[vstplugin~] – A Pd external for hosting VST plugins

[vstplugin~] is a cross-platform Pure Data external for hosting VST 2 and VST 3 plugins that has been developed at the IEM in Graz. The external provides an extensive set of features which span several topics, such as channel layout, plugin search, real-time safety, GUI editor, parameter automation, preset management, MIDI events, transport and timing, bridging and sandboxing, multithreading and offline processing. We show the development process and discuss previous work in this area. We also cover the history of the VST technology, explain the differences between the VST 2 and VST 3 SDK and offer insight into their inner workings. Finally, we discuss possible improvements and extensions for the future.

Performance assessment of GNSS-based real-time navigation for the Sentinel-6 spacecraft

The feasibility of precise real-time orbit determination of low earth orbit satellites using onboard GNSS observations is assessed using six months of flight data from the Sentinel-6A mission. Based on offline processing of dual-constellation pseudorange and carrier phase measurements as well as broadcast ephemerides in a sequential filter with a reduced dynamic force model, navigation solutions with a representative position error of 10 cm (3D RMS) are achieved. The overall performance is largely enabled by the superior quality of the Galileo broadcast ephemerides, which exhibits a two- to three-times smaller signal-in-space-range error than GPS and allows for geodetic-grade GNSS real-time orbit determination without a need for external correction services. Compared to GPS-only processing, a roughly two-times better navigation accuracy is achieved in a Galileo-only or mixed GPS/Galileo processing. On the other hand, GPS tracking offers a useful complement and additional robustness in view of a still incomplete Galileo constellation. Furthermore, it provides improved autonomy of the navigation process through the availability of earth orientation parameters in the new civil navigation message of the L2C signal. Overall, GNSS-based onboard orbit determination can now reach a similar performance as the DORIS (Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite) navigation system. It lends itself as a viable alternative for future remote sensing missions.

Processing of the Mandarin polarity item renhe ‘any’

The Mandarin renhe is similar to the English any in terms of polarity sensitivity (Wang 1993; Wang & Hsieh 1996; Kuo 2003; Cheng & Giannakidou 2013; Shyu 2016). However, the following phenomena regarding any in relative clause environments have not been surveyed with respect to renhe: (a) the NPI illusion effect reported in studies like Parker & Phillips (2011; 2016); (b) the subtrigging effect discussed in LeGrand (1975) and Dayal (1998; 2004). We conducted two untimed, offline acceptability judgment experiments and the results suggest that: (i) NPI illusion does not appear in Mandarin in untimed offline processing, (ii) the subtrigging effect of renhe holds, and (iii) renhe can be licensed by certain types of declarative verbs like tongyi ‘agree’ and zancheng ‘approve’. The results confirm the strict structural requirement of the c-commanding relation between a negation licensor and renhe (Wang 1993) and the licensing of renhe in non-veridical contexts (Cheng & Giannakidou 2013), and further suggest additional licensing environments for renhe: relative clauses and declarative verbs. This requires reconsideration of positing non-veridicality as a necessary licensing condition for renhe and calls for future research on how renhe is licensed under these two licensing environments.

Accuracy Assessment of a Variety of GPS Data Processing, Online Services and Software

The processing of GPS observations in precise positioning is complex and requires professional surveyors since it must be carried out after each static measurement. In GPS network adjustment, the obtaining of the correct coordinates of the determined point is possible after determining the components of GPS vectors and aligning the networks of these vectors, while PPP requires the availability of precise products for the reference satellites orbits and clock. For that reason, surveyors can take advantage of free online GPS data processing. In this paper, the authors compare the results obtained from different sources of free online GPS data processing (AUSPOS, OPUS, CenterPoint RTX, APPS, MagicGNSS, CSRS-PPP, GAPS, and SCOUT) in terms of their accuracy, availability, and operation. This is then compared with free GPS processing software (gLAB and RTKLIB), and finally with commercial software (TBC Trimble Business Center). The results show that online processing services are more accurate than offline processing software, which indicates the strength of their algorithms and processes. The CSRS-PPP online service had the best results. The difference between the relative solution of AUSPOS and OPUS, and CSRS-PPP is insignificant.

A Factor-Graph-Based Approach to Vehicle Sideslip Angle Estimation

Sideslip angle is an important variable for understanding and monitoring vehicle dynamics, but there is currently no inexpensive method for its direct measurement. Therefore, it is typically estimated from proprioceptive sensors onboard using filtering methods from the family of the Kalman filter. As a novel alternative, this work proposes modeling the problem directly as a graphical model (factor graph), which can then be optimized using a variety of methods, such as whole-dataset batch optimization for offline processing or fixed-lag smoothing for on-line operation. Experimental results on real vehicle datasets validate the proposal, demonstrating a good agreement between estimated and actual sideslip angle, showing similar performance to state-of-the-art methods but with a greater potential for future extensions due to the more flexible mathematical framework. An open-source implementation of the proposed framework has been made available online.

Becoming Native-Like for Good or Ill: Online and Offline Processing of Case Forms in L2 Russian

One of the central questions in second language processing studies is whether native (L1) and second language (L2) readers process sentences relying on the same mechanisms or there are qualitative differences. As their proficiency grows, L2 readers become more efficient, but it is difficult to determine whether they develop native-like mechanisms or rely on different strategies. Our study contributes to this debate by focusing on constructions that were demonstrated to cause characteristic problems in L1 processing: a particular type of case errors in Russian was taken as an example. We investigated how beginner and intermediate learners of Russian process such errors, measuring reading times and grammaticality judgment accuracy. At the beginner level, we found non-native-like patterns both in online and in offline measures. But at the intermediate level, native-like problems emerged in offline measures. In our view, this is a strong indication that these readers are using the same underlying mechanisms as in L1 processing. In online measures, L2 readers at both levels were, in general, much slower than native participants and exhibited characteristic non-native-like patterns, which we explained by delayed morphosyntactic processing. We conclude that our results are compatible with approaches, assuming that the mechanisms for L1 and advanced L2 processing are the same, but L2 processing is more cognitively demanding and therefore slower.

Definite Descriptions in the Light of the Comprehension vs. Acceptance Distinction: Comparing Self-Paced Reading with Eye-Tracking Measures

This paper presents two experiments on the processing of informative definite descriptions in plausible vs. implausible contexts. Experiment 1 is a self-paced reading task (with French native speakers, n = 69), with sentences containing a definite vs. indefinite NP, each preceded by plausible or implausible contexts. Our study replicated Singh and colleagues’ findings, namely that definite descriptions are significantly costlier when they occur in implausible contexts. The translation of the original stimuli from English to French did not affect the results, suggesting that the phenomenon applies cross-linguistically. Experiment 2 consists in an eye-tracking task, designed to measure the participants’ (n = 44) gaze patterns on complete sentences with the same four conditions (definite vs. indefinite NP; implausible vs. implausible contexts). A mixed effect model analysis revealed that (a) the total gaze duration on target segments and (b) the processing of the complete sentence were significantly longer in implausible conditions. These results show that implausible contexts predict a marked increase in the offline processing costs of definite descriptions. However, no significant difference was found for online processing measures (i.e., first fixation duration, first-pass reading time and regression path time measures) across all experimental conditions. These results suggest that it is only once the sentence is fully processed that implausible contexts increase processing costs. Furthermore, these results raise methodological issues related to the study of the online processing of definite descriptions, to the extent that self-paced reading and eye-tracking methods in the present study lead to incompatible results. With respect to the eye-tracking results, we suggest that the contrast between online and offline processing is likely to reflect the fact that participants first adopt a stance of trust to understand utterances before filtering the information through their epistemic vigilance module.

The Decay and Consolidation of Effector-Independent Motor Memories

Learning a motor adaptation task produces intrinsically unstable or transient motor memories. Despite the presence of effector-independent motor memories following the learning of novel environmental dynamics, it remains largely unknown how those memory traces decay in different contexts and whether an “offline” consolidation period protects memories against decay. Here, we exploit inter-effector transfer to address these questions. We found that newly-acquired motor memories formed with one effector could be partially retrieved by the untrained effector to enhance its performance when the decay occurred with the passage of time or “washout” trials on which error feedback was provided. The decay of motor memories was slower following “error-free” trials, on which errors were artificially clamped to zero or removed, compared with “washout” trials. However, effector-independent memory components were abolished following movements made in the absence of performance error, resulting in no transfer gains. The brain can consolidate motor memories during daytime wakefulness. We found that 6 hours of wakeful resting increased the resistance of effector-independent memories to decay across all contexts. Collectively, our results suggest that the decay of effector-independent motor memories is context dependent and offline processing preserves those memories against decay, leading to improvements of the subsequent inter-effector transfer.

A Non-Intrusive Tool Chain to Optimize MPSoC End-to-End Systems

Multi-core systems are now found in many electronic devices. But does current software design fully leverage their capabilities? The complexity of the hardware and software stacks in these platforms requires software optimization with end-to-end knowledge of the system. To optimize software performance, we must have accurate information about system behavior and time losses. Standard monitoring engines impose tradeoffs on profiling tools, making it impossible to reconcile all the expected requirements: accurate hardware views, fine-grain measurements, speed, and so on. Subsequently, new approaches have to be examined. In this article, we propose a non-intrusive, accurate tool chain, which can reveal and quantify slowdowns in low-level software mechanisms. Based on emulation, this tool chain extracts behavioral information (time, contention) through hardware side channels, without distorting the software execution flow. This tool consists of two parts. (1) An online acquisition part that dumps hardware platform signals. (2) An offline processing part that consolidates meaningful behavioral information from the dumped data. Using our tool chain, we studied and propose optimizations to MultiProcessor System on Chip (MPSoC) support in the Linux kernel, saving about 60% of the time required for the release phase of the GNU OpenMP synchronization barrier when running on a 64-core MPSoC.

The Role of Task-Essential Training and Working Memory in Offline and Online Morphological Processing

This study investigates the effects of task-essential training on offline and online processing of verbal morphology and explores how working memory (WM) modulates the effects of training. We compare a no-training control group to two training groups who completed a multisession task-essential training focused on Spanish verbal inflections related to person–number agreement and tense. Effects of training were evaluated using an offline aural interpretation task and an online self-paced reading (SPR) assessment, administered as a pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. Results showed that training led to more accurate interpretation of both person-number and tense information in the offline interpretation test. While higher WM was associated generally with greater accuracy, higher WM did not lead to greater gains from training. The SPR results showed that training did not increase sensitivity to subject–verb agreement or adverb–verb tense violations. However, among participants who underwent training, WM enhanced sensitivity under some conditions. These results demonstrate a role for individual differences in WM for offline and online processing, and they suggest that while task-essential training has been shown repeatedly to improve offline processing of target forms, its effects on online processing of redundant verbal morphology are more limited. Implications for L2 learning are discussed.