Computer Engineering Commons^™

Peeking Into The Other Half Of The Glass : Handling Polarization In Recommender Systems., Mahsa Badami

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is about filtering and discovering information online while using recommender systems. In the first part of our research, we study the phenomenon of polarization and its impact on filtering and discovering information. Polarization is a social phenomenon, with serious consequences, in real-life, particularly on social media. Thus it is important to understand how machine learning algorithms, especially recommender systems, behave in polarized environments. We study polarization within the context of the users' interactions with a space of items and how this affects recommender systems. We first formalize the concept of polarization based on item ratings and then relate …

Optimization Of Spatial Convolution In Convnets On Intel Knl, Sangamesh Nagashattappa Ragate

Masters Theses

Most of the experts admit that the true behavior of the neural network is hard to predict. It is quite impossible to deterministically prove the working of the neural network as the architecture gets bigger, yet, it is observed that it is possible to apply a well engineered network to solve one of the most abstract problems like image recognition with substantial accuracy. It requires enormous amount of training of a considerably big and complex neural network to understand its behavior and iteratively improve its accuracy in solving a certain problem. Deep Neural Networks, which are fairly popular nowadays deal …

Performance Testing And Analysis Of Synchronous Reluctance Motor Utilizing Dual-Phase Magnetic Material, Patel B. Reddy, Ayman M. El-Refaie, Min Zou, Di Pan, James P. Alexander, Nidhishri Tapadia, Kevin Grace, Kum-Kang Huh, Frank Johnson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

While interior permanent magnet (1PM) machines have been considered the state-of-the art for traction motors, synchronous reluctance (SynRel) motors with advanced materials can provide a competitive alternative. 1PM machines typically utilize Neodymium 1ron Boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets, which pose an issue in terms of price, sustainability, demagnetization at higher operating temperatures, and uncontrolled generation. On the other hand, SynRel machines do not contain any magnets and are free from these issues. However, the absence of magnets as well the presence of bridges and centerposts limit the flux-weakening capability of a SynRel machine and limit the achievable constant power speed ratio …

Project Pradio, Trigg T. La Tour

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines the design and manufacturing of a device that allows two or more users to share a wireless audio stream. Effectively, this allows a group of people to listen to the same audio in a synchronized manner. The product was unable to be completed in the allotted time. Regardless, significant progress was made and valuable insight into the circuit board design process was gained.

Target Detection With Neural Network Hardware, Hollis Bui, Garrett Massman, Nikolas Spangler, Jalen Tarvin, Luke Bechtel, Kevin Dunn, Shawn Bradford

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Eareeg Final Report, Tyler Stuessi, Jeremy Herwig, Dillon Hunneke, Evan Goble, Arthur Vidineyev

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Using A Multi Variate Pattern Analysis (Mvpa) Approach To Decode Fmri Responses To Fear And Anxiety., Sajjad Torabian Esfahani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed fMRI responses to fear and anxiety using a Multi Variate Pattern Analysis (MVPA) approach. Compared to conventional univariate methods which only represent regions of activation, MVPA provides us with more detailed patterns of voxels. We successfully found different patterns for fear and anxiety through separate classification attempts in each subject’s representational space. Further, we transformed all the individual models into a standard space to do group analysis. Results showed that subjects share a more common fear response. Also, the amygdala and hippocampus areas are more important for differentiating fear than anxiety.

Data Driven Discovery Of Materials Properties., Fadoua Khmaissia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The high pace of nowadays industrial evolution is creating an urgent need to design new cost efficient materials that can satisfy both current and future demands. However, with the increase of structural and functional complexity of materials, the ability to rationally design new materials with a precise set of properties has become increasingly challenging. This basic observation has triggered the idea of applying machine learning techniques in the field, which was further encouraged by the launch of the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) by the US government since 2011. In this work, we present a novel approach to apply machine learning …

Rules Based Analysis Engine For Application Layer Ids, David Scrobonia

Master's Theses

Web application attack volume, complexity, and costs have risen as people, companies, and entire industries move online. Solutions implemented to defend web applications against malicious activity have traditionally been implemented at the network or host layer. While this is helpful for detecting some attacks, it does not provide the gran- ularity to see malicious behavior occurring at the application layer. The AppSensor project, an application level intrusion detection system (IDS), is an example of a tool that operates in this layer. AppSensor monitors users within the application by observing activity in suspicious areas not able to be seen by traditional …

The Impact Of Different Propagation Environments On The Performance Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Abdallah Mubark Aldosary

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a methodology for evaluating the performance of wireless sensor network (WSN) protocols in different propagation environments. To create this methodology, practical RF propagation models that include many of the substantial features of different propagation environments are utilized, and radio energy models for different propagation environments are developed. Accurate environment-specific radio frequency (RF) propagation models should be utilized in order to improve the overall process of decision-making during pre-deployment of WSNs, to facilitate the deployment of the WSN, and to enhance the battery efficiency of sensing nodes so that the network lifetime can be prolonged. The investigating of …

Repeatability Of Reference Signal Received Power Measurements In Lte Networks, Hayder A Abdulrasool Khzaali

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Optimization Framework For Deployment Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Tajudeen Olawale Olasupo

Theses and Dissertations

In order to tackle the problem of network connectivity and sensing coverage in random placement of sensor nodes over an area of interest, this research presents an optimization and visualization framework for characterization and prediction of optimal deployments of large-scale wireless sensor networks (WSNs). This study presents efficient image processing algorithms for classification of deployment terrain in order to optimize deployment and connectivity coverage with required minimum number of nodes and transmission power. It reports formation of efficient models for WSN signal propagation under different terrain conditions. The study describes the developmental approach of the WSN optimization framework and visualization …

Models For Pedestrian Trajectory Prediction And Navigation In Dynamic Environments, Jeremy N. Kerfs

Master's Theses

Robots are no longer constrained to cages in factories and are increasingly taking on roles alongside humans. Before robots can accomplish their tasks in these dynamic environments, they must be able to navigate while avoiding collisions with pedestrians or other robots. Humans are able to move through crowds by anticipating the movements of other pedestrians and how their actions will influence others; developing a method for predicting pedestrian trajectories is a critical component of a robust robot navigation system. A current state-of-the-art approach for predicting pedestrian trajectories is Social-LSTM, which is a recurrent neural network that incorporates information about neighboring …

Power Efficient High Temperature Asynchronous Microcontroller Design, Nathan William Kuhns

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing demand for dependable and efficient digital circuitry capable of operating in high temperature environments. Extreme temperatures have adverse effects on traditional silicon synchronous systems because of the changes in delay and setup and hold times caused by the variances in each device’s threshold voltage. This dissertation focuses on the design of the major functionality of an asynchronous 8051 microcontroller in Raytheon’s high temperature Silicon Carbide process, rated for operation over 300ºC. The microcontroller is designed in NULL Convention Logic, for which the traditional bus architecture used for data transfer would consume a large amount of power. …

A Hybrid Partially Reconfigurable Overlay Supporting Just-In-Time Assembly Of Custom Accelerators On Fpgas, Zeyad Tariq Aklah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The state of the art in design and development flows for FPGAs are not sufficiently mature to allow programmers to implement their applications through traditional software development flows. The stipulation of synthesis as well as the requirement of background knowledge on the FPGAs' low-level physical hardware structure are major challenges that prevent programmers from using FPGAs. The reconfigurable computing community is seeking solutions to raise the level of design abstraction at which programmers must operate, and move the synthesis process out of the programmers' path through the use of overlays. A recent approach, Just-In-Time Assembly (JITA), was proposed that enables …

Machs: Mitigating The Achilles Heel Of The Cloud Through High Availability And Performance-Aware Solutions, Manar Jammal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Cloud computing is continuously growing as a business model for hosting information and communication technology applications. However, many concerns arise regarding the quality of service (QoS) offered by the cloud. One major challenge is the high availability (HA) of cloud-based applications. The key to achieving availability requirements is to develop an approach that is immune to cloud failures while minimizing the service level agreement (SLA) violations. To this end, this thesis addresses the HA of cloud-based applications from different perspectives. First, the thesis proposes a component’s HA-ware scheduler (CHASE) to manage the deployments of carrier-grade cloud applications while maximizing their …

Feature Selection And Improving Classification Performance For Malware Detection, Carlos A. Cepeda Mora

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

The ubiquitous advance of technology has been conducive to the proliferation of cyber threats, resulting in attacks that have grown exponentially. Consequently, researchers have developed models based on machine learning algorithms for detecting malware. However, these methods require significant amount of extracted features for correct malware classification, making that feature extraction, training, and testing take significant time; even more, it has been unexplored which are the most important features for accomplish the correct classification.

In this Thesis, it is created and analyzed a dataset of malware and clean files (goodware) from the static and dynamic features provided by the online …

Detection Of Pheromone Laying Event In Foraging Data Of Harvester Ants Using Change Point Analysis Method, Safeeul Bashir Safee

Computer Science ETDs

Communication is an important factor in the foraging performance of social insects, such as ants. During foraging, ants keep track of food sources by using memory (site fidelity) or by communicating through pheromones. Previous field experiments showed that the rate of seed collection depends on the distribution of food in the environment. If food is spatially clustered, then it is beneficial for ants recruit nest mates to collect seeds from large clusters. However, we do not know when the recruitment occurs in natural ant population. To explore this question, we used a power law distribution to arrange seeds in piles …

Client-Vendor Collaboration In Information Technology Development Projects And Its Emerging Outcomes, Mingyu Zhang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the key dimensions of IT project collaboration and its outcomes. We conceptualized key dimensions of client-vendor collaboration, and its emerging outcomes based on literature reviews. Then, we proposed a new research framework that links IT development processes to IT project client-vendor collaboration which in turn affects the outcomes of IT project. We examined the key dimensions of IT project collaboration and their impacts on project outcomes. We identified four critical IT development processes and technologies that contribute to the development of project collaboration. Our results include: (1) Coordination practices and technologies (such as communication quality and coordination …

Expression And Reception: An Analytic Method For Assessing Message Production And Consumption In Cmc, Kang Namkoong, Dhavan V. Shah, Bryan Mclaughlin, Ming-Yuan Chih, Tae Joon Moon, Shawnika Hull, David H. Gustafson

Community & Leadership Development Faculty Publications

This article presents an innovative methodology to study computer-mediated communication (CMC), which allows analysis of the multi-layered effects of online expression and reception. The methodology is demonstrated by combining the following three data sets collected from a widely tested eHealth system, the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS): (1) a flexible and precise computer-aided content analysis; (2) a record of individual message posting and reading; and (3) longitudinal survey data. Further, this article discusses how the resulting data can be applied to online social network analysis and demonstrates how to construct two distinct types of online social networks—open and targeted …