Complete Security Package for USB Thumb Drive

This paper is devoted to design and implement a complete security platform for USB flash disks due to the popularity of this device in exchanging data, it is a complete system security solution as it concerns the thumb drive due to the manipulation of I/O operation not the file system.  USB flash disks have been the major threat for computer system beside the internet threats where viruses can spread from computer to computer or from computer to network. USB complete security system presented by this paper is composed of three essential elements: kernel filter driver which will be installed in USB device driver stack to intercept all exchanged packets and send it to encryption unit, kernel level encryption/decryption unit and configuration unit. In contrary to most USB security modules the system presented by this paper will store only the round number of the key generator with the encrypted data. Round number will be coded using MD5 algorithm to increase the immunity of attacking data stored in the flash disks. Keywords: USB protection, kernel driver, device stack, encryption/decryption, filter driver, MD5.

Implementation of a Microsoft Windows embedded standard system.

Many dedicated-use computer systems sold as complete products require a turn-key design delivered to the customer. This requires a system which is stable, secure, and serviceable. Adaptability of the system to existing software applications is a key consideration for many vendors. This thesis attempts to establish and gather best practices for designing, configuring, and building a Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 2009 system. An existing real-world system will be used as a case study and example implementation. The end result will be a relatively compact, secure, and efficient Microsoft Windows Operating System image to support the target software application

Development and Evaluation of a Real-Time Framework for a Portable Assistive Hearing Device

Testing and verification of digital hearing aid devices, and the embedded software and algorithms can prove to be a challenging task especially taking into account time-to-market considerations. This thesis describes a PC based, real-time, highly configurable framework for the evaluation of audio algorithms. Implementation of audio processing algorithms on such a platform can provide hearing aid designers and manufacturers the ability to test new and existing processing techniques and collect data about their performance in real-life situations, and without the need to develop a prototype device. The platform is based on the Eurotech Catalyst development kit and the Fedora Linux OS, and it utilizes the JACK audio engine to facilitate reliable real-time performance Additionally, we demonstrate the capabilities of this platform by implementing an audio processing chain targeted at improving speech intelligibility for people suffering from auditory neuropathy. Evaluation is performed for both noisy and noise-free environments. Subjective evaluation of the results, using normal hearing listeners and an auditory neuropathy simulator, demonstrates improvement in some conditions

Virtual Dynamic Tunnel: A Target-Agnostic Assistive User Interface Algorithm for Head-Operated Input Devices

Today the effective use of computers (e.g. those with Internet browsers and graphical interfaces) involves the use of some sort of cursor control like what a mouse provides. However, a standard mouse is not always the best option for all users. There are currently many devices available to provide alternative computer access. These devices may be divided into categories: brain-computer interfaces (BCI), mouth-based controls, camera-based controls, and head-tilt controls. There is no single solution as each device and application has to be tailored to each user\u27s unique preferences and abilities. Furthermore, each device category has certain strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered when making an effective match between a user and a device. One problem that remains is that these alternative input devices do not perform as well when compared to standard mouse devices. To help with this, assistive user interface techniques can be employed. While research shows that these techniques help, most require that modifications be made to the user interfaces or that a user\u27s intended target be known beforehand by the host computer. In this research, a novel target-agnostic assistive user interface algorithm intended to improve usage performance for both head-operated and standard mouse devices is designed, implemented (as a mouse device driver and in host computer software) and experimentally evaluated. In addition, a new wireless head-operated input device requiring no special host computer hardware, is designed, built and evaluated. It was found that the Virtual Dynamic Tunnel algorithm improved performance for a standard mouse in straight tunnel trials and that nearly 60% of users would be willing to use the head-tilt mouse as a hands-free option for cursor control