Computer and Systems Architecture Commons^™

Electroencephalogram Artifact Removal Using A Wavelet Neural Network, Hoang-Anh T. Nguyen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A wavelet neural network (WNN) technique rs developed for electroencephalogram (EEG) artifact removal without electrooculographic (EOG) recordings. The algorithm combines the universal approximation characteristics of neural networks and the time/frequency property of wavelet, where the neural network was trained on a simulated dataset with known ground truths. The contribution of this thesis is two-fold. First, many EEG artifact removal algorithms, including regression based methods, require reference EOG signals, which are not always available. To remove EEG ai1ifacts, a WNN tries to learn the characteristics of the artifacts first and does not need reference EOG signals once trained. Second, WNNs are …

Nato Human View Architecture And Human Networks, Holly A. H. Handley, Nancy P. Houston

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The NATO Human View is a system architectural viewpoint that focuses on the human as part of a system. Its purpose is to capture the human requirements and to inform on how the human impacts the system design. The viewpoint contains seven static models that include different aspects of the human element, such as roles, tasks, constraints, training and metrics. It also includes a Human Dynamics component to perform simulations of the human system under design. One of the static models, termed Human Networks, focuses on the human-to-human communication patterns that occur as a result of ad hoc or deliberate …

Using Simulation Systems For Decision Support, Andreas Tolk

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

This chapter describes the use of simulation systems for decision support in support of real operations, which is the most challenging application domain in the discipline of modeling and simulation. To this end, the systems must be integrated as services into the operational infrastructure. To support discovery, selection, and composition of services, they need to be annotated regarding technical, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, dynamic, and conceptual categories. The systems themselves must be complete and validated. The data must be obtainable, preferably via common protocols shared with the operational infrastructure. Agents and automated forces must produce situation adequate behavior. If these requirements …

Transmitter Optimization In Multiuser Wireless Systems With Quality Of Service Constraints, Danda B. Rawat

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this dissertation, transmitter adaptation for optimal resource allocation in wireless communication systems are investigated. First, a multiple access channel model is considered where many transmitters communicate with a single receiver. This scenario is a basic component of a. wireless network in which multiple users simultaneously access the resources of a wireless service provider. Adaptive algorithms for transmitter optimization to meet Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements in a distributed manner are studied. Second, an interference channel model is considered where multiple interfering transmitter-receiver pairs co-exist such that a given transmitter communicates with its intended receiver in the presence of interference from other …

Implementation Requirements For The Notice Architecture In Vehicular Communications, Dusadee Treeumnuk

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Many studies have been focusing on Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networking (VANET) in order to increase the quality of traffic and life on the road. An important aspect in vehicular communications is maintaining the privacy and security of VANET. NOTICE is an emerging architecture promising efficient traffic notification as well as strong immunity to malicious attacks, leading to improvement of safety and reduction of traffic congestion on roadways. To enable secure traffic notification, the NOTICE system employs vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication rather than vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication like in traditional VANET. The infrastructure consists of sensor belts which are embedded in the roadway and …

C2 Domain Ontology Within Our Lifetime, Leslie Winters, Andreas Tolk

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Agile Command and Control (C2) requires agile information sharing with an increasingly wide variety of military and non-military partners. While current net-centric approaches may improve information sharing within a particular niche of C2, they do not support information sharing across the larger C2 domain. Although not a silver bullet, the development and application of a C2 domain ontology to improve C2 data and service integration appears to be increasingly realistic. In fact, there are several examples of successful ontology applications in domains such as medicine, biology, and engineering, and the new discipline of Applied Ontology is emerging. C2 data, architecture, …

Conceptual Requirements For Command And Control Languages, Andreas Tolk, Curtis L. Blais, Saikou Y. Diallo, Charles Turnitsa

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

The current Coalition Battle Management Language initiative (C-BML) will define a language to unambiguously exchange command and control information between systems. This paper introduces a categorization that may be used to guide the process of developing C-BML effectively by enumerating the conceptual requirements the authors have identified in model-based data engineering and process engineering based studies in various domains.

First, it is important to distinguish if application of the language will support the planning, execution, or observation phase of command and control. While C-BML already distinguishes between tasking and reporting, planning is a category with different requirements.

Second, the language …

Harmonizing Bml Approaches: Grammars And Data Models For A Bml Standard, Dietmar Kunde, Thomas Orichel, Andreas Tolk, Ulrich Schade, Michael R. Hieb

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Battle Management Language (BML) is being developed as an open standard that unambiguously formalizes and specifies Command and Control information, including orders and reports built upon precise representations of tasks. BML is a language specification, based on doctrine and consistent with Coalition standards. The goal of BML is to enable and improve the interoperability in the C2 area, especially by enabling also the military communication with simulation systems and future robotic forces.

Although the need for BML is well documented, a SISO standard has still not been achieved. At present, there are two recommended approaches focusing on different aspects. In …

An Extended Interoperability Framework For Joint Composability, Andreas Tolk, Charles D. Turnitsa

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Interoperation of systems is defined by the aspects of integratability, interoperability, and composability. It is therefore needed, to address all levels of interoperation - from conceptual models via implemented systems to the supported infrastructure - accordingly in an interoperation framework.

Several candidates are available and provide valuable part solution. This paper evaluates the Base Object Models (BOMs), Discrete Event Simulation Specifications (DEVS), Unified Language Model (UML) artifacts as used within the Test and Training Enabling Architecture (TENA), the Object-Process Methodology (OPM), and Conceptual Graphs (CG) regarding their contribution.

Using the Levels of Conceptual Interoperability Model (LCIM), an extended interoperability framework …

Exploring Primitives Of Meaning In Support Of Interoperability, Charles D. Turnitsa, Andreas Tolk, Robert Kewley

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Semantic mismatch between systems is due, in part, to the grouping together of terms who have defined meaning in different levels of granularity, and which are composed together into different groupings by distinct systems. It has been proposed that making use of elemental concepts (referred to here as primitives of meaning) can assist in interoperability, but seeking to define all terms at a level of granularity equal to or greater than that of all involved systems.

By decomposing a system’s groups of composed terms into primitives of meaning, the building blocks that can be reassembled into the compositions required by …

Applying Model-Based Data Engineering To Evaluate The Alignment Of Information Modeled Within Jc3iedm, Msdl, And Matrex-Fom, Anil Ustun, Andreas Tolk, Saikou Diallo

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

The need for a common representation of entities and their relations to support the easier composition and federation of independently developed solutions in support of the user has been identified and addressed in several papers presented during recent simulation interoperability workshop. One of the underlying assumptions is that standards derived from the same conceptual domain can easily be converted into each others, as they deal with the same concepts. In a project conducted for the U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, three of such solutions for military operations (with focus on the land forces) were utilized to capture the …

Utilizing Strategic Project Management Processes And The Nato Code Of Best Practice To Improve Management Of Experimentation Events, Andreas Tolk, Rafael E. Landaeta, Robert H. Kewley, Thomas T. Litwin

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Systems engineering and project management are two core engineering management processes supported by core quantitative disciplines within engineering management problems. Traditional approaches to systems engineering focus on a single system being engineered and managed (i.e., project managed), while challenges addressing composition of systems of systems and the reuse of systems for new solutions require a strategic management approach that promote a process flow in which the outputs of one project (e.g., deliverables, knowledge, work documents) are captured for the benefit of other projects within and outside the project-based organization. Two other core processes of engineering management are therefore critical to …

Community-Of-Interest (Coi) Model-Based Languages Enabling Composable Net-Centric Services, Andreas Tolk, Saikou Y. Diallo

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Net-centric services shall be designed to collaborate with other services used within the supported Community of Interest (COI). This requires that such services not only be integratable on the technical level and interoperable on the implementation level, but also that they are composable in the sense that they are semantically and pragmatically consistent and able to exchange information in a consistent and unambiguous way.

In order to support Command-and-Control with Composable Net-centric Services, the human-machine interoperation must be supported as well as the machine-machine interoperation. This paper shows that techniques of computer linguistic can support the human-machine interface by structuring …

Dynamic Routing Structure For An Rti Taking An Evolutionary Approach Towards Optimization, Matthew Ryan Davis

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The Runtime Infrastructure (RTI) is the common communication framework that High Level Architecture (HLA) simulations incorporate to exchange data. By abstracting the network communication layer from simulation, a common protocol for information exchange is achieved, allowing any RTI- based simulation to exchange data with any other. Such commonality can bring a limitation upon the network infrastructure, enforcing all federates to agree on the same communication policy. While this static network structure is not always the case, an optimal choice would be to adhere to the dynamic properties of a network. Static network configurations deny federates the ability to dynamically avoid …

What Should Be In A Human Behavior Representation Federation Object Model For High Level Architecture, Gurkan Haznedaroglu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Modeling and Simulation (M&S) can assist in evaluating scenarios and enhancing the performance of operational systems. Fully integrated use of MBS can enable the evaluation of the effectiveness of proposed equipment or software in realistic simulated environments and can provide an assessment of the impacts of specific equipment or capabilities on battle outcomes. Every level, from strategic planners, technology experts, operations research analysts, weapons systems designers and users, testers, maintainers, and cost analysts, has to be interactively involved to maximize the benefits of this approach. Human behavior is a very important part of the M&S process. Especially in constructive simulations, …

Filling The Ontology Space For Coalition Battle Management Language, Charles Turnitsa, Curtis Blais, Andreas Tolk

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

The Coalition Battle Management Language is a language for representing and exchanging plans, orders, and reports across live, constructive and robotic forces in multi-service, multi-national and multi-organizational operations. Standardization efforts in the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization seek to define this language through three parallel activities: (1) specify a sufficient data model to unambiguously define a set of orders using the Joint Command, Control, and Consultation Information Exchange Data Model (JC3IEDM) as a starting point; (2) develop a formal grammar (lexicon and production rules) to formalize the definition of orders, requests, and reports; (3) develop a formal battle management ontology to …

A Multilane Pipelined Architecture For Real Time Enhancement Of Color Video Streams, Adam Redd Livingston

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Video stream enhancement is a key fixture in a wide variety of applications from video surveillance, automatic navigation, medical imagery, to facial/object recognition systems. When a video stream contains non-uniform lighting it can be difficult to obtain what is in the darker regions without over enhancing brighter regions. The Adaptive and Integrated Neighborhood Dependant Approach for Nonlinear Enhancement (AINDANE) algorithm combines a tunable nonlinear transfer function, convolution by a multi-scale Gaussian kernel, and tunable contrast enhancement to address this problem for a single image. Luminance values are tuned based on the global cumulative distribution function (CDF) of an image. Contrast …

A Tabu Search Algorithm To Minimize The Makespan For The Unrelated Parallel Machines Scheduling Problem With Setup Times, Magdy Helal, Ghaith Rabadi, Ameer Al-Salem

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper we propose a tabu search implementation to solve the unrelated parallel machines scheduling problem with sequence- and machine- dependent setup times to minimize the schedules makespan. The problem is NP-hard and finding an optimal solution efficiently is unlikely. Therefore, heuristic techniques are more appropriate to find near-optimal solutions. The proposed tabu search algorithm uses two phases of perturbation schemes: the intra-machine perturbation, which optimizes the sequence of jobs on the machines, and the inter-machine perturbation, which balances the assignment of the jobs to the machines. We compare the proposed algorithm to an existing one that addressed the …

Coalition Battle Management Language (C-Bml) Study Group Final Report, Major Kevin Galvin, Mike Hieb, Andreas Tolk, Charles Turnitsa, Curtis Blais, James Montgomery

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Interoperability across Modeling and Simulation (M&S) and Command and Control (C2) systems continues to be a significant problem for today's warfighters. M&S is well-established in military training, but it can be a valuable asset for planning and mission rehearsal if M&S and C2 systems were able to exchange information, plans, and orders more effectively. To better support the warfighter with M&S based capabilities, an open standards-based framework is needed that establishes operational and technical coherence between C2 and M&S systems.

Programmable Process Flow Networks, Filip D. Cuckov

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A model that introduces programmability to processes occurring in a cargo terminal simulation through the use of a process language is presented in this thesis. The model provides a means for a straight-forward definition, and redefinition of changing processes, their incorporation in the simulation architecture and efficient execution. The model was built to investigate a solution for transforming the cargo terminal simulation CPortS into a process-oriented simulation without hard-coded processes. The approach taken separates the system into an architecture and a set of processes which utilize and interact with the architecture's resources and infrastructure. The processes that take place within …

Creating Software [Sic] Environments On An M-Node Beowulf Cluster To Execute Discrete-Event Simulations, Jermaine Fitz-Gerald Headley

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This thesis describes the development of a software tool that facilitates the creation of software environments that make a simulation tool execute k replications of an application program on several nodes of an M-node Beowulf cluster. It is assumed that each cluster-node consists of p processors. The p processors that are contained in the master cluster-node are termed master processors, and the p processors that are contained in a slave cluster-node are termed slave processors. The slave processors are used to execute the replications, while the master processors are dedicated to schedule the replications and process other housekeeping chores. For …

C2iedm For The Gig: A Tutorial, Andreas Tolk, Charles Turnitsa, Curtis Blais

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Development Of A System Of Systems Engineering Method, Ji Hyon Mun, Morgan Henrie, Yaneth Correa, Charles Keating, Andres Sousa-Poza

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Systems engineers have been facing challenges with the design and analysis of multiple complex systems. System of Systems Engineering has emerged to assist in this challenge with the systemic analysis, design, and transformation of complex metasystems. This paper outlines a proposed method to overcome these challenges, which is grounded in System of Systems Engineering principles and methodology. An overview of System of Systems Engineering will be provided for understanding of its significance and the attempt to complement Systems Engineering efforts in dealing with the aforementioned challenges. Finally, discussion on the proposed method, with respect to complex system analysis, is provided.

Hierarchical Hybrid Multicast An End System Multicast Algorithm Approach, Guillermo Loaisiga

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Due to the rapid development in the computer and communication technologies, the Internet is experiencing an increasing demand of high-speed, real-time distributed applications, such as live streaming multimedia, videoconferencing, distributed simulations, and multiparty games. Multicast is an efficient transmission mechanism to support these applications. Historically, IP Multicast (IPM) has provided multicast support with well-known benefits, especially in bandwidth savings. However, it has experienced little deployment due to economic and architectural limitations.

Overlay multicast holds promise for the implementation of large scale Internet multicast services. An overlay network is a virtual topology constructed on top of the Internet infrastructure. This concept …

Vector Operations In Superscalar Architectures, Nathan Daniel Flinn

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Vector calculations are very prevalent today. Though the vector-processing computer is quite an old concept, superscalar processors lack hardware support for vector operations. This thesis investigates whether an ordinary superscalar computer architecture can be designed to include hardware support for improved vector operations without drastically changing the existing superscalar design and behavior. A computer architecture design was created and implemented that included the vector multiply (dot product) operation. The design includes a Vector Operations Unit that captures incoming vector operations and generates the necessary set of machine instructions to complete the vector operation internally. It then delivers these instructions to …

A Pipelined Architecture For Real Time Correction Of Barrel Distortion In Wide-Angle Camera Images, Hau Trung Ngo

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Images captured by wide-angle cameras show barrel type spatial distortion due to wide-angle configuration of the camera lens where image regions farther from the center are compressed in a nonlinear fashion. The barrel distortion correction technique based on least squares estimation attempts to correct a distorted image by expanding it nonlinearly so that straight lines in the object space remain straight in the image space. The intensity value of a pixel in the expanded image is calculated by back mapping its position to the corresponding position in the distorted image and performing linear interpolation on the neighboring pixels. Distorted images …

Creating Enterprise Simulations Using High Level Architecture, Anton R. Lidums

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Despite an established need, there are two remaining roadblocks to building distributed simulations and enterprise simulation systems. First, commercial simulation packages and engineering modeling tools are not readily distributable across multiple computers and have traditionally had very little impetus for utilizing a distributable format. Second, although HLA simulations have been built and there are tools to facilitate those efforts, very little has been done or written that specifically describes a "non-standard" integration implementation in sufficient detail to make the process reusable or repeatable. This thesis introduces a proof of concept prototype that was developed to integrate simulations. The paper presents …

Common Data Administration, Data Management, And Data Alignment As A Necessary Requirement For Coupling C4isr Systems And M&S Systems, Andreas Tolk

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

Within the application domain of military simulation systems, training and exercises as well as support to real operations require the coupling of the simulation system delivering the needed functionality with the Command, Control, Computing, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) system providing the necessary data. The solution to this challenge is to build appropriate interfaces. Although in long term a more integrated approach will be necessary, in short and mid term, gateways and interfaces are likely to remain the standard. However, in order to succeed with the respective efforts, at least on the data level of interoperability, a common solution …

Jsb Composability And Web Services Interoperability Via Extensible Modeling & Simulation Framework (Xmsf), Model Driven Architecture (Mda), Component Repositories, And Web-Based Visualization, Don Brutzman, Andreas Tolk

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Faculty Publications

"Study Report prepared for the U. S. Air Force, Joint Synthetic Battlespace Analysis of Technical Approaches (ATA) Studies & Prototyping"

Overview: This paper summarizes research work conducted by organizations concerned with interoperable distributed information technology (IT) applications, in particular the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and Old Dominion University (ODU). Although the application focus is distributed modeling & simulation (M&S) the results and findings are in general easily applicable to other distributed concepts as well, in particular the support of operations by M&S applications, such as distributed mission operations. The core idea of this work is to show the necessity of …

A Multilevel Neural Network Architecture For Digital Implementation Of A Face Recognition System Based On Eigenface Approach, Linda Rajan

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The design and development of the digital implementation of a multilevel feed forward neural network architecture for face recognition based on statistical features representing Eigenfaces is presented in this thesis. The architecture is divided into three parts: feature extractor, classifier and identifier, The Eigenface extractor architecture is developed based on an efficient design strategy in which all the M weight values corresponding to the Eigenfaces are generated simultaneously from M images representing the Eigen vectors and the test input image. The multilayer neural network classifier is trained using error backpropagation algorithm. A novel multilevel digital architecture is developed for the …