Engineering Commons^™

Gaussian Conditionally Markov Sequences: Theory With Application, Reza Rezaie

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Markov processes have been widely studied and used for modeling problems. A Markov process has two main components (i.e., an evolution law and an initial distribution). Markov processes are not suitable for modeling some problems, for example, the problem of predicting a trajectory with a known destination. Such a problem has three main components: an origin, an evolution law, and a destination. The conditionally Markov (CM) process is a powerful mathematical tool for generalizing the Markov process. One class of CM processes, called $CM_L$, fits the above components of trajectories with a destination. The CM process combines the Markov property …

Guest Editorial Special Issue On Toward Securing Internet Of Connected Vehicles (Iov) From Virtual Vehicle Hijacking, Yue Cao, Houbing Song, Omprakash Kaiwartya, Sinem Coleri Ergen, Jaime Lloret, Naveed Ahmad

Publications

Today’s vehicles are no longer stand-alone transportation means, due to the advancements on vehicle-tovehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications enabled to access the Internet via recent technologies in mobile communications, including WiFi, Bluetooth, 4G, and even 5G networks. The Internet of vehicles was aimed toward sustainable developments in transportation by enhancing safety and efficiency. The sensor-enabled intelligent automation of vehicles’ mechanical operations enhances safety in on-road traveling, and cooperative traffic information sharing in vehicular networks improves traveling efficiency.

Vehicle Sensing And Communications Using Led Headlights To Enhance The Performance Of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Proof Of Concept, Implementation, And Applications, Sabit Ekin, Samir Ahmed

Data

Corresponding data set for Tran-SET Project No. 18ITSOKS01. Abstract of the final report is stated below for reference:

"This project investigates the use of vehicle light-emitting diode (LED) headlamp devices for improving the accuracy and reliability of traffic (sensing and communication) data measurements required for developing effective intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies and solutions.

Vehicular communication and sensing technologies are mainly based on conventional radio frequency (RF) or laser technologies. These systems suffer from several issues such as RF interference and poor performance in scenarios where the incidence angle between the speed detector and the vehicle is rapidly varying. Introducing …

Dripline: A Distributed Experiment Control System, Eric Gonzalez, Ben Laroque, Noah Oblath

STAR Program Research Presentations

Project 8 is a nuclear physics experiment which seeks to measure the mass of neutrinos. The experiment requires the use of various pieces of hardware which need to be controlled, and from this need, a software system named Dripline is being developed. Because most researchers have some knowledge in Python and it is easier to understand the syntax of Python as opposed to C++, a Python application programming interface (API) is being created to allow any researcher working with Dripline ease of use. As development progresses, features may be added or removed as needed which requires constant testing, debugging, and …

Cognitive Satellite Communications And Representation Learning For Streaming And Complex Graphs., Wenqi Liu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation includes two topics. The first topic studies a promising dynamic spectrum access algorithm (DSA) that improves the throughput of satellite communication (SATCOM) under the uncertainty. The other topic investigates distributed representation learning for streaming and complex networks. DSA allows a secondary user to access the spectrum that are not occupied by primary users. However, uncertainty in SATCOM causes more spectrum sensing errors. In this dissertation, the uncertainty has been addressed by formulating a DSA decision-making process as a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) model to optimally determine which channels to sense and access. Large-scale networks have attracted …

Solarpede: An Untethered Micro Robot Powered By Light., Jordan Fredrick Klotz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Micro-Robotics looks to implement robotics principles at a small scale and has gained popularity in recent decades as a gateway to new research areas such as micro-factory applications. The SolarPede is a second-generation, cm-scale micro-crawler designed for such micro factory applications which is equipped with a legged locomotion system and an electronic backpack. The SolarPede is an evolution of its predecessors and features power and signal conditioning capabilities, gait pattern generation, and Bluetooth connectivity. The components which make up SolarPede have been full validated and tested, and its systems have been realized in the form of a body made from …

Improving Resilience Of Communication In Information Dissemination For Time-Critical Applications, Rajvardhan Somraj Deshmukh

Masters Theses

Severe weather impacts life and in this dire condition, people rely on communication, to organize relief and stay in touch with their loved ones. In such situations, cellular network infrastructure\footnote{We refer to cellular network infrastructure as infrastructure for the entirety of this document} might be affected due to power outage, link failures, etc. This urges us to look at Ad-hoc mode of communication, to offload major traffic partially or fully from the infrastructure, depending on the status of it.

We look into threefold approach, ranging from the case where the infrastructure is completely unavailable, to where it has been replaced …

Protection Of Active Distribution Networks And Their Cyber Physical Infrastructure, Hany Fawzy Kamel Habib

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today’s Smart Grid constitutes several smaller interconnected microgrids. However, the integration of converter-interfaced distributed generation (DG) in microgrids has raised several issues such as the fact that fault currents in these systems in islanded mode are way less than those in grid connected microgrids. Therefore, microgrid protection schemes require a fast, reliable and robust communication system, with backup, to automatically adjust relay settings for the appropriate current levels according to the microgrid’s operation mode. However, risks of communication link failures, cyber security threats and the high cost involved to avoid them are major challenges for the implementation of an economic …

A Hardware-Assisted Insider Threat Detection And Prevention Framework, Kyle W. Denney

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, the USB protocol is among the most widely used protocols. However, the mass-proliferation of USB has led to a threat vector wherein USB devices are assumed innocent, leaving computers open to an attack. Malicious USB devices can disguise themselves as benign devices to insert malicious commands to connected end devices. A rogue device appears benign to the average OS, requiring advanced detection schemes to identify malicious devices. However, using system-level hooks, advanced threats may subvert OS-reliant detection schemes. This thesis showcases USB-Watch, a hardware-based USB threat detection framework. The hardware can collect live USB traffic before the data can …

Ultra-Wideband Secure Communications And Direct Rf Sampling Transceivers, Dimitrios Siafarikas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Larger wireless device bandwidth results in new capabilities in terms of higher data rates and security. The 5G evolution is focus on exploiting larger bandwidths for higher though-puts. Interference and co-existence issues can also be addressed by the larger bandwidth in the 5G and 6G evolution. This dissertation introduces of a novel Ultra-wideband (UWB) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technique to exploit the largest bandwidth available in the upcoming wireless connectivity scenarios. The dissertation addresses interference immunity, secure communication at the physical layer and longer distance communication due to increased receiver sensitivity. The dissertation presents the design, workflow, simulations, hardware …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uavs) For Integrated Access And Backhaul (Iab) Communications In Wireless Cellular Networks, Abdurrahman Fouda

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network architecture can enable flexible and fast deployment of next-generation cellular networks. However, mutual interference between access and backhaul links, small inter-site distance and spatial dynamics of user distribution pose major challenges in the practical deployment of IAB networks. To tackle these problems, we leverage the flying capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as hovering IAB-nodes and propose an interference management algorithm to maximize the overall sum rate of the IAB network. In particular, we jointly optimize the user and base station associations, the downlink power allocations for access and backhaul transmissions, and the …

Influence Spread In Two-Layer Interdependent Networks: Designed Single-Layer Or Random Two-Layer Initial Spreaders?, Hana Khamfroush, Nathaniel Hudson, Samuel Iloo, Mahshid R. Naeini

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Influence spread in multi-layer interdependent networks (M-IDN) has been studied in the last few years; however, prior works mostly focused on the spread that is initiated in a single layer of an M-IDN. In real world scenarios, influence spread can happen concurrently among many or all components making up the topology of an M-IDN. This paper investigates the effectiveness of different influence spread strategies in M-IDNs by providing a comprehensive analysis of the time evolution of influence propagation given different initial spreader strategies. For this study we consider a two-layer interdependent network and a general probabilistic threshold influence spread model …

Flor Revisited (Again): Eqtl And Mutational Analysis Of Nb-Lrr Mediated Immunity To Powdery Mildew In Barley, Roger P. Wise, Priyanka Surana, Gregory S. Fuerst, Ruo Xu, Divya Mistry, Julie A. Dickerson, Dan Nettleton Dr.

Dan Nettleton

Genes encoding early signaling events in pathogen defense often are identified only by their phenotype. Such genes involved in barley-powdery mildew interactions include Mla, specifying race-specific resistance; Rar1 (Required for Mla12-specified resistance1), and Rom1 (Restoration of Mla-specified resistance1). The HSP90-SGT1-RAR1 complex appears to function as chaperone in MLA-specified resistance, however, much remains to be discovered regarding the precise signaling underlying plant immunity. Genetic analyses of fast-neutron mutants derived from CI 16151 (Mla6) uncovered a novel locus, designated Rar3 (Required for Mla6-specified resistance3). Rar3 segregates independent of Mla6 and Rar1, and rar3 mutants are susceptible to Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei …

Analysis, Design And Demonstration Of Control Systems Against Insider Attacks In Cyber-Physical Systems, Xirong Ning

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation aims to address the security issues of insider cyber-physical attacks and provide a defense-in-depth attack-resilient control system approach for cyber-physical systems.

Firstly, security analysis for cyber-physical systems is investigated to identify potential risks and potential security enhancements. Vulnerabilities of the system and existing security solutions, including attack prevention, attack detection and attack mitigation strategies are analyzed.

Subsequently, a methodology to analyze and mathematically characterize insider attacks is developed. An attack pattern is introduced to represent key features in an insider cyber-physical attack, which includes attack goals, resources, constraints, modes, as well as probable attack paths. Patterns for such …

A Traffic-Aware Approach For Enabling Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uavs) In Smart City Scenarios, Hesham El-Sayed, Moumena Chaqfa, Sherali Zeadally, Deepak Puthal

Information Science Faculty Publications

In smart cities, vehicular applications require high computation capabilities and low-latency communication. Edge computing offers promising solutions for addressing these requirements because of several features, such as geo-distribution, mobility, low latency, heterogeneity, and support for real-time interactions. To employ network edges, existing fixed roadside units can be equipped with edge computing servers. Nevertheless, there are situations where additional infrastructure units are required to handle temporary high traffic loads during public events, unexpected weather conditions, or extreme traffic congestion. In such cases, the use of flying roadside units are carried by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which provide the required infrastructure for …

Weight Controlled Electric Skateboard, Zachary Barram, Carson Bertozzi, Vishnu Dodballapur

Computer Engineering

Technology and the way that humans interact is becoming more vital and omnipresent with every passing day. However, human interface device designers suffer from the increasingly popular “designed for me or people like me” syndrome. This design philosophy inherently limits accessibility and usability of technology to those like the designer. This places severe limits of usability to those who are not fully able as well as leaves non-traditional human interface devices unexplored. This project set out to explore a previously uncharted human interface device, on an electric skateboard, and compare it send user experience with industry leading human interface devices.

Analog Single Sideband-Pulse Width Modulation Processor For Parametric Acoustic Arrays, Vikrant A. Marathe

Master's Theses

Parametric acoustic arrays are ultrasonic-based loudspeakers that produce highly directive audio. The audio must first be preprocessed and modulated into an ultrasonic carrier before being emitted into the air, where it will self-demodulate in the far field. The resulting audio wave is proportional to the double time-derivative of the square of the modulation envelope. This thesis presents a fully analog processor which encodes the audio into two Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) signals in quadrature phase and sums them together to produce a Single Sideband (SSB) spectrum around the fundamental frequency of the PWM signals. The two signals are modulated between …

A Cooperative Overlay Approach At The Physical Layer Of Cognitive Radio For Digital Agriculture, Abdul Salam, Umit Karabiyik

Faculty Publications

In digital agriculture, the cognitive radio technology is being envisaged as solution to spectral shortage problems by allowing agricultural cognitive users to co-exist with noncognitive users in the same spectrum on the field. Cognitive radios increase system capacity and spectral efficiency by sensing the spectrum and adapting the transmission parameters. This design requires a robust, adaptable and flexible physical layer to support cognitive radio functionality. In this paper, a novel physical layer architecture for cognitive radio based on cognition, cooperation, and cognitive interference avoidance has been developed by using power control for digital agriculture applications. The design is based on …

An Assessment Of The Decision Making Units’ Efficiency In Service Systems (The Case Of Cellular Telecom), Maoloud Dabab, Timothy R. Anderson

Student Research Symposium

Most tools and models on performance and quality of service management are generic and do not solve the complex technical systems, which the most critical component on the network and where these tools should be applied. The objective of this research is to assess the cellular performance and Base Transceiver Station (BTS) efficiency by proposing a robust model that is derived from multiple Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) based on technical and financial aspects. The novelty of this research provides a comprehensive multidimensional model for tuning the BTS parameters, which can lead to developing a standard global mobile network KPI. The …

Bamorc: A Software Package For Accurate And Robust 13C Reference Correction Of Protein Nmr Spectra, Xi Chen, Andrey Smelter, Hunter N. B. Moseley

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

We describe Bayesian Model Optimized Reference Correction (BaMORC), a software package that performs ¹³C chemical shifts reference correction for either assigned or unassigned peak lists derived from protein NMR spectra. BaMORC provides an intuitive command line interface that allows non-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experts to detect and correct ¹³C chemical shift referencing errors of unassigned peak lists at the very beginning of NMR data analysis, further lowering the bar of expertise required for effective protein NMR analysis. Furthermore, BaMORC provides an application programming interface for integration into sophisticated protein NMR data analysis pipelines, both before and after the …

A Systems Engineering Approach To Improving The National Weather Service, Joanna Fregoso

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

The National Weather Service (NWS) is responsible for ensuring that the U.S is a weather ready nation. The mission of the NWS focuses on protecting the lives and property of those in the U.S, while also enhancing the national economy. The number of high-impact weather events have increased over the past decades, suggesting a need for a more effective NWS. This paper focuses on improving the NWS by following the systems engineering approach and using system architecting principles.

Autonomous Boat Control Software Design Using Model-Based Systems Engineering, Noah Nelson

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

While there is considerable buzz about self-driving cars, self-driving boats are actually more fully developed. The Boat Hardware Control Platform Team was tasked with developing a fleet of small autonomous boats that travel to a destination while avoiding obstacles and staying in formation. The author’s specific task was to develop software used by the boats to detect obstacles and plan a route to a destination. This was done using a method inspired by self-driving cars, which shows promise, but is still being tested at the time of writing. The entire project incorporated model-based systems engineering, which proved to be useful.

A Silicon Germanium Cmos Linear Voltage Regulator For Wireless Agricultural Applications, Aminta Naidili Castillo Robles

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the design, simulation and test results of a silicon germanium (SiGe) complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) linear regulator. The objective of the circuit is to power other analog devices regardless of the load current and input voltage changes. The application of this regulator is to be part of a project developing a miniaturized semiconductor platform that can be inserted into stems of crops in order to measure data inside the plant and then send it wirelessly to the user. The linear regulator was designed on a BiCMOS SiGe 0.13µm which is a GlobalFoundries process. It has been tested at …

Design Of Remote Datalogger Connection And Live Data Tweeting System, Zachary Wofford

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Low-Impact Development (LID) is an attempt to sustainably respond to the potential hazards posed by urban expansion. Green roofs are an example of LID design meant to reduce the amount of runoff from storm events that are becoming more intense and less predictable while also providing insulation to buildings. LID has not yet been widely adopted as it is often a more expensive alternative to conventional infrastructure (Bowman et. al., 2009). However, its benefits are apparent. The University of Arkansas Honors College awarded a grant to research the large green roof atop Hillside Auditorium. One part of this grant is …

Urban Underground Infrastructure Monitoring Iot: The Path Loss Analysis, Abdul Salam, Syed Shah

Faculty Publications

The extra quantities of wastewater entering the pipes can cause backups that result in sanitary sewer overflows. Urban underground infrastructure monitoring is important for controlling the flow of extraneous water into the pipelines. By combining the wireless underground communications and sensor solutions, the urban underground IoT applications such as real time wastewater and storm water overflow monitoring can be developed. In this paper, the path loss analysis of wireless underground communications in urban underground IoT for wastewater monitoring has been presented. It has been shown that the communication range of up to 4 kilometers can be achieved from an underground …

Implementing Wifi Ax In Sdr, Elijah Barker

Senior Honors Theses

Both Carrier Sensing Multiple Access (CSMA) and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) are vital techniques for WiFi radio operations. CSMA deals with decentralized sharing of the medium, and OFDMA deals with dividing up the channel into multiple smaller allocations of the channel to transmit data from multiple users simultaneously. OFDMA is a new multiple access scheme introduced in the upcoming IEEE 802.11ax standard. This paper details research with Dr. Bae in implementing portions of the upcoming 802.11ax standard using software defined radio. First, this paper provides in-depth setup information for the Wime Project and explains the Wime Project implementation …

An Underground Radio Wave Propagation Prediction Model For Digital Agriculture, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

Underground sensing and propagation of Signals in the Soil (SitS) medium is an electromagnetic issue. The path loss prediction with higher accuracy is an open research subject in digital agriculture monitoring applications for sensing and communications. The statistical data are predominantly derived from site-specific empirical measurements, which is considered an impediment to universal application. Nevertheless, in the existing literature, statistical approaches have been applied to the SitS channel modeling, where impulse response analysis and the Friis open space transmission formula are employed as the channel modeling tool in different soil types under varying soil moisture conditions at diverse communication distances …

Communication Debugging Platform, Husam Beitello

Honors Theses

More and more products are becoming “connected” devices, integrating multiple communications subsystems into their design. These subsystems increase the complexity of a design, and require extensive testing and debugging before they reach an end user. The purpose of the project was to create a prototype for a peripheral device that enables bidirectional communication between a typical smartphone and another target device communicating using the infrared, Bluetooth, and/or CAN communication protocols. Such a device could then be used to debug the behavior of a product relying on these forms of communication, by running test procedures referred to as scripts from the …

Asme Student Design Competition, Marcus Todd

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

For the completion of my capstone project with the Western Kentucky University Honors College, the following document details my experience with the American Society of Mechanical Engineer (ASME) Student Design Competition. This project was completed in a two semester sequence through working with a team of four. One semester focusing primarily on the design and the other on fabrication and evaluation. The 2019 ASME competition was the Pick and Place Race. In this event, 46 teams were challenged to design and construct a device having the ability to pick up balls of varying size. Both the design and assembly process …

2019 Ieee Southeastcon Hardware Competition: A Systems Engineering Approach, Emily Sage

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Huntsville section invites college students to participate in their annual SoutheastCon Conference. Western Kentucky University sends a team of engineering students to the hardware competition, an opportunity for students to design and build autonomous robots. The 2019 hardware competition called for students to develop a robot that could collect and sort debris by color. This thesis outlines the project lifecycle of the WKU 2019 SoutheastCon robot with an emphasis on implemented systems engineering tools and techniques. Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach to project management that focuses on treating the overall project …