites . . . economically. A materials revolution has begun with use of the cost effective RIM process and preplaced fiber reinforcement technology. Advancements in polymer technology, machine design, and reinforcement construction promise to make structural RIM the preferred composite production process for today and tomorrow. Ashland will continue to lead this materials revolution with the advent of new ARIMAX resin chemistries, the 2000, 3000, and beyond series are just around the corner to satisfy end user requirements with unique reactive chemistry.

Ongoing regulation of, and concerns regarding, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (also popularly known as “highly fluorinated chemicals”), has driven the textile market to search for sustainable alternative chemistries that can provide similar liquid repellency to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in performance textiles. This paper aims to inform the potential substitution of fluorochemicals with more environmentally friendly durable water repellents, taking a case-by-case approach and evaluating protection needs for consumer outdoor clothing and medical protective clothing separately. Recently developed non-fluorinated durable water repellents, some based on green chemistry principles, were evaluated in an in-depth assessment for their functionality against fluorinated short-chain alternatives (with hydro-and oleophobic moieties of carbon chain length of six or less). Repellency towards water and non-polar liquids was evaluated with established standard test methods and by measuring the roll-off angle of liquid droplets with a novel sample holder setup. This improved method allowed an enhanced mechanistic understanding of the droplets’ roll-off processes on woven textiles. The best non-fluorinated alternatives demonstrated high water repellency equal to fluorinated side-chain polymers with 'short' fluorinated carbon chains ≤6 carbons, and should be considered as suitable substitutes for consumer outdoor clothing. These results are supported by a survey of end-use requirements indicating water repellency and durability were the most important purchasing criteria. For polar liquids, with lower surface tensions, the repellency provided by non-fluorinated alternatives was clearly reduced, although they had a moderate repellency towards liquids with intermediate polarity (e.g. red wine or synthetic blood). Only fluorinated side-chain polymers with 'short' fluorinated carbon chains ≤6 carbons were seen to provide sufficient protection to polar liquids with very low surface tension (olive oil or gastric fluid). Since occupational protective clothing (e.g. medical clothing) often must provide protection against liquid of a wider range of polarities (e.g. in the case of medical clothing, to bodily fluids and protect the wearer from the transmission of diseases), current non-fluorinated DWRs do not provide sufficient liquid repellency. This implies that innovations in textile technology are still needed to substitute PFASs in some types of occupational protective clothing and other end uses where oil and stain repellency is essential.

The selection of a computer system to satisfy an end-user requirement can be very difficult. With the advent of cheap microcomputers in the early 1980s, many small- to medium-sized organisations which had never had computer systems of their own started to purchase microcomputer and minicomputer systems. It was, and still is, very easy to purchase a system which, at best, is difficult for non-computer literate staff to use, or at worst, does not satisfy the end-user requirements. This paper describes techniques which can be used to formalise the purchase of small- to medium-sized computer systems.