Engineering Commons^™

Distributed Economic Systems With Agents That Learn, Stanley Foster Perry

Dissertations and Theses

Economic systems are distributed in the sense that economic agents make decisions without any central control. Prices, quantities, wealth, and market structure emerge from the interaction of agents acting in their own self interest. The concepts and language of systems science are used to define economic systems in a manner that captures and articulates the distributed nature of economic systems. Further, the systems definition permits multiple views of the economic system, and in addition, allows the agents to "step outside" the system in order to study it.

Economic systems are defined in such a way that it is feasible to …

Spontaneous Coherent Pulsations In Standing-Wave Laser Oscillators: Stability Criteria For Homogeneous Broadening, Pitak Chenkosol, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The stability criteria for single-mode standing-wave laser oscillators in the homogeneously broadened limit are reported, and two types of criteria are distinguished. The first type (type 1) corresponds to the minimum value of the threshold parameter for which an infinitesimal perturbation away from steady state grows into an oscillatory solution. A second type (type 2) corresponds to the minimum value of threshold parameter for which large-amplitude oscillations do not decay to the steady-state solution. Undamped pulsations in single-mode homogeneously broadened standing-wave laser oscillators are found to occur at a much higher excitation level than in ring-laser oscillators with homogeneous broadening. …

One-Dimensional Computer Modeling Of Thermal And Water Quality Characteristics Of Coldwater Lake, Wa, David Kevin Whitaker

Dissertations and Theses

Coldwater Lake is a new lake formed when a massive mudflow down the Toutle River Valley, caused by the eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, blocked the natural outlet of Coldwater Creek. This research utilizes physical, biological and chemical data collected at Coldwater Lake during the sun1mers of 1989 and 1990 to calibrate and verify the one-dimensional computer models CE-THERMRl and CE-QUAL-Rl for Coldwater Lake. CE-THERM-R1 was used to simulate thermal characteristics in Coldwater Lake during the summer stratification periods of 1989 and 1990. The model was calibrated to 1989 data and was verified with 1990 data. …

A Robust High Precision Algorithm For Sinewave Parameter Estimation, Kendall Ann Rydell

Dissertations and Theses

The estimation of sinewave parameters has many practical applications in test and data processing systems. Measuring the effective bits of an analog-to-digital converter and linear circuit identification are some typical examples. If a sinew ave's frequency is known, there is an established linear method to estimate the other parameters. But when none of the parameters are known (which is usually the case in practical situations), the estimation problem becomes more difficult. Traditional approaches to this task applied an iterative, sinewave curve-fit algorithm. Two problems with this technique are that convergence is often slow and not always guaranteed and the results …

The Effects Of Airline Deregulation On Airline Safety: An Econometric Analysis, William Charles De Jager

Dissertations and Theses

After an unfortunate series of accidents in the mid 1930's the Air Transport Association (ATA) lobbied Congress for regulation of the industry. The ATA claimed that unfair competition was endangering the public safety. The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 created the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and gave the CAB the authority to regulate the industry.

During the regulation era airline ridership increased and safety improved. During the regulation period, opportunity for comparing the safety record of the regulated industry with the record of the unregulated portions of the industry was limited. The few attempts made rendered inconclusive results.

During a …

Smart Memory: An Inexact Content-Addressable Memory, Jack Lee

Dissertations and Theses

The function of a Content-Addressable Memory (CAM) is to efficiently search the information stored in the memory, by using hardware rather than software with a corresponding improvement in searching speed. This hardware allows a parallel search by matching the data stored in memory to a search key rather than sequentially searching address by address as is done in a Random Access Memory. Although existing CAMs are more efficient in finding relevant information than RAM, there are additional improvements that can be made to further improve its efficiency. For example, previous CAMs use a word parallel searching scheme that can only …

Exact Modeling Of Time-Interval-Modulated Switched Networks, Weihe Niu

Dissertations and Theses

The frequency response analysis of switched networks plays a very important part in designing various kinds of power converter circuits. In this thesis two frequency response techniques for analyzing switching power converters are discussed. One method provides a mathematical description which treats the converter as a periodic time varying system. A linearized small signal model is subsequently derived. The major part of the thesis concentrates on this accurate exact small-signal technique. The derivation involves state space representation and the use of the time varying transfer function. A Fourier analysis is performed to show the relationship between the frequency response of …

Matching Points To Lines: Sonar-Based Localization For The Psubot, Kevin Blythe Stanton

Dissertations and Theses

The PSUBOT (pronounced pea-es-you-bought) is an autonomous wheelchair robot for persons with certain disabilities. Its use of voice recognition and autonomous navigation enable it to carry out high level commands with little or no user assistance. We first describe the goals, constraints, and capabilities of the overall system including path planning and obstacle avoidance. We then focus on localization-the ability of the robot to locate itself in space. Odometry, a compass, and an algorithm which matches points to lines are each employed to accomplish this task. The matching algorithm (which matches "points" to "lines") is the main contribution to this …

Minimization Of Permuted Reed-Muller Trees And Reed-Muller Trees For Cellular Logic Programmable Gate Arrays, Lifei Wu

Dissertations and Theses

The new family of Field Programmable Gate Arrays, CLI 6000 from Concurrent Logic Inc realizes truly Cellular Logic. It has been mainly designed for the realization of data path architectures. However, the realizable logic functions provided by its macrocells and their limited connectivity call also for new general-purpose logic synthesis methods. The basic cell of CLi 6000 can be programmed to realize a two-input multiplexer ( A*B + C*B ), an AND/EXOR cell ( A*B Ea C ), or the basic 2-input AND, OR and EXOR gate. This suggests to using these cells for tree-like expansions. These "cellular logic" devices …

Novel Cylindrical Illuminator Tip For Ultraviolet Light Delivery, Hanqun Shangguan

Dissertations and Theses

The design, processing, and sequential testing of a novel cylindrical diffusing optical fiber tip for ultraviolet light delivery is described. This device has been shown to uniformly(+/- 15%) illuminate angioplasty balloons, 20 mm in length, that are used in an experimental photochemotherapeutic treatment of swine intimal hyperplasia. Our experiments show that uniform diffusing tips of < 400 micron diameter can be reliably constructed for this and other interstitial applications. Modeling results indicate that this design is scalable to smaller diameters. The diffusing tips are made by stripping the protective buffer and etching away the cladding over a length of 20 mm from the fiber tip and replacing it with a thin layer of optical epoxy mixed with A/203 powder. To improve the uniformity and ease of fabrication, we have evaluated a new device configuration where the tip is etched into a modified conical shape, and the distal end face is polished and then coated with an optically opaque epoxy. This is shown to uniformly scatter - 70% of the light launched into the fiber without forward transmission. To our knowledge, we are the first to use this device configuration, and we have achieved a uniform cylindrical pattern of laser energy with uniformity < ± 15% of the average value. A simple computational model suitable for the interpretation of laser energy irradiance along the bare core surface of multimode optical fiber tips is proposed and experimentally verified. The model used is based on geometrical optics and Gaussian approximation. Good agreement is obtained between the calculation and experiment. We have measured the optical properties of the tips through all the sequences of the fabrication. The performances of the diffusing tips for illuminating angioplasty balloons are then evaluated by Ultraviolet Light at 365 nm. A Ti:Sapphire Ring Laser System with a doubling crystal pumped by an argon ion laser is used to generate the wavelength in this study.

Dynamics Of Ultrashort Pulse Generation And Amplification In Dye Lasers, Shuanghua Jiang

Dissertations and Theses

The dynamics of ultrashort pulse generation and amplification in dye lasers is studied in this dissertation. In particular, we have developed general semiclassical models for ultrashort pulse dye laser amplifiers and oscillators. These models start from Maxwell's equation for the electric field and density matrix equations for the active laser medium. A finite coherence time or phase memory time of the molecular wave functions, a finite vibrational relaxation time for the lower electronic state of the dye laser transition, an isotropic molecular orientational distribution, and an arbitrary pump polarization are all taken into account. Based on these models, specific topics …

A Study Of Dynamic Optimization Techniques: Lessons And Directions In Kernel Design, Calton Pu, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Synthesis kernel [21,22,23,27,28] showed that dynamic code generation, software feedback, and fine-grain modular kernel organization are useful implementation techniques for improving the performance of operating system kernels. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, we discovered that there are strong interactions between the techniques. Hence, a careful and systematic combination of the techniques can be very powerful even though each one by itself may have serious limitations. By identifying these interactions we illustrate the problems of applying each technique in isolation to existing kernels. We also highlight the important common under-pinnings of the Synthesis experience and present our ideas on …

Pump And Signal Cross Saturation In Cw Dye Lasers, Lee W. Casperson, A. C. Wilson, W. J. Sandle

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

It is well known that the signal output intensity from a dye laser oscillator depends directly on the pump intensity. The opposite effect, the dependence of the transmitted pump intensity on the signal intensity, is studied in detail. The theoretical results are compared with experimental data obtained using an argon‐laser‐pumped rhodamine 6G dye laser.

Ultrashort‐Pulse Propagation In Dye Laser Amplifiers, Shuanghua Jiang, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A semiclassical model is presented for ultrashort‐pulse dye laser amplifiers. The model permits a discussion of important aspects of short‐pulse amplification such as pulse shape, pulse energy, and gain saturation. Coherence effects are found to be important in characterizing the evolution of amplified pulses in the subpicosecond and femtosecond regimes. The results are compared with those obtained using the corresponding rate equation model.

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 …

The Use Of Laboratory Testing To Understand The Behavior Of Collapsible Soil Upon Wetting, Martha H. Denham

Dissertations and Theses

In developing a constitutive model that could predict the settlement due to the collapse, several goals needed to be met. These were to gain an understanding of the collapse phenomenon, knowing the soil properties at the natural water content and how they change after collapse, and develop and test the new model. It was felt that laboratory testing could be of use. The types of test conducted included use of the Oedometer, Pressuremeter, and Triaxial tests. The material that was used for the testing was a "generic" soil manufactured out of diatomite. In all of the tests the soil was …

A Gaze-Addressing Communication System Using Artificial Neural Networks, Gabriel Baud-Bovy

Dissertations and Theses

Severe motor disabilities can render a person almost completely incapable of communication. Nevertheless, in many cases, the sensory systems are intact and the eye movements are still under good control. In these cases, one can use a device such as the Brain Response Interface (BRI) to command a remote control (e.g. room temperature, bed position), a word-processor, a speech synthesizer, and so on.

The BRI is a gaze-addressing communication system that was developed by Dr. Erik E. Sutter at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San-Francisco: a menu of communication objects (e.g. letter, word, command) is displayed on a TV screen; …

Minimization Of Exclusive Sum Of Products Expressions For Multiple-Valued Input Incompletely Specified Functions, Ning Song

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years, there is an increased interest in the design of logic circuits which use EXOR gates. Particular interest is in the minimization of arbitrary Exclusive Sums Of Products (ESOPs). Functions realized by such circuits can have fewer gates, fewer connections, and take up less area in VLSI and especially, FPGA realizations. They are also easily testable. So far, the ESOPs are not as popular as their Sum of Products (SOP) counterparts. One of the main reasons it that the problem of the minimization of ESOP circuits was traditionally an extremely difficult one. Since exact solutions can be practically …

New Speckle Technique For Noncontact Measurement Of Small Creep Rates, Donald D. Duncan, F. Fausten Mark, Lawrence W. Hunter

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A highly sensitive method for measuring thermal expansion, mechanical strain, and creep rates has been developed. This technique is based on Yamaguchi's speckle strain gauge concept, but uses a novel data-processing approach that provides estimates of the time rate of inplane strain. The approach is appropriate for assessing very small strain rates in hostile environments. It provides simultaneous global estimates of the strain at both small and large gauge sizes. This may be of importance in studying materials with different short- and long-range orders. General advantages of the technique are compact design, modest resolution requirements, insensitivity to surface microstructure changes …

Rotating-Wave Approximation In High-Gain Lasers, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Semiclassical models for lasers typically incorporate a fundamental simplification called the rotating-wave approximation. In this study the rotating-wave approximation is reexamined, and its implications for the simplest problem of a steady-state laser oscillator are considered in detail. It is found that for practical laser operating conditions the errors resulting from this approximation may not always be negligible.

Improved Methodology For Limit States Finite Element Analysis Of Lattice Type Structures Using Nonlinear Post-Buckling Member Performance, Markus Ostendorp

Dissertations and Theses

In an attempt to achieve more efficient designs, the technological frontier is pushed further and further. Every year science probes for a better understanding of natural phenomena, discovering new and improved methods to perform the same task more efficiently and with better results. One of the new technologies is the nonlinear analysis of structural systems using inelastic post-buckling member performance. Inelastic post-buckling member performance is defined as the constitutive relationship between axial load and displacement after the ultimate member capacity has been exceeded. A nonlinear analysis is able to predict the failure behavior of a structural system under ultimate loads …

Applications Of Digital Signal Processing With Cardiac Pacemakers, Merry Thi Tran

Dissertations and Theses

Because the voltage amplitude of a heart beat is small compared to the amplitude of exponential noise, pacemakers have difficulty registering the responding heart beat immediately after a pacing pulse. This thesis investigates use of digital filters, an inverse filter and a lowpass filter, to eliminate the effects of exponential noise following a pace pulse. The goal was to create a filter which makes recognition of a haversine wave less dependent on natural subsidence of exponential noise.

Research included the design of heart system, pacemaker, pulse generation, and sensor system simulations. The simulation model includes the following components:

• Signal source, …

A New Approach To The Decomposition Of Incompletely Specified Functions Based On Graph Coloring And Local Transformation And Its Application To Fpga Mapping, Wei Wan

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis presents a new approach to the decomposition of incompletely specified functions and its application to FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) mapping. Five methods: Variable Partitioning, Graph Coloring, Bond Set Encoding, CLB Reusing and Local Transformation are developed in order to efficiently perform decomposition and FPGA (Lookup-Table based FPGA) mapping. 1) Variable Partitioning is a high quality hemistic method used to find the "best" partitions, avoiding the very time consuming testing of all possible decomposition charts, which is impractical when there are many input variables in the input function. 2) Graph Coloring is another high quality heuristic\ used to …

An Improved Formulation Of The Temperature Dependence Of The Gummel-Poon Bipolar Transistor Model Equations, Chorng-Lii Liou

Dissertations and Theses

A number of shortcomings were found after complete derivation of the temperature dependence of equations, and the expressions related to the Early effect in the present Gummel-Poon 2 model, as implemented in the TEKSPICE program. The formulation and application of improved model equations is presented, followed by a detailed comparison of the existing model with the one developed in this work.

Modeling Techniques For Water Supply Forecasting In The Western United States, David Charles Garen

Dissertations and Theses

Water supply forecasting in the western United States is the prediction of the volume of water passing a given point on a stream during the primary snowmelt runoff season. Most water supply forecasts are produced from multiple linear regression models using snowpack, precipitation, and streamflow measurements as independent variables. In recent years, conceptual watershed simulation models, typically using a time step of one day, have also been used to produce these forecasts.

This study examines model usage for: water supply forecasting in the West and has three specific purposes. The first is to examine the traditional usage of multiple linear …

Effectiveness Of Additive Correction Multigrid In Numerical Heat Transfer Analysis When Implemented On An Intel Ipsc2, James D. Padgett

Dissertations and Theses

The effectiveness of the Additive Correction Multigrid (ACM) algorithm, a line-byline Tri-diagonal Matrix Algorithm (TDMA), and simple Gauss-Seidel (GS) iteration in numerical heat transfer analysis is investigated on a conventional single processor computer and on a distributed memory parallel computer. The performance of these methods is studied by solving a two-dimensional, steady heat conduction problem. The execution time of ACM on a single processor is proportional to the number of unknowns to the 1.5 power. This is in contrast to the execution time of the TDMA for which the execution time is proportional to the number of unknowns to the …

Identifying Quality Function Deployment's Variables, Outcomes, Their Relationships, And Guidelines For Practitioners In The American Automotive Industry, Geoffrey Paul Gilmore

Dissertations and Theses

American industry is about nine to 12 years behind in utilizing a new product development and introduction process known as Quality Function Deployment (Q.F.D.). American industry must learn to compete internationally; the American automotive industry alone directly and indirectly employs millions of workers and has billions of dollars in annual sales and profits at stake.

With the cooperation of one American automotive company research has been conducted on Q.F.D. The research objectives were to identify: what variables affect Q.F.D., what are the outcomes from Q.F.D., what relationships exist between Q.F.D. variables and outcomes, and what guidelines may be offered to …

Mapping Programs To Parallel Architectures In The Real World, Dezheng Tang

Dissertations and Theses

Mapping an application program to a parallel architecture can be described as a multidimensional optimization problem. To simplify the problem, we divide the overall mapping process into three sequential substeps: partitioning, allocating, and scheduling, with each step using a few details of the program and architecture description. Due to the difficulty in accurately describing the program and architecture and the fact that each substep uses incomplete information, inaccuracy is pervasive in the real-world mapping process. We hypothesize that the inaccuracy and the use of suboptimal, heuristic mapping methods may greatly affect the mapping or submapping performance and lead to a …

Improved I/O Pad Positions Assignment Algorithm For Sea-Of-Gates Placement, Shyang-Kuen Her

Dissertations and Theses

A new heuristic method to improve the I/O pad assignment for the sea-of-gates placement algorithm "PROUD" is proposed. In PROUD, the preplaced I/O pads are used as the boundary conditions in solving sparse linear equations to obtain the optimal module placement. Due to the total wire length determined by the module positions is the strong function of the preplaced I/O pad positions, the optimization of the I/O pad circular order and their assignment to the physical locations on the chip are attempted in the thesis. The proposed I/O pad assignment program is used as a predecessor of PROUD. The results …

Hypoid Gear Optimization, Selvaraj Ramachandran

Dissertations and Theses

A hypoid gear optimization procedure using the method of feasible directions has been developed. The objective is to reduce the gear set weight with bending strength, contact strength and facewidth-diametral pitch ratio as constraints. The objective function weight, is calculated from the geometric approximation of the volume of the gear and pinion. The design variables selected are number of gear teeth, diametral pitch, and facewidth. The input parameters for starting the initial design phase are power to be transmitted, speed, gear ratio, type of application, mounting condition, type of loading, and the material to be used. In the initial design …