Computer Engineering Commons^™

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 …

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 …

An Application Of Neural Networks In Data Communication Real-Time Resource Reallocation, Qing Fan

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis presents an application of artificial neural networks in real-time resource reallocation, a methodology used in the implementation of an intelligent interface node in the Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) environment. In particular, the problem is formulated using a Hopfield neural network model. The real-time reallocation problem is mapped into a two-dimensional matrix of neurons similar to Hopfield and Tank's approach to the traveling salesman problem (TSP) . An energy function is formulated in terms of the hard constraints and the solution cost. The interconnection weights and the input biases are determined by the energy function. It is shown through …

Eies 2 : A Distributed Architecture For Supporting Group Work, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, James Whitescarver, Robert M. Czech, Sreenivas Reddy, Ajaz R. Rana, Murray Turoff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The Computerized Conferencing Center (CCCC) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has been researching on-line group communications for 17 years by developing and studying tools to advance the "collective intelligence". The Electronic Information Exchange System 2 (EIES2) provides a research, development and operational environment for distributed computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) systems. The EIES 2 distributed Smalltalk processor provides for rapid prototyping and implementation of muti-media CSCW facilities in the network environment. The Smalltalk support of the object model, and meta-language properties make it ideally suited for incremental development CSCW applications. The EIES2 communication environment supports a decentralized network …

Visual Speech Training Aid For The Deaf, Subhashri Venkat

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A computer-based vowel articulation training aid has been developed. A "continuous" acoustic-phonetic transformation is performed to map speech parameters to a lower dimensionality display space. There are two possible approaches to this transformation problem. The transformation could be either linear or a combination nonlinear/linear. The nonlinear transformation is performed using a multi-layered feedforward neural network with linear output layers. Speech parameters are extracted either from an analog filter bank arrangement (band energies) or by a digital signal processing procedure (Discrete Cosine Transform Coefficients). The speech parameters obtained from both methods correspond to the spectral envelope of the speech signals. The …

Functional Requirements For Computer Conferencing And Computer Mediated Communications, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Murray Turoff, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, James Whitescarver, John Foster

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This paper is a compilation of the desirable functionality for Computerized Conferencing Systems. It is based upon the research and evaluation activities of the Conferencing Center at NJIT and can he considered as an overall set of objectives for the development of its Conferencing Systems.

Computation Of Frequency Characteristics Of Lumped-Element 3 Db Branch Line Directional Couplers, H. R. Mgombelo

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

An analysis of the 3 dB lumped-element branchline directional coupler constructed using L-C and T networks is given. Matrices of lumped element capacitances and inductances in the form of low and high pass filters are equated to the matrices of the distributed element transmission lines at the centre frequency of operation, as a result of which design equations are derived. Using even and odd modes of excitation, frequency characteristics of the directional couplers are computed and compared to those of the coupler constructed using distributed element transmission lines.

Teaching In A Virtual Classroom : Volume 2 Of A Virtual Classroom On Eies : Final Evaluation Report, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

A Virtual Classroom is a teaching and learning environment located within a computer-mediated communication system. As a teaching environment, it provides a set of tools, strengths, and limitations which are available to an instructor for delivering course materials and structuring learning experiences. Its characteristics are merely potentials, just as the empty classroom with its chalkboards and desks awaits the efforts and creativity of the instructor and the students to make it "come alive."

This is the second volume of the final research report on experiences with the prototype of a Virtual Classroom system constructed and operated on EIES, the Electronic …

Learning In A Virtual Classroom : Volume 1 Of A Virtual Classroom On Eies : Final Evaluation Report, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The Virtual Classroom [TM] is a system for learning and communicating via connected computers. Students in the Virtual Classroom share their thoughts, questions and reactions with professors and classmates using computers equipped with specially designed software. The software enables students to send and receive messages, interact with professors and classmates, read and comment on lecture material, take tests and receive feedback, and more, without having to attend scheduled classes. Learning can take place at any location in the world and at any time of the day using a computer on campus, at home or in the workplace.

The primary goal …

Compiling Unit Clauses For The Warren Abstract Machine, George D. Herbert

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the design, development, and installation of a computer program which compiles unit clauses generated in a Prolog-based environment at Argonne National Laboratories into Warren Abstract Machine (WAM) code. The program enhances the capabilities of the environment by providing rapid unification and subsumption tests for the very significant class of unit clauses. This should improve performance substantially for large programs that generate and use many unit clauses.

The Virtual Classroom: Building The Foundations, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This is a report on the first year of a three-year project concerned with the development and assessment of new types of software capabilities designed to support university level courses. A "virtual classroom" or "university without walls" is being created within a computerized conferencing system. During the first year of the project, students in twelve courses at three universities completed part or all of their coursework online. Pre and post-course questionnaires and automatic monitoring of their computer-mediated communications are the main sources of data. Independent variables include the expectations and attributes of the individual students; characteristics of the particular hardware …

Deterministic Linear Predictors For Bit Rate Improvement, Dhanvant H. Goradia

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis addresses the application of deterministic linear predictor s for telemetry based systems. Deterministic linear predictors are considered as a viable alternative to block transform coding in order to achieve bit rate reduction. A method of calculating the predictor coefficients of a deterministic linear predictor is presented. The system model is developed parametrically with respect to the bandwidth, polynomial order, signal class and predictor length. Two classes of signals, deterministic and random are analyzed and bounds on the performance of the deterministic linear predictor are established. A family of six pole Butterworth filters are used as presample filters in …

Moderating Online Conferences, Revised Manuscript, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Elaine B. Kerr

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

While considerable lore has accumulated about effective leadership techniques for groups interacting electronically, until now it has not been systematically presented. This material is culled from the experiences of those who have moderated past online conferences, the knowledge common to the EIES User Consultants, and observed behavior from thousands of conferences convened on EIES in the past. While this is a system-specific guide, the general principles ought to be generalizable to other systems, with different structures for group discussion.

Robert Burns put it well:
The best laid schemes o' mice and men
Gang aft a-gley;
An' lea'e us nought but …

Integrating Working At Home With Information Systems Management, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Joseph C. Schuh

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The history of computerization has its origin in the automation of manual processes - searching out the segments that could be put on a computer. The intended result was that the entire job would be done faster and cheaper. Thus, current computer-based information systems tend to make more efficient use of computers than people. The management function, on the other hand, often seems to focus on competitive skills and salesmanship rather than on the ability to attract and hold talented people. But, such impersonal factors that have driven management practices are changing. There has been a complete reversal in the …

An Investigation To Improve Linear Predictive Vocoder Pulse/Noise Excitation Models, Elizabeth Annella Martina Effer

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The quality of synthetic speech from Linear Predictive (LP) vocoders is known to be degraded due to the lack of detail in the commonly used pulse/noise excitation model. In this investigation, it was hypothesized that this degradation is due to the lack of precise timing information in the pulses and to the constraint that each short-time segment of excitation be either an impulse train or white noise. Accordingly, more complex excitation models were implemented using precise timing from peaks in the residual and a mixture of pulses and noise. Since the LP residual is known to be the perfect excitation …

Determinants Of Acceptance Of Computer Mediated Communication System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Elaine B. Kerr, Kenneth Johnson, Murray Turoff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

Acceptance of Computer-Mediated communication Systems (CMCS) by managers and professionals corresponds to its incorporation into their daily patterns of communication and work. Acceptance includes at least three inter-related dimensions: amount of use, subjective satisfaction with the process of using the system, and a perception that system use has positive impacts upon productivity.

Pre-use and follow-up questionnaires were distributed to 150- 250 new users of four different CMCS. Three are conferencing systems, designed to support "group work." They differ in terms of comprehensiveness or complexity of design, and size and nature of the user communities; COM/KOM, a Swedish system with mostly …

An Inventory Of Maine's Telecommunications System, Maine State Planning Office

Maine Collection

An Inventory of Maine's Telecommunications System

Prepared for the Maine State Planning Office by Joseph M. Chaisson and Valerie Lamont of the Telecommunications Research Program at Westbrook College in Portland, Maine. July, 1985.

"The Primary purpose of this report is to provide information for Governor Brennan's Task Force on Telecommunications. The inventory also can be widely used as a reference by persons and organizations concerned with providing telecommunications services in Maine."

Contents: Introduction / Local Telephone Service / Mobile Telephone Service / Digital Termination Service / Cable Television / Paging Systems / Intra-State (Intra-LATA) Public Services / Intra-State (Intra-LATA) Private …

Mode Of Communication And The "Risky Shift" : A Controlled Experiment With Computerized Conferencing And Anonymity In A Large Corporation, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Murray Turoff, Kenneth Johnson

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

Peer groups of five managers in a large company with a well developed corporate culture engaged in choice dilemma tasks using three modes of communication: face-to-face, synchronous computerized conferences with regular names, and synchronous computerized conferences with assigned pen names. This is the final technical report on the experiment, including documentation of all procedures, and reports of the tests of all hypotheses, including those which were not supported.

Choice behavior varied by problem and mode of communication. On a problem related to a major decision on the future of the company, conservative choices and conservative shifts dominated. On two choice …

The Effects Of Formal Human Leadership And Computer-Generated Decision Aids On Problem Solving Via Computer : A Controlled Experiment, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Kenneth Johnson, Murray Turoff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

Twenty-four groups of five professionals and managers within a variety of organizations were given the task of using a computer conference to reach agreement on the best solution to a ranking problem.

The independent variable is the structure of the conferencing capability used. Two alternative means of structuring the conferences were employed, in a two-by-two factorial design. Groups with "Human Leadership" elected one of their members to lead the group in its decision making discussion. Groups with "Computer Feedback" were given periodic tables which displayed the current "group decision" in terms of the mean rankings of items, and the degree …

Resources Reference Guide 1 : A Preliminary Reference Guide For The Resources Network Database System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

IT IS EMPHASIZED THAT THIS PRELIMINARY DOCUMENTATION FOR THE RESOURCES NETWORK DATABASE SYSTEM CONFORMS TO THE SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS.

RESOURCES REFERENCE GUIDE 1 is for limited distribution and review. It is not a user manual. Your interaction with the system may not always be exactly as described. All major features except keyword relations are supported in part, if not fully, at this time. Operation of some facilities are some what slow pending funding for optimization.

Groups and individuals wishing to use RESOURCES on the Electronic Information Exchange System should make arrangements through the Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center at the New …

Studies Of Computer Mediated Communications Systems : A Synthesis Of The Findings, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Elaine B. Kerr

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This report is an attempt to collect and synthesize current knowledge about computer-mediated communication systems. It focuses on computerized conferencing systems, for which most evaluational studies have been conducted, and also includes those electronic mail and office support systems for which evaluative information is available. It was made possible only through the participation of the many systems designers and evaluators listed below, who took the time to help to build a common conceptual framework and report their findings in terms of that common framework.

Users' Manual For The Electronic Information Exchange System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Elaine B. Kerr, Murray Turoff, Peter Johnson-Lenz, Trudy Johnson-Lenz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The purpose of this manual is to teach you the simpler parts of the system and make you comfortable with using the one-page User's Guide. As you gain more experience with the system, you may wish to learn some of the advanced features available. But EIES (pronounced "eyes") has been designed so that you don't need to learn more than meets your needs.

Since the best way to learn how to use a computer system is by direct experience, don't be discouraged if some of this manual is confusing at first. The most effective way to learn is to try …

A Direct Formulation And Computer-Implementation Of A Symbolic Network Analysis Algorithm, Timothy James Knerr

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An algorithm for the symbolic analysis of linear, time-invariant, active or passive networks is presented. The algorithm incorporates the best features of earlier numerical and topological methods of symbolic analysis. A hybrid set of equations is formulated for a closed linear graph and arranged in matrix form. A numerical evalu­ation procedure for the determinant of this hybrid matrix results in an efficient method of symbolic analysis. A proof of the algorithm based on determinant evaluation by a permutation product expansion provides insight into relationships with other methods of symbolic analysis. A computer program implementation of the algorithm is described and …

The Impact Of A Computerized Conferencing System On Scientific Research Communities, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

The author is indebted to Murray Turoff for coauthoring the sections describing the EIES system and for his suppport and encouragement for this study at all stages. Mary Anne Solimine served as a research assistant, supervising the distribution, coding and tabulations of questionnaire responses. Without her diligent efforts, the study would not have been possible. Ann Marie Rabke, Joanne Garofalo, Diane Price, Duchess Brooks, Margaret Wnorowski, Christine Naegle, Sonia Khalil, and Marion Whitescarver provided valuable assistance with coding and data entry and editing tasks. Larry Landwebber was most cooperative in providing access to the Theory Net group. Alan Leurck, Thomas …

The Evolution Of A Tailored Communications Structure : The Topics System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Peter Johnson-Lenz, Trudy Johnson-Lenz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

A computer-based human communication system should be designed for people's use, in response to their perceived needs and communications styles; no single system can meet the needs of all groups and individuals. It might seem that a general electronic mail or computerized conferencing system with a standard set of features should be able to meet most communications needs, in much the same way that the telephone system meets the needs of a wide range of users. However, there are many communications structures found in everyday life, ranging from one-to-many news broadcasts, to the many-to-many patterns of town meetings, from the …

Guide To The Topics System, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Peter Johnson-Lenz, Trudy Johnson-Lenz

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

TOPICS is a system for computer-based information exchange among a network of people who share certain areas of interest. The system supports simultaneous discussion of many topics at once by allowing members to raise brief, pointed topics/inquiries and then to enter responses to those inquiries. The responses are shared with all members who express an interest in each topic by selecting it. The system is designed to facilitate the flow of inquiries and responses without overloading members with irrelevant or uninteresting information.

Nested within the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES), this tailored communication system written in the INTERACT programming language …

Love, Death And The Hexadecimal, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper analyzes the role of information in social casework practice. Three models of computer-based information processing are discussed: Cybernetic, Management Information Systems and Natural Language Processing. The latter is most consistent with social casework information needs because of its potential to focus on the problems of the meaning of social action.

Face-To-Face Vs. Computerized Conferences : A Controlled Experiment, Volume Ii: Methodological Appendices, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Kenneth Johnson, Charles Aronovitch, Murray Turroff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This is volume II of research report 12. It is comprised of the methodoligical appendices that support volume I.

Face-To-Face Vs. Computerized Conferences : A Controlled Experiment. Volume I: Findings, Computerized Conferencing & Communications Center, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Kenneth Johnson, Charles Aronovitch, Murray Turroff

Computerized Conferencing and Communications Center Reports

This is a report on the first controlled experiment conducted as part of a four year effort to explore the feasibility and effectiveness of using the computer to structure the communication for various types of group tasks. It uses a language called INTERACT, developed as part of this grant effort, to administer all instructions and conduct a group problem solving discussion in a computer conference. The experiment compares the process and outcome of face to face vs. computer mediated group problem solving discussions.

The objectives of this experiment are the following "basic research" questions:

1. To gain quantified and detailed knowledge …

Some Facts And Prospects For The Establishment Of Television Broadcasts In Mainland Tanzania, H. R. Mgombelo

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

Abstract