Engineering Commons^™

Underwater Acoustic Signal Analysis Toolkit, Kirk Bienvenu Jr

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This project started early in the summer of 2016 when it became evident there was a need for an effective and efficient signal analysis toolkit for the Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center Gulf Ecological Monitoring and Modeling (LADC-GEMM) Research Consortium. LADC-GEMM collected underwater acoustic data in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the summer of 2015 using Environmental Acoustic Recording Systems (EARS) buoys. Much of the visualization of data was handled through short scripts and executed through terminal commands, each time requiring the data to be loaded into memory and parameters to be fed through arguments. The vision was to develop …

Algorithm For Computational Imaging On A Real-Time Hardware, Manish Bhattarai

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

DRAMATIC advances in the field of computational and medical imaging over the past decades have enabled many critical applications such as night vision, medical diagnosis, quality control, and remote sensing. The increasing demand for image quality and its fidelity requires an increase in pixel count and a sophisticated post-processing mechanism to efficiently store, transmit, and analyze this massive data. There is an inherent trade-off between the generation of big data by such imaging systems and efficiency in extraction of useful information within real-time constraints, limiting the efficacy of such sensors in real-time decision-making systems. The traditional imaging system gets burdened …

Dual Method Headphone Amplifier, Joseph S. Gross, Timothy P. Murphy

Electrical Engineering

Many high impedance headphones underperform their full potential when directly connected to the audio source. Amplifiers boost the audio signal and provide the headphones with sufficient power to ensure their maximum performance. The invention of transistors caused vacuum tube implementation to decline, leaving many audiophiles unsatisfied with the transistor’s sound signature. Vacuum tubes and transistors both amplify signals, however the distinct “tube sound” has vanished.

We have designed and created a product where the user selectively switches between solid-state transistor and tube amplification to compare the sound signatures of each amplification method. The ability to switch between the solid-state and …

Realtime Implementation Of An Internal-Model-Principle Signal Identifier, Edris Saleh Mohsen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis presents a new means approach of tuning an adaptive internal model principle based signal identification algorithm whose computational costs are low enough to allow a realtime implementation. The algorithm allows an instantaneous Fourier decomposition of nonstationary signals that have a strongly predictable component. The algorithm is implemented as a feedback loop resulting in a closed loop system with a frequency response of a bandpass filter with notches at the frequencies of the Fourier decomposition. This is achieved through real time selection of the coefficients of the transfer functions in the feedback loop. Previous work showed how the dynamics …

Feasibility Of 802.11a-Based Transceivers For Vhf/Uhf Communications In Remote Regions, Abhimanyu Nath

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The project focuses on adapting a traditional IEEE802.11a specification originally designed for indoors, to work across mountainous terrains such as areas of rural Montana in the UHF band. The goal of the project is to experiment with various CSMA/CA timing parameters to accommodate long propagation delays between mountain peaks. The simulation tool was built in C++. When links with various data rates and hidden nodes were introduced during worst case performance analysis, severe packet drops and queue latencies were found in the network statistics. A few timing optimizations were explored and alternatives were considered in the systems design. When stations …

Separation Of Vocal And Non-Vocal Components From Audio Clip Using Correlated Repeated Mask (Crm), Mohan Kumar Kanuri

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Extraction of singing voice from music is one of the ongoing research topics in the field of speech recognition and audio analysis. In particular, this topic finds many applications in the music field, such as in determining music structure, lyrics recognition, and singer recognition. Although many studies have been conducted for the separation of voice from the background, there has been less study on singing voice in particular.

In this study, efforts were made to design a new methodology to improve the separation of vocal and non-vocal components in audio clips using REPET [14]. In the newly designed method, we …

Distributed Emitter Detector Design Under Imperfect Communication Channel, Soumyadip Patra

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

We consider the distributed detection of an emitter using multiple sensors deployed at deterministic locations. The signal from the emitter follows a signal attenuation model dependent on the distance between the sensor and the emitter. The sensors transmit their decisions to the fusion center through a parallel access Binary Symmetric Channel (BSC) with a cross-over probability. We seek to optimize the detection performance under a prescribed false alarm at the sensor level and at the system level. We consider the triangular topology structure and using the least favorable emitter range study the impact of the BSC on the system level …

Learning Multimodal Structures In Computer Vision, Ali Taalimi

Doctoral Dissertations

A phenomenon or event can be received from various kinds of detectors or under different conditions. Each such acquisition framework is a modality of the phenomenon. Due to the relation between the modalities of multimodal phenomena, a single modality cannot fully describe the event of interest. Since several modalities report on the same event introduces new challenges comparing to the case of exploiting each modality separately.

We are interested in designing new algorithmic tools to apply sensor fusion techniques in the particular signal representation of sparse coding which is a favorite methodology in signal processing, machine learning and statistics to …

Computational Imaging Approach To Recovery Of Target Coordinates Using Orbital Sensor Data, Michael D. Vaughan

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the components necessary for simulation of an image-based recovery of the position of a target using orbital image sensors. Each component is considered in detail, focusing on the effect that design choices and system parameters have on the accuracy of the position estimate. Changes in sensor resolution, varying amounts of blur, differences in image noise level, selection of algorithms used for each component, and lag introduced by excessive processing time all contribute to the accuracy of the result regarding recovery of target coordinates using orbital sensor data.

Using physical targets and sensors in this scenario would be …

Wide-Area Measurement-Driven Approaches For Power System Modeling And Analytics, Hesen Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents wide-area measurement-driven approaches for power system modeling and analytics. Accurate power system dynamic models are the very basis of power system analysis, control, and operation. Meanwhile, phasor measurement data provide first-hand knowledge of power system dynamic behaviors. The idea of building out innovative applications with synchrophasor data is promising.

Taking advantage of the real-time wide-area measurements, one of phasor measurements’ novel applications is to develop a synchrophasor-based auto-regressive with exogenous inputs (ARX) model that can be updated online to estimate or predict system dynamic responses.

Furthermore, since auto-regressive models are in a big family, the ARX model …

Two Senior Projects: 2.4 Ghz, 40% Efficiency Radio Frequency Amplifier, Ieee Design Contest, & Design And Implementation Of A Software Costas Loop For Audio Frequencies, Robert J. Tong

Electrical Engineering

How to Read this Document:

This document combines two senior project reports. The first senior project documents designing a class AB RF amplifier. The second, discusses the design and implementation of a software Costas loop for audio frequencies. The first report begins on the next page, while the Costas loop report starts on page 24. The two reports are orthogonal from one another. It is not a prerequisite to read the RF amplifier report before reading the Costas loop report. This document is merely two reports combined into one document. The second report, about the Costas loop, was written as …

Feasibility Of Melville Marginalia Authorship Differentiation, Aaron Burdin

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

We examine the feasibility of using image processing techniques to determine differentiation in authorship of historical pencil marks. Pencil marks with unattributed and attributed authorship are segmented from digital images of historical books. Analysis is performed on five features that are extracted from the "vertical" pencil marks, with those features used as a basis for authorship of marks. These marks consist of single stroke marks that are interspersed in the same document. We describe the challenges of the digital format that we were given and the steps taken in using autonomous segmentation to save pixel locations of marks. Five mark …

Covert Wireless Communications In A Dynamic Environment, Tamara V. Sobers

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates covert communication in dynamic wireless communication environments. A key goal is to provide insight about the capabilities of a transmitter desiring to remain covert and analogously, the capabilities of the party attempting to detect covert communications. The first chapter provides background on covert communications prior to this work. The second chapter studies the theoretical limits of covert communication and proves that positive rate is achievable when a jammer is added to the classical Alice/Bob/Warden Willie model. The third chapter expands on the second chapter by considering more generally the impact of the dynamics of the environment on …

Predictive Shutdown Systems For Nuclear Power Plants, Drew J. Rankin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation investigates the use of a Kalman filter (KF) to predict, within the shutdown system (SDS) of a nuclear power plant (NPP), whether a safety parameter measurement will reach a corresponding trip set-point (TSP). The proposed predictive SDS (PSDS) designs aim to initiate shutdown actions at a time which is earlier than conventional shutdown initiation. These early detections are, in turn, expected to improve safety and productivity margins within the NPP. The KF-based point-PSDS design utilizes a linear time-varying (LTV) system model to predict mean safety parameter measurements for comparison against the TSP. The KF considers noise covariances that …

Multispectral Identification Array, Zachary D. Eagan

Computer Engineering

The Multispectral Identification Array is a device for taking full image spectroscopy data via the illumination of a subject with sixty-four unique spectra. The array combines images under the illumination spectra to produce an approximate reflectance graph for every pixel in a scene. Acquisition of an entire spectrum allows the array to differentiate objects based on surface material. Spectral graphs produced are highly approximate and should not be used to determine material properties, however the output is sufficiently consistent to allow differentiation and identification of previously sampled subjects. While not sufficiently advanced for use as a replacement to spectroscopy the …

The Following Robot, Juan D. Cerda, Matthew S. Kwan, Vi M. Le

Computer Engineering

The objective of this project is to design, build, and test an autonomous robot with an associated Android application. The robot uses on board inertial measurement sensors (magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope) and coordinates itself through Bluetooth communication with the similar built­in measurement sensors on the Android phone to mimic and follow movement. The Following Robot incorporates the same basic movement functionality as a typical RC car. The robot follows the user’s phone through an application on one’s phone. This application accesses the phone’s accelerometer and gyroscope data and translates into appropriate conversions. Methods of tracking and calculating distance or angular displacement …

Hands On, Michael Le, Justin Remulla, Chris Menezes, Noah Beilin

Electrical Engineering

The goal is to design an extremely articulate smart glove, which acts a virtual reality controller. The smart glove will have gesture detection, which could include hand movements and/or combinations of finger movements to emulate mouse click or scroll, or digitally map out a hand for integrations with virtually reality softwares. This glove will have multiple accelerometer sensors on each finger and joint, connected to a single board running BLE MCU SoC in order to communicate with computer or mobile devices. The glove would connect to devices such as computers or phones using a Bluetooth dongle with applications in virtual …

Music Synthesizer Senior Project: Individual Report, Bryan Bellin

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Music Synthesizer Senior Project: Danalog, Vikrant A. Marathe

Electrical Engineering

The Danalog is a 25 key portable digital music synthesizer that uses multiple synthesis methods and effects to generate sounds. Sound varieties included three synthesis methods including FM, subtractive, and sample-based, with up to eight adjustable parameters, at least four effects, including reverb, chorus, and flange, with five adjustable parameters, and at least two note polyphony, and a five band equalizer. The user would be able to adjust these effects using digital encoders and potentiometers and view the settings on two LCD screens. The finals project was unable to meet the original design requirements. The FM synthesis method was primarily …

Danalog: Digital Music Synthesizer, Evan R. Lew

Electrical Engineering

The Danalog is a 25 key portable digital music synthesizer that uses multiple synthesis methods and effects to generate sounds. Sound varieties included three synthesis methods including FM, subtractive, and sample-based, with up to eight adjustable parameters, at least four effects, including reverb, chorus, and flange, with five adjustable parameters, and at least two note polyphony, and a five band equalizer. The user would be able to adjust these effects using digital encoders and potentiometers and view the settings on two LCD screens.

The finals project was unable to meet the original design requirements. The FM synthesis method was primarily …

Verification Of Receiver Equalization By Integrating Dataflow Simulation And Physical Channels, David M. Ritter, Tina Smilkstein

Master's Theses

This thesis combines Keysight’s SystemVue software with a Vector Signal Analyzer (VSA) and Vector Signal Generator (VSG) to test receiver equalization schemes over physical channels. The testing setup, “Equalization Verification,” is intended to be able to evaluate any equalization scheme over any physical channel, and a decision-directed feed-forward LMS equalizer is used as an example. The decision-directed feed-forward LMS equalizer is shown to decrease the BER from 10^-2 to 10^-3 (average of all trials) over a CAT7 and CAT6A cable, both simulated and physical, for 1GHz and 2GHz carrier, and 80MHz data rate. A wireless channel, 2.4GHz Dipole …

Multidataset Independent Subspace Analysis: A Framework For Analysis Of Multimodal, Multi-Subject Brain Imaging Data, Rogers F. Silva

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Mental illnesses are serious disorders of the brain that have devastating effects on individuals and society. In addition to their disabling and impairing effects, mental illnesses have deep social and economical implications, accounting for an estimated loss of 12 billion working days and a care cost surge to $6 trillion a year by 2030. For diseases such as depression and anxiety, enhancing preventive programs and treatment accessibility, in combination with accurate early diagnosis and personalized treatments, are projected to result in a four-fold return on every dollar invested, a strategy that can drastically help curtail those losses. Notably, within the …

Implementation Of Range Autofocus For Sar Radar Imaging, Nicholas J. Testin, Philip Davis

KSU Journey Honors College Capstones and Theses

The range calculation for an FMCW radar depends on accurate linear modulation. In some circumstances, linear modulation may not be available and must be corrected for. This paper describes an autofocus technique used to correct for phase error due to non-linearities in the components of a FMCW radar. Also described here is the algorithm used in calculating the phase error and application of the phase correction with triangle modulation. Known errors were calculated at certain distances and applied to correcting the phase of data taken at similar distances. The results given were generated using a SAR working outside linear ranges.

An Exact Analysis For Four-Order Acousto-Optic Bragg Diffraction Which Incorporates Both Incident Light Angle And Sound Frequency Dependencies, Adeyinka Sunday Ademola

Electrical Engineering Theses

This thesis extends the prior work which produced an exact solution to the four-order acousto-optic (AO) Bragg cell with assumed fixed center frequency and with exact Bragg angle incident light. The extension predicts the model that incorporates the dependencies of both the input angle of light and the sound frequency. Specifically, a generalized 4^th order linear differential equation (DE), is developed from a simultaneous analysis of four coupled AO system of DEs. Through standard methods, the characteristic roots, which requires solving a quartic equation, is produced. Subsequently, a derived system of homogeneous solutions, which absorbs the roots obtained using …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Tracking System With Out-Of-Sequence Measurement In A Discrete Time-Delayed Extended Kalman Filter, Roque Lora

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of this thesis is to extend the delayed Kalman filter so it can be used with non-linear systems and that it can handle randomized delays on the measurements. In the particular case of this study, the filter is used to estimates the states of an unmanned aerial system. The outputs of the filter are used to point an antenna and a camera towards a UAS. Different scenarios are simulated for the purpose of comparing the efficiency of this technique in various situations.

System-Layout-Dependent Thermally Induced Solder Stress & Reliability Implications, Ange C. Iradukunda

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Electronic flip chip assemblies consist of dissimilar component materials, which exhibit different CTE. Under thermal cyclic operating conditions, this CTE mismatch produces interfacial and interconnect stresses, which are highly dependent on system layout. In this paper, sensitivity analyses are performed using ANSYS FEA to establish how the proximity and arrangement of neighboring devices affect interconnect stress. Flip chip alignment modes ranging from edge-to-edge to corner-to-corner are studied. Results of these FEA studies, demonstrated that closely packing devices together has the effect of making them act as one. This results in a significant increase in the thermomechanical stresses induced on peripheral …

Low-Resolution Adc Receiver Design, Mimo Interference Cancellation Prototyping, And Phy Secrecy Analysis., Chen Cao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies three independent research topics in the general field of wireless communications. The first topic focuses on new receiver design with low-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADC). In future massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems, multiple high-speed high-resolution ADCs will become a bottleneck for practical applications because of the hardware complexity and power consumption. One solution to this problem is to adopt low-cost low-precision ADCs instead. In Chapter II, MU-MIMO-OFDM systems only equipped with low-precision ADCs are considered. A new turbo receiver structure is proposed to improve the overall system performance. Meanwhile, ultra-low-cost communication devices can enable massive deployment of disposable wireless …

Basic Science To Clinical Research: Segmentation Of Ultrasound And Modelling In Clinical Informatics, Ali K. Hamou

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The world of basic science is a world of minutia; it boils down to improving even a fraction of a percent over the baseline standard. It is a domain of peer reviewed fractions of seconds and the world of squeezing every last ounce of efficiency from a processor, a storage medium, or an algorithm. The field of health data is based on extracting knowledge from segments of data that may improve some clinical process or practice guideline to improve the time and quality of care. Clinical informatics and knowledge translation provide this information in order to reveal insights to …

Kasi: A Ka-Band And S-Band Cross-Track Interferometer, Gerard Ruiz Carregal

Masters Theses

A dual-frequency system is needed to better understand natural processes that constitute the environment and seasonal cycles of the Earth. A system working at two different wavelengths acquiring data simultaneously will give a valuable dataset since the conditions on the ground will be exactly the same. Hence, elements such as wind, soil moisture or any other changes on the ground will not interfere in the mea- surements. This thesis explains how an S-band radar was built and tested. Moreover, the experiments done with a Ka-band radar used as a scatterometer are explained as well as the data processing and analysis. …

Explorations Into Machine Learning Techniques For Precipitation Nowcasting, Aditya Nagarajan

Masters Theses

Recent advances in cloud-based big-data technologies now makes data driven solutions feasible for increasing numbers of scientific computing applications. One such data driven solution approach is machine learning where patterns in large data sets are brought to the surface by finding complex mathematical relationships within the data. Nowcasting or short-term prediction of rainfall in a given region is an important problem in meteorology. In this thesis we explore the nowcasting problem through a data driven approach by formulating it as a machine learning problem.

State-of-the-art nowcasting systems today are based on numerical models which describe the physical processes leading to …