Engineering Commons^™

United States Patent: Ellipsometer, John A. Woollam, Blaine D. Johs, David W. Doerr, Reed A. Christenson

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

To sense characteristics of a sample, an ellipsometer includes a pivotal diffraction grating positioned to receive white light from the analyzer without further focusing of the light after the light leaves the sample. The diffraction grating is focused on the sensor at a predetermined angle with a precision of at least plus or minus one-half degree using an alignment-sensing means positioned between the analyzer and diffraction grating. The sensor includes an aperture through which the incident beam of light is transmitted, light-sensitive areas on opposite sides of said sensor and a comparator for comparing the signal from said light-sensitive areas. …

On Modeling Of A Mobile Multipath Fading Channel, Heng Xiao

Dissertations and Theses

Multipath fading is one of the major practical concerns in wireless communications. A multipath transmission takes place when a transmitted signal arrives at a receiver by two or more paths of different delay. Such multiple paths may be due to atmospheric reflection or refraction, or reflections from buildings or other objects. A multipath fading channel is usually modeled as a time-variant tapped delay system. RAKE receiver can be used to detect the signal from the multipath fading channel. However, the number of delay taps, the time delay of each path, and the tap weight for each delay path need to …

Methodology For Accurate Speedup Prediction, Aruna Chittor

Dissertations and Theses

The effective use of computational resources requires a good understanding of parallel architectures and algorithms. The effect of the parallel architecture and also the parallel application on the performance of the parallel systems becomes more complex with increasing numbers of processors. We will address this issue in this thesis, and develop a methodology to predict the overall execution time of a parallel application as a function of the system and problem size by combining simple analysis with a few experimental results. We show that runtimes and speedup can be predicted more accurately by analyzing the functional forms of the sequential …

Travelling Wave Electrode Optimization For High Speed Electro-Optic Modulators Using The Fourier Series Method, W. Boyu, X. Guangjun, Xiaomin Jin

Electrical Engineering

The performance of Z-cut Mach-Zehnder high speed LiNbO₃ amplitude modulators with a CPW traveling wave electrode, has been analyzed and optimally designed in detail by the Fourier series method. The effect of electrode and buffer layer thickness on the electric field distribution in the substract, effective micro- wave refractive index and characteristic impedance of CPW electrode, are discussed. Calculation shows that increasing the thickness of the electrode and SiO₂ buffer layer can improve the phase velocity mismatch between electric and optical waves, and the drive power required by the modulator with thin buffer layer and thick electrode is …

Instability In Self-Pulsation In Laser Diodes And Its Effect On All-Optical Synchonization, Jonathan Hyland, Gerald Farrell

Articles

The effect of short- and long-term frequency instability in self pulsation on all-optical synchronization using a twin-section laser diode is experimentally investigated. Short-term frequency instability broadens the unlocked full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the fundamental of the rf spectrum of the self-pulsating laser diode. We show experimentally that the value of the unlocked FWHM, and thus the level of short-term instability, has a direct effect on the optical power required to maintain synchronization. A novel means of reducing the FWHM is presented based on a reflective transmission line stub connected to the absorber of the twin-section self-pulsating laser …

Optical-Fiber Preamplifiers For Ladar Detection And Associated Measurements For Improving The Signal-To-Noise Ratio, Michael S. Salisbury, Paul F. Mcmanamon, Bradley D. Duncan

Electro-Optics and Photonics Faculty Publications

In an effort to increase achievable postdetection signal-tonoise ratios (SNRs) of continuous-wave, 1-gm all-solid-state ladar systems, a prototype rare-earth-doped optical-fiber amplifier has been included in the optical return signal path of both a heterodyne and a directdetection ladar system. We provide numerical predictions for SNR increases according to our previously developed theory. We also detail our experimental efforts and provide the results of SNR measurements for four distinct cases: direct ladar detection with and without a fiber amplifier, and heterodyne ladar detection with and without a fiber amplifier. Experimentally measured increases in SNRs for ladar systems incorporating an optical-fiber amplifier …

An Overview Of Flexible Ac Transmission Systems, P. Asare, T. Diez, A. Galli, E. O'Neill-Carillo, J. Robertson, R. Zhao

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Technical Reports

FACTS or "flexible AC transmission systems" is a term that has been suggested for the use of solid state devices to control bulk power flow in transmission systems. The Electric Power Research Institute supported this idea, and many researchers have invested efforts on the value and potential of FACTS. At this time, it appears that the main value of FACTS lies in improving transmission capability; increasing the flexibility of power flow control (e.g., for wheeling or for economic dispatch); for controlling voltage (and var flow); and possibly additional advantages in lower voltage systems (e.g., distribution systems). This report is an …

Flight Control Design Using Mixed H2/Μ Optimization, Douglas D. Decker

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the use of the mixed H2-Microns optimal control synthesis method in the design of a flight control system for the lateral-directional axes of the F-16 Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA). The method is designed to minimize the H2 norm (two-norm) for a given value of microns. This should provide adequate noise and disturbance rejection while maintaining robustness against several types of uncertainties in the system. This thesis finds that, for this problem, the two-norm is not an accurate representation of the outputs of interest. When the two-norm is broken up into its constituent parts an …

Applications Of ℓ1 And Mixed H2/ℓ1 Optimization, Mark S. Spillman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the use of ℓ₁ and mixed H2/ℓ1 optimization methods to design flight control systems. ℓ₁ optimization is used to handle tracking issues in the design of digital compensators. Control deflection and rate limitations, overshoot and undershoot limitations and steady-state error requirements are discussed. Model-matching techniques which produce acceptable tracking results with lower order controllers are also examined. New numerical methods for continuous H2/L1 and discrete H2/ℓ1 optimization are presented. These methods are used to design an aircraft controller in continuous and discrete time and the results are compared.

A Contactless Method For Measuring The Bulk Resistance Of Ii-Vi Compound Semiconductors, Edward D. Wheeler, Jack L. Boone, James L. Drewniak

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A radio frequency measurement technique for measuring the bulk resistivity of II-VI compound semiconductors is described. Wafers of n-type CdS are used to demonstrate the technique. An equivalent circuit model is introduced which predicts a frequency dependence for the CdS wafer impedance which agrees well with the experiment. The model assumes a broad distribution of relaxation times associated with the polarization. The radio frequency method gives values for the resistivity within 15% of four point probe measurements for the lower resistivity wafers, and within 5% for the higher resistivity wafers.

The Fat-Pyramid And Universal Parallel Computation Independent Of Wire Delay, Ronald I. Greenberg

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper shows that a fat-pyramid of area Θ(A) requires only O(log A) slowdown to simulate any competing network of area A under very general conditions. The result holds regardless of the processor size (amount of attached memory) and number of processors in the competing networks as long as the limitation on total area is met. Furthermore, the result is valid regardless of the relationship between wire length and wire delay. We especially focus on elimination of the common simplifying assumption that unit time suffices to traverse a wire regardless of its length, since the assumption becomes more and more …

Total Ionizing Dose Effects In Mosfet Devices At 77 K, Kevin J. Daul

Theses and Dissertations

Total ionizing dose effects on thermal oxide and reoxidized nitrided oxide (RNO) MOSFET devices at 77 K were studied. The MOSFETs were immersed in liquid nitrogen and irradiated, using a ⁶⁰Co source, up to 1 Mrad(Si) at a dose rate of 107 rads(Si)-sec. Drain current-gate voltage characteristics were obtained and used to determine threshold voltage and transconductance. At 77 K the subthreshold slopes indicated no observed buildup of interface states in any of the transistors. Furthermore, all transistors experienced very little change in the transconductance. Typical negative shifts in threshold voltage as dose increased were observed in all of …

An Evolutionary Approach To Allocating Tasks In Hard Real-Time Distributed Systems, Christian Lang

Masters Theses

In real-time systems, correctness not only depends on the result of the computation but also on the time at which this result is available. The violation of timing constraints in hard real-time systems can be critical to human life or environment. Therefore, the scheduling algorithm for distributed systems has to allocate tasks to processing nodes so that no timing constraints can be violated. In addition to timing constraints, tasks have precedence and fault-tolerance constraints.

Static scheduling allocates tasks to processing nodes before the tasks are executed. Static scheduling problems are known to be NP-hard [4]. Therefore, heuristic techniques are necessary …

Next Generation Real-Time Systems: Investigating The Potential Of Partial-Solution Tasks, Robert E. J. Caley

Theses and Dissertations

While the cyclic executive and fixed-priority scheduling strategies have been sufficient to handle traditional real- time requirements. they are insufficient for dealing with the complexities of next-generation real-time systems. New methods of intelligent control must be developed for guaranteeing on-time task completion for real-time systems that are faced with unpredictable and dynamically changing requirements. Implementing real-time processes as partial-solution tasks is one technique that may be beneficial. This type of task. when combined with intelligent control, has the potential for increasing pre-runtime schedulability, system maintainability. and runtime robustness. This research investigates the benefits of partial-solution tasks by experimentally measuring the …

Improving The Performance Of Spiral Antennas By Using Passive Scatterers, Joseph S. Zaren

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the viability of improving the performance of cavity-backed antennas. Traditionally antenna cavities are filled with electromagnetic absorber to mitigate interference effects that would otherwise cause the antenna radiation pattern to vary widely at different frequencies. The approach used in this research was to replace the absorber with dielectric slabs, some of which contained arrays of dipoles. These dipole arrays were modeled as frequency selective surfaces using two periodic moment method based - computer programs and one transmission line program. A systematic study was performed that identified the effect of changing the dipole …

Frame Selection Performance Limits For Statistical Image Reconstruction Of Adaptive Optics Compensated Images, Stephen D. Ford

Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. Air Force uses adaptive optics systems to collect images of extended objects beyond the atmosphere. These systems use wavefront sensors and deformable mirrors to compensate for atmospheric turbulence induced aberrations. Adaptive optics greatly enhance image quality; however, wavefront aberrations are not completely eliminated. Therefore, post-detection processing techniques are employed to further improve the compensated images. Typically, many short exposure images are collected, recentered to compensate for tilt, and then averaged to overcome randomness in the images and improve signal-to-noise ratio. Experience shows that some short exposure images in a data set are better than others. Frame selection exploits …

Distributed Interactive Simulation Virtual Cassette Recorder (Dis Vcr): A Datalogger With Variable Speed Replay, Jonathan L. Fortner

Theses and Dissertations

The overall objective of the Distributed Interactive Simulation Virtual Cassette Recorder (DIS VCR) is to add a flexible replay capability to any DIS environment and specifically to the Remote Debriefing Tool (RDT). The DIS VCR's abilities include selective filtering of incoming DIS Protocol Data Units (PDUs), variable-speed replays, ability to pause, fast-forward, rewind, efficient data storage and retrieval, and an interface that simplifies the execution of those functions. The thesis includes a DIS VCR-compatible design for concurrent replay of audio extracted from signal PDUs and an extension to the replay design that supports unmodifiable rendering or receiving applications. For variable-speed …

Survey And Implementation Of Commercial Manual Controllers For A Generic Telerobotics Architecture, Thomas E. Deeter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine an input device for the Air Force's generic telerobotics architecture for large aircraft maintenance and repair. One area of concern is the human to machine interface, more specifically, which manual controller should be used for the specified tasks in this architecture. We mailed a survey to 68 companies in order to compile a list of possible input devices that the telerobotics architecture could use. 32 companies responded which gave me enough data to generate a list that described the physical traits of the input devices. We then divided the required tasks into …

A 3-D Finite Difference Time Domain Investigation Of Microwave Propagation Through Inhomogeneous Biological Materials, David B. Dunn Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This paper extends past analysis of an optimal source distribution around a homogeneous sphere of muscle tissue by using a 3-D finite difference time domain (FDTD) scenario in which an anatomically correct human head model is irradiated. It first duplicates the analytical solution within an FDTD space using an FDTD computer code developed at Penn State University. This duplication uses a 9.45 cm radius sphere represented in an FDTD space of 2.35 mm cubic cells. FDTD simulations are then performed on four, three, and two layer laminated spheres, designed to provide simple models of a head. Finally, four simulations were …

An Integrated Gps-Ins-Baro And Radar Altimeter System For Aircraft Precision Approach Landings, Robert A. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the commercial airline industry are utilizing the Instrument Landing System (ILS) during aircraft landings for precision approaches. The replacement system for the aging ILS was thought to he the Microwave Landing System (MLS). Instead, use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) is now thought to be a viable replacement for ILS precision approaches. The majority of current precision landing research has exploited 'stand-alone' GPS receiver techniques. This thesis instead explores the possibilities of using an extended Kalman filter (EKF) that integrates an Inertial Navigation System (INS), GPS, Barometric Altimeter, Pseudolite and Radar Altimeter …

Control Of A Large Space Structure Using Multiple Model Adaptive Estimation And Control Techniques, Gordon C. Griffin Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

A moving bank multiple model adaptive estimator-controller (MMAE-MMAC), based on linear system, quadratic cost, and Gaussian noise (LQG) assumptions, is used to quell unwanted vibrations in a large flexible space structure. The structure, known as the SPace Integrated Controls Experiment, or SPICE, exists at Phillips Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, NM. The structure consists of a large platform and a smaller platform connected by a tripod of flexible legs. The purpose of the control system is to maintain a very precise line-of- sight vector through the center of the spacecraft. Kalman filtering, used to estimate the position and velocity of the bending …

Adaptive Beamforming In Frequency-Dispersive Multipath Environments, David A. Murray

Theses and Dissertations

It is well known that an antenna array with N degrees of freedom (DOF) can cancel N - 1 interferers if they approach the array from directions other than that of the desired signal. It has been shown that there are cases in which it is possible for an array with N DOF to effectively cancel more than N - 1 interferers. Specifically, we show how this can be done when there is incident upon an N-element array not only the desired signal and a jammer signal, but more than N - 1 Doppler-shifted multipath copies of the jammer signal …

Experimental Definition For Implantation Of The Afit Cortical Multielectrode Array, Adam G. Spenik

Theses and Dissertations

A two-dimensional multiplexed array of 256 electrodes (16 x 16) has been fabricated using conventional CMOS fabrication techniques. The size and spacing of the electrodes (160 x 160 µm squares with center-to-center spacing of 250 µm) approximate that of the cortical columns. The device is mounted on a small biocompatible package and a protocol to implant this package on the visual cortex of a ferret and a Rhesus monkey was developed and approved. An instrumentation setup to record the data from the device is described as well as the methods used to demultiplex the data. Testing of the device in …

Reduction Of Off-Boresight Fields For A Tem Horn Antenna, Dennis J. Wolstenholme

Theses and Dissertations

This research involves the design, modeling, and testing of both tapered periodic surfaces (TPS) and transverse electromagnetic (TEM) horns. The goal is to reduce the off-boresight fields for a TEM horn and increase the peak-to-peak field levels on boresight. This is accomplished by applying a TPS to the free space end. Two tapers are designed - one that approximates an exponential impedance function and one that approximates a triangular impedance function. Both reduce the off-boresight fields of the TEM horn. In most cases the exponential taper reduces the field levels further than the triangular taper. This research shows that a …

Design And Characterization Of Resonant Cavity Light-Emitting Diodes, Thomas M. Fitzgerald

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes an investigation into the emission properties of Resonant Cavity Light Emitting Diodes (RCLED). RCLEDs are a new photonic device that promise laser-like properties of narrow output frequency spread and high output power, without the usual laser disadvantages of shorter lifetime and increased maintenance and lifetime costs. Specifically, this thesis examines the functional dependence between emitted wavelength and the RCLED microcavity, and attempts to correlate theory with experimental data. This thesis introduces a classical wave interference model that calculates the Spontaneous Emission Enhancement Factor (Z-) with angular dependence.

Image Perception Wavelet Simulation And Enhancement For The Visually Impaired, Lemuel Ray Myers Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This research delves into the area of image enhancement for the visually impaired. Binocular macular degeneration a visual impairment, affects many Americans; since this condition could not be corrected with conventional glasses the literature suggested using an enhancement system which used a pre-emphasis algorithm to enhance the input image for output to the observer. The work of Dr. Eli Peli, a pioneer in the field of image enhancement, is examine and reproduced. Since his work concentrated mainly on frequency analysis of images, the bulk of this research involves using discrete wavelet analysis to augment that work. A biorthogonal wavelet set …

Improved Numerical Solution Of Mixed H2/H∞ Optimization With Applications, Linda D. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study improved the numerical optimization technique used to compute mixed H₂/H_∞ controllers. The run time to generate the full curve of an H₂/H_∞ design was reduced by a factor of almost 200 for a specific example. This was accomplished by improving gradient calculations, upgrading the H_∞ norm calculation to capture multiple peaks in the singular value plot and using routines that minimized processing time. The optimization routine used was the MATLAB CONSTR' Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) routine. This SQP routine was compared to a FORTRAN SQP numerical optimizer, IMSL-DNCONG. The method was …

Head Related Transfer Function Approximation Using Neural Networks, John K. Millhouse

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis determines whether an artificial neural network (ANN) can approximate the Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories (AAMRL) head related transfer functions (HRTF) data obtained from research at AAMRL during the fall of 1988. The first test determines whether HRTF lends any support in sound localization when compared to no HRTF (Interaural Time Delay only). There is a statistically significant interaction between the location of the sound and whether the HRTF or no HRTF is used. When this interaction is removed using the alternate F.Value, the statistics give the result of equal means for the filters and azimuth. This means …

A Quantitative Feedback Theory Fcs Design For The Subsonic Envelope Of The Vista F-16 Including Configuration Variation, Scott N. Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

An aircraft's response to control inputs varies widely throughout its flight envelope. The aircraft configuration also impacts control response through variations in center of gravity and moments of inertia. Designing a flight control system (FCS) to accommodate the full flight envelope and configuration set of an aircraft is clearly a complex undertaking. Quantitative feedback theory (QFT) is a design tool which enables the engineer to attack this task in an efficient way. Although QFT is a robust control design technique, it is an interactive algorithm allowing the engineer full control over compensator order and gain. In this research effort, a …

Advanced Formation Flight Control, Michael J. Veth

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the formation flight control problem is continued from four previous theses. Automatic formation flight involves controlling multiple aircraft equipped with standard Mach-hold, altitude hold, and heading-hold autopilots to maintain a desired distance from a lead aircraft or "rabbit". Changes in the rabbit's states are treated as disturbances to the system and rejected. Previous research is advanced in the following areas: Higher-order aircraft-autopilot models are included into the design and a new feedback control law is employed, resulting in more accurate simulations. An energy tracking scheme is developed and is shown to reduce wing aircraft energy excursions. Finally, …