Other Computer Sciences Commons^™

Just-In-Time Power Gating Of Gasp Circuits, Prachi Gulab Padwal

Dissertations and Theses

In modern integrated circuits, one way to reduce power consumption is to turn off power to parts of the circuit when those are idle. This method is called power gating. This thesis presents a state-preserving technique to achieve power savings in GasP family of asynchronous circuits by turning off the power when the circuit is idle. The power control logic turns on the power in anticipation of the receiving data. The power control logic turns off the power when the stage is idle either because it is empty or because the pipeline is clogged. The low logical effort of GasP …

Human Performance Regression Testing, Amanda Swearngin, Myra B. Cohen, Bonnie E. John, Rachel K. E. Bellamy

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

As software systems evolve, new interface features such as keyboard shortcuts and toolbars are introduced. While it is common to regression test the new features for functional correctness, there has been less focus on systematic regression testing for usability, due to the effort and time involved in human studies. Cognitive modeling tools such as CogTool provide some help by computing predictions of user performance, but they still require manual effort to describe the user interface and tasks, limiting regression testing efforts. In recent work, we developed CogTool-Helper to reduce the effort required to generate human performance models of existing systems. …

Dynamic Sequent Calculus For The Logic Of Epistemic Actions And Knowledge, Giuseppe Greco, Alexander Kurz, Alessandra Palmigiano

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

"Dynamic Logics (DLs) form a large family of nonclassical logics, and perhaps the one enjoying the widest range of applications. Indeed, they are designed to formalize change caused by actions of diverse nature: updates on the memory state of a computer, displacements of moving robots in an environment, measurements in models of quantum physics, belief revisions, knowledge updates, etc. In each of these areas, DL-formulas express properties of the model encoding the present state of affairs, as well as the pre- and post-conditions of a given action. Actions are semantically represented as transformations of one model into another, encoding the …

Accelerated Data Delivery Architecture, Michael L. Grecol

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This paper introduces the Accelerated Data Delivery Architecture (ADDA). ADDA establishes a framework to distribute transactional data and control consistency to achieve fast access to data, distributed scalability and non-blocking concurrency control by using a clean declarative interface. It is designed to be used with web-based business applications. This framework uses a combination of traditional Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) combined with a distributed Not Only SQL (NoSQL) database and a browser-based database. It uses a single physical and conceptual database schema designed for a standard RDBMS driven application. The design allows the architect to assign consistency levels to entities …

Relation Lifting, With An Application To The Many-Valued Cover Modality, Marta Bílková, Alexander Kurz, Daniela Petrişan, Jirí Velebil

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We introduce basic notions and results about relation liftings on categories enriched in a commutative quantale. We derive two necessary and sufficient conditions for a 2-functor T to admit a functorial relation lifting: one is the existence of a distributive law of T over the “powerset monad” on categories, one is the preservation by T of “exactness” of certain squares. Both characterisations are generalisations of the “classical” results known for set functors: the first characterisation generalises the existence of a distributive law over the genuine powerset monad, the second generalises preservation of weak pullbacks.

The results presented in this paper …

Nominal Coalgebraic Data Types With Applications To Lambda Calculus, Alexander Kurz, Daniela Petrişan, Paula Severi, Fer-Jan De Vries

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We investigate final coalgebras in nominal sets. This allows us to define types of infinite data with binding for which all constructions automatically respect alpha equivalence. We give applications to the infinitary lambda calculus.

Nominal Computation Theory (Dagstuhl Seminar 13422), Mikołaj Bojanczyk, Bartek Klin, Alexander Kurz, Andrew M. Pitts

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 13422 “Nominal Computation Theory”. The underlying theme of the seminar was nominal sets (also known as sets with atoms or Fraenkel-Mostowski sets) and they role and applications in three distinct research areas: automata over infinite alphabets, program semantics using nominal sets and nominal calculi of concurrent processes.

Epistemic Updates On Algebras, Alexander Kurz, Alessandra Palmigiano

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We develop the mathematical theory of epistemic updates with the tools of duality theory. We focus on the Logic of Epistemic Actions and Knowledge (EAK), introduced by Baltag-Moss-Solecki, without the common knowledge operator. We dually characterize the product update construction of EAK as a certain construction transforming the complex algebras associated with the given model into the complex algebra associated with the updated model. This dual characterization naturally generalizes to much wider classes of algebras, which include, but are not limited to, arbitrary BAOs and arbitrary modal expansions of Heyting algebras (HAOs). As an application of this dual characterization, we …

Nominal Regular Expressions For Languages Over Infinite Alphabets, Alexander Kurz, Tomoyuki Suzuki, Emilio Tuosto

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We propose regular expressions to abstractly model and study properties of resource-aware computations. Inspired by nominal techniques – as those popular in process calculi – we extend classical regular expressions with names (to model computational resources) and suitable operators (for allocation, deallocation, scoping of, and freshness conditions on resources). We discuss classes of such nominal regular expressions, show how such expressions have natural interpretations in terms of languages over infinite alphabets, and give Kleene theorems to characterise their formal languages in terms of nominal automata.

Temporal Data Mining Of Uncertain Water Reservoir Data, Abhinaya Mohan, Peter Revesz

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

This paper describes the challenges of data mining uncertain water reservoir data based on past human operations in order to learn from them reservoir policies that can be automated for the future operation of the water reservoirs. Records of human operations of water reservoirs often contain uncertain data. For example, the recorded amounts of water released and retained in the water reservoirs are typically uncertain, i.e., they are bounded by some minimum and maximum values. Moreover, the time of release is also uncertain, i.e., typically only monthly or weekly amounts are recorded. To increase the effectiveness of data mining of …

Wireless Sensor Network For Wine Fermentation, Kerry Scharfglass, Andrew Lehmer

Computer Engineering

This project implements an automated temperature monitoring system for wine fermentation which is affordable, easy to use, and scalable to typical small winery setups. To realize these requirements, we implemented the system as a wireless sensor network utilizing commercial off-the-shelf hardware. Temperature and system diagnostic information is communicated wirelessly in a peer-to-peer network topology such that all information flows toward an aggregating server. The server makes the temperature information available over the Internet via a web application and alerts the winemaker by email when the temperature has left acceptable bounds that the winemaker may configure. This project also involved materials …

Check Image Processing: Webp Conversion And Micr Scan Android Application, Trevor Bliss

Computer Engineering

As more users favor smartphones over computers for simple tasks, small businesses are constantly exploring mobile options to present to their customers. This write-up documents an Android application designed for a small company, which allows users to send pictures of checks to the company’s servers for processing. The picture is taken with the devices built-in camera and is converted to Google’s new image format, WebP. The company’s server processes the check and returns the check’s MICR code as a response. This application leverages the Android NDK and JNI to use Google’s open source image conversion libraries as well as socket …

Application Of Inter-Die Rank Statistics In Defect Detection, Vivek Bakshi

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents a statistical method to identify the test escapes. Test often acquires parametric measurements as a function of logical state of a chip. The usual method of classifying chips as pass or fail is to compare each state measurement to a test limit. Subtle manufacturing defects are escaping the test limits due to process variations in deep sub-micron technologies which results in mixing of healthy and faulty parametric test measurements. This thesis identifies the chips with subtle defects by using rank order of the parametric measurements. A hypothesis is developed that a defect is likely to disturb the …

Measurement And Modeling Of Passive Surface Mount Devices On Fr4 Substrates, Rahulkumar Sadanand Koche

Dissertations and Theses

Passive components like resistors, capacitors and inductors are used in every electronic system. These are the very basic components which affect the system performance at higher frequencies and it is necessary to understand and model the behavior of these components in a very accurate manner. This work focuses on utilizing Printed Circuit Board (PCB) test boards, or fixtures, made of FR4 for characterizing Surface Mount Device (SMD) components. Agilent's Advanced Design System (ADS) microwave circuit simulation software was used for designing the microstrip transmission lines as well as for generating the layout for manufacturing of the PCB. SMD resistors, capacitors …

Completeness For The Coalgebraic Cover Modality, Clemens Kupke, Alexander Kurz, Yde Venema

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We study the finitary version of the coalgebraic logic introduced by L. Moss. The syntax of this logic, which is introduced uniformly with respect to a coalgebraic type functor, required to preserve weak pullbacks, extends that of classical propositional logic with a so-called coalgebraic cover modality depending on the type functor. Its semantics is defined in terms of a categorically defined relation lifting operation.

As the main contributions of our paper we introduce a derivation system, and prove that it provides a sound and complete axiomatization for the collection of coalgebraically valid inequalities. Our soundness and completeness proof is algebraic, …

Evolved Design Of A Nonlinear Proportional Integral Derivative (Npid) Controller, Shubham Chopra

Dissertations and Theses

This research presents a solution to the problem of tuning a PID controller for a nonlinear system. Many systems in industrial applications use a PID controller to control a plant or the process. Conventional PID controllers work in linear systems but are less effective when the plant or the process is nonlinear because PID controllers cannot adapt the gain parameters as needed. In this research we design a Nonlinear PID (NPID) controller using a fuzzy logic system based on the Mamdani type Fuzzy Inference System to control three different DC motor systems. This fuzzy system is responsible for adapting the …

Coalgebraic Logics (Dagstuhl Seminar 12411), Ernst-Erich Doberkat, Alexander Kurz

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

This report documents the program and the outcomes of Dagstuhl Seminar 12411 “Coalgebraic Logics”. The seminar deals with recent developments in the area of coalgebraic logic, a branch of logics which combines modal logics with coalgebraic semantics. Modal logic finds its uses when reasoning about behavioural and temporal properties of computation and communication, coalgebras have evolved into a general theory of systems. Consequently, it is natural to combine both areas for a mathematical description of system specification. Coalgebraic logics are closely related to the broader categories semantics/formal methods and verification/logic.

Sensing Through The Continent: Towards Monitoring Migratory Birds Using Cellular Sensor Networks, David Anthony, William P. Bennett, Mehmet C. Vuran, Matthew B. Dwyer, Sebastian Elbaum, Anne Lacy, Mike Engels, Walter Wehtje

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

This paper presents CraneTracker, a novel sensor platform for monitoring migratory birds. The platform is designed to monitor Whooping Cranes, an endangered species that conducts an annual migration of 4, 000 km between southern Texas and north-central Canada. CraneTracker includes a rich set of sensors, a multi-modal radio, and power control circuitry for sustainable, continental-scale information delivery during migration. The need for large-scale connectivity motivates the use of cellular technology in low-cost sensor platforms augmented by a low-power transceiver for ad-hoc connectivity. This platform leads to a new class of cellular sensor networks (CSNs) for time-critical and mobile sensing applications. …

Strongly Complete Logics For Coalgebras, Alexander Kurz, Jiří Rosický

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Coalgebras for a functor model different types of transition systems in a uniform way. This paper focuses on a uniform account of finitary logics for set-based coalgebras. In particular, a general construction of a logic from an arbitrary set-functor is given and proven to be strongly complete under additional assumptions. We proceed in three parts.

Part I argues that sifted colimit preserving functors are those functors that preserve universal algebraic structure. Our main theorem here states that a functor preserves sifted colimits if and only if it has a finitary presentation by operations and equations. Moreover, the presentation of the …

Investigating The Role Of The Internet In Women And Minority Stem Participation: A Case Study Of Two Florida Engineering Programs, Arland Nguema Ndong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite our awareness of the fascination modern humans have with the Internet, little is known about how and why colleges and universities create and maintain Websites. At the most general level, in this case study, I hypothesize that university Websites serve as communication and marketing tools in attracting students. At the most specific level, I postulate that civil engineering programs with Web pages depicting images of women and minorities would be more successful in recruiting and retaining women and students of color than civil engineering programs with Web pages displaying fewer or no images of women and minorities. The primary …

A Cost-Benefit Analysis Of A Campus Computing Grid, Preston M. Smith

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Any major research institution has a substantial number of computer systems on its campus, often in the scale of tens of thousands. Given that a large amount of scientific computing is appropriate for execution in an opportunistic environment, a campus grid is an inexpensive way to build a powerful computational resource. What is missing, though, is a model for making an informed decision on the cost-effectives of a campus grid. In this thesis, the author describes a model for measuring the costs and benefits of building a campus computing resource based on the institution’s existing investment in computing hardware.

For …

A Modeling And Simulation Framework For Electrokinetic Nanoparticle Treatment, James Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations

The focus of this research is to model and provide a simulation framework for the packing of differently sized spheres within a hard boundary. The novel contributions of this dissertation are the cylinders of influence (COI) method and sectoring method implementations. The impetus for this research stems from modeling electrokinetic nanoparticle (EN) treatment, which packs concrete pores with differently sized nanoparticles. We show an improved speed of the simulation compared to previously published results of EN treatment simulation while obtaining similar porosity reduction results. We mainly focused on readily, commercially available particle sizes of 2 nm and 20 nm particles, …

Development Of Visualization Facility At The Gis And Remote Sensing Core Lab, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Haroon Stephen, William J. Smith, Zhongwei Liu

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Presentations

Visualization using advanced computational and graphic equipment has become a standard way of present day research. Availability of low cost and fast processing units, high resolution displays with graphic processing units, and specialized software has brought complex visualization capabilities to an office desktop. Nevertheless, when dealing with large datasets such as, global climate, geospatial, and social data the office desktop falls short and calls for a centralized visualization facility with high end computing and graphics equipment.

Visualization Facility at GIS and Remote Sensing Core Lab would be a useful and important addition to the UNLV IT infrastructure. It would provide …

Generic Trace Logics, Christian Kissig, Alexander Kurz

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We combine previous work on coalgebraic logic with the coalgebraic traces semantics of Hasuo, Jacobs, and Sokolova.

Diagnosis Of Multiple Scan-Chain Faults In The Presence Of System Logic Defects, Zhen Chen, Sharad C. Seth, Dong Xiang, Bhargab B. Bhattacharya

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

We present a combined hardware-software based approach to scan-chain diagnosis, when the outcome of a test may be affected by system faults occurring in the logic outside of the scan chain. For the hardware component we adopt the double-tree scan (DTS) chain architecture, which has previously been shown to be effective in reducing power, volume, and application time of tests for stuck-at and delay faults. We develop a version of flush test which can resolve a multiple fault in a DTS chain to a small number of suspect candidates. Further resolution to a unique multiple fault is enabled by the …

Relation Liftings On Preorders And Posets, Marta Bílková, Alexander Kurz, Daniela Petrişan, Jiří Velebil

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The category Rel(Set) of sets and relations can be described as a category of spans and as the Kleisli category for the powerset monad. A set-functor can be lifted to a functor on Rel(Set) iff it preserves weak pullbacks. We show that these results extend to the enriched setting, if we replace sets by posets or preorders. Preservation of weak pullbacks becomes preservation of exact lax squares. As an application we present Moss’s coalgebraic over posets.

Towards Nominal Formal Languages, Alexander Kurz, Tomoyuki Suzuki, Emilio Tuosto

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

We introduce formal languages over infinite alphabets where words may contain binders.We define the notions of nominal language, nominal monoid, and nominal regular expressions. Moreover, we extend history-dependent automata (HD-automata) by adding stack, and study the recognisability of nominal languages.

Cloud Computing:Strategies For Cloud Computing Adoption, Faith Shimba

Dissertations

The advent of cloud computing in recent years has sparked an interest from different organisations, institutions and users to take advantage of web applications. This is a result of the new economic model for the Information Technology (IT) department that cloud computing promises. The model promises a shift from an organisation required to invest heavily for limited IT resources that are internally managed, to a model where the organisation can buy or rent resources that are managed by a cloud provider, and pay per use. Cloud computing also promises scalability of resources and on-demand availability of resources.

Although, the adoption …

Engaging Students In Real-Life Data And Network Security Assessment Of Pace Computing Environment, Narayan Murthy, Ravi Ravishanker

Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics

No abstract provided.

Optimization Of P3ht-Pcbm Polymer Solar Cells Through Device Simulation And Manufacturing, James Boom

Computer Engineering

Given a good model and implementation of that model, computer simulation can be used to reduce the time and material costs of research. To this end I worked with other students to manufacture, test and simulate the single layer P3HT-PCBM solar cell. Using the data collected from this project, future work can then be done with the project's simulator to further optimize these types of solar cell devices.