Engineering Commons^™

Using Physical Compilation To Implement A System On Chip Platform, Pradeep M. Chimakurthy

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis was to setup a complete design flow involving physical synthesis. The design chosen for this purpose was a system-on-chip (SoC) platform developed at the University of Tennessee. It involves a Leon Processor with a minimal cache configuration, an AMBA on-chip bus and an Advanced Encryption Standard module which performs decryption.

As transistor size has entered the deep submicron level, iterations involved in the design cycle have increased due to the domination of interconnect delays over cell delays. Traditionally, interconnect delay has been estimated through the use of wire-load models. However, since there is no physical …

Latent Variable Models With Applications To Spectral Data Analysis, Yi Fang

Masters Theses

Recent technological advances in automatic data acquisition have created an ever increasing need to extract meaningful information from huge amount of data. Multivariate predictive models have become important statistical tools in solving modern engineering problems. The purpose of this thesis is to develop novel predictive methods based on latent variable models and validate these methods by applying them into spectral data analysis.

In this thesis, hybrid models of principal components regression (PCR) and partial least squares regression (PLS) is proposed. The basic idea of hybrid models is to develop more accurate prediction techniques by combining the merits of PCR and …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Unbound Rap As A Pavement Base Material, Wenbin He

Masters Theses

More than 50 million tons of asphalt pavements are milled every year in the United States (Taha 1999). The economical benefit attracts the recycling practice of utilizing RAP as paving materials.

In unbound RAP material, aged asphalt wraps aggregates. It is believed that unbound RAP performs differently from usual unbound material due to the existence of asphalt wrap. In the present study, triaxial tests were conducted for the unbound RAP under different temperatures. In addition, limestone and gravel were tested in order to compare with RAP. The resilient modulus, triaxial static creep behavior and hysteresis loops were obtained to compare …

Microprocessor Implementation Of Autoregressive Analysis Of Process Sensor Signals, Swetha Priyanka Pakala

Masters Theses

Automated signal analysis can help for effective system surveillance and also to analyze the dynamic behavior of the system such as impulse response, step response etc. Autoregressive analysis is a parametric technique widely used for system surveillance and diagnosis. The main aim objective of this research work is to develop an embedded system for autoregressive analysis of sensor signals in an online fashion for monitoring system parameters. This thesis presents the algorithm, data representation and performance of the optimized microprocessor implementation of autoregressive analysis.

In this work an autoregressive (AR) model is generated as a solution to a linear system …

A Distributed Solution For Visual Sensor Networks To Detect Targets In Crowds, Cheng Qian

Masters Theses

Visual sensor networks (VSNs), a novel concept about fulfilling vision tasks by a network of collaborative visual sensors, has been attracting more and more attentions these days. This thesis introduces some pioneering research on developing a distributed algorithm for VSNs to detect targets in a cluttered scene. The algorithm is aimed to achieve excellent performances on both detection accuracy and energy efficiency.

Based on a statistical model of the cluttered scene, the development starts with a centralized version where all the nodes send visual data to a central node and the central node invokes an iterative prioritization strategy (IPS) to …

Experimental Analyses Of An Atmospheric Pressure Electrical Plasma Decontaminator, Eric Pius Pradeep

Masters Theses

Electrical Gas Plasmas have been widely utilized in the frontiers of sterilization and disinfection of hazardous chemicals and unsafe microorganisms. In this research Atmospheric Pressure Non-thermal Plasma has been employed using various working gases such as air, helium and nitrogen to study its decontamination effects. Focus is given to analyze the constituents of the plasma such as UV light, charged particles, and chemical components produced during the operation of the discharge which influences the incapacitation of the exposed entities, in this specific study, only bacteria and bacteriophages were exposed. Biological tests involved the cultivation of bacteria and bacteriophages on Petri …

The Functional Application Of The Propeller Load Curve For Fixed Pitch Propellers, Rebecca Barnett Speas

Masters Theses

This thesis attempts to help the flight test community by using the propeller load curve (also known as prop load) to find brake horsepower (BHP) easily with only a propeller tachometer. This thesis also covers the equation for the propeller load curve.

The flight test was done using a Piper Cherokee 180 equipped with a Lycoming 0-360-A3A engine. The flight test data were collected at University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). This data were then compared to the prop load from the engine manufacturer.

Based on the result of this flight test, using the prop load equation from the Lycoming …

Design And Optimization Of A Wind Deflector For Round-Nose Md-500 Series Helicopters, James Joseph Wright

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the problem experienced by the numerous rotary wing operators whose operations require flight with personnel seated outside the fuselage or with doors off. This investigation is specific to the round nose configured MD-500 series aircraft due to test aircraft availability and the wide range of missions it conducts worldwide. During cruise flight, personnel exposed to the aircraft slipstream are subjected to high wind loads and extreme wind chill effects, compromising their ability to perform required tasks. External passengers also add to the overall helicopter parasite drag, decreasing its performance as well as interfering with the crew through …

Controlling The Dispersion Of Nanoparticles In Polymer Matrices, Chang-Uk Lee

Masters Theses

The dispersion of nanoparticles in a polymer matrix is a critical parameter to design and realize targeted morphologies and properties of a final polymer-based nanocomposite. This thesis presents experimental studies to investigate the dispersion of nanoparticles is polymer matrices using specific intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the nanoparticles and polymer matrices under two main topics.

The first topic is the impact of sample preparation processes on the properties of polymer carbon nanotube nanocomposites. Polymer nanocomposites composed of poly(styrene-co-vinyl phenol) (PSVPh) copolymers and 5 wt % multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were prepared from three different methods, including melt-mixing and solution casting. The …

Terminal Velocity Determinations For Component Separation Biomas, Sarah Elizabeth Klasek

Masters Theses

Biomass processors require a technology that will separate node and internode segments to enhance the end product or to reduce production cost. Separation techniques that segregate by particle density and aerodynamic differences use terminal velocity properties as exemplified by classifiers and cyclones.

A fabricated vertical wind tunnel for determining terminal velocity had a velocity range from 3.0 to 9.5 m/s. Velocity variations between highest and lowest readings across the outlet was a maximum of about 20% at a given air velocity. Comparisons of measured terminal velocity to values calculated using Mohsenin (Mohsenin, N.N. 1970. Physical Properties of Plant and Animal …

An Investigation Of Different Golf Ball Dimple Flow Fields, Walter Robert Michalchuk

Masters Theses

This experimental study evaluated the potential of various golf ball dimple designs to reduce the drag produced by a golf ball in flight. An experimental setup using four dimple models placed between the leading and trailing edges of a wing section was used. A traditional spherical dimple design was used as the baseline to comparatively study and evaluate the results of the other three different designs. This study was performed on scaled dimple geometries in a water channel at realistic Reynolds number. Surface dye flow visualization, pressure measurements and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) were used to evaluate the various designs. …

Impact Resistance Of Reinforced Concrete Columns: Experimental Studies And Design Considerations, Alexander Remennikov, Sakdirat Kaewunruen

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

There are instances where reinforced concrete structures designed for static loads are subjected to accidental or deliberate impact or blast loads because of industrial or transportation accidents, military or terrorist activities. Analysis and design of structures for such events require realistic assessment of the ulti-mate impact resistance and a mode of failure of the structure. In this paper, a series of falling weight impact tests on conventionally designed reinforced concrete columns are described. The behaviour of quarter-scale reinforced concrete columns under static and impact loads is presented. An impact load was applied at the mid-height of the columns by a …

An Energy Efficient Mac-Phy Approach To Support Distributed Source Coding In Wireless Sensor Network, Wei Wang, Dongming Peng, Honggang Wang, Hamid Sharif, Beata J. Wysocki, Tadeusz A. Wysocki

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

Distributed Source Coding (DSC) based signal processing applications are ideal candidates for multirate transmissions in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). In this paper, we propose a novel MAC-PHY approach in WSN to achieve energy efficiency using multirate desirable for the DSC based signal processing applications. Our approach is different from the common multirate research in link adaptation, the focus of which is to increase throughput based on rate adaptation derived from variable channel conditions. In the proposed approach, the redundant and inefficient communications are eliminated, yielding significant improvement of energy efficiency in WSN. Here, the minimum desirable transmission power can be …

Capacity Of Single-Radio Ad Hoc Networks For Handling High Bit-Rate Real-Time Internet Applications, Mehran Abolhasan, Tadeusz A. Wysocki, Daniel Franklin, Justin Lipman

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

Until now, the main focus in ad hoc networking has been improving Routing and Medium Access Control (MAC) Strategies. As a result, a diverse range of routing and MAC protocols have been proposed. To evaluate these protocols, much of the existing research has been based on simulation scenarios which assume ideal channel conditions and low node and traffic densities. Therefore, despite a few studies which have shown the performance limitations of ad hoc networks theoretically, there has not been many simulation studies performed which investigate the performance of ad hoc networks under a high node and traffic density. This paper …

Direct Sequence Modified Time Hopping Ppm Over Ultra Wideband S-V Channel, Peter Vial, Beata J. Wysocki, Tadeusz A. Wysocki

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

A three position Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) scheme is proposed for a Direct Sequence Time Hopping Ultra Wideband wireless communication system. The channel is based on the Saleh-Valenzuela model. We show that by adapting the Space Time Spreading technique to use three pulse positions in a single input single output system representing -2,0,2 an improvement in Bit Error Rate is achieved compared to sending the same bits using two pulse positions only. In addition, the bit access rate is doubled as two bits can be successfully sent in the same time using our proposed system.

The Context-Oriented Architecture: Integrating Context Into Semantic Web Services, Aisha Mohamed-Salama Elsafty

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Fuzzy Logic Controller For Autonomous Wheeled Vehicles, Mohamed Trabia, Linda Z. Shi, Neil Eugene Hodge

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Autonomous vehicles have potential applications in many fields, such as replacing humans in hazardous environments, conducting military missions, and performing routine tasks for industry. Driving ground vehicles is an area where human performance has proven to be reliable. Drivers typically respond quickly to sudden changes in their environment. While other control techniques may be used to control a vehicle, fuzzy logic has certain advantages in this area; one of them is its ability to incorporate human knowledge and experience, via language, into relationships among the given quantities. Fuzzy logic controllers for autonomous vehicles have been successfully applied to address various …

“Design, Development And Characterization Of A Thermal Sensor Brick System For Modular Robotics, Nikhil Arun Naik

Masters Theses

This thesis presents the work on thermal imaging sensor brick (TISB) system for modular robotics. The research demonstrates the design, development and characterization of the TISB system. The TISB system is based on the design philosophy of sensor bricks for modular robotics. In under vehicle surveillance for threat detection, which is a target application of this work we have demonstrated the advantages of the TISB system over purely vision-based systems. We have highlighted the advantages of the TISB system as an illumination invariant threat detection system for detecting hidden threat objects in the undercarriage of a car. We have compared …

Novel Capacitance Extraction Method Using Direct Boundary Integral Equation Method And Hierarchical Approach, L. (Lijun) J. Jiang, B. J. Rubin, J. D. Morsey, H. T. Hu, A. Elfadel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a novel hierarchical capacitance extraction method is introduced. It takes advantage of surface integral equations to have far less unknowns than the volumetric method. It uses the "divide and conquer" strategy to hierarchically solve the dense capacitance matrix efficiently. It partitions the problem into small regions (cells) automatically and each region is analyzed separately. An inverse binary-tree browse procedure is employed to combine cell capacitance matrixes from leafy level of the tree to the root. A global capacitance matrix is obtained at the root without computing charge distribution. Benchmarks using the developed code CSurf are provided to …

Numerical Analysis Of Sandwiched Composite-Fss Structures, Qiang Rui, Chen Ji, Huang Jingyu, Maria Koledintseva, Richard E. Dubroff, James L. Drewniak, Yang Fan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A numerical technique to analyze shielding effectiveness of sandwiched FSS-composite structures is proposed. This technique is based on using a dispersive FDTD method in conjuncture with a novel periodic boundary condition to model sandwiched FSS-composite elements. Results show that by inserting single or multilayered FSS elements into composite materials, better shielding effectiveness can be achieved. © 2006 IEEE.

System Identification And Parameter Estimation Of The Piper Pa32-301 Saratoga, Catherine Anne Kelly

Masters Theses

The purpose of this project was to estimate the longitudinal stability derivatives of the Piper Saratoga (tail number N22UT), one of the aircraft owned and operated by the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI), using the System Identification Programs for Aircraft, SIDPCAC. After the instrumentation error was reduced by means of a data compatibility analysis, the stability derivatives were estimated using both an output error and an equation error parameter estimation technique.

Following a discussion of the test aircraft and instrumentation and a brief overview of stability derivatives and parameter estimation, the flight test is discussed in detail along with …

Vacuum Chamber Construction And Contamination Study Of A Micro Pulsed Plasma Thruster, Jacob H. Debevec

Theses and Dissertations

The micro pulsed plasma thruster (micro-PPT) is a simple and versatile electric thruster capable of performing multiple missions, from precise attitude control on standard satellites to primary propulsion for nanosatellites. In order to fill this role as both industry and government move toward utilizing smaller satellites, micro-PPTs first need to be thoroughly tested on the ground. This study examines the deposition profile and rate of particle emission from the thruster so that satellite designers understand any potential contamination issues with sensitive instruments and solar panels. Employing a newly assembled vacuum chamber system, four tests were completed with the micro-PPTs, and …

Dynamic Multi-Linked Negotiations In Multi-Echelon Production Scheduling Networks, Hoong Chuin Lau, Guan Li Soh, Wee Chong Wan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we are concerned with scheduling resources in a multi-tier production/logistics system for multi-indenture goods. Unlike classical production scheduling problems, the problem we study is concerned with local utilities which are private. We present an agent model and investigate an efficient scheme for handling multi-linked agent negotiations. With this scheme we attempt to overcome the drawbacks of sequential negotiations and negotiation parameter settings. Our approach is based on embedding a credit-based negotiation protocol within a local search scheduling algorithm. We demonstrate the computational efficiency and effectiveness of the approach in solving a real-life dynamic production scheduling problem which …

Supply Chain Information Sharing In A Macro Prediction Market, Zhiling Guo, Fang Fang, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper aims to address supply chain partners' incentives for information sharing from an information systems design perspective. Specifically, we consider a supply chain characterized by N geographically distributed retailers who order a homogeneous product from one manufacturer. Each retailer's demand risk consists of two parts: a systematic risk part that affects all retailers and an idiosyncratic risk part that only has a local effect. We propose a macro prediction market to effectively elicit and aggregate useful information about systematic demand risk. We show that such information can be used to achieve accurate demand forecast sharing and better channel coordination …

Gridfields: Model-Driven Data Transformation In The Physical Sciences, Bill Howe

Dissertations and Theses

Scientists' ability to generate and store simulation results is outpacing their ability to analyze them via ad hoc programs. We observe that these programs exhibit an algebraic structure that can be used to facilitate reasoning and improve performance. In this dissertation, we present a formal data model that exposes this algebraic structure, then implement the model, evaluate it, and use it to express, optimize, and reason about data transformations in a variety of scientific domains.

Simulation results are defined over a logical grid structure that allows a continuous domain to be represented discretely in the computer. Existing approaches for manipulating …

Computer Model To Select Leed Certification For Building Projects, Ruba Mirghani Mohammed

Masters Theses

According to the US Green Building Council (USGBC) residential and commercial buildings in the United State consume huge amounts of natural resources; pollute the environment, and generate large amounts of waste, all of which affect the environment, economy, public health, and productivity. As a result, USGBC committees developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system to help professionals improve the quality of buildings and lessen their impact on the environment.

The (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a point-based system for certifying the level of a building's sustainability. There are four LEED certification categories: (1) Certified, (2) …

Simulation Based Evaluation Of Parking Facilities, Niru Tiwari

Masters Theses

Transportation facility has emerged as one of the main indicators of a national's prosperity at the advent of 21^st century and is the backbone of American commerce and industry. There are over 600 million motor vehicles that are driven in the world today and the number of cars in use is expected to be doubled in next 30 years. As the number increases, more parking spaces should also be provided; however, it is difficult to supply sufficient parking space due to space limitations. To meet the need, new types of parking and new parking technologies have been introduced. However, …

Investigation Of Knock In Gaseous Fuels In The Presence Of Diluents, Roshan Ashok Rodrigues

Masters Theses

Recent energy security and environmental concerns have prompted growing interest into utilization of alternative fuels such as, natural gas and landfill gas. These gaseous fuels contain significant amount of diluents in the fuel composition, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water vapor and other trace gases, which vary by geographical location. Successful engine operation is limited by a phenomenon called "knock", which occurs due to auto-ignition of the end gas ahead of the flame front, and therefore, needs to be investigated with the utilization of these gaseous fuels.

The present contribution discusses the experimental set-up, procedure and results of the investigation …

Information Infrastructure For Integrated Ecohydraulic And Water Resources Modeling And Assessment, R. Wallace, K. Pathak, M. Fife, Norman L. Jones, J. P. Holland, D. Stuart, J. Harris, C. Butler, D. R. Richards

Faculty Publications

Watershed management increasingly requires ecohydraulic modeling and assessment within a regional context, rather than on a project-by-project basis. Such holistic modeling and assessment require evaluation capabilities across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Thus, modeling and assessment tools must be integrated in a scientifically and computationally effective infrastructure. The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, in concert with the Hydrologic Engineering Center and its academic partners, including Brigham Young University, is establishing a comprehensive set of hydroinformatics modeling and assessment tools for ecohydraulic and water resources management applications, all linked based on a common data and information infrastructure. This paper …

Vision-Based Target Geo-Location Using A Fixed-Wing Miniature Air Vehicle, D. Blake Barber, Joshua D. Redding, Timothy W. Mclain, Randal W. Beard, Clark N. Taylor

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a method for determining the GPS location of a ground-based object when imaged from a fixed-wing miniature air vehicle (MAV). Using the pixel location of the target in an image, with measurements of MAV position and attitude, and camera pose angles, the target is localized in world coordinates. The main contribution of this paper is to present four techniques for reducing the localization error. In particular, we discuss RLS filtering, bias estimation, flight path selection, and wind estimation. The localization method has been implemented and flight tested on BYU’s MAV testbed and experimental results are presented demonstrating …