Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Arid: Agglomerative Regionalization Via Information Divergence, A Novel Clustering Algorithm For Geo-Spatial Data, Joshua David Sills

Dissertations and Theses

Regionalization is a clustering problem that seeks to partition geospatial data into geographically contiguous regions while remaining internally homogeneous in their attributes. It has been successfully applied towards the development of urban planning, natural resource discovery, and ecological analysis. Existing popular approaches optimize homogeneity using Euclidean or variance-based criteria, which ignore distributional differences such as variance shifts, multimodality, and higher-order dependence. This thesis introduces ARID (Agglomerative Regionalization via Information Divergence), a spatially constrained agglomerative clustering framework that replaces distance-based merging with an information-theoretic, Ward-like criterion that utilizes the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence. ARID constructs a neighborhood graph from coordinate space and …

Developing Workflows For Passive Acoustic Detection Of Bedload Transport, Quinn Morgan

Dissertations and Theses

Bedload transport is defined as the amount of sediment, including gravel and rocks, traveling down stream. Monitoring bedload transport is important for river safety, hydrological studies and conservation efforts. Existing methods of directly measuring bedload transport (or bedload flux) involve lowering a collection device into a river and measuring the sediment collected; which can be expensive and time consuming. Hydroacoustic sensors, such as hydrophones, have had success tracking bedload flux remotely. This works by measuring the relatively high frequency of sediment impacts to map onto total bedload transported. No perfected method for detection of sediment generated noise (SGN) currently exists. …

Design And Evaluation Of An Electromagnetic Band Gap Structure For Self-Interference Reduction In Mmwave Full-Duplex Systems, Adewale Kehinde Oladeinde

Dissertations and Theses

Full-duplex (FD) wireless is a new technology that allows a device to transmit and receive at the same time and on the same frequency band. It has the potential to double the capacity and spectral efficiency of a wireless link compared to the family of conventional half-duplex wireless systems. The key challenge in implementing FD wireless communication is self-interference (SI): a node's transmitting signal generates significant interference to its receiver. Several previous studies have demonstrated the potential to reduce SI and develop FD radios; however, these studies are mostly limited to sub-6 GHz systems. Previous and on-going research explored various …

Price-Signal-Based Control Strategy For Heat Pump Water Heaters In Demand Response Applications, Othman A. Murad

Dissertations and Theses

This work presents a price-signal-based control strategy for residential Heat Pump Water Heaters (HPWHs) aimed at reducing electricity costs and shifting load away from high-price periods. By integrating the California Load Flexibility Research and Development Hub (CalFlexHub) prototype price signals, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA-2045-B) communication protocol, and the Object-oriented, Controllable, High-resolution Residential Energy (OCHRE) simulation framework, a rule-based controller was developed to align HPWH operation with dynamic electricity pricing while maintaining hot water availability.

The control strategy was evaluated through two case studies: one using a fixed water draw profile under varying levels of price signal foresight, and another …

Influencing Factors Of Angle-Of-Arrival Estimator Based On Deep Learning, Guohao Pang

Dissertations and Theses

Deep learning (DL)-based angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation offers significant advantages over traditional signal processing methods, especially in complex and high-noise environments. However, situational complexity and differences in hardware can significantly impact the estimator's performance. It is therefore of interest to investigate the relationship between the performance of deep learning models and the variation of physical parameters such as the number of signal sources, the number of receiving antennas, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this study, we investigate the impact of these variations on deep learning-based AoA estimation by systematically analyzing how the variations in the characteristics of the received signal …

Detecting And Analyzing Frequency Events In Power Systems Using Tunable Parameters-Based Algorithms: Development, Optimization, And Analysis, Hussain A. Alghamdi

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation addresses the challenge of detecting frequency events in diverse power systems by enhancing existing frequency event detection methods through detection process modifications and developing unique tunable parameters. Since system characteristics differ across regions, frequency event detection algorithms must be customized by domain experts for each balancing area using tunable parameters. By optimizing these parameters for specific power system, the algorithms can accurately detect frequency events and can also be used for further analysis to determine trends in frequency events over time, ensuring system stability.

This dissertation focuses on the enhancement and optimization of frequency event detection algorithms. These …

Advancing Electrical Stimulation: Full-Head Mri Segmentation For Abnormal Brain Anatomy With Tdcs, Andrew Birnbaum

Dissertations and Theses

Evaluating the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is essential for guiding its integration into therapeutic and performance-enhancement applications. In our laboratory, we investigate the efficacy of tDCS across multiple experimental models, including both animal and human studies. I have contributed significantly to the execution and analysis of these experiments, which include studies in rats and healthy human participants aimed at evaluating whether electrical stimulation of the motor cortex can enhance motor learning. These studies assess improvements in fine motor performance resulting from tDCS. In stroke patients, I contribute to our investigation of tDCS as a rehabilitative intervention, particularly …

From Tpu To Qpu: Bridging Fidelity Gaps Across Next-Generation Computing Systems, Mohammad Walid M. Charrwi

Dissertations and Theses

Modern computing systems continue to advance rapidly, enabling unprecedented computational capabilities across diverse domains. Among these powerful architectures are AI accelerators such as Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and quantum computing systems utilizing Quantum Processing Units (QPUs) stand out as trans-formative technologies. Despite their potential, these systems share significant challenges related to hardware infidelity, manifested as error-induced degradation in computational accuracy and reliability. This thesis explicitly addresses cost-effective methods to screen-out defective AI accelerators across next-generation computing architectures and boost quantum circuit output fidelity through hierarchical circuit optimization using advanced machine learning methodologies.

This thesis first proposes a cost-effective testing methodology …

Metasurfaces And Their Applications In Photonic Devices, Shuwei Guo

Dissertations and Theses

Metasurfaces are flat artificial optical elements composed of dielectric and/or metallic nanostructures. They can manipulate light in unprecedented ways by altering amplitude, phase, and polarization at subwavelength scales. The ability of these two-dimensional elements to perform multiple optical functions within compact optical systems—while offering high functionality, small form factors, and easy integration into optoelectronic devices—has sparked significant interest across various fields and industries. These applications span imaging, sensing, nonlinear and quantum optics, optical computing, automotive technology, augmented and virtual reality, and more.

In this dissertation, we explore and design new multifunctional metasurfaces with a focus on manipulating spectral responses. First, …

Renewable Energy Integration In Nyc Subway: Solar Panels (Under Railroads And At The Subway's Edge) & Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (Vawts) Near Tracks, Pengdwinde Olivier Saba

Dissertations and Theses

As urban populations continue to expand, the demands on public transit systems in densely populated regions like New York City are escalating. Multiple cities face the dual challenge of increasing ridership and the imperative to minimize their environmental footprints.According to Law 97 in NYC, the goal is to reduce emissions by 40% and to reach net zero by 2050. An innovative solution will need to be integrated into the NYC environment, such as the subway system, where there are a potential unuse space, building rooftop, since we know that spaces in New York City are very critical, such as these …

Applying Positive Unlabeled Learning Techniques And Using The Kullback-Leibler Divergence To Improve Geothermal Surveying Assessments, Martín Thomas Rodriguez

Dissertations and Theses

As we face the current climate crisis, the discovery of geothermal energy resources has the potential to greatly reduce our dependence on fossil fuels worldwide. However, the development of any new energy infrastructure is expensive and depends on the willingness of energy agencies and developers to make initial investments based on calculated risk measures. One such measure, called geothermal favorability, is the likelihood that a site has conditions favorable for geothermal systems containing recoverable energy potential. Its prediction from existing geophysical datasets proves to be a nontrivial task. The prediction of geothermal favorability can be framed as a binary classification …

Propagation Modeling Of Terahertz Reflections And Reflector Design For Mimo Channel, Thanh Ngoc Dan Le

Dissertations and Theses

Wireless communication has transformed connectivity, enabling seamless access across devices without physical constraints. Terahertz (THz) frequencies, ranging from 100 GHz to 10 THz, promise high-bandwidth channels crucial for applications like IoT and virtual reality. However, deploying THz communication faces challenges due to significant propagation limitations such as high attenuation and environmental absorption. The motivation behind this research is to develop a comprehensive understanding of THz propagation dynamics and utilize reflective surfaces to create multipath environments for an improvement in the capacity performance of MIMO channels.

This research investigates the potential of Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) channels at THz frequencies to overcome …

Residential Ders In Service-Oriented Load Participation: Enhancing Grid Flexibility, Zhongkai Zeng

Dissertations and Theses

Amidst concerns about power consumption during peak periods and potential grid instability, the role of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) aggregation comes into consideration. Smart electric water heaters with remote capabilities and energy storage offer load reduction capabilities that can help maintain grid stability and manage residential energy consumption. DERs address challenges posed by stochastic renewable energy generation and fossil fuel power plant emissions, playing a contributing role in load shifting and enhancing grid flexibility by participating in energy management programs.

However, high unenrollment rates in demand response programs, notably programs that use direct load control, persist due to customer dissatisfaction. …

Quantum Search Algorithms For Constraint Satisfaction And Optimization Problems Using Grover's Search And Quantum Walk Algorithms With Advanced Oracle Design, Abdirahman Sheikh Hassan Alasow

Dissertations and Theses

The field of quantum computing has emerged as a powerful tool for solving and optimizing combinatorial optimization problems. To solve many real-world problems with many variables and possible solutions for constraint satisfaction and optimization problems, the required number of qubits of scalable hardware for quantum computing is the bottleneck in the current generation of quantum computers. In this dissertation, we will demonstrate advanced, scalable building blocks for the quantum search algorithms that have been implemented in Grover's search algorithm and the quantum walk algorithm. The scalable building blocks are used to reduce the required number of qubits in the design. …

Comparison Of Conventional And Adaptive Acoustic Beamforming Algorithms Using A Tetrahedral Microphone Array In Noisy Environments, Megan Brittany Ewers

Dissertations and Theses

In situ acoustic measurements are often plagued by interfering sound sources that occur within the measurement environment. Both adaptive and conventional beamforming algorithms, when applied to the outputs of a microphone array arranged in a tetrahedral geometry, are able to capture sound sources in desired directions and reject sound from unwanted directions. Adaptive algorithms may be able to measure a desired sound source with greater spatial precision, but require more calculations and, therefore, computational power. A conventional frequency-domain phase-shift algorithm and a modified adaptive frequency-domain Minimum Variance Distortionless Response (MVDR) algorithm were applied to simulated and recorded signals from a …

Understanding Quadrature Modulation By Designing A 7mhz Iq Test Bench To Encode The Polybius Square, William Lee Bradley

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis outlines the design of an IQ Test Bench that allows for experimentation of quadrature modulation techniques. Quadrature modulation utilizes two signals I and Q, 90° out of phase from each other, to greatly increase communication data rates. Using Desmos, a thorough mathematical analysis of waveform mixing is presented, and constellation diagrams are plotted from the results. From this an ancient fire signaling technique known as the Polybius Square is encoded into the system. The IQ Test Bench is built from fundamental components that would be contained within an RFFE: a local oscillator and two frequency mixers. The LO …

Re-Envisioning Electric Railway Power Systems In Dense Urban Regions, Rohama Ahmad

Dissertations and Theses

Grid decarbonization and modernization are key requisites to combat global warming. Decarbonization entails the deployment of renewable energy sources, improving the energy efficiency of major consumers, and the electrification of the transportation and building sectors. Various US states and cities have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (e.g., the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) in New York aims to reduce emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and then to 85% below 1990 levels by 2050) via a set of targets in terms of renewable energy, energy storage system (ESS) capacity, and the number of electric …

Hyperspectral And Polarimetric Imaging Of The Ocean For The Characterization Of The Surface Effects And Measurement Uncertainties, Mateusz Malinowski

Dissertations and Theses

Ocean and coastal waters are monitored by Ocean Color satellite sensors to determine concentrations of chlorophyll and water properties and identify areas of algal blooms and other events. The light radiance from the ocean is weak in comparison with the sky radiance, which requires very accurate atmospheric correction of the radiance measured at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) on the satellite and heavy validation of the derived water leaving radiance by field measurements from the ships and ocean platforms. For TOA and especially above water radiance the skylight reflected from the ocean surface represents one of the main sources …

Blockchain Based Framework For Secure And Decentralized Energy Trading - Transforming Local Energy Markets For Sustainable Communities, Saurabh Sachdeva

Dissertations and Theses

The emergence of prosumers provides an opportunity for the setup of a local energy market (LEM) where individual households with distributed energy resources (DERs) can produce, store, and trade energy. Peer-to-peer(P2P) and decentralized energy trading (ET) can be implemented between the participants within or across microgrids. Several solutions based on the existing technologies have been proposed worldwide for the integration of prosumers in the existing energy setup and to enable and support ET, but these solutions present the issues of centralization, data integrity, and confidentiality, user and anonymity, and transparency. The applications of blockchain technology have recently become fascinating for …

Ring Resonators Intergrating With Dichoric Materials And In Spin-Valley Controlled Photonic Topological System, Yuma Kawaguchi

Dissertations and Theses

Photonic technology plays an important role in the development of diverse applications, ranging from optical telecommunications to sensing and imaging. The utilization of photonic circuits emerges as a promising platform for the establishment of advanced communication systems characterized by high speed and large capacity. This advancement is crucial to facilitate fast and efficient data transfer while concurrently managing multiple devices. It is imperative that essential components such as lasers, modulators, and isolators exhibit compactness without incurring significant losses.

Non-reciprocal devices represent a valuable addition to photonic circuits, enabling the creation of unidirectional waveguides that function as optical isolators, preventing signals …

Design And Characterization Of 2.4ghz Antennas For Wireless Sensor Applications, Luis Zogby Brennan

Dissertations and Theses

Wireless sensor networks benefit greatly from advances in circuit integration and miniaturization. However, antennas are bound to specific geometries both in terms of fundamental limits and their response to immediate surroundings. As such, various successful techniques for antenna miniaturization must still be carefully tested and characterized as part of the design process of a sensor system. The work presented here fully characterizes a number of miniaturized 2.4GHz antennas and successfully integrates designs into a sensor system using the highly integrated Single Chip Micro Mote (SCµM), which uses a crystal-less radio design resulting in the requirement of only a …

Modeling Of Signals And Spectra: 5g And Beyond, Xianzhen Yang

Dissertations and Theses

The collection of papers addresses various aspects of spectra and signals in RF wireless systems for 5G and beyond. The first paper focuses on the nonlinear effects of amplified dual-band OFDM signals, providing a spectrum model for intermodulation and cross-modulation. The second paper extends this analysis beyond bandwidth restrictions, enabling accurate prediction of amplified dual-band spectrum. The third paper emphasizes the significance of out-of-band intermodulation products and derives an analytical expression using third-order intercept points. The fourth paper presents a unified spectrum expression for OFDM, FBMC, and F-OFDM, facilitating comparative insights into these signals. The fifth paper explores second-order intermodulation …

Systematic Characterization Of Power Side Channel Attacks For Residual And Added Vulnerabilities, Aurelien Tchoupou Mozipo

Dissertations and Theses

Power Side Channel Attacks have continued to be a major threat to cryptographic devices. Hence, it will be useful for designers of cryptographic systems to systematically identify which type of power Side Channel Attacks their designs remain vulnerable to after implementation. It’s also useful to determine which additional vulnerabilities they have exposed their devices to, after the implementation of a countermeasure or a feature. The goal of this research is to develop a characterization of power side channel attacks on different encryption algorithms' implementations to create metrics and methods to evaluate their residual vulnerabilities and added vulnerabilities. This research studies …

Bodyslam: Feasibility Of Tracking Human Kinematics With Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (Slam), Sepehr Laal

Dissertations and Theses

We evaluated a new wearable technology that fuses inertial sensors and cameras for tracking human kinematics. These devices use on-board simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) algorithms to localize the camera within the environment. Significance of this technology is in its potential to overcome many of the limitations of the other dominant technologies. Our results demonstrate this system often attains an estimated orientation error of less than 1° and a position error of less than 4cm as compared to a robotic arm. This demonstrates that SLAM's accuracy is adequate for many practical applications for tracking human kinematics.

Design And Analysis Of High Performance Magnetic Gears For Magnetomechanical Thrusters, Ho Yin Wong

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation is devoted to investigating the performance potential of coaxial radial flux modulating magnetic gears for use in propulsive thruster applications. The research has focused on studying magnetic gear designs suitable for use in electric aircraft drivetrains and electric boat thrusters. Consequent pole, flux concentration and Halbach rotor magnetic gear typologies have been analyzed and compared with respect to their torque density performance for the first time. It is shown that the Halbach rotor magnetic gear holds the greatest potential with respect to achieving volumetric and mass torque densities parity with an equivalent mechanical gear.

A high volumetric torque …

Design And Optimization With Quantum And Memristor Platforms, Yiwei Li

Dissertations and Theses

The complexity and diversity of modern computing challenges have made it difficult for traditional computers to efficiently handle tasks such as computer-aided design, design optimization, and combinatorial problems within a reasonable time frame. In applications such as bitcoin mining and robotic control, power consumption and circuit size are critical factors. To overcome these limitations, this dissertation examines alternative computing technologies such as quantum computers and hybrid memristive circuits. The research demonstrates that these technologies hold the potential to offer more efficient and effective solutions for particular problems, whether in terms of faster computation or reduced power consumption.

Blockchain Framework For Secured On-Demand Patient Health Records Sharing, Meryem Abouali

Dissertations and Theses

As the healthcare industry continues to digitize and share patient data for a better understanding of patient health history, cybersecurity must remain a top priority. However, patient health record (PHR) data is extremely sensitive and faces significant challenges due to its distributed nature across various healthcare facilities and providers, which creates a lack of interoperability among healthcare systems. Most patient health record systems adopt a centralized management structure and deploy PHRs to the cloud, which raises privacy concerns when sharing patient information over a network. Thus, there is a need for a framework that considers patient privacy and data security …

Topological Photonic Metasurfaces For Light Manipulation And Strong Light-Matter Interaction, Svetlana Kiriushechkina

Dissertations and Theses

High-resolution nanopatterning techniques, such as electron beam lithography, extended opportunities for implementation of the various designs of photonic structures which exhibit exciting physical phenomena in the optical domain. A straightforward fabrication of on-slab nanostructures is advantageous for integration with various photonic on-chip devices. Last decade all-dielectric periodic nanostructures (photonic metasurfaces) boost a growth of novel optical technologies, from ultra-sensitive detectors to compact beam structured lasers. Moreover, they represent one of the most promising platforms in which topological phases can be explored and exploited.

Topological photonic structures attract a significant interest owing to their outstanding properties such as a resilience to …

Machine Learning Driven Resource Allocation In Edge Cloud, Arslan Qadeer Dr

Dissertations and Theses

Next generation mobile and immersive applications (e.g., Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Extended reality (XR)), and Internet of Things (IoTs) provide richer functionalities which possess resource-hungry and real-time constraints. To conserve energy and improve performance of such devices, certain computationally heavy tasks can be executed remotely by offloading them to the back-end cloud (BC) and utilizing its abundant compute resources. However, the long distance between a mobile/IoT device and the BC causes huge network delay, thus, deteriorating the user experience of real-time applications. Edge-cloud (EC) and beyond 5G (B5G) wireless communication are envisioned to cope with the above compute …

Design And Experimental Observation Of Topological States In Photonic Metasurfaces, Anton Vakulenko

Dissertations and Theses

Topological phases in photonics attract a lot of attention due to their unique properties which allow controlling optical coupling and electromagnetic field distributions in nanostructures. Diverse phenomena supported by photonic topological structures include robust scatter-free waveguiding, an extreme confinement of light, lasing and strong coupling with novel low- dimensional materials. A very convenient integration with on-chip optical devices and also with quantum dots or monolayers of van der Waals materials promise even brighter future for photonic topological insulators as a useful platform for innovative photonic and compact quantum devices.

In the course of my dissertation work, I investigated topological structures …