Computer Engineering Commons^™

Treated Hfo2 Based Rram Devices With Ru, Tan, Tin As Top Electrode For In-Memory Computing Hardware, Yuvraj Dineshkumar Patel

Theses

The scalability and power efficiency of the conventional CMOS technology is steadily coming to a halt due to increasing problems and challenges in fabrication technology. Many non-volatile memory devices have emerged recently to meet the scaling challenges. Memory devices such as RRAMs or ReRAM (Resistive Random-Access Memory) have proved to be a promising candidate for analog in memory computing applications related to inference and learning in artificial intelligence. A RRAM cell has a MIM (Metal insulator metal) structure that exhibits reversible resistive switching on application of positive or negative voltage. But detailed studies on the power consumption, repeatability and retention …

A 2.56 Gbps Serial Wireline Transceiver That Supports An Auxiliary Channel And A Hybrid Line Driver To Compensate Large Channel Loss, Xiaoran Wang

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Serial transceiver links are widely used for high-speed point-to-point communications. This dissertation describes two transceiver link designs for two different applications.

In serial wireline communications, security is an increasingly important factor to concern. Securing an information processing system at the application and system software layers is regarded as a necessary but incomplete defense against the cyber security threats. In this dissertation, an asynchronous serial transceiver that is capable of transmitting and receiving an auxiliary data stream concurrently with the primary data stream is described. The transceiver instantiates the auxiliary data stream by modulating the phase of the primary data without …

Investigating Single Precision Floating General Matrix Multiply In Heterogeneous Hardware, Steven Harris

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The fundamental operation of matrix multiplication is ubiquitous across a myriad of disciplines. Yet, the identification of new optimizations for matrix multiplication remains relevant for emerging hardware architectures and heterogeneous systems. Frameworks such as OpenCL enable computation orchestration on existing systems, and its availability using the Intel High Level Synthesis compiler allows users to architect new designs for reconfigurable hardware using C/C++. Using the HARPv2 as a vehicle for exploration, we investigate the utility of several of the most notable matrix multiplication optimizations to better understand the performance portability of OpenCL and the implications for such optimizations on this and …

Formal Verification Of Divider And Square-Root Arithmetic Circuits Using Computer Algebra Methods, Atif Yasin

Doctoral Dissertations

A considerable progress has been made in recent years in verification of arithmetic circuits such as multipliers, fused multiply-adders, multiply-accumulate, and other components of arithmetic datapaths, both in integer and finite field domain. However, the verification of hardware dividers and square-root functions have received only a limited attention from the verification community, with a notable exception for theorem provers and other inductive, non-automated systems. Division, square root, and transcendental functions are all tied to the basic Intel architecture and proving correctness of such algorithms is of grave importance. Although belonging to the same iterative-subtract class of architectures, they widely differ …

Compound Effects Of Clock And Voltage Based Power Side-Channel Countermeasures, Jacqueline Lagasse

Masters Theses

The power side-channel attack, which allows an attacker to derive secret information from power traces, continues to be a major vulnerability in many critical systems. Numerous countermeasures have been proposed since its discovery as a serious vulnerability, including both hardware and software implementations. Each countermeasure has its own drawback, with some of the highly effective countermeasures incurring large overhead in area and power. In addition, many countermeasures are quite invasive to the design process, requiring modification of the design and therefore additional validation and testing to ensure its accuracy. Less invasive countermeasures that do not require directly modifying the system …

Otter Vector Extension, Alexis A. Peralta

Computer Engineering

This paper offers an implementation of a subset of the "RISC-V 'V' Vector Extension", v0.7.x. The "RISC-V 'V' Vector Extension" is the proposed vector instruction set for RISC-V open-source architecture. Vectors are inherently data-parallel, allowing for significant performance increases. Vectors have applications in fields such as cryptography, graphics, and machine learning. A vector processing unit was added to Cal Poly's RISC-V multi-cycle architecture, known as the OTTER. Computationally intensive programs running on the OTTER Vector Extension ran over three times faster when compared to the baseline multi-cycle implementation. Memory intensive applications saw similar performance increases.

Wine Sampler, Lance L. Litten

Computer Engineering

Quality testing is an important part of the wine industry. Without proper quality control, thousands of dollars could be wasted on bottling and recalling hundreds of gallons of wine. Due to this, labs are set up that collect wine samples from the tanks in a wine production plant and test them. A big part of this testing is determining exactly what tanks need to be tested and what tanks are at risk. My project aims to help automate this task by collecting data from the tanks wirelessly and keeping track of simple indicators such as pH and temperature. Automating this …

Polyone Smartphone, Joshua Zalmanowitz, Chi Nguyen, Gerome Cacho, Chris Lim

Electrical Engineering

The Poly One Smartphone is a student designed smartphone built to explore the implementation of 5G, provide a hardware solution to ensure personal information security and privacy, and provide longer battery life. The key features of this smartphone include but are not limited to a main cpu, some form of network connectivity in the form of Wi-fi or Cellular Data, calling functionality, a rechargeable battery that works with common power connection protocols, and compatibility with popular applications.

High Speed, High Current Monitoring System, Nicolette Lila Ray

Electrical Engineering

Electronics testing requires lengthy data collection and analysis. Streamlining at least part of this process allows resource reallocation, and faster data processing. Verifying a signal’s efficiency is key specification for a component’s datasheet. This project focuses on streamlining data collection when measuring a device’s output current. It combines amplifier design and digital interfacing to perform monitor a device’s output current. A computer-enable interface displays a graphical output current representation. It ensures accurate, high speed, high current measurements while removing a person’s need to manually plot data after testing. A new testing method provides room for company and product growth with …

The Characterization Of Effective Electromagnetic Fields On The Safety And Quality Of Low-Moisture Foods (Effs) - Prototype Device Development, Joe G. Sandoval

Electrical Engineering

Contamination of low-moisture foods including flour, wheat grain, baby formula, and more, have increasingly become a concern due to sanitizing challenges. While industrial food processors have long used RF heating to sanitize mass quantities, an equivalent consumer device is absent from the market today. The Characterization of Effective Electromagnetic Fields on the Safety and Quality of Low-Moisture Foods (EEFS) project is an interdisciplinary effort to develop an RF heating consumer device to sanitize low-moisture foods.

A prototype device was designed to sanitize low-moisture food items using RF heating acceptable for commercial or consumer applications.

An Fpga-Based Hardware Accelerator For The Digital Image Correlation Engine, Keaten Stokke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The work presented in this thesis was aimed at the development of a hardware accelerator for the Digital Image Correlation engine (DICe) and compare two methods of data access, USB and Ethernet. The original DICe software package was created by Sandia National Laboratories and is written in C++. The software runs on any typical workstation PC and performs image correlation on available frame data produced by a camera. When DICe is introduced to a high volume of frames, the correlation time is on the order of days. The time to process and analyze data with DICe becomes a concern when …

Predictive Modeling Of Iphone 7 Charge Rates Using Least Squares Curve Fitting, Grace Cahill

Honors Theses

In a time where individuals depend on their cell phones, the need for a long lasting and quick charging battery life is imperative. As information regarding how long a battery can remained charged is highly advertised, there is no information regarding how long it would take for a dead phone battery to completely charge. This study determined the amount of time it will take an iPhone 7 to charge from 0% to 100% using the standard charging cable under four different charging conditions. The charge percentage was recorded every two minutes until it was fully charged with this process being …

Nonlinear Least Squares 3-D Geolocation Solutions Using Time Differences Of Arrival, Michael V. Bredemann

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This thesis uses a geometric approach to derive and solve nonlinear least squares minimization problems to geolocate a signal source in three dimensions using time differences of arrival at multiple sensor locations. There is no restriction on the maximum number of sensors used. Residual errors reach the numerical limits of machine precision. Symmetric sensor orientations are found that prevent closed form solutions of source locations lying within the null space. Maximum uncertainties in relative sensor positions and time difference of arrivals, required to locate a source within a maximum specified error, are found from these results. Examples illustrate potential requirements …

Efficient Hardware/Software Partitioning Techniques For A Cloud-Scale Cpu-Fpga Platform, Samah Ziyad Rahamneh

Dissertations

The diversity of workload characteristics has stimulated the deployment of heterogeneous architectures to accommodate workloads’ requirements disparity in cloud data centers. In heterogeneous computing, co-processors are utilized to support Central Processing Units (CPUs) in fulfilling workload demands. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have advantages over other accelerators because of their power, performance and re-configurability benefits. In order to achieve the most benefit of a heterogeneous platform, efficient partitioning of workload between the CPU and the FPGA is a crucial demand.

This dissertation first presents a design and implementation of cooperative CPU-FPGA execution techniques, which include code and data partitioning, of …

Trustworthy Systems And Protocols For The Internet Of Things, Arman Pouraghily

Doctoral Dissertations

Processor-based embedded systems are integrated into many aspects of everyday life such as industrial control, automotive systems, healthcare, the Internet of Things, etc. As Moore’s law progresses, these embedded systems have moved from simple microcontrollers to full-scale embedded computing systems with multiple processor cores and operating systems support. At the same time, the security of these devices has also become a key concern. Our main focus in this work is the security and privacy of the embedded systems used in IoT systems. In the first part of this work, we take a look at the security of embedded systems from …

Design Of Hardware With Quantifiable Security Against Reverse Engineering, Shahrzad Keshavarz

Doctoral Dissertations

Semiconductors are a 412 billion dollar industry and integrated circuits take on important roles in human life, from everyday use in smart-devices to critical applications like healthcare and aviation. Saving today's hardware systems from attackers can be a huge concern considering the budget spent on designing these chips and the sensitive information they may contain. In particular, after fabrication, the chip can be subject to a malicious reverse engineer that tries to invasively figure out the function of the chip or other sensitive data. Subsequent to an attack, a system can be subject to cloning, counterfeiting, or IP theft. This …

Room Management Web Application And Movement And Temperature Sensors, Visalbotr Chan, Huy Anh Duong

Computer Engineering

There are three main parts of this system: micro-controller, database, and website. Micro-controller detects motion of people walking in and out and It also measures room temperature and humidity in a confined space then updates collected data to the database. Our system’s database contains 6 main columns: room number, room capacity, number of students, temperature in Celsius, humidity in percent and date created. Finally, this database is queried by the website to display the information on the webpage. Users could also navigate on our site to check the most and least occupy rooms, and they can also search for a …

Novel On-Chip Optical Modulator Designs, Mohamed Mahmoud Ibrahim Ibrahim Elsayed

Theses and Dissertations

The huge increments in data traffic and communication over the past few decades have pushed the conventional electronic communication systems to their physical limits in terms of data rate, bandwidth and capacity. The continuous shrinking of feature sizes, the increase in the microelectronic integrated circuits complexity, and the increasing demand for higher speeds and data rates have all stimulated seeking new technology to replace the currently present microelectronics industry rather than improving it. Photonics is one of the most likely candidates to answer this pursuit for its compatibility with the fiber optic industry, which has shown a great success in …

Tiny Disco: A Cost-Effective, High-Fidelity Wireless Audio System, Luke Martin Liberatore

Computer Engineering

The Tiny Disco is a WiFi based concert system, featuring improvements on popular “Silent Disco” concerts. Rather than being tied to compression and bandwidth restrictions present in traditional silent disco systems, the Tiny Disco system can deliver 320kbps+ audio quality, and allows listeners to bring their own headphones, further lending to the high quality audio experience.

Tiny Disco uses a Raspberry Pi as the audio server, and Espressif ESP32 microcontrollers as audio receivers/clients. The Tiny Disco is primarily geared toward smaller concerts and niche events where audio quality is valued, though due to its WiFi-based architecture, it can be expanded …

Dual-Axis Solar Tracker, Bryan Kennedy

All Undergraduate Projects

Renewable energies, and fuels that are not fossil fuel-based, are one of the prolific topics of debate in modern society. With climate change now becoming a primary focus for scientists and innovators of today, one of the areas for the largest amount of potential and growth is that of the capturing and utilization of Solar Energy. This method involves using a mechanical system to track the progression of the sun as it traverses the sky throughout the day. A dual-axis solar tracker such as the one designed and built for this project, can follow the sun both azimuthally and in …

Resource Efficient Design Of Quantum Circuits For Cryptanalysis And Scientific Computing Applications, Edgard Munoz-Coreas

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Quantum computers offer the potential to extend our abilities to tackle computational problems in fields such as number theory, encryption, search and scientific computation. Up to a superpolynomial speedup has been reported for quantum algorithms in these areas. Motivated by the promise of faster computations, the development of quantum machines has caught the attention of both academics and industry researchers. Quantum machines are now at sizes where implementations of quantum algorithms or their components are now becoming possible. In order to implement quantum algorithms on quantum machines, resource efficient circuits and functional blocks must be designed. In this work, we …

Implementation Of A Hierarchical, Embedded, Cyber Attack Detection System For Spi Devices On Unmanned Aerial Systems, Jeremy J. Price

Theses and Dissertations

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) create security concerns as their roles expand in commercial, military, and consumer spaces. The need to secure these systems is recognized in the architecture for a Hierarchical, Embedded, Cyber Attack Detection (HECAD) system. HECAD passively monitors the communication between a flight controller and all its peripherals like sensors and actuators. It ensures the functionality of a UAS is within the set of defined behavior and reports all potential problems, whether the errors were caused by cyber attacks or other physical faults. A portion of the design for Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) devices on board a flight …

Demand-Driven Execution Using Future Gated Single Assignment Form, Omkar Javeri

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation discusses a novel, previously unexplored execution model called Demand-Driven Execution (DDE), which executes programs starting from the outputs of the program, progressing towards the inputs of the program. This approach is significantly different from prior demand-driven reduction machines as it can execute a program written in an imperative language using the demand-driven paradigm while extracting both instruction and data level parallelism. The execution model relies on an executable Single Assignment Form which serves both as the internal representation of the compiler as well as the Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) of the machine. This work develops the instruction set …

Terraria Server On A Raspberry Pi, Bradley Stoldt

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My senior project is designed to display some of the material I have learned throughout the four years at The University of Akron, as well as explore into a newer piece of technology. I will be researching and documenting myself setting up a live network at my house that will have a raspberry pi running on it as a game server. The goal of this project is to get internal users to connect to the server, as well as users that are outside of my home network.

Digital, Automated Reactive Target System, Nicholas Haas, Saipranay Vellala, Trandon Ware, Thomas Martin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this era, technology is woven into almost every facet of our leisure activities. Although technology has innovated hobbies ranging from chess to soccer, the art of shooting has been neglected. Unnecessary insufficiency such as bullet ricochets off of mechanical steel targets, ineffective progress tracking, and general inaccessibility to outdoor training facilities are all improvable areas of this sport. The Dynamic Automated Reactive Target (D.A.R.T) System aims to fill some of these gaps and help modernize recreational marksmanship. Modeling the system after a dueling tree will optimize the use of the system and allow for different training models to challenge …