Computer Engineering Commons^™

Network Management, Optimization And Security With Machine Learning Applications In Wireless Networks, Mariam Nabil

Theses and Dissertations

Wireless communication networks are emerging fast with a lot of challenges and ambitions. Requirements that are expected to be delivered by modern wireless networks are complex, multi-dimensional, and sometimes contradicting. In this thesis, we investigate several types of emerging wireless networks and tackle some challenges of these various networks. We focus on three main challenges. Those are Resource Optimization, Network Management, and Cyber Security. We present multiple views of these three aspects and propose solutions to probable scenarios. The first challenge (Resource Optimization) is studied in Wireless Powered Communication Networks (WPCNs). WPCNs are considered a very promising approach towards sustainable, …

Machine Learning For Unmanned Aerial System (Uas) Networking, Jian Wang

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Fueled by the advancement of 5G new radio (5G NR), rapid development has occurred in many fields. Compared with the conventional approaches, beamforming and network slicing enable 5G NR to have ten times decrease in latency, connection density, and experienced throughput than 4G long term evolution (4G LTE). These advantages pave the way for the evolution of Cyber-physical Systems (CPS) on a large scale. The reduction of consumption, the advancement of control engineering, and the simplification of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) enable the UAS networking deployment on a large scale to become feasible. The UAS networking can finish multiple complex …

Intelligent Internet Of Things Frameworks For Smart City Safety, Dimitrios Sikeridis

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The emerging Smart City ecosystem consists of a vast edge network of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that continuously interact with mobile devices carried by its citizens. In this setting, the IoT infrastructure, apart from the main communications facilitator, acts as a crowdsourcing mechanism that collects massive amounts of user data, and can support public safety applications for the Smart City. In this thesis, we design and analyze learning mechanisms that extract intelligence from crowd interactions with the wireless IoT infrastructure, and optimize its energy efficiency while operating as a public safety network. First, we deploy a multi-story facility testbed …

Resource Allocation In Distributed Service Networks, Nitish Kumar Panigrahy

Doctoral Dissertations

The past few years have witnessed significant growth in the use of distributed network analytics involving agile code, data and computational resources. In many such networked systems, for example, Internet of Things (IoT), a large number of smart devices, sensors, processing and storage resources are widely distributed in a geographic region. These devices and resources distributed over a physical space are collectively called a distributed service network. Efficient resource allocation in such high performance service networks remains one of the most critical problems. In this thesis, we model and optimize the allocation of resources in a distributed service network. This …

Leveraging Machine Learning Techniques Towards Intelligent Networking Automation, Cesar A. Gomez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this thesis, we address some of the challenges that the Intelligent Networking Automation (INA) paradigm poses. Our goal is to design schemes leveraging Machine Learning (ML) techniques to cope with situations that involve hard decision-making actions. The proposed solutions are data-driven and consist of an agent that operates at network elements such as routers, switches, or network servers. The data are gathered from realistic scenarios, either actual network deployments or emulated environments. To evaluate the enhancements that the designed schemes provide, we compare our solutions to non-intelligent ones. Additionally, we assess the trade-off between the obtained improvements and the …

Design And Simulation Of A Supervisory Control System For Hybrid Manufacturing, Michael Buckley

Masters Theses

The research teams of Dr. Bill Hamel, Dr. Bradley Jared and Dr. Tony Schmitz were tasked by the Office of Naval Research to create a hybrid manufacturing process for a reduced scale model of a naval ship propeller. The base structure of the propeller is created using Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), which is then scanned to compare created geometry to desired geometry. The propeller is then machined down to match the desired geometry. This process is iterated upon until the final product meets design tolerances. Due to the complex nature and numerous industrial machines used in the process, it …

Flight Trajectory Prediction For Aeronautical Communications., Nathan T Schimpf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of future technologies for the National Airspace System (NAS) will be reliant on a new communications infrastructure capable of managing a limited spectrum among aircraft and ground systems. Emerging approaches to this spectrum allocation task mostly consider machine learning techniques reliant on aircraft and Air Traffic Control (ATC) sector data. Much of this data, however, is not directly available. This thesis considers the development of two such data products: the 4D trajectory (latitude, longitude, altitude, and time) of aircraft, and the anticipated airspace utilization and communication demand within an ATC sector. Data predictions are treated as a time …

Computational Frameworks For Multi-Robot Cooperative 3d Printing And Planning, Laxmi Prasad Poudel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a novel cooperative 3D printing (C3DP) approach for multi-robot additive manufacturing (AM) and presents scheduling and planning strategies that enable multi-robot cooperation in the manufacturing environment. C3DP is the first step towards achieving the overarching goal of swarm manufacturing (SM). SM is a paradigm for distributed manufacturing that envisions networks of micro-factories, each of which employs thousands of mobile robots that can manufacture different products on demand. SM breaks down the complicated supply chain used to deliver a product from a large production facility from one part of the world to another. Instead, it establishes a network …

Scalable Cognitive Radio Network Testbed In Real Time, Kevin Z. Yu

Master's Theses

Modern society places an increasingly high demand on data transmission. Much of that data transmission takes place through communication over the frequency spectrum. The channels on the spectrum are limited resources. Researchers realize that at certain times of day some channels are overloaded, while others are not being fully utilized. A spectrum management system may be beneficial to remedy this efficiency issue. One of the proposed systems, Cognitive Radio Network (CRN), has progressed over the years thanks to studies on a wide range of subjects, including geolocation, data throughput rate, and channel handoff selection algorithm, which provide fundamental support for …

Data Forgery Detection In Automatic Generation Control: Exploration Of Automated Parameter Generation And Low-Rate Attacks, Yatish R. Dubasi

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Automatic Generation Control (AGC) is a key control system utilized in electric power systems. AGC uses frequency and tie-line power flow measurements to determine the Area Control Error (ACE). ACE is then used by the AGC to adjust power generation and maintain an acceptable power system frequency. Attackers might inject false frequency and/or tie-line power flow measurements to mislead AGC into falsely adjusting power generation, which can harm power system operations. Various data forgery detection models are studied in this thesis. First, to make the use of predictive detection models easier for users, we propose a method for automated generation …

Project Blipper, Peter Jacobs, Preston Delaware, Ryan Foster

Senior Design Project For Engineers

This project was sponsored by Clorox to design and create an automatic bottle-unscrambling system for possible implementation at their bottling plant in Chile. The objective was to use a robotic arm to unscramble bottles from an incoming conveyor belt and place them upright on an outbound conveyor belt. Throughout the research, design, and testing of solutions for this project, several design alternatives were found for each discipline, and will be presented to Clorox so that they can make an informed decision for how and if they want to move forward with implementation of this project.

The project was split into …

Distance-Based Formation Control Using Decentralized Sensing With Infrared Photodiodes, Steven Williams

LSU Master's Theses

This study presents an onboard sensor system for determining the relative positions of mobile robots, which is used in decentralized distance-based formation controllers for multi-agent systems. This sensor system uses infrared photodiodes and LEDs; its effective use requires coordination between the emitting and detecting robots. A technique is introduced for calculating the relative positions based on photodiode readings, and an automated calibration system is designed for future maintenance. By measuring the relative positions of their neighbors, each robot is capable of running an onboard formation controller, which is independent of both a centralized controller and a global positioning-like system (e.g., …

Enhanced Interest Aware Peoplerank For Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks, Yosra Saad Shahin

Theses and Dissertations

Network infrastructures are being continuously challenged by increased demand, resource-hungry applications, and at times of crisis when people need to work from homes such as the current Covid-19 epidemic situation, where most of the countries applied partial or complete lockdown and most of the people worked from home. Opportunistic Mobile Social Networks (OMSN) prove to be a great candidate to support existing network infrastructures. However, OMSNs have copious challenges comprising frequent disconnections and long delays. we aim to enhance the performance of OMSNs including delivery ratio and delay. We build upon an interest-aware social forwarding algorithm, namely Interest Aware PeopleRank …

A General Framework For Characterizing And Evaluating Attacker Models For Cps Security Assessment, Christopher S. Deloglos, Christopher Deloglos

Theses and Dissertations

Characterizing the attacker’s perspective is essential to assessing the security posture and resilience of cyber-physical systems. The attacker’s perspective is most often achieved by cyber-security experts (e.g., red teams) who critically challenge and analyze the system from an adversarial stance. Unfortunately, the knowledge and experience of cyber-security experts can be inconsistent leading to situations where there are gaps in the security assessment of a given system. Structured security review processes (such as TAM, Mission Aware, STPA-SEC, and STPA-SafeSec) attempt to standardize the review processes to impart consistency across an organization or application domain. However, with most security review processes, the …

Integration Of Robotic And Electro-Pneumatic Systems Using Advanced Control And Communication Schemes, Chinmay Kondekar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Modern industrial automation systems are designed by interconnecting various subsystems which work together to perform a process. The thesis project aims to integrate fragmented subsystems into a flexible and reconfigurable system through advanced communication protocols and perform a process to demonstrate the effectiveness of interconnected systems.

The system consists of three six-axis robots, one electro-pneumatic robot, and two conveyors connected using EthernetIP communication and hardwired connections. The interconnected system works together to perform machining of a workpiece using advanced control methods of CAD to robot path generation, central control through a PLC, and process control through HMI.

Standardized programming blocks …

Soil Sensor Network, Andrea Wyder, Ross Klonowski, Alexis Alves, Luke Farnsworth

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Water management during crop irrigation is a problem for the agricultural industry. To help farmers better maintain water usage, a wireless soil sensor network comprised of a sensor pod and wireless communication has been designed and implemented. It was proven that the sensor pod can be installed 6-8 inches below the ground and communicate up to at least a 6km distance back to the gateway. The senor pod shells have a 2 mm thick shell to prevent the pod from shattering when coming into contact with the ground after being released from the planter, as calculated through the force of …

Automated Blind Control, Daniel Nahra, Matthew Lacek, Timothy Kurczewski, William Daulton Baksa

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this project would be to design and prototype an automated, light and temperature sensing window blinds system. The device would detect temperature, both inside and outside, and incoming sunlight to determine proper window blind position for maximum energy savings. The user would also have the ability to change the settings of the blind from a remote device to a setting that they desire at any given time

Design Project: Smart Headband, John Michel, Jack Durkin, Noah Lewis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Concussion in sports is a prevalent medical issue. It can be difficult for medical professionals to diagnose concussions. With the fast pace nature of many sports, and the damaging effects of concussions, it is important that any concussion risks are assessed immediately. There is a growing trend of wearable technology that collects data such as steps and provides the wearer with in-depth information regarding their performance. The Smart Headband project created a wearable that can record impact data and provide the wearer with a detailed analysis on their risk of sustaining a concussion. The Smart Headband uses accelerometers and gyroscopes …