Computer Engineering Commons^™

Hardware-Software Co-Design, Acceleration And Prototyping Of Control Algorithms On Reconfigurable Platforms, Desta Kumsa Edosa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Differential equations play a significant role in many disciplines of science and engineering. Solving and implementing Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) and partial Differential Equations (PDEs) effectively are very essential as most complex dynamic systems are modeled based on these equations. High Performance Computing (HPC) methodologies are required to compute and implement complex and data intensive applications modeled by differential equations at higher speed. There are, however, some challenges and limitations in implementing dynamic system, modeled by non-linear ordinary differential equations, on digital hardware. Modeling an integrator involves data approximation which results in accuracy error if data values are not considered …

Hardware Implementation Of Processor Allocator For Mesh Connected Chip Multiprocessors, Rana Sangram Reddy Marri

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The advancements in the semiconductor process technology and the current demand for highly parallel computing has led to the advent of Chip Multiprocessors (CMPs). CMP is the integration of two or more independent processor cores, which can read and execute program instructions, on to a single integrated circuit die. CMPs are the main computing platforms for research and development in parallel and high performance computing environments. They offer minimum inter-core communication latencies as the processor cores are present on a single chip.

The Operating System (OS) plays a key role in using a CMP effectively. The OS should support a …

Is Tech M&A Value-Additive?, Ani Deshmukh

Undergraduate Economic Review

Given rising M&A deal volume across all high-tech subsectors, the ability to measure post-acquisition performance becomes critical. Despite this growth, the relevant academic literature is severely lacking (Kohers and Kohers 2000). Using an event-study approach, I find that acquirers and targets both realize statistically significant day-0 abnormal returns (1.23% [p<0.1] and 8.1% [p<0.01], respectively). As positive stock returns signal positive growth prospects in a semi-strong efficient market, AR regressions found that firms' technological relatedness, deal financing, purchase price premiums, and the relative book to market ratio, explained most variance. Overall, high-tech transactions are value-additive for both targets and acquirers.

At The Tone, The Time Will Be... Unknown – A Perspective On The Evolution Of Time In Telecommunications, Robert Iannucci

Robert A Iannucci

No abstract provided.

Embedded Virtual Machines For Robust Wireless Control And Actuation, Miroslav Pajic, Rahul Mangharam

Rahul Mangharam

Embedded wireless networks have largely focused on open-loop sensing and monitoring. To address actuation in closed-loop wireless control systems there is a strong need to re-think the communication architectures and protocols for reliability, coordination and control. As the links, nodes and topology of wireless systems are inherently unreliable, such time-critical and safety-critical applications require programming abstractions and runtime systems where the tasks are assigned to the sensors, actuators and controllers as a single component rather than statically mapping a set of tasks to a specific physical node at design time. To this end, we introduce the Embedded Virtual Machine (EVM), …

Large Scale Processing And Storage Solution: Dna Safeguard Project, Eric Copp

Eric Copp

The DNA Safeguard project involves processing DNA sequence data in order to find nullomer sequences (non-existent short DNA sequences). While the fundamental algorithm for finding nullomer sequences is simple, it is complicated by the amount of data that must be handled. Four methods for handling terabytes of of data are investigated, single instance of a MySQL database, PVFS (Parallel Virtual File System), Hadoop, and a custom MPI (Message Passing Interface) program.

An Investigation Of Distributed Schema Free Tabular Data Storage Technologies On Google App Engine And Microsoft Azure, Conor Mcgrath, Gary Clynch

Conference Papers

This paper examines schema free non-relational tabular storage for two important emerging Platform as a Service (PaaS) environments, where Google App Engine applications persist data to the Google Datastore, and Microsoft Azure applications store data in Azure Tables. A simple mobile web application was initially developed for both platforms, to understand how an application could be developed and deployed. Java Data Objects (JDO) was selected for Google App Engine and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) in C# for Microsoft Azure. Many applications have a requirement to store complex data that is organised in relations in the order of One to One, …

Contextualized Mobile Support For Learning By Doing In The Real World, Ray Bareiss, Natalie Linnell, Martin L. Griss

Martin L Griss

This research addresses the use of mobile devices with both embedded and external sensors to provide contextualized help, advice, and remediation to learners engaged in real-world learn-by-doing tasks. This work is situated within the context of learning a complex procedure, in particular emergency responders learning to conduct urban search and rescue operations. Research issues include the design and delivery of contextualized performance support and the inferring of learner actions and intentions from sensor data to ensure that the right support is delivered just in time, as it is relevant to what the learner is doing.

A Rapidly Prototyped 2-Axis Positioning Stage For Microassembly Using Large Displacement Compliant Mechanisms, Aaron Hoover, Srinath Avadhanula, Richard Groff, Ronald Fearing

Aaron M. Hoover

Compliant mechanisms provide an attractive alternative to conventional rigid mechanisms in the design of ultra low-cost precision positioning systems. The desirable performance characteristics of these mechanisms including freedom from backlash, long life, light weight, and ease of fabrication/assembly make them an ideal solution to the problem of inexpensive precision positioning for microassembly. This paper presents a design for a 2 axis precision positioning system which makes use of large displacement compliant mechanisms, a room temperature and pressure molding fabrication process, commodity hardware, and a piecewise linear interpolation compensation scheme to achieve positioning performance suitable for automated assembly of sub-centimeter robotic …

Lachesis: A Job Scheduler For The Cray T3e, Allen B. Downey

Allen B. Downey

This paper presents the design and implementation of Lachesis, a job scheduler for the Cray T3E. Lachesis was developed at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) in an attempt to correct some problems with the scheduling system Cray provides with the T3E.

A Parameterized Stereo Vision Core For Fpgas, Mark Chang, Stephen Longfield

Mark L. Chang

We present a parameterized stereo vision core suitable for a wide range of FPGA targets and stereo vision applications. By enabling easy tuning of algorithm parameters, our system allows for rapid exploration of the design space and simpler implementation of high-performance stereo vision systems. This implementation utilizes the census transform algorithm to calculate depth information from a pair of images delivered from a simulated stereo camera pair. This work advances our previous work through implementation improvements, a stereo camera pair simulation framework, and a scalable stereo vision core.

Low-Cost Stereo Vision On An Fpga, Chris A. Murphy, Daniel Lindquist, Ann Marie Rynning, Thomas Cecil, Sarah Leavitt, Mark L. Chang

Mark L. Chang

We present a low-cost stereo vision implementation suitable for use in autonomous vehicle applications and designed with agricultural applications in mind. This implementation utilizes the Census transform algorithm to calculate depth maps from a stereo pair of automotive-grade CMOS cameras. The final prototype utilizes commodity hardware, including a Xilinx Spartan-3 FPGA, to process 320times240 pixel images at greater than 150 frames per second and deliver them via a USB 2.0 interface.

Automated Least-Significant Bit Datapath Optimization For Fpgas, Mark L. Chang, Scott Hauck

Mark L. Chang

In this paper, we present a method for FPGA datapath precision optimization subject to user-defined area and error constraints. This work builds upon our previous research which presented a methodology for optimizing the dynamic range- the most significant bit position. In this work, we present an automated optimization technique for the least-significant bit position of circuit datapaths. We present results describing the effectiveness of our methods on typical signal and image processing kernels.

Robotron, Fabian Rodriguez, Oscar Daniel Muneton, Adelaido Jimenez

Computer Engineering

Roborodentia 2012 is a competition where students and alumni could build an autonomous robot to perform a certain task for points. This report is about Robotron, the 3rd place winner of this competition, and how it came to be.

Frg Turbojet, Tyler Vitti

Computer Engineering

Members of the Cal Poly SLO campus club FRG work together with students of several different disciplines to build a functional turbojet engine. Engineering approaches include design, fabrication, testing, and computer sensing, control, and integration. The goal of the project is to produce a running turbojet engine monitored and controlled by embedded hardware and specialized PC software. This project is to be used by later groups for further research and development.

Riley The Cat, Nicholas Zankich

Computer Engineering

There are many toys that exist that are comfort objects. Generally these are toys that are soft such as blankets, stuffed animals, and pillows. Robotic toys also exist such as games, interactive books, and instruments. There exists a crossover market that includes Furbys, Tomagachi pets, and Fur Real Friends. While being very popular, I believe that this crossover isn’t perfect, and that there is a lot of room for improvement. Riley (Figure 1) was created to make something that is both completely a robot and a comfort object.

Applied Computer Cooling, Spencer Ellsworth

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

No abstract provided.

A Discriminative Imaging-Based Framework For Road Sign Condition Assessment Using Local Features And Svm Classifiers, Jafar Jameel Abukhait

Dissertations

Transportation departments are required to monitor the condition of road signs through appropriate condition assessment mechanisms to improve road safety and keep drivers properly informed. Typically, these mechanisms include visual inspection or specialized equipment such as retroreflectometers. These methods are costly, tedious, and risky since they need direct contact with road signs. Efforts to use emerging computer vision techniques for the assessment of road signs condition combined with the availability of road data inventories are allowing the automation of these processes, thus easing the inspection process, reducing costs of equipment, and decreasing the risks associated with the need for maintenance …

Lyfi, Kianoosh Salami, Justin Cotton, Elush Shirazpour

Electrical Engineering

This paper will cover the steps necessary to design, build, and manage networkable smart light switches over WiFi via a mobile application. It contains a microcontroller running a real time operating system, a WiFi module, a Java server with SQLite databasing, and a mobile phone application.

LyFi is designed to turn on/off and dim household lights while only requiring the same installation procedure as a less capable dimmer switch. Once installed and connected to a network, LyFi will self-discover and configure. The server automatically propogates a database of nodes where any mobile device running an application can receive an updated …

A Refreshable And Portable E-Braille System For The Blind And Visually Impaired, Mohammad Saadeh, Mohamed Trabia

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• Braille is a communication system to assist the blind and visually impaired.
• Present an approach to measure fingertip forces while identifying Braille characters.
• Implement a force sensory feedback in the device to measure the force developed on the fingertip.
• Introduce a preliminary design for the device.
• Build a prototype for the device and evaluate its functionality and integrate its components

Field Programmable Gate Arrays To Accelerate Sub-Surface Imaging Problems, Miriam Leeser

Miriam Leeser

No abstract provided.

External Verification Of Scada System Embedded Controller Firmware, Lucille R. Mcminn

Theses and Dissertations

Critical infrastructures such as oil and gas pipelines, the electric power grid, and railways, rely on the proper operation of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. Current SCADA systems, however, do not have sufficient tailored electronic security solutions. Solutions available are developed primarily for information technology (IT) systems. Indeed, the toolkit for SCADA incident prevention and response is unavailing as the operating parameters associated with SCADA systems are different from IT systems. The unique environment necessitates tailored solutions. Consider the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that directly connect to end physical systems for control and monitoring of operating parameters -- …

The Uconn Vpc: A Collaborative Story About Desktop Virtualization, Tony Molloy, Jeremy Pollack, Ed Swindelles

UConn Library Presentations

The UConn vPC is a collaborative IT project among the UConn School of Business, the School of Engineering, and the University Libraries. The project delivered virtual desktops to UConn students beginning the fall semester of 2011. Students now have access to UConn-licensed applications from their PCs, Macs, and mobile devices from anywhere in the world where they have Internet access. This session discusses both the technology behind the service and the collaboration between the academic units that built a scalable, centralized service. An overview of the service can be found at http://vpc.uconn.edu.

Bluemote!, Philip Kaye

Computer Engineering

In today’s society, our mobile phones are an extremely useful device when we are on the go and away from our homes; however, when we return home, our smart phone becomes just a communication tool again. Home automation is inevitable, and it will find its way into every house. The first person to commercialize it to the point where it is as easy to set-up and as affordable as a home router will end up breaking this slow trend. The key to this success is the smart phone; this should end up being the most expensive piece of hardware for …

Kreative Outlets, Travis Crist, Steve Clark, Jason Peressini

Computer Engineering

With the widespread use of smart phones and the advancement of WiFi technologies, people now have the Internet at their fingertips at all times. Home automation and control has the possibility of becoming the next big technology that can utilize the abundant availability of the Internet. This paper documents the findings and results of a project aimed at developing the infrastructure needed for a home automation system that is accessible anywhere. We implemented a system that utilized a web enabled ethernet connection and RF wireless technology to control AC outlets and provide the user with feedback information about the status …

Erasure Techniques In Mrd Codes, Florentin Smarandache, W.B. Vasantha Kandasamy, R. Sujatha, R.S. Raja Durai

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this book the authors study the erasure techniques in concatenated Maximum Rank Distance (MRD) codes. The authors for the first time in this book introduce the new notion of concatenation of MRD codes with binary codes, where we take the outer code as the RD code and the binary code as the inner code. The concatenated code consists of the codewords of the outer code expressed in terms of the alphabets of the inner code. These new class of codes are defined as CRM codes. This concatenation techniques helps one to construct any CRM code of desired minimum distance …