Digital Commons Network^™

Nectar Clean 2006 A Complete Disk Utility Program, Matthew Areno

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The objective of this paper is to introduce a hard drive enclosure kit and program, named Disk Utility, which provides various utilities to a work-bench tech or a home user. Both the authors have worked in a tech-bench area and have found that this is a useful tool to have, as many times trouble-shooting type tasks are necessary to properly diagnose problems on a hard drive. It has also been found to be far easier to implement these changes on a hard drive that doesn't need to be moved from machine to machine.

Many design approaches are covered in this …

Optimal Allocation Of A Statcom In A 45 Bus Section Of The Brazilian Power System Using Particle Swarm Optimization, J. C. Hernandez, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Yamille Del Valle, Ronald G. Harley

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper introduces the application of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) to solve the optimal allocation of a STATCOM in a 45 bus system which is part of the Brazilian power network. The criterion used in finding the optimal location is based on the voltage profile of the system, i.e. the voltage deviation at each bus, with respect to its optimum value, is minimized. In order to test the performance of the PSO algorithm in this particular application, different approaches for inertia weight are investigated; also different values of acceleration constants, number of iterations and maximum velocity are considered. A sensitivity …

An Efficient Approach For Power Delivery Network Design With Closed-Form Expressions For Parasitic Interconnect Inductances, Chen Wang, Jingkun Mao, Giuseppe Selli, Shaofeng Luan, Lin Zhang, Jun Fan, David Pommerenke, Richard E. Dubroff, James L. Drewniak

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Investigation of a dc power delivery network, consisting of a multilayer PCB using area fills for power and return, involves the distributed behavior of the power/ground planes and the parasitics associated with the lumped components mounted on it. Full-wave methods are often employed to study the power integrity problem. While full-wave methods can be accurate, they are time and memory consuming. The cavity model of a rectangular structure has previously been employed to efficiently analyze the simultaneous switching noise (SSN) in the power distribution network. However, a large number of modes in the cavity model are needed to accurately simulate …

Evaluation Of Alternative Evolutionary Programming Techniques For Optimization Of An Automotive Alternator, Andreas C. Koenig, Joshua M. Williams, Steven D. Pekarek

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

One of the primary design requirements of automotive generation systems is maximizing power density subject to the constraint of minimizing the overall system cost. However, with the progress made in the reduction of automotive drive train noise, the torque ripple of the generator has been found to be a dominant noise source under idle conditions at high electrical loads. Thus, an added design constraint is the minimization of the torque ripple produced by the machine. in order to evaluate alternative machine designs (and select an optimal), numerical tools are typically applied. in this research, a focus is placed on the …

Fpga-Based Experiment Platform For Hardware-Software Codesign And Hardware Emulation, Yajuvendra Nagaonkar

Theses and Dissertations

An FPGA-based experiment platform for hardware-software codesign experiments was developed. The proposed platform would be used by an engineer who can be affiliated with academia, research or industry for codesign experiments or hardware emulation. The platform utilizes a combination of a microcontroller and a FPGA device to enable sufficient flexibility in exploring the design space to implement codesign experiments. The FPGA device operation is integrated with that of the microcontroller to provide an overall embedded solution for codesign experimentations. It is anticipated that the platform will be used in academia for educating the students the concepts of computer architecture and …

Kalman Filtering With Inequality Constraints For Turbofan Engine Health Estimation, Daniel J. Simon, Donald L. Simon

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Kalman filters are often used to estimate the state variables of a dynamic system. However, in the application of Kalman filters some known signal information is often either ignored or dealt with heuristically. For instance, state-variable constraints (which may be based on physical considerations) are often neglected because they do not fit easily into the structure of the Kalman filter. Thus, two analytical methods to incorporate state-variable inequality constraints into the Kalman filter are now derived. The first method is a general technique that uses hard constraints to enforce inequalities on the state-variable estimates. The resultant filter is a combination …

End-To-End Latency Of A Fault-Tolerant Corba Infrastructure, Wenbing Zhao, Louise E. Moser, P. Michale Melliar-Smith

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents an evaluation of the end-to-end latency of a fault-tolerant CORBA infrastructure that we have implemented. The fault-tolerant infrastructure replicates the server applications using active, passive and semi-active replication, and maintains strong replica consistency of the server replicas. By analyses and by measurements of the running fault-tolerant infrastructure, we characterize the end-to-end latency under fault-free conditions. The main determining factor of the run-time performance of the fault-tolerant infrastructure is the Totem group communication protocol, which contributes to the end-to-end latency primarily in …

Modeling Of The Ic's Switching Currents On The Power Bus Of A High Speed Digital Board, Mauro Lai, James L. Drewniak, Vittorio Ricchiuti, Antonio Orlandi, Giulio Antonini

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

When the performances of the electronic technology increase (higher frequencies, more power, lover power supply, faster transistors, reduced chip dimensions), designing electronic equipment becomes more challenging for the electronic engineers. Signal and power integrity on board become of paramount importance. One of the main causes of board malfunctions and electromagnetic radiation is the simultaneous switching noise (SSN) due to the integrated circuits soldered on the board. The paper proposes two simple procedures to model the SSN, so to evaluate its effects in any point of the board.

Dynamic Branch&Bound, An Optimization Counterpart For Dynamic Backtracking, Marius C. Silaghi

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Here we show how the idea of dynamic backtracking can be applied to branch and bound optimization. This is done by exploiting the concept of valued nogood. However, simple replacement of nogoods with valued nogoods does not lead to a correct algorithm. We show that a way to achieve correctness is to use at each variable a separate nogood storage for each position that the variable holds in the order on assigned variables. This is a different version to the one in [dago97]. Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs) are typically addressed with some kind of backtracking algorithm. A seminal work that …

Paper Session V: Steganography And Terrorist Communications - Current Information And Trends - Tools, Analysis And Future Directions In Steganalysis In Context With Terrorists And Other Criminals, William Eyre, Marcus Rogers

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In ancient times, users communicated using steganography, “…derived from the Greek words steganos, meaning ‘covered’, and graphein, meaning ‘to write.’” (Singh, 1999, p.5) Steganography facilitates secret, undetected communication. In modern times, in the context of the Global War on Terror, national intelligence and law enforcement agencies need tools to detect hidden information (steganography) in various types of media, most specifically to uncover the placement of hidden information in images. This paper will look at steganography in general terms, presenting the theory of some common steganographic techniques and touching on some theoretical work in steganography. Then a discussion of how to …

Paper Session V: Forensic Software Tools For Cell Phone Subscriber Identity Modules, Wayne Jansen, Rick Ayers

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Cell phones and other handheld devices incorporating cell phone capabilities (e.g., smart phones) are ubiquitous. Besides placing calls, cell phones allow users to perform other tasks such as text messaging and phonebook entry management. When cell phones and cellular devices are involved in a crime or other incident, forensic specialists require tools that allow the proper retrieval and speedy examination of data present on the device. For devices conforming to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standards, certain data such as dialed numbers, text messages, and phonebook entries are maintained on a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM). This paper gives …

Classification Of Infrasound Events Using Hermite Polynomial Preprocessing And Radial Basis Function Neural Networks, Christopher G. Lowrie

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

A method of infrasonic signal classification using hermite polynomials for signal preprocessing is presented. Infrasound is a low frequency acoustic phenomenon typically in the frequency range 0.01 Hz to 10 Hz. Data collected from infrasound sensors are preprocessed using a hermite orthogonal basis inner product approach. The hermite preprocessed signals result in feature vectors that are used as input to a parallel bank of radial basis function neural networks (RBFNN) for classification. The spread and threshold values for each of the RBFNN are then optimized. Robustness of this classification method is tested by introducing unknown events outside the training set …

Dial 2004 Working Group Report On Acquisition Quality Control, Elisa H. Barney Smith, Henry Baird, William Barrett, Frank Le Bourgeois, Xiaofan Lin, George Nagy, Steve Simske

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report summarizes the discussions of the Working Group on Acquisition Quality at the International Workshop on Document Image Analysis for Libraries, Palo Alto, CA, 23-24 January 2004. Acquisition of the image is one of the most time intensive components of forming a digital library, and the quality of the acquisition will affect all later stages of the digital library project. The current state of the art in acquisition is analyzed. Problems and suggested improvements for image acquisition and storage formats and the special problems associated with acquisition from microfilm follows. A list of general suggestions was developed which was …

Power Anomaly Effects And Costs In Low-Voltage Mobile Power Systems, Shengyi Liu, Charles H. Singer, Roger A. Dougal

Faculty Publications

Electric power anomalies or disturbances can disrupt the normal operation of equipment, accelerate aging, or even cause outright failures thus resulting in increased costs of maintenance and reduced system reliability. Past research on the effects caused by power anomalies has been mostly focused on industrial, commercial, or residential systems, or on power distribution equipment. A literature survey reveals that there is no comprehensive review related to low-voltage (LV) power systems and utilization equipment applicable to military combat vehicles, such as aircraft and ships. This paper summarizes the results of a new literature survey that focused on the causes, effects, and …

Extraction Of Dispersive Material Parameters Using Vector Network Analyzers And Genetic Algorithms, Jianmin Zhang, Marina Koledintseva, David Pommerenke, James L. Drewniak, Konstantin Rozanov, Giulio Antonini, Antonio Orlandi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel method to extract dispersive properties for dielectrics over a wide frequency range is proposed. This method is based on measuring scattering parameters for planar transmission lines and applying genetic algorithms. The scattering parameters are converted into ABCD matrix parameters. The complex propagation constant of the TEM wave inside the line is obtained from A-parameters of the ABCD matrix. For planar transmission lines, analytical or empirical formulas for dielectric loss,conductor loss, anaphase constant are known. The genetic algorithm is then used to extract the Debye parameters for the dielectric substrates. FDTD modeling is used to verify the dispersive parameter …

Whole Word Phonetic Displays For Speech Articulation Training, Fansheng Meng

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The main objective of this dissertation is to investigate and develop speech recognition technologies for speech training for people with hearing impairments. During the course of this work, a computer aided speech training system for articulation speech training was also designed and implemented. The speech training system places emphasis on displays to improve children's pronunciation of isolated Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) words, with displays at both the phonetic level and whole word level. This dissertation presents two hybrid methods for combining Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) and Neural Networks (NNs) for speech recognition. The first method uses NN outputs as posterior probability estimators …

A Markovian Statistical Analysis Of Single-Event Upsets On Closed-Loop Flight Control Systems, Anushka Vishnukumar Lakdawaia

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The operation of aircrafts depend heavily on closed-loop digital flight control systems which can be disrupted or upset by errant neutrons at aircraft flight altitudes. These upsets, called single-event upsets, range from data corruption to short circuits which can potentially cause physical damage to digital devices and unexpected behaviors in flight controls. Experiments conducted at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center consisted of irradiating an experimental flight control computer (FCC) architecture with a high intensity neutron beam while the FCC controlled a simulation of a Boeing 737. It was postulated that the upset statistics on the FCC could be fitted …

The Reliability Of The Computer Communication Networks Including Mobile Nodes, Sahin Yasar

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The wireless computer networks have an uncertainty in their structures aside from their big advantages for the users. The environmental conditions, changing locations of the mobile hosts and the changing components in the system can easily affect their reliability. In order to know a system capability performing its functions, keep the reliability at a certain level and/or detect the deficiency of the system, it is necessary to analyze the reliability of a computer communication network including the wired and wireless parts. But the above reasons also make the analysis and a unique solution difficult so a set of algorithms is …

Performance-Metric Driven Atmospheric Compensation For Robust Free-Space Laser Communication, Peter N. Crabtree

Theses and Dissertations

The effect of turbulence on laser propagation is a significant challenge to current electro-optical systems. While atmospheric compensation techniques in space object imaging and high-energy laser weapons have been thoroughly investigated, optimizing these techniques for Laser Communication (LaserCom) has not been examined to the same degree. Average Strehl ratio is the typical design metric for current atmospheric compensation systems. However, fade probability is the relevant metric for LaserCom. This difference motivated the investigation into metric-driven atmospheric compensation. Metric-based tracking techniques for fade mitigation is the first major focus of this research. In a moderate range air-to-air scenario, focal plane spot …

Characterization And Quantum Efficiency Validation Of Ingaas Linear Focal Plane Array, Christopher Salenga Garcia

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A 1x1024 InGaAs linear hybrid focal plane array (FPA) with CMOS readout was characterized at room temperature to analyze its electrical and optical properties and to measure its performance parameters.

The most important parameter of an FPA is the gain constant K, which allows conversion of the FPA output measurement unit from digital counts into the number of generated signal electrons. For FPAs with CMOS readout, the commonly used meanvariance method for determining K often underestimates its value. A more reliable method for finding K is the photon transfer technique, which is developed for FPAs with CCD readout. This …

A Non-Linear Technique For The Enhancement Of Extremely Non-Uniform Lighting Images, Ender Oguslu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

At night scenes, either the low intensity areas that are under poor light or the high intensity areas that are overexposed cannot be clearly seen. Various image processing techniques have been developed to recover the meaningful information under extremely low lighting conditions. Among these, the algorithms based on integrated neighborhood dependency of pixel characteristics and based on the illuminance reflectance model perform well for improving the visual quality of digital images captured under nonuniform and extremely low lighting conditions. Although these techniques perform well in low lighting conditions, they cannot perform well in overexposed regions under dark environments such as …

Mobius: An Omnidirectional Robotic Platform And Software Architecture For Network Teleoperation, Samuel Aaron Miller

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The following thesis presents the results of a project to develop and test an omnidirectional robotic system (hardware and software) at NASA Langley Research Center's Robotics and Intelligent Machines Lab. The impetus for the project was the unique capabilities of omnidirectional systems. Some of the many potential benefits these systems have include improved material-handling capabilities in constrained environments (such as might be found in extraterrestrial manned habitats), efficient camera-based vehicle teleoperation, and simplified route planning for autonomous robot operations.

The project's focus was to design, build, and test a system that used Mecanum wheels to achieve omnidirectional motion. In addition …

A Platform For Research On Localization And Tracking Using Wireless Sensor Networks, Sai Kiran Rupanagudi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research proposed the integration of wireless sensor networks, a mobile platform and a fixed station for the development of a test bed system to conduct research on localization, tracking, navigation and network mapping. The overall integrated system acts as a basis for future research on localization of wireless nodes in an indoor environment. The system enables the transfer of information from the sensor node on the platform to a distant computer through wireless communication. In addition, a robotic platform is proposed that uses the developed integrated system as well as other potential applications. The user interface to the system …

Adaptive Illumination Patterns For Radar Applications, Phillip M. Corbell

Theses and Dissertations

The fundamental goal of Fully Adaptive Radar (FAR) involves full exploitation of the joint, synergistic adaptivity of the radar's transmitter and receiver. Little work has been done to exploit the joint space time Degrees-of-Freedom (DOF) available via an Active Electronically Steered Array (AESA) during the radar's transmit illumination cycle. This research introduces Adaptive Illumination Patterns (AIP) as a means for exploiting this previously untapped transmit DOF. This research investigates ways to mitigate clutter interference effects by adapting the illumination pattern on transmit. Two types of illumination pattern adaptivity were explored, termed Space Time Illumination Patterns (STIP) and Scene Adaptive Illumination …

Uncertainty Estimation For Target Detection System Discrimination And Confidence Performance Metrics, David R. Parker

Theses and Dissertations

This research uses a Bayesian framework to develop probability densities for target detection system performance metrics. The metrics include the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the confidence error generation (CEG) curve. The ROC curve is a discrimination metric that quantifies how well a detection system separates targets and non-targets, and the CEG curve indicates how well the detection system estimates its own confidence. The degree of uncertainty in these metrics is a concern that previous research has not adequately addressed. This research formulates probability densities of the metrics and characterizes their uncertainty using confidence bands. Additional statistics are obtained …

Solid-State Impact-Ionization Multiplier, Hong-Wei Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents an innovative solid-state current amplifier based on impact-ionization. Unlike avalanche photodetectors which use the same amplification principle, this device can be integrated with any external current source. A discrete amplifier was built on a silicon surface using standard CMOS fabrication processes including lithography, oxidation, ion implantation, diffusion, chemical wet etching, metal deposition, annealing, and rapid thermal processing. Testing was performed by connecting the device to a silicon photodiode, indium-gallium-arsenide photodiodes, and a function generator to demonstrate its compatibility with arbitrary current sources. Current gains above 100 along with pre-amplified leakage currents of less than 10 nA were …

Assessing The Potential For Improved Scramjet Performance Through Application Of Electromagnetic Flow Control, Martin F. Lindsey

Theses and Dissertations

Hypersonic flight using scramjet propulsion bridges the gap between turbojets and rockets. Recent efforts focus on magnetogasdynamic (MGD) flow control to mitigate the problems of high thermomechanical loads and low efficiencies associated with scramjets. This research is the first flight-scale, three-dimensional computational analysis of a realistic scramjet to assess how MGD flow control improves scramjet performance. Developing a quasi-one dimensional design tool culminated in the first open source scramjet geometry. This geometry was tested with the Air Force Research Laboratory's electromagnetic computational code. To increase fidelity, an algorithm was developed to incorporate thermochemistry, resulting in the only open-source model of …

Medium Access Control And Networking Protocols For The Intra-Body Network, Eric Thomas Stucki

Theses and Dissertations

Biomedical applications offer an exciting growth opportunity for wireless sensor networks. However, radio frequency communication is problematic in hospital environments that are susceptible to interference in the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands. Also, RF is inherently insecure as eavesdroppers can easily pick up signals. The Intra-Body Network (IBNet) proposes a novel communication model for biomedical sensor networks. It seeks the convenience of wireless communication while avoiding interference and privacy concerns associated with RF. IBNet's solution is to utilize a subject's own body tissue as a transmission medium. Assuming that transmissions are contained within the body, IBNet solves otherwise complex …

Analysis Of Photoconductive Properties In Ge2Sb2Te5 (Gst) Chalcogenide Films For Applications In Novel Electronics, John R. V. Chezem

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated the thermal phase-change properties in Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) chalcogenide-based films and determined the feasibility of coupling the GST with photosensitive DNA material for novel optical device applications. Modeling and testing of GST were researched with the approach that GST would react as a resistive mechanism through thermal manipulation. A test structure was fabricated with a 2-micronmeter MEMS fabrication process. GST material was deposited (by RF sputtering) on the surface of the test structures. The GST was analyzed primarily in the amorphous to crystalline transition states due to more distinct changes in the resistance …

Direct Torque Control Of Five-Phase Induction Motor Using Space Vector Modulation With Harmonics Elimination And Optimal Switching Sequence, Shuai Lu, Keith Corzine

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper an effective direct torque control (DTC) for a 5-phase induction motor with sinusoidally distributed windings is developed. First by coordinate transformation, the converter/motor models are represented by two independent equivalent d-q circuit models; and the 5-phase VSI input are decoupled into the torque producing and non-torque producing harmonics sets. Then with the torque production component of the induction motor model, the space vector modulation (SVM) can be applied to the five-phase induction motor DTC control, resulting in considerable torque ripple reduction over the lookup table method. Based on the decoupled system model, the current distortion issue due …