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Air Force Institute of Technology

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Articles 301 - 330 of 1277

Full-Text Articles in Computer Sciences

Applying Data Organizational Techniques To Enhance Air Force Learning, Jacob A. Orner Mar 2020

Applying Data Organizational Techniques To Enhance Air Force Learning, Jacob A. Orner

Theses and Dissertations

The USAF and the DoD use traditional schoolhouses to educate and train personnel. The physical aspects of these schoolhouses limit throughput. A method to increase throughput is to shift towards an asynchronous learning environment where students move through content at individually. This research introduces a methodology for transforming a set of unstructured documents into an organized TM students can use to orient themselves in a domain. The research identifies learning paths within the TM to create a directed KSAT. We apply this methodology in four case studies, each an education or training course. Using a graph comparison metric and the …


Newhope: A Mobile Implementation Of A Post-Quantum Cryptographic Key Encapsulation Mechanism, Jessica A. Switzler Mar 2020

Newhope: A Mobile Implementation Of A Post-Quantum Cryptographic Key Encapsulation Mechanism, Jessica A. Switzler

Theses and Dissertations

NIST anticipates the appearance of large-scale quantum computers by 2036 [34], which will threaten widely used asymmetric algorithms, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) launched a Post-Quantum Cryptography Standardization Project to find quantum-secure alternatives. NewHope post-quantum cryptography (PQC) key encapsulation mechanism (KEM) is the only Round 2 candidate to simultaneously achieve small key values through the use of a security problem with sufficient confidence its security, while mitigating any known vulnerabilities. This research contributes to NIST project’s overall goal by assessing the platform flexibility and resource requirements of NewHope KEMs on an Android mobile device. The resource requirements analyzed …


A General Methodology To Optimize And Benchmark Edge Devices, Kyle J. Smathers Mar 2020

A General Methodology To Optimize And Benchmark Edge Devices, Kyle J. Smathers

Theses and Dissertations

The explosion of Internet Of Things (IoT), embedded and “smart” devices has also seen the addition of “general purpose” single board computers also referred to as “edge devices.” Determining if one of these generic devices meets the need of a new given task however can be challenging. Software generically written to be portable or plug and play may be too bloated to work properly without significant modification due to much tighter hardware resources. Previous work in this area has been focused on micro or chip-level benchmarking which is mainly useful for chip designers or low level system integrators. A higher …


Developing A Serious Game To Explore Joint All Domain Command And Control, Nathaniel W. Flack Mar 2020

Developing A Serious Game To Explore Joint All Domain Command And Control, Nathaniel W. Flack

Theses and Dissertations

Changes in the geopolitical landscape and increasing technological complexity have prompted the U.S. Military to coin Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) and Joint All-Domain Command and Control as terms to describe an over-arching strategy that frames the complexity of warfare across both traditional and emerging warfighting domains. Teaching new and advanced concepts associated with these terms requires both innovation as well as distinct education and training tools in order to realize the cultural change advocated by senior military leaders. BSN, a Collectible Card Game, was developed to teach concepts integral to MDO and initiate discussion on military strategy.


Maximizing Accuracy Through Stereo Vision Camera Positioning For Automated Aerial Refueling, Kirill A. Sarantsev Mar 2020

Maximizing Accuracy Through Stereo Vision Camera Positioning For Automated Aerial Refueling, Kirill A. Sarantsev

Theses and Dissertations

Aerial refueling is a key component of the U.S. Air Force strategic arsenal. When two aircraft interact in an aerial refueling operation, the accuracy of relative navigation estimates are critical for the safety, accuracy and success of the mission. Automated Aerial Refueling (AAR) looks to improve the refueling process by creating a more effective system and allowing for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(s) (UAV) support. This paper considers a cooperative aerial refueling scenario where stereo cameras are used on the tanker to direct a \boom" (a large, long structure through which the fuel will ow) into a port on the receiver aircraft. …


Use Of Lidar In Automated Aerial Refueling To Improve Stereo Vision Systems, Michael R. Crowl Mar 2020

Use Of Lidar In Automated Aerial Refueling To Improve Stereo Vision Systems, Michael R. Crowl

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) executes five Core Missions, four of which depend on increased aircraft range. To better achieve global strike and reconnaissance, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) require aerial refueling for extended missions. However, current aerial refueling capabilities are limited to manned aircraft due to technical difficulties to refuel UAVs mid-flight. The latency between a UAV operator and the UAV is too large to adequately respond for such an operation. To overcome this limitation, the USAF wants to create a capability to guide the refueling boom into the refueling receptacle. This research explores the use of light detection …


The Impact Of Changing The Size Of Aircraft Radar Displays On Visual Search In The Cockpit, Justin R. Marsh Mar 2020

The Impact Of Changing The Size Of Aircraft Radar Displays On Visual Search In The Cockpit, Justin R. Marsh

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in sensor technology have enabled our fighter aircraft to find, fix, track, target, engage (F2T2E) at greater distances, providing the operator with more data within the battlefield. Modern aircraft are designed with larger displays while our legacy aircraft are being retrofitted with larger cockpit displays to enable display of the increased data. While this modification has been shown to enable improvements in human performance of many cockpit tasks, this effect is often not measured nor fully understood at a more generalizable level. This research outlines an approach to comparing human performance across two display sizes in future F-16 cockpits. …


Electronic Image Detectability Under Varying Illumination Conditions, Jeremy J. Miller Mar 2020

Electronic Image Detectability Under Varying Illumination Conditions, Jeremy J. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Light in the built environment plays an essential role in the vision and the health of humans through non-visual receptors in the eyes. Unfortunately, image analysts and other Air Force personnel who engage in the detection of objects on softcopy displays are often required to work in very dimly-lit or dark environments as higher illumination reduces the contrast of displayed information. Literature has shown that increases in light exposure improves circadian rhythm entrainment and reduces the negative health consequences of insufficient lighting. This research examines the effects of indoor lighting to determine if increases in ambient illumination or changes to …


Cyber Risk Assessment And Scoring Model For Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Dillon M. Pettit Mar 2020

Cyber Risk Assessment And Scoring Model For Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Dillon M. Pettit

Theses and Dissertations

The commercial-off-the-shelf small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) market is expanding rapidly in response to interest from hobbyists, commercial businesses, and military operators. The core commercial mission set directly relates to many current military requirements and strategies, with a priority on short range, low cost, real time aerial imaging, and limited modular payloads. These small vehicles present small radar cross sections, low heat signatures, and carry a variety of sensors and payloads. As with many new technologies, security seems secondary to the goal of reaching the market as soon as innovation is viable. Research indicates a growth in exploits and vulnerabilities …


Mobile Data Analysis Using Dynamic Binary Instrumentation And Static Analysis, Christopher Dukarm Mar 2020

Mobile Data Analysis Using Dynamic Binary Instrumentation And Static Analysis, Christopher Dukarm

Theses and Dissertations

Mobile classified data leakage poses a threat to the DoD programs and missions. Security experts must know the format of application data, in order to properly classify mobile applications. This research presents the DBIMAFIA methodology to identify stored data formats. DBIMAFIA uses DBI and static analysis to uncover the structure of mobile application data and validate the results with traditional reverse engineering methods. DBIMAFIA was applied to fifteen popular Android applications and revealed the format of stored data. Notably, user PII leakage is identified in the Rago Games application. The application's messaging service exposes the full name, birthday, and city …


Automated Detection And Mitigation Of Inefficient Visual Searching Using Electroencephalography And Machine Learning, Joshua P. Gallaher Mar 2020

Automated Detection And Mitigation Of Inefficient Visual Searching Using Electroencephalography And Machine Learning, Joshua P. Gallaher

Theses and Dissertations

Decisions made during the high-stress and fast-paced operations of the military are extremely prone to cognitive biases. A commonly known cognitive bias is a confirmation bias, or the inappropriate bolstering of an unknown hypothesis. One such critical military operation that can fall prey to a confirmation bias is a visual search. During a visual search, a military operator must perform a visual scan of an environment for a specific target. However, the visual search process can fall prey to the same confirmation bias which can cause inefficient searches. This study elicits inefficient visual search patterns and applies various mitigation techniques …


Algorithm Selection Framework: A Holistic Approach To The Algorithm Selection Problem, Marc W. Chalé Mar 2020

Algorithm Selection Framework: A Holistic Approach To The Algorithm Selection Problem, Marc W. Chalé

Theses and Dissertations

A holistic approach to the algorithm selection problem is presented. The “algorithm selection framework" uses a combination of user input and meta-data to streamline the algorithm selection for any data analysis task. The framework removes the conjecture of the common trial and error strategy and generates a preference ranked list of recommended analysis techniques. The framework is performed on nine analysis problems. Each of the recommended analysis techniques are implemented on the corresponding data sets. Algorithm performance is assessed using the primary metric of recall and the secondary metric of run time. In six of the problems, the recall of …


Quantitative Analysis Of Evaluation Criteria For Generative Models, Marvin W. Newlin Mar 2020

Quantitative Analysis Of Evaluation Criteria For Generative Models, Marvin W. Newlin

Theses and Dissertations

Machine Learning (ML) is rapidly becoming integrated in critical aspects of cybersecurity today, particularly in the area of network intrusion/anomaly detection. However, ML techniques require large volumes of data to be effective. The available data is a critical aspect of the ML process for training, classification, and testing purposes. One solution to the problem is to generate synthetic data that is realistic. With the application of ML to this area, one promising application is the use of ML to perform the data generation. With the ability to generate synthetic data comes the need to evaluate the “realness” of the generated …


Development And Evaluation Of A Security Agent For Internet Of Things, Youngjun Park Mar 2020

Development And Evaluation Of A Security Agent For Internet Of Things, Youngjun Park

Theses and Dissertations

The proposed security agent, Internet of Things Active Management Unit (IoTAMU), provides confidentiality of IoT networks via the following capabilities: (1) authentication, (2) firewall, (3) encryption, and (4) spoofing. To test the spoofer's effect, an Identical Device Model Classifier (IDMC) is developed, which measures the similarities of the observed network signatures of each pair of devices, and recognize identical model devices. The IDMC performs well in baseline network settings without the spoofer, achieving 100% precision, recall, and specificity at high threshold (SS>0.9). When the spoofer is enabled, none of the identical pairs are identified at high threshold, and up …


Meta Learning Recommendation System For Classification, Clarence O. Williams Iii Mar 2020

Meta Learning Recommendation System For Classification, Clarence O. Williams Iii

Theses and Dissertations

A data driven approach is an emerging paradigm for the handling of analytic problems. In this paradigm the mantra is to let the data speak freely. However, when using machine learning algorithms, the data does not naturally reveal the best or even a good approach for algorithm choice. One method to let the algorithm reveal itself is through the use of Meta Learning, which uses the features of a dataset to determine a useful model to represent the entire dataset. This research proposes an improvement on the meta-model recommendation system by adding classification problems to the candidate problem space with …


Determining Virtual Practicality From Physical Stereo Vision Images And Gps, Bradley S. French Mar 2020

Determining Virtual Practicality From Physical Stereo Vision Images And Gps, Bradley S. French

Theses and Dissertations

Current research efforts for Automated Aerial Refueling (AAR) at The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) utilize Stereo Computer Vision to compute a relative pose between a tanker and receiver aircraft. Due to costs, time, and availability, it can be onerous to test these algorithms using actual Air Force (AF) aircraft. Our solution to this problem consists of using a 3D Graphics Engine to simulate AAR endeavors. However, the question then arises, “Does the virtual world accurately represent the physical world?” This can be explored by comparing a set of truth data to a similar set of virtual data. First, …


Global Gradient-Based Phase Unwrapping Algorithm For Increased Performance In Wavefront Sensing, Bryan R. Bartelt Mar 2020

Global Gradient-Based Phase Unwrapping Algorithm For Increased Performance In Wavefront Sensing, Bryan R. Bartelt

Theses and Dissertations

As the reliance on satellite data for military and commercial use increases, more effort must be exerted to protect our space-based assets. In order to help increase our space domain awareness (SDA), new approaches to ground-based space surveillance via wavefront sensing must be adopted. Improving phase-unwrapping algorithms in order to assist in phase retrieval methods is one way of increasing the performance in current adaptive optics (AO) systems. This thesis proposes a new phase-unwrapping algorithm that uses a global, gradient-based technique to more rapidly identify and correct for areas of phase wrapping during particular phase retrieval methods. This is beneficial …


Quantum Transpiler Optimization: On The Development, Implementation, And Use Of A Quantum Research Testbed, Brandon K. Kamaka Mar 2020

Quantum Transpiler Optimization: On The Development, Implementation, And Use Of A Quantum Research Testbed, Brandon K. Kamaka

Theses and Dissertations

Quantum computing research is at the cusp of a paradigm shift. As the complexity of quantum systems increases, so does the complexity of research procedures for creating and testing layers of the quantum software stack. However, the tools used to perform these tasks have not experienced the increase in capability required to effectively handle the development burdens involved. This case is made particularly clear in the context of IBM QX Transpiler optimization algorithms and functions. IBM QX systems use the Qiskit library to create, transform, and execute quantum circuits. As coherence times and hardware qubit counts increase and qubit topologies …


Pedestrian Navigation Using Artificial Neural Networks And Classical Filtering Techniques, David J. Ellis Mar 2020

Pedestrian Navigation Using Artificial Neural Networks And Classical Filtering Techniques, David J. Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to explore the improvements achieved through using classical filtering methods with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for pedestrian navigation techniques. ANN have been improving dramatically in their ability to approximate various functions. These neural network solutions have been able to surpass many classical navigation techniques. However, research using ANN to solve problems appears to be solely focused on the ability of neural networks alone. The combination of ANN with classical filtering methods has the potential to bring beneficial aspects of both techniques to increase accuracy in many different applications. Pedestrian navigation is used as a …


Interoperable Ads-B Confidentiality, Brandon C. Burfeind Mar 2020

Interoperable Ads-B Confidentiality, Brandon C. Burfeind

Theses and Dissertations

The worldwide air traffic infrastructure is in the late stages of transition from legacy transponder systems to Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) based systems. ADS-B relies on position information from GNSS and requires aircraft to transmit their identification, state, and position. ADS-B promises the availability of high-fidelity air traffic information; however, position and identification data are not secured via authentication or encryption. This lack of security for ADS-B allows non-participants to observe and collect data on both government and private flight activity. This is a proposal for a lightweight, interoperable ADS-B confidentiality protocol which uses existing format preserving encryption …


Algorithm Selection Framework For Cyber Attack Detection, Marc W. Chalé, Nathaniel D. Bastian, Jeffery D. Weir Mar 2020

Algorithm Selection Framework For Cyber Attack Detection, Marc W. Chalé, Nathaniel D. Bastian, Jeffery D. Weir

Faculty Publications

The number of cyber threats against both wired and wireless computer systems and other components of the Internet of Things continues to increase annually. In this work, an algorithm selection framework is employed on the NSL-KDD data set and a novel paradigm of machine learning taxonomy is presented. The framework uses a combination of user input and meta-features to select the best algorithm to detect cyber attacks on a network. Performance is compared between a rule-of-thumb strategy and a meta-learning strategy. The framework removes the conjecture of the common trial-and-error algorithm selection method. The framework recommends five algorithms from the …


Cyber-Physical Security With Rf Fingerprint Classification Through Distance Measure Extensions Of Generalized Relevance Learning Vector Quantization, Trevor J. Bihl, Todd J. Paciencia, Kenneth W. Bauer Jr., Michael A. Temple Feb 2020

Cyber-Physical Security With Rf Fingerprint Classification Through Distance Measure Extensions Of Generalized Relevance Learning Vector Quantization, Trevor J. Bihl, Todd J. Paciencia, Kenneth W. Bauer Jr., Michael A. Temple

Faculty Publications

Radio frequency (RF) fingerprinting extracts fingerprint features from RF signals to protect against masquerade attacks by enabling reliable authentication of communication devices at the “serial number” level. Facilitating the reliable authentication of communication devices are machine learning (ML) algorithms which find meaningful statistical differences between measured data. The Generalized Relevance Learning Vector Quantization-Improved (GRLVQI) classifier is one ML algorithm which has shown efficacy for RF fingerprinting device discrimination. GRLVQI extends the Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) family of “winner take all” classifiers that develop prototype vectors (PVs) which represent data. In LVQ algorithms, distances are computed between exemplars and PVs, and …


Integrated Quantum Information Processing Controlled Phase Gate, Richard S. Kim, Attila A. Szep, Michael L. Fanto, Paul M. Alsing, Gordon E. Lott, Christopher C. Tison Feb 2020

Integrated Quantum Information Processing Controlled Phase Gate, Richard S. Kim, Attila A. Szep, Michael L. Fanto, Paul M. Alsing, Gordon E. Lott, Christopher C. Tison

AFIT Patents

An electro-optical directional coupler is provided having a substrate and a first and second optical waveguide formed on the substrate, where the second waveguide extends adjacent to and parallel with the first waveguide for at least one interaction length. The interaction length has a first end and a second end such that an optical signal applied only to one of the first and second waveguides couples to the other of the first and second waveguides between the ends. A first electrode is proximate the first and second waveguides and between the ends of the interaction length. A first voltage applied …


Metrics To Meet Security & Privacy Requirements With Agile Software Development Methods In A Regulated Environment, Torrey J. Wagner, Thomas C. Ford Feb 2020

Metrics To Meet Security & Privacy Requirements With Agile Software Development Methods In A Regulated Environment, Torrey J. Wagner, Thomas C. Ford

Faculty Publications

This work examines metrics that can be used to measure the ability of agile software development methods to meet security and privacy requirements of communications applications. Many implementations of communication protocols, including those in vehicular networks, occur within regulated environments where agile development methods are traditionally discouraged. We propose a framework and metrics to measure adherence to security, quality and software effectiveness regulations if developers desire the cost and schedule benefits of agile methods. After providing an overview of specific challenges that a regulated environment imposes on communications software development, we proceed to examine the 12 agile principles and how …


Evaluating The Resiliency Of Industrial Internet Of Things Process Control Using Protocol Agnostic Attacks, Hector L. Roldan Dec 2019

Evaluating The Resiliency Of Industrial Internet Of Things Process Control Using Protocol Agnostic Attacks, Hector L. Roldan

Theses and Dissertations

Improving and defending our nation's critical infrastructure has been a challenge for quite some time. A malfunctioning or stoppage of any one of these systems could result in hazardous conditions on its supporting populace leading to widespread damage, injury, and even death. The protection of such systems has been mandated by the Office of the President of the United States of America in Presidential Policy Directive Order 21. Current research now focuses on securing and improving the management and efficiency of Industrial Control Systems (ICS). IIoT promises a solution in enhancement of efficiency in ICS. However, the presence of IIoT …


Ion Software-Defined Radio Metadata Standard Final Report, Sanjeev Gunawardena, Alexander Rugamer, Muhammad Subhan Hameed, Markel Arizabaleta, Thomas Pany, Javier Arribas Sep 2019

Ion Software-Defined Radio Metadata Standard Final Report, Sanjeev Gunawardena, Alexander Rugamer, Muhammad Subhan Hameed, Markel Arizabaleta, Thomas Pany, Javier Arribas

Faculty Publications

The ION GNSS SDR Metadata Standard describes the formatting and other essential PNT-related parameters of sampled data streams and files. This allows processors to seamlessly consume such data without the need to input these parameters manually. The technical development phase of the initial version of the standard has now been deemed complete and is currently undergoing the last remaining procedural steps towards adoption as a formal standard by the Institute of Navigation. This paper reports on the activities of the working group since September 2018 and summarizes the final products of the standard. It also reports on examples of early …


Emergent Behavior Development And Control In Multi-Agent Systems, David W. King Aug 2019

Emergent Behavior Development And Control In Multi-Agent Systems, David W. King

Theses and Dissertations

Emergence in natural systems is the development of complex behaviors that result from the aggregation of simple agent-to-agent and agent-to-environment interactions. Emergence research intersects with many disciplines such as physics, biology, and ecology and provides a theoretical framework for investigating how order appears to spontaneously arise in complex adaptive systems. In biological systems, emergent behaviors allow simple agents to collectively accomplish multiple tasks in highly dynamic environments; ensuring system survival. These systems all display similar properties: self-organized hierarchies, robustness, adaptability, and decentralized task execution. However, current algorithmic approaches merely present theoretical models without showing how these models actually create hierarchical, …


Improving Optimization Of Convolutional Neural Networks Through Parameter Fine-Tuning, Nicholas C. Becherer, John M. Pecarina, Scott L. Nykl, Kenneth M. Hopkinson Aug 2019

Improving Optimization Of Convolutional Neural Networks Through Parameter Fine-Tuning, Nicholas C. Becherer, John M. Pecarina, Scott L. Nykl, Kenneth M. Hopkinson

Faculty Publications

In recent years, convolutional neural networks have achieved state-of-the-art performance in a number of computer vision problems such as image classification. Prior research has shown that a transfer learning technique known as parameter fine-tuning wherein a network is pre-trained on a different dataset can boost the performance of these networks. However, the topic of identifying the best source dataset and learning strategy for a given target domain is largely unexplored. Thus, this research presents and evaluates various transfer learning methods for fine-grained image classification as well as the effect on ensemble networks. The results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of parameter …


The Trust-Based Interactive Partially Observable Markov Decision Process, Richard S. Seymour Jun 2019

The Trust-Based Interactive Partially Observable Markov Decision Process, Richard S. Seymour

Theses and Dissertations

Cooperative agent and robot systems are designed so that each is working toward the same common good. The problem is that the software systems are extremely complex and can be subverted by an adversary to either break the system or potentially worse, create sneaky agents who are willing to cooperate when the stakes are low and take selfish, greedy actions when the rewards rise. This research focuses on the ability of a group of agents to reason about the trustworthiness of each other and make decisions about whether to cooperate. A trust-based interactive partially observable Markov decision process (TI-POMDP) is …


Methodology For Comparison Of Algorithms For Real-World Multi-Objective Optimization Problems: Space Surveillance Network Design, Troy B. Dontigney Jun 2019

Methodology For Comparison Of Algorithms For Real-World Multi-Objective Optimization Problems: Space Surveillance Network Design, Troy B. Dontigney

Theses and Dissertations

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) is an activity vital to protecting national and commercial satellites from damage or destruction due to collisions. Recent research has demonstrated a methodology using evolutionary algorithms (EAs) which is intended to develop near-optimal Space Surveillance Network (SSN) architectures in the sense of low cost, low latency, and high resolution. That research is extended here by (1) developing and applying a methodology to compare the performance of two or more algorithms against this problem, and (2) analyzing the effects of using reduced data sets in those searches. Computational experiments are presented in which the performance of five …