BLOCKGRID: A BLOCKCHAIN-MEDIATED CYBER-PHYSICAL INSTRUCTIONAL PLATFORM

Includes supplementary material, which may be found at https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/66767Blockchain technology has garnered significant attention for its disruptive potential in several domains of national security interest. For the United States government to meet the challenge of incorporating blockchain technology into its IT infrastructure and cyber warfare strategy, personnel must be educated about blockchain technology and its applications. This thesis presents both the design and prototype implementation for a blockchain-mediated cyber-physical system called a BlockGrid. The system consists of a cluster of microcomputers that form a simple smart grid controlled by smart contracts on a private blockchain. The microcomputers act as private blockchain nodes and are programmed to activate microcomputer-attached circuits in response to smart-contract transactions. LEDs are used as visible circuit elements that serve as indicators of the blockchain’s activity and allow demonstration of the technology to observers. Innovations in networking configuration and physical layout allow the prototype to be highly portable and pre-configured for use upon assembly. Implementation options allow the use of BlockGrid in a variety of instructional settings, thus increasing its potential benefit to educators.Civilian, CyberCorps: Scholarship for ServiceApproved for public release. distribution is unlimite

Remote boot manager: operating system installer

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica Industrial e ComputadoresIn 2018, the number of sold Raspberry Pi computers surpassed the 23 millions , showing the importance of this device in IoT and how it is affecting the world. By connecting each device, is possible to create a cluster, a set of connected computers that works together as a single system, increasing the processing power with a low power consumption. Despite acting like a single system, a cluster involves many devices, which need to be individually rebooted and configured. When done one by one, this tasks consume a lot of time and can be very monotonous. Using TCP/IP and FTP, a remote operating system installer was developed so that it can be remotely controlled by a Central Application. TCP/IP is used for the communication between both endpoints, while FTP is used to transfer the images. The application downloads and installs the operating system commanded by the Central Application while informing about the installation status. As technologies advance, people look for ways to detect errors and malfunctions as quickly as possible because it generates economical losses, and wastes time. Fault tolerance systems come very handy in these situations because they can detect and override these malfunctions. To overcome this problems, it was included in the system a way to reboot the Raspberry Pi in case of malfunctions. Using the Linux Watchdog, is possible to overcome this problem without the usage of external hardware. When a new operating system is installed, it also needs to be monitored, so a daemon was developed so that it can assure that the device can still communicate with the Central Application. The big challenge of this Master Thesis is to join the capability of, monitoring and managing operating systems, communicate and control Raspberry Pi’s and avoid operating systems malfunctions in a single tool, while also making it user friendly and available to everyone who wants to use it.Em 2018, o numero de Raspberry Pi vendidas passou os 23 milhões , mostrando a importância deste dispositivo na IoT e como está a afetar o mundo. Conectando cada dispositivo, é possível criar um cluster, um conjunto de computadores ligados que trabalha como um sistema único, aumentado o poder de processamento com um baixo consumo de energia. Apesar de funcionar como um sistema único, um cluster envolve vários dispositivos, que precisam de ser reiniciados e configurados. Quando feitas uma por uma, estas tarefas consomem muito tempo e podem ser bastante monótonas. Usando TCP/IP e FTP, um instalador de sistemas operativos remoto foi desenvolvido de forma a ser controlado remotamente por uma Aplicação Central. TCP/IP é usado para a comunicação entre os vários pontos, enquanto que FTP é usado para transferir imagens. A aplicação descarrega e instala o sistema operativo comandado pela Aplicação Central ao mesmo tempo que informa acerca do estado da instalação. À medida que a tecnologia avança, as pessoas procuram formas para detetar erros e funcionamentos defeituosos o mais rapidamente possível pois gera perdas económicas, e desperdícios de tempo. Sistemas tolerantes a falhas são bastante convenientes nestas situações pois podem detetar e corrigir esses maus funcionamentos. Para ultrapassar estes problemas, foi incluído no sistema um modo de reiniciar a Raspberry Pi em caso de mau funcionamento. Usando o Linux Watchdog, é possível ultrapassar este problema sem o uso de hardware adicional. Quando um novo sistema operativo é instalado, também é preciso ser monitorizado, portanto um daemon foi desenvolvido para assegurar que o dispositivo consegue ainda comunicar com a Aplicação Central. O grande desafio desta Tese de Mestrado é juntar a capacidade de, monitorizar e gerir sistemas operativos, comunicar e controlar Raspberry Pi’s e evitar maus funcionamentos de sistemas operativos numa única ferramenta, enquanto mantendo amigo do utilizador e acessível para todos os que quiserem usar

A Comprehensive Survey of Deep Learning Models Based on Keras Framework

Python is one of the most widely adopted programming languages, having replaced a number of those in the field. Python is popular with developers for a variety of reasons, one of which is because it has an incredibly diverse collection of libraries in which users can run. This paper provides the most current survey on Keras, which is a Python-based deep learning Application Programming Interface (API) that runs on top of the machine learning framework TensorFlow. The mentions library is used in conjunction with TensorFlow, PyTorch, CODEEPNEATM, and Pygame to allow integration of deep learning models such as cardiovascular disease diagnostics, graph neural networks, identify health issues, COVID-19 recognition, skin tumors, image detection, and so on, in the applied area. Furthermore, the author used Keras details, goals, challenges, and significant outcomes, as well as the findings, obtained using this method.   Keywords

Intelligent Circuits and Systems

ICICS-2020 is the third conference initiated by the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Lovely Professional University that explored recent innovations of researchers working for the development of smart and green technologies in the fields of Energy, Electronics, Communications, Computers, and Control. ICICS provides innovators to identify new opportunities for the social and economic benefits of society.　 This conference bridges the gap between academics and R&D institutions, social visionaries, and experts from all strata of society to present their ongoing research activities and foster research relations between them. It provides opportunities for the exchange of new ideas, applications, and experiences in the field of smart technologies and finding global partners for future collaboration. The ICICS-2020 was conducted in two broad categories, Intelligent Circuits & Intelligent Systems and Emerging Technologies in Electrical Engineering

Experimental evaluation of a CPU Live Migration on ARM based Bare metal Instances

The advent of 5G and the adoption of digitalization in all areas of industry has resulted in the exponential growth of the Internet of Things (IoTs) devices, increasing the flow of data that travels back and forth to a centralized Cloud data centre for storage, processing, and analysis. This in turn puts pressure on the intermediate edge and core network infrastructure as traditional Cloud Computing is not ready to support this massive amount and diversity of devices and data. This need for faster processing, low latency and higher network consistency makes a case for Edge Computing solutions. However, applying Edge Computing as a solution to overcome the network performance limitations that exist on an “IoT to Cloud” architecture while continuing to use Virtualization technology for system utilization is a bit of an oxymoron. Virtualization increases performance overheads, while sharing network resources among users and applications creates further bandwidth limitations and latency since communications are still served through the same physical network interfaces. The demand for network and system consistency, finer security and privacy has led to the deployment of Bare metal instances. Bare metal instances are nothing more than traditional servers that lack the virtualization layer offering native performance to the user. Furthermore, the rise of the ARM processors and the introduction of cheap low power architectures targeted to the Edge introduce a compelling new candidate platform especially on Bare metal instances. Live migration is a valuable tool for increasing applications and users’ mobility, service availability offering workload balancing and fault tolerance. However, live migration is tied to the existence of a virtualization layer therefore implementing a live migration process on Bare metal instances is very challenging. To the best of our knowledge, there is no existing proposal for a Bare metal live migration scheme on ARM based systems. Therefore, this thesis presents a novel design, implementation, and evaluation of an ARM based live migration scheme for Bare metal instances suitable for modern EdgeComputing Micro Data Centres. Our experimental evaluation confirms the effectiveness of our novel design as well as highlighting the importance on identifying the number of registers that describe and are critical for the reconstruction of the CPU state at the destination

To Heck With Ethics: Thinking About Public Issues With a Framework for CS Students

This paper proposes that the ethics class in the CS curriculum incorporate the Lawrence Lessig model of regulation as an analytical tool for social issues. Lessig’s use of the notion of architecture, the rules and boundaries of the sometimes artificial world within which social issues play out, is particularly resonant with computing professionals. The CS curriculum guidelines include only ethical frameworks as the tool for our students to engage with societal issues. The regulation framework shows how the market, law, social norms, and architecture can all be applied toward understanding social issues