Digital Commons Network^™

Smith Predictor Structure Stability Analysis Using Mikhailov Stability Criterion, Pauline Sourdille, Aidan O'Dwyer, Eugene Dermot Coyle Professor

Conference papers

As is well known, stability is an important requirement for control systems. Due to the nature of time-delay processes, common methods to evaluate stability may be difficult to use. In 1938, Mikhailov proved a frequency response criterion, which is sufficient and necessary for the stability of processes described by known n-th order constant coefficient linear differential equations. This paper presents the Mikhailov method and the application of this method to a Smith predictor structure controlled by a PI controller.

Pid Controller Tuning Of Networked Computer Based Control Systems, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution discusses the use of PID controller tuning rules to assist in the implementation of network computer based control systems. Such systems typically have a variable time delay associated with the transfer of information. PID controller tuning rules can be directly implemented with minimal capital investment.

Design Of A Wireless System For Patient-Hospital Communciation And Result Validation In Point Of Care Testing, John Mcgrory, Owen Lynch, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

This paper discuses mobile phone (cell phone) and wireless applications for linking patients who manage their healthcare outside the hospital using point of care testing (POCT) to hospital information systems (HIS). Certain medical conditions require patients to manage their healthcare by performing on themselves POC testing and act faithfully on the result. This raises quality control issue, as these POC samples and testing procedures are not independently overseen by professional hospital staff. In hospitals, samples taken by clinicians are validated by hi-tech computerised validation systems to ensure plausibility, before physicians rely on them. Patients in the home must often use …

Performance Analysis Of Network-Level Qos With Encoding Configuration For Unicast Video Streaming Over Ieee 802.11 Wlan Networks, Nicola Cranley, Mark Davis

Conference papers

Video streaming has a large impact on the resource requirements of the WLAN. However, there are many variables involved in video streaming, such as the video content being streamed, how the video is encoded and how it is sent. This makes the role of radio resource management extremely difficult. In this paper we investigate the effect that video encoding configurations has on the network resource requirements for unicast video streaming in a WLAN environment. We compare the network resource requirements of several content types encoded at various encoding configurations with varying I-frame frequencies, target encoding bit rates and hint track …

Design Of Mobile Phone Applications For Point-Of-Care Test Result Validation., John Mcgrory, Owen Lynch, Eugene Coyle

Conference Papers

Patients with many different conditions are required to take the management of their condition into their own hands and perform Point of Care Testing (POCT) at home. However, this raises quality control issues that would not arise in a clinical setting, since the sample acquisition and testing procedures are not overseen by professional hospital staff. Another major issue, the main focus of this research, is that results from such tests are not clinically validated to ensure that they are plausible for that patient at the time of testing. In hospital, tests taken by clinicians are validated by hi-tech computerised validation …

Low Dielectric Constant Fluorocarbon Films Containing Silicon By Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition, Yoonyoung Jin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Use of low relative dielectric constant (low-k) material as an interlayer dielectric is among important approaches to reduce the RC time delay in high performance ultra-large-scale integrated circuits. Copper metallization is another approach besides the use of low-k material, in reducing the RC delay time, because of its well-known characteristics of low resistivity and high electromigration resistance. Fluorocarbon films containing silicon (SiCF) have been developed in this work for low-k interlayer dielectric applications below 50 nm linewidth technology. The films were prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using gas precursors of tetrafluoromethane as the source of active species …

Performance Analysis And Validation Of A Recoverable Flight Control System In A Simulated Neutron Environment, Hong Zhang, W. Steven Gray, Oscar R. Gonzalez

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper introduces a class of stochastic hybrid models for the analysis of closed-loop control systems implemented with NASA's Recoverable Computer System. Such Recoverable Computer Systems have been proposed to insure reliable control performance in harsh environments. The stochastic hybrid models consist of either a stochastic finite-state automaton or a finite-state machine driven by a Markov input, which in turn drives a switched linear discrete-time dynamical system. Their stability and output tracking performance are analyzed using an extension of the existing theory for Markov jump-linear systems. For illustration, a stochastic hybrid model is used to calculate the tracking error performance …

Editorial, Robert W. Stewart, Michael W. Hoffman, Stephan Weiss

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

In the past years, digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms and architectures for baseband communication systems have fuelled the delivery of applications such as 3G mobile communications and wireless LAN to mass markets. This was made possible by a tremendous growth in the performance of computational devices such as digital signal processors and FPGAs, as well as an increase in sampling rates of conversion devices to potentially several 100 MHz. While the development of both computational devices and ADCs/DACs continues, thus permitting DSP to be applied at IF sampling rates and possibly beyond, the opportunities for further enhancing radio devices by …

Comparison Of Antenna Array Systems Using Ofdm For Software Radio Via The Sibic Model, Khoi D. Le, Michael W. Hoffman, Robert D. Palmer

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper investigates the performance of two candidates for software radio WLAN, reconfigurable OFDM modulation and antenna diversity, in an indoor environment. The scenario considered is a 20m × 10m × 3m room with two base units and one mobile unit. The two base units use omnidirectional antennas to transmit and the mobile unit uses either a single antenna with equalizer, a fixed beamformer with equalizer, or an adaptive beamformer with equalizer to receive. The modulation constellation of the data is QPSK and 16-QAM. The response of the channel at the mobile unit is simulated using a three-dimensional indoor WLAN …

Decentralized Discrete-Time Neural Network Controller For A Class Of Nonlinear Systems With Unknown Interconnections, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel decentralized neural network (NN) controller in discrete-time is designed for a class of uncertain nonlinear discrete-time systems with unknown interconnections. Neural networks are used to approximate both the uncertain dynamics of the nonlinear systems and the unknown interconnections. Only local signals are needed for the decentralized controller design and the stability of the overall system can be guaranteed using the Lyapunov analysis. Further, controller redesign for the original subsystems is not required when additional subsystems are appended. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed controller. The NN does not require an offline learning phase and the weights …

Model For Estimating Radiated Emissions From A Printed Circuit Board With Attached Cables Due To Voltage-Driven Sources, Todd H. Hubing, Hwan-Woo Shim

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Common-mode currents induced on cables attached to printed circuit boards (PCBs) can be a significant source of unintentional radiated emissions. This paper develops a model for estimating the amount of common-mode cable current that can be induced by the signal voltage on microstrip trace structures or heatsinks on a PCB. The model employs static electric field solvers or closed-form expressions to estimate the effective self-capacitances of the board, trace, and/or heatsink. These capacitances are then used to determine the amplitude of an equivalent common-mode voltage source that drives the attached cables. The model shows that these voltage-driven common-mode cable currents …

Information-Theoretic Criterion For The Performance Of Single-Photon Avalanche Photodiodes, David A. Ramirez, Majeed M. Hayat, Sergio N. Torres, Bahaa E.A. Saleh, Malvin Carl Teich

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A channel-capacity metric is introduced for assessing the performance of single-photon avalanche photodiodes (SPADs) when used as detectors in laser communication systems. This metric is employed to theoretically optimize, with respect to the device structure and operating voltage, the performance of SPADs with simple InP or In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As-InP heterojunction multiplication regions. As the multiplication-region width increases, an increase is predicted in both the peak and the full-width at half-maximum of the channel capacity curve versus the normalized excess voltage. Calculations also show the existence of an optimal In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As-InP heterojunction multiplication region that maximizes the peak channel capacity …

Estimation Of Additive Noise Variance For Multiuser Cdma Systems, Jingxian Wu, Chengshan Xiao, Khaled Ben Letaief

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a novel additive noise variance estimation algorithm is proposed for multiuser CDMA systems experiencing time varying and frequency selective fading. The algorithm is developed by exploring the eigen-structure of the receive signal correlation matrix, which is characterized by the statistid properties of both the fading channeI and the additive white Gaussian noise. Relying only on the knowledge of the receiver signal samples, the algorithm can accurately estimate the variance of the additive noise present at the receiver of multiuser CDMA systems. The estimated noise variance can be employed along with other receiver algorithms to improve system performance.

Robust Resource Allocations In Parallel Computing Systems: Model And Heuristics, V. Shestak, Shoukat Ali, Howard Jay Siegel, A. A. Maciejewski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The resources in parallel computer systems (including heterogeneous clusters) should be allocated to the computational applications in a way that maximizes some system performance measure. However, allocation decisions and associated performance prediction are often based on estimated values of application and system parameters. The actual values of these parameters may differ from the estimates; for example, the estimates may represent only average values, the models used to generate the estimates may have limited accuracy, and there may be changes in the environment. Thus, an important research problem is the development of resource management strategies that can guarantee a particular system …

Greetings From The Technical Program Chair, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Modeling And Simulation Of Photonic Crystal Fibers And Distributed Feedback Photonic Crystal Fiber Lasers, Feng Wu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is comprised of a solid or air core surrounded by periodically arranged air holes running along the length of the fiber, which guides light in a fundamentally new way compared to conventional optical fibers, affecting almost all areas of optics and photonics. To analyze the dispersion and loss properties of PCFs, a two-dimensional (2D) finite-difference frequency-domain (FDFD) method combined with the technique of perfectly matched layer (PML) is developed. The propagation constant and loss can be obtained with accuracies in the orders of ∼10-6 and ∼10 -3, respectively.

The Bragg fiber is a kind of …

A Measure Of Robustness Against Multiple Kinds Of Perturbations, Shoukat Ali, Behdis Eslamnour

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Parallel and distributed heterogeneous computing systems may operate in an environment that undergoes unpredictable changes causing certain system performance features to degrade. Such systems need robustness to guarantee limited degradation despite fluctuations in the behavior of its component parts or environment. Our previous work in this area presented a method for generating a measure of robustness for a given system. However, the focus of that approach was on a scenario where all perturbations were of the same kind, e.g., all perturbations were in message sizes or computation times, but not both message sizes and computation times. This paper gives an …

Special Session - Team Training To Promote Constructive (Not Destructive) Conflict, Ray Luechtefeld, Steve Eugene Watkins

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Advancing technology increases the need for engineering students to perform effectively on multidisciplinary teams. While conflict is a normal, and even necessary, component of team dynamics, if not managed effectively it can lead to destructive (rather than constructive) outcomes. An Action Science approach to group and individual effectiveness can help teams handle conflict constructively. This session uses a "Teach the Teacher" approach to give participants a basic understanding of skills underlying the approach. It provides practice in Action Science through a set of learning modules. These skills can be brought back and integrated into the participants' courses to provide student …

Taxonomy Of Systems-Of-Systems, James Gideon, Cihan H. Dagli, Ann K. Miller

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The study of systems-of-systems is an increasingly important topic in systems engineering. Though there is not complete agreement, a more precise definition of what these highly evolved systems are and what attributes they possess has certainly emerged. However, there are still areas in the study where the topic can be advanced by a more rigorous presentation of the basic elements. One such area is the taxonomy of systems-ofsystems. This paper will begin with the definition of systems-of-systems as it currently stands and will present the taxonomy from a broader view with additional considerations for classification. These taxonomic categories will consider …

Autonomous Vehicle Technologies For Small Fixed-Wing Uavs, Randal Beard, Derek Kingston, Morgan Quigley, Deryl Snyder, Reed Christiansen, Walt Johnson, Timothy Mclain, Michael A. Goodrich

Faculty Publications

The objective of this paper is to describe the design and implementation of a small semi-autonomous fixed-wing unmanned air vehicle. In particular we describe the hardware and software architectures used in the design. We also describe a low weight, low cost autopilot developed at Brigham Young University and the algorithms associated with the autopilot. Novel PDA and voice interfaces to the UAV are described. In addition, we overview our approach to real-time path planning, trajectory generation, and trajectory tracking. The paper is augmented with movie files that demonstrate the functionality of the UAV and its control software.

Coordination Variables, Coordination Functions, And Cooperative Timing Missions, Randal Beard, Timothy W. Mclain

Faculty Publications

Sponsorship: AFOSR, DARPA. This paper presents a solution strategy for achieving cooperative timing among teams of vehicles. Based on the notion of coordination variables and coordination functions, the strategy facilitates cooperative timing by requiring acceptably low levels of communication and computation. The application of the coordination variable/function approach to trajectory planning problems for teams of unmanned air vehicles with timing constraints is described. Three types of timing constraints are considered: simultaneous arrival, tight sequencing, and loose sequencing. Simulation results demonstrating the viability of the approach are presented.

An Enhanced Dynamic Packet Buffer Management, Vinod Rajan, Yul Chu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A packet buffer for a protocol processor is a large shared memory space that holds incoming data packets in a computer network. This paper investigates four packet buffer management algorithms for a protocol processor including dynamic algorithm with different thresholds (DADT), which is proposed to reduce the packet loss ratio efficiently. The proposed algorithm takes the advantage of different packet sizes for each application by allocating buffer space for each queue proportionally. According to our simulation results, the DADT algorithm works well in reducing packet loss ratio compared to other three algorithms.

Investigation Of Surface States And Device Surface Charging In Nitride Materials Using Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy, Mohammed Shahriar Sabuktagin

Theses and Dissertations

In this work Scanning Kelvin Probe Microscopy (SKPM) was used to characterize surface states and device surface charging in nitride materials. Samples grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE), Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) and Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) typically show a high surface band bending of about 1 eV. In an n-type sample with 3X1017 cm-3 carrier concentration, 1 eV upward band bending corresponds to 1.7X1012 cm-2 trapped charge density in the surface states. Under continuous ultraviolet (UV) illumination up to 0.6 eV surface photo voltage effect could be observed in some samples, which further indicates that surface …

Gain-Bandwidth Product Optimization Of Heterostructure Avalanche Photodiodes, Oh-Hyun Kwon, Majeed M. Hayat, Joe C. Campbell, Bahaa E.A. Saleh, Malvin Carl Teich

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A generalized history-dependent recurrence theory for the time-response analysis is derived for avalanche photodiodes with multilayer, heterojunction multiplication regions. The heterojunction multiplication region considered consists of two layers: a high-bandgap Al/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As energy-buildup layer, which serves to heat up the primary electrons, and a GaAs layer, which serves as the primary avalanching layer. The model is used to optimize the gain-bandwidth product (GBP) by appropriate selection of the width of the energy-buildup layer for a given width of the avalanching layer. The enhanced GBP is a direct consequence of the heating of primary electrons in the energy-buildup layer, which …

Analytical Model For The Rectangular Power-Ground Structure Including Radiation Loss, Ji Chen, Todd H. Hubing, Weimin Shi, R. L. Chen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An accurate analytical model to predict via coupling within rectangular power-return plane structures is developed. Loss mechanisms, including radiation loss, dielectric loss, and conductor loss, are considered in this model. The radiation loss is incorporated into a complex propagating wavenumber as an artificial loss mechanism. The quality factors associated with three loss mechanisms are calculated and compared. The effects of radiation loss on input impedances and reflection coefficients are investigated for both high-dielectric-loss and low-dielectric-loss printed circuit boards. Measurements are performed to validate the effectiveness of this model.

Calibration And Compensation Of Near-Field Scan Measurements, Masahiro Yamaguchi, Richard E. Dubroff, Kevin P. Slattery, Michael A. Cracraft, Jin Shi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A procedure for the calibration and compensation of near-field scanning is described and demonstrated. Ultimately, the objective is to quantify the individual field components associated with electromagnetic interference (EMI) from high speed circuitry and devices. Specific examples of these methods are shown. The effects of compensation are small but noticeable when the uncompensated output signal from near field scanning is already a very good representation of the field being measured. In other cases, the improvement provided by compensation can be significant when the uncompensated output signal bears little resemblance to the underlying field.

Efficient Capacity-Based Antenna Selection For Mimo Systems, Michael A. Jensen, Matthew L. Morris

Faculty Publications

The achieved capacity of the multiple-input-multiple-output wireless channel is typically dependent on the array configurations at the transmitter and receiver. Maximizing system capacity or throughput therefore requires that the arrays adapt to changing channel conditions, which may be accomplished by selecting an appropriate subset of available antenna elements for connection to the electronic transmit and receive modules. This work presents algorithms, derived using relatively straightforward information theoretic considerations, for efficiently and effectively selecting the antenna elements. Computational examples using a realistic channel model for indoor environments illustrate the performance of the techniques.

Network Model For Mimo Systems With Coupled Antennas And Noisy Amplifiers, Michael A. Jensen, Matthew L. Morris

Faculty Publications

This work presents a framework for the analysis of mutually-coupled antennas in a multiple-input multiple-output system. The approach uses network theory to formulate the transfer matrix relating the signals input to the transmit antennas to the signals at the output of the receiver front end. This transfer function includes the coupled transmit and receive antennas, the multipath propagation channel, the receiver matching network, and a realistic noise model for the receive amplifiers. Application of the formulation to coupled dipole antennas characterized using full-wave electromagnetic analysis illustrates the performance gains possible from matching the coupled antenna/receive amplifier subsystem for minimum noise …

Vlsi Implementation Of An Efficient Method For The Computation Of Line Spectral Frequencies, David L. Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

In speech coding applications using linear predictive techniques, the computation of line spectral frequencies (LSFs) from the predictor coefficients is an extremely computationally intensive task. The unique properties of the symmetric and antisymmetric polynomial roots limit the region which must be searched, however it is still necessary to perform a root-finding algorithm on a high-order polynomial.

Certain algorithms have been developed to reduce the complexity of the root finding exercise. One such algorithm, developed by Ramachandran and Kabal, takes advantage of certain properties of the symmetric and antisymmetric polynomials to map the upper portion of the unit circle onto the …

Usefulness Of Technology Life Cycle In Tanzania: The Case Of The Ipl Developed Technologies, Abdallah Chungu

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

This study sought to identify the adoption rate of technologv innovations developed by the Institute Of Production Innovation (IPI) at the University Of Dar-es-Salaam since 1984 to 1997 using a sigmoid shaped curve (S-shaped curves) to predict the life cycles of the respective technologies. Depending on the stimuli imparted to the specific technology, some of such technologies for instance, cinva ram and block making machines with hollow/spacer/louver exhibited longer life period as indicated by a series Of infer-connected S-curves. Other technologies including but nor limited to sunflower oil processing kit-winnowers, scorcher with one stove, seed roller, standard wheelbarrow, and manual …