Other Computer Engineering Commons^™

Bootstrapping Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, Mitchell Miller

Master's Theses

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) are a prominent genre in today's video game industry with the most popular MMORPGs generating billions of dollars in revenue and attracting millions of players. As they have grown, they have become a major target for both technological research and sociological research. In such research, it is nearly impossible to reach the same player scale from any self-made technology or sociological experiments. This greatly limits the amount of control and topics that can be explored. In an effort to make up a lacking or non-existent player-base for custom-made MMORPG research scenarios A.I. agents, …

Annual Report 2019-2020, Depaul University College Of Computing And Digital Media

CDM Annual Reports

LETTER FROM THE DEAN

As I write this letter wrapping up the 2019-20 academic year, we remain in a global pandemic that has profoundly altered our lives. While many things have changed, some stayed the same: our CDM community worked hard, showed up for one another, and continued to advance their respective fields. A year that began like many others changed swiftly on March 11th when the University announced that spring classes would run remotely. By March 28th, the first day of spring quarter, we had moved 500 CDM courses online thanks to the diligent work of our faculty, staff, …

Effective Fuzzing Framework For The Sleuthkit Tools, Shravya Paruchuri

LSU Master's Theses

The fields of digital forensics and incident response have seen significant growth over the last decade due to the increasing threats faced by organizations and the continued reliance on digital platforms and devices by criminals. In the past, digital investigations were performed manually by expert investigators, but this approach has become no longer viable given the amount of data that must be processed compared to the relatively small number of trained investigators. These resource constraints have led to the development and reliance on automated processing and analysis systems for digital evidence. In this paper, we present our effort to develop …

Document Layout Analysis And Recognition Systems, Sai Kosaraju

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

Automatic extraction of relevant knowledge to domain-specific questions from Optical Character Recognition (OCR) documents is critical for developing intelligent systems, such as document search engines, sentiment analysis, and information retrieval, since hands-on knowledge extraction by a domain expert with a large volume of documents is intensive, unscalable, and time-consuming. There have been a number of studies that have automatically extracted relevant knowledge from OCR documents, such as ABBY and Sandford Natural Language Processing (NLP). Despite the progress, there are still limitations yet-to-be solved. For instance, NLP often fails to analyze a large document. In this thesis, we propose a knowledge …

On The Potential, Feasibility, And Effectiveness Of Chat Bots In Public Health Research Going Forward, Stanley Mierzwa, Samir Souidi, Tammy Allen

Center for Cybersecurity

This paper will discuss whether bots, particularly chat bots, can be useful in public health research and health or pharmacy systems operations. Bots have been discussed for many years; particularly when coupled with artificial intelligence, they offer the opportunity of automating mundane or error-ridden processes and tasks by replacing human involvement. This paper will discuss areas where there are greater advances in the use of bots, as well as areas that may benefit from the use of bots, and will offer practical ways to get started with bot technology. Several popular bot applications and bot development tools along with practical …

Formally Designing And Implementing Cyber Security Mechanisms In Industrial Control Networks., Mehdi Sabraoui

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes progress in the state-of-the-art for developing and deploying formally verified cyber security devices in industrial control networks. It begins by detailing the unique struggles that are faced in industrial control networks and why concepts and technologies developed for securing traditional networks might not be appropriate. It uses these unique struggles and examples of contemporary cyber-attacks targeting control systems to argue that progress in securing control systems is best met with formal verification of systems, their specifications, and their security properties. This dissertation then presents a development process and identifies two technologies, TLA+ and seL4, that can be …

Secure And Efficient Bft Consensus For Blockchains, Mohammad Mussadiq Jalalzai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Blockchains are simple data structures, containing transactions organized into blocks, in which each block points to a previous block using its hash. Thus, by following the chain, we can follow the history of transactions. Blocks are added to the chain through a consensus mechanism. Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus protocols that were designed before blockchains were introduced are usually considered appropriate for use in small scale networks of size 10-20 replicas. Blockchains have changed this trend as the blockchain networks usually require a larger number of replicas and classic BFT protocols cannot provide acceptable performance in large networks. One of …

Quorum Blockchain Stress Evaluation In Different Environments, Daniel P. Mera

Student Theses

In today’s world, the Blockchain technology is used for different purposes has brought an increment in the development of different Blockchain platforms, services, and utilities for storing data securely and efficiently. Quorum Blockchain, an Ethereum fork created by JPMorgan Chase, has placed itself in one of the widely used, efficient and trustful Blockchain platforms available today. Because of the importance which Quorum is contributing to the world, it is important to test and measure different aspects of the platform, not only to prove how efficient the software can be but as well as to have a clear view on what …

A Review On Mixed Criticality Methods, Alex Jenkel

Recent Advances in Real-Time Systems

Within the study of mixed criticality scheduling, there are many different aspects that must be considered—resources, processor speeds, number of processors, etc.—that make scheduling theories difficult to produce. Two papers address specific aspects of mixed criticality scheduling, and this paper compares the two different methods and also builds upon them.

A Shared-Memory Algorithm For Updating Single-Source Shortest Paths In Large Weighted Dynamic Networks, Sriram Srinivasan

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

In the last decade growth of social media, increased the interest of network algorithms for analyzing large-scale complex systems. The networks are highly unstructured and exhibit poor locality, which has been a challenge for developing scalable parallel algorithms. The state-of-the-art network algorithms such as Prim's algorithm for Minimum Spanning Tree, Dijkstra's algorithm for Single Source Shortest Path and ISPAN algorithm for detecting strongly connected components are designed and optimized for static networks. The networks which change with time i.e. the dynamic networks such as social networks, the above-mentioned approaches can only be utilized if they are recomputed from scratch each …

My Baseball Collection App, Nicolas A. Parra

Computer Science and Software Engineering

My Baseball Collection is an iOS application that aims to simplify the management and expansion of physical baseball trading card collections. The app allows users to digitize their baseball card collection by uploading images of cards they possess, creating a wishlist of cards they are seeking, and viewing the collections and wishlists of other users. This project seeks to provide quality of life improvements to those within the baseball card trading community and to further facilitate communication and trading in an online world.

Machine Learning And Neural Networks For Real-Time Scheduling, Daniel Hureira, Christian Vartanian

Recent Advances in Real-Time Systems

This paper aims to serve as an efficient survey of the processes, problems, and methodologies surrounding the use of Neural Networks, specifically Hopfield-Type, in order to solve Hard-Real-Time Scheduling problems. Our primary goal is to demystify the field of Neural Networks research and properly describe the methods in which Real-Time scheduling problems may be approached when using neural networks. Furthermore, to give an introduction of sorts on this niche topic in a niche field. This survey is derived from four main papers, namely: “A Neurodynamic Approach for Real-Time Scheduling via Maximizing Piecewise Linear Utility” and “Scheduling Multiprocessor Job with Resource …

On Learning And Visualizing Lexicographic Preference Trees, Ahmed S. Moussa

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Preferences are very important in research fields such as decision making, recommendersystemsandmarketing. The focus of this thesis is on preferences over combinatorial domains, which are domains of objects configured with categorical attributes. For example, the domain of cars includes car objects that are constructed withvaluesforattributes, such as ‘make’, ‘year’, ‘model’, ‘color’, ‘body type’ and ‘transmission’.Different values can instantiate an attribute. For instance, values for attribute ‘make’canbeHonda, Toyota, Tesla or BMW, and attribute ‘transmission’ can haveautomaticormanual. To this end,thisthesis studiesproblemsonpreference visualization and learning for lexicographic preference trees, graphical preference models that often are compact over complex domains of objects built of …

Organize Events Mobile Application, Thakshak Mani Chandra Reddy Gudimetla

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

In a big organization there are many events organized every day. To know about the events, we typically need to check an events page, rely on flyers or on distributed pamphlets or through word of mouth. To register for an event a user now a days typically does this online which involves inputting user details. At the event, the user either signs a sheet of paper or enters credentials in a web page loaded on a tablet or other electronic device. Typically, this is a time-consuming process with many redundancies like entering user details every time the user wants to …

Criticality Assessments For Improving Algorithmic Robustness, Thomas B. Jones

Computer Science ETDs

Though computational models typically assume all program steps execute flawlessly, that does not imply all steps are equally important if a failure should occur. In the "Constrained Reliability Allocation" problem, sufficient resources are guaranteed for operations that prompt eventual program termination on failure, but those operations that only cause output errors are given a limited budget of some vital resource, insufficient to ensure correct operation for each of them.

In this dissertation, I present a novel representation of failures based on a combination of their timing and location combined with criticality assessments---a method used to predict the behavior of systems …

Developing High Performance Grid Computing Systems On A Budget, Forrest Mobley

Undergraduate Research Symposium - Prescott

High performance grid computing systems are essential for today’s engineering and research projects, as they make certain impossibilities possible, and save time and money as well. However, these supercomputers can cost upwards of a hundred million dollars and require large amounts of space and energy to keep, making them all but inaccessible to small engineering firms and universities. As most of these institutions do not require the massive level of computing power offered by these large grid computers, small scale versions are often built, with various setups. The purpose of this project was to set up a new small scale …

Minutes & Seconds: The Scientists, Patrick Aievoli

Zea E-Books Collection

Minutes & Seconds, is a captivating intelligible read for those who strive to understand where the “what if” moment has gone. Succeeding his other captivating books, Aievoli’s deep introspective lens dials his readers in to awaken the proverbial sleeping giant inside of our consciousness. He designs an insightful exciting romp through the surreal landscape of our society and illustrates how various pioneers have lead us to a crossroads. I’m truly impressed with Aievoli’s perspicacious comprehension of where digital has taken us through the hands of these select individuals. --Sequoyah Wharton

In creating Minutes & Seconds, Aievoli has assembled an interesting …

Investigating On Through Glass Via Based Rf Passives For 3-D Integration, Libo Qian, Jifei Sang, Yinshui Xia, Jian Wang, Peiyi Zhao

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Due to low dielectric loss and low cost, glass is developed as a promising material for advanced interposers in 2.5-D and 3-D integration. In this paper, through glass vias (TGVs) are used to implement inductors for minimal footprint and large quality factor. Based on the proposed physical structure, the impact of various process and design parameters on the electrical characteristics of TGV inductors is investigated with 3-D electromagnetic simulator HFSS. It is observed that TGV inductors have identical inductance and larger quality factor in comparison with their through silicon via counterparts. Using TGV inductors and parallel plate capacitors, a compact …

Delegation Application, Erik Matthew Phillips

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Delegation is a cross-platform application to provide smart task distribution to users. In a team environment, the assignment of tasks can be tedious and difficult for management or for users needing to discover a starting place for where to begin with accomplishing tasks. Within a specific team, members possess individual skills within different areas of the team’s responsibilities and specialties, and certain members will be better suited to tackle specific tasks. This project provides a solution, consisting of a smart cross-platform application that allows for teams and individuals to quickly coordinate and delegate tasks assigned to them.

Career Path Web Application, Annamarie Roger

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This web application provides a new approach to organizing career advice. It allows a prospective student to outline career priorities and receive suggestions drawing from a repository of reports from professionals in their respective fields. This gives the student access to advice from individuals who do not know the user personally and aims to remove the possible bias that may exist on that level. Furthermore, the system is periodically updated to include recent reports.

Improving System-On-Chip Test Networks For: Bandwidth, Security, And Power, Saurabh Gupta

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

Modern System-on-Chips (SoCs) provide benefits such as reduction in overall system cost, and size, increased performance, and lower power consumption. Increasing complexity of these Integrated Circuits (ICs) has resulted in a higher probability of manufacturing defects. Manufacturing defects can result in the faulty operation of a system. Thus, it is essential to test an IC after it is manufactured to detect any possible faults in it. These SoCs include on-chip embedded instruments that can be used for test, debug, diagnosis, validation, monitoring, characterization, configuration, or functional purposes. IEEE 1687 Std. (IJTAG) provides a standard interface for the reconfigurable access and …

One-To-Cloud One-Time Pad Data Encryption: Introducing Virtual Prototyping With Pspice, Paul Tobin, Lee Tobin, Roberto Gandia Blanquer Dr, Michael Mckeever, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

In this paper, we examine the design and application of a one-time pad encryption system for protecting data stored in the Cloud. Personalising security using a one-time pad generator at the client-end protects data from break-ins, side-channel attacks and backdoors in public encryption algorithms. The one-time pad binary sequences were obtained from modified analogue chaos oscillators initiated by noise and encoded client data locally. Specific ``one-to-Cloud'' storage applications returned control back to the end user but without the key distribution problem normally associated with one-time pad encryption. Development of the prototype was aided by ``Virtual Prototyping'' in the latest version …

Design And Implementation Of An Archetype Based Interoperable Knowledge Eco-System For Data Buoys, Paul Stacey, Damon Berry

Conference papers

This paper describes the ongoing work of the authors in translating two-level system design techniques used in Health Informatics to the Earth Systems Science domain. Health informaticians have developed a sophisticated two-level systems design approach for electronic health documentation over many years, and with the use of archetypes, have shown how knowledge interoperability among heterogeneous systems can be achieved. Translating two-level modelling techniques to a new domain is a complex task. A proof-of-concept archetype enabled data buoy eco-system is presented. The concept of operational templates-as-a service is proposed. Design recommendations and implementation experiences of re-working the proposed architecture to run …

Generating A Normalized Database Using Class Normalization, Daniel Sushil Sudhindaran

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Relational databases are the most popular databases used by enterprise applications to store persistent data to this day. It gives a lot of flexibility and efficiency. A process called database normalization helps make sure that the database is free from redundancies and update anomalies. In a Database-First approach to software development, the database is designed first, and then an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tool is used to generate the programming classes (data layer) to interact with the database. Finally, the business logic code is written to interact with the data layer to persist the business data to the database. However, in …

Teaching The Internet Of Things: Bridging A Path From Cpe329, Steven Han, Rafael Lopez

Computer Engineering

“The ability to connect, communicate with, and remotely manage an incalculable number of networked, automated devices via the Internet is becoming pervasive, from the commercial kitchen to the residential basement room to the arm of the fitness buff.” - WSO2

In this report, we will investigate procedures and technologies used in IoT. A variety of cloud platforms will be described to demonstrate its strengths and usage on IoT applications. Furthermore, demonstrate the most popular hardware being used in several of these applications. This report is aimed to give a good understanding on what it takes to put together an IoT …

Coyotelab - Linux Containers For Educational Use, Michael D. Korcha

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

CoyoteLab is an exploration in the use of Linux container technology as a means to simplify the way students in computing fields access and complete laboratory work in their educational career. This project provides two main benefits: creating a simple way for students to log in and access their coursework without anything more than their web browser, and providing course instructors a way to verify that assigned work is completed successfully. Thanks to advances in container technology and the advent of WebSockets, this becomes a middle layer between a WebSocket opened up on the client’s browser and the SSH daemon …

Micronaut: A 2d Action Side Scrolling Platformer For The Apple Tv, Christopher Michael Williams

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Micronaut is a 2D side scrolling platformer video game application developed for the Apple TV with the tvOS SDK version 9.1. It explores human­computer interaction of platformer video games on the Apple TV and aims to give the player the most control to maximize enjoyment. Micronaut features five engaging levels with each level designed to focus on teaching the player the mechanics one at a time. Micronaut has been submitted and is undergoing submission for the Apple TV App Store at the time of this paper. Christopher Williams managed the software development and design, and Jacob Johannesen created the graphical …

Wearable Ekg, Cale Hopkins, Tanner Papenfuss, Travis E. Michael

Computer Engineering

No abstract provided.

Senior Project: Control System For An Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle, Tyler Mau, Joseph Mahoney

Computer Engineering

No abstract provided.

Improving The Security Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Mauricio Tellez Nava

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

With the rapid technological advancements of sensors, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have become the main technology for the Internet of Things (IoT). We investigated the security of WSNs in an environmental monitoring system with the goal to improve the overall security. We implemented a Secure Temperature Monitoring System (STMS), which served as our investigational environment. Our results revealed a security flaw found in the bootstrap loader (BSL) password used to protect firmware in the MSP430 MCU chips. We demonstrated how the BSL password could be brute forced in a matter of days. Furthermore, we illustrate how an attacker can reverse …