Computer Engineering Commons^™

Modeling And Compensating Of Noise In Time-Of-Flight Sensors, Bryan Rodriguez

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Three-dimensional (3D) sensors provide the ability to perform contactless measurements of objects and distances that are within their field of view. Unlike traditional two-dimensional (2D) cameras, which only provide RGB data about objects within a scene, 3D sensors are able to directly provide depth information for objects within a scene. Of these 3D sensing technologies, Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensors are becoming more compact which allows them to be more easily integrated with other devices and to find use in more applications. ToF sensors also provide several benefits over other 3D sensing technologies that increase the types of applications where ToF sensors …

An Animated Introduction To Digital Logic Design, John D. Carpinelli

Open and Affordable Textbooks

This book is designed for use in an introductory course on digital logic design, typically offered in computer engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, and other related programs. Such a course is usually offered at the sophomore level. This book makes extensive use of animation to illustrate the flow of data within a digital system and to step through some of the procedures used to design and optimize digital circuits.

All of the animations for this book can be found here: https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/dld-animations/

Towards Multipronged On-Chip Memory And Data Protection From Verification To Design And Test, Senwen Kan, Jennifer Dworak

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Modern System on Chips (SoCs) generally include embedded memories, and these memories may be vulnerable to malicious attacks such as hardware trojan horses (HTHs), test access port exploitation, and malicious software. This dissertation contributes verification as well as design obfuscation solutions aimed at design level detection of memory HTH circuits as well as obfuscation to prevent HTH triggering for embedded memory during functional operation. For malicious attack vectors stemming from test/debug interfaces, this dissertation presents novel solutions that enhance design verification and securitization of an IJTAG based test access interface. Such solutions can enhance SoC protection by preventing memory test …

Faster Multidimensional Data Queries On Infrastructure Monitoring Systems, Yinghua Qin, Gheorghi Guzun

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The analytics in online performance monitoring systems have often been limited due to the query performance of large scale multidimensional data. In this paper, we introduce a faster query approach using the bit-sliced index (BSI). Our study covers multidimensional grouping and preference top-k queries with the BSI, algorithms design, time complexity evaluation, and the query time comparison on a real-time production performance monitoring system. Our research work extended the BSI algorithms to cover attributes filtering and multidimensional grouping. We evaluated the query time with the single attribute, multiple attributes, feature filtering, and multidimensional grouping. To compare with the existing prior …

Semantics-Driven Abstractive Document Summarization, Amanuel Alambo

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The evolution of the Web over the last three decades has led to a deluge of scientific and news articles on the Internet. Harnessing these publications in different fields of study is critical to effective end user information consumption. Similarly, in the domain of healthcare, one of the key challenges with the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) for clinical practice has been the tremendous amount of clinical notes generated that can be summarized without which clinical decision making and communication will be inefficient and costly. In spite of the rapid advances in information retrieval and deep learning techniques towards …

A Solder-Defined Computer Architecture For Backdoor And Malware Resistance, Marc W. Abel

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This research is about securing control of those devices we most depend on for integrity and confidentiality. An emerging concern is that complex integrated circuits may be subject to exploitable defects or backdoors, and measures for inspection and audit of these chips are neither supported nor scalable. One approach for providing a “supply chain firewall” may be to forgo such components, and instead to build central processing units (CPUs) and other complex logic from simple, generic parts. This work investigates the capability and speed ceiling when open-source hardware methodologies are fused with maker-scale assembly tools and visible-scale final inspection.

The …

A Cloud Computing-Based Dashboard For The Visualization Of Motivational Interviewing Metrics, E Jinq Heng

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Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based brief interventional technique that has been demonstrated to be effective in triggering behavior change in patients. To facilitate behavior change, healthcare practitioners adopt a nonconfrontational, empathetic dialogic style, a core component of MI. Despite its advantages, MI has been severely underutilized mainly due to the cognitive overload on the part of the MI dialogue evaluator, who has to assess MI dialogue in real-time and calculate MI characteristic metrics (number of open-ended questions, close-ended questions, reflection, and scale-based sentences) for immediate post-session evaluation both in MI training and clinical settings. To automate dialogue assessment and …

Automatically Inferring Image Bases Of Arm32 Binaries, Daniel T. Chong

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Reverse engineering tools rely on the critical image base value for tasks such as correctly mapping code into virtual memory for an emulator or accurately determining branch destinations for a disassembler. However, binaries are often stripped and therefore, do not explicitly state this value. Currently available solutions for calculating this essential value generally require user input in the form of parameter configurations or manual binary analysis, thus these methods are limited by the experience and knowledge of the user. In this thesis, we propose a user-independent solution for determining the image base of ARM32 binaries and describe our implementation. Our …

Locality Analysis Of Patched Php Vulnerabilities, Luke N. Holt

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The size and complexity of modern software programs is constantly growing making it increasingly difficult to diligently find and diagnose security exploits. The ability to quickly and effectively release patches to prevent existing vulnerabilities significantly limits the exploitation of users and/or the company itself. Due to this it has become crucial to provide the capability of not only releasing a patched version, but also to do so quickly to mitigate the potential damage. In this thesis, we propose metrics for evaluating the locality between exploitable code and its corresponding sanitation API such that we can statistically determine the proximity of …

Development Of Enhanced User Interaction And User Experience For Supporting Serious Role-Playing Games In A Healthcare Setting, Mark Lee Alow

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Education about implicit bias in clinical settings is essential for improving the quality of healthcare for underrepresented groups. Such a learning experience can be delivered in the form of a serious game simulation. WrightLIFE (Lifelike Immersion for Equity) is a project that combines two serious game simulations, with each addressing the group that faces implicit bias. These groups are individuals that identify as LGBTQIA+ and people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The project presents healthcare providers with a training tool that puts them in the roles of the patient and a medical specialist and immerses them in social and clinical …

Few-Shot Malware Detection Using A Novel Adversarial Reprogramming Model, Ekula Praveen Kumar

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The increasing sophistication of malware has made detecting and defending against new strains a major challenge for cybersecurity. One promising approach to this problem is using machine learning techniques that extract representative features and train classification models to detect malware in an early stage. However, training such machine learning-based malware detection models represents a significant challenge that requires a large number of high-quality labeled data samples while it is very costly to obtain them in real-world scenarios. In other words, training machine learning models for malware detection requires the capability to learn from only a few labeled examples. To address …

Enhanced Security Utilizing Side Channel Data Analysis, Michael Taylor

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The physical state of a system is affected by the activities and processes in which it is tasked with carrying out. In the past there have been many instances where such physical changes have been exploited by bad actors in order to gain insight into the operational state and even the data being held on a system. This method of side channel exploitation is very often effective due to the relative difficulty of obfuscating activity on a physical level. However, in order to take advantage of side channel data streams one must have a detailed working knowledge of how a …

Using A Light-Based Power Source To Defeat Power Analysis Attacks, Remus Valentin Tumac

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Power analysis attacks exploit the correlation between the information processed by an electronic system and the power consumption of the system. By powering an electronic system with an optical power source, we can prevent meaningful information from being leaked to the power pins and captured in power traces. The relatively constant current draw of the optical power source hides any variability in the power consumption of the target system caused by the logic gates' switching activity of the system as observed at the power pins. This thesis will provide evidence to show that using an optical power source should make …

Reducing Power During Manufacturing Test Using Different Architectures, Yi Sun

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Power during manufacturing test can be several times higher than power consumption in functional mode. Excessive power during test can cause IR drop, over-heating, and early aging of the chips. In this dissertation, three different architectures have been introduced to reduce test power in general cases as well as in certain scenarios, including field test.

In the first architecture, scan chains are divided into several segments. Every segment needs a control bit to enable capture in a segment when new faults are detectable on that segment for that pattern. Otherwise, the segment should be disabled to reduce capture power. We …

Sample Mislabeling Detection And Correction In Bioinformatics Experimental Data, Soon Jye Kho

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Sample mislabeling or incorrect annotation has been a long-standing problem in biomedical research and contributes to irreproducible results and invalid conclusions. These problems are especially prevalent in multi-omics studies in which a large set of biological samples are characterized by multiple types of omics platforms at different times or different labs. While multi-omics studies have demonstrated tremendous value in understanding disease biology and improving patient outcomes, the complexity of these studies may increase opportunities for human error. Fortunately, the interrelated nature of the data collected in multi-omics studies can be exploited to facilitate the identification and, in some cases, correction …

Edge Processing Of Image For Uas Sense And Avoidance, Christopher J. Rave

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Today there is a large market for Unmanned Aerial Systems. Although most current systems are remotely piloted by operators on the ground, increasingly, many of these systems will use some sort of automatic flight controller to help mitigate new challenges, due to their deployment at growing scale. These challenges include, but are not limited to, shortage of FAA-certified UAS pilots, transmission bandwidth and delay constraints and cyber security threats associated with wireless networking, profitability of operations constrained by energy capacity and efficiency and air dynamics planning, and etc. In order to address these rising challenges, this thesis is a part …

Adaptive Two-Stage Edge-Centric Architecture For Deeply-Learned Embedded Real-Time Target Classification In Aerospace Sense-And-Avoidance Applications, Nicholas A. Speranza

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With the growing number of Unmanned Aircraft Systems, current network-centric architectures present limitations in meeting real-time and time-critical requirements. Current methods utilizing centralized off-platform processing have inherent energy inefficiencies, scalability challenges, performance concerns, and cyber vulnerabilities. In this dissertation, an adaptive, two-stage, energy-efficient, edge-centric architecture is proposed to address these limitations. A novel, edge-centric Sense-and-Avoidance architecture framework is presented, and a corresponding prototype is developed using commercial hardware to validate the proposed architecture. Instead of a network-centric approach, processing is distributed at the logical edge of the sensors, and organized as Detection and Classification Subsystems. Classical machine vision algorithms are …

Partial Facial Re-Imaging Using Generative Adversarial Networks, Derek Desentz

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Existing facial recognition software relies heavily on using neural networks to extract key facial features to accurately classify known individuals. Some of these key features include the shape, size, and distance between an individual’s eyes, nose, and mouth. When these key features cannot be extracted due to facial coverings, existing applications become inaccurate and unreliable. The accuracy and reliability of these technologies are growing concerns as the facial recognition market continues to grow at an exponential rate. In this thesis, we have developed a web-based application service that is able to take in a partially covered face image and generate …

Deep Learning For Compressive Sar Imaging With Train-Test Discrepancy, Morgan R. Mccamey

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We consider the problem of compressive synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging with the goal of reconstructing SAR imagery in the presence of under sampled phase history. While this problem is typically considered in compressive sensing (CS) literature, we consider a variety of deep learning approaches where a deep neural network (DNN) is trained to form SAR imagery from limited data. At the cost of computationally intensive offline training, on-line test-time DNN-SAR has demonstrated orders of magnitude faster reconstruction than standard CS algorithms. A limitation of the DNN approach is that any change to the operating conditions necessitates a costly retraining …

Evaluating The Performance Of Using Speaker Diarization For Speech Separation Of In-Person Role-Play Dialogues, Raveendra Medaramitta

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Development of professional communication skills, such as motivational interviewing, often requires experiential learning through expert instructor-guided role-plays between the trainee and a standard patient/actor. Due to the growing demand for such skills in practices, e.g., for health care providers in the management of mental health challenges, chronic conditions, substance misuse disorders, etc., there is an urgent need to improve the efficacy and scalability of such role-play based experiential learning, which are often bottlenecked by the time-consuming performance assessment process. WSU is developing ReadMI (Real-time Assessment of Dialogue in Motivational Interviewing) to address this challenge, a mobile AI solution aiming to …

Arise - Augmented Reality In Surgery And Education, Sadan Suneesh Menon

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Human errors in healthcare can be fatal. Proper physical assessment of patients to avoid such errors is of paramount importance. Incorrect or insufficient assessment of the patient can cause treatment delays that may lead to negative outcomes. In this dissertation we introduce innovative technology to assist surgeons in patient assessment as well as during the training of nurses in order to enhance learning. Technological advancements have made it possible to visualize overlays of computer-generated 3D models on real-world surfaces. This technology is called augmented reality. Using Steady State Topography (SST) brain imaging to examine the brain activity of people who …

Evaluating The Performance Of Using Speaker Diarization For Speech Separation Of In-Person Role-Play Dialogues, Raveendra Medaramitta

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Development of professional communication skills, such as motivational interviewing, often requires experiential learning through expert instructor-guided role-plays between the trainee and a standard patient/actor. Due to the growing demand for such skills in practices, e.g., for health care providers in the management of mental health challenges, chronic conditions, substance misuse disorders, etc., there is an urgent need to improve the efficacy and scalability of such role-play based experiential learning, which are often bottlenecked by the time-consuming performance assessment process. WSU is developing ReadMI (Real-time Assessment of Dialogue in Motivational Interviewing) to address this challenge, a mobile AI solution aiming to …

Object Recognition And Voice Assistant With Augmented Reality, Juan Estrella

Publications and Research

Our research project aims to provide a visually impaired person with a superimposed map that will guide the individual to the desired destination through a voice controlled virtual assistant application that integrates Augmented Reality (AR) with Artificial Intelligence (AI) Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing (subfields of AI) will be combined to identify the spatial environment and then create a graphic enhancement that provides the most direct route to the specific destination These technologies will be incorporated into the Microsoft Hololens which will be controlled by the user.

Enginews, Fall 2020, School Of Computer Science & Engineering

News, Magazines and Reports

In this issue:

COVID Adjustments • Summer Internship + COVID study with Gabriel Bitencourt • IDEA Lab News with Chelsea Coelho • Recent Publications and Press Releases • Student Quotes.

Blockchain And Its Transformational Impact To Global Business, Mohammed Qaudeer

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

The advent of internet to the public back in 1994 resulted in the 4th industrial revolution disrupting and transforming business and communication models. As much as the transformation changed our lives and experiences, it has resulted in centralized models like Amazon and Facebook. It also resulted in exponential growth of Fraud, Identity theft, and lack of trust. Blockchain is considered an emerging technology of this era, which will trigger the 5th industrial revolution enabling another massive storm of disruptive transformation completely changing the current business models based on trust, security, collaboration and crypto currency. As the evolution of blockchain technology …

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 …

Heuristic-Based Threat Analysis Of Register-Transfer-Level Hardware Designs, Wesley Layton Ellington

Electrical Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The development of globalized semiconductor manufacturing processes and supply chains has lead to an increased interest in hardware security as new types of hardware based attacks, called hardware Trojans, are being observed in industrial and military electronics. To combat this, a technique was developed to help analyze hardware designs at the register-transfer-level (RTL) and locate points of interest within a design that might be vulnerable to attack. This method aims to eventually enable the creation of an end-to-end design hardening solution that analyzes existing designs and suggests countermeasures for potential Trojan attacks. The method presented in this work uses a …

Extracting Information From Subroutines Using Static Analysis Semantics, Luke A. Burnett

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Understanding how a system component can interact with other services can take an immeasurable amount of time. Reverse engineering embedded and large systems can rely on understanding how components interact with one another. This process is time consuming and can sometimes be generalized through certain behavior.We will be explaining two such complicated systems and highlighting similarities between them. We will show that through static analysis you can capture compiler behavior and apply it to the understanding of a function, reducing the total time required to understand a component of whichever system you are learning.

Geoaware - A Simulation-Based Framework For Synthetic Trajectory Generation From Mobility Patterns, Jameson D. Morgan

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Recent advances in location acquisition services have resulted in vast amounts of trajectory data; providing valuable insight into human mobility. The field of trajectory data mining has exploded as a result, with literature detailing algorithms for (pre)processing, map matching, pattern mining, and the like. Unfortunately, obtaining trajectory data for the design and evaluation of such algorithms is problematic due to privacy, ethical, dataset size, researcher access, and sampling frequency concerns. Synthetic trajectories provide a solution to such a problem as they are cheap to produce and are derived from a fully controllable generation procedure. Citing deficiencies in modern synthetic trajectory …

Enabling Static Program Analysis Using A Graph Database, Jialun Liu

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This thesis presents the design, the implementation, and the evaluation of a database-oriented static program analysis engine for the PHP programming language. This engine analyzes PHP programs by representing their semantics using a graph-based data structure, which will be subsequently stored into a graph database. Such scheme will fundamentally facilitate various program analysis tasks such as static taint analysis, visualization, and data mining. Specifically, these complex program analysis tasks can now be translated into built-in declarative graph database operations with rich features. Our engine fundamentally differs from other existing static program analysis systems that mainly leverage intermediate representation (IRs) to …