Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparison Of The Collinear Mean And The Mean Sea Surface As Reference Levels For Altimeter Analysis In The Southern Pacific Ocean, Charles Beard

Theses

Satellites are used to study various oceanic phenomena, including sea surface temperature, color, and sea height variability (which is related to oceanic currents). In observing sea height variability from radar altimeters, three methods of analysis can be applied. They are the collinear or repeat track method, the cross-over difference method, and the mean sea surface method. All three are designed to remove the effects of geoid undulations from the altimeter records. This paper compares the collinear method with the mean sea surface method in a small geographic area. Both methods analyze the tracks of collinear altimeter data by subtracting a …

A Report On Debugging Networked Real-Time Multi-Microprocessor Systems, Anandi Krishnamurthy

Theses

Software development in networked real-time multi-microprocessor control systems is made difficult by the real-time constraints and parallel processing inherent in such systems. Software development in general, and debugging, in particular, of networked real-time multi-microprocessor systems is discussed. A tool that is a part of a debugger for such a system is described. The tool runs on a workstation with a passive user-interface and provides high-level access to the control software. The commands supported by the tool are analyzed. The software architecture of the tool is documented using data flow diagrams, a dictionary, file formats and pseudo-code.

A Toolkit For Uncertainty Reasoning And Representation Using Fuzzy Set Theory In Prolog Expert Systems, Marcelle M. Bicker

Theses

This thesis examines the issue of uncertainty reasoning and representation in expert systems. Uncertainty and expert systems are defined. The value of uncertainty in expert systems as an approximation of human reasoning is stressed. Five alternative methods of dealing with uncertainty are explored. These include Bayesian probabilities, Mycin confirmation theory, fuzzy set theory, Dempster-Shafer's theory of evidence and a theory of endorsements. A toolkit to apply uncertainty processing in PROLOG expert systems is developed using fuzzy set theory as the basis for uncertainty reasoning and representation. The concepts of fuzzy logic and approximate reasoning are utilized in the implementation. The …

Teraphim: A Domain-Independent Framework For Constructing Blackboard-Controlled, Blackboard-Based Expert Systems In Prolog, Bruce Lyon

Theses

The blackboard architecture, in which a set of independent knowledge sources communicate by means of a global data base known as a blackboard, has been suggested as a generally useful design for knowledge-based systems. Teraphim is a domain-independent frame work for writing blackboard-based expert systems in Prolog. It implements concepts common to a range of previous blackboard architecture programs, such as HEARSAY-III and BB1. Teraphim includes as its basic elements a partitioned blackboard, a simple blackboard-controlled scheduler, a set of general-purpose scheduling heuristics to control the scheduler, a generic knowledge source with the ability to ask the user questions about …

Uguru: A Natural Language Unix Consultant, John Hanson

Theses

UGURU is a natural language conversation program, implemented in Prolog, which can manage a wide knowledge base of facts about Unix. The range and wording of questions that it understands are based on surveys taken of students, mostly Unix beginners. UGURU is also designed to accept statements in English that can be added as facts to the knowledge base. Each fact is represented as a "binding set:" a verb-oriented semantic net with the characteristics of directed acyclic graphs. The main actions taken by UGURU are divided between two primary modules, a parser and a retriever. To produce a binding set …

A Domain Specific Expert System Tool For Building Photofinishing Process Diagnostic Systems, King Choi

Theses

The knowledge-based method is a new and useful technique to build computer systems for applications which are heuristic rather than algorithmic in nature. This paper discusses how the approach can be applied to photofinishing process diagnostics. A prototype system for diagnosing Process E-6 for Kodak Ektachrome films is built to understand the knowledge structure and inferencing criteria for photofinishing process. The experience gained from building the prototype Process E-6 diagnostic system has been applied to the design of an expert system tool for building photofinishing process diagnostic systems without the direct involvement of a knowledge engineer.

Fric: An Expert System To Recognize Fricatives, Karen A. Atkinson

Theses

In building a speaker independent continuous speech understanding sys tem, a method is needed to translate the speech signal to a phoneme string. Current recognition attempts based on statistical methods are not as accurate as desired and require vast numbers of templates for comparison. On the other hand, human experts can transcribe phoneme strings from spectrograms with a high degree of accuracy, without needing to match unidentified seg ments against identified templates. This paper discusses the development of Fric, an expert system for identifying fricative phonemes, intended to func tion as part of a phoneme identification knowledge source. Fric attempts …

A Computer Simulation Of Processor Scheduling In Unix 4.2bsd, Michael D. Grossman

Theses

This project is a study of the processor scheduling system in UNIX 4.2BSD. This study involved a computer simulation of the processor scheduling system. The preliminary work for the simulation included choosing a system, choosing and running a set of test processes on that system, gathering statistics from these runs, and constructing a model of the scheduling system. The model was then tuned to perform like the real system by introducing overhead into the model. The overhead was added using several variables in the model. Tuning consisted of adjusting the values of these variables until the performance of the model …

Signature File Access Methodologies For Text Retrieval: A Literature Review With Additional Test Cases, Karen Caviglia

Theses

Signature files are extremely compressed versions of text files which can be used as access or index files to facilitate searching documents for text strings. These access files, or signatures, are generated by storing "hashed" codes for individual words. Given the possible generation of similar codes in the hashing or storing process, the primary concern in researching signature files is to determine the accuracy of retrieving information. Inaccuracy is always represented by the false signaling of the presence of a text string. Two suggested ways to alter false drop rates are: 1) to determine if either of the two methologies …

On The Proposed Integrated Services Digital Network, Robert Johnson

Theses

The ultimate aim of this dissertation is neither to increase the state of the art in networking technology nor to predict the future structure of telecommunications networks. It is an attempt to raise the awareness of both the author and the reader as to the evolutionary forces driving vast changes in the telecommunications field. The impact of these changes will significantly alter the way we live and conduct business in the Information Age. For those involved with the communications field, the ability to make sound business decisions will require an in-depth knowledge of the technology and services that compose ISDN. …

An Image Storage System Using A Relational Database Management System To Facilitate Picture Data Handling, Daryl G. Johnson

Theses

The Image Storage System (ISS) is a general purpose graphics facility for the storage and retrieval of pictures. ISS utilizes the capabilities of the Mistress Relational Database Management System, the Relation Interpreter Package and the CORE Graphics Package. The system was developed to illustrate that by utilizing a database system for the storage of the actual picture description, users can incorporate graphics into their applications very simply without becoming a graphics or programming expert. Through the database, image data can be shared between applications and changes or additions to the image will not require program modification. As a consequence of …

Panoramic Cameras I'Ve Made, Andrew Davidhazy

Articles

Brief history of one photographer's work in the area of panoramic cameras and strip enlargers.

New T-Designs Found By Basis Reduction, Donald Kreher, Stanislaw Radziszowski

Articles

At the Seventeenth Southeastern International Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Computing we presented a new algorithm for finding t-(v,k,?) designs without repeated blocks. The central idea of the algorithm was basis reduction. This year we report on the success we have had using it. Namely, the construction of several new simple t-designs including a 4-(12,6,10) design, a 6-(14,7,4) design and 5-(28,6,?) designs for each admissible ?, ? != 1 (or 22). See article for exact formulas.

Nimslo - More To It Than Meets The Eye!, Howard Millard

Articles

1001 (well actually only 10 or so) modifications that enable you to make photographs the Nimslo was never originally intended for. Sequential exposure, close-up stereo, panoramic modification, tri-color exposures, and multi-spectral photography are some of the applications included in this file.

Application Of The Dram Software For The Dynamic Analysis Of A Linkage Mechanism, Deepak Namdeo Rode

Theses

The study provides the application of the DRAM software for the dynamic analysis of a linkage mechanism and presents a simplified version of the DRAM user manual. This user manual appears in appendix C. The linkage which is used for the dynamic analysis consists of three rigid couplers. Crank 2 of this mechanism is responsible for transferring motion to the other links. Kinematic and kinetic results by DRAM are compared with analytical results. Good agreement was observed. Since the DRAM user guide is not easy to understand, it was necessary to write a user-friendly guide. Several types of kinematic and …

Development Of A Composite Material With Enhanced Electromagnetic Power Dissipation Characteristics, Lawrence R. Egan

Theses

The present work was undertaken to enhance the productivity of manufacturing operations that involve heating materials by increasing the possibilities for electromagnetic heat processing of materials. The approach taken was to design a composite material with suitable mixture formulae to have prescribed electromagnetic loss characteristics.

Investigation began by surveying industrial uses of electro-magnetic energy in heat processing of materials. From applications, the survey shifted to electromagnetic properties of materials with focus upon dielectric properties of materials. Several techniques were considered for altering the dielectric properties of a lossless plastic and the approach chosen was to dilute the base plastic with …

1987-1988 Ntid Courses, Rochester Institute Of Technology

RIT Digital Archives

No abstract provided.

1987-1988 Undergraduate Bulletin, Rochester Institute Of Technology

RIT Digital Archives

No abstract provided.

1987-1988 Graduate Bulletin, Rochester Institute Of Technology

RIT Digital Archives

No abstract provided.

Software Estimating: A Description And Analysis Of Current Methodologies With Recommendations On Appropriate Techniques For Estimating Rit Research Corporation Software Projects, Norma Armstrong

Theses

This thesis investigated, described, and analyzed six current software estimation methodologies. Included were Boehm's COCOMO, Esterling's Work Productivity Model, Putnam's Life Cycle Model and Albrecht's Function Point Determination. An implementation strategy for software estimation within RIT Research Corporation, a consulting firm, has been developed, based on this analysis. This strategy attempts to satisfy key needs and problems encountered by RIT Research estimators, while providing cost effective, accurate estimates.

The Design And Implementation Of A System For Processing Documents Described In Generalized Markup Languages, Frank Cost

Theses

This thesis proposes an architecture for a system capable of transforming the work of an author into printed form, and builds a partial implementation based upon that architecture. It allows an author to describe a document as a hierarchical structure and remain unconcerned about how his work will ultimately appear in printed form. The author is provided with a special markup language which can be used to tag the various logical parts of a document. The author must also be aware of how the various tagged parts fit together. The system is able to read the author's manuscript as input, …

Animator: An Object-Oriented Approach, Stephen Kurtz

Theses

Object-oriented programming is presented as a paradigm for developing interactive systems for computer animation. Object types, evolved conceptually from graphics turtles, are implemented to provide the animator with familiar metaphors for the specification of motion in three-dimensional space. The intention is to create objects that can represent actors, cameras, and decor that the user can direct and animate in a relatively intuitive manner. Vector and turtle objects support the actors, which respond to messages to orient, accelerate and draw themselves on the screen. The MacApp object libraries are used to implement the standard Macintosh user interface and a unit is …

Display Of Molecular Models With Interactive Computer Graphics, Steve Wuter Yang

Theses

Computer graphics devices offer a way to present images of three-dimensional objects with enough detail to aid human understanding of the structure of molecules. In this thesis, the Computer Aided Molecular Design system (CAMD system) will illustrate this idea. The CAMD system is an educational package designed for students in high school. The user of the CAMD system can create different molecules and store these molecules into a relational data base for future display. A Relational Data Base Management system was implicitly implemented for the CAMD system.

An Introduction Of The Theory Of Nonlinear Error-Correcting Codes, Robert B. Nenno

Theses

Nonlinear error-correcting codes are the topic of this thesis. As a class of codes, it has been investigated far less than the class of linear error-correcting codes. While the latter have many practical advantages, it the former that contain the optimal error-correcting codes. In this project the theory (with illustrative examples) of currently known nonlinear codes is presented. Many definitions and theorems (often with their proofs) are presented thus providing the reader with the opportunity to experience the necessary level of mathematical rigor for good understanding of the subject. Also, the examples will give the reader the additional benefit of …

Pygraph: A Graphic Front-End For The Paisley Executable Specification Language, Richard Willison

Theses

This project is an application software system providing a graphical interface to PAISLey. PAlSLey (Process Oriented. Applicative. Interpretable Specification Language) is an executable specification language developed at AT&T Bell Labs to model real-time systems. The interface provides the user with a tool to graphically depict a real-time system. The graphics package, called PyGraph, has been implemented on a Sun 3 in a multi-window environment. While developing a graphic, PyGraph generates a PAISLey specification template for the graphic image. The template is filled out by the user with assistance provided by PyGraph.

Integrated Voice/Data Through A Digital Pbx, Ian Schofield

Theses

The digital voice/data PBX is finally reaching its anticipated potential and becoming a major factor when considering the total communications picture for many businesses today. The digital PBX has always been the choice for voice communications but has lagged behind the LAN industry when it comes to data transfers. The pendulum has begun to swing with the enhanced data capabilities of third and fourth generation PBXs. The battle for the total communication market is quite fierce between the LAN and PBX vendors now. This research thesis looks at the history, evolution, and architecture of voice/data PBXs. It traces development of …

Design, Fabrication And Implementation Of A Hash Table Processor, Robert Paul Ketrick

Theses

Hash tables have been used frequently to implement organized data table storage. However, there is a great deal of overhead in executing the hash algorithm every time the table is accessed. Alternatively, a content addressable memory (CAM) is a hardware implementation of an organized data table. A CAM requires very complex hardware design for each memory cell and therefore yeilds a very low cell density on each chip. This requires a large number of expensive chips to implement a large hash table. In this thesis a simple hash function was designed into an integrated circuit using 4- micron NMOS technology. …

A Simulation Of A Distributed File System, Alan Stanley

Theses

This thesis presents a simulation of a distributed file system. It is a simplified version of the distributed file system found in the LOCUS distributed operating system. The simulation models a network of multiuser computers of any configuration. The number of sites in the network can range from a minimum of three sites to a maximum of twenty. A simple database management system is supported that allows the creation of an indexed database for reading and updating records. The distributed file system supports a transaction mechanism, record level locking, file replication and update propagation, and network transparency. To test the …

A Tool For Compiler Testing, Chung-Cho Oliver Cheng

Theses

A tool for compiler testing is implemented. The tool is driven by a BNF grammar extended by a device called control flags to incorporate those parts of a language that are not controlled by context-free rules (for instance, use of declared names). The tool produced two sets of program strings such that each production in the grammar is used at least once. One set is produced by Purdom's algorithm. The other is produced by a new algorithm designed by the author which builds a tree and then produces a set of strings from it for compiler testing. The program strings …

Development Of A Mathematical Model To Determine The Temperature Distribution In The Metal Layer And Hearth Of An Electrical Resistance Smelter, Kurt B. Carlson

Theses

A steady-state finite-difference heat transfer mathematical model was derived to determine the temperature distribution in the metal layer and the hearth of a cylindrical electrical-resistance smelter. The temperature distribution is required for the redesign of the refractory materials and their positions in the hearth to insure that the metal layer is kept molten at normal smelting temperatures and that mechanical and structural integrity of the hearth is maintained. An extensive literature search revealed that no previously defined model of this type existed and that consideration of a three-dimensional model was beyond the scope of this work. The literature search also …