M.S. Thesis Topics
Adiabatic Reversible Nano Circuits for Low Power
- The concept of reversible function is that it is a one-to-one mapping
between input and output values. Reversible circuits are a necessary but not sufficient conditions for future low-power technologies because they do not waste information (i.e. power) during calculations themselves. While reversible circuits are the fundament of all quantum and optical circuits, the advantage of their use in the so-called adiabatic quantum circuits is uncertain, although several such circuits were investigated in the past for standard CMOS. This thesis will be based mostly on literature and using circuit simulators. The CMOS adiabatic circuits give large power gain only for relatively small frequencies so their markets are limited to pace-makers, radios and similar circuits. The student will have to evaluate power gain for few variants of reversible adiabatic circuits for CMOS and Rapid Single-Flux-Quantum (RSFQ) technologies. The main question is "What is a practical advantage from the low power point of view of reversible adiabatic circuits realized in new technologies?" The student should be not afraid of reading papers on new technologies and simulate the new types of circuits. No programming experience is required. This work is a continuation of previous work of our group.
Contact Dr. Marek Perkowski for more information: mperkows@ece.pdx.edu
Adiabatic Quantum Computers to Solve Constraints Satisfaction Problems
- A class of Constraints Satisfaction Problems has many practical applications in Computer Aided Design, Robot Vision and Robot Motion Planning to name just a few. Coloring the nodes of the graph with the minimum number of colors, such that every two neighbor nodes have different colors, is an example of NP-hard problem that has many practical applications. The recently introduced Adiabatic Quantum Computer from DVAWE Corporation allows to specify the problem as a Constraint Satisfaction and are supposed to give quadratic speedup on each such problem. Using the classical quantum circuit model, we created oracles for quantum search Grover algorithm for many CSP problems. The task of the student will be to use the well-known theorem to convert these oracles (quantum logic circuits) to continuous Hamiltonians for the AQC model, describe them in a special language, and run them on the DVAWE quantum system remotely by internet. You will analyze the speedup for various circuit variants. The student will have a chance to be one of the first programmers of the first in the world commercial quantum computer prototype. Knowledge of Matlab, Visual Basic, Prolog or C/C++ is expected but not mandatory.
Contact Dr. Marek Perkowski for more information: mperkows@ece.pdx.edu
Evolution of Stabilizing Compensators
- The interest in fault tolerant controllers is increasing. Theoretically in a true fault tolerant system any faults would be automatically detected and recovery operations commence shortly thereafter to keep the system operational. However, before any detection or repair operation begin it is imperative that the system be stabilizable to prevent chaotic behavior. One way to accomplish this is to permanently install a stabilizing compensator that stabilizes not only the nominal system, but also the system should any sensor fail. (A failed sensor removes a feeback loop.)
Designing stabilizing compensators has been very difficult and time consuming; no deterministic method exists. This research effort will attempt to use evolutionary algorithms to evolve the compensators.
Contact Dr. Garrison Greenwood for more information: greenwd@ece.pdx.edu
Fault Models and Test Generation for Quantum Circuits
- The concept of stuck-at faults and bridging faults are known from classical circuits and Automatic Test Pattern Generator (ATPG) software is created for them. In case of quantum circuits there are many fault models because the quantum bits are continuous rather discrete and they are in Hilbert space of vectors of complex numbers. The simplest fault model is for bit flip and phase flip but we found many more models. The task of this thesis is to develop methodology and software to generate tests for the classical model of binary, multi-valued and fuzzy quantum circuits. Our group published already several papers on these topics and some software written by previous students is available, but the prospective thesis student will have to improve and extend our current methodology for more fault types and better test generation algorithms. The general approach to ATPG of quantum circuits is similar to classical circuits so the methods used there can be used as a background. Knowledge of Matlab, Visual Basic, or C/C++ is expected.
Contact Dr. Marek Perkowski for more information: mperkows@ece.pdx.edu
Global Optimization Algorithm Design
- Science is filled with many challenging problems that require finding global optima on continuous surfaces. Many of these problems are highly complex often exceeding 100 dimensions. Most are provably NP-hard, which means efficient algorithms for finding good solutions don't exist.
This research effort will attempt to combine a recently developed local search algorithm with particle swarm optimization to search for global optima on very large dimensional smooth surfaces. Extensive programming (preferrably in MATLAB) will be required.
In addition to the thesis, the selected student is required to enroll in ECE 559 (genetic algorithms) and to help prepare a paper describing this work for submission to an appropriate journal or conference proceedings.
Contact Dr. Garrison Greenwood for more information: greenwd@ece.pdx.edu
Modeling and Measurement of Terahertz Scattering
- Terahertz (THz) frequencies lie in the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between infrared and microwave bands. Until recently, difficulties in the production and detection of THz energy left this region relatively unexplored – the so-called "THz gap" – until the advent of high-speed optical devices transformed it into one of the most promising research areas of the 21st century. With the development of technologies such as time domain spectroscopy (TDS), researchers are proposing the use of THz for a variety of applications in imaging, medical diagnosis, health monitoring, non-destructive testing, environmental control, and chemical and biological identification. However, THz science is still very much in its infancy, and there remains a host of technical challenges that need to be addressed at both the component and system level. The Northwest Electromagnetics and Acoustics Research Laboratory (NEAR-Lab) has multiple THz research projects focused on the characterization of scattering phenomenon for reflection spectroscopy with application to 1) explosive detection and classifications, and 2) medical imaging. The research is focused on the development of electromagnetic scattering theory and analysis of experimental data to validate these expressions. The student undertaking this research will learn about advanced scattering theory, work with and develop computational codes, and collaborate with research partners at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington.
Contact Professor Lisa Zurk for more information: zurkl@cecs.pdx.edu
Underwater Hydrophone System for Passive Sonar Characterization
- Performance for passive sonar systems operating in shallow water environments has been limited by a number of factors including low target source levels relative to ambient noise, the inherently non-planar nature of acoustic propagation which introduces array mismatch, and the presence of non-stationary surface ships with high signal-to-noise-ratios (SNRs). In order to understand the dynamic noise environment introduced by surface shipping, the Northwest Electromagnetics and Acoustics Research Laboratory (NEAR-Lab) will be developing and fielding a passive hydrophone system for deployment in the greater Portland area (potentially the Columbia River or the Olympic Pennisula). The system will be used to obtain continuous sounds recordings of an underwater environment, and to analyze this data for characterization of the ship noise. The student working on this project will be responsible for the development, testing and deployment of the underwater system along with the analysis of the resulting data. This project will be in collaboration with partners at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington, with the Pacific National Northwest Laboratory (PNNL), and the US Navy.
Contact Professor Lisa Zurk for more information: zurkl@cecs.pdx.edu
TOP
|
