Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A C To Register Transfer Level Algorithm Using Structured Circuit Templates: A Case Study With Simulated Annealing, Jonathan D. Phillips

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A tool flow is presented for deriving simulated annealing accelerator circuits on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) from C source code by exploring architecture solutions that conform to a preset template through scheduling and mapping algorithms. A case study carried out on simulated annealing-based Autonomous Mission Planning and Scheduling (AMPS) software used for autonomous spacecraft systems is explained. The goal of the research is an automated method for the derivation of a hardware design that maximizes performance while minimizing the FPGA footprint. Results obtained are compared with a peer C to register transfer level (RTL) logic tool, a state-of-the-art …

A Novel Technique Of Network Auditability With Managers In The Loop, Rian Shelley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Network management requires a large amount of knowledge about the network. In particular, knowledge about used network addresses, access time, and topology is useful. In a network composed of managed devices, much of the data necessary can come from simple network management protocol (SNMP) queries. Other data can come from other databases, or analysis of existing data. In particular, layer-two network topology can be determined by analyzing the mac address forwarding tables of layer-two devices. The layer-two topology can be merged with a layer-three topology to generate a complete topology of the network. This information is useless unless it is …

A Novel Authentication And Validation Mechanism For Analyzing Syslogs Forensically, Steena D.S. Monteiro

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research proposes a novel technique for authenticating and validating syslogs for forensic analysis. This technique uses a modification of the Needham Schroeder protocol, which uses nonces (numbers used only once) and public keys. Syslogs, which were developed from an event-logging perspective and not from an evidence-sustaining one, are system treasure maps that chart out and pinpoint attacks and attack attempts. Over the past few years, research on securing syslogs has yielded enhanced syslog protocols that focus on tamper prevention and detection. However, many of these protocols, though efficient from a security perspective, are inadequate when forensics comes into play. …

Two Highly Diverse Studies In Computing: A Vitruvian Framework For Distribution And A Search Approach To Cancer Therapies, Brian G. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Solid cancer tumors must recruit new blood vessels for growth and maintenance. Discovering drugs that block this tumor-induced development of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) is an important approach in cancer treatment. However, the complexity of angiogenesis and the difficulty in implementing and evaluating medical changes prevent the discovery of novel and effective new therapies. This paper presents a massively parallel computational search-based approach for the discovery of novel potential cancer treatments, using a high fidelity simulation of angiogenesis. Discovering new therapies is viewed as multi-objective combinatorial optimization over two competing objectives: minimizing the medical cost of the intervention while minimizing …

Understanding Unfolding Change And The Value Of Strategic Unification In Recent Usu Information Technology Functional Realignment, Eric S. Hawley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This is a qualitative case study of the 2005-2008 Utah State University Information Technology reorganization from the perspective of key change advocates. The study identified and documented the unfolding change process involved in the reorganization in terms of dissatisfaction, executive changes, internal executive strategic planning, implementation and initial impacts, and continuous "in situ" strategic planning. The study also answered a set of supporting concluding questions indicating increased value to the institution in areas of customer service and confidence, organization, financial resources, planning and policy, security, and increased/improved services and service functions.

Impact Analysis Of System And Network Attacks, Anupama Biswas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Systems and networks have been under attack from the time the Internet first came into existence. There is always some uncertainty associated with the impact of the new attacks. Compared to the problem of attack detection, analysis of attack impact has received very little attention. Generalize and forecasting the kind of attack that will hit systems in future is not possible. However, it is possible to predict the behavior of a new attack and, thereby, the impact of the attack. This thesis proposes a method for predicting the impact of a new attack on systems and networks as well as …

Automated Data Type Identification And Localization Using Statistical Analysis Data Identification, Sarah Jean Moody

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research presents a new and unique technique called SÁDI, statistical analysis data identification, for identifying the type of data on a digital device and its storage format based on data type, specifically the values of the bytes representing the data being examined. This research incorporates the automation required for specialized data identification tools to be useful and applicable in real-world applications. The SÁDI technique utilizes the byte values of the data stored on a digital storage device in such a way that the accuracy of the technique does not rely solely on the potentially misleading metadata information but rather …

An Evolutionary Approach To Image Compression In The Discrete Cosine Transform Domain, Benjamin E. Banham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper examines the application of genetic programming to image compression while working in the frequency domain. Several methods utilized by JPEG encoding are applied to the image before utilizing a genetic programming system. Specifically, the discrete cosine transform (DCT) is applied to the original image, followed by the zig-zag scanning of DCT coefficients. The genetic programming system is finally applied to the one-dimensional array resulting from the zig-zag scan. The research takes an existing genetic programming system developed for the spatial domain and develops DCT domain functionality. The results from the DCT domain-based genetic programming system are compared with …

Forensic And Anti-Forensic Techniques For Object Linking And Embedding 2 (Ole2)-Formatted Documents, Jason M. Daniels

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Common office documents provide significant opportunity for forensic and anti-forensic work. The Object Linking and Embedding 2 (OLE2) specification used primarily by Microsoft’s Office Suite contains unused or dead space regions that can be over written to hide covert channels of communication. This thesis describes a technique to detect those covert channels and also describes a different method of encoding that lowers the probability of detection.

The algorithm developed, called OleDetection, is based on the use of kurtosis and byte frequency distribution statistics to accurately identify OLE2 documents with covert channels. OleDetection is able to correctly identify 99.97 percent of …

Agent-Organized Network Coalition Formation, Levi L. Barton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents work based on modeling multi-agent coalition formation in an agent organized network. Agents choose which agents to connect with in the network. Tasks are periodically introduced into the network. Each task is defined by a set of skills that agents must fill. Agents form a coalition to complete a task by either joining an existing coalition a network neighbor belongs to, or by proposing a new coalition for a task no agents have proposed a coalition for. We introduce task patience and strategic task selection and show that they improve the number of successful coalitions agents form. …

Strides Towards Better Application Security, Sathyaraj Balasubramanian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Static analysis tools analyze source code for vulnerabilities. However, these types of tools suffer from various problems that limit their effectiveness. This thesis examines these static analysis tools and suggests techniques for making them more efficient at detecting different types of vulnerabilities.

The thesis further analyzes possible causes for these vulnerabilities by examining the source code written by programmers of various categories. Finally, this thesis discusses solutions and techniques to improve general security awareness as well as the importance of secure coding among the students and software developers.