Design of multimedia processor based on metric computation

Media-processing applications, such as signal processing, 2D and 3D graphics rendering, and image compression, are the dominant workloads in many embedded systems today. The real-time constraints of those media applications have taxing demands on today's processor performances with low cost, low power and reduced design delay. To satisfy those challenges, a fast and efficient strategy consists in upgrading a low cost general purpose processor core. This approach is based on the personalization of a general RISC processor core according the target multimedia application requirements. Thus, if the extra cost is justified, the general purpose processor GPP core can be enforced with instruction level coprocessors, coarse grain dedicated hardware, ad hoc memories or new GPP cores. In this way the final design solution is tailored to the application requirements. The proposed approach is based on three main steps: the first one is the analysis of the targeted application using efficient metrics. The second step is the selection of the appropriate architecture template according to the first step results and recommendations. The third step is the architecture generation. This approach is experimented using various image and video algorithms showing its feasibility

Signal Subspace Processing in the Beam Space of a True Time Delay Beamformer Bank

A number of techniques for Radio Frequency (RF) source location for wide bandwidth signals have been described that utilize coherent signal subspace processing, but often suffer from limitations such as the requirement for preliminary source location estimation, the need to apply the technique iteratively, computational expense or others. This dissertation examines a method that performs subspace processing of the data from a bank of true time delay beamformers. The spatial diversity of the beamformer bank alleviates the need for a preliminary estimate while simultaneously reducing the dimensionality of subsequent signal subspace processing resulting in computational efficiency. The pointing direction of the true time delay beams is independent of frequency, which results in a mapping from element space to beam space that is wide bandwidth in nature. This dissertation reviews previous methods, introduces the present method, presents simulation results that demonstrate the assertions, discusses an analysis of performance in relation to the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) with various levels of noise in the system, and discusses computational efficiency. One limitation of the method is that in practice it may be appropriate for systems that can tolerate a limited field of view. The application of Electronic Intelligence is one such application. This application is discussed as one that is appropriate for a method exhibiting high resolution of very wide bandwidth closely spaced sources and often does not require a wide field of view. In relation to system applications, this dissertation also discusses practical employment of the novel method in terms of antenna elements, arrays, platforms, engagement geometries, and other parameters. The true time delay beam space method is shown through modeling and simulation to be capable of resolving closely spaced very wideband sources over a relevant field of view in a single algorithmic pass, requiring no course preliminary estimation, and exhibiting low computational expense superior to many previous wideband coherent integration techniques

Signal Subspace Processing in the Beam Space of a True Time Delay Beamformer Bank

A number of techniques for Radio Frequency (RF) source location for wide bandwidth signals have been described that utilize coherent signal subspace processing, but often suffer from limitations such as the requirement for preliminary source location estimation, the need to apply the technique iteratively, computational expense or others. This dissertation examines a method that performs subspace processing of the data from a bank of true time delay beamformers. The spatial diversity of the beamformer bank alleviates the need for a preliminary estimate while simultaneously reducing the dimensionality of subsequent signal subspace processing resulting in computational efficiency. The pointing direction of the true time delay beams is independent of frequency, which results in a mapping from element space to beam space that is wide bandwidth in nature. This dissertation reviews previous methods, introduces the present method, presents simulation results that demonstrate the assertions, discusses an analysis of performance in relation to the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) with various levels of noise in the system, and discusses computational efficiency. One limitation of the method is that in practice it may be appropriate for systems that can tolerate a limited field of view. The application of Electronic Intelligence is one such application. This application is discussed as one that is appropriate for a method exhibiting high resolution of very wide bandwidth closely spaced sources and often does not require a wide field of view. In relation to system applications, this dissertation also discusses practical employment of the novel method in terms of antenna elements, arrays, platforms, engagement geometries, and other parameters. The true time delay beam space method is shown through modeling and simulation to be capable of resolving closely spaced very wideband sources over a relevant field of view in a single algorithmic pass, requiring no course preliminary estimation, and exhibiting low computational expense superior to many previous wideband coherent integration techniques

Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAV) Assured Navigation in Search and Rescue Missions Robust Localization, Mapping and Detection

This Master's Thesis describes the developments on robust localization, mapping and detection algorithms for Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). The localization method proposes a seamless indoor-outdoor multi-sensor architecture. This algorithm is capable of using all or a subset of its sensor inputs to determine a platform's position, velocity and attitude (PVA). It relies on the Inertial Measurement Unit as the core sensor and monitors the status and observability of the secondary sensors to select the most optimum estimator strategy for each situation. Furthermore, it ensures a smooth transition between filters structures. This document also describes the integration mechanism for a set of common sensors such as GNSS receivers, laser scanners and stereo and mono cameras. The mapping algorithm provides a fully automated fast aerial mapping pipeline. It speeds up the process by pre-selecting the images using the flight plan and the onboard localization. Furthermore, it relies on Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques to produce an optimized 3D reconstruction of camera locations and sparse scene geometry. These outputs are used to compute the perspective transformations that project the raw images on the ground and produce a geo-referenced map. Finally, these maps are fused with other domains in a collaborative UGV and UAV mapping algorithms. The real-time aerial detection of victims is based on a thermal camera. The algorithm is composed by three steps. Firstly, a normalization of the image is performed to get rid of the background and to extract the regions of interest. Later the victim detection and tracking steps produce the real-time geo-referenced locations of the detections. The thesis also proposes the concept of a MAV Copilot, a payload composed by a set of sensors and algorithm the enhances the capabilities of any commercial MAV. To develop and validate these contributions, a prototype of a search and rescue MAV and the Copilot has been developed. These developments have been validated in three large-scale demonstrations of search and rescue operations in the context of the European project ICARUS: a shipwreck in Lisbon (Portugal), an earthquake in Marche (Belgium), and the Fukushima nuclear disaster in the euRathlon 2015 competition in Piombino (Italy)

Software Defined Applications in Cellular and Optical Networks

abstract: Small wireless cells have the potential to overcome bottlenecks in wireless access through the sharing of spectrum resources. A novel access backhaul network architecture based on a Smart Gateway (Sm-GW) between the small cell base stations, e.g., LTE eNBs, and the conventional backhaul gateways, e.g., LTE Servicing/Packet Gateways (S/P-GWs) has been introduced to address the bottleneck. The Sm-GW flexibly schedules uplink transmissions for the eNBs. Based on software defined networking (SDN) a management mechanism that allows multiple operator to flexibly inter-operate via multiple Sm-GWs with a multitude of small cells has been proposed. This dissertation also comprehensively survey the studies that examine the SDN paradigm in optical networks. Along with the PHY functional split improvements, the performance of Distributed Converged Cable Access Platform (DCCAP) in the cable architectures especially for the Remote-PHY and Remote-MACPHY nodes has been evaluated. In the PHY functional split, in addition to the re-use of infrastructure with a common FFT module for multiple technologies, a novel cross functional split interaction to cache the repetitive QAM symbols across time at the remote node to reduce the transmission rate requirement of the fronthaul link has been proposed.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 201

NASA Tech Briefs, December 2009

Topics include: A Deep Space Network Portable Radio Science Receiver; Detecting Phase Boundaries in Hard-Sphere Suspensions; Low-Complexity Lossless and Near-Lossless Data Compression Technique for Multispectral Imagery; Very-Long-Distance Remote Hearing and Vibrometry; Using GPS to Detect Imminent Tsunamis; Stream Flow Prediction by Remote Sensing and Genetic Programming; Pilotless Frame Synchronization Using LDPC Code Constraints; Radiometer on a Chip; Measuring Luminescence Lifetime With Help of a DSP; Modulation Based on Probability Density Functions; Ku Telemetry Modulator for Suborbital Vehicles; Photonic Links for High-Performance Arraying of Antennas; Reconfigurable, Bi-Directional Flexfet Level Shifter for Low-Power, Rad-Hard Integration; Hardware-Efficient Monitoring of I/O Signals; Video System for Viewing From a Remote or Windowless Cockpit; Spacesuit Data Display and Management System; IEEE 1394 Hub With Fault Containment; Compact, Miniature MMIC Receiver Modules for an MMIC Array Spectrograph; Waveguide Transition for Submillimeter-Wave MMICs; Magnetic-Field-Tunable Superconducting Rectifier; Bonded Invar Clip Removal Using Foil Heaters; Fabricating Radial Groove Gratings Using Projection Photolithography; Gratings Fabricated on Flat Surfaces and Reproduced on Non-Flat Substrates; Method for Measuring the Volume-Scattering Function of Water; Method of Heating a Foam-Based Catalyst Bed; Small Deflection Energy Analyzer for Energy and Angular Distributions; Polymeric Bladder for Storing Liquid Oxygen; Pyrotechnic Simulator/Stray-Voltage Detector; Inventions Utilizing Microfluidics and Colloidal Particles; RuO2 Thermometer for Ultra-Low Temperatures; Ultra-Compact, High-Resolution LADAR System for 3D Imaging; Dual-Channel Multi-Purpose Telescope; Objective Lens Optimized for Wavefront Delivery, Pupil Imaging, and Pupil Ghosting; CMOS Camera Array With Onboard Memory; Quickly Approximating the Distance Between Two Objects; Processing Images of Craters for Spacecraft Navigation; Adaptive Morphological Feature-Based Object Classifier for a Color Imaging System; Rover Slip Validation and Prediction Algorithm; Safety and Quality Training Simulator; Supply-Chain Optimization Template; Algorithm for Computing Particle/Surface Interactions; Cryogenic Pupil Alignment Test Architecture for Aberrated Pupil Images; and Thermal Transport Model for Heat Sink Design

Physical Layer Aware Optical Networks

This thesis describes novel contributions in the field of physical layer aware optical networks. IP traffic increase and revenue compression in the Telecom industry is putting a lot of pressure on the optical community to develop novel solutions that must both increase total capacity while being cost effective. This requirement is pushing operators towards network disaggregation, where optical network infrastructure is built by mix and match different physical layer technologies from different vendors. In such a novel context, every equipment and transmission technique at the physical layer impacts the overall network behavior. Hence, methods giving quantitative evaluations of individual merit of physical layer equipment at network level are a firm request during network design phases as well as during network lifetime. Therefore, physical layer awareness in network design and operation is fundamental to fairly assess the potentialities, and exploit the capabilities of different technologies. From this perspective, propagation impairments modeling is essential. In this work propagation impairments in transparent optical networks are summarized, with a special focus on nonlinear effects. The Gaussian Noise model is reviewed, then extended for wideband scenarios. To do so, the impact of polarization mode dispersion on nonlinear interference (NLI) generation is assessed for the first time through simulation, showing its negligible impact on NLI generation. Thanks to this result, the Gaussian Noise model is generalized to assess the impact of space and frequency amplitude variations along the fiber, mainly due to stimulated Raman scattering, on NLI generation. The proposed Generalized GN (GGN) model is experimentally validated on a setup with commercial linecards, compared with other modeling options, and an example of application is shown. Then, network-level power optimization strategies are discussed, and the Locally Optimization Global Optimization (LOGO) approach reviewed. After that, a novel framework of analysis for optical networks that leverages detailed propagation impairment modeling called the Statistical Network Assessment Process (SNAP) is presented. SNAP is motivated by the need of having a general framework to assess the impact of different physical layer technologies on network performance, without relying on rigid optimization approaches, that are not well-suited for technology comparison. Several examples of applications of SNAP are given, including comparisons of transceivers, amplifiers and node technologies. SNAP is also used to highlight topological bottlenecks in progressively loaded network scenarios and to derive possible solutions for them. The final work presented in this thesis is related to the implementation of a vendor agnostic quality of transmission estimator for multi-vendor optical networks developed in the context of the Physical Simulation Environment group of the Telecom Infra Project. The implementation of a module based on the GN model is briefly described, then results of a multi-vendor experimental validation performed in collaboration with Microsoft are shown

Vehicle Interior Access Deployable Worksurface Mechanism Concept Product Design

by Premchand Gunachandran The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2019 Under the Supervision of Professor Mohammad Habibur Rahman Easy access and adjusting the vehicle interior configuration to a variety of situations and uses is the general desire for any vehicle user. To meet such desire an attempt has been made in this study to conceptualize a design to develop a new mechatronic product called re-configurable vehicle interior console mechanism to deploy a worksurface (DWS), which will provide flexible use of the vehicle’s interior of both partial and fully autonomous vehicles. This re-configurable vehicle interior console will deploy the DWS using a power sliding mechanism concept enabled by electrical and electronic control unit circuits. This DWS will have 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) in its operation. Each user can access a DWS by pressing the nearby button. The console will move towards the center of the leg space and the electrical motor actuator and lead screw inside the console will drive the DWS by sliding it up and the DWS will down fold over the lap level of the user to offer a convenient individual worksurface. The inner side of the console body is designed to accommodate four DWS units, two each on its right and left sides, to cater to four users in a vehicle. The DWS power sliding mechanism concept product design will address the problems faced by the extreme users in the carpooling group of office goers, business travellers, family and friends going on a long road travel vacation trips. This DWS mechanism product’s performance and size can be customized, re-designed and modified to assemble inside the console body for the user’s accessibility, personalized and sharing experience in vehicle interiors of SUV, minivan and autonomous vehicles as well. Keywords: Vehicle Interior Access, Deployable Worksurface (DWS), Re-configurable Console, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM