Engineering Commons^™

Semiconductor P-N Junction Space Charge Region Capacitance, Mohammad Humayun Habib

Dissertations and Theses

The classical capacitance voltage characteristics based on the depletion approximation, is adequate at reverse bias, but introduces errors at high forward bias. Because of its inherent simplicity and compactness this classical depletion model is well studied and widely used in circuit simulators. In this work, a new model for the semiconductor space charge region (SCR) capacitance, based on physical justification, will be derived. This new model takes three input parameters, C0 , Vbi and m, thus eliminating the fitting parameter FC currently used in SPICE. This new model is applicable for any applied voltage and will be compared with the …

Development And Analysis Of Non-Delay-Line Constant-Fraction Discriminator Timing Circuits, Including A Fully-Monolithic Cmos Implementation, David Martin Binkley

Doctoral Dissertations

A constant-fraction discriminator (CFD) is a time pick-off circuit providing time derivation that is insensitive to input-signal amplitude and, in some cases, input-signal rise time. CFD time pick-off circuits are useful in Positron Emission Tomography (PET) systems where Bismuth Germanate (BGO)/photomultiplier scintillation detectors detect coincident, 511-keV annihilation gamma rays.

Time walk and noise-induced timing jitter in time pick-off circuits are discussed along with optimal and sub-optimal timing filters designed to minimize timing jitter. Additionally, the effects of scintillation-detector statistics on timing performance are discussed, and Monte Carlo analysis is developed to provide estimated timing and energy spectra for selected detector …

Cepstral And Auditory Model Features For Speaker Recognition, John M. Colombi

Theses and Dissertations

The TIMIT and KING databases, as well as a ten day AFIT speaker corpus, are used to compare proven spectral processing techniques to an auditory neural representation for speaker identification. The feature sets compared were Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) cepstral coefficients and auditory nerve firing rates using the Payton model. This auditory model provides for the mechanisms found in the human middle and inner auditory periphery as well as neural transduction. Clustering algorithms were used to generate speaker specific codebooks - one statistically based and the other a neural approach. These algorithms are the Linde-Buzo-Gray (LBG) algorithm and a Kohonen …

Acquisition Of Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Signals Using Digital Signal Processing Techniques, Ronald E. Schmitz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the use of digital signal processing (DSP) techniques to achieve initial synchronization with Global Positioning System (GPS) Pseudo-Noise (PN) signals. Synchronization with the transmitted PN signal is essential to the despreading of the transmitted Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DS/SS) signals and decoding of the transmitted satellite data. The use of DSP methods to decrease the time required to achieve initial synchronization is investigated. This thesis proposes an initial acquisition section of the GPS receiver and derives the equations to show the method is mathematically feasible. Computer simulations of the proposed receiver using received signals corrupted by Doppler …

Computer Simulation Of A General Purpose Satellite Modem, William L. Montgomery Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to model and simulate the performance of a digital phase shift keyed satellite modem. The probability of bit error (P sub b) at different levels of energy per bit to noise power ratio (E sub b/N sub o) was the performance measure. The channel was assumed to contribute only additive white Gaussian noise. A second order Costas loop performs demodulation in the modem and was the key part of the simulation. The Costas loop with second order Butterworth arm filters was tested by finding the response to a phase or frequency step. The Costas …

Detection Of Spoofing, Jamming, Or Failure Of A Global Positioning System (Gps), Juan R. Vasquez

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has equipped its aircraft with avionic systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Guidance Systems (INS) capable of providing accurate navigation solutions. The aircrews flying these aircraft require a system that can either survive the hostile environments encountered in combat or notify the aircrew that their performance has been significantly degraded. This research focuses on failure detection and isolation techniques using an extended Kalman filter and generalized likelihood ratios using matched filters. Analysis is conducted using a Kalman filter development package known as the Multimode Simulation for Optimal Filter Evaluation (MSOFE). Both a large order …

Signal Approximation With A Wavelet Neural Network, Charles M. Westphal

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the use of Wavelet Neural Networks (WNN) for signal approximation. The particular wavelet function used in this analysis consisted of a summation of sigmoidal functions (a sigmoidal wavelet). The sigmoidal wavelet has the advantage of being easily implemented in hardware via specialized electronic devices like the Intel Electronically Trainable Analog Neural Network (ETANN) chip. The WNN representation allows the determination of the number of hidden-layer nodes required to achieve a desired level of approximation accuracy. Results show that a bandlimited signal can be accurately approximated with a WNN trained with irregularly sampled data. Signal approximation, Wavelet neural …

An Object-Oriented Computer Aided Design Program For Modern Control Systems Analysis, Frederick L. Trevino

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation is a continuation of the ICECAP-PC research project conducted under Prof. Gary B. Lamont at the Air Force Institute of Technology. It is an ongoing development of a public domain Computer Aided Design (CAD) package for Control Engineering students and faculty, with a special emphasis on education. This investigation focuses on three areas. First, an object-oriented environment is specified, designed and implemented. The functional structure of ICECAP-PC is then converted into an object-oriented structure because object-orientation provides an advanced logic and implementation structure and effectively addresses common software engineering issues. Additionally, a new interface featuring pull-down menus, mouse …

Radar Cross Section Models For Limited Aspect Angle Windows, Mark C. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a method for building Radar Cross Section (RCS) models of aircraft based on static data taken from limited aspect angle windows. These models statistically characterize static RCS. This is done to show that a limited number of samples can be used to effectively characterize static aircraft RCS. The optimum models are determined by performing both a Kolmogorov and a Chi-Square goodness-of-fit test comparing the static RCS data with a variety of probability density functions (pdf) that are known to be effective at approximating the static RCS of aircraft. The optimum parameter estimator is also determined by the …

Digital Signal Processing Using Lapped Transforms With Variable Parameter Windows And Orthonormal Bases, Brian D. Raduenz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis develops and evaluates a number of new concepts and tools for the analysis of signals using variable overlapped windows and orthonormal bases. Windowing, often employed as a spectral estimation technique, can result in irreparable distortions in the transformed signal. By placing conditions on the window and incorporating it into the orthonormal representation, any signal distortion resulting from the transformation can be eliminated or cancelled in reconstruction. This concept is critical to the theory underpinning this thesis. As part of this evaluation, a tensor product based general N-point fast Fourier transform algorithm was implemented in the DOD standard language, …

Automated Face Recognition System, Kenneth R. Runyon

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis three variations of an end-to-end face recognition prototype system are developed, implemented and tested. Each version includes real-time image collection, automated segmentation, preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification. The first version uses a Karhunen Loeve Transform (KLT) feature extractor and a K-nearest neighbor classifier. Version two uses the same feature set but utilizes a multilayer perception neural network with a back propagation learning rule. Finally the third version uses a Discrete Cosine Transform as the feature extractor and the K-nearest neighbor as the classifier. Only the KLT versions of the system were tested. The tests were based on …

Enhancement Of Audio Localization Cue Synthesis By Adding Environmental And Visual Cues, Eric L. Scarborough

Theses and Dissertations

An audio localization cue synthesizer, the DIRectional Audio Display (DIRAD) was used to simulate auditory distance, room reflections, and to provide spatial audio for computer graphics images. The DIRAD processes input audio signals to generate spatially located sounds for headphone listening. The DIRAD can position audio sources around the head and these sounds are stable with respect to the listener's head position. An interactive, real-time simulation of auditory distance and room reflections was accomplished using the DIRAD in combination with a Silicon Graphics audio processor board installed in a Personal Iris 4D/35. Several demonstrations of auditory distance and the effects …

Real Image Visual Display System, James R. Brandt

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates a technique for improving the perception of three-dimensionality in images generated by a Silicon Graphics workstation. The technique involves using a spherical mirror into which the graphics from the CRT are projected. A real image of the graphic is formed by the mirror and it appears to be floating at the image plane. The three-dimensional effect is improved by adding reflections or shadows of the displayed object. Additionally, a method of using real objects with computer generated shadows and computer generated objects with real shadows is investigated. This is done in an effort to quantify how far …

The Effect Of An Adaptive Optical System's Spatio-Temporal Response On Imaging Performance, Patrick M. Harrington

Theses and Dissertations

Ideally, an adaptive optical control system would have instantaneous temporal response and infinite spatial bandwidth. In real systems, the response time of the adaptive optical control system is limited by the integration time of the wave front sensor, the computational time of the control algorithm, and the actuator response time. Additionally, finite inter actuator spacing limits the deformable mirror's ability to reproduce spatial frequencies having a period less than twice this spacing. Although analyses general enough to account for both the temporal and spatial characteristics of the adaptive optical system exist, they are complex and require detailed information regarding the …

Object Tracking Through Adaptive Correlation, Dennis A. Montera

Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses the use of a correlation based system to track, an object through a series of images based on templates derived from previous image frames. The ability to track is extended to sequences which include multiple objects of interest within the field of view. This is accomplishes by comparing the height and shape of the template autocorrelation to the peaks in the correlation of the template with the next scene. The result is to identify the region in the next scene which best matches the designated target. In addition to correlation plane postprocessing, an adaptive window is used …

Optimal Control Of The Starfire Beam Director, Troy V. Lanier

Theses and Dissertations

The Starfire Beam Director (SBD) is located at the Starfire Optical Range at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The SBD capabilities include tracking celestial objects and active or passive tracking of artificial satellites to support the Phillips Laboratory Ground Based Laser Acquisition, Tracking, and Pointing (GBL ATP) program. The pointing and tracking accuracy needed to support such experiments is micron rad to sub-grad level. To accomplish this goal requires precise pointing of the massive 6 ton 1 -meter clear aperture coelostat. The purpose of this thesis is to use optimal control design techniques to develop a controller …

Design And Development Of A High-Speed Winograd Fast Fourier Transform Processor Board, James F. Herron

Theses and Dissertations

Since 1985, the Air Force Institute of Technology has pursued a project to develop a 4080-point Discrete Fourier Transform processor using the Winograd Fourier Transform Algorithm (WFTA) and Good-Thomas Prime Factoring Algorithm (PFA). In the first attempt to build a working system, this research effort designed and constructed, in part, a modified single processor architecture in order to demonstrate the proof of concept of the WFTA system design. This prototype architecture is simpler in implementation but uses the same principles and procedures as those of the 4080-point WFTA design. The design developed in this thesis was validated using the Very …

A Radiosity Approach To Realistic Image Synthesis, Richard L. Remington

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) has not had the capability to generate photorealistic images. This thesis is a research effort to implement such a system at AFIT, and to apply knowledge from the particle transport community to this problem. Investigation into various techniques for generating photorealistic images led to the conclusion that the radiosity method would serve as the foundation for development. This is because of the increased accuracy of the diffuse reflections with the radiosity method and the fact that the images produced with radiosity axe view-independent. Two distinct tools to generate photorealistic images axe described. The …

Version And Transaction Management In Osmagic: An Object-Oriented Database Implementation Of The Magic Vlsi Layout Design Tool, Gary M. Lightner

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis was to study the feasibility of using an object-oriented database management system to provide the functionality and performance needed to support a complex computer-aided design tool. We do this by modifying OSMagic, a prototype system of the Magic very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit design tool implemented on the ObjectStore object- oriented database management system. OSMagic was changed to support three different interfaces to ObjectStore and to work in a networking environment. We then designed and examined the use of version and transaction management models as a means of addressing the weaknesses of the prototype …

Methods For Viewing Radar Cross Section Data In Three Dimensions, David J. Tisdale

Theses and Dissertations

Radar Cross Section data is an important factor in the design of modern fighter and bomber aircraft. Minimization of the reflected radar energy is one of the key issues when choosing shapes and materials in new aircraft. Visualization of the energy scattered back to a radar is neither intuitive nor easy. The mission planner and pilot need to gain an understanding of the vulnerabilities inherent in the design of the systems they use. The advent of relatively low cost graphics workstations has made their use affordable in applications inconceivable only a few short years ago. This thesis examines three graphics …

Scientific Visualization Of Volumetric Radar Cross Section Data, Thomas G. Wojszynski

Theses and Dissertations

For aircraft design and mission planning, designers, threat analysts, mission planners, and pilots require a Radar Cross Section (RCS) central tendency with its associated distribution about a specified aspect and its relation to a known threat, Historically, RCS data sets have been statically analyzed to evaluate a d profile. However, Scientific Visualization, the application of computer graphics techniques to produce pictures of complex physical phenomena. appears to be a more promising tool to interpret this data. This work describes data reduction techniques and a surface rendering algorithm to construct and display a complex polyhedron from adjacent contours of RCS data. …

Theory And Implementation Of Wavelet Analyses In Rational Resolution Decompositions, Bruce P. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The multiresolution analysis (MRA) developed by Mallat and Meyer and further discussed by Daubechies is a useful tool in the analysis of sampled signals such as images and speech. This thesis develops the theory and implementation of a rational-resolution analysis (RRA) as an extension of the dyadic MRA for arbitrary rational dilation factors. We present a method to calculate families of compactly-supported scaling functions and wavelets based on arbitrary integer dilation factors and provide examples. The perfect- reconstruction properties of the RRA are discussed and it is demonstrated that the compactly-supported scaling functions and wavelets do not yield perfect- reconstruction. …

Design And Characterization Of Optically Pumped Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers, Richard J. Bagnell

Theses and Dissertations

Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) are a form of semiconductor laser which have their cavity oriented orthogonally to the plane of the wafer. The orientation necessitates short cavities, highly reflective mirrors and a relatively high gain/loss ratio. Even so, the resultant superior exit beam characteristics and the tight packing density of the finished lasers provide strong motivation for pursuing the growth of these structures. This thesis details the design of an optically pumped InGaAs multiple quantum well periodic gain structure VCSEL with a 950 nm lasing wavelength. These growths were to be a first attempt at VCSEL construction, so …

Automated Control Of Aircraft In Formation Flight, Louis E. Buzogany

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, an automated formation control system for an aircraft formation comprised of one lead and multiple wing aircraft is analyzed. Second- order models of the C-130 aircraft are developed in order to accurately model the flying qualities of large aircraft. This automated formation control system is capable of controlling the C-130 aircraft in maneuvering formation flight, thus reducing the wing's pilot workload. During formation flight, the wing aircraft continuously measures the lead aircraft's relative position with an ideal on-board position sensor. This information, in addition to Proportional Plus Integral feedback control, is used to maintain the aircraft in …

Etann Hardware Implementation For Radar Emitter Identification, James B. Calvin Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated classification of 30 radar emitters with 16 signal features using Intel's 80170NX chip, the Electronically Trainable Analog Neural Network (ETANN). Software tools were developed to characterize the ETANN sigmoidal transfer function for use in a custom simulator, known as Neural Graphics. Neural Graphics operates on a Silicon Graphics workstation. The Intel Neural Network Training System simulators were used in early experiments, but were found to be inefficient in training on data used in this research. Using a modified Neural Graphics simulator, single chip and multi-chip experiments were performed to provide benchmark results prior to performing chip-in-loop training. …

Satcom General Purpose Modem Dscs Iii Sct Beacon Telemetry Display, James D. Coppola

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents the design and implementation of a DSCS III single Channel Transponder (SCT) beacon telemetry display. The system is a personal computer based design which interfaces to three SCT beacon receiver/demodulators. The software was designed to decode and display both the DSCS III A and DSCS HI B satellite beacons. Recordings of the SCT beacon display can be made on paper and/or magnetic media when triggered by the user, a watchdog timer, or the SCT command accept telemetry bit. In addition, the system can be configured with an IRIG B Universal Time Coordinates (UTC) card which enables the …

An Analytical And Experimental Investigation Of Fm-By-Noise Jamming, Charles J. Daly

Theses and Dissertations

Among the jamming waveforms used in Electronic Warfare, FM-by-noise is the least understood, and no exhaustive analytical and experimental investigation of the subject exists. This investigation presents a thorough review, consolidation, and elucidation of the theory of FM-by-noise. To explain and predict the behavior of FM-by-noise at RF and IF, three useful ratios, namely the deviation-to-victim ratio, the noise-to-victim ratio, and the sweep- to-victim ratio, are developed. To complement the theory, results of FM-by-noise jamming experiments conducted using commercial test and measurement equipment are presented. Specifically, the time- and frequency-domain behavior of FM-by- noise at RF and IF is studied …

High Range Resolution Radar Target Identification Using The Prony Model And Hidden Markov Models, Mark R. Dewitt

Theses and Dissertations

Fully polarized Xpatch signatures are transformed to two left circularly polarized signals. These two signals are then filtered by a linear FM pulse compression ('chirp') transfer function, corrupted by AWGN, and filtered by a filter matched to the 'chirp' transfer function. The bandwidth of the 'chirp' radar is about 750 MHz. Range profile feature extraction is performed using the TLS Prony Model parameter estimation technique developed at Ohio State University. Using the Prony Model, each scattering center is described by a polarization ellipse, relative energy, frequency response, and range. This representation of the target is vector quantized using a K-means …

Failure Identification Using Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation For The Lambda Flight Vehicle, Peter D. Hanlon

Theses and Dissertations

This study develops and investigates the performance of a Multiple Model Adaptive Estimator (MMAE) to detect and identify control surface and sensor failures on the LAMBDA flight vehicle (a URV developed by Wright Laboratories). The MMAE uses a bank of Kalman filters that predict the aircraft response to a given input, with each filter model based on a different failure hypothesis, and then forms the residual difference between the prediction and sensor measurements for each filter. The MMAE uses these residuals to determine the probabilities of the failures that are modeled by the Kalman filters. Initially the MMAE identified all …

Analysis And Simulation Of Modified Tanlock And Delay Lock Loops For Gps Receiver Design, James A. Hird

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate two types of tracking loops used in Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver design. The first loop, the Delay Lock Loop (DLL), is a code tracking loop used to synchronize a locally generated pseudo-noise (PN) sequence with the PN sequence in the GPS satellite broadcast. Synchronization of the PN sequences is essential for de-spreading the direct-sequence spread spectrum (DS/SS) broadcast and demodulating the transmitted data. The second loop, the Modified Tanlock Loop (MTLL), is a carrier tracking loop used to synchronize the phase of a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) with the carrier of …