Introduction In 2015, the reintegration of three satellite centers into our department was finalized: • The Center for Embedded Software Systems joined the department as the new Division ”Software and Systems Center” • The human-computer interaction group of the ICT&S Center has been integrated into the department as the Division ”Center for Human-Computer Interaction” • The Center for High Performance Computing joined the department as a new division. Starting from October 2015, Robert Els¨asserand Andreas Uhl were elected to co-heads of the department. Manfred Tscheligi serves as deputy head. The required reorganization of all Computer Science Bachelor’s and Master’s Programs, as well as the renewal of the Computer Science Teacher Education Program have been started. These processes are going to be finalized in 2016. The current report describes the various achievements of the department in 2015. The research projects, scientific publications, courses taught, theses advised, and further activities of each research group are presented and specified. We hope, we provided a brief insight into our department and could awake interest. Heads of Department Univ.-Prof. Dr. Andreas Uhl Univ.-Prof. Dr. Robert Els¨asser UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG | DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCES Annual Report 2015 | 1 Divisions 1 Aerospace Research 3 2 Center for High Performance Computing 14 3 Center for Human-Computer Interaction 17 4 Database Systems 40 5 Efficient Algorithms 45 6 Scientific Computation 53 7 Software Systems Center 59 8 Visual Computing and Multimedia 66 2 | Annual Report 2015 1 Aerospace Research Overview Vision The Aeronautical Research Group of the The vision of the Aerospace Research department has an ongoing tradition of re- Group is to support the sustainable mod- search in the areas of air traffic simula- ernization of European air traffic manage- Head tion and wireless communication network ment. The group’s research topics are cen- Hon.-Prof. Dr. Carl-Herbert design. Currently it is extending its exper- tered on three main areas of work: Rokitansky tise to new aerospace research topics like • Communication: Development of noise abatement, human-in-the-loop sim- new wireless technologies, integration Funded Project Staff ulations, and air traffic management op- of networks, communication security. timization. The research groups’ sophis- ticated simulation tools have been used • Procedures: Air traffic manage- • Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Kurt Eschbacher in a great number of national and in- ment procedures supported by au- • Martin Mayr ternational projects and helped to evalu- tomation, human-in-the-loop simula- ate existing systems and design new ones. tion, evaluation and validation of new • Dipl.-Ing. Elias Pschernig The aerospace group was able to estab- procedures. lish its expertise in range of relevant top- ics within the field of aerospace research. • Environment: Air traffic forecast Through this research group the Univer- simulation, noise abatement, CO2 re- sity of Salzburg is involved in the ”Single duction. European Sky ATM Research” joint under- taking of the European Union. Find more information at http://www.aero.sbg.ac. at/. UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG | DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCES Annual Report 2015 | 3 1.1 Project: AeroNauTicAl REsources Satellite based ANTARES (AeroNauTicAl REsources Satellite based) is the phase B study designing a new Satellite Communication System for Air Traffic Management, within the ESA Iris program (element 10 of ARTES). The Iris program is the Aerospace Research satellite-based solution for the Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) Project-Facts: program. By 2020 it will contribute to the modernization of air traffic man- agement by providing digital data links to cockpit crews in continental and Duration 2009 - 2015 oceanic airspace. Within the Iris program, ANTARES is a two-year study that Partners Thales Alenia Space, Indra, Hon- focuses on the development of a new, purpose-built, satellite-based communica- eywell, AEdel Aerospace, Airtel tion system including low-cost user terminals and a new satellite communication ATN, Capgemini, esc, Frequen- standard. The performance of the telecommunication protocols selected for the tis, IGUA Software Systems, Inno- standard will be verified end-to-end by a verification test bed. vationszentrum Telekommunikation- The Aerospace Group’s major contribution is the continuing refinement of the stechnik GmbH, next, OHB System, simulation models used for the dimensioning analysis of the system. The work SINTEF, gmv, DLR, Space Engineer- includes extensive statistical evaluations of the expected air traffic and data ing, Wiser, antwerp space, Space Bel, traffic in the future and contributes significantly to the understanding of the AETHIS, Jast. technical requirements of the system. Funding European Space Agency / ESTEC 4 | Annual Report 2015 1.2 Project: Iris Communication Tool Based on expertise of the Aerospace Group of University of Salzburg / Com- puter Sciences Institute a special demonstration environment based on simula- tions and advanced graphics will be developed and delivered to the European Space Agency (ESA) for the purpose of demonstrating the principal functional- Aerospace Research Project-Facts: ity and benefits of future digital aeronautical satellite communications between aircraft and air traffic controllers and between crew and airline/airport via a Duration 2012 - 2015 dedicated communication satellite. The principal functionality and benefits of Funding ESA/ESTEC future digital aeronautical satellite communications will be demonstrated by a simulation / visualisation of a generic Air Traffic Controller (ATCO) work station, generic cockpit displays, an overview of the areas of satellite beam coverage and a generic visualisation of the data link between Air Traffic Con- trol Center, satellite ground station, future ESA/Iris satellite, aircraft (forward link) and the corresponding reverse link. UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG | DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCES Annual Report 2015 | 5 1.3 Project: MET4ATM Impact of Weather on ATM/ATC (Case Study of Adverse Weather Avoidance Modelling with Austro Control GmbH and Leibniz University Hannover Insti- tute of Meteorology and Climatology Hannover, Germany, since 2012). —The Aerospace Research aim of the study MET4ATM is to estimate the benefit of ground-based weather Project-Facts: information (Austrocontrol, ACG) for ATM in case of adverse weather con- ditions such as thunderstorms with regard to sector occupancies. This paper Duration 2012 - 2015 deals with the application of the weather avoidance model DIVMET(University Partners Austro Control, Universit¨at Han- Hannover, Prof. Hauf) coupled to the air traffic model NAVSIM (University nover Salzburg, Prof. Rokitansky). Aircraft are simulated based on the flight plan route and diverted around the storms keeping a safety margin. The analy- sis of the simulated trajectories compared with actually flown routes provides promising results in terms of optimized trajectories. The study is basis for further various applications e. g. the observation of a single aircraft or the handling of the entire air traffic over Central Europe. The last-mentioned scenario is a target-aimed part of the MET4ATM project for the purpose of making statements on sector capacities. 6 | Annual Report 2015 1.4 Project: MET4LOWW This FFG-Project’s aim is to improve safety and efficiency of air traffic. by implementation of meteo-data by fast time simulation (NAVSIM) and to derive ATM-concepts. The contribution of Paris Lodron University Salzburg - Aviation Competence Aerospace Research Project-Facts: Center in cooperation with ACG is the validation of meteo-data and air traffic scenarios in ATM/ATC, analyzed by fast time simulation to optimize arrival Duration 2015 - 2017 and departure management. Validation by Human in the Loop Simulation Partner Austrocontrol (ACG) improves the operational air traffic management. This project will be basis for Funding FFG an international validation testbed for future SESAR-solutions. UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG | DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCES Annual Report 2015 | 7 1.5 Project: ROLL2RAIL The aim of this project is to research on technologies and architectures to allow a new generation of train communication systems based on wireless transmis- sion for train control and monitoring (TCMS), functions and Infotainmant, Aerospace Research CCTV applications thus reducing or even completely eliminating in board Project-Facts: communication cables and simplifying the train coupling procedure. The contribution of University of Salzburg is to develop key technolo- Duration 2015 - 2017 gies and to remove identified blocking points for innovaton in the field Partner UNIFE - The European Rail Industry of railway vehicles as part of a longer term strategy to revolutionize Funding EU Horizon 2020 the rolling stock of the future. The results will be further developed, leading to demonstration in real vehicles or relevant environments. http://www.unife.org/news/115-kick-off-of-three-shift2rail- lighthouse-projects-roll2rail-it2rail-and-in2rail.html 8 | Annual Report 2015 1.6 Project: SESAR ACSES Academic for Single European Sky ATM Research The ACSES (ACademia at SESAR) consortium consists of 20 European Universities asociated with the SESAR Joint Undertaking. Partners: Aerospace Research Project-Facts: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Technische Universit¨atDres- den (TUD), UNIZA - Zilinska Univerzita v Ziline, Universita’ degli Studi di Duration 2011 - 2020 Trieste (UNITS), Paris-Lodron-Universitaet