In situations where information infrastructure is destroyed or not available, on-demand information infrastructure is pivotal for the success of rescue missions. In this paper, a drone-carried on demand information infrastructure for long-distance WiFi transmission system is developed. It can be used in the areas including emergency response, public event, and battlefield. The WiFi network can be connected to the Internet to extend WiFi access to areas where WiFi and other Internet infrastructures are not available. In order to establish a local area network to propagate WIFI service, directional antennas and wireless routers are used to create it. Due to unstable working condition on the flying drones, a precise heading turning stage is designed to maintain the two directional antennas facing to each other. Even if external interferences change the heading of the drones, the stages will automatically rotate back to where it should be to offset the bias. Also, to maintain the same flying altitude, a ground controller is designed to measure the height of the drones so that the directional antennas can communicate to each other successfully. To verify the design of the whole system, quite a few field experiments were performed. Experiments results indicates the design is reliable, …

This thesis presents the design of a communication system (PRCS) which improves on all aspects of the current state of the art 4G communication system Long Term Evolution (LTE) including peak to average power ratio (PAPR), data reliability, spectral efficiency and complexity using the most recent state of the art research in the field combined with novel implementations. This research is relevant and important to the field of electrical and communication engineering because it provides benefits to consumers in the form of more reliable data with higher speeds as well as a reduced burden on hardware original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The results presented herein show up to a 3 dB reduction in PAPR, less than 10-5 bit errors at 7.5 dB signal to noise ratio (SNR) using 4QAM, up to 3 times increased throughput in the uplink mode and 10 times reduced channel coding complexity.

The thesis represents the design for dual-band quarter wavelength and half wavelength microstrip transmission line. Chapter 2 proposed the design of a novel dual-band asymmetric pi-shaped short-circuited quarter wavelength microstrip transmission line working at frequencies 1GHz and 1.55 GHz for 50Ω transmission line and at frequencies 1GHz and 1.43GHz for 60Ω transmission line. Chapter 3 proposed the design of a novel dual-band quarter wavelength microstrip transmission line with asymmetrically allocated open stubs and short-circuited stubs working at frequencies 1GHz and 1.32GHz. Chapter 4 proposed the design of dual-band pi-shaped open stub half wavelength microstrip transmission line working at frequencies 1GHz and 2.07GHz. Numerical simulations are performed both in HyperLynx 3D EM and in circuit simulator ADS for all of the proposed designs to measure the return loss (S11) and insertion loss (S12) in dB and phase response for S12 in degree.

The research reported here deals with the early characterization of Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common degenerative disease of the human motor system after Alzheimer’s. PD results from the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra region of the brain. Its occurrence is highly correlated with the aging population whose numbers increase with the healthcare benefits of a longer life. Observation of motor control symptoms associated with PD, such as gait and speech analysis, is most often used to evaluate, detect, and diagnose PD. Since speech and some delicate motor functions have provided early detection signs of PD, reliable analysis of these features is a promising objective diagnostic technique for early intervention with any remedial measures. We implement and study here three PD diagnostic methods and their correlation between each other’s results and with the motor functions in subjects diagnosed with and without PD. One initial test documented well in the literature deals with feature analysis of voice during phonation to determine dysphonia measures. Features of the motor function of two fingers were extracted in tests titled “Motor function of alternating finger tapping on a computer keyboard” and “Motor function of the index and thumb finger tapping with …

Multi band technology helps in getting multiple operating frequencies using a single microwave device. This thesis presents the design of dual and tri band microwave devices using coupled transmission line structures. Chapter 2 presents the design of a novel dual band transmission line structure using coupled lines. In chapter 3, Design of a dual band branch line coupler and a dual band Wilkinson power divider are proposed using the novel dual band transmission line structure presented in the previous chapter. In chapter 4, Design of a tri band transmission line structure by extending the dual band structure is presented. The Conclusion and future work are presented in chapter 5.

This research discusses how the design of a tornado forward error correcting channel code (FEC) sends digital data stream profiles to the receiver. The complete design was based on the Tornado channel code, binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation on a Gaussian channel (AWGN). The communication link was simulated by using Matlab, which shows the theoretical systems efficiency. Then the data stream was input as data to be simulated communication systems using Matlab. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the audience to a simulation technique that has been successfully used to determine how well a FEC expected to work when transferring digital data streams. The goal is to use this data to show how FEC optimizes a digital data stream to gain a better digital communications systems. The results conclude by making comparisons of different possible styles for the Tornado FEC code.

As the technology is advances the reduced size of hardware gives rise to an additive 1/f baseband noise. This additive 1/f noise is a system noise generated due to miniaturization of hardware and affects the lower frequencies. Though 1/f noise does not show much effect in wide band channels because of its nature to affect only certain frequencies, 1/f noise becomes a prominent in OFDM communication systems where narrow band channels are used. in this thesis, I study the effects of 1/f noise on the OFDM systems and implement algorithms for estimation and suppression of the noise using Kalman filter. Suppression of the noise is achieved by subtracting the estimated noise from the received noise. I show that the performance of the system is considerably improved by applying the 1/f noise suppression.

This thesis investigates the design and implementation of wireless communication system over the GNU Radio. Wireless applications are on the rise with advent of new devices, therefore there is a need to transfer the hardware complexity to software. This development enables software radio function with minimum hardware dependency. the purpose of this thesis is to design a system that will transmit compressed data via Software Defined Radio (SDR). Some parameters such as modulation scheme, bit rate can be changed to achieve the desired quality of service. in this thesis GNU (GNU’s not unix) radio is used while the hardware structure is Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP). in order to accomplish the goal, a compression technique called H264 (MPEG_4) encoding is applied for converting data into compressed format. the encoder was implemented in C++ to get compressed data. After encoding, the transmitter reads the compressed data and starts modulation. After modulation, the transmitter put the packets into USRP and sends it to the receiver. Once packets are received they are demodulated and then decoded to recover the original data.

In today’s fast paced world, as the number of stations of television programming offered is increasing rapidly, time accessible to watch them remains same or decreasing. Sports videos are typically lengthy and they appeal to a massive crowd. Though sports video is lengthy, most of the viewer’s desire to watch specific segments of the video which are fascinating, like a home-run in a baseball or goal in soccer i.e., users prefer to watch highlights to save time. When associated to the entire span of the video, these segments form only a minor share. Hence these videos need to be summarized for effective presentation and data management. This thesis explores the ability to extract highlights automatically using MPEG-7 features and hidden Markov model (HMM), so that viewing time can be reduced. Video is first segmented into scene shots, in which the detection of the shot is the fundamental task. After the video is segmented into shots, extraction of key frames allows a suitable representation of the whole shot. Feature extraction is crucial processing step in the classification, video indexing and retrieval system. Frame features such as color, motion, texture, edges are extracted from the key frames. A baseball highlight contains certain …

In this thesis, I introduce a promising framework for representing an air traffic flow (stream) and flow-management action operating under weather uncertainty. I propose to use a meshed queuing and Markov-chain model---specifically, a queuing model whose service-rates are modulated by an underlying Markov chain describing weather-impact evolution---to capture traffic management in an uncertain environment. Two techniques for characterizing flow-management performance using the model are developed, namely 1) a master-Markov-chain representation technique that yields accurate results but at relatively high computational cost, and 2) a jump-linear system-based approximation that has promising scalability. The model formulation and two analysis techniques are illustrated with numerous examples. Based on this initial study, I believe that the interfaced weather-impact and traffic-flow model analyzed here holds promise to inform strategic flow contingency management in NextGen.

In this thesis, I present my study on the impact of multi-group network structure on the performance of consensus building strategies, and the preliminary mathematical formulation of the problem on improving the performance of the National Airspace system (NAS) through long-term investment. The first part of the thesis is concerned with a structural approach to the consensus building problem in multi-group distributed sensor networks (DSNs) that can be represented by bipartite graph. Direct inference of the convergence behavior of consensus strategies from multi-group DSN structure is one of the contributions of this thesis. The insights gained from the analysis facilitate the design and development of DSNs that meet specific performance criteria. The other part of the thesis is concerned with long-term planning and development of the NAS at a network level, by formulating the planning problem as a resource allocation problem for a flow network. The network-level model viewpoint on NAS planning and development will give insight to the structure of future NAS and will allow evaluation of various paradigms for the planning problem.

With the rapid development of the modern technology, radio frequency and microwave systems are playing more and more important roles. Since the time the first microwave device was invented, they have been leading not only the military but also our daily life to a new era. In order to make the devices have more practical applications, more and more strict requirements have been imposed. For example, good adaptability, reduced cost and shrank size are highly required. In this thesis, three devices are designed based on this requirement. At first, a symmetric four-port microwave varactor based 90-degree directional coupler with tunable coupling ratios and reconfigurable responses is presented. The proposed coupler is designed based on the modified structure of a crossover, where varactors are loaded. Then, a novel reconfigurable 3-dB directional coupler is presented. Varactors and inductors are loaded to the device to realize the reconfigurable performance. By adjusting the voltage applied to the varactors, the proposed coupler can be reconfigured from a branch-line coupler (90-degree coupler) to a rat-race coupler (180 degree coupler) and vice versa. At last, two types (Type-I and Type-II) of microwave baluns with generalized structures are presented. Different from the conventional transmission-line-based baluns where λ/2 transmission …

Networks of communicating agents require distributed algorithms for a variety of tasks in the field of network analysis and control. For applications such as swarms of autonomous vehicles, ad hoc and wireless sensor networks, and such military and civilian applications as exploring and patrolling a robust autonomous system that uses a distributed algorithm for self-partitioning can be significantly helpful. A single team of autonomous vehicles in a field may need to self-dissemble into multiple teams, conducive to completing multiple control tasks. Moreover, because communicating agents are subject to changes, namely, addition or failure of an agent or link, a distributed or decentralized algorithm is favorable over having a central agent. A framework to help with the study of self-partitioning of such multi agent systems that have most basic mobility model not only saves our time in conception but also gives us a cost effective prototype without negotiating the physical realization of the proposed idea. In this thesis I present my work on the implementation of a flexible and distributed stochastic partitioning algorithm on the Lego® Mindstorms’ NXT on a graphical programming platform using National Instruments’ LabVIEW™ forming a team of communicating agents via NXT-Bee radio module. We single out mobility, …

This thesis presents a brief introduction to microwave components and technology. It also presents two novel dual-band designs, their analysis, topology, simulation and fabrication. In chapter 2, a novel dual-band bandpass filter using asymmetric stub-loaded stepped-impedance resonators (SLSIRs) operating at 1 and 2.6 GHz is shown. This type of design applies suitable arrangements to improve the filter’s performance. Then, in chapter 3, a novel dual-band balun (transforms unbalanced input signals to balanced output signals or vice versa) operating at 1.1 and 2 GHz with flexible frequency ratios is presented, which has more advantages in microwave applications. Then, conclusion and future works are discussed in chapter 4.

Sensors are used to convert physical quantity into numerical data. Various types of sensors can be coupled together to make a single node. A distributed array of these nodes can be deployed to collect environmental data by using appropriate sensors. Application of low powered short range radio transceivers as a communication medium between spatially distributed sensor nodes is known as wireless sensor network. In this thesis I build such a network by using Arduino, Raspberry Pi and XBee. My goal was to accomplish a prototype system so that the collected data can be stored and managed both from local and remote locations. The system was targeted for both indoor and outdoor environment. As a part of the development a controlling application was developed to manage the sensor nodes, wireless transmission, to collect and store data using a database management service. Raspberry Pi was used as base station and webserver. Few web based application was developed for configuring the network, real time monitoring, and database management. Whole system functions as a single entity. The use of open source hardware and software made it possible to keep the cost of the system low. The successful development of the system can be considered …

A wearable body temperature sensor would allow for early detection of fever or infection, as well as frequent and accurate hassle-free recording. This thesis explores the design of a body-temperature-sensing device inkjet-printed on a flexible substrate. All structures were first modeled by first-principles, theoretical calculations, and then simulated in HFSS. A variety of planar square inductor geometries were studied before selecting an optimal design. The designs were fabricated using multiple techniques and compared to the simulation results. It was determined that inductance must be carefully measured and documented to ensure good functionality. The same is true for parallel-plate and interdigitated capacitors. While inductance remains relatively constant with temperature, the capacitance of the device with a temperature-sensitive dielectric layer will result in a shift in the resonant frequency as environmental or ambient temperature changes. This resonant frequency can be wirelessly detected, with no battery required for the sensing device, from which the temperature can be deduced. From this work, the optimized version of the design comprises of conductive silver in with a temperature-sensitive graphene oxide layer, intended for inkjet-printing on flexible polyimide substrates. Graphene oxide demonstrates a high dielectric permittivity with good sensing capabilities and high accuracy. This work pushes the …

In this work, we study the properties and device applications of MoS2, black phosphorus, MoOx, and NbSe2. We first start with the design, fabrication, and characterization of ultra-high responsivity photodetectors based on mesoscopic multilayer MoS2. The device architecture is comprised of a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector, where Mo was used as the contact metal to suspended MoS2 membranes. The dominant photocurrent mechanism was determined to be the photoconductive effect, while a contribution from the photogating effect was also noted from trap-states that yielded a wide spectral photoresponse from UV-to-IR with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) ~ 104. From time-resolved photocurrent measurements, a fast decay time and response time were obtained with a stream of incoming ON/OFF white light pulses. Another interesting semiconductor 2D material that has attracted special attention due to its small bandgap and ultra-high hole mobility is the black phosphorus. An analysis of the optoelectronic properties and photocurrent generation mechanisms in two-dimensional (2D) multilayer crystallites of black phosphorus (BP) was conducted from 350 K down to cryogenic temperatures using a broad-band white light source. The Mo-BP interface yielded a low Schottky barrier "φ" _"SB" ~ -28.3 meV and a high photoresponsivity R of ~ 2.43 x 105 A/W at …

Although wireless sensor networks have been successfully used for environmental monitoring, one of the major challenges that this technology has been facing is supplying continuous and reliable electrical power during long-term field deployment. Batteries require repetitive visits to the deployment site to replace them once discharged; admittedly, they can be recharged from solar panels, but this only works in open areas where solar radiation is unrestricted. This dissertation introduces a novel approach to design and implement a reliable efficient solar energy harvester to continuously, and autonomously, provide power to wireless sensor nodes for long-term applications. The system uses supercapacitors charged by a solar panel and is designed to reduce power consumption to very low levels. Field tests were conducted for more than a year of continuous operation and under a variety of conditions, including areas under dense foliage. The resulting long-term field data demonstrates the feasibility and sustainability of the harvester system for challenging applications. In addition, we analyzed solar radiation data and supercapacitor charging behavior and showed that the harvester system can operate battery free, running on the power provided by supercapacitors. A battery is included only for backup in case the supercapacitor storage fails. The proposed approach provides …

Decision making can be a complicated process involving perception of the present situation, past experience and knowledge necessary to foresee a better future. This cognitive process is one of the essential human ability that is required from everyday walk of life to making major life choices. Although it may seem ambiguous to translate such a primitive process into quantifiable science, the goal of this thesis is to break it down to signal processing and quantifying the thought process with prominence of EEG signal power variance. This paper will discuss the cognitive science, the signal processing of brain signals and how brain activity can be quantifiable through data analysis. An experiment is analyzed in this thesis to provide evidence that theta frequency band activity is associated with stress and stress is negatively correlated with concentration and problem solving, therefore hindering decision making skill. From the results of the experiment, it is seen that theta is negatively correlated to delta and beta frequency band activity, thus establishing the fact that stress affects internal focus while carrying out a task.

Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRAs) are promising in developing high performance low-power portable applications. In this research, we crowdsource a mapping problem using gamification to harnass human intelligence. A scientific puzzle game, Untangled, was developed to solve a mapping problem by encapsulating architectural characteristics. The primary motive of this research is to draw insights from the mapping solutions of players who possess innate abilities like decision-making, creative problem-solving, recognizing patterns, and learning from experience. In this dissertation, an extensive analysis was conducted to investigate how players' computational skills help to solve an open-ended problem with different constraints. From this analysis, we discovered a few common strategies among players, and subsequently, a library of dictionaries containing identified patterns from players' solutions was developed. The findings help to propose a better version of the game that incorporates these techniques recognized from the experience of players. In the future, an updated version of the game that can be developed may help low-performance players to provide better solutions for a mapping problem. Eventually, these solutions may help to develop efficient mapping algorithms, In addition, this research can be an exemplar for future researchers who want to crowdsource such electrical engineering problems and this approach can …

This thesis offers the design and improvement of a 2 GHz to 20 GHz low noise amplifier (LNA) utilizing pHEMT technology. The pHEMT technology allows the LNA to generate a boosted signal at a lower noise figure (NF) while consuming less power and achieving smooth overall gain. The design achieves an overall gain (S21) of ≥ 10 dB with an NF ≤ 2 dB while consuming ≤ 30 mA of power while using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components.

As technology has advanced, data has become more and more important. The more breakthroughs are achieved, the more data is needed to support them. As a result, more storage is required in the system's memory. Compression is therefore required. Before it can be stored, the data must be compressed. To ensure that information is not lost, efficient compression is necessary. This also makes sure that there is no redundancy in the data that is being kept and stored. Compressive sensing has emerged as a new field of compression thanks to developments in sparse optimization. Rather than relying just on compression and sensing formulations, the theory blends the two. The objective of this thesis is to analyze the concept of compressive sensing and to study several reconstruction algorithms. Additionally, a few of the algorithms were put into practice. This thesis also included a model of the ECG, which is vital in determining the health of the heart. For the most part, the ECG is utilized to diagnose heart illness, and a modified synthetic ECG can be used to mimic some of these arrhythmias.

Emotions have significant importance in human life in learning, decision-making, daily interaction, and perception of the surrounding environment. Hence, it has become very essential to detect and recognize a person's emotional states and to build a connection between humans and computers. This process is called brain-computer interaction (BCI) and is a vast field of research in neuroscience. Hence, in the past few years, emotion recognition has gained adequate attention in the research community. In this thesis, an emotion recognition system is designed and analyzed using EEG signals. Several existing feature extraction techniques are studied, analyzed, and implemented to extract features from the EEG signals. An SVM classifier is used to classify the features into various emotional states. Four emotional states are detected, namely, happy, sad, anger, and relaxed state. The model is tested, and simulation results are presented with an interpretation. Furthermore, this study has mentioned and discussed the efficacy of the results achieved. The findings from this study could be beneficial in developing emotion-sensitive technologies, such as augmented modes of communication for severely disabled individuals who are unable to communicate their feelings directly.

It is known that quantum strategies change the range of possible payoffs for the players in the prisoner's dilemma. In this paper, we examine the effect of the degree of entanglement in determining the payoffs. When both players play quantum strategies, we show that the payoff for both players is unaffected by the entanglement value and it leads to a new Nash equilibrium.