Segmental body composition determination through a bioelectrical very large scale integration (VLSI) system

The purpose of this investigation was to develop new techniques to generate segmental assessments of body composition based on Segmental Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (SBIA). An equally important consideration was the design, simulation, development, and the software and hardware integration of the SBIA system. This integration was carried out with a Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) microcontroller that analyzed the measurements obtained from segments of the body, and provided full body and segmental Fat Free Mass (FFM) and Fat Mass (FM) percentages. Also, the issues related to the estimate of the body's composition in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) were addressed and investigated. This investigation demonstrated that the SBIA methodology provided accurate segmental body composition measurements. Disabled individuals are expected to benefit from these SBIA evaluations, as they are non-invasive methods, suitable for paralyzed individuals. The SBIA VLSI system may replace bulky, non flexible electronic modules attached to human bodies. ^

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) controller realization with Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) modules

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) is a system where a digital television service is delivered by using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure. There is considerable confusion and concern about the IPTV, since two different technologies have to be mended together to provide the end customers with some thing better than the conventional television. In this research, functional architecture of the IPTV system was investigated. Very Large Scale Integration based system for streaming server controller were designed and different ways of hosting a web server which can be used to send the control signals to the streaming server controller were studied. The web server accepts inputs from the keyboard and FPGA board switches and depending on the preset configuration the server will open a selected web page and also sends the control signals to the streaming server controller. It was observed that the applications run faster on PowerPC since it is embedded into the FPGA. Commercial market and Global deployment of IPTV were discussed.

A large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization geographic information system based on parallel map tiling

With the exponential increasing demands and uses of GIS data visualization system, such as urban planning, environment and climate change monitoring, weather simulation, hydrographic gauge and so forth, the geospatial vector and raster data visualization research, application and technology has become prevalent. However, we observe that current web GIS techniques are merely suitable for static vector and raster data where no dynamic overlaying layers. While it is desirable to enable visual explorations of large-scale dynamic vector and raster geospatial data in a web environment, improving the performance between backend datasets and the vector and raster applications remains a challenging technical issue. This dissertation is to implement these challenging and unimplemented areas: how to provide a large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization service with dynamic overlaying layers accessible from various client devices through a standard web browser, and how to make the large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization service as rapid as the static one. To accomplish these, a large-scale dynamic vector and raster data visualization geographic information system based on parallel map tiling and a comprehensive performance improvement solution are proposed, designed and implemented. They include: the quadtree-based indexing and parallel map tiling, the Legend String, the vector data visualization with dynamic layers overlaying, the vector data time series visualization, the algorithm of vector data rendering, the algorithm of raster data re-projection, the algorithm for elimination of superfluous level of detail, the algorithm for vector data gridding and re-grouping and the cluster servers side vector and raster data caching.

Design and construction of a portable force-reflecting manual controller for teleoperation systems

A man-machine system called teleoperator system has been developed to work in hazardous environments such as nuclear reactor plants. Force reflection is a type of force feedback in which forces experienced by the remote manipulator are fed back to the manual controller. In a force-reflecting teleoperation system, the operator uses the manual controller to direct the remote manipulator and receives visual information from a video image and/or graphical animation on the computer screen. This thesis presents the design of a portable Force-Reflecting Manual Controller (FRMC) for the teleoperation of tasks such as hazardous material handling, waste cleanup, and space-related operations. The work consists of the design and construction of a prototype 1-Degree-of-Freedom (DOF) FRMC, the development of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), and system integration. Two control strategies - PID and fuzzy logic controllers are developed and experimentally tested. The system response of each is analyzed and evaluated. In addition, the concept of a telesensation system is introduced, and a variety of design alternatives of a 3-DOF FRMC are proposed for future development.

VLSI testing and characterization system for micro electro-mechanical (MEM) sensors

The purpose of this investigation was to develop and implement a general purpose VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) Test Module based on a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) system to verify the mechanical behavior and performance of MEM sensors, with associated corrective capabilities; and to make use of the evolving System-C, a new open-source HDL (Hardware Description Language), for the design of the FPGA functional units. System-C is becoming widely accepted as a platform for modeling, simulating and implementing systems consisting of both hardware and software components. In this investigation, a Dual-Axis Accelerometer (ADXL202E) and a Temperature Sensor (TMP03) were used for the test module verification. Results of the test module measurement were analyzed for repeatability and reliability, and then compared to the sensor datasheet. Further study ideas were identified based on the study and results analysis. ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) design concepts were also being pursued.

Gesture Recognition Using Neural Networks Based on HW/SW Cosimulation Platform

Hardware/software (HW/SW) cosimulation integrates software simulation and hardware simulation simultaneously. Usually, HW/SW co-simulation platform is used to ease debugging and verification for very large-scale integration (VLSI) design. To accelerate the computation of the gesture recognition technique, an HW/SW implementation using field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology is presented in this paper. The major contributions of this work are: (1) a novel design of memory controller in the Verilog Hardware Description Language (Verilog HDL) to reduce memory consumption and load on the processor. (2) The testing part of the neural network algorithm is being hardwired to improve the speed and performance. The American Sign Language gesture recognition is chosen to verify the performance of the approach. Several experiments were carried out on four databases of the gestures (alphabet signs A to Z). (3) The major benefit of this design is that it takes only few milliseconds to recognize the hand gesture which makes it computationally more efficient.

Design and analysis of a folded meander dipole antenna using the MININEC program

The Mini-Numerical Electromagnetic Code (MININEC) program, a PC-Compatible version of the powerful NEC program, is used to design a new type of reduced-size antenna. The validity of the program to model simple well-known antennas, such as dipoles and monopoles, is first shown. More complex geometries such as folded dipoles, and meander dipole antennas are also analysed using the program. The final design geometry of a meander folded dipole is characterized with MININEC, yielding results that serve as the basis for the practical construction of the antenna. Finally, the laboratory work with a prototype antenna is described, and practical results are presented.

System design and resource management in the next-generation integrated WLAN and 3G cellular networks

Next-generation integrated wireless local area network (WLAN) and 3G cellular networks aim to take advantage of the roaming ability in a cellular network and the high data rate services of a WLAN. To ensure successful implementation of an integrated network, many issues must be carefully addressed, including network architecture design, resource management, quality-of-service (QoS), call admission control (CAC) and mobility management. ^ This dissertation focuses on QoS provisioning, CAC, and the network architecture design in the integration of WLANs and cellular networks. First, a new scheduling algorithm and a call admission control mechanism in IEEE 802.11 WLAN are presented to support multimedia services with QoS provisioning. The proposed scheduling algorithms make use of the idle system time to reduce the average packet loss of realtime (RT) services. The admission control mechanism provides long-term transmission quality for both RT and NRT services by ensuring the packet loss ratio for RT services and the throughput for non-real-time (NRT) services. ^ A joint CAC scheme is proposed to efficiently balance traffic load in the integrated environment. A channel searching and replacement algorithm (CSR) is developed to relieve traffic congestion in the cellular network by using idle channels in the WLAN. The CSR is optimized to minimize the system cost in terms of the blocking probability in the interworking environment. Specifically, it is proved that there exists an optimal admission probability for passive handoffs that minimizes the total system cost. Also, a method of searching the probability is designed based on linear-programming techniques. ^ Finally, a new integration architecture, Hybrid Coupling with Radio Access System (HCRAS), is proposed for lowering the average cost of intersystem communication (IC) and the vertical handoff latency. An analytical model is presented to evaluate the system performance of the HCRAS in terms of the intersystem communication cost function and the handoff cost function. Based on this model, an algorithm is designed to determine the optimal route for each intersystem communication. Additionally, a fast handoff algorithm is developed to reduce the vertical handoff latency.^

A conceptual ecological model to facilitate understanding the role of invasive species in large-scale ecosystem restoration

We developed a conceptual ecological model (CEM) for invasive species to help understand the role invasive exotics have in ecosystem ecology and their impacts on restoration activities. Our model, which can be applied to any invasive species, grew from the eco-regional conceptual models developed for Everglades restoration. These models identify ecological drivers, stressors, effects and attributes; we integrated the unique aspects of exotic species invasions and effects into this conceptual hierarchy. We used the model to help identify important aspects of invasion in the development of an invasive exotic plant ecological indicator, which is described a companion paper in this special issue journal. A key aspect of the CEM is that it is a general ecological model that can be tailored to specific cases and species, as the details of any invasion are unique to that invasive species. Our model encompasses the temporal and spatial changes that characterize invasion, identifying the general conditions that allow a species to become invasive in a de novo environment; it then enumerates the possible effects exotic species may have collectively and individually at varying scales and for different ecosystem properties, once a species becomes invasive. The model provides suites of characteristics and processes, as well as hypothesized causal relationships to consider when thinking about the effects or potential effects of an invasive exotic and how restoration efforts will affect these characteristics and processes. In order to illustrate how to use the model as a blueprint for applying a similar approach to other invasive species and ecosystems, we give two examples of using this conceptual model to evaluate the status of two south Florida invasive exotic plant species (melaleuca and Old World climbing fern) and consider potential impacts of these invasive species on restoration.

Towards simulation and emulation of large-scale computer networks

Developing analytical models that can accurately describe behaviors of Internet-scale networks is difficult. This is due, in part, to the heterogeneous structure, immense size and rapidly changing properties of today's networks. The lack of analytical models makes large-scale network simulation an indispensable tool for studying immense networks. However, large-scale network simulation has not been commonly used to study networks of Internet-scale. This can be attributed to three factors: 1) current large-scale network simulators are geared towards simulation research and not network research, 2) the memory required to execute an Internet-scale model is exorbitant, and 3) large-scale network models are difficult to validate. This dissertation tackles each of these problems. ^ First, this work presents a method for automatically enabling real-time interaction, monitoring, and control of large-scale network models. Network researchers need tools that allow them to focus on creating realistic models and conducting experiments. However, this should not increase the complexity of developing a large-scale network simulator. This work presents a systematic approach to separating the concerns of running large-scale network models on parallel computers and the user facing concerns of configuring and interacting with large-scale network models. ^ Second, this work deals with reducing memory consumption of network models. As network models become larger, so does the amount of memory needed to simulate them. This work presents a comprehensive approach to exploiting structural duplications in network models to dramatically reduce the memory required to execute large-scale network experiments. ^ Lastly, this work addresses the issue of validating large-scale simulations by integrating real protocols and applications into the simulation. With an emulation extension, a network simulator operating in real-time can run together with real-world distributed applications and services. As such, real-time network simulation not only alleviates the burden of developing separate models for applications in simulation, but as real systems are included in the network model, it also increases the confidence level of network simulation. This work presents a scalable and flexible framework to integrate real-world applications with real-time simulation.^

Development of effective approaches to the large-scale aerodynamic testing of low-rise buildings

Low-rise buildings are often subjected to high wind loads during hurricanes that lead to severe damage and cause water intrusion. It is therefore important to estimate accurate wind pressures for design purposes to reduce losses. Wind loads on low-rise buildings can differ significantly depending upon the laboratory in which they were measured. The differences are due in large part to inadequate simulations of the low-frequency content of atmospheric velocity fluctuations in the laboratory and to the small scale of the models used for the measurements. A new partial turbulence simulation methodology was developed for simulating the effect of low-frequency flow fluctuations on low-rise buildings more effectively from the point of view of testing accuracy and repeatability than is currently the case. The methodology was validated by comparing aerodynamic pressure data for building models obtained in the open-jet 12-Fan Wall of Wind (WOW) facility against their counterparts in a boundary-layer wind tunnel. Field measurements of pressures on Texas Tech University building and Silsoe building were also used for validation purposes. The tests in partial simulation are freed of integral length scale constraints, meaning that model length scales in such testing are only limited by blockage considerations. Thus the partial simulation methodology can be used to produce aerodynamic data for low-rise buildings by using large-scale models in wind tunnels and WOW-like facilities. This is a major advantage, because large-scale models allow for accurate modeling of architectural details, testing at higher Reynolds number, using greater spatial resolution of the pressure taps in high pressure zones, and assessing the performance of aerodynamic devices to reduce wind effects. The technique eliminates a major cause of discrepancies among measurements conducted in different laboratories and can help to standardize flow simulations for testing residential homes as well as significantly improving testing accuracy and repeatability. Partial turbulence simulation was used in the WOW to determine the performance of discontinuous perforated parapets in mitigating roof pressures. The comparisons of pressures with and without parapets showed significant reductions in pressure coefficients in the zones with high suctions. This demonstrated the potential of such aerodynamic add-on devices to reduce uplift forces.

Design and development of a one-degree-of-freedom force-reflecting manual controller prototype for teleoperation

The present research is carried out from the viewpoint of primarily space applications where human lives may be in danger if they are to work under these conditions. This work proposes to develop a one-degree-of-freedom (1-DOF) force-reflecting manual controller (FRMC) prototype for teleoperation, and address the effects of time delays commonly found in space applications where the control is accomplished via the earth-based control stations. To test the FRMC, a mobile robot (PPRK) and a slider-bar were developed and integrated to the 1-DOF FRMC. The software developed in Visual Basic is able to telecontrol any platform that uses an SV203 controller through the internet and it allows the remote system to send feedback information which may be in the form of visual or force signals. Time delay experiments were conducted on the platform and the effects of time delay on the FRMC system operation have been studied and delineated.

Design and analysis of micro-channel heat-exchanger embedded in Low Temperature Co-fire Ceramic (LTCC)

Increased device density, switching speeds of integrated circuits and decrease in package size is placing new demands for high power thermal-management. The convectional method of forced air cooling with passive heat sink can handle heat fluxes up-to 3-5W/cm2; however current microprocessors are operating at levels of 100W/cm2, This demands the usage of novel thermal-management systems. In this work, water-cooling systems with active heat sink are embedded in the substrate. The research involved fabricating LTCC substrates of various configurations - an open-duct substrate, the second with thermal vias and the third with thermal vias and free-standing metal columns and metal foil. Thermal testing was performed experimentally and these results are compared with CFD results. An overall thermal resistance for the base substrate is demonstrated to be 3.4oC/W-cm2. Addition of thermal vias reduces the effective resistance of the system by 7times and further addition of free standing columns reduced it by 20times.

The impact of information technology on organizations: A study of enterprise resource planning system influences on job design and organizational culture

The primary purpose of this research is to study the linkage between perceived job design characteristics and information system environment characteristics before and after the replacement of a legacy information system with a new type of information system (referred to as an Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system). A public state University implementing an academic version of an ERP system was selected for the study. Three survey instruments were used to examine the perception of the information system, the job characteristics, and the organizational culture before and after the system implementation. The research participants included two large departments resulting in a sample of 130 workers. Research questions were analyzed using multivariate procedures including factor analysis, path analysis, step-wise regression, and matched pair analysis. ^ Results indicated that the ERP system has introduced new elements into the working environment that has changed the perception of how the job design characteristics and organization culture dimensions are viewed by the workers. The understanding of how the perceived system characteristics align with an individual's perceived job design characteristics is supported by each of the system characteristics significantly correlated in the proposed direction. The stronger support of this relationship becomes visible in the causal flow of the effects seen in the path diagram and in the step-wise regression. The perceived job design characteristics aligning with dimensions of organizational culture are not as strong as the literature suggests. Although there are significant correlations between the job and culture variables, only one relationship can be seen in the causal flow. ^ This research has demonstrated that system characteristics of ERP do contribute to the perception of change in an organization and do support organizational culture behaviors and job characteristics. ^

An integrated framework for ensuring the quality of software design

Software development is an extremely complex process, during which human errors are introduced and result in faulty software systems. It is highly desirable and important that these errors can be prevented and detected as early as possible. Software architecture design is a high-level system description, which embodies many system features and properties that are eventually implemented in the final operational system. Therefore, methods for modeling and analyzing software architecture descriptions can help prevent and reveal human errors and thus improve software quality. Furthermore, if an analyzed software architecture description can be used to derive a partial software implementation, especially when the derivation can be automated, significant benefits can be gained with regard to both the system quality and productivity. This dissertation proposes a framework for an integrated analysis on both of the design and implementation. To ensure the desirable properties of the architecture model, we apply formal verification by using the model checking technique. To ensure the desirable properties of the implementation, we develop a methodology and the associated tool to translate an architecture specification into an implementation written in the combination of Arch-Java/Java/AspectJ programming languages. The translation is semi-automatic so that many manual programming errors can be prevented. Furthermore, the translation inserting monitoring code into the implementation such that runtime verification can be performed, this provides additional assurance for the quality of the implementation. Moreover, validations for the translations from architecture model to program are provided. Finally, several case studies are experimented and presented.