Computer Sciences Commons^™

Energy Aware Topology Control Protocols For Wireless Sensor Networks, Shilpa Dhar

LSU Master's Theses

Wireless Sensor Network has emerged as an important technology of the future due to its potential for application across a wide array of domains. The collaborative power of numerous autonomousremote sensing nodes self configured into a multi hop network permits in-depth accurate observation of any physical phenomenon. A stringent set of computational and resource constraints make the design and implementation of sensor networks an arduous task. The issue of optimizing the limited and often non-renewable energy of sensor nodes due to its direct impact on network lifetime dominates every aspect of wireless sensor networks. Existing techniques for optimizing energy consumption …

Simulation Study Of Routing Protocols In Wireless Sensor Networks, Vatsalya Kunchakarra

LSU Master's Theses

Wireless sensor networks, a distributed network of sensor nodes perform critical tasks in many application areas such as target tracking in military applications, detection of catastrophic events, environment monitoring, health applications etc. The routing protocols developed for these distributed sensor networks need to be energy efficient and scalable. To create a better understanding of the performance of various routing protocols proposed it is very important to perform a detailed analysis of them. Network simulators enable us to study the performance and behavior of these protocols on various network topologies. Many Sensor Network frameworks were developed to explore both the networking …

Simulation Study For Wireless Sensor Networks And Load Sharing Routing Protocol To Increase Network Life And Connectivity, Ankur Suri

LSU Master's Theses

LSU SensorSimulator is a framework for simulating wireless sensor networks. It is a customizable and extendible simulator, which allows testing and analyzing software for wireless sensor networks. The users can subclass the framework classes and customize the behavior of various network layers. This subclassing gives a way to the developers an opportunity to analyze and investigate, phenomenological, networking, robustness and scaling issues, to explore arbitrary algorithms for distributed sensors, independent of hardware constraint. The results are compared against the simulation results for ns-2 for routing protocols Directed Diffusion and GEAR. Through the comparison of results for scalability, performance and memory …

Attribute-Level Versioning: A Relational Mechanism For Version Storage And Retrieval, Charles Andrew Bell

Theses and Dissertations

Data analysts today have at their disposal a seemingly endless supply of data and repositories hence, datasets from which to draw. New datasets become available daily thus making the choice of which dataset to use difficult. Furthermore, traditional data analysis has been conducted using structured data repositories such as relational database management systems (RDBMS). These systems, by their nature and design, prohibit duplication for indexed collections forcing analysts to choose one value for each of the available attributes for an item in the collection. Often analysts discover two or more datasets with information about the same entity. When combining this …

Analysis Of Perturbation-Based Testing Methodology As Applied To A Real-Time Control System Problem, Richard A. Stutler

Theses and Dissertations

Perturbation analysis is a software analysis technique used to study the tail function of a program by inserting an error into an executing program using data state mutation. The impact of this induced error on the output is then measured. This methodology can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of a given test set and in fact can be used as a means to derive a test set which provides coverage for a given program. Previous research has shown that there is a "coupling effect" such that test sets that identify simple errors will also identify more complex errors. Thus …

Hamilton's Rule In Reciprocal Altruism And Symbiosis, Jeffrey Fletcher, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

In lieu of an abstract, here is the outline:

Do Inclusive Fitness and Reciprocal Altruism Models embody different or similar mechanisms?

Background

• The Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD), Hamilton’s Rule (Queller’s version)

Apply Hamilton’s Rule to Reciprocal Altruism:

• Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma model
• A model of symbiosis

Towards a Unified Theory

Combining Optimizer And Metamodeling For Railcar Structural Optimization, Longjun Liu, Wayne Wakeland

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Stress constraint is a hard issue for structural topology optimization, especially for large-scale structures, e.g. railcars. Another technique is proposed to combine a sizing optimizer with metamodelling for topology optimization. At the lower level, for each topology design sampled within the topology design space, a sizing optimizer finds feasible and optimal solutions in terms of sizing variables (plate thickness in continuum structures). All performance constraints such as stress, displacement, and stability, are handled only at this level. At the upper level, a metamodel is built to fit all the optimal solutions found at the lower level and is optimized for …

Heuristic Optimization As A V&V Tool For Software Process Simulationmodels, Wayne Wakeland, Stephen Shervais, David Raffo

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

This work illustrates the use of heuristic algorithms to improve the verification and validation of software process simulation models. To use this approach, an optimization problem is formulated to guide a heuristic search algorithm that will attempt to locate particular combinations of parameter values that yield surprising results. These surprising results often help the modeler to identify flaws in the model logic that would otherwise remain undetected. The general concepts are discussed and a simple example is provided.

Cyclic Difference Covers, K. T. Arasu, Surinder Sehgal

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

his paper studies cyclic difference covers in finite cyclic groups and develops several constructions and existence results for these combinatorial structures. The authors investigate conditions under which cyclic difference covers exist, derive new infinite families, and analyze connections with related objects such as difference sets and covering designs. Applications to combinatorial design theory and coding-related constructions are also discussed.

Automatic Segmentation Of Magnetic Resonance Images Of The Brain, Kirk V. N. Spence

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a technique used primarily in medical settings to produce high quality images of the human body’s internal anatomy. Each image is of a thin slice through the body, with the typical distance between slices being a few millimeters. Brain segmentation is the delineation of one or more anatomical structures within images of the brain. It promotes greater understanding of spatial relationships to aid in such tasks as surgical planning and clinical diagnoses, particularly when the segmented outlines from each image slice are displayed together as a surface in three-dimensions. A review of the literature indicates …

Bio-Inspired Approaches For Critical Infrastructure Protection: Application Of Clonal Selection Principle For Intrusion Detection And Facts Placement, Kasthurirangan Parthasarathy

Masters Theses

"In this research, Clonal Selection, an immune system inspired approach, is utilized along with Evolutionary Algorithms to solve complex engineering problems such as Intrusion Detection and optimization of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) device placement in a power grid. The clonal selection principle increases the strength of good solutions and alters their properties to find better solutions in a problem space. A special class of evolutionary algorithms that utilizes the clonal selection principle to guide its heuristic search process is termed Clonal EA. Clonal EAs can be used to solve complex pattern recognition and function optimization problems, which involve searching …

An Assessment Of Case-Based Reasoning For Spam Filtering, Sarah Jane Delany, Padraig Cunningham, Lorcan Coyle

Articles

Because of the changing nature of spam, a spam filtering system that uses machine learning will need to be dynamic. This suggests that a case-based (memory-based) approach may work well. Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) is a lazy approach to machine learning where induction is delayed to run time. This means that the case base can be updated continuously and new training data is immediately available to the induction process. In this paper we present a detailed description of such a system called ECUE and evaluate design decisions concerning the case representation. We compare its performance with an alternative system that uses …

Intentional Embodied Agents, Alan Martin, Gregory M.P. O'Hare, Brian R. Duffy, John F. Bradley, Bianca Schoen-Phelan

Conference papers

The notion of embodiment within a virtual environment and an intelligent agent could be intimately linked, in order to form a single Agent Chameleon. This paper presents an architecture for achieving this, while allowing agents freedom to chose an embodiment suitable to the task at hand..

The Amphere Algorithm: Area Masking With The Performance Equation, Bianca Schoen-Phelan, Gregory O'Hare, Brian Duffy, Alan Martin, John Bradley

Conference papers

This paper is concerned with the employment of an autonomous and intelligent agent within the context of a 3-dimensional virtual environment. As the agent is immersed within the virtual environment, it empowers the 3D world with mechanisms to adjust itself to the specific needs of its user. Therefore, the agent serves as a middle layer between user and the environment. The 3-dimensional environment thus evolved into an intelligent user interface. We track user’s motion within this environment and present an equation upon which the agent classifies the user’s performance. Based upon this performance value, the agent autonomously determines if the …

Bi-Directional Ontology Versioning Bov, Siyang Zhao, Brendan Tierney

Conference papers

his paper defines a new type of ontology versioning: Bi-directional Ontology Versioning: BOV. BOV provides bi-directional mappings and transformations between concepts in two ontology versions. BOV is identified by two levels mapping processes: linguistic mapping and structural mapping. BOV can satisfy the requirement of mapping in distributed environment.

Configuring A Multi-Course Lab For System-Level Projects, Joel C. Adams, David W. Laverell

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Having students modify an actual operating system kernel or network protocol stack opens their eyes to what is going on "beneath the hood" of a computer. However student modifications to a system may result in an unstable computer. Because of this, giving students such experience has in the past required a lab and/or computers dedicated to the students in the system-level course, and computer science departments without such dedicated facilities have been unable to provide their students with system-level experience. In this paper, we present two ways of giving students system-level experience in a non-dedicated lab; one using commercial software …

Computer Security: Investigating The Impact That Security Specific Education Has On Users’ Behaviour, Samuel David Jones

Theses : Honours

A lack in end-user awareness in computer security issues provides the rationale for this investigation. The research considers whether or not the provision of an educational package addressing computer security issues will improve awareness and transform behaviour of end-users in assessing and enacting appropriate responses in computer security situations. A group of twenty participants was studied in detail using a mixed methods research approach. The participants were drawn from a cross section of computer end-users, from elementary to advanced levels of computer literacy. Outcomes include a positive response to the provision of material, however human factors were found to be …

Artificial Neural Networks : A Comparative Study Of Implementations For Human Chromosome Classification, Nancy Akl

Theses : Honours

Artificial neural networks are a popular field of artificial intelligence and have commonly been applied to solve many prediction, classification and diagnostic tasks. One such task is the analysis of human chromosomes. This thesis investigates the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) as automated chromosome classifiers. The investigation involves the thorough analysis of seven different implementation techniques. These include three techniques using artificial neural networks, two techniques using ANN s supported by another method and two techniques not using ANNs. These seven implementations are evaluated according to the classification accuracy achieved and according to their support of important system measures, …

View Space Linking, Solid Node Compression And Binary Space Partitioning For Visibility Determination In 3d Walk-Throughs, Joel Anderson

Theses : Honours

Today's 3D games consumers are expecting more and more quality in their games. To enable high quality graphics at interactive rates, games programmers employ a technique known as hidden surface removal (HSR) or polygon culling. HSR is not just applicable to games; it may also be applied to any application that requires quality and interactive rates, including medical, military and building applications. One such commonly used technique for HSR is the binary space partition (BSP) tree, which is used for 3D ‘walk-throughs’, otherwise known as 3D static environments or first person shooters. Recent developments in 3D accelerated hardware technology do …

An Investigation Of Network Security Management Methods, Shamila Anuranga Ratnayake

Theses : Honours

Network Management (NM) is concerned with reducing complexity and managing cost. The traditional NM tools and techniques are based on the Open System Interconnection (OSI) NM model. However, several drawbacks have been identified when managing a network using traditional NM tools (Sarkar & Verma, 2001). Network security is a major issue when managing a network. Even though the technology assists to reduce security risks, unless properly managed, the security measures may not do the job as expected. The State Model (SM) diagram is a new method, which may assists in managing the network. This new method may provide functionality not …

2d-Barcode For Mobile Devices, Hiroko Kato

Theses : Honours

2D-barcodes were designed to carry significantly more data than its 1D counterpart. These codes are often used in industrial information tagging applications where high data capacity, mobility, and data robustness are required. Wireless mobile devices such as camera phones and Portable Digital Assistants (PDAs) have evolved from just a mobile voice communication device to what is now a mobile multimedia computing platform. Recent integration of these two mobile technologies has sparked some interesting applications where 2D-barcodes work as visual tags and/or information source and camera phones performs image processing tasks on the device itself. One of such applications is hyperlink …

The Correlation Between Internal & External Markers For Abdominal Tumors: Implications For Respiratory Gating, David P. Gierga, Johanna Brewer, Gregory C. Sharp, Margrit Betke, Christopher G. Willett, George T.Y. Chen

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The correlation of the respiratory motion of external patient markers and abdominal tumors was examined. Data of this type are important for image-guided therapy techniques, such as respiratory gating, that monitor the movement of external fiducials.

Methods and Materials: Fluoroscopy sessions for 4 patients with internal, radiopaque tumor fiducial clips were analyzed by computer vision techniques. The motion of the internal clips and the external markers placed on the patient’s abdominal skin surface were quantified and correlated.

Results: In general, the motion of the tumor and external markers were well correlated. The maximum amount of peak-to-peak craniocaudal tumor motion …

Radio Resource Management For Cellular Wireless Local Area Networks., Olivia Brickley

Theses

The growing demand for mobile computing worldwide has led to the increasing deployment and use of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) in the last number of years. During this time, user requirements have evolved, resulting in a more diverse mix of services being carried over the wireless medium. In particular, delay sensitive real-time applications such as streaming multimedia and voice over IP are growing in importance. The widely accepted IEEE 802.11b standard, however, was not designed with sufficient Quality of Service (QoS) constraints for such applications. A new draft of the standard named 802.1 le has been proposed that deals …

Static Source Code Weaving : Overcoming The Challenges Of Aspect-Oriented Programming, Stephen Malone

Theses

Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) is a relatively new programming paradigm, which promises to allow developers to express cross-cutting concerns independently of their application to the primary core concerns of a system. This promises to allow developers the freedom to reason about both the cross-cutting concerns of a system as well as its primary concerns. In allowing for the expression of cross-cutting concerns AOP is extremely powerful; significant benefits have been found such as the ability to reason about cross-cutting concerns, and in some cases dramatic reductions in the number of lines of code required to implement crosscutting behaviour. These benefits however …

The Pedagogical And Practical Issues Of Using Ict In Post-Primary Schools, Kay O'Sullivan Mc Carty

Theses

This study was an investigation into some of the pedagogical and practical issues that need to be considered when using ICT, with particular reference to post-primary schools. This investigation was prompted by the introduction of broadband into Irish schools in the next twelve months. Resources need to be developed that are subject specific and relevant to the Irish curriculum. The principle learning theories were examined and their pedagogical implications for post-primary teachers were discussed. The definition of learning styles was explored, different measurements were looked at and several internet based inventories were examined. The VARK questionnaire was administered to a …

Efficient Automatic Correction And Segmentation Based 3d Visualization Of Magnetic Resonance Images, Mikhail V. Milchenko

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the recent years, the demand for automated processing techniques for digital medical image volumes has increased substantially. Existing algorithms, however, still often require manual interaction, and newly developed automated techniques are often intended for a narrow segment of processing needs. The goal of this research was to develop algorithms suitable for fast and effective correction and advanced visualization of digital MR image volumes with minimal human operator interaction. This research has resulted in a number of techniques for automated processing of MR image volumes, including a novel MR inhomogeneity correction algorithm derivative surface fitting (dsf), automatic tissue detection algorithm …

Medical Image Enhancement, Alina Monica Trifas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Each image acquired from a medical imaging system is often part of a two-dimensional (2-D) image set whose total presents a three-dimensional (3-D) object for diagnosis. Unfortunately, sometimes these images are of poor quality. These distortions cause an inadequate object-of-interest presentation, which can result in inaccurate image analysis. Blurring is considered a serious problem. Therefore, “deblurring” an image to obtain better quality is an important issue in medical image processing. In our research, the image is initially decomposed. Contrast improvement is achieved by modifying the coefficients obtained from the decomposed image. Small coefficient values represent subtle details and are amplified …

Implementing Simple Protocols In Multiple Processors Control Applications, Steve Hsiung, Tyson Mccall, Corinne Ransberger

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Using microprocessor/microcontroller in various control applications is not only one of the major topics in Engineering Technology curricula, but also of interest in industry applications. To accomplish it correctly the process of designing application programs starts from the individual module development through extensive testing, verification, and modification. Applying these developed modules in a useful manner requires the links and integrations that lead to the practical project implementation. Frequently, in students' senior project designs and faculty's research plans, the microprocessor/microcontroller resources become scarce or cause conflicts during the modules' integration stage. To accommodate the shortfall of the resources and resolve any …

Security Governance: Its Impact On Security Culture, K. Koh, A. B. Ruighaver, S. B. Maynard, A. Ahmad

Research outputs pre 2011

While there is an overwhelming amount of literature that recognises the need for organisations to create a security culture in order to effectively manage security, little is known about how to create a good security culture or even what constitutes a good security culture. In this paper, we report on one of two case studies performed to examine how security governance influences security culture and in particular, the sense of responsibility and ownership of security. The results indicate that although the structural and functional mechanisms in security governance are influencing factors, it is the extent of social participation that may …

Risk Management In Crm Security Management, Mahdi Seify

Research outputs pre 2011

In an increasing competitive world, marketing survival can be depended simply on timely new information on customers and market trend. One of the most important strategies in CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is to capture enough information from customers and using this information carefully [Ryals , Tinsley]. Of course security of this information is very important in CRM data management [Bryan]. Data management is a method for scheduling and controlling data saving, recovering and processing. This activity has been done continually or periodically[Bryan]. Security level of this information depends on the security policy of the organization. CRM security policy is the …