Aleksander Milshteyn

Implementation and Quantitative Analysis of a Shared-Memory Based Parallel Server Architecture for Aerospace Information Exchange Applications

This paper focuses on the implementation and quantitative analysis of a high-performance parallel processing aerospace information server. An innovative model of software architecture is provided to effectively utilize the computational power of a parallel server platform for efficient, on-demand aerospace information exchange through the Internet. This is a representative application for servers whose features are common to the classical client-server model. The server architecture supports thread, core, and/or processor-level parallel processing for high performance computing. Memory devices (i.e. cache memory, main memory, and secondary memory) are either shared or distributed among the computational units. Such features facilitate our study of identifying and overcoming the architectural bottlenecks of current commercial server configurations.

Development and Implementation of an Information Server for Web-based Education in Astronomy

This paper focuses on the development of a high-performance information server for web-based education. An innovative model of software architecture is provided to effectively utilize the computational power of a parallel server platform for efficient, on-demand astronomical image browsing through the Internet. Our previous research revealed the demand for astronomical image browsing raised by various communities engaged in educational and research activities. Additionally, we have characterized network performance under different levels of activity and identified techniques for efficient image transmission over the Internet.

Cooperative Semi-autonomous Robotic Network for Search and Rescue Operations

The results presented in this paper prove the viability of developing a robotic network for search and rescue operations. With the capability of peer-to-peer communication, such robots form an ad-hoc network called Cooperative Mobile Network CMN. All robots in the CMN are semi-autonomous in that each operates in three modes: 1 fully controlled by a human commander; 2 controlled by a human commander for critical operations only; and 3 fully relying on its own intelligence to make decisions for cooperative operations. Due to the constraints of weight and processing power, diverse CMN operations utilize multiple robots with complementing functionalities. This work was performed at the Structures Propulsion And Control Engineering SPACE NASA sponsored University Research Center URC of excellence at the California State University, Los Angeles.

Virtual reality head-tracking observation system for mobile robot

Previously, Hybrid-Routing Algorithm Model was proposed by the Structures, Pointing, and Control Engineering (SPACE) University Research Center1 at California State University of Los Angeles (CSULA). The Hybrid-Routing Algorithm Model utilizes semi-autonomous control during robotic operations in unknown, remote, hazardous, or otherwise inaccessible terrains. In order to observe and monitor mobile robots surroundings, an onboard virtual reality system has been designed and implemented. It operates by remotely following the commanded movement of the robotic mission operators headset. The proposed design features the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) chip secured to the center of the iTV-goggles unit., which is worn by the robotic mission operator. Direction cosine matrix algorithm is used to update the body coordinates of the IMU chip to the global reference system. Euler angles are computed based on the angular orientation of the mission operators headset and are transmitted to the mobile robot. The observation system contains multiple servo motors that rotate onboard camera based on the received pitch roll, and yaw information. The observation system transmits compressed visual information of robots surroundings to the Host Computing Station. This video is rendered via iTV-goggles display to the mission operator.

High level FPGA modeling of an JPEG encoder

A high-level Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) prototype for a JPEG image encoder has been developed by the Structures, Pointing, and Control Engineering (SPACE) University Research Center (URC). The FPGA prototype uses MathWorks Simulink and Xilinx System Generator for deployment on its Virtex-5 FPGA board. The FPGA module serves as a co-processor of a real-time Ubiquitous Video Conferencing (UVC) software package. The project objective is to: 1) study the high-level synthesis method for FPGA design, and 2) provide the digital signal processing necessary to offload computationally-intensive video processing data from a host computer running the UVC application [1]. The project uses a Xilinx XUPV5-LV110T FPGA Development System. The image compression utilizes the JPEG standard. Each module for the JPEG encoder is designed in Simulink. To reduce computation time on the FPGA due to floating-point Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) calculations, a table containing DCT cosine product values was computed in Excel, accurate to two decimal digits. These values are shifted 6 bits to the left to maintain accuracy and loaded onto the FPGA. The product of 8-bit YCbCr channel data and tabulated values is accumulated into a register, then scaled and shifted 6 bits to the right to complete the DCT.

Semantic Network Active Directory Service System

The project focuses on the implementation of a Semantic Network utilizing an Active Directory Service System in providing real-time access of relevant information within closed communities, ranging from educational standpoints to secure server networks where queried information must be protected. A distributed server model is implemented to accommodate an expanding Semantic Network. However, the added scalability poses a challenge in the synchronization of data across multiple servers. To provide a uniform Semantic Network and efficiently utilize the computational power of this distributed server platform, an innovative software architectural model is presented. Such endeavors fulfill on-demand Internet-based client requests for aerospace information exchange [1]. This exchange is based on synchronization of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) [2] directory and file structure, which tracks content and metadata across the distributed server network.