@misc{RamsauerBulwahnLohmannetal., author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Bulwahn, Lukas and Lohmann, Daniel and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {The Sound of Silence: Mining Security Vulnerabilities from Secret Integration Channels in Open-Source Projects}, series = {MiniDebConf Regensburg (MDC) 2021}, journal = {MiniDebConf Regensburg (MDC) 2021}, address = {Regensburg}, organization = {Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg}, language = {en} } @misc{Mauerer, author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Embedded Linux Quality Assurance: How to Not Lie with Statistics}, series = {Embedded Linux Conference North America ; OpenIoTSummit North America}, journal = {Embedded Linux Conference North America ; OpenIoTSummit North America}, abstract = {Embedded Linux drives an every-increasing number of appliances in many domains and applications, some even real-time and/or safety critical. Traditional quality assurance of such systems is based on testing and formal verification, but the huge amount of code and the rapid dynamics of the Linux ecosystem, as well as fundamental limitations of formal methods make these approaches unsatisfactory. Statistical quality assurance for reliability, error rates, maximal latencies etc. is needed. We will discuss current best practises, how to design and run automated statistical tests that capture relevant information, and how to properly evaluate the resulting data. Practical real-world examples and recipes are played through using the open source R language. Most importantly, we identify common mistakes in (over-)interpreting statistical results and predictions that may eventually harm people.}, language = {en} } @misc{RamsauerKiszkaMauerer, author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Kiszka, Jan and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Building Mixed Criticality Linux Systems with the Jailhouse Hypervisor}, series = {Embedded Lunux Conference + OpenIoTSummit, Portland, OR, 21.-23.02.2017}, journal = {Embedded Lunux Conference + OpenIoTSummit, Portland, OR, 21.-23.02.2017}, abstract = {The partitioning hypervisor Jaihouse allows us to run safety critical and uncritical applications in parallel on a single SoC. We present our experiences when porting a safety and real-time critical existing application as a Jailhouse guest. It shows a novel and promising approach for implementing mixed-criticality applications with real-time requirement while not loosing the benefits of Linux. This is done by static partitioning of hardware resources; guests do not interfere. We will present a multicopter platform running the real-time critical flight stack in an isolated Jailhouse guest. This proves the practicability of Jailhouse as well as the suitability for real-time safety critical systems by porting an existing application to a Jailhouse cell. We stress its concept and show up current hardware limitations, like undesired behaviour and present possible workarounds and solutions.}, language = {en} } @misc{RamsauerDudaBulwahnetal., author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Duda, Sebastian and Bulwahn, Lukas and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {The list is our process! An analysis of the kernel's email-based development process}, series = {Embedded Linux Conference Europe, Lyon 28.10.2019}, journal = {Embedded Linux Conference Europe, Lyon 28.10.2019}, language = {en} } @misc{RamsauerDudaMauereretal., author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Duda, Sebastian and Mauerer, Wolfgang and Bulwahn, Lukas}, title = {The list is our process: An analysis of the kernel's email-based development process}, series = {Linux Plumbers Conference, Lisbon September 9, 2019}, journal = {Linux Plumbers Conference, Lisbon September 9, 2019}, language = {en} } @misc{RamsauerKiszkaLohmannetal., author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Kiszka, Jan and Lohmann, Daniel and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Implementierung gemischt kritischer Systeme durch statische Hardwarepartitionierung}, series = {Fr{\"u}hjahrstreffen der Fachgruppen Betriebssysteme, Hannover, 2. M{\"a}rz 2018}, journal = {Fr{\"u}hjahrstreffen der Fachgruppen Betriebssysteme, Hannover, 2. M{\"a}rz 2018}, language = {de} } @misc{Mauerer, author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Safety, Security, Quality: Artificial Intelligence versus Common Sense}, series = {Open Source Summit North America and Embedded Linux Conference North America 2020}, journal = {Open Source Summit North America and Embedded Linux Conference North America 2020}, language = {en} } @misc{RamsauerKiszkaMauerer, author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Kiszka, Jan and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Spectre and Meltdown vs. Real-Time: How Much do Mitigations Cost?}, series = {Embedded Linux Conference Europe 2018, October 22 - 24, 2018, Edinburgh, UK}, journal = {Embedded Linux Conference Europe 2018, October 22 - 24, 2018, Edinburgh, UK}, language = {en} } @misc{Mauerer, author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Open Source in Research and Reality}, series = {Open Source Summit North America and Embedded Linux Conference North America 2020}, journal = {Open Source Summit North America and Embedded Linux Conference North America 2020}, language = {en} } @misc{RamsauerLohmannMauerer, author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Lohmann, Daniel and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Quantifying Upstream Integration with PaStA}, series = {LTSI Workshop @ ELC17}, journal = {LTSI Workshop @ ELC17}, language = {en} } @misc{Mauerer, author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Approaches to Ultra Long-Term System Maintenance}, series = {Embedded Linux Conference Europe (Berlin), 2016}, journal = {Embedded Linux Conference Europe (Berlin), 2016}, language = {en} } @misc{Mauerer, author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Socio-Technical Aspects of Long Term Embedded Systems Maintenance}, series = {Embedded Linux Conference, April 4-6, 2016, San Diego}, journal = {Embedded Linux Conference, April 4-6, 2016, San Diego}, language = {en} } @misc{MintelRamsauerLohmannetal., author = {Mintel, Mario and Ramsauer, Ralf and Lohmann, Daniel and Scherzinger, Stefanie and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Fork {\`a} la carte f{\"u}r In-Memory-Datenbanken}, series = {Fr{\"u}hjahrstreffen der Fachgruppen Betriebssysteme, Hamburg, 17. M{\"a}rz 2022}, journal = {Fr{\"u}hjahrstreffen der Fachgruppen Betriebssysteme, Hamburg, 17. M{\"a}rz 2022}, language = {de} } @misc{BielmeierMauerer, author = {Bielmeier, Benno and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Semi-Formal Verification of Embedded Linux Systems Using Trace-Based Models}, series = {Semi-Formal Verification of Embedded Linux Systems Using Trace-Based Models}, journal = {Semi-Formal Verification of Embedded Linux Systems Using Trace-Based Models}, language = {en} } @misc{MauererWagner, author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang and Wagner, Daniel}, title = {Cyclic Tests Unleashed: Large-Scale RT Analysis with Jitterdebugger}, series = {Open Source Summit Japan (Tokio) and OSSNA 17.07.2019}, journal = {Open Source Summit Japan (Tokio) and OSSNA 17.07.2019}, language = {en} } @article{SchoenbergerScherzingerMauerer, author = {Sch{\"o}nberger, Manuel and Scherzinger, Stefanie and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Ready to Leap (by Co-Design)? Join Order Optimisation on Quantum Hardware}, series = {Proceedings of the ACM on Management of Data, PACMMOD}, volume = {1}, journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Management of Data, PACMMOD}, number = {1}, publisher = {ACM}, address = {New York, NY,}, doi = {10.1145/3588946}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:898-opus4-56634}, pages = {1 -- 27}, abstract = {The prospect of achieving computational speedups by exploiting quantum phenomena makes the use of quantum processing units (QPUs) attractive for many algorithmic database problems. Query optimisation, which concerns problems that typically need to explore large search spaces, seems like an ideal match for the known quantum algorithms. We present the first quantum implementation of join ordering, which is one of the most investigated and fundamental query optimisation problems, based on a reformulation to quadratic binary unconstrained optimisation problems. We empirically characterise our method on two state-of-the-art approaches (gate-based quantum computing and quantum annealing), and identify speed-ups compared to the best know classical join ordering approaches for input sizes that can be processed with current quantum annealers. However, we also confirm that limits of early-stage technology are quickly reached. Current QPUs are classified as noisy, intermediate scale quantum computers (NISQ), and are restricted by a variety of limitations that reduce their capabilities as compared to ideal future quantum computers, which prevents us from scaling up problem dimensions and reaching practical utility. To overcome these challenges, our formulation accounts for specific QPU properties and limitations, and allows us to trade between achievable solution quality and possible problem size. In contrast to all prior work on quantum computing for query optimisation and database-related challenges, we go beyond currently available QPUs, and explicitly target the scalability limitations: Using insights gained from numerical simulations and our experimental analysis, we identify key criteria for co-designing QPUs to improve their usefulness for join ordering, and show how even relatively minor physical architectural improvements can result in substantial enhancements. Finally, we outline a path towards practical utility of custom-designed QPUs.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{RamsauerLohmannMauerer, author = {Ramsauer, Ralf and Lohmann, Daniel and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {The List is the Process: Reliable Pre-Integration Tracking of Commits on Mailing Lists}, series = {2019 IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), 25-31 May 2019, Montreal, QC, Canada}, booktitle = {2019 IEEE/ACM 41st International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE), 25-31 May 2019, Montreal, QC, Canada}, publisher = {IEEE}, doi = {10.1109/ICSE.2019.00088}, pages = {807 -- 818}, abstract = {A considerable corpus of research on software evolution focuses on mining changes in software repositories, but omits their pre-integration history. We present a novel method for tracking this otherwise invisible evolution of software changes on mailing lists by connecting all early revisions of changes to their final version in repositories. Since artefact modifications on mailing lists are communicated by updates to fragments (i.e., patches) only, identifying semantically similar changes is a non-trivial task that our approach solves in a language-independent way. We evaluate our method on high-profile open source software (OSS) projects like the Linux kernel, and validate its high accuracy using an elaborately created ground truth. Our approach can be used to quantify properties of OSS development processes, which is an essential requirement for using OSS in reliable or safety-critical industrial products, where certifiability and conformance to processes are crucial. The high accuracy of our technique allows, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time to quantitatively determine if an open development process effectively aligns with given formal process requirements.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MauererScherzinger, author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang and Scherzinger, Stefanie}, title = {Nullius in Verba: Reproducibility for Database Systems Research, Revisited}, series = {2021 IEEE 37th International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2021): 19-22 April 2021, Chania, Greece}, booktitle = {2021 IEEE 37th International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2021): 19-22 April 2021, Chania, Greece}, editor = {Ailamaki, Anastasia}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {Piscataway, NJ}, isbn = {978-1-7281-9184-3}, doi = {10.1109/ICDE51399.2021.00270}, pages = {2377 -- 2380}, abstract = {Over the last decade, reproducibility of experimental results has been a prime focus in database systems research, and many high-profile conferences award results that can be independently verified. Since database systems research involves complex software stacks that non-trivially interact with hardware, sharing experimental setups is anything but trivial: Building a working reproduction package goes far beyond providing a DOI to some repository hosting data, code, and setup instructions.This tutorial revisits reproducible engineering in the face of state-of-the-art technology, and best practices gained in other computer science research communities. In particular, in the hands-on part, we demonstrate how to package entire system software stacks for dissemination. To ascertain long-term reproducibility over decades (or ideally, forever), we discuss why relying on open source technologies massively employed in industry has essential advantages over approaches crafted specifically for research. Supplementary material shows how version control systems that allow for non-linearly rewriting recorded history can document the structured genesis behind experimental setups in a way that is substantially easier to understand, without involvement of the original authors, compared to detour-ridden, strictly historic evolution.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MauererRamsauerLucasetal., author = {Mauerer, Wolfgang and Ramsauer, Ralf and Lucas, Edson R. F. and Scherzinger, Stefanie}, title = {Silentium! Run-Analyse-Eradicate the Noise out of the DB/OS Stack}, series = {Datenbanksysteme f{\"u}r Business, Technologie und Web (BTW 2021): 13.-17. September 2021, Dresden, Deutschland}, booktitle = {Datenbanksysteme f{\"u}r Business, Technologie und Web (BTW 2021): 13.-17. September 2021, Dresden, Deutschland}, publisher = {Gesellschaft f{\"u}r Informatik}, doi = {10.18420/btw2021-21}, pages = {397 -- 421}, abstract = {When multiple tenants compete for resources, database performance tends to suffer. Yet there are scenarios where guaranteed sub-millisecond latencies are crucial, such as in real-time data processing, IoT devices, or when operating in safety-critical environments. In this paper, we study how to make query latencies deterministic in the face of noise (whether caused by other tenants or unrelated operating system tasks). We perform controlled experiments with an in-memory database engine in a multi-tenant setting, where we successively eradicate noisy interference from within the system software stack, to the point where the engine runs close to bare-metal on the underlying hardware. We show that we can achieve query latencies comparable to the database engine running as the sole tenant, but without noticeably impacting the workload of competing tenants. We discuss these results in the context of ongoing efforts to build custom operating systems for database workloads, and point out that for certain use cases, the margin for improvement is rather narrow. In fact, for scenarios like ours, existing operating systems might just be good enough, provided that they are expertly configured. We then critically discuss these findings in the light of a broader family of database systems (e.g., including disk-based), and how to extend the approach of this paper accordingly. Low-latency databases; tail latency; real-time databases; bounded-time query processing; DB-OS co-engineering}, language = {de} } @article{FranzWolfPeriyasamyetal., author = {Franz, Maja and Wolf, Lucas and Periyasamy, Maniraman and Ufrecht, Christian and Scherer, Daniel D. and Plinge, Axel and Mutschler, Christopher and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Uncovering Instabilities in Variational-Quantum Deep Q-Networks}, series = {Journal of the Franklin Institute}, journal = {Journal of the Franklin Institute}, edition = {In Press, Corrected Proof}, publisher = {Elsevier}, issn = {0016-0032}, doi = {10.1016/j.jfranklin.2022.08.021}, abstract = {Deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) has considerably advanced over the past decade. At the same time, state-of-the-art RL algorithms require a large computational budget in terms of training time to converge. Recent work has started to approach this problem through the lens of quantum computing, which promises theoretical speed-ups for several traditionally hard tasks. In this work, we examine a class of hybrid quantumclassical RL algorithms that we collectively refer to as variational quantum deep Q-networks (VQ-DQN). We show that VQ-DQN approaches are subject to instabilities that cause the learned policy to diverge, study the extent to which this afflicts reproduciblity of established results based on classical simulation, and perform systematic experiments to identify potential explanations for the observed instabilities. Additionally, and in contrast to most existing work on quantum reinforcement learning, we execute RL algorithms on an actual quantum processing unit (an IBM Quantum Device) and investigate differences in behaviour between simulated and physical quantum systems that suffer from implementation deficiencies. Our experiments show that, contrary to opposite claims in the literature, it cannot be conclusively decided if known quantum approaches, even if simulated without physical imperfections, can provide an advantage as compared to classical approaches. Finally, we provide a robust, universal and well-tested implementation of VQ-DQN as a reproducible testbed for future experiments.}, language = {en} } @article{SaxFeldZielinskietal., author = {Sax, Irmi and Feld, Sebastian and Zielinski, Sebastian and Gabor, Thomas and Linnhoff-Popien, Claudia and Mauerer, Wolfgang}, title = {Towards Understanding Approximation Complexity on a Quantum Annealer}, series = {Digitale Welt}, volume = {4}, journal = {Digitale Welt}, number = {1}, publisher = {DIGITALE WELT Academy c/o Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit{\"a}t M{\"u}nchen}, address = {M{\"u}nchen}, doi = {10.1007/s42354-019-0244-1}, pages = {104}, abstract = {Many industrially relevant problems can be deterministically solved by computers in principle, but are intractable in practice, as the seminal P/NP dichotomy of complexity theory and Cobham's thesis testify. For the many NP-complete problems, industry needs to resort to using heuristics or approximation algorithms. For approximation algorithms, there is a more refined classification in complexity classes that goes beyond the simple P/NP dichotomy. As it is well known, approximation classes form a hierarchy, that is, FPTAS \subseteq PTAS \subseteq APX \subseteq NPO. This classification gives a more realistic notion of complexity but—unless unexpected breakthroughs happen for fundamental problems like P = NP or related questions— there is no known efficient algorithm that can solve such problems exactly on a realistic computer. Therefore, new ways of computations are sought. Recently, considerable hope was placed on the possible computational powers of quantum computers and quantum annealing (QA) in particular. However, the precise benefits of such a drastic shift in hardware are still unchartered territory to a good extent. Firstly, the exact relations between classical and quantum complexity classes pose many open questions, and secondly, technical details of formulating and implementing quantum algorithms play a crucial role in real-world applications. Guided by the hierarchy of classical optimisation complexity classes, we discuss how to map problems of each class to a quantum annealer. Those problems are the Minimum Multiprocessor Scheduling (MMS) problem, the Minimum Vertex Cover (MVC) problem and the Maximum Independent Set (MIS) problem. We experimentally investigate if and how the degree of approximability influences implementation and run-time performance. Our experiments indicate a discrepancy between classical approximation complexity and QA behaviour: Problems MIS and MVC, members of APX respectively PTAS, exhibit better solution quality on a QA than MMS, which is in FPTAS, even despite the use of preprocessing the for latter. This leads to the hypothesis that traditional classifications do not immediately extend to the quantum annealing domain, at least when the properties of real-world devices are taken into account. A structural reason, why FPTAS problems do not show good solution quality, might be the use of an inequlity in the problem description of the FPTAS problems. Formulating those inequalities on a quantum hardware (mostly done by formulating a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary optimisation (QUBO) problem in form of a matrix) requires a lot of hardware space which makes finding an optimal solution more difficult. Reducing the density of a QUBO is possible by appropriately pruning QUBO matrices. For the problems considered in our evaluation, we find that the achievable solution quality on a real-world machine is unexpectedly robust against pruning, often up to ratios as high as 50\% or more. Since quantum annealers are probabilistic machines by design, the loss in solution quality is only of subordinate relevance, especially considering that the pruning of QUBO matrices allows for solving larger problem instances on hardware of a given capacity. We quantitatively discuss the interplay between these factors.}, language = {en} }