Engineering Commons^™

Creating A 3d Imaging Device, Bryce Walker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This report provides a summary of Bauble, a 3D imaging device designed at Utah State University by Bryce Walker. It is designed to work somewhat like a high tech Mirascope. Unfortunately, it has not yet been successful. Many setbacks occurred in the manufacturing process, detailed below. Simulations of Bauble show both that Bauble is an exciting idea, and that the technology required to manufacture a Bauble is not currently available.

High Speed Digital Sample Rate Conversion For A Real-Time Ground Station Receiver, Brian Joseph Carrick

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Small satellites are becoming a popular spacecraft option because of their low cost, and complexity. Past small satellites had simple communication systems with low data rates that rarely exceeded 38.4 kbps. Engineers, researchers, and students, from Space Dynamics Laboratory and Utah State University, have recently created and launched a pair of small satellites called the Dynamic Ionosphere CubeSat Experiment (DICE). This mission was revolutionary because of its high-speed data link, with data rates up to 1.5 Mbps.

Due to the high-speed data link, it was necessary to create a ground station capable of receiving and processing the received data. For …

An Optical System To Transform The Output Beam Of A Quantum Cascade Laser To Be Uniform, Jordan M. Jacobson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are a candidate for calibration sources in space-based remote sensing applications. However, the output beam from a QCL has some characteristics that are undesirable in a calibration source. These characteristics need to be mitigated before QCLs can be used as calibration sources. This study presents the design and implementation of an optical system that removes the undesirable characteristics from a QCL output beam, so it can be used as a calibration source.

A New Low-Cost Microstrip Antenna Array For 60 Ghz Applications, Darwin J. Joaquin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The use of telecommunications and the amount of data exchanged continue to grow at exponential rates. New technologies allowing for higher data transfer speeds while keeping the products affordable are required. Among these technologies, the WiGig protocol promises to be a shorter-range complement for high-speed Wi-Fi. One of the most important elements in a communication system are the antennas. For this reason, it is of great interest to have antennas that keep on pace with the other elements of the system. It is important to have affordable and high performance antennas to expand the use of the technology. This research …

An Energy-Efficient Semi-Partitioned Approach For Hard Real-Time Systems With Voltage And Frequency Islands, Jesse W. Patterson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Embedded devices are computer systems with a dedicated function, such as kitchen appliances, electronic toys, phones, et cetera. Embedded devices are commonplace, and many are expected to respond to users in real-time. Such devices are often categorized as real-time embedded systems as they differ from other embedded systems in that work performed by a real-time embedded system must be scheduled such that timeliness can be provided to the user (e.g. when someone is talking on a phone, the phone needs to be able to schedule the sending and receiving of data in a timely manner such that the conversation is …

Exploiting Adaptive Techniques To Improve Processor Energy Efficiency, Hu Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As technology advances, the size of transistor — the basic building block of microprocessors, continues shrinking. The downscaled transistor will make its manufacture process become less controllable, and its operation less predictable. Moreover, smaller transistor size will lead to higher volume of transistors on a single chip, thus increases the chip power consumption. This dissertation proposes various techniques to efficiently tolerate the uncertainties in microprocessors. Also, it proposes an innovative design paradigm to build energy-efficient processor under ultra-low supply-voltage. Evaluated with rigorous methodology, the proposed approaches achieve significant improvement in processor energy efficiency, compared to other state-of-art techniques.

Ssaga: Streaming Multiprocessors (Sms) Sculpted For Asymmetric General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (Gpgpu) Applications, Shamik Saha

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The evolution of the Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) over the last decade, has reinforced general purpose computing while sustaining a steady performance growth in graphics intensive applications. However, the immense performance improvement GPUs are already close to the abominable power wall. With a massive popularity of the mobile devices running general-purpose GPU (GPGPU) applications, it is of utmost importance to ensure a high energy efficiency, while meeting the strict performance requirements. Hence, a flexible GPU design paradigm is the need of the hour.

In this work, using a system level Computer Aided Design (CAD) technique, we propose SSAGA - …

Quality Of Experience Aware Spectrum Efficiency And Energy Efficiency Over Wireless Heterogeneous Networks, Yiran Xu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Propelled by the explosive increases in mobile data traffic volume, existing wireless technologies are stretched to their capacity limits. There is a tremendous need for an expansion in system capacity and an improvement on energy efficiency. In addition, wireless network will support more and more multimedia services and applications, in which user experience has been always an important factor in evaluating the overall network performance. In order to keep pace with this explosion of data traffic and to meet the emerging quality of experience needs, wireless heterogeneous networks have been introduced as a promising network architecture evolution of the traditional …

An Automatic Algorithm For Textured Digital Elevation Model Formation Using Aerial Texel Swaths, Taylor C. Bybee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The process of creating a 3D terrain map of an area is a challenging, computationally intensive task. There are two main camps of established methods doing this, with varying degrees of accuracy and cost. Using the established methods, there is a trade-off between accuracy and cost. The first method involves using many aerial images to detect disparity between points in the images. This is a difficult task as it requires a lot of computer processing with varying degrees of reliability. In addition, this method does not make any direct distance measurements. Secondly, using high-precision and high-cost lasers and positioning equipment, …

An Electromagnetic Coupling Model For Side-Channel Analysis, Michael L. Schena

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents an EM coupling model used to enhance power, side-channel measurements used in CPA. The Kalman filter is used to combine measurements of magnetic flux density with voltage or current traditionally used to measure power consumption. The DES encryption algorithm is used to evaluate CPA using EM coupled power measurements compared to traditional power measurements.

Global Thermospheric Response To Geomagnetic Storms, Padmashri Suresh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The terrestrial atmospheric region between the altitudes of 90 km and 600 km is known as the thermosphere region. The thermosphere is continuously modulated by particle emissions and magnetic fields that originate from the sun. These fields and emissions are intensified during events known as geomagnetic storms which alter the state of the thermosphere by dumping gigawatts of energy. This energy is mostly deposited in the lower thermosphere regions of 150 km and below and can potentially have hazardous repercussions on the technological assets of mankind. These storms can disrupt radio communication systems, interrupt electric power systems, threaten the safety …

Optimizing The Advanced Metering Infrastructure Architecture In Smart Grid, Alireza Ghasempour

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The gathered data from smart meters in current advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) of smart grid is huge. This much data causes serious challenges for reliability, performance, and scalability of smart grid. Therefore, we have investigated the scalability of different AMI architectures and proposed a scalable hybrid AMI architecture. We formulated deployment cost of different AMI architecture and used a genetic-based algorithm to minimize the deployment cost for the proposed architecture. We simulated different AMI architectures for five demographic regions and the results proved that our proposed AMI hybrid architecture has a better scalability compared to other AMI architectures.

Transparent Solar Panel Antenna Array, Taha Shahvirdi Dizaj Yekan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A CubeSat is a very small satellite that has been achieving growing interests in space exploration. The base unit of CubeSats 1U, which is a cube with 10 cm on each side. In applications, CubeSats can be deployed as just 1U, or multiple unites can be stacked together to form a larger CubeSat for extended functionality. Due to their small sizes, it is challenging to fit antennas onto CubeSats because the antenna always fights for surface real estate with solar cells. The challenge is further aggravated when an antenna is required to have high gain such as more than 20 …

Efficient Device To Device Communications Underlaying Heterogeneous Networks, Xue Chen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Device-to-Device communications have the great potential to bring significant performance boost to the conventional heterogeneous network by reusing cellular resources. In cellular networks, Device-to-Device communication is defined as two user equipments in a close range communicating directly with each other without going through the base station, thus offloading cellular traffic from cellular networks. In addition to improve network spectral efficiency, D2D communication can also improve energy efficiency and user experience.

However, the co-existence of D2D communication on the same spectrum with cellular users can cause severe interference to the primary cellular users. Thus the performance of cellular users must be …

Blind Front-End Processing Of Dynamic Multi-Channel Wideband Signals, Kevin Jackson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Society today relies heavily on the exchange of information via wireless communication. Such communication provides the means of transferring information from point A to point B over the air. In order to accomplish this, a minimum of two devices is required: a transmitter and a receiver. Just as people must speak the same language in order to communicate, the receiver must know how the transmitter communicates in order to make sense of the data being transmitted. For multiple wireless communication system to coexist, they must each speak a unique language, which in the communications world is referred to as modulation. …

Plasma Velocity Vector Instrument For Small Satellites (Pvviss), William Smith Hatch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Low-earth orbit (LEO) contains plasma which can impact satellite charging and radio frequency (RF) communications. Quantifying both the composition and movement of ions in LEO can improve efficiency of the forecasting models that predict the impact plasma will have on satellite communications and accuracy of global positioning satellite measurements.

Two instruments known as the Retarding Potential Analyzer (RPA) and the Ion Drift Meter (IDM) have been used in tandem to measure ionospheric properties including ion temperature, velocity, and density. These instruments are costly and occupy large areas on a spacecraft. In recent years, space mission budgets have diminished. This change …

Design Of Miniaturized Time-Of-Flight Reflectron Mass Spectrometer For Upper Atmosphere Density Measurements, Michelle Lynn Pyle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Upper atmosphere and solar events can have strong impacts on the communication, power, and navigation systems we use every day. Modeling atmospheric dynamics, or the changes and reactions of different regions of the atmosphere, can help improve understanding and predictions of the effects of solar events. A suite of measurements of the upper atmosphere, including wind, temperature, and composition measurements, is used to build atmospheric models. Current atmospheric models are very sophisticated but need additional data to fully model atmospheric dynamics. In the past, measurements used to determine atmospheric composition have been performed using mass spectrometer instruments on full-size satellites. …

Understanding The Characteristics Of Successful Projects And Post-Campaign Activities In A Crowdfunding Platform, Madhavi Reddy Dontham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Online crowdfunding platforms provide project creators with new opportunities for seeking funds from people in the world. But reaching a fund-raising goal or making a project successful is always a challenge. Besides, little is known about post-campaign activities of project creators and backers. To fill the gap, in this research, we are interested in understanding (i) the characteristics of successful projects, (ii) how project creators reacted when their projects failed, and (iii) what post-campaign activities creators and backers made. To achieve our research objectives, first, we analyzed successful projects and failed projects on Kickstarter, the most popular crowdfunding platform. Then …