Communications and Computer Engineering

Faculty of ICT, Final Year Project Proposal

Terrestrial Personal Transport – Modelling and Simu lation

Supervisor(s): Prof. Ing. A. Muscat, [email protected]

Co-supervisor (if any):

None

Problem Background

The deterioration of urban air-quality is mostly attributed to vehicle emissions, mainly due to the increase in use and ownership of privately owned vehicles. In this respect, a number of, telematics inspired, ideas to improve air-quality have been proposed in the open literature. Computer Science and Engineering can help in implementing some of these ideas.

Project Objective(s):

• Choose an appropriate topic/solution in personal mobility and define a problem.

• Develop mathematical and computational models to model the system. (It is perfectly acceptable to make use of an open source transport simulator)

• Critique of results and further work

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • Personal computer • Journals and conference papers

Industrial Partners involved:

N/A

Expected Project Deliverables:

To be outlined in January Progress Report

Student background / interest:

Modelling and Simulation

Ethical and Data Protection Issues

Please tick if any of the following apply. □ The project has data protection issues; please specify. □ The project has ethical issues; please specify. □ The project involves human subjects; please specify.


Evaluation of the Next Generation High-Efficiency V ideo Coding Standard

Supervisor(s): Prof. Ing. Carl J. Debono


None

Problem Background

Multimedia Communications relies on good compression tools in order to fit the huge amount of data generated into the band-limited channels. Video coding tries to exploit redundancies in the video to reduce the transmitted data. The Moving Picture Experts Group has been working on a new standard, termed “High-Efficiency Video Coding” (HEVC), which is expected to reduce current bit rates by 30 – 50%. The standard was released in early 2013.


• Identify the new aspects in the coding techniques compared with the current H.264 standard

• Study the performance of HEVC with respect to H.264 • Study the performance of HEVC as different components of the

encoder are turned on and off • Identify areas that can potentially lead to performance

improvements

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • Visual Studio .NET • Publications


No


• Software developed • Simulation results • Analysis and comparison of results


• Programming • Multimedia Communications




Transmission of the Medical Video using HEVC



None

Problem Background Transmission of a medical video differs from other video services

because the video needs to be of enough quality to allow medical practitioners to perform diagnosis. Video coding techniques can be applied to preserve regions of medical interests better than other areas in the video. Furthermore, given the higher compression ratio that is achieved through HEVC, the performance under error conditions needs to be investigated and ways to improve the quality of experience suggested.


• Implement region of interest coding techniques for medical video • Evaluate the performance under different packet error rate • Suggest methods for improvement of the quality of service

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • Visual Studio .NET, Matlab • Publications


No




• Programming • Multimedia Communications




Improved Energy Efficiency in Wireless Camera Senso r Networks



None

Problem Background

Improvements in technology have allowed the miniaturization of cameras which can be adopted in wireless sensing devices. However, wireless equipment is battery-operated, limiting the lifetime of the network. This study will implement solutions to minimize the energy needed for the transmission of the data, thus increasing the lifetime of the network.


• Develop a model of a camera sensor network • Implement software solutions to reduce the power consumption of

the network • Implement fair routing strategies to even power consumption

needed during transmission • Analyze the results obtained

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • NS-3 or Matlab • Publications


No




• Multimedia Communications • Telecommunications Networks




A Hybrid Clustering Routing Solution for Vehicular Networks



None

Problem Background

Vehicles today can be equipped with wireless devices that can generate and receive data. This will allow communications between vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure. The use of this technology can generate huge amounts of data that need to be routed on the network. For efficient transmission and increased throughput, improved routing strategies need to be created. This project aims at using a clustering ad hoc networking and vehicle-to-infrastructure hybrid solution to achieve this aim.


• Develop a model of the network • Design and implement a clustering technique • Design and implement a routing strategy • Analyze the network performance

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • SUMO and (OMNET or NS-3) • Publications


No




• Telecommunications Networks • Artificial Intelligence




DCF Radio Time Signal decoding – Analogue Type Disp lay

Supervisor(s): Ing. Paul Debono, [email protected]


None

Problem Background

The highly accurate DCF Radio Time Signal, transmitted from Germany needs to be decoded. The date and time captured information would need to be displayed using ‘analogue’ type displays. Computer Science and Electronics/Mechanical Engineering can help in implementing some of these ideas.


• Choose an off-the-shelf DCF signal receiver, which may require additional signal amplification and conditioning in order to cater for the deterioration of the signal emanating from Germany.

• Choose an appropriate micro-controller for the decoding and ‘analogue’ display control.

• Develop ‘analogue’ displays, with stepper motors and/order other devices to display the date and time appropriately.

• Critique of results and further work/improvements.

Project Resources • Budget: €200, at student expense. • Personal computer and other items as highlighted in the project

objectives. • Micro-controller module notes, text-book and other various internet

sources.


N/A


To be outlined in January Progress Report


Micro-controller programming. Knack for basic electro-mechanical model building.




Reversible Watermarking in Compressed Images

Supervisor(s): Dr. Ing. Reuben Farrugia [email protected] CCE


Ing. Trevor Spiteri

Problem Background

Existing image editing software has increased security concerns since it is difficult to determine the authenticity and integrity of the digital media content. Digital watermarking has been considered as an alternative solution since they embed the information and exploit the human vision system to make it imperceptible to the user. Traditional watermarking schemes insert information permanently within images, where the decoder is not able to recover the original content. These conventional methods are however not suitable for military image processing, medical imaging and law enforcement applications where the availability of the original data is essential. Reversible watermarking schemes solve this problem since the decoder is capable to extract the information while recovering the original information. The aim of this project is to adopt existing reversible watermarking scheme to embed information within JPEG2000 compressed images. The main objective of this algorithm is to embed information within the high frequency of JPEG2000 in order to maximize the embedding capacity and minimize distortion.


- Understand JPEG2000 and familiarize with the openJPEG software - Implement a reversible watermarking encoder - Implement a reversible watermarking decoder - Test the performance of the system

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • OpenJPEG software • Matlab • Image material • Journals and conference papers



- Reversible watermarking encoder for JPEG2000 - Reversible watermarking decoder for JPEG2000

Multimedia Image Processing Signal Processing



Please tick if any of the following apply. □ The project has data protection issues; please specify. □ The project has ethical issues; please specify. □ The project involves human subjects; please specify


Detection of Region-Duplication Forgeries in Digita l Images



None

Problem Background

Recent advances in imaging technology has made it remarkably easy to manipulate digital images. Region duplication is one of the most common image forgery techniques employed, and involves the replication of image parts to conceal important objects in the scene. The aim of this project is to implement an automated region-duplication forgery detection scheme of digital images. The developed algorithm should be able to tell whether an image was tempered or not, and which regions were modified in the tempering process.


- Implement a forgery detection scheme for images - The developed algorithm should be able to detect the tempered regions

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • MATLAB or any other programming language • Journals and conference papers



- Code of the developed algorithm - Dissertation


Multimedia Image Processing Signal Processing




Smart Carving: Recovering Deleted Multimedia Files



None

Problem Background

File carving is a recovery technique that recovers files from deleted hard disks or other storage devices. However, most of the smart carvers lack the ability to recover the original images or videos and only manage to recover parts of the original image. However, recent research has concentrated on the design of algorithms which are able to recover the original images and video even though they were removed from the hard disk. This new generation of carvers is called Smart Carving software. The aim of this project is to investigate and implement a prototype smart carving system using any programming language of choice by the student. The developed system should be able to recover different image formats which were deleted from the storage device and also deleted videos.


Literature review on different smart carving systems available today Implementation of a prototype system using any programming language of choice by the student Test the system

Project Resources • Budget: €__0___ • Any other programming language • Journals and conference papers



- Code of the developed algorithm - Dissertation


Multimedia Image Processing Signal Processing Software




Immersive VR/AR Spaces

Supervisor(s): Dr. Ing. Saviour Zammmit, [email protected], Dept of CCE


Prof. Adrian Muscat, [email protected], Dept of CCE

Problem Background

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are two rapidly expanding disciplines. We expect a quantum leap in VR and AR applications as soon as Google release their AR Glasses. This project investigates how we can exploit the power of Immersive VR/AR in game play to provide realistic and safe games.


• Overview VR and AR technologies • Build an AR/VR demonstrator and one target application

Project Resources • Budget: € 1000 for VR/AR technology • Indicate source of funds:UoM R&I funds • Equipment/Software/Literature: VR/AR Glasses, Visual Studio,

Literature available through Internet/Library


• None


• Literature Review • Fused AR/VR demonstrator


• Programming, 3D Signal Processing, Computer Vision

IP Issues

None


Please tick if any of the following apply.1 □ The project has data protection issues; please specify. □ The project has ethical issues; please specify. □ The project involves human subjects; please specify.

1 If you tick the box then please consult the UREC webpage http://www.um.edu.mt/urec/gpropform for guidelines to prepare the necessary documents to accompany your proposal that will be forwarded to FREC to be approved by UREC.


Video Multicast over 802.11ac/ad



None

Problem Background

The latest 802.11ac and 802.11ad WiFi standards approach and exceed 1Gbit/s transmission. This high throughput allows the development of multicasting video solutions for entertainment and educational purposes. Yet the behavior of multicasting over this new technology has not been studied.


• Study the mechanisms in ac and ad for supporting video multicasting. • Develop a testbed for studying video multicasting over an ad network. • Conduct an initial study on video multicasting over 802.11ad.

Project Resources • Budget: € 500 • Indicate source of funds:UoM Research Funds • Equipment/Software/Literature: 802.11ad AP, Visual Studios, Matlab

Literature available through the Library


None


• Literature Review • Testbed • Measurement campaign Report


• Computer Networks/Telecoms • Signal Processing

IP Issues

None





Digital Home Networking



None

Problem Background

A number of networking standards are available that can be used to build affordable home networks. The efficacy of these standards in Maltese residences has not been studied yet.


• Derive the specifications and functions needed for Home Networking. • Identify the technologies that can be deployed cost effectively. • Deploy a test-bed at the student’s residence to conduct a comparative

measurement campaign.

Project Resources • Budget: € 1000 • Indicate source of funds:UoM Research Funds • Equipment/Software/Literature: 802.11ad AP, Homeplug, Ethernet

switch, Visual Studios, Matlab Literature available through the Library


None


• Literature Review • Development of a test bed • Measurement campaign Report


• Computer Networks/Telecoms • Signal Processing

IP Issues

None





Secure mHealth Applications



None

Problem Background

The availability of affordable smartphones facilitates mHealth applications. The challenge is to collect the signals from various on-body probes through an on-body network connected to a smartphone, and to relay this patient information securely to a central server where the data can be processed using symptom detection algorithms.


• Study which vital signs need to be captured and identify the best probes to use.

• Develop an on-body network which can capture the probe signals and relay them to a central server using a smartphone.

• Develop early-warning signal analysis algorithms to detect signs of disease.

Project Resources • Budget: € 500 • Indicate source of funds:UoM Research Funds • Equipment/Software/Literature: Probes, Visual Studios, Matlab

Literature available through the Library


None


• Literature Review • Design of a secure Testbed comprising probes, smartphone and

central server • Eearly-warning algorithms


• Data Capture • Signal Processing • Programming in C and Matlab

IP Issues None





Wavelet-Based Image Encoder on an FPGA

Supervisor(s):

Dr. Ing. Trevor Spiteri <[email protected]>


None

Problem Background:

Image and video encoding are computationally expensive operations, which can be accelerated using FPGAs. Wavelet-based systems can provide reasonable quality down to very low bit rates. In this project, a simple image encoder with features similar to JPEG 2000 and to ICER is to be developed on an FPGA. The algorithm is already implemented in C++. The project should be developed in a way that future projects can then extend the finished work by adding temporal compression for video encoding.


• Understand a wavelet-based image encoder that is already developed in C++.

• Learn how to use already developed wavelet component on FPGA.

• Implement the image compression algorithm on FPGA. • Test the system.

Project Resources:

• Test images. • FPGA board (already available). • Xilinx ISE software (already available).



• VHDL code for image encoder. • Simulation results. • Performance analysis.


• Image processing. • C++ (only analysis required). • VHDL.

Ethical and Data Protection Issues:



Audio Effects Library for Digital Signal Processor

Supervisor(s):

Dr. Ing. Trevor Spiteri <[email protected]>


None

Problem Background:

Digital signal processors are processors with specialized capabilities that allow development of fast and efficient signal processing systems. Audio effects such as flanger, equalization, pitch shifting, etc., can be implemented on such boards. In this project, a number of audio effects will be identified and then implemented using a DSK6416 digital signal processor from Texas Instruments. Testing should be done using different audio test samples to make sure the system is reaching its objectives.


• Identify desirable features for an audio effects library. • Write C code to implement the desired features on a DSP board. • Write a demonstration application that can make use of the

developed audio effects. • Test the system

Project Resources:

• Audio test sequences. • DSP board (already available). • Code Composer Studio (already available).



• Audio effects library on DSP board. • Demonstration application on DSP board. • Performance analysis.


• Digital audio processing. • C programming. • Code optimization.

Ethical and Data Protection Issues:



Development of a Software Defined Radio Platform

Supervisor(s): Prof Ing Victor Buttigieg


None

Problem Background

The department has a number of Software Defined Radio kits from Sundance (SDR Kit 2.0). These comprise of a SMT148FX main board (http://www.sundance.com/Docs/SMT148FX%20User%20Manual%20(QCF42).pdf), a SMT374 daughter module with two 6713 Digital Signal Processors (http://www.sundance.com/Docs/smt374%20user%20manual.pdf) and a SMT368 Virtex 4 FPGA daughter module (http://www.sundance.com/Docs/SMT368%20User%20Manual.pdf) together with ADC and DAC boards to handle analogue signals. These boards may be used to implement a number of communication subsystems in software and/or on an FPGA.


The objectives of this project are • to setup the entire system for proper operation; • to implement a simple transmitter-receiver system using a simple

modulation scheme (such as FM, for example) on the above platform to verify correct operation;

• to provide a number of basic communications building blocks in the form of a library for the above platform;

• to write simplified documentation on the use of the above platform.

Project Resources • Budget: Nil (all required resources are already available) • Sundance SDR Kit 2.0 (available) All equipment and software available.


None


A working SDR Kit 2.0 setup with adequate documentation.


Telecommunications, Signal Processing. Knowledge of VHDL/FPGA use is useful but not absolutely necessary.




Automated Summarization of Broadcast News Video



None

Problem Background

Broadcast news is still an important source of current information. However sometimes we do not have the time to sit down for 30 minutes or so, to view the news. It would be more efficient to have a computer that generates an automatic summary of a news bulletin so that the user can easily and quickly jump to those news items that are of most interest.


The objective of this project is to generate automatic summaries of the 8 o’clock news bulletin broadcasts on TVM. An existing framework that simplifies the processing of videos, developed in-house, will be used. This provides all the necessary functions to access, process and display video and the associated GUI. The project can therefore focus on the algorithms to effectively summarize the video and their implementation.

Project Resources • Budget: Nil (all required resources are already available) • Computer • Visual Studio .NET IDE • Video Indexer framework All equipment and software available.


None


A software program that automatically summarizes broadcast news.


Video/Image processing, Programming in C# and C++.




Real-Time Lecture Capturing



None

Problem Background

Effectively recording a live lecture is a non-trivial problem since multiple sources of input would need to be kept synchronized and presented in an appropriate format. For example the lecturer may give visual cues, the white board needs to be captured accurately, any visual material presented may also need to be captured (eg PowerPoint presentation).


The aim of this project is to capture an entire lecture in real-time. The following inputs will be captured in a format that may be conveniently replayed later: video (multiple angles); sound; PowerPoint presentation; whiteboard. The captured lectures would be made available on the web, using a user-friendly interface.

Project Resources • Video cameras • Sound recording • Interactive whiteboard • Computer All equipment is already available in the Signal Processing Lab.


None


A system that is able to capture several aspects of a live lecture. All captured multimedia data then needs to be presented in a synchronized fashion.


System integration; handling of multimedia data; programming.




Decoder for Marker Codes



None

Problem Background

Marker codes insert periodic markers (special patterns) in a transmitted/stored bit stream that is subject to insertion, deletion and substitution errors. The decoder looks for these special markers to recover synchronization, removing the insertion and deletion errors. An outer error-correcting code will then correct the remaining substitution errors. Possible applications for this system include high-density magnetic recording (such as in Bit-Patterned Media Recording).


The objective of this project is to implement an optimal decoder for marker codes. This uses a forward-backward algorithm so as to minimize the probability of a decoding error. Performance results are then obtained for some marker codes described in the literature. These will then be compared to other synchronization correcting codes.

Project Resources • Budget: Nil (all required resources are already available) • Computer • Compiler (such as gcc (open source) or Visual Studio .NET) All equipment and software available.


None


A decoder for marker codes; Simulation results.


Algorithm implementation; Programming in C or C++. The student will gain important programming skills and knowledge of error-correcting codes as used in digital communication and recording systems.




Supervisor(s): Dr. Ing. Edward Gatt [email protected]


None

Problem Background

The objective of this project is to implement a digital PID controller on an FPGA for a control application. The controller is designed to track and maintain a set point temperature of a water tank with lowest possible overshoot while maintaining maximum possible rise time. The heaters can be driven using a PWM signal from the FPGA.

The motivation behind using FPGA to implement a PID controller rather than microcontrollers or DSPs is because it provides a good balance between performance and cost. Using microcontrollers, although they may be cheaper do not provide enough processing power to effectively perform complex calculations in real-time. Digital signal processors can implement complex algorithms quickly but are expensive.


- System modeling using Matlab - System implementation

Project Resources • Budget: € 100 • Matlab • Xilinx ISE



- FPGA controller - System Implementation

VHDL Student background / interest:



PID Controller on FPGA for Temperature Control


Supervisor(s): Dr. Ing. Edward Gatt [email protected]


None

Problem Background

The Real Time Spectrogram project can compute and display the frequency spectrum of an audio signal on a standard VGA monitor.

The system is to be implemented on an FPGA. Audio is sampled using an onboard analog to digital converter at 8 kHz. The frequency spectrum is distributed linearly at a resolution of 32 frequency bins from 0 Hz to 4 kHz. The spectrum is computed with 32 bandpass filters and output to a VGA display in full color at 640 x 480 resolution. The interface consists of a scrolling spectrogram and a live magnitude bar graph.


• System implementation

Project Resources • Budget: € 0 • Matlab • Xilinx ISE



• FPGA controller • System Implementation


VHDL, Signal Processing



Audio Spectrogram to VGA Display


Design of a multistage noise shaping (MASH) convert er using the 0.18 µµµµm CMOS process

Supervisor(s): Prof. Ivan Grech

Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics

Email: [email protected]


None

Problem Background

ADCs are an important element for most systems in order to interface the analogue sensors to the digital processing section. Noise-shaping converters are widely used since they rely on low-precision components and can still achieve high resolution. The multistage approach achieves high order noise filtering using only 1st and 2nd order closed loop modulators, eliminating problems with stability.


The scope of this project is to design a 1-1-1 or a 2-1 noise shaping converter using the 0.18 µm AMS CMOS process.

Project Resources • Cadence with AMS 0.18µm hit kit (available).


• None


• Literature review on MASH conveters • Design of ADC building blocks and simulation results

Student background / Interest:

• Analogue circuit design


Please tick if any of the following apply □ The project has data protection issues; please specify. □ The project has ethical issues; please specify. □ The project involves human subjects; please specify.


FPGA-based data-logging system


Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics Email: [email protected]


None

Problem Background

It is often required to log various digital and analogue parameters as well as position for security/monitoring purposes. Ideally the developed system should be customizable according to specific application.


• The objective of this project is develop a customizable framework in order to be able to log various digital and analogue parameters such a temperature, pressure, speed, as well as location via a GPS receiver. The system should also incorporate a GSM module.

Project Resources • ModelSim / Xilinx ISE development software

• FPGA evaluation board (available) Industrial Partners involved:

• None


• Literature review on similar data logging systems • VHDL implementation of the various blocks • Simulation Results • Programming of the FPGA and integration of the various sensors with

the FPGA board.


• VHDL/ FPGA programming • Familiarity with Xilinx ISE Foundation Series / Modelsim




Auditory Processing Modelling using FPGAs (continua tion)





None

Problem Background

The inner ear structure, referred to as the cochlea performs important spectral analysis of the incoming audio signal whose output is further processed by the auditory pathway and the brain in order to performs tasks such as speech recognition and sound localization. Traditionally, silicon models of the cochlea were designed using analogue hardware. However, today’s FPGAs can compete in speed with analogue systems, with the added advantage of higher precision and flexibility, making FPGA implementation of cochlea models an attractive solution. A digital model of the inner ear has already been developed in a previous FYPs. The scope of this project is to add further processing capability as well as post auditory signal processing for pitch and localization cues extraction.


The objective of this project is to model auditory processing which takes place in the auditory nerve using FPGA hardware. Such processing includes, auto-correlation, cross correlation and peak detection in order to extract pitch information and localization cues Automatic gain control in the inner ear will also be modeled. The digital system should extract monaural and binaural cues which can be used for sound source localisation

Project Resources • Xilinx ISE Foundation Series • MATLAB • ModelSim • FPGA Evaluation board


• None


• Literature review of cochlea and post-cochlea processing with emphasis on digital implementations

• Design of the HDL code for the cochlea and auditory pathway modeling

• Simulation Results. Student background / interest:

• VHDL/ FPGA programming • Familiarity with Xilinx ISE Foundation Series / Modelsim




Implementation of a Digital FM Demodulator on an FP GA

Supervisor(s): Dr Ing. Owen Casha




None

Project Background:

Software-defined radio (SDR) is a revolution in radio design due to the ability to create radios that can self adapt on the fly. In SDR devices, all of the signal processing is implemented in the digital domain, mainly on DSP blocks or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs).

Fig. 1 – Digital FM Demodulator (Source: [1])

In this project, the design and implementation of a digital FM demodulator using the approach of an All-Digital Phase Locked-Loop (ADPLL) will be investigated (see Fig. 1). The main aim is to build such a system using digital techniques that exploit the high speed, high density and high flexibility of FPGAs. References: [1] Juan Pablo Martinez Brito & Sergio Bampi, “Design of a digital FM demodulator based on a 2nd-order all-digital phase-locked loop”, Journal of Analogue Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, vol. 57, pp. 97–105, 2008.


The aim of this project is to design, simulate and implement a digital FM demodulator on an FPGA platform using an ADPLL architecture.

Project Resources • Xilinx FPGA Development Board • Electronic Components • Xilinx ISE Webpack • Digilent Adept • MATLAB

Industrial Partners None


involved:


• Literature review • ADPLL Modeling • VHDL codes and simulation • Implementation of SDR FM Demodulator • Testing


• VHDL / FPGA


Please tick if any of the following apply □ The project has data protection issues: N/A. □ The project has ethical issues: N/A. □ The project involves human subjects: N/A.

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Communications and Computer Engineering