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Elevated Neutral-To-Earth Voltage In Distribution Systems Including Harmonics, Jian Jiang

All Dissertations

The elevated neutral-to-earth voltage (NEV), and the related phenomenon called stray voltage, is analyzed in multigrounded distribution systems. Elevated NEV is typically caused by fundamental frequency currents returning to the source via the neutral conductor and earth. However, harmonic distortion is also found to contribute to elevated NEV. A multiphase harmonic load flow algorithm is developed to examine the effects of various factors on the NEV, including unsymmetrical system configuration, load unbalance and harmonic injection. To fulfill this objective, the system modeling is adapted to include the neutral conductor into the component equivalent circuit. The overhead transmission line is remodeled …

Hierarchical State Estimation For Wide Area Power Systems, Srivatsan Lakshminarasimhan

All Theses

This thesis presents the application of hierarchical state estimation techniques to consolidate the state output of a wide area power system network. In a wide area network a large number of interconnections exist between various utilities of the wide area. Power transactions between areas occur over large distances and hence for better security there is a need to monitor the state of the entire wide area systems. Hierarchical state estimation is preferred over integrated state estimation, due to the reduced computational time.
Using existing state estimators of the member utilities of the wide area in the bottom level of hierarchical …

Haptics In Robotics And Automotive Systems, Erhun Iyasere

All Theses

Haptics is the science of applying touch (tactile) sensation and control to interaction with computer applications. The devices used to interact with computer applications are known as haptic interfaces. These devices sense some form of human movement, be it finger, head, hand or body movement and receive feedback from computer applications in form of felt sensations to the limbs or other parts of the human body. Examples of haptic interfaces range from force feedback joysticks/controllers in video game consoles to tele-operative surgery. This thesis deals with haptic interfaces involving hand movements. The first experiment involves using the end effector of …

Developing A Benchmark Suite For The Evaluation Of Orientation Sensors, Kelly Waller

All Theses

This paper examines the problem with the lack of standardization through which MEMS orientation sensors are evaluated. These sensors are sold with data sheets that outline their performance, but lack the conditions under which the testing takes place. In this research, a testing apparatus was developed, and testing routines were designed to evaluate the different characteristics of orientation sensors under different motion conditions. Three orientation sensors, each in a different price range, were evaluated with the benchmark suite. The testing apparatus is a turntable that can precisely spin an orientation sensor via a stepper motor, and can record its exact …

A Cross-Layer Approach To Increase Spatial Reuse And Throughput For Ad Hoc Networks, Steven Boyd

All Theses

Ad hoc networks employing adaptive-transmission protocols can alter transmission parameters to suit the channel environment. Channel-access mechanisms are used to govern temporal use of the transmission medium amongst nodes. Effective operation of a channel-access mechanism can improve the ability of an adaptive-transmission protocol to accommodate changing channel conditions. The interoperability of these two mechanisms motivates cross-layer design of adaptive-transmission protocols.
In this thesis we examine the integration of a new channel-access mechanism with a physical-layer adaptive-transmission protocol to create a cross-layer protocol with enhanced capabilities. We derive specific physical-layer measurements which are used to control channel-access behavior in a distributed …

Using Duplication With Compare For On-Line Error Detection In Fpga-Based Designs, Daniel L. Mcmurtrey

Theses and Dissertations

Space destined FPGA-based systems must employ redundancy techniques to account for the effects of upsets caused by radiated environments. Error detection techniques can be used to alert external systems to the presence of these upsets. Readback with compare is an error detection technique commonly employed in FPGA-based designs. This work introduces duplication with compare (DWC) as an automated on-line error detection technique that can be used as an alternative to readback with compare. This work also introduces a set of metrics that is used to quantify the effectiveness and coverage of this error detection technique. A tool is presented that …

Unsupervised Neural Pattern Classifiers For Oral Vowel Pronunciation Of Foreign-Accented Speech, Joseph Hecker

All Theses

This thesis describes the development of unsupervised neural-based pattern classifiers for the training of vowel pronunciations for students learning a foreign language. This paper examines American learners of the French language. A corpus of single word utterances is compiled from a group of native French speakers. Cepstral features are used to train two unsupervised neural pattern classifiers: a self-organizing map and a growing neural gas. The development and justification for the use of these classifiers is presented. The output from the classifier is translated to a bar graph for visual assessment. The degree to which the utterance sounds native is …

Machine Learning For Computer Security, Philip K. Chan, Richard P. Lippmann

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

The prevalent use of computers and internet has enhanced the quality of life for many people, but it has also attracted undesired attempts to undermine these systems. This special topic contains several research studies on how machine learning algorithms can help improve the security of computer systems.

A Fuzzy Logic Controller For Autonomous Wheeled Vehicles, Mohamed Trabia, Linda Z. Shi, Neil Eugene Hodge

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Autonomous vehicles have potential applications in many fields, such as replacing humans in hazardous environments, conducting military missions, and performing routine tasks for industry. Driving ground vehicles is an area where human performance has proven to be reliable. Drivers typically respond quickly to sudden changes in their environment. While other control techniques may be used to control a vehicle, fuzzy logic has certain advantages in this area; one of them is its ability to incorporate human knowledge and experience, via language, into relationships among the given quantities. Fuzzy logic controllers for autonomous vehicles have been successfully applied to address various …

The Use Of Fast Integral Equations Solvers For Practical Package And Interconnect Analysis, J. D. Morsey, B. J. Rubin, L. (Lijun) Jiang, L. Shan, L. B. Eisenberg, D. Becker, M. Arseneault

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fast integral equation methods are now being applied to packaging and other such "low frequency" problems. This paper explores some of the issues surrounding such an application to real, product level packaging and interconnect type structures. Discussed are issues such as low frequency breakdown, mesh aspect ratios, and solver convergence. Finally, integral equation solver examples are presented using the IBM internally developed pre-corrected FFT (PFFT) solver labeled EMSurf[l]. ©2006 IEEE.

Robust Estimation Of Mahalanobis Distance In Hyperspectral Images, Eduardo C. Meidunas

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops new estimation methods that fit Johnson distributions and generalized Pareto distributions to hyperspectral Mahalanobis distances. The Johnson distribution fit is optimized using a new method which monitors the second derivative behavior of exceedance probability to mitigate potential outlier effects. This univariate distribution is then used to derive an elliptically contoured multivariate density model for the pixel data. The generalized Pareto distribution models are optimized by a new two-pass method that estimates the tail-index parameter. This method minimizes the mean squared fitting error by correcting parameter values using data distance information from an initial pass. A unique method …

A Biologically Plausible System Approach For Noise Robust Vowel Recognition, Ismail Uysal, Harsha Sathyendra, John G. Harris

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Present day commercial automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems still pale in comparison to the human ability to recognize speech. For decades, people tried to mimic biology for machine recognition tasks and ASR is no exception. Widely used and accepted Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients, for example, try to develop better filter banks by looking at the distribution of the hair cells along the basilar membrane. However, all these approaches stem only from topological and anatomical considerations. This research proposes to take this biological inspiration one step further by imitating some of the dynamical computation of our auditory system via describing a …

Monitoring The True Harmonic Current Of A Variable Speed Drive Under Nonsinusoidal Supply Conditions, J. Mazumdar, R. Harley, F. Lambert, T. Habetler, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The increased use of nonlinear devices in industry has resulted in direct increase of harmonic distortion in the industrial power system. Variable speed drives are an example. with the widespread proliferation of nonlinear loads in a power distribution network, the voltage at the point of common coupling is rarely a pure sinusoid. It has become necessary to identify accurately which load(s) is injecting the excessively high harmonic currents. Simply measuring the harmonic currents at each individual load is not sufficiently accurate since these harmonic currents may be caused by not only the nonlinear load, but also by a non-sinusoidal PCC …

Mimo Communication Capacity: Antenna Coupling And Precoding For Incoherent Detection, Nicolas W. Bikhazi

Theses and Dissertations

While the capacity of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems has been explored in considerable detail, virtually all literature on this topic ignores electromagnetic considerations. This dissertation explores electromagnetic effects on the capacity performance of these multi-antenna architectures. Specifically, it examines the impact of superdirectivity for compact antenna arrays, the effect of antenna mutual coupling, and MIMO performance of multi-mode optical fiber with non-linear detection. Superdirectivity can lead to abnormally large capacity bounds in a MIMO communication system, especially when the antennas are placed close together. Because superdirective behavior is difficult to achieve in practice, this work formulates an approach for limiting …

Predicting On-Orbit Static Single Event Upset Rates In Xilinx Virtex Fpgas, Joshua Engel, Keith S. Morgan, Michael J. Wirthlin, Paul S. Graham

Faculty Publications

Sponsorship: Department of Energy, Los Alamos National Laboratory. This document describes the methodology used to predict single-event upset rates for Xilinx Virtex FPGAs based on the CREME96 orbit modeling tool. Using this methodology, SEU upset rates are obtained for several Xilinx Virtex FPGAs including Virtex, Virtex-II, and Virtex-4. Further, SEU upset rates are obtained for a variety of orbits for each of these FPGAs.

Using Coupled Eulerian And Lagrangian Grids To Model Explosive Interactions With Buildings, Braden Lusk, William P. Schonberg, Jason Baird, Robert S. Woodley, Warren Noll

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents the development of a computational model that can be used to study the interactions between structures and detonating explosives contained within them. This model was developed as part of an effort to develop a rubble characterization model for use in AmmoSIM, an agent based urban tactical decision aid (UTDA) software for weapon-target pairing. The rubble pile created following the collapse of a building in a combat situation can significantly impact mission accomplishment, particularly in the area of movement and maneuver. The information provided by AmmoSIM will enable both platoon level and command center staff to make informed …

Optimal Placement And Control Of Unified Power Flow Control Devices Using Evolutionary Computing And Sequential Quadratic Programming, Radha P. Kalyani, Mariesa Crow, Daniel R. Tauritz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A crucial factor effecting modern power systems today is power flow control. An effective means for controlling and improving power flow is by installing fast reacting devices such as a unified power flow controller (UPFC). For maximum positive impact of this device on the power grid, it should be installed at an optimal location and employ an optimal realtime control algorithm. This paper proposes the combination of an evolutionary algorithm (EA) to find the optimal location and sequential quadratic programming (SQP) to optimize the UPFC control settings. Simulations are conducted using the classic IEEE 118 bus test system. For comparison …

Synchronous Reference Frame Based Active Filter Current Reference Generation Using Neural Networks, Joy Mazumdar, Ronald G. Harley, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The increased use of nonlinear devices in industry has resulted in direct increase of harmonic distortion in the industrial power system in recent years. The significant harmonics are almost always 5th, 7th, 11th and the 13th with the 5th harmonic being the largest in most instances. Active filter systems have been proposed to mitigate harmonic currents of the industrial loads. The most important requirement for any active filter is the precise detection of the individual harmonic component's amplitude and phase. Fourier transform based techniques provide an excellent method for individual harmonic isolation, but it requires a minimum of two cycles …

Detection And Identification Of Vehicles Based On Their Unintended Electromagnetic Emissions, Xiaopeng Dong, Haixiao Weng, Daryl G. Beetner, Todd H. Hubing, Donald C. Wunsch, Michael Noll, Huseyin Goksu, Benjamin Moss

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

When running, vehicles with internal combustion engines radiate electromagnetic emissions that are characteristic of the vehicle. Emissions depend on the electronics, harness wiring, body type, and many other features. Since emissions are unique to each vehicle, these may be used for identification purposes. This paper investigates a procedure for detecting and identifying vehicles based on their RF emissions. Parameters like the average magnitude or standard deviation of magnitude within a frequency band were extracted from measured emission data. These parameters were used as inputs to an artificial neural network (ANN) that was trained to identify the vehicle that produced the …

Cancellation Predictive Control For Three-Phase Pwm Rectifiers Under Harmonic And Unbalanced Input Conditions, Peng Xiao, Keith Corzine, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents an intuitive and simple-to-implement control scheme to improve the performance of three-phase boost-type PWM rectifiers under harmonic and unbalanced input conditions. Unlike most other control strategies, the proposed method does not need to extract either the harmonic or the negative-sequence components in the supply voltages and currents. A near-synchronous reference frame is used to determine the positive-sequence fundamental-frequency component in the input voltages. Utilizing only the extracted component, the DC-link voltage control and power factor control are implemented independently to determine the phase angle and magnitude of the PWM reference voltage. The commanded rectifier voltage adjustments are …

Scalable Load And Store Processing In Latency Tolerant Processors, Amit Vasant Gandhi

Dissertations and Theses

Memory latency-tolerant architectures support thousands of in-flight instructions without proportionate scaling of cycle-critical processor resources, and thousands of useful instructions can complete in parallel with a long-latency miss to memory. These architectures, however, require large queues to track all loads and stores executed while a long-latency miss is pending. Hierarchical designs alleviate cycle-time impact of these structures but the Content-Addressable-Memory (CAM) and search functions required to enforce memory ordering and provide data-forwarding place high demand on area and power.

Many recent proposals address the complexity of load and store queues. However, none of these proposals addresses the fundamental source of …

Power Electronic Courses That Work, Taufik

Electrical Engineering

This paper presents approaches that have been implemented in power electronic courses to be more appealing to electrical engineering students and hence increase their enrollments. The approaches entail redesigning the structure and content of the courses along with developing new laboratory experiments to better align the lab with the lecture portion of the courses and to reflect recent practical issues in power electronics. In addition to lab experiments, the redesigned courses provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in assigned hardware projects that illustrated many of the points learned in the lecture portion of the course with increasing …

Characterization Of Error-Tolerant Applications When Protecting Control Data, Darshan D. Thaker, Diana Franklin, John Y. Oliver, Susmit Biswas, Derek Lockhart, Tzvetan Metodi, Frederic T. Chong

Electrical Engineering

Soft errors have become a significant concern and recent studies have measured the "architectural vulnerability factor" of systems to such errors, or conversely, the potential that a soft error is masked by latches or other system behavior. We take soft-error tolerance one step further and examine when an application can tolerate errors that are not masked. For example, a video decoder or approximation algorithm can tolerate errors if the user is willing to accept degraded output. The key observation is that while the decoder can tolerate error in its data, it can not tolerate error in its control. We first …

A Prototype Platform For Array Feed Development, James Richard Nagel

Theses and Dissertations

Radio frequency interference (RFI) is a growing problem for radio astronomers. One potential solution utilizes spatial filtering by placing an array of electrically small antennas at the focal plane of a parabolic reflector. This thesis documents the design and characterization of a prototype array feed and RF receiver that were used to demonstrate the spatial filtering principle. The array consists of a 7-element hexagonal arrangement of thickened dipole antennas tuned to a center frequency of 1600 MHz. The receiver is a two-stage, low-noise frequency mixer that is tunable over the entire L-band. This thesis also documents a new receiver design …

Classified Vector Spiht For Wavelet Image Coding, Y. Liang, Scott E. Budge

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Wavelet based image coding has been shown to be an effective method, especially at low bit rate. Two successful approaches, space-frequency quantization (SFQ) and set partitioning in hierarchical trees (SPIHT) were proposed to predict insignificant wavelet coefficients. However, both of them employ a simple scalar quantization scheme instead of powerful vector quantization for coding of the significant wavelet coefficients. In this paper we propose a new image coding method that combines the SPIHT type set partitioning technique with classified vector quantization. That is, the set partitioning technique is used to locate significant wavelet coefficient vectors based on vectors' energies. In …

Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Background Traffic Loads On Streamed Video Over 802.11b Wlans, Tanmoy Debnath, Nicola Cranley, Mark Davis

Conference papers

Video is a frame based media and video streaming is often described as “bursty” which has a large impact on the Quality of Service of the video streaming application over WLAN networks. In this paper the impact of background load on the performance of streaming MPEG-4 video with a video server located on the wired network streaming to wireless client is analysed. We experimentally investigate the performance for both uplink and downlink loads. The performance is measured in terms of the key parameters of bit rate, loss rate and mean delay since these are the primary factors that affect the …

Real-Time Implementation Of A Dual Function Neuron Based Wide Area Svc Damping Controller, Sandhya R. Jetti, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The use of wide area measurements for power system stabilization is recently given a lot of attention by researchers and the power industry to avoid cascading failures and blackouts such as the August 2003. This paper presents the design of a nonlinear external damping controller based on wide area measurements as inputs to a dual function neuron (DFN). This DFN controller is specifically designed to enhance the damping characteristics of a power system considering the nonlinearity in the system. The major advantage of the DFN controller is that it is simple in structure with less development time and hardware requirements …

An Unique Ultracapacitor Direct Integration Scheme In Multilevel Motor Drives For Large Vehicle Propulsion, Shuai Lu, Keith Corzine, Mehdi Ferdowsi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper introduces a new set of methods to directly integrate ultracapacitor banks into cascaded multilevel inverters used for large vehicle propulsion. The idea is to replace the regular dc-link capacitors with ultracapacitors in order to combine the energy storage unit and motor drive. This approach eliminates the need for an interfacing dc-dc converter and considerably improves the efficiency of regenerative braking energy restoration in electric and hybrid vehicles. Utilizing the proposed modulation control set, the two cascaded inverters can have their dc voltage levels maintained at any ratio (even a noninteger ratio) or dynamically varied over a wide range …

Fault Arrangements And Their Effect On The Performance Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Dwayne Sayone Blai

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Wireless sensor networks face many reliability challenges. The networks are deployed in open, hostile environments, making them easily susceptible to network failure. As a result, there are countless faults that can occur in sensor networks, from component failure to outside attacks. Outside attacks take place when an adversary gains control over a node or set of nodes in the network. Outside attackers can destroy a network in numerous ways such as random attacks, clustering attacks, search-based attacks, etc. The method and strategy used in each of these attacks directly affects the network's reliability. Understanding how these adversaries are positioned is …

The Effects Of Ultrashort Pulsed Electric Fields On The Fluorescent Molecule Bodipy Fl C5 Ceramide, Rachael Sara Shevin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields are able to manipulate internal cell organelles by taking advantage of the small but finite time required for charge to establish across a capacitive barrier. Pulsed electric fields also affect macromolecular structures such as enzymes and proteins. Application of a single nanosecond pulsed electric field decreases the fluorescence of a commercially available biological dye Bodipy FL C₅ Ceramide, used to observe the Golgi apparatus of living cells. The effect is seen when the fluorophore is exposed to an electric field both in vitro and when incorporated into the Golgi of a living Jurkat cell. Observation …