Engineering Commons^™

A Gnu Radio Based Software-Defined Radar, Lee K. Patton

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GNU Radio is an open source software-defined radio project, and the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) is hardware designed specifically for use with GNU Radio. Together, these two technologies have been used to implement very sophisticated, yet low cost, software-defined radios. Since software-defined radio and software-defined radar are really one in the same technologies, it stands to reason that GNU Radio and the USRP could be utilized to form a low cost radar sensor. In this thesis, we discuss the design of a prototype software-defined radar, built using the open source GNU Radio and open specification USRP projects. The prototype …

Change Detection Methods For Hyperspectral Imagery, Karmon Marie Vongsy

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This thesis studies the detection of changes using hyperspectral images. Change Detection (CD) is the process of identifying and examining temporal and spectral changes in signals. Detection and analysis of change provide valuable information of possible transformations in a scene. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) sensors are capable of collecting data at hundreds of narrow spectral bands. Such sensors provide high-resolution spatial and spectrally rich information that can be exploited for CD. This work develops and implements various CD algorithms for detection of changes using Hyperspectral images. The main objectives are to study and develop different HSI change detection algorithms. The explored …

Development Of An Intelligent Autonomous Coffee Maker, Nicholas J. Vanderpool

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Using Intelligent Control Methodology Home coffee machines have improved over time with the addition of features such as self-activating timers and crude temperature controlled heating elements. However, home coffee brewer development has stagnated and has yet to achieve full automation status. Present coffee machines leave the user burdened with the mundane and messy task of preparing the coffee maker every time. Also, should the user decide to prepare less than an entire pot, he/she must estimate the correct amount of water and coffee to add. This can lead to a weak or strong brew, giving undesirable results. In order to …

High Spurious-Free Dynamic Range Digital Wideband Receiver For Multiple Signal Detection And Tracking, Vivek Sarathy

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The advent of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) has provided an excellent platform to market prototyping of full receiver-on-chip designs in a short time. The design of multi-tone wideband receiver has always been a challenge because of the difficulty to detect weak signals in the presence of noise in the frequency spectrum and also the presence of general spurs generated by the receiver. In this research, architecture for a FPGA-based 2.56-GSPS digital wideband receiver with multi-tone signal detection and tracking is designed to demonstrate the capability of replacing more expensive analog components into their cheaper digital design counterparts. Novel hardware implementations …

Multilingual Articulatory Features For Speech Recognition, Brian M. Ore

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Articulatory features describe the way in which the speech organs are used when producing speech sounds. Research has shown that incorporating this information into speech recognizers can lead to an improvement in system performance. The majority of previous work, however, has been limited to detecting articulatory features in a single language. In this thesis, Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) and Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLPs) were used to detect articulatory features in English, German, Spanish, and Japanese. The outputs of the detectors were used to form the feature set for a Hidden Markov Model (HMM)-based phoneme recognizer. The best overall detection and recognition …

Algan/Gan Hemt Topology Investigation Using Measured Data And Device Modeling, Derrick Langley

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Investigation has been done on procedure, development, and verification of transistor topology for Aluminum-Gallium Nitride/Gallium Nitride (AlGaN/GaN) High-Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMTs). To date various models have been published that address modeling issues dealing with AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. Many models rely on analytic parameter solutions to help define model behavior. In order to find an optimum transistor at X-band frequency, 8-12 Gigahertz (GHz), layout, testing, modeling and simulation was conducted on various transistor topologies. Theoretical and experimental analysis has been completed for device operating point selection in measurement and modeling to account for self-heating and radio frequency (RF) dispersion effects. The model …

Investigation Of Cylindrically-Conformed Four-Arm Spiral Antennas, Douglas J. Glass

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A four-arm spiral antenna offers broadband frequency response, wide beamwidths, reduced size compared to other antenna designs, and the ability to determine the relative direction of an incident signal with appropriate mode-forming. The reduced overall area projection of the four-arm spiral antenna compared to other antenna designs and the ability to be manufactured in a planar format allows the antenna to reside within an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) fuselage. This thesis investigates the effects of cylindrically-conforming two different designs of a four-arm spiral antenna to reside within the fuselage of a medium-sized UAV. Theoretical predictions of antenna performance were created …

Improved Thresholding Technique For The Monobit Receiver, Jonathan Gordon Buck

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Wideband digital receivers typically use a very high sampling rate to capture a signal for near real-time processing. Very robust digital techniques, like the Monobit FFT technique, have been developed to provide near real-time processing of captured timedomain signals. Most of these techniques trade accuracy for processing speed by approximating computationally complex mathematical operations. The approximation sometimes makes it difficult to detect multiple signals if the difference between their amplitudes is more than a few dB. This thesis presents a dynamic thresholding technique for multi-tone signal detection. The technique is based on setting an allowable ratio between the magnitude of …

Parameterizable Channelized Wideband Digital Receiver For High Update Rate, Peter E. Buxa

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Wideband digital receivers are important components used prevalently by the United States Air Force for many modern electronic warfare systems. Currently, many digital receiver architectures are designed for a specific mission requirement and are not parameterizable, modular, or reusable for varying mission requirements. Also, many designs are technology, platform, and vendor dependent which make upgrading existing fielded systems costly and difficult. Additionally, current wideband FFT-based digital receivers must wait until a number of samples equal to the size of the FFT are collected before spectral information can be updated. Achieving a high spectral update rate is important for the accurate …

Analysis Of A Small-Signal Model Of A Pwm Dc-Dc Buck-Boost Converter In Ccm, Julie Joann Lee

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The objective of this research is to analyze and simulate the pulse-width-modulated (PWM) dc-dc buck-boost converter and design a controller to gain stability for the buck-boost converter. The PWM dc-dc buck-boost converter reduces and/or increases dc voltage from one level to a another level in devices that need to, at different times or states, increase or decrease the output voltage.

In this thesis, equations for transfer funtions for a PWM dc-dc open-loop buck-boost converter operating in continuous-conduction-mode (CCM) are derived. For the pre-chosen design, the open-loop characterics and the step responses are studied. The converter is simulated in PSpice to …

Fpga Based Hardware Implementation Of Advanced Encryption Standard, Sowrirajan Sampath

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On October, 2, 2000, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced Rijndael as the new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). The other competing algorithms were Mars, RC6, Serpent and Two-fish. The Predecessor to the AES was Data Encryption Standard (DES) which is considered to be insecure because of its vulnerability to brute force attacks. DES was a standard from 1977 and stayed until the mid 1990's. However, by the mid 1990s, it was clear that the DES's 56-bit key was no longer big enough to prevent attacks mounted on contemporary computers, which were thousands of times more powerful than …

Sic Schottky Diodes And Polyphase Buck Converters, Veda Prakash N. Galigekere

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The turn-on characteristics of a SiC Schottky diode are analyzed theoretically, by simulation, and by experiment. The static characteristics of SiC Schottky diodes and Si junction diodes are analyzed for normal and high temperatures. The effects of diffusion capacitance and junction capacitance on the turn-off transition of SiC Schottky diode have been analyzed theoretically. The turn-off transition of a SiC Schottky barrier diode is analyzed by modeling the metal-semiconductor junction capacitance considering the linear and the non-linear effects. Behavior of the linear and the non-linear metal-semiconductor junction capacitance models are evaluated exper- imentally. The performance of SiC Schottky diodes is …

On-Chip Signal Generation And Response Waveform Extraction For Analog Built-In-Self-Test, Brian Poling

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Built-In Self-Test (BIST) is a method of designing and creating an electronic chip or an electronic system that can self test for correct functionality and ensure no manufacturing defects. The reason for analog BIST is the testing of analog parts of analog and mixed-signal ICs is a costly process that traditionally requires the use of expensive high-end automatic test equipment. Due to the nature of the testing and length of the testing process, an efficient analog BIST scheme is in high demand for the ever increasing complexity of analog and mixed-signal circuits. This thesis presents a BIST scheme for generation …

Skin And Proximity Effects In Two Parallel Plates, Hamdi Eltayib Abdelbagi

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Time varying currents within winding and core conductors induce magnetic fields. When more than one conductor is present the resultant magnetic field can be found by adding the individual magnetic fields by superposition. The resultant magnetic field in turn induces eddy currents within each electrical component within the vicinity of the resultant magnetic field. Eddy currents flow in the opposite direction of the primary current and increase the resistance by reducing the area in which the primary current has to travel. Eddy currents also reduce the effectiveness of the conductors to conductor high frequency currents. Skin and proximity effects were …

Bezier Surface Generation Of The Patella, Dale A. Patrick

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A method to generate control points for a given collection of data points is developed. The shape characteristics of the patella are used as a case study. The developed computer graphic techniques are demonstrated using the given data of the 3-d patella model. Generation of curved surfaces in drafting has evolved over the years from draftsman who used tools such as French curves to today's drafting being well served by being able to apply numerical analysis on the ever increasing capabilities of computer. As an everyday observed example, nature very rarely produces two shapes that are equal to another. It …

Fpga-Based Implementation Of A Digital Processor For An Instantaneous Frequency Measurement Receiver, James M. Helton

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Digital wideband receivers are essential elements used in electronic warfare (EW) applications. Instantaneous Frequency Measurement (IFM) receivers are suitable for use in EW systems due to the ultrawide instantaneous radio-frequency (RF) bandwidth, fine-frequency resolution, and moderately high sensitivity and dynamic range. Conventional IFM receivers use analog components such as power dividers, crystal video detectors, and hybrids. This research presents the architecture and design implementation of a purely digital IFM receiver based on a patented algorithm courtesy of the United States Air Force. The invention is capable of detecting a short wave pulse with 1 MHz error for every 100 nsec. …

Stability And Static Noise Margin Analysis Of Static Random Access Memory, Rajasekhar Keerthi

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The transistor mismatch can be described as two closely placed identical transistors have important differences in their electrical parameters as threshold voltage, body factor and current factor and make integrated circuit design and fabrication less predictable and controllable. Stability of a static random access memory (SRAM) is defined through its ability to retain the data at low-VDD. It is seriously affected by increased variability of transistor mismatch and decreased supply voltage and therefore becomes a major limitation of overall performance of low-voltage SRAM in nanometer CMOS process. The stability limitation is addressed through the design of a seven-transistor (7T) SRAM …

Design Of A Controller To Control Light Level In A Commercial Office, Saeid Javidbakht

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Proper amount of light in a business office is important for health and productivity of the employees. On a sunny day, there may be more than enough light entering the office from outside to carry out the necessary tasks. Presently, the main source of light in most offices is the fluorescent lamp. Thus, It is possible to save energy by dimming the fluorescent lamp. Dimming of the fluorescent lamp is possible by changing the frequency of the sinusoidal voltage or current. Hence, there is a need of a control system to adjust the light from the fixtures based on the …

Non-Cooperative Modulation Recognition Via Exploitation Of Cyclic Statistics, Eric C. Like

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This research proposes and evaluates a feature based modulation classification system designed to discriminate between AM, BFSK, OFDM, DS-CDMA, 4-ASK, 8-ASK, BPSK, QPSK, 8-PSK, 16- PSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM signals without a priori knowledge of critical signal parameters, including carrier frequency, symbol rate, or phase offset, among others. The classifier is based on the principles of cyclostationarity and leverages cyclic statistics to make its classification decision. The classification process is performed in a hierarchical process in order to exploit the lower variance of lower order cyclic statistics before making use of the higher order cyclic statistics. The initial classification is …