In this thesis we explore several algorithms for automatic real-time tracking of a tennis ball. We first investigate the use of background subtraction with color/shape recognition for fast tracking of the tennis ball. We then compare our solution with a cascade of boosted Haar classifiers [68] in a simulated environment to estimate the accuracy and ideal processing speeds. The results show that background subtraction techniques were not only faster but also more accurate than Haar classifiers. Following these promising results, we extend the background subtraction and develop other three improved techniques. These techniques use more accurate background models, more reliable and stringent criteria. They allow us to track the tennis ball in a real tennis environment with cameras having higher resolutions and frame rates. <p>We tested our techniques with a large number of real tennis videos. In the indoors environment, We achieved a true positive rate of about 90%, a false alarm rate of less than 2%, and a tracking speed of about 20 fps. For the outdoors environment, the performance of our techniques is not as good as the indoors cases due to the complexity and instability of the outdoors environment. The problem can be solved by resetting our system such that the camera focuses mainly on the tennis ball. Therefore, the influence of the external factors is minimized.<p>Despite the existing limitations, our techniques are able to track a tennis ball with very high accuracy and fast speed which can not be achieved by most tracking techniques currently available. We are confident that the motion information generated from our techniques is reliable and accurate. Giving this promising result, we believe some real-world applications can be constructed.

The goal of this dissertation is to extend the state of the art in real-time scheduling algorithms to achieve energy efficiency. Currently, Pfair scheduling is one of the few scheduling frameworks which can optimally schedule a periodic real-time taskset on a multiprocessor platform. Despite the theoretical optimality, there exist large concerns about efficiency and applicability of Pfair scheduling in practical situations. This dissertation studies and proposes solutions to such efficiency and applicability concerns. This dissertation also explores temperature aware energy management in the domain of real-time scheduling. The thesis of this dissertation is: the implementation efficiency of Pfair scheduling algorithms can be improved. Further, temperature awareness of a real-time system can be improved while considering variation of task execution times to reduce energy consumption. This thesis is established through research in a number of directions. First, we explore the applicability of Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) feature in the underlying platform, within Pfair scheduled systems. We propose techniques to reduce energy consumption in Pfair scheduling by using DVFS. Next, we explore the problem of quantum size selection in Pfair scheduled system so that runtime overheads are minimized. We also propose a hardware design for a central Pfair scheduler core in a multiprocessor system to minimized the overheads and energy consumption of Pfair scheduling. Finally, we propose a temperature aware energy management scheme for tasks with varying execution times.

Address trace compression represents that the address data, which are generated from the instruction fetch stage of the microprocessor, can be retrieved for later observation and analysis. This real time trace compression hardware is the primary component of real-time trace system. In this paper, we present how to design and implement this real-time address trace compressor. Address trace compressor is allowed to perform accurate, successive trace collection in an unlimited length and can be used in various embedded microprocessors without influencing the operation of the microprocessors. Also, it has abundant reconfigurable parameters that can be used to develop a cost-effective trace system. The experiment results show that this compressor can reach a higher compression ratio of 1:100. Hence, by utilizing this real-time compression technique, the trace depths of new trace system can be 20 times more than these existing in-circuit emulators.

In the era of system-on-chip, many hardware modules are embedded on a single chip. More messages communicated among on-chip modules. On-chip communication bandwidth is thus scaled up dramatically. It causes significant increase of routing area as well as relative reduction of system performance. It affects overall feasibility of a system chip. In order to solve the problem and meet the communication performance requirement of application systems. We need to consider factors that affect overall system performance and cost, communication resource allocation, message routing, and transmission control design. Thus, we proposed a soft real-time communication synthesis method. It applied the simulated annealing optimization method.. In the process, it carries out several tasks: calibration of dynamic communication cases, communication resource allocation, message routing path generation, and estimation of overall communication performance and system cost. In this research, we designed the experimental software of the communication synthesis method. We will perform experiments for its system evaluation to verify its effectiveness on system-on-chip designs.

Steroid hormones, such as estrogen, are produced in one tissue and carried through the blood stream to target tissues in which they bind to highly specific nuclear receptors and trigger changes in gene expression and metabolism. Industrial chemicals, such as bisphenol A and many agricultural chemicals, including permethrin and fervalerate, are known to have estrogenic potential and therefore are estrogen mimics. Widely used agricultural chemicals, Enable (fungicide) and Diazinon (insecticide), were evaluated to examine their toxicity and estrogenicity. MCF-7 cells, an estrogen-dependent human breast cancer line, were utilized for this purpose. MCF-7 cells were treated with 0.033-3.3 ppb (ng/ml) of Enable and 0.3-67 ppm of Diazinon and gene expression was compared to that in untreated cells. Microarray analysis showed down-regulation of eight genes and up-regulation of thirty four genes in cells treated with 3.3 ppb of Enable, compared to untreated cells. Similarly, in cells treated with 67 ppm of Diazinon, there were three genes down-regulated and twenty seven genes up-regulated. For both chemicals, specific genes were selected for special consideration. RT-PCR confirmed results obtained from analysis of the microarray. These studies were designed to provide base-line data on gene expression-altering capacity of specific chemicals and will allow assessment of the deleterious effects caused by exposure to the aforementioned chemicals.

A real-time self-shadowing technique is described. State of the art shadowing techniques that utilize modern hardware often require multiple rendering passes and introduce rendering artifacts. Combining separate ideas from earlier techniques which project geometry onto a plane and project imagery onto an object results in a new real-time technique for self-shadowing. This technique allows an artist to construct occluder textures and assign them to shadow planes for a self-shadowed model. Utilizing a graphics processing unit (GPU), a vertex program computes shadowing coordinates in real-time, while a fragment program applies the shading and shadowing in a single rendering pass. The methodology used to create shadow planes and write the vertex and fragment programs is given, as well as the relation to the previous work. This work includes implementing this technique, applying it to a small set of test models, describing the types of models for which the technique is well suited, as well as those for which it is not well suited, and comparing the technique’s performance and image quality to other state of the art shadowing techniques. This technique performs as well as other real-time techniques and can reduce rendering artifacts in certain circumstances.

System-on-a-Chip (SoC) has been applied in numerous varieties of consumer electronics, especially in mobile device. The user interface of mobile device changes from traditional 2D graphic interface into the complicated 3D graphic interface. The fully computation of 3D graphics on SoC aims for low power dissipation that must be the key factor of SoC development. This thesis proposes a software tool suite for performance monitoring and verification. The performance monitoring contains real-time monitoring, static counter analysis, and hardware sub-module record. And the verification tool includes scenes capturing, scenes comparison, and error ratio analysis. After proposing the software tool suite, we can do: (1) find out the errors between hardware and software; (2) analyze the accuracy of hardware computation; (3) Real-time monitoring hardware vertex, pixel, and memory read/write counts.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-79).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 63 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 60-63).

published_or_final_version / Civil Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy