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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Active Fpga Security Through Decoy Circuits, Bradley D. Christiansen Jun 2006

Active Fpga Security Through Decoy Circuits, Bradley D. Christiansen

Theses and Dissertations

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) based on Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) are vulnerable to tampering attacks such as readback and cloning attacks. Such attacks enable the reverse engineering of the design programmed into an FPGA. To counter such attacks, measures that protect the design with low performance penalties should be employed. This research proposes a method which employs the addition of active decoy circuits to protect SRAM FPGAs from reverse engineering. The effects of the protection method on security, execution time, power consumption, and FPGA resource usage are quantified. The method significantly increases the security of the design with …


Analysis Of Photoconductive Properties In Ge2Sb2Te5 (Gst) Chalcogenide Films For Applications In Novel Electronics, John R. V. Chezem Mar 2006

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 …


Doppler-Only Multistatic Radar, Dustin G. Mixon Mar 2006

Doppler-Only Multistatic Radar, Dustin G. Mixon

Theses and Dissertations

In order to estimate the position and velocity of a target, most multistatic radar systems require multiple independent target measurements, such as angle-of-arrival, time-of-arrival, and Doppler information. Though inexpensive and reliable, Doppler-only systems have not been widely implemented due to the inherent nonlinear problem of determining a target’s position and velocity from their measurements. We solve this problem. In particular, we first establish the lack of observability in the Doppler-only bistatic system, thereby demonstrating the need for multiple transmitters and/or receivers. Next, for a multistatic system with a sufficient number of transmitter-receiver pairs, we invoke classical optimization techniques, such as …


Multi-Dimensional Wave Front Sensing Algorithms For Embedded Tracking And Adaptive Optics Applications, Christopher C. Wood Mar 2006

Multi-Dimensional Wave Front Sensing Algorithms For Embedded Tracking And Adaptive Optics Applications, Christopher C. Wood

Theses and Dissertations

Current tracking and adaptive optics techniques cannot compensate for fast-moving extended objects, which is important for ground-based telescopes providing space situational awareness. To fill this need, a vector-projection maximum-likelihood wave-front sensing algorithm development and testing follows for this application. A derivation and simplification of the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound for wavefront sensing using a laser guide star bounds the performance of these systems and guides implementation of a vastly optimized maximum-likelihood search algorithm. A complete analysis of the bias, mean square error, and variance of the algorithm demonstrates exceptional performance of the new sensor. A proof of concept implementation shows feasibility …


A Minimum Effort Control Approach To Guided Munition Path Planning, Jeffrey M. Borkowski Mar 2006

A Minimum Effort Control Approach To Guided Munition Path Planning, Jeffrey M. Borkowski

Theses and Dissertations

An advance in the development of smart munitions entails autonomously modifying target selection during flight to maximize the value of the target being destroyed. Target identification and classification provides a basis for target value, which is used in conjunction with multi-target tracks to determine an optimal aim point for the munition. A unique guidance law can be constructed that exploits attribute and kinematic data from an onboard video sensor. This thesis develops an innovative path planning algorithm that provides an obstacle avoidance function while navigating the munition toward the highest value target. The foundation of this path planning method is …


Design And Characterization Of A Radiation Tolerant Triple Mode Redundant Sense Amplifier Flip-Flop For Space Applications, Mark E. Martin Mar 2006

Design And Characterization Of A Radiation Tolerant Triple Mode Redundant Sense Amplifier Flip-Flop For Space Applications, Mark E. Martin

Theses and Dissertations

One of the more recently proposed flip-flop designs has been the sense amplifier flip-flop. It has gained acceptance in the commercial realm because of its power consumption, speed, setup time, clock line loading, and data line loading characteristics. In this thesis, a recently designed RADHARD version of D sense amplifier flip-flop was taken and a triple mode redundant version for space and radiation environment use was created. The design was created with valuable options to increase radiation hardness and to give end users greater flexibility in realizing their own radiation hardened version of flip-flop. In addition, a methodology for using …


A Platform For Antenna Optimization With Numerical Electromagnetics Code Incorporated With Genetic Algorithms, Timothy L. Pitzer Mar 2006

A Platform For Antenna Optimization With Numerical Electromagnetics Code Incorporated With Genetic Algorithms, Timothy L. Pitzer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigation presents a unique incorporation of the Method of Moments (MoM) with a Genetic Algorithm (GA). A GA is used in accord with the Numerical Electromagnetics Code, Version 4 (NEC4) to create and optimize typical wire antenna designs, including single elements and arrays. Design parameters for the antenna are defined and encoded into a chromosome composed of a series of numbers. The cost function associated with the specific antenna of interest is what quantifies improvement and, eventually, optimization. This cost function is created and used by the GA to evaluate the performance of a population of antenna designs. …


An Airborne Radar Model For Non-Uniformly Spaced Antenna Arrays, Matthew V. Young Mar 2006

An Airborne Radar Model For Non-Uniformly Spaced Antenna Arrays, Matthew V. Young

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an airborne radar model for non-uniformly spaced antenna arrays. Non-uniform arrays potentially possess advantages unobtainable by uniformly spaced arrays. An element position matrix is defined to accommodate arbitrary element locations. The new element position matrix affects the time/phase delay to each element, spatial frequencies, steering vectors, space-time snapshots, and covariance matrices. The joint domain localized and factored time-space-time adaptive processing algorithms are also updated so they are compatible with the new model. The non-uniformly spaced array radar model is verified with previous models presented by Jaffer, Ward, and Hale. The model for non-uniform arrays is used to …


Lqg/Ltr Tilt And Tip Control For The Starfire Optical Range 3.5-Meter Telescope's Adaptive Optics System, Neil D. Paris Mar 2006

Lqg/Ltr Tilt And Tip Control For The Starfire Optical Range 3.5-Meter Telescope's Adaptive Optics System, Neil D. Paris

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Research Laboratory has sponsored research on the tracking control loop portion of the adaptive optics system in the Starfire Optical Range 3.5-meter telescope at Kirtland Air Force Base. The control loop includes two steering mirrors (Coarse Steering Mirror and Fine Steering Mirror) used to remove wavefront tilt and tip phase distortion from light entering the telescope. The objective of this research is to design a single Linear Quadratic Gaussian controller to control both steering mirrors in order to eliminate wavefront tilt and tip distortions induced by the earth's atmosphere, and to evaluate the stability robustness and performance …


Comparison Of Ray Tracing Through Ionospheric Models, Shayne C. Aune Mar 2006

Comparison Of Ray Tracing Through Ionospheric Models, Shayne C. Aune

Theses and Dissertations

A comparison of ray tracing predictions for transionospheric electromagnetic wave refraction and group delays through ionospheric models is presented. Impacted applications include over-the-horizon RADAR, high frequency communications, direction finding, and satellite communications. The ionospheric models used are version 2.1 of Utah State University's Global Assimilation of Ionospheric Measurements (USU GAIM) model and the 2001 version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. In order to provide ray tracing results applicable to satellite communications for satellites at geosynchronous orbit (GEO), a third ionospheric model is used to extend the sub-2000-km USU GAIM and IRI ionospheric specifications to 36540 km in altitude. …