projects - Electrical Engineering

Transcription

Undergraduate Final Year Project Proposals: 2014 - 2015
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400879
Astolfi,A.
1110A
The problem of sharing the control of a system between a human operator and an automatic controller is considered. The goal
of the project is to design a shared control algorithm for a simple mobile robot, or similar autonomous vehicle, and test it via
simulations.
Shared control
1400863
3E3I
Evangelou,S.A.
Parametric modelling, control
and optimisation of hybrid
vehicles - converter control
1108B
4D4T4J
The objective of this project is to develop a simulation model that will describe accurately the dynamics of a hybrid vehicle. The
task involves the modelling of the individual subsystems of the vehicle and its powertrain. A key issue is the accurate
description of the interdependencies between the subsystems which will allow proper integration to the full model. The
modelling problem is naturally multidisciplinary.
Key characteristics of the model are descriptions for the hybrid-electric drive powertrain, regenerative braking, vehicle
dynamics, aerodynamics, driver and component- and vehicle-level controls.
It is believed that existing platforms do not yet include sufficiently detailed component descriptions to allow the model to be
used for the purposes to which it is built. These include to help identify which aspects of the design need to be modified for
optimal overall performance and also to improve performance by designing good control schemes. This project will aim to
develop flexible subsystem models in the form of equations derived from first principles, rather than models that rely on static
look-up tables and performance maps, or simple power-request dynamics that do not allow for accurate scaling or for the
adjustment of critical design parameters.
A number of projects ran successfully in previous years within this framework but further work is required especially on the
control of the DC link that connects the various electrical components of the powertrain of a series hybrid vehicle - generator
(rectifier), battery (dc-dc converter) and motor (inverter).
1400864
Evangelou,S.A.
Active variable geometry
suspension for road vehicles
1108B
4T
Variable geometry suspension systems for vehicles operate on the principle of varying by an actuator the geometry of passive
force-producing elements, conventionally springs and dampers. They are of interest in terms of their potential to achieve
performances close to ideal active suspensions but without giving away many of the benefits enjoyed by passive systems. Thus
variable geometry implies low actuation forces, low power requirements, low energy consumption, fail-safe operation and
potential to use much of the existing passive technology.
This project will look into the application of fuzzy logic and neural network control for a variable geometry active suspension of a
high performance sports car, to improve vehicle comfort and handling.
10 February 2015
Key: 3E= EE BEng, 4D= EE MEng EM, 4T=EE MEng T, 3I = ISE BEng, 4J = ISE MEng
Page 1 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400865
Evangelou,S.A.
1108B
The prediction of rider intention is very much essential for the supervisory energy control system in a modern small twowheeled vehicle. As these type of vehicles are predominantly used for personal commuting in urban scenarios, it is essential to
recognise the effect of uncertainties caused by traffic and road conditions. Such conditions can influence the intentions of the
rider, therefore these need to be identified from at least partial knowledge of the vehicle dynamic state, to manage optimally the
powertrain energy flow.
Prediction of rider intention for a
two-wheeled vehicle based on
limited on-board information
4D4T4J
Research available in the literature has considered various approaches for predicting the driving load:
a) Combined cascade neural networks with node decoupled extended Kalman filtering
b) Discrete cosine transform (DCT) together with support vector machines (SVM)
c) Combining road information from a static map with historical driving data
d) Model based approach using discrete time Markov process
In the first part of project, the methods mentioned above for driving load predictions will be implemented and compared for
accuracy and real time implementation.
In the second part of the project, data mining techniques will be explored to propose driving load prediction functions that are
simpler to implement. The knowledge gained in the initial part of the project will be applied in developing this predictive function.
1401041
Evangelou,S.A.
Prediction of rider intention for a
two-wheeled vehicle based on
limited on-board information
1108B
1C1S
The prediction of rider intention is very much essential for the supervisory energy control system in a modern small twowheeled vehicle. As these type of vehicles are predominantly used for personal commuting in urban scenarios, it is essential to
recognise the effect of uncertainties caused by traffic and road conditions. Such conditions can influence the intentions of the
rider, therefore these need to be identified from at least partial knowledge of the vehicle dynamic state, to manage optimally the
powertrain energy flow.
Research available in the literature has considered various approaches for predicting the driving load:
a) Combined cascade neural networks with node decoupled extended Kalman filtering
b) Discrete cosine transform (DCT) together with support vector machines (SVM)
c) Combining road information from a static map with historical driving data
d) Model based approach using discrete time Markov process
In the first part of project, the methods mentioned above for driving load predictions will be implemented and compared for
accuracy and real time implementation.
In the second part of the project, data mining techniques will be explored to propose driving load prediction functions that are
simpler to implement. The knowledge gained in the initial part of the project will be applied in developing this predictive function.
1401043
Evangelou,S.A.
Active flap control for the Racing
Green electric vehicle (EV3)
10 February 2015
1108B
1C
This project will look into the active flap control for the new Racing Green electric vehicle (EV3). The vehicle will have an
extensive aero package, therefore it is hoped to introduce some active flap control to improve handling on corners and reduce
drag on straights. It is expect that this will be mainly a control problem, possibly using feedback from the suspension
travel/downforce sensors in the chassis.
Page 2 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401154
Evangelou,S.A.
1108B
At Daimler research and development a future steering system is being developed within the department Vehicle Dynamics.
The steering system is required to improve the comfort, safety and driving behaviour. The Electric power steering (EPS) system
is used as an actuator for a number of assistance systems' control tasks which are dependent on the vehicle behaviour. These
dependencies will be additionally coupled with the vehicle speed and driver inputs. The goal is to describe the various vehicle
behaviours and with this basis, consider the development of various control strategies for the EPS itself. To aid in this task
Daimler has a 4 pole steering test rig and would like to use HILs setup to develop and test these control strategies using an
actual Mercedes steering system.
Hardware-in-the-loop simulation
and control of a Mercedes
electric power steering system
1400868
Evangelou,S.A. (with )
Torque vectoring and
regeneration control for the
Racing Green electric vehicle
(EV3)
1400869
Evangelou,S.A. (with )
Active flap control for the Racing
Green electric vehicle (EV3)
1400880
Jaimoukha,I.M.
Online fault detection
1A1C1S
1108B
4D4T4J
1108B
4D4T4J
1113
4D4T4J
This project will look into the torque vectoring and regeneration control for the new Racing Green electric vehicle (EV3). The
vehicle is planned to be a rear wheel drive electric vehicle with independent drive to each rear wheel. The project will look at the
control strategies (and develop software/simulations) to demonstrate the potential benefits of using torque vectoring and
regeneration control.
This project will look into the active flap control for the new Racing Green electric vehicle (EV3). The vehicle will have an
extensive aero package, therefore it is hoped to introduce some active flap control to improve handling on corners and reduce
drag on straights. It is expect that this will be mainly a control problem, possibly using feedback from the suspension
travel/downforce sensors in the chassis.
This project aims to investigate fault detection schemes for linear dynamic systems subject to disturbances.
The aim of the project is to develop and compare both online and offline optimization algorithms for the design of a condition
monitoring system that attenuates the disturbances and is able to reliably detect faults.
The student is expected to have a good background in optimization. All programs will be developed in Matlab and Simulink.
1400882
Jaimoukha,I.M.
Invariant sets for model
predictive control
1113
4D4T4J
Model predictive control is an advanced control scheme that is model-based, applied in real time, incorporates optimal control
and can handel hard inout and state constraints. A drawback of the method is the need to solve an online optimization problem
to compute the control law at every sampling instant.
The aim of the project is to compute an invariant set such that, if the state of the system is inside this set (so that on the one
hand, the system is near the desired equilibrium, and on the other, it is guaranteed to remain in the set) then a constant precomputed state-feedback control law is applied and there is no need to carry out any extra online optimizations.
The project uses robust control theory techniques, linear matrix inequalities and game theoretic approaches. All algorithms will
be developed using Matlab and Simulink.
10 February 2015
Page 3 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400925
Junyent-Ferre,A.
1103
Three-phase AC to DC voltage-source converters (VSCs) are one of the basic building blocks found in a range of high-power
applications, e.g. photovoltaic inverters, industrial motor drives, etc. In current practice, either the AC side or the DC side of the
converter are grounded. This enables to balance the DC pole voltages around earth potential by passive means with ease.
However, new applications of DC transmission at high, medium and low voltage have recently raised interest in converter
topologies which enable to actively control the DC voltage balance. This would enable degraded operation when one conductor
is faulty or when loads were connected between a single pole and the earth. This project will focus on the design of the
controller for a three-phase inverter for a DC transmission applications with DC imbalance operation capabilities.
Control of a DC transmission
system with active DC imbalance
operation
4T
This project is suitable for students with high motivation to learn about power converter modelling, simulation and control design.
1401048
Kerrigan,E.C.
Optimal control of energyefficient real-time computing
systems
1401173
Kerrigan,E.C.
Optimal control of computation,
communication and energy in
networks of robots
10 February 2015
1108C
1A1C1S
1108C
3E3I
Every computing system employs feedback algorithms in order to guarantee performance and reliability in the presence of
uncertainty, such as unpredictable work-loads, delays, data losses, cyber attacks and component failures. Data, tasks and
resources (processors, storage and communication bandwidth) need to be managed to achieve a certain quality of service,
guarantee that computations are correct and ensure that tasks are completed before deadlines. Energy consumption is
optimized by dynamic voltage and frequency scaling and smart scheduling of jobs. The aim of this project is to achieve one or
more of the following objectives: (i) develop methods for modeling computing systems that capture the dynamics essential for
feedback algorithm design using closed-loop metrics; (ii) develop efficient optimization-based algorithms for hard and soft realtime scheduling of tasks; (iii) develop scalable scheduling algorithms based on cooperative distributed control methods. The
project will start with existing methods for scheduling tasks on single processors, before gradually extending the methods to
distributed networks of heterogeneous processors. Most of the initial software development will be in Matlab, but the student
should have excellent software engineering skills and familiarity with a variety of operating systems and programming
languages, including Unix/Linux and C/C++. Candidates for this project will have done courses on state space control systems
and numerical methods, have a strong interest in mathematical optimization and the goal of pursuing a career in computing and
information systems, big data, cloud computing, sensor networks, mobile communication networks or robotics.
The energy required for on-board computation and inter-node communication can exceed the propulsion energy for networks of
low-power robots or aerodynamically efficient uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs). Future UAV and ground-based robotic
networks will be expected to be far more autonomous and intelligent than today, hence will require even more energy for
computation. This project will therefore develop new control, signal processing and mathematical optimization algorithms for
coordinating networks of robots to explore a given area, while minimising the energy used for computation, communication and
propulsion. Compared to using existing algorithms, these new methods will be able to extend the mission duration or allow for
cheaper robots to be used. The project will start with two-node networks with point-mass models and off-the-shelf optimization
software. This will be extended to more realistic dynamic models and multiple-node networks with efficient algorithms and tailormade software. Most of the initial software development will be in Matlab, but the student should have excellent software
engineering skills and familiarity with a variety of operating systems and programming languages, including Unix/Linux and
C/C++. Candidates for this project will have done courses on state space control systems and numerical methods, have a
strong interest in mathematical optimization and the goal of pursuing a career in aerospace, computing and information
systems, big data, cloud computing, sensor networks, mobile communication networks or robotics.
Page 4 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401174
Kerrigan,E.C.
1108C
Every computing system employs feedback algorithms in order to guarantee performance and reliability in the presence of
uncertainty, such as unpredictable work-loads, delays, data losses, cyber attacks and component failures. Data, tasks and
resources (processors, storage and communication bandwidth) need to be managed to achieve a certain quality of service,
guarantee that computations are correct and ensure that tasks are completed before deadlines. Energy consumption is
optimized by dynamic voltage and frequency scaling and smart scheduling of jobs. The aim of this project is to achieve one or
more of the following objectives: (i) develop methods for modeling computing systems that capture the dynamics essential for
feedback algorithm design using closed-loop metrics; (ii) develop efficient optimization-based algorithms for hard and soft realtime scheduling of tasks; (iii) develop scalable scheduling algorithms based on cooperative distributed control methods. The
project will start with existing methods for scheduling tasks on single processors, before gradually extending the methods to
distributed networks of heterogeneous processors. Most of the initial software development will be in Matlab, but the student
should have excellent software engineering skills and familiarity with a variety of operating systems and programming
languages, including Unix/Linux and C/C++. Candidates for this project will have done courses on state space control systems
and numerical methods, have a strong interest in mathematical optimization and the goal of pursuing a career in computing and
information systems, big data, cloud computing, sensor networks, mobile communication networks or robotics.
Optimal control of energyefficient real-time computing
systems
1400889
Kuenzel,S.T.G.I. (with
Pal,B.C.)
Validation of linearization
method used by Matlab vs.
Algebraic solution technique
1400915
Mitcheson,P.D.
Semiconductor device health
monitoring
3E3I
1107
4D4T4J
1112
4D4T4J
Motivation
The project investigates the accuracy of linearization methods implemented in Matlab/Simulink. In the past perturbation
methods were used by programs such as Matlab/Simulink to linearize the algebraic differential equations of a dynamic system.
Since these methods suffer from errors due to signal scaling, recent Matlab/Simulink versions used pre-programmed Jacobians
to circumvent the problem.
Objective
The aim is to compare and validate the linearized solution of a system with synchronous and wind generation and AC and DC
transmission using Matlab/Simulink with the algebraic solution of the same algebraic differential equations.
Methodology
This project will be able to build on previous work, which should enable a good progress. The system will be modelled in
Matlab/Simulink and linearized using Matlab’s linmod. The same system is represented by differential and algebraic equations
in Maple, which can be linearized analytically.
Learning outcome
The project will use Matlab/Simulink and Maple, which are very useful tools for any student to get familiar with. The student will
gain a good understanding of different techniques used for linearization.
Power electronics is generally a reliable technology, but in some circumstances, reliability needs to improve because the cost
to fix things or schedule maintenance is very high - eg wind turbines, HVDC converters.
This project will aim to implement an intelligent gate drive that monitors device status for degradation such as increased onstate resistance, changes in capacitance etc, which may be indicative of device failure.
Good circuit design skills and an understanding of devices and instrumentation are required.
10 February 2015
Page 5 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400932
Mitcheson,P.D. (with
Clerckx,B.)
1112
Wireless sensor network (WSN) has attracted a lot of attention in various machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things
(IoT) applications such as smart home networking, smart metering, and healthcare due to its low deployment costs coupled
with a high potential to sense and collect object-oriented data through a large number of cheap wireless sensor nodes. One of
the main challenges in WSN is that nodes are resource-constrained, mainly due to battery limitation.
To enable autonomous wireless devices, the project will investigate the feasibility of wireless power transfer. While receiver
design for wireless power transfer has been relatively well researched, the design of suitable waveforms is much less known.
In the project, the student will investigate how the waveform design influences the performance of wireless power transfer and
identify suitable waveforms.
The student will get the opportunity to progressively get familiar with the latest research in wireless communications, RF design
and power transfer, discuss and imagine the basic concepts of next generation wireless power networks.
Waveform Design for Wireless
Power Transfer
3E3I
Skills required: strong interests in communication/signal processing and RF design, algorithm development, analysis,
simulations, RF measurement, matlab and PSpice programming
The following references are helpful:
•
A. S. Boaventura and N. B. Carvalho, “Maximizing DC Power in Energy Harvesting Circuits Using Multisine Excitation,” 2011
IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT).
•
M. Pinuela, P. Mitcheson and S. Lucyszyn, “Ambient RF energy harvesting in urban and semi-urban environments” IEEE
Trans. on microwave theory and techniques, vol 61, no 7, july 2013.
•
J. Park and B. Clerckx, “Joint Wireless Information and Energy Transfer in a Two-User MIMO Interference Channel,” IEEE
Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 4210–4221, Aug. 2013.
1400913
Mitcheson,P.D. (with
Yates,D.C.)
Charge your phone in your
pocket
1112
4T
Wireless power transfer is now available via the Qi standard for charging phones, but only over very short distances on
charging pads. The project will look at the possibility of charging a phone in your pocket as you sit as your office desk. The
project will require knowledge of electromagnetics, devices and circuit design skills, an interest in high frequency power
electronics design and ability to do analysis both on paper and in Matlab. Circuit simulation skills are also a must.
Due to commercial activity surrounding this work (in which the student will be able to engage though the Imperial spin out,
Drayson Wireless), the student will be required to sign an NDA and IP agreement. Please talk to me for more details.
10 February 2015
Page 6 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
1400908
Pal,B.C.
1104
Description
Motivation
A Stochastic Method for the
Operation of Active Distribution
Networks
4D4T
The penetration of distributed generators (DGs) in distribution networks could improve the system efficiency, reliability and
security. Nevertheless, they could impact the system voltage, power quality, fault level and interact with the operation of
capacitors and voltage regulators. The intermittency and variability of renewable DGs (e.g., wind and PV) impose challenges
when operating distribution systems.
Objective
A stochastic method for the operation of active distribution network under active management schemes such as coordinated
voltage control and adaptive power factor control is proposed in order to evaluate the active and reactive power of renewable
and non-renewable DGs considering 1) uncertainties related to solar irradiance and load demand, 2) different operational
status of DGs (multi-configurations), and 3) capability curve of PV inverters. Total costs are composed of active and reactive
cost of renewable and non-renewable DGs and active power losses cost and the cost of imported/exported power from/to the
grid.
Methodology
The simulation software can be MATLAB or GAMS. The first step is gathering load data, renewable and non-renewable DGs
and a real distribution network data. The second step is formulating the problem and implementing it in one of the above
mentioned softwares.
Learning outcome
Programming in MATLAB or GAMS can be a great learning experience and understanding the challenges of distribution
systems operation with integration of renewable DGs.
10 February 2015
Page 7 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400909
Pal,B.C.
1104
Motivation
A Deterministic Method for the
Planning of Active Distribution
Networks
4D4T
Under a passive network scheme, distributed generators (DGs) are usually operated with fixed power factors and on-load-tapchangers (OLTCs) are limited to only regulate the secondary voltages while the emerging active network management
schemes have proved to be beneficial for distribution network operators (DNOs) compared to passive network management.
Owing to the increasing trend toward integrating more DGs in transmission and distribution networks, the planning scope of
maximizing DG penetration is taking the priority of DNOs in most countries.
Objective
A deterministic multi-objective multi-period multi-configuration method in active distribution networks under active management
schemes such as coordinated voltage control and adaptive power factor control is proposed. The multi-objective method
simultaneously minimizes the total cost and the total active power losses of the transmission lines from the point of view of
DNOs in order to assess the active and reactive power of renewable and non-renewable DGs and active power losses of the
lines considering 1) variability of load demand and wind generation profiles (multi-period scenarios), 2) different operational
status of DGs (multi-configurations), 3) demand response (demand control) and 4) capability curve of doubly fed induction
generator (DFIG) of wind turbines. Total costs are composed of active and reactive cost of renewable and non-renewable DGs,
cost of load demand control and active power losses cost.
Methodology
The method can be implemented in MATLAB or GAMS. The first stage is gathering the data of load, renewable and nonrenewable DGs and a real distribution network. Second stage is formulating the problem and implementing it in the above
mentioned software.
Learning outcome
Programming in MATLAB or GAMS can be a great learning experience and understanding the challenges of distribution
systems planning with integration of renewable DGs.
1400889
Pal,B.C. (with
Kuenzel,S.T.G.I.)
Validation of linearization
method used by Matlab vs.
Algebraic solution technique
10 February 2015
1104
4D4T4J
Motivation
The project investigates the accuracy of linearization methods implemented in Matlab/Simulink. In the past perturbation
methods were used by programs such as Matlab/Simulink to linearize the algebraic differential equations of a dynamic system.
Since these methods suffer from errors due to signal scaling, recent Matlab/Simulink versions used pre-programmed Jacobians
to circumvent the problem.
Objective
The aim is to compare and validate the linearized solution of a system with synchronous and wind generation and AC and DC
transmission using Matlab/Simulink with the algebraic solution of the same algebraic differential equations.
Methodology
This project will be able to build on previous work, which should enable a good progress. The system will be modelled in
Matlab/Simulink and linearized using Matlab’s linmod. The same system is represented by differential and algebraic equations
in Maple, which can be linearized analytically.
Learning outcome
The project will use Matlab/Simulink and Maple, which are very useful tools for any student to get familiar with. The student will
gain a good understanding of different techniques used for linearization.
Page 8 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400891
Pal,B.C. (with Singh,A.)
1104
Motivation: An increased penetration of new renewable sources of energy into power systems requires that the reliability and
stability of the system is not compromised by this penetration. Solar and wind energy form a chief component of these sources;
but as these sources are highly intermittent, non-deterministic and stochastic in nature, it is very difficult to either analyze or
control the negative effects that they can have on system reliability and stability. A fundamental step towards addressing this
issue is dynamically identifying the equivalent parameters of a wind farm or a solar park, which can then be utilized for further
estimation and control purposes. This project studies this identification problem, focusing specifically on a wind farm.
Dynamic parameter estimation
of a wind farm connected to a
large scale power system
4D4T
Objective: The aim of this project is to study and develop algorithms and methods for dynamic parameter estimation of a wind
farm (comprising hundreds of wind turbines) which is connected to a large scale power system. These dynamic parameters can
be the equivalent inertia, damping coefficient or reactance of the wind farm. The student can also suggest and estimate some
other relevant dynamic parameters.
Methodology: The student would develop large scale models for both a generic power system and a wind farm, integrate the
two models and perform simulations to get voltage and power measurements from the wind farm for various scenarios of wind
input. These measurements would then be utilized for parameter estimation utilizing old/novel stochastic filtering and stochastic
signal processing techniques. The estimated parameters will be compared with actual parameters for the all the simulated
scenarios and conclusions will be reported. Matlab and DigSilent are suggested software for model development and
simulation.
Learning outcome: Successful completion of the project would give the student an in-depth understanding of the working of a
power system. The student will also acquire a thorough knowledge of how a wind farm works. Model development and
simulation will provide him a good understanding of differential and algebraic equations and their implementation through
coding in the selected software. In all, this project will not only be an enriching research experience for the student, it will also
benefit the power systems community by providing a possible solution to a real and challenging problem.
1401107
Pal,B.C. (with Singh,A.)
Eliminating phasor
measurement units (PMUs) from
the decentralized dynamic state
estimation (DSE) algorithm
1104
1C
Motivation: The decentralized DSE algorithm for power systems relies on PMU measurements for the estimation process. The
reason for this is that both magnitude and phase information of voltage and current signals are required in the filtering
equations. PMUs provide the phase information using GPS synchronization, and hence the DSE algorithm relies heavily on
GPS synchronization. This is not very desirable as DSE would fail if GPS synchronization fails. A challenging and very useful
extension to this method would involve finding a technique which only requires voltage and current magnitudes and other
locally measurable quantities which do not require GPS synchronization.
Objective: The aim of this project is to study and develop algorithms and methods for decentralized DSE using the analog
measurements which are directly available from current transformers (CTs) and potential transformers (PTs) and do not require
PMUs.
Methodology: The student would develop model for a large scale generic power system and implement decentralized DSE on
this model using techniques which are already available in the power system literature. The student would then look for ways
and means of extracting the phase information from the analog measurements from CTs and PTs and use this information to
eliminate PMUs from the DSE algorithm, thereby developing a new algorithm. Estimated states will be compared for both the
new and old methods for the all simulated scenarios and conclusions will be reported. Matlab and DigSilent are suggested
software for model development and simulation.
power system and its dynamic state estimation. Model development and simulation will provide him a good understanding of
differential and algebraic equations and their implementation through coding in the selected software. The student would also
learn advanced techniques of filtering and estimation.
10 February 2015
Page 9 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400897
Parisini,T.
1114
The project deals with the problem of diagnosing faults and malfunctions that act as "drifts" in the measured physical quantities
provided by sensors in process control systems encountered in industry. The specific goal of this project concerns the
formulation of the diagnosis problem in a linear and a nonlinear context, the development of suitable algorithms and the
simulation evaluation on an industrial benchmark. Extension to distributed faults is possible
Diagnosis of drift faults in
sensors of industrial processes
1400898
Parisini,T.
Multiple sinusoidal estimation in
sensor noisy measurements
1400899
Parisini,T.
Multi-sinusoidal adaptive
repetitive control
1400891
Singh,A. (with Pal,B.C.)
Dynamic parameter estimation
of a wind farm connected to a
large scale power system
4D4T
1114
4D4T
1114
4D4T
1105
4D4T
The project deals with estimating the characteristic of multiple sinusoidal signals in measurements affected by noise, bias and
drifts. The application context is the one of health monitoring in mechanical systems. In the project, a suitable problem
formulation has to be addressed, specific algorithms have to be devised and simulation evaluation has to be carried out.
The project deals with designing an adaptive control scheme based on a repetitive control approach. In particular, a control
system affected by multiple-sinusoidal disturbances has to be considered. An estimator of the characteristics of these
disturbances has to be developed and the analysis of the behaviour when connected with the repetitive controller has to be
carried out. Simulations showing the performance of the overall adaptive system have to be developed as well.
Motivation: An increased penetration of new renewable sources of energy into power systems requires that the reliability and
stability of the system is not compromised by this penetration. Solar and wind energy form a chief component of these sources;
but as these sources are highly intermittent, non-deterministic and stochastic in nature, it is very difficult to either analyze or
control the negative effects that they can have on system reliability and stability. A fundamental step towards addressing this
issue is dynamically identifying the equivalent parameters of a wind farm or a solar park, which can then be utilized for further
estimation and control purposes. This project studies this identification problem, focusing specifically on a wind farm.
Objective: The aim of this project is to study and develop algorithms and methods for dynamic parameter estimation of a wind
farm (comprising hundreds of wind turbines) which is connected to a large scale power system. These dynamic parameters can
be the equivalent inertia, damping coefficient or reactance of the wind farm. The student can also suggest and estimate some
other relevant dynamic parameters.
Methodology: The student would develop large scale models for both a generic power system and a wind farm, integrate the
two models and perform simulations to get voltage and power measurements from the wind farm for various scenarios of wind
input. These measurements would then be utilized for parameter estimation utilizing old/novel stochastic filtering and stochastic
signal processing techniques. The estimated parameters will be compared with actual parameters for the all the simulated
scenarios and conclusions will be reported. Matlab and DigSilent are suggested software for model development and
simulation.
power system. The student will also acquire a thorough knowledge of how a wind farm works. Model development and
simulation will provide him a good understanding of differential and algebraic equations and their implementation through
coding in the selected software. In all, this project will not only be an enriching research experience for the student, it will also
benefit the power systems community by providing a possible solution to a real and challenging problem.
10 February 2015
Page 10 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401107
Singh,A. (with Pal,B.C.)
1105
Motivation: The decentralized DSE algorithm for power systems relies on PMU measurements for the estimation process. The
reason for this is that both magnitude and phase information of voltage and current signals are required in the filtering
equations. PMUs provide the phase information using GPS synchronization, and hence the DSE algorithm relies heavily on
GPS synchronization. This is not very desirable as DSE would fail if GPS synchronization fails. A challenging and very useful
extension to this method would involve finding a technique which only requires voltage and current magnitudes and other
locally measurable quantities which do not require GPS synchronization.
Eliminating phasor
measurement units (PMUs) from
the decentralized dynamic state
estimation (DSE) algorithm
1C
Objective: The aim of this project is to study and develop algorithms and methods for decentralized DSE using the analog
measurements which are directly available from current transformers (CTs) and potential transformers (PTs) and do not require
PMUs.
Methodology: The student would develop model for a large scale generic power system and implement decentralized DSE on
this model using techniques which are already available in the power system literature. The student would then look for ways
and means of extracting the phase information from the analog measurements from CTs and PTs and use this information to
eliminate PMUs from the DSE algorithm, thereby developing a new algorithm. Estimated states will be compared for both the
new and old methods for the all simulated scenarios and conclusions will be reported. Matlab and DigSilent are suggested
software for model development and simulation.
power system and its dynamic state estimation. Model development and simulation will provide him a good understanding of
differential and algebraic equations and their implementation through coding in the selected software. The student would also
learn advanced techniques of filtering and estimation.
1400913
Yates,D.C. (with
Mitcheson,P.D.)
Charge your phone in your
pocket
308
4T
Wireless power transfer is now available via the Qi standard for charging phones, but only over very short distances on
charging pads. The project will look at the possibility of charging a phone in your pocket as you sit as your office desk. The
project will require knowledge of electromagnetics, devices and circuit design skills, an interest in high frequency power
electronics design and ability to do analysis both on paper and in Matlab. Circuit simulation skills are also a must.
Due to commercial activity surrounding this work (in which the student will be able to engage though the Imperial spin out,
Drayson Wireless), the student will be required to sign an NDA and IP agreement. Please talk to me for more details.
10 February 2015
Page 11 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400954
Bouganis,C.
904
Solving an overdetermined system of linear equations or computing the residuals of the system is a very common problem in
many scientific fields, including difficult problems in computational statistics (e.g. statistical genetics). An overdetermined
system of linear equations is represented by the following equation:
AB = Y
where A (m x n) and Y (m x k) are known matrices, B (n x k) is unknown and m > n (overdetermined). We either want to solve
the system (i.e. find the B that minimizes Y - XB) or find the residuals of the system (i.e. the value of Y - XB when B is the
solution).
Both problems can be solved using a linear algebra method called QR decomposition. When the dimensions of the problem (m,
n and k) are large and there are a lot of systems to solve (such as in big-data applications in genetics), we typically have to use
parallel hardware to accelerate computations. GPU libraries like Nvidia's CULA provide routines for QR decomposition and
other necessary operations. Nevertheless, CULA routines achieve peak performance only for square matrices and process
each system separately. This leads to under-utilization of the GPU device when the matrix A is tall-skinny (m >> n) or when
there are thousands of medium-sized systems to solve (which have to be processed sequentially).
This project aims at developing a new versatile GPU library which overcomes these limitations and will allow us to efficiently
tackle systems of any size as well as multiple problems in parallel. The student will base his or her work on existing CULA
routines and routines from the CAQR library (specialized for tall-skinny problems). The main directions of the project will be:
High performance, adaptive GPU
library for computation of
residuals of linear systems with
varying matrix dimensions
1A
1)Develop code for solving systems and finding residuals which will be able to pick the best routine (between CPU and multiple
GPU implementations) depending on the system's dimensions and the shape of A (square or tall-skinny).
2)Explore ways in which many small or medium-sized systems (either with different A matrices or different Y matrices or both)
can be solved in parallel by designing new GPU kernels or by streaming many kernels into the GPU using the related CUDA
functionality.
3)Optimize auxiliary computations and procedures (e.g. matrix multiplications, data transfers) to improve speed.
Skills required:
1)Basic familiarity with parallel programming concepts and techniques. GPU programming and CUDA knowledge are a plus but
not required.
Expected acquired skills:
1)Experience with GPU programming, CUDA programming and its toolflow used on a real-world problem
2)Familiarity with widely used linear algebra techniques, their pros and cons and issues regarding their implementation on
GPUs and CPUs
3)Research experience and contribution to the group's output. The results of the project will be used in real genetic problems
research and will likely lead to a publication.
10 February 2015
Page 12 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401156
Constandinou,T.
901
Meet to discuss.
901
Implantable medical devices typically employ transcutaneous (i.e. through the skin) telemetries to transmit power and data
(inductively), thus avoiding the risk of infection due to breaching the skin barrier. The implanted device(s) however use wired
connections between multi-module implants. Examples include: deep brain stimulators (DBS) for Parkinson's/dystonia/essential
tremor, cochlear implants for hearing, etc. A key challenge in ALL such systems is the mechanical reliability of interconnects in general fewer wires are preferable.
Full Custom IC Design Project 2
1400849
1A
Constandinou,T. (with
Liu,Y.)
2-wire Power/Data Interface for
Implantable Medical Devices
4T
This project aims to develop a new 2-wire interface for communicating between a neural (brain) implant (inside the skull) and a
processing unit (situated in the chest cavity). The interface should implement full-duplex (simultaneous bidirectional)
communication of up to 1Mbps, with error detection/correction, and recover a reference clock, power supply, and bias
references within the neural implant module. An additional requirement is that several modules can share this communication
interface, i.e. can be connected and are addressible in parallel.
Key challenges are: (1) there must be no static electric field (i.e. no DC), (2) electronics must occupy a minimal volume
(minimal components), (3) minimal power dissipation.
This project will firstly develop new concepts for this 2-wire protocol and implement these in a prototype (hardware)
demonstrator. It is expected that any novel contributions will be published in relevant peer-reviewed journals/conferences.
Ideal student background: good practical ability required - familiarity and experience with microcontrollers, embedded
programming, analogue and digital electronics, PCB design, communication methods and protocols, power
management/regulation.
10 February 2015
Page 13 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400850
Constandinou,T. (with
Liu,Y.)
901
Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs) are a direct communication pathway between the brain and an external device. BMIs are often
directed at assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions.
4T
Calibration-free Real-time Neural
Spike Streaming
Implanted BMIs use tiny electrodes inserted into the tissue to monitor the spiking activity of individual neurons (action
potentials) or local populations of neurons (local field potentials). However, the observed recordings vary from electrode to
electrode (both in signal amplitude and background noise level), and may change over time. In order to effectively utilise these
recordings, amplifier gains and analogue to digital converter resolutions are currently individually tuned (manually) such as to
maximise the useful dynamic range.
Future BMIs will have 1000s of channels to decode our thoughts and provide useful information for controlling external devices,
for example, prosthetic limbs, computers, etc. It is however unpractical to individually manually calibrate each channel to the
observed signal dynamics, particularly as these change over time. Future BMIs will therefore have to adapt and self calibrate to
the signal dynamics.
This project will develop a computationally-efficient (i.e. minimal computation and memory) adaptive algorithm to effectively
detect these spike signals without needing any calibration. The algorithm will then be implemented in an ultra low power
embedded platform to demonstrate real-time adaptive spike streaming. This will then be used by a research team based at
Imperial that is implementing a multi-channel BMI implant chip. It is expected that any novel contributions will additionally be
published in relevant peer-reviewed journals/conferences.
Ideal student background: strong in Matlab and C, good experience required with microcontrollers and embedded programming.
1400996
Constantinides,G.A. (with
Levine,J.M.)
Temperature and voltage
characterisation of devices
912
4D4T4J
The performance and lifetime of an integrated circuit is dependent upon operating and environmental conditions, which include
temperature and supply voltage. To produce reliable devices it is important to characterise behaviour under all scenarios that
are likely to be encountered in the field. The information can be used to develop techniques for making circuits more efficient,
better performing and more reliable.
This project will design an experimental rig for precisely and safely controlling the voltage and temperature of a circuit-undertest. An API will enable the hardware to be easily controlled by a top-level experiment procedure . The rig will then be used to
carry out an investigation into performance and reliability in FPGA devices.
The project will feature both hardware and software development and encompasses aspects from mechanical components all
the way up to a potential web interface . Thus it can be adapted to fit a student's skills, though for high marks I would like to see
a fully-integrated, vertical solution that could be released under an open-source license for use by the research community. To
demonstrate its usefulness, the system could be used to carry out (and possibly publish the results of) accelerated life testing
or statistical characterisation of devices.
10 February 2015
Page 14 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400958
Constantinides,G.A. (with
Stott,E.)
912
The power consumed by a digital circuit is dependent upon a number of parameters, including supply voltage, switching activity
and leakage current. It is easy to measure the overall power but how can we get a breakdown of the proportion of power used
by different parts of the circuit? Knowing this would allow us to optimise operation of complex systems-on-chips to improve
efficiency.
Power measurement breakdown
in digital logic
4D4T4J
This project will find out if it is possible to estimate power consumption in digital circuits by probing a small proportion of the
internal and external signals and analysing the statistical properties of the trace that is returned. The main skills required are
digital circuit design with hardware description languages and data analysis.
Generating some indicative results should be straightforward, but to achieve high marks the candidate could consider how the
probe locations could be selected while the circuit is being designed and produce tools that would automate the process.
1400952
Drane,T. (with
Thomas,D.B.)
Constrained Input Domain
Synthesis
1A1C1S
This is an industrially led research project that addresses the
observation that within deep arithmetic pipelines there may be
redundant hardware; for example there may be branches which
are actually never entered, variables which are constant, or stuck
at bit, all regardless of which inputs enter the pipeline. It is
also common that the set of possible inputs to the pipeline
is restricted i.e. has a constrained input domain. Synthesis tools
don’t optimise these redundancies, but exploiting these
opportunities can provide significant hardware quality improvements.
The idea is that one could hook up a verification and synthesis tools
to discover these situations and thus automatically 'scrub' code of
dead branches and logic. This project would suit students with
either experience or an interest in RTL (VHDL/Verilog), synthesis
and/or verification. This project will involve working with an industrial
researcher (as well as the supervisor).
1400953
Drane,T. (with
Thomas,D.B.)
Power Estimation of RTL
1A1C1S
Power measurement of RTL typically requires long simulations, using
tools with very expensive licenses usage, so it would be preferable if
analytic probabilities could be calculated for switching information.
Techniques do exist which attempt to perform this task but require
further research in order to allow tools which deliver usable results on
industrial strength benchmarks in a reasonable time. This project
will look into the use of BDDs and interval arithmetic, in order to
try to develop such tools.
This project would suit students interested in the fundamentals of
digital logic synthesis, with good mathematical skills, decent programming
skills (in any language, matlab is fine), and some knowledge of
RTL simulation. This project will involve working with an industrial
10 February 2015
Page 15 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401079
Georgiou,P. (with
Constantinides,A.G.)
902
The area of blind channel equalisation has received considerable attention over the years. The major direction has been based
on the use of either higher order statistical signal properties and/or multiple sensors which serve to diversify signals. The rather
demanding area of a Single-Input-Single-Output (SISO) system has received little attention because of increased complexity.
Algorithms for blind SISO
source and channel
identification with applications
in biomedical electronics
1400996
1S
The purposes of the project is to utilise new algorithms and study their robustness, efficiency and limitations. The area selected
to apply the new algorithms is infant fever monitoring and the extraction of the “core temperature” from measurements of the
“skin temperature”.
Levine,J.M. (with
Constantinides,G.A.)
Temperature and voltage
characterisation of devices
4D4T4J
The performance and lifetime of an integrated circuit is dependent upon operating and environmental conditions, which include
temperature and supply voltage. To produce reliable devices it is important to characterise behaviour under all scenarios that
are likely to be encountered in the field. The information can be used to develop techniques for making circuits more efficient,
better performing and more reliable.
This project will design an experimental rig for precisely and safely controlling the voltage and temperature of a circuit-undertest. An API will enable the hardware to be easily controlled by a top-level experiment procedure . The rig will then be used to
carry out an investigation into performance and reliability in FPGA devices.
The project will feature both hardware and software development and encompasses aspects from mechanical components all
the way up to a potential web interface . Thus it can be adapted to fit a student's skills, though for high marks I would like to see
a fully-integrated, vertical solution that could be released under an open-source license for use by the research community. To
demonstrate its usefulness, the system could be used to carry out (and possibly publish the results of) accelerated life testing
or statistical characterisation of devices.
1400849
Liu,Y. (with
Constandinou,T.)
2-wire Power/Data Interface for
Implantable Medical Devices
4T
Implantable medical devices typically employ transcutaneous (i.e. through the skin) telemetries to transmit power and data
(inductively), thus avoiding the risk of infection due to breaching the skin barrier. The implanted device(s) however use wired
connections between multi-module implants. Examples include: deep brain stimulators (DBS) for Parkinson's/dystonia/essential
tremor, cochlear implants for hearing, etc. A key challenge in ALL such systems is the mechanical reliability of interconnects in general fewer wires are preferable.
This project aims to develop a new 2-wire interface for communicating between a neural (brain) implant (inside the skull) and a
processing unit (situated in the chest cavity). The interface should implement full-duplex (simultaneous bidirectional)
communication of up to 1Mbps, with error detection/correction, and recover a reference clock, power supply, and bias
references within the neural implant module. An additional requirement is that several modules can share this communication
interface, i.e. can be connected and are addressible in parallel.
Key challenges are: (1) there must be no static electric field (i.e. no DC), (2) electronics must occupy a minimal volume
(minimal components), (3) minimal power dissipation.
This project will firstly develop new concepts for this 2-wire protocol and implement these in a prototype (hardware)
demonstrator. It is expected that any novel contributions will be published in relevant peer-reviewed journals/conferences.
Ideal student background: good practical ability required - familiarity and experience with microcontrollers, embedded
programming, analogue and digital electronics, PCB design, communication methods and protocols, power
management/regulation.
10 February 2015
Page 16 of 39
PID
Supervisor
1400850
Liu,Y. (with
Constandinou,T.)
Calibration-free Real-time Neural
Spike Streaming
Room
Description
Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs) are a direct communication pathway between the brain and an external device. BMIs are often
directed at assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions.
4T
Implanted BMIs use tiny electrodes inserted into the tissue to monitor the spiking activity of individual neurons (action
potentials) or local populations of neurons (local field potentials). However, the observed recordings vary from electrode to
electrode (both in signal amplitude and background noise level), and may change over time. In order to effectively utilise these
recordings, amplifier gains and analogue to digital converter resolutions are currently individually tuned (manually) such as to
maximise the useful dynamic range.
Future BMIs will have 1000s of channels to decode our thoughts and provide useful information for controlling external devices,
for example, prosthetic limbs, computers, etc. It is however unpractical to individually manually calibrate each channel to the
observed signal dynamics, particularly as these change over time. Future BMIs will therefore have to adapt and self calibrate to
the signal dynamics.
This project will develop a computationally-efficient (i.e. minimal computation and memory) adaptive algorithm to effectively
detect these spike signals without needing any calibration. The algorithm will then be implemented in an ultra low power
embedded platform to demonstrate real-time adaptive spike streaming. This will then be used by a research team based at
Imperial that is implementing a multi-channel BMI implant chip. It is expected that any novel contributions will additionally be
published in relevant peer-reviewed journals/conferences.
Ideal student background: strong in Matlab and C, good experience required with microcontrollers and embedded programming.
1400969
Papavassiliou,C.
Student self proposed Design
and build
1400971
Papavassiliou,C.
Circuits utilising Memristor
devices
1400972
Papavassiliou,C.
Interfaces for multilevel
Resistive RAM
1400973
Papavassiliou,C.
Arrays of oscillators
915
A design and build project, preferably one which includes a radio.
3E3I
915
3E3I
915
3E3I
915
3E3I
The memristor is a resistor whose value of resistance is determined by the recent history of signals applied to it.
Memristors can be used to make variable gain amplifiers, power meters, pulsed transmitters (neuron emulators) and more.
Resistive Random Access memories have been proposed as a future direction of memory technology. They are easy to
manufacture, have a very small unit cell and can support several bits per cell.
The main challenge is to devise a simple enough and accurate enough interface which will make this technology practical.
Groups of coupled oscillators develop collective modes, which are spectrally purer than each individual oscillator. In fact, the
output properties of a group of coupled oscillator depend more on the interconnection details (strength of interactions and
delays) than on the properties of the individual oscillators. To see this consider the ring oscillator widely used in integrated
electronics, which IS a rather good oscillator, despite consisting of non-oscillating inverters!
In this project we will investigate, through SPICE or MATLAB simulations, the noise properties of lattices (two-dimensional
arrays) of oscillators.
10 February 2015
Page 17 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400988
Papavassiliou,C.
915
A modulated nonlinear capacitor can act as an amplifier. Parametric amplifiers do not involve transistors, are power efficient
are narrowband and operate at extremely high frequencies.
Monolithic parametric amplifiers
1401028
Papavassiliou,C.
Steering the beam of an antenna
array
1401108
1401110
1A1S
10 February 2015
Antenna element coupling affects the radiation pattern of antenna arrays. In turn, element coupling can be modulated by
change of impedance matching between the antenna and the transmitter/receiver.
In this project we will investigate how deliberate modulation of antenna impedance matching can be used, perhaps, to enhance
antenna array steering accuracy and angular resolution.
Propose a gadget you would like to design and make. Possible application areas are: audio, remote control and remote
sensing. You will design the gadget, make a prototype and test it. The project does not have to be novel but should address an
engineering challenge in low noise circuits, radio frequency electronics or instrumentation engineering. Projects may use
microcontrollers.
915
An experimental project with two aims:
1. optimise some existing memristor array measurement hardware.
2. Use this hardware to extract statistics on arrays of memristors made with different materials, and consequently decide on
which one are useful for electronic applications.
915
Signals from array receivers can be processed to extract super-resolved directional information. In this project receiver
software will be written to operate an array of USRP2 soft radio receivers we have in the laboratory.
1A
1A1C1S
915
The performance limits of chopper amplifiers utilising irregular chopping signals will be explored in MATLAB or CADENCE.
1A1S
Papavassiliou,C.
Slow mode RF distributed filters
Coupled oscillator arrays develop collective modes, spectrally purer than the elements they are made up of. In this project you
will design a low noise voltage controlled oscillator by
exploiting the spectral refinement afforded by a suitable choice of coupling between the oscillators.
915
1A
Papavassiliou,C.
Performance limits of Chopper
amplifiers
1401117
915
Papavassiliou,C.
High performance antenna array
receiver
1401116
1A1C
Papavassiliou,C.
Memristor array characterisation
1401115
915
Papavassiliou,C.
Student self-proposed design
and construct
1401114
4D4T
Papavassiliou,C.
Beam Steering in mismatched
Antenna arrays
In this project we will study monolithic implementations of parametric amplifiers.
915
Papavassiliou,C.
Weakly coupled oscillator arrays
1401109
3E3I
915
1A
In this project we will investigate filters built on layered and patterned substrates. Such materials may support spectral
abnormally slow surface wave modes. These modes have frequency ranges within which they are dipersionless (i.e. phase
velocity constant with frequency) and lossless, permitting the design of miniaturised distributed filters.
Page 18 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
1401182
Papavassiliou,C.
915
4D4T
beam steering in antenna arrays
1401178
Description
Papavassiliou,C. (with
Fobelets,K.)
915
3E4D4T
Feasibility of using
thermoelectric powered cycle
lights
Thermoelectricity is the method of converting heat gradients into electrical power. Small thermoelectric generators (TEGs) with
a thickness of 0.5 cm and area between 0.25 and 25 cm^2 are commercially available and are used e.g. to charge the battery
of pacemakers.
When cycling, the body is losing heat while the forced convection is causing cooling, this offers the possibility of heat gradients
that can be exploited by thermoelectrics.
In this project the student will analyse whether it is possible to scavenge heat from the cyclist to directly or indirectly power
LEDs for cycle lights. A demonstrator needs to be built based on the proposed design.
A brief overview of the tasks:
- study the principles of thermoelectric power generation and check commercially available components
- literature search into the use of thermoelectric power generation from body heat
- investigate/measure heat gradients that can be generated whilst cycling
- investigate the power management system needed to exploit this non-constant heat gradient
- investigate LED control systems that can be used with the available power
- design a TEG - power management system - LED system for a cyclist
- build and test
This project will be supervised by Dr. K. Fobelets (thermoelectrics, cyclist) and Dr. C. Papavasilliou (circuits, cyclist). The
project is 100% experimental. A keen interest in cycling is advisable.
1400975
Rodriguez-Villegas,E. (with
)
Rodriguez-Villegas,E. (with
)
Flexible coil antenna structures
1401016
Spence,R. (with
Witkowski,C.M.)
Product Space Explorer for
Smart Purchasing
1401017
Spence,R. (with
Witkowski,C.M.)
Computed Aided Design Space
Exploration
10 February 2015
This project looks at the implementation of an RFID system in microwave and/or UHF frequency range for high bit rate data
transmission in wearable devices. Applications such as monitoring heart rate and body temperature will be investigated. The
student will undertake a comprehensive review of current state of the art for wearable devices along with the state of the art
UHF/Microwave RFID systems. Implementation of a programmable UHF/MW RFID system for ultra-low power high bit rate data
transmission will be investigated using off the shelf components. MATLAB, C
914
the student will look at the design, simulation, and experimental measurements on a range of flexible antenna and inductors
coils. This will be complemented by simulation and measurements on the loading effects of human body on such structures.
The aim is to construct an experimentally validated simulation model for such antenna and inductor structure. MATLAB,
ANSYS HFSS, AWR Microwave Office
913A
The invention, design, implementation and evaluation of an interface (e.g., web page) to permit the exploration of many
products (e.g., 1000 cameras) and the eventual selection of one to purchase.
4T
UHF and microwave RFID
systems for wearable devices
1400978
914
4T
4D4T4J
913A
4D4T4J
The development of an interface to support the design of an artifact (e.g., electronic circuit) or scheme (e.g., a plan to reduce
crime in a selected geographical area) in which the numbers of designable parameters and performances of interest are large
(at least 10). There will be tolerances on parameters; there may be flexibility in performance requirements; and there will be
huge benefits to be gained by allowing a designer to explore (e.g., the effect of parameter variation) interactively in order to gain
some insight into, for example, inherent trade-offs in performances.
Page 19 of 39
PID
Supervisor
1400958
Stott,E. (with
Constantinides,G.A.)
Power measurement breakdown
in digital logic
Room
4D4T4J
Description
The power consumed by a digital circuit is dependent upon a number of parameters, including supply voltage, switching activity
and leakage current. It is easy to measure the overall power but how can we get a breakdown of the proportion of power used
by different parts of the circuit? Knowing this would allow us to optimise operation of complex systems-on-chips to improve
efficiency.
This project will find out if it is possible to estimate power consumption in digital circuits by probing a small proportion of the
internal and external signals and analysing the statistical properties of the trace that is returned. The main skills required are
digital circuit design with hardware description languages and data analysis.
Generating some indicative results should be straightforward, but to achieve high marks the candidate could consider how the
probe locations could be selected while the circuit is being designed and produce tools that would automate the process.
1400952
Thomas,D.B. (with
Drane,T.)
Constrained Input Domain
Synthesis
903
1A1C1S
This is an industrially led research project that addresses the
observation that within deep arithmetic pipelines there may be
redundant hardware; for example there may be branches which
are actually never entered, variables which are constant, or stuck
at bit, all regardless of which inputs enter the pipeline. It is
also common that the set of possible inputs to the pipeline
is restricted i.e. has a constrained input domain. Synthesis tools
don’t optimise these redundancies, but exploiting these
opportunities can provide significant hardware quality improvements.
The idea is that one could hook up a verification and synthesis tools
to discover these situations and thus automatically 'scrub' code of
dead branches and logic. This project would suit students with
either experience or an interest in RTL (VHDL/Verilog), synthesis
and/or verification. This project will involve working with an industrial
1400953
Thomas,D.B. (with
Drane,T.)
Power Estimation of RTL
903
1A1C1S
Power measurement of RTL typically requires long simulations, using
tools with very expensive licenses usage, so it would be preferable if
analytic probabilities could be calculated for switching information.
Techniques do exist which attempt to perform this task but require
further research in order to allow tools which deliver usable results on
industrial strength benchmarks in a reasonable time. This project
will look into the use of BDDs and interval arithmetic, in order to
try to develop such tools.
This project would suit students interested in the fundamentals of
digital logic synthesis, with good mathematical skills, decent programming
skills (in any language, matlab is fine), and some knowledge of
RTL simulation. This project will involve working with an industrial
10 February 2015
Page 20 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401016
Witkowski,C.M. (with
Spence,R.)
1007D
The invention, design, implementation and evaluation of an interface (e.g., web page) to permit the exploration of many
products (e.g., 1000 cameras) and the eventual selection of one to purchase.
Product Space Explorer for
Smart Purchasing
1401017
Witkowski,C.M. (with
Spence,R.)
Computed Aided Design Space
Exploration
1401190
Brookes,D.M.
Softened binary masks for
speech quality improvement
1401191
Brookes,D.M.
Frequency-dependent speech
activity detection
1401183
Clerckx,B.
Communication with imperfect
feedback
4D4T4J
1007D
4D4T4J
814
3E4D4T3I4J
814
3E4D4T3I4J
816
3E3I
The development of an interface to support the design of an artifact (e.g., electronic circuit) or scheme (e.g., a plan to reduce
crime in a selected geographical area) in which the numbers of designable parameters and performances of interest are large
(at least 10). There will be tolerances on parameters; there may be flexibility in performance requirements; and there will be
huge benefits to be gained by allowing a designer to explore (e.g., the effect of parameter variation) interactively in order to gain
some insight into, for example, inherent trade-offs in performances.
Speech enhancement algorithms based on binary masks work by first converting a noisy speech signal into the time-frequency
domain which determines the energy of the signal as a function of both time and frequency. Speech enhancement is then
performed in this domain by multiplying the value in each time-frequency cell by a mask that equals either 0 or 1 according to
whether the cell is classified as containing primarily speech or primarily noise. Finally the signal is converted back into the time
domain for output playback. Although these binary mask enhancers can greatly improve the intelligibility of poor quality speech,
their output signals sound very unpleasant (albeit intelligible). By softening the abrupt edges of the mask in both time and
frequency, this project aims to improve the perceived quality of binary-masked signals while retaining their high intelligibility.
The project will be done in MATLAB.
In a speech recording, there are often extended periods of silence and so the purpose of a "speech activity detector" is to
distinguish between time intervals that contain speech and those that do not. This project seeks to extend the idea of a speech
activity detector and devise an algorithm that uses multiple frequency bands and is able to identify intervals of speech activity
within each band independently. Ideally, the speech activity detector should function correctly even when the speech is
corrupted with moderate levels of additive acoustic noise. The project will use MATLAB.
Description: Wireless communication systems rely more and more on the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and
the receiver (MIMO). MIMO is nowadays the core technology of 4G networks. Some of the MIMO transmission strategies rely on
accurate channel state information (CSI) feedback. In this context, a fundamental issue in wireless communications is to
provide accurate CSI to the transmitter while incurring a small feedback overhead.
The aim of the project is to understand the fundamentals of feedback design in communication systems and compare the
performance of various strategies in different scenarios.
Skills required: strong interests in comms/signal processing required, algorithm development, analysis, simulation, matlab or
C/C++ programming
10 February 2015
Page 21 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401184
Clerckx,B.
816
Description: Wireless communication systems rely more and more on the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and
the receiver (MIMO). MIMO is nowadays the core technology of 4G networks. Space-Time coding refers to the information
encoding strategy used in MIMO systems to boost the performance. Contrary to classical transmission where transmission is
performed in the time domain only, information is jointly encoded in space and time with space-time coding to provide further
reliability to the system and to boost the spectral efficiency of the transmission.
The aim of the project is to understand the fundamentals of space-time code design and compare the performance of various
space-time coding strategies in different scenarios.
3E3I
Space-Time Coding
Skills required: algorithm development, analysis, simulation, matlab or C/C++ programming
1400932
Clerckx,B. (with
Mitcheson,P.D.)
816
3E3I
Waveform Design for Wireless
Power Transfer
Wireless sensor network (WSN) has attracted a lot of attention in various machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things
(IoT) applications such as smart home networking, smart metering, and healthcare due to its low deployment costs coupled
with a high potential to sense and collect object-oriented data through a large number of cheap wireless sensor nodes. One of
the main challenges in WSN is that nodes are resource-constrained, mainly due to battery limitation.
To enable autonomous wireless devices, the project will investigate the feasibility of wireless power transfer. While receiver
design for wireless power transfer has been relatively well researched, the design of suitable waveforms is much less known.
In the project, the student will investigate how the waveform design influences the performance of wireless power transfer and
identify suitable waveforms.
The student will get the opportunity to progressively get familiar with the latest research in wireless communications, RF design
and power transfer, discuss and imagine the basic concepts of next generation wireless power networks.
Skills required: strong interests in communication/signal processing and RF design, algorithm development, analysis,
simulations, RF measurement, matlab and PSpice programming
The following references are helpful:
•
A. S. Boaventura and N. B. Carvalho, “Maximizing DC Power in Energy Harvesting Circuits Using Multisine Excitation,” 2011
IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest (MTT).
•
M. Pinuela, P. Mitcheson and S. Lucyszyn, “Ambient RF energy harvesting in urban and semi-urban environments” IEEE
Trans. on microwave theory and techniques, vol 61, no 7, july 2013.
•
J. Park and B. Clerckx, “Joint Wireless Information and Energy Transfer in a Two-User MIMO Interference Channel,” IEEE
Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 4210–4221, Aug. 2013.
1401079
Constantinides,A.G. (with
Georgiou,P.)
Algorithms for blind SISO
source and channel
identification with applications
in biomedical electronics
10 February 2015
618
1S
The area of blind channel equalisation has received considerable attention over the years. The major direction has been based
on the use of either higher order statistical signal properties and/or multiple sensors which serve to diversify signals. The rather
demanding area of a Single-Input-Single-Output (SISO) system has received little attention because of increased complexity.
The purposes of the project is to utilise new algorithms and study their robustness, efficiency and limitations. The area selected
to apply the new algorithms is infant fever monitoring and the extraction of the “core temperature” from measurements of the
“skin temperature”.
Page 22 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
1401105
Ling,C.)
618
1A1C1S
Hidden Markov Models for blind
system identification of the
financial market and forecasting
1401129
Mandic,D.P.)
Algorithmic Trading Using
Phase Synchronization
Description
618
1A1C1S
Phase synchrony is a measure widely emloyed in bioengineering, as it is independent of the amplitude of the recorded data
and thus robust to sensor imperfection, but is rarely used in finance. Recently, an initial algorithmic trading approach was
proposed in [1] but it only focused on univariate data channels.
With the emergence of multivariate techniques for multiscale processing, there is an opportunity to extend the principles of
scale-aware algorithmic trading to multivariate financial data, in order to benefit for the mutual information and coupling present
in such data.
The project will be based on the recently introduced multivariate synchrosqueezing transform (MSST) technique and will
generalise the results in [1] to more realistic scenarios.
[1] A. Ahrabian, C. Cheong Took,and D. P. Mandic, "Algorithmic Trading Using Phase Synchronization", IEEE Journal on
Selected Topics in Signal Processing, VOL. 6, NO. 4, AUGUST 2012
[2] A. Ahrabian, D. Looney, L. Stankovic, and D. P. Mandic, ``Synchrosqueezing-based time-frequency analysis of multivariate
data'', Signal Processing, accepted, vol. 106, pp. 331--341, 2015.
[3] IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, special issue on Time-Frequency Estimation, November 2013.
1400894
Dai,W.
Learning from Data
1400896
Dai,W.
Sparse Channel Estimation
811
4D4T4J
811
4D4T4J
This will be a self-designed project by the student in the sense that the student will need to select a dataset that she/he is most
interested in and identify technical tools to learn useful information from the data. The data could be the publicly available data
from data.gov.uk or financial data or any other things that are legal. The student will be required to study the literature, identify
the technical tools that can be used to analyse the data, and justify them. The programming platform (Matlab or C etc.) for
numerical tests is also the student's choice. The course "Topics in Large Dimensional Signal Processing" is not required but
highly recommended.
Channel estimation is one of the keys for reliable communications. There have been many techniques proposed for sparse
channel estimation in the literature. This project is designed to get familiar with the benchmark methods, compare and test
them, and explore new techniques for modern communication systems, e.g. massive MIMO systems. Matlab programming will
be required.
References to start:
* Waheed U. Bajwa, Jarvis Haupt, Akbar M. Sayeed, and Robert Nowak, "Compressed Channel Sensing: A New Approach to
Estimating Sparse Multipath Channels".
* Christian R. Berger, Shengli Zhou, James C. Preisig, and Peter Willett, "Sparse Channel Estimation for Multicarrier
Underwater Acoustic Communication: From Subspace Methods to Compressed Sensing".
10 February 2015
Page 23 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400842
Dragotti,P.L.
802
Image Based Rendering (IBR) is a promising technique to render novel views
from a set of available multi-view images. Instead of rendering views
of 3-D scenes by projecting objects and their textures, new views are
rendered by interpolating available nearby images.
The advantage of such a method is that it produces
convincing photorealistic results since the interpolated viewpoints
are obtained through combinations of real images.
The main drawback is the fact that a huge amount of data
needs to be captured.
Clearly, knowledge of the scene geometry reduces the number of images
required. The
estimation of depth and geometry has been normally achieved
using passive stereo with multiple cameras.
Unfortunately,
3-D reconstruction techniques from passive cameras,
are still not reliable and do not work well in many cases. This fact
has profoundly limited the use of IBR ideas. Recent advances in
sensing technologies may soon allow large-scale deployment of 3-D
cameras using active depth sensing systems.
These cameras
are able to estimate depth and geometry with good accuracy and reliability,
and for this reason can be very useful in IBR.
Image Based Rendering with
depth sensors
4D4T4J
In future mobile phones will be equipped with both a camera and an active depth sensing device. This will allow IBR to be
performed easily and effectively on a mobile device.
The aim of the project is to build a simple 3-D active sensor device which would mimic devices that will be put on mobile
phones and then try to combine the data provided by the active device with the images obtained in order to achieve good IBR
results.
1401204
Goverdovsky,V. (with
Mandic,D.P.)
Stress detection from wearable
physiological sensors: Signal
processing for big data in
healthcare
3E
The candidate will record their own physiological variables, such as heart rate, pulse, respiration, electroencephalogram over
very long time periods, such as hours or overnight. This will be achieved in a completely unobtrusive manner, using our own
ultra-wearable biosignal recording unit. Such data will then be used to 'make sense' from such big data sources using signal
processing algorithms. Particular signatures of interest in such data will be related to stress, both cognitive (e.g. solving a
mathematical task) and physical (e.g. exercising in the gym).
The project will involve numerous recording sessions in the natural environment (at home, classroom) and will require
knowledge of data conditioning, estimation, and separation.
Literature:
[1] A. Williamon, L. Aufegger, D. Wasley, D. Looney, and D. P. Mandic, "Complexity of physiological responses decreases in
high stress musical performance", Royal Society Interface, vol. 10, no. 89, pp. 1--6, 2013.
[2] The Handbook of Stress and the Brain, Elsevier, 2005.
[3] M. Ahmed and D. Mandic, "Multivariate multiscale entropy: A tool for complexity analysis of multicahnnel data", Physical
Review E, vol. 84, no. 6, 2011.
10 February 2015
Page 24 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400918
Ling,C.
815
Compressed sensing is a revolutionized technique for simultaneous sampling and compression of signals. It goes beyond the
classical Nyquist sampling and predicts that a sparse vector in high dimensions can be recovered from what was previously
believed to be incomplete information. Sensing matrices play a crucial role in compressed sensing. Although random matrices
(i.i.d. Gaussian or Bernoulli) have been proved to good for compressed sensing, they are heavy in computation and storage;
worse, they offer no guarantees in practice. In this project, you will study deterministic sensing matrices by using coding theory,
sequence design, or de-randomizing structured random matrices, and explore the applications to MRI, Terahertz imaging etc.
Programming skills are required for successful completion of this project.
Semi-Deterministic compressed
sensing
1401202
Ling,C.
Coding for cloud storage
1401105
Ling,C. (with
Hidden Markov Models for blind
system identification of the
financial market and forecasting
1400991
3E3I
815
3E3I
815
1A1C1S
Looney,D. (with
Mandic,D.P.)
Complexity science meets visual
perception: Selective attention in
the perceptions of images and
videos
You will apply coding theory to efficiently and reliably store data in the clouds. Knowledge of coding theory is essential.
MATLAB programming is required.
4D4T4J
The trajectories of eye gaze can be related to different cognitive tasks, as illustrated in the seminal "Yarbus experiment" in
1960s. For instance, causal scanning of an image produces relatively random eye-tracks, whereas upon executing a cognitive
instructions (look for ages of people, how affluent the family is) the eye gaze is modulated according to the instruction.
The student will use our gaze tracker to perform dynamical complexity analysis of eye-gaze, according to different cognitive
instructions. This will be performed for various images (from natural to abstract) and over a range of subjects and measured
variables (x,y eye gaze, pupil diameter, eye dwelling). In this way, the 'complexity loss theory', which states that the complexity
of physiological responses in living organisms reduces under constraints (ageing, illness) will be rigorously tested. Applications
in 'guilty knowledge' scenarios in interview situations, together with those in fatigue monitoring, and the quality of web-design
will be investigated.
References:
[1] A. Yarbus "Congitive Visual Attention", 1971
[2] M. U. Ahmed and D. P. Mandic, "Multivariate multiscale entropy: A tool for complexity analysis of multichannel data'',
Physical Review E, vol. 84, no. 6, pp. 061918-1 -- 061918-10, 2011.
[3] D. Looney, M. U. Ahmed and D. P. Mandic, "Human Centred Multivariate Complexity Analysis," Natural Intelligence
Magazine, vol 1, no. 3, pp. 40-42, 2012.
10 February 2015
Page 25 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400990
Mandic,D.P.
813
Standard complex-valued adaptive filters combine the amplitude and phase information to produce their estimates. However, in
many applications the amplitude information is either not important or can be misleading (e.g. due to sensor different signal
levels in Electroencephalography), and it is the phase information that needs to be estimated accurately.
This project will investigate a least-mean-phase approach to adaptive filtering, which uses phase to perform adaptive estimation
of signal and system parameters. This is natural in both human-centred studies (e.g. human hearing system is tuned for phase
information) and also in e.g. communication systems.
The project will introduce widely linear adaptive filters in the phase domain, in order to make such estimation optimal for both
complex circular and complex noncircular data. The project will involve a case study on frequency and phase estimation in
smart grid, and a preliminary study of a direct phase estimation without the necessity for the Clarke transform. The phase-only
vs. amplitude-only estimation will be investigated via the least-mean-magnitude-phase (LMMP) approach.
Phase-only adaptive filtering in
smart grid applications
4D4T4J
Familiarity with adaptive filtering is a prerequisite.
References:
[1] A. Tarighat and A. H. Sayed, "Least mean-phase adaptive filters with application to communications systems", IEEE Signal
Processing Letters, vool. 11, no. 2, pp. 220-223, 2004.
[2] D. P. Mandic and V. S. L. Goh, "Complex valued nonlinear adaptive filters: Noncircularity, widely linear, and neural models",
Wiley 2009.
[3] Y. Xia, S. C. Douglas and D. P. Mandic, "Adaptive frequency estimation in smart grid applications: Exploring noncircularity
and widely linear estimators'', IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 44-54, 2012.
[4] S. C. Douglas and D. P. Mandic, "The Least Mean Magnitude Phase Adaptive Filter", Proc. ICASSP, 2011.
10 February 2015
Page 26 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400993
Mandic,D.P.
813
This project will investigate adaptive prediction schemes suitable for the operation on vector sensors, such as the threedimensional wind signal. The forecasting will be conducted in the quaternion domain, benefiting from the desirable properties of
quaternion algebra (division algebra), and for a class of stochastic gradient adaptive prediction algorithms.
Short term forecasting of threedimensional wind profile for
renewable energy applications
4D4T
Recent advances in the statistics of quaternion variable (pseudocovariance, involutions, noncircularity) will be used to design
enhanced learning algorithms. In addition, the use of an additional atmospheric variable (air density, temperature) within the
four-dimensional quaternionic model will be investigated.
The algorithms will be tested on real world 3D wind recordings. The student is also expected to conduct their own recordings
based on our own 3D anemometers. Simulations will include several case studies to investigate the usefulness of the approach
in the control and vibration suppression of wind turbines.
The student should be familiar with spectrum estimation and adaptive signal processing.
Literature:
[1] C. Cheong-Took and D. P. Mandic, 'The Quaternion LMS Algorithm for Adaptive Filtering of Hypercomplex Processes', IEEE
Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 57, no. 4, pp. 1316–1327, 2009.
[2] D. P. Mandic et al. 'Complex Valued Prediction of Wind Profile Using Augmented Complex Statistics', Renewable Energy,
vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 196–201, 2009.
1400995
Mandic,D.P.
Harnessing the power of
renewable energy sources:
Complexity science answers
813
4D4T
The dynamics and latent coupling between the atmospheric variables (wind, temperature, solar irradiation, air density, humidity)
have a direct influence on the power output from the renewables (wind, solar). While the numerical weather forecasts are
precise, they are obtained from satellite images and may not be accurate for every particular site.
This project will look into joint dynamic complexity of atmospheric variables, in order to assess the relationship between the
amount of 'structure' in data and the extent to which renewable energy can be generated from the wind and solar plants.
[1] Costa M, Goldberger AL, Peng C-K.
"Multiscale entropy analysis of complex physiologic time series".
Physical Review Letters 2002;89:068102.
Physical Review E, vol. 84, no. 6, pp. 061918-1--061918-10, 2011.
[3] N. Rehman, D. Looney, T. M. Rutkowski, and D. P. Mandic, "Data-adaptive multivariate complexity analysis", Bulletin of the
Polish Academy of Sciences, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 433-466, 2012
10 February 2015
Page 27 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401125
Mandic,D.P.
813
This project will investigate adaptive prediction schemes suitable for the operation on vector sensors, such as the threedimensional wind signal. The forecasting will be conducted in the quaternion domain, benefiting from the desirable properties of
quaternion algebra (division algebra), and for a class of stochastic gradient adaptive prediction algorithms.
Quaternion-Valued Adaptive
Wind Forecasting for Renewable
Energy Applications
1S
Recent advances in the statistics of quaternion variable (pseudocovariance, involutions, noncircularity) will be used to design
enhanced learning algorithms. In addition, the use of an additional atmospheric variable (air density, temperature) within the
four-dimensional quaternionic model will be investigated.
The algorithms will be tested on real world 3D wind recordings. The student is also expected to conduct their own recordings
based on our own 3D anemometers. Simulations will include several case studies to investigate the usefulness of the approach
in the control and vibration suppression of wind turbines.
The student should be familiar with spectrum estimation and adaptive signal processing.
Literature:
[1] C. Cheong-Took and D. P. Mandic, 'The Quaternion LMS Algorithm for Adaptive Filtering of Hypercomplex Processes', IEEE
Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 57, no. 4, pp. 1316–1327, 2009.
[2] D. P. Mandic et al. 'Complex Valued Prediction of Wind Profile Using Augmented Complex Statistics', Renewable Energy,
vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 196–201, 2009.
1401128
Mandic,D.P.
Collaborative distributed
adaptive estimation
813
1S
This project will investigate the benefits of collaborative distributed adaptive filtering strategies. The idea behind this approach
is to split a task into a number of small scale sub-tasks, whose outputs will be combined adaptively in order to obtain a "greater"
and more accurate estimate of the process considered. This is of crucial importance in a variety of application where
measurements from multiple sensors are combined in real time.
The basis of this work will be collaborative adaptive filtering paradigm and its extension to multidimensional cases. The diffusion
LMS technique will be investigated and its applications on communications and biomedical datasets will be addressed.
Familiarity with adaptive filtering is essential. Some background material can be found in
F. Cattivelli and A. Sayed, "Distributed detection over adaptive networks using diffusion adaptation", IEEE Transactions on
Signal Processing, 2011
D. Mandic and S. L. Goh, "Complex Valued Nonlinear Adaptive Filters", Wiley 2009.
D. Mandic et al. "Signal Processing Techniques for Knowledge Extraction and Information Fusion", Springer 2008.
10 February 2015
Page 28 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401129
Mandic,D.P. (with
813
Phase synchrony is a measure widely emloyed in bioengineering, as it is independent of the amplitude of the recorded data
and thus robust to sensor imperfection, but is rarely used in finance. Recently, an initial algorithmic trading approach was
proposed in [1] but it only focused on univariate data channels.
With the emergence of multivariate techniques for multiscale processing, there is an opportunity to extend the principles of
scale-aware algorithmic trading to multivariate financial data, in order to benefit for the mutual information and coupling present
in such data.
The project will be based on the recently introduced multivariate synchrosqueezing transform (MSST) technique and will
generalise the results in [1] to more realistic scenarios.
Algorithmic Trading Using
Phase Synchronization
1A1C1S
[1] A. Ahrabian, C. Cheong Took,and D. P. Mandic, "Algorithmic Trading Using Phase Synchronization", IEEE Journal on
Selected Topics in Signal Processing, VOL. 6, NO. 4, AUGUST 2012
[2] A. Ahrabian, D. Looney, L. Stankovic, and D. P. Mandic, ``Synchrosqueezing-based time-frequency analysis of multivariate
data'', Signal Processing, accepted, vol. 106, pp. 331--341, 2015.
[3] IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, special issue on Time-Frequency Estimation, November 2013.
1401204
Mandic,D.P. (with
Goverdovsky,V.)
Stress detection from wearable
physiological sensors: Signal
processing for big data in
healthcare
813
3E
The candidate will record their own physiological variables, such as heart rate, pulse, respiration, electroencephalogram over
very long time periods, such as hours or overnight. This will be achieved in a completely unobtrusive manner, using our own
ultra-wearable biosignal recording unit. Such data will then be used to 'make sense' from such big data sources using signal
processing algorithms. Particular signatures of interest in such data will be related to stress, both cognitive (e.g. solving a
mathematical task) and physical (e.g. exercising in the gym).
The project will involve numerous recording sessions in the natural environment (at home, classroom) and will require
knowledge of data conditioning, estimation, and separation.
Literature:
[1] A. Williamon, L. Aufegger, D. Wasley, D. Looney, and D. P. Mandic, "Complexity of physiological responses decreases in
high stress musical performance", Royal Society Interface, vol. 10, no. 89, pp. 1--6, 2013.
[2] The Handbook of Stress and the Brain, Elsevier, 2005.
[3] M. Ahmed and D. Mandic, "Multivariate multiscale entropy: A tool for complexity analysis of multicahnnel data", Physical
Review E, vol. 84, no. 6, 2011.
10 February 2015
Page 29 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400991
Mandic,D.P. (with
Looney,D.)
813
The trajectories of eye gaze can be related to different cognitive tasks, as illustrated in the seminal "Yarbus experiment" in
1960s. For instance, causal scanning of an image produces relatively random eye-tracks, whereas upon executing a cognitive
instructions (look for ages of people, how affluent the family is) the eye gaze is modulated according to the instruction.
Complexity science meets visual
perception: Selective attention in
the perceptions of images and
videos
4D4T4J
The student will use our gaze tracker to perform dynamical complexity analysis of eye-gaze, according to different cognitive
instructions. This will be performed for various images (from natural to abstract) and over a range of subjects and measured
variables (x,y eye gaze, pupil diameter, eye dwelling). In this way, the 'complexity loss theory', which states that the complexity
of physiological responses in living organisms reduces under constraints (ageing, illness) will be rigorously tested. Applications
in 'guilty knowledge' scenarios in interview situations, together with those in fatigue monitoring, and the quality of web-design
will be investigated.
References:
[1] A. Yarbus "Congitive Visual Attention", 1971
Physical Review E, vol. 84, no. 6, pp. 061918-1 -- 061918-10, 2011.
[3] D. Looney, M. U. Ahmed and D. P. Mandic, "Human Centred Multivariate Complexity Analysis," Natural Intelligence
Magazine, vol 1, no. 3, pp. 40-42, 2012.
1400983
Manikas,A.
Green MIMO Communications
1400986
1401139
10 February 2015
801
Keywords: MIMO Communication, Very High Secrecy.
4D4T4J
Manikas,A.
Massive MIMO versus Large
Aperture Array MIMO systems
Keywords: MIMO Communication System, Spectral Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Bio Safety, Electromagnetic Pollution.
1S
Manikas,A.
Highly Secret MIMO System
801
Knowing the geometrical characteristics of a MIMO communcaition system, there is an opportunity of integrating the spatial
parameters in the coding to make the signals readable at a particular position only.
Question: Could it be possible to include the position of the multiple antennas in the coding scheme?
801
1S
Page 30 of 39
PID
Supervisor
1400944
Moore,A. (with Naylor,P.A.)
Room
1400944
Naylor,P.A. (with Moore,A.)
Image source localisation using
intensity vectors
1400873
Required Course: DSP 3.07
Recommended course: Speech Processing
4T
Image source localisation using
intensity vectors
Barria,J.A.
Distributed coverage and field
estimation using mobileassisted WSN
Description
When sound travels from a speaker to a microphone it follows many reflected paths as well as the direct path. Determining the
directions of these reflections is very useful for estimating the room geometry and for dereverberation. Using a spherical
microphone array, instantaneous intensity vectors can be calculated which give the direction of energy flow. This is the vector
sum of energy flowing from each reflection.
The aim of the project is to investigate different methods of decomposing measured intensity vectors to determine the directions
of arrival of the constituent reflections. In the first instance Principal Components Analysis could prove useful but there is scope
to apply a variety of techniques.
803
4T
Required Course: DSP 3.07
Recommended course: Speech Processing
When sound travels from a speaker to a microphone it follows many reflected paths as well as the direct path. Determining the
directions of these reflections is very useful for estimating the room geometry and for dereverberation. Using a spherical
microphone array, instantaneous intensity vectors can be calculated which give the direction of energy flow. This is the vector
sum of energy flowing from each reflection.
The aim of the project is to investigate different methods of decomposing measured intensity vectors to determine the directions
of arrival of the constituent reflections. In the first instance Principal Components Analysis could prove useful but there is scope
to apply a variety of techniques.
1012
4D4T4J
Pervasive wireless sensor networks offer many mission-oriented opportunities. In this project we will evaluate the potential
benefits of combining fixed and mobile sensor nodes as part of a mission-oriented, participatory sensor network deployed on an
urban environment that has the objective of detecting the extent of the emission of a substance of interest, for example,
pollutants.
This project will investigate sweep coverage strategies for different network design features like e.g. number and position of
fixed sensors, and number and velocity of mobile sensors. In a sweep coverage problem, for a given set of point of interest
(POI), the available sensors will need to monitor these POIs under certain operational constraints.
We will evaluate the system by assuming simple mobility models for sensors with and without enhanced local intelligence, and
more realistic models that seek to reduce operating costs.
1400877
Barria,J.A.
Smart grid resilient
communication infrastructure
and protocols
10 February 2015
1012
4D4T4J
Review of industrial protocols for streaming data and communication protocols. Review and analyse protocols like e.g. IEC
61850 communication protocol and alternative/complementary ones. Design and implement a client server communication link
to investigate the performance of these protocols for high reliable service requirements. Implement distance testing capabilities.
Explicit agreement from supervisor required
Page 31 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401072
Barria,J.A.
1012
pollutants.
1012
Inference of network internal characteristics has become an increasing important issue for communication network operation.
This project will investigate probe-based technology to establish a mechanism to infer and estimate internal link level delay
distribution from end-to-end path measurements. We will investigate discrete as well as continuous approximations. The
algorithms will be tested via simulation in terms of accuracy of estimation and computational complexity.
1012
pollutants.
1401075
Barria,J.A.
Probe-based inference of
network delay distributions
1401185
Barria,J.A.
1401188
1S
Barria,J.A.
Location-based routing
Algorithm in Mobile Ad Hoc
Networks
1S
3E4D4T3I4J
1012
3E4D4T3I4J
In a MANET environment the dynamic topology is a key feature and may change rapidly and unpredictably due to relative node
movements which would affect the transfer of information, degrading the performance of e.g. routing protocols. We will study
the performance of energy-aware position based routing protocols, its nodes’ location information and mobility. We will assess
the algorithmic improvement when incorporating multiple metrics (QoS parameters) will be evaluated in a sample network and
compared with previously proposed algorithms.
Cat.: Mathematical/Analytical, Software.
1401069
Goodman,D.F.M.
Analysis of large
electrophysiological data sets
1018
1A1C1S
Over the next few years, new hardware will become available that will provide neuroscientists with several orders of magnitude
more data than were previously available. This will revolutionise neuroscience, but current analysis techniques will not scale to
this new data. In this project, you will contribute to KlustaSuite (http://klusta-team.github.io/), an open-source effort to “spike
sort” data from dense neural probes: that is, to determine the timing and identity of neural impulses (spikes) from data recorded
from a large array of electrodes implanted in the brain. This could involve the design and implementation of algorithms for
filtering and high-dimensional clustering, or the application of GPU or FPGA computing, for example.
Required knowledge: good programming and mathematical skills
Useful knowledge: signal processing, clustering (e.g. the expectation-maximisation algorithm), GPU or FPGA computing,
Python, C++, some familiarity with extracellular recordings
10 February 2015
Page 32 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401007
Gunduz,D.
1016
Sensor networks are formed by small battery-powered devices that monitor the environment (e.g., weather monitoring,
structures monitoring and health monitoring) and transmit the important data wirelessly to the network. For many sensor
network applications it is either costly or impossible to replace drained batteries, such as structural sensors embedded in
bridges, or sensors distributed over a rainforest. Energy harvesting technology resolves this limitation by harvesting the ambient
energy (e.g., solar, wind or electromagnetic energy), promising seemingly perpetual operation. However, classical
communication protocols, which are designed to improve the network lifetime based on limited power or energy resources, are
not compatible with energy harvesting sensor networks, whose energy resources are sporadic and random.
Energy harvesting
communication system
optimisation
4D4T4J
In this project we want to investigate the following problem: there is an energy harvesting transmitter, which wants to transmit
data to its destination. The transmitter can transmit through several orthogonal channels, but does not know the states of the
channels (e.g., if the channels are good or bad for transmission). The transmitter can spend energy to probe some channels
and estimate their states, but this will leave less energy for data transmission. Hence, the transmitter faces a trade-off between
exploration (i.e., probing new channels and spending energy) and exploitation (i.e., transmitting on the best channel so far and
use all the remaining energy for transmission). This trade-off has to be balanced with the random arrival of the energy as well.
References:
1) P. Chaporkar and A. Proutiere. Optimal joint probing and transmission strategy for maximizing throughput in wireless
systems. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, 26(18):1546–1556, Oct 2008.
2) P Blasco, D Gunduz, M Dohler. A Learning Theoretic Approach to Energy Harvesting Communication System Optimization.
IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 12 (4), 1872-1882.
The perfect candidate must have background on statistics and stochastic processes as well as wireless communications. The
project will involve reading and understanding some technical papers, building up a mathematical model for the problem at
hand, and Phyton or Matlab coding of the problem.
10 February 2015
Page 33 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401134
Gunduz,D.
1016
The past decade has witnessed a rapid growth in the mobile network data traffic, driven by the tremendous increase in the
variety of mobile devices and data-rich applications, such as live video streaming and online gaming.
Optimal Content Placement and
Cache Capacity Allocation
1C1S
It has been observed that a significant portion of the mobile data traffic is caused by a relatively small number of highly popular
content, such as viral video files, news videos, etc., downloaded by millions of users. In today's systems, each time such a
request is received, the network fetches the content from the central server, and delivers it to the user through the access point
(i.e., base station, WiFi router) it is connected from.
A smarter solution is to “prefetch” and “cache” some of the most popular files at the sBSs or WiFi APs, and serve the users
directly from these nodes on the network edge. This will reduce not only the traffic in the core network, but also the latency for
users.
This project will explore the optimum way of assigning files to the caches, in order to minimize the expected downloading time.
To this end we will explore simple yet informative models of such systems, formulate the above as an optimisation problem
(e.g. a linear programme) and propose efficient algorithms to solve them.
Reference:
N. Golrezaei, K. Shanmugam, A. G. Dimakis, A. F. Molisch, and G. Caire, “Femtocaching: Wireless video content delivery
through distributed caching helpers,” in INFOCOM, 2012 Proceedings IEEE. IEEE, 2012, pp. 1107–1115 (available at
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1109.4179v4.pdf
1400886
Kim,T-K.
Object recognition in videos
1401158
Kim,T-K.
Hand tracking/gesture
recognition
1017
4D4T4J
1017
1A1C1S
Object categorisation is one of the most important studies in computer vision. While considerable advances have been made in
single-shot based object recognition (using a single ’query’ image), successful recognition in natural scenes still remains a
challenging problem. Rather than a single query image that captures only a limited amount of information about a target object,
a video (of moving objects and/or a camera) yields more evidence that can be accumulated for better recognition. With
increasing use of mobile devices that have an embedded camera, there is a great motivation to develop visual recognition
methods that take a video as input. In this project, we explore an extension of image based object cateogorisation techniques,
into those for videos. Relevant works include Kim et al’s BMVC 2010 paper and TPAMI 2007 paper, available from Dr. T-K
Kim’s website. The student is expected to have good program skills in C/C++, and backgrounds to study and implement
relevant cutting-edge technologies, and to explore novel contributions.
Recently, technology advances have made wearable, long operating time, egocentric camera devices such as Google Glass
and Looxcie. The wearable egocentric cameras have much potential for various novel applications when they are combined
with computer vision technologies. The main characteristic of the egocentric camera is that the camera sees what a person
sees at the same time. It will be very useful if the device understands wearing person's hand gestures. Because the device size
is so small that conventional button-type input system is not appropriate and an entirely new interaction approach is required.
So tracking hand regions and recognizing gestures from egocentric video becomes a fundamental and important technique for
human computer interaction and activity recognition.
Requirements: Matlab or Python; C++ would be an advantage.
10 February 2015
Page 34 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401118
Kim,T-K. (with
Kouskouridas,R.)
1017
Semantic segmentation is an important topic in computer vision
with great application across many domains. Some examples include
content based retrieval and augmented reality. Semantic
segmentation possesses many challenges due to object intra-class
variation, view-point changes and occlusion. In this project we will explore 1) efficient methods for depth image segmentation
and 2) 3D object detection and pose estimation techniques. The student is expected to have good programming skills in C/C++
and/or Matlab, and background to study computer vision and machine learning tools.
3D pose estimation in a new
multi-instance RGB-D dataset
containing clutter and occlusion
1401118
Kouskouridas,R. (with
Kim,T-K.)
3D pose estimation in a new
multi-instance RGB-D dataset
containing clutter and occlusion
1401178
Fobelets,K. (with
Papavassiliou,C.)
Feasibility of using
thermoelectric powered cycle
lights
1A1C1S
1018
1A1C1S
714
3E4D4T
Semantic segmentation is an important topic in computer vision
with great application across many domains. Some examples include
content based retrieval and augmented reality. Semantic
segmentation possesses many challenges due to object intra-class
variation, view-point changes and occlusion. In this project we will explore 1) efficient methods for depth image segmentation
and 2) 3D object detection and pose estimation techniques. The student is expected to have good programming skills in C/C++
and/or Matlab, and background to study computer vision and machine learning tools.
Thermoelectricity is the method of converting heat gradients into electrical power. Small thermoelectric generators (TEGs) with
a thickness of 0.5 cm and area between 0.25 and 25 cm^2 are commercially available and are used e.g. to charge the battery
of pacemakers.
When cycling, the body is losing heat while the forced convection is causing cooling, this offers the possibility of heat gradients
that can be exploited by thermoelectrics.
In this project the student will analyse whether it is possible to scavenge heat from the cyclist to directly or indirectly power
LEDs for cycle lights. A demonstrator needs to be built based on the proposed design.
A brief overview of the tasks:
- study the principles of thermoelectric power generation and check commercially available components
- literature search into the use of thermoelectric power generation from body heat
- investigate/measure heat gradients that can be generated whilst cycling
- investigate the power management system needed to exploit this non-constant heat gradient
- investigate LED control systems that can be used with the available power
- design a TEG - power management system - LED system for a cyclist
- build and test
This project will be supervised by Dr. K. Fobelets (thermoelectrics, cyclist) and Dr. C. Papavasilliou (circuits, cyclist). The
project is 100% experimental. A keen interest in cycling is advisable.
1400901
Lucyszyn,S.
Moonbounce Project: Antenna
Tracking System
1400902
Lucyszyn,S.
Development of a thermal
infrared spectrometer
10 February 2015
602
4D4T4J
602
1A1C1S
A harware+software system designed to track the sun and moon was developed last year by an excellent project student. This
used predictive methods for tracking. This year I am looking for a similar hard working student that can improve the hardware
and software to accurately lock-onto the celestial target. This is a demanding project for a student that is able to write simple
software and use this to control the digital hardware and mechanical actuators. This project is ideal for an all-rounder.
This project is in collaboration with an existing PhD student. The student must develop the sensor and data acquisition system
and write the code to analyze the data. The student must have an interest in analogue and digital circuit design, as well as
implement A/D conversion and associate software development. This project is best suited for an all rounder.
Page 35 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400904
Lucyszyn,S.
602
The student should have an interest in microwave engineering and/or electromagnetics. The student will first develop numerical
models of simple resonator structures, using commercial software, which is then extended to more realistic structures. Then
experimental validation of the modelling will be performed, with the development of a simple sensor. This project is idea for a
pro-active student interested in CAD and experimentation.
Electromagnetic Resonator
Modelling for Mine Detection
1400905
Lucyszyn,S.
Millimetre-wave Photonic
Crystals using Novel
Metamaterials
1400907
602
4D4T4J
602
3E4D4T3I4J
This is a practical project for a student that wants to design, build and test an antenna array. The objective of this project is to
be able to transmit and receive signals to the moon and back. This project is ideal for someone that does not mind getting their
hands dirty!
The student will investigate the pracical limitations to 3D printing of quasi-optical components (e.g. lenses and plated parabolic
mirrors). The student will be expected to investigate the effects of imperfections analytically and through numerical modelling
(using commercial software). He/she will then design, print, test and evaluate the performance of the structures.
This project is ideally suited for someone with an interest in microwave and/or optical engineering.
602
3E4D4T3I4J
The student will design, fabricate, measure and evaluate double metamaterial rectangular waveguide components and
subsystems. This is an extention of a successful PhD project. The student will design a range of passive components and
tuneable circuits operating at 10 GHz.
This project is idea for a practical person that likes experimental work in addition to CAD.
Sydoruk,O.
Coupler for magneto-inductive
waveguides
In association with the Imperial College Centre for Terahertz Science and Engineering (in collaboration with the Department of
Physics and Materials), this project investigates ultra-high quality (Q)-factor resonators for next generation RF electronics
applications. The student must design and test transitions from the 2D metamaterial crystal structures to conventional coplanar
waveguide probes and microfluidic sensors.
The student should ideally have studied, or be currently studying, the E3.18 Microwave Technology course.
Lucyszyn,S.
Double-metamaterial
Rectangular Waveguide
Components and Subsystems
1400860
1A1C1S
Lucyszyn,S.
3D Printed Quasi-optical
Components
1401195
602
Lucyszyn,S.
Moonbounce Project Antenna
1401194
1A1C1S
603
1S
Optical and Semiconductor Devices Group leads a strong research programme in magneto-inductive waveguides. These
waveguides are based on discrete magnetically coupled resonant LC-circuits; their potential applications lie in the fields of
magnetic resonance imaging and signal transmission in challenged environments. Further development of the magnetoinductive technology requires a number of waveguide devices.
This project will aim at designing a coupler for magneto-inductive waveguides. The student will design lumped-element circuits
that will target both standard coupler characteristics (loss, coupling, directivity, isolation) and the characteristics of the magnetoinductive technology (band width).
The project is theoretical and involves analytical calculations and simulations in Matlab and/or a circuit simulator. It will suit a
student with good analytical skills and knowledge of and interest in wave propagation and the transmission-line theory.
10 February 2015
Page 36 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401175
Sydoruk,O.
603
This is a theoretical project.
Resilient magneto-inductive
communication
Optical and Semiconductor Devices Group leads a strong research programme in magneto-inductive waveguides. These
waveguides are based on discrete magnetically coupled resonant LC-circuits. Their potential applications lie in the fields of
magnetic resonance imaging and signal transmission in challenged environments, in particular, underground.
3E
The LC-circuits in a waveguide are usually arranged in a regular periodic manner. However, the arrangement can be broken,
for example, in an industrial accident. In contrast to conventional cables, magneto-inductive waveguides would not be
destroyed and could still be used for communication.
This project is theoretical and will investigate how well magneto-inductive waveguides can work when some of their elements
are displaced or destroyed. It will involve analytical calculations and numerical simulations in Matlab. It will suit a student with
interest in waveguides.
1401176
Sydoruk,O.
Blind-spot metal detection
603
This is a theoretical project.
Standard metal detectors cannot determine the distance to an object. This project will investigate the possibility of metal
detection by using blind spots: areas where magnetic field is zero. The position of the blind spots can be controlled, thus giving
a possibility to detect ranges.
3E
This project is theoretical and will analytical calculations and simulations is Matlab and fastHenry. It will suit a student who
succeeded at Fields, Energy Conversion, and Analysis of Circuits courses and who has interest in electromagnetic theory.
1401177
Sydoruk,O.
Magneto-inductive displacement
detector
1400940
Syms,R.R.A.
Control systems with
intermittent feedback
1400942
Syms,R.R.A.
RF-safe cables for implanted
electronic systems
10 February 2015
603
This project will explore the possibility of using magnetically-coupled LC resonators for detecting mechanical displacements.
The project could be theoretical, experimental or both. It would suit a student with interest in electromagnetic devices, theory,
and simulations. The student will be expected to have taken EE2 Fields course.
702
Linear control systems conventionally have continuous feedback (for example, of position or velocity in a dynamical system).
Under some circumstances, however, it may not be possible to observe the position continually, for example if a feedback
signal is only available near the extremities of a travel range. The aim of this project is to investigate the circumstances under
which a working control system may still be constructed, and evaluate the performance of the resulting controller. The project
would suit someone with an interest in control theory and an ability to program in MATLAB and SIMULINK.
3E
3E3I
702
3E3I
Implanted electronic systems are increasingly being used to control medical conditions that are beyond the use of drugs,
including heart arrhythmia, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, chronic pain and incontinence. Unfortunately, the electrical cables
that are generally used to link the controller with a stimulating electrode can be heated very rapidly by strong electric fields in a
magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The aim of this project is to use simple electrical models to investigate tradeoffs in the
design of RF-safe cables. The project would suit someone with an interest in medical physics and the ability to program in
MATLAB or SPICE.
Page 37 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1400963
Syms,R.R.A.
702
The detection of RF signals in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner is carried out using resonant L-C circuits. Because
the signals are weak, is important to minimise the pickup of any noise, which arises mainly from the human body itself. Rather
than using one large coil (which picks up noise from the whole body), an array of smaller coils is used. Each element detects
local signals, together with a much smaller amount of noise. The outputs are then combined together, so that the signals add
coherently while the noise adds incoherently. For small numbers of coils, the result is increased signal-to-noise ratio.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to prevent each coil being detuned by mutual inductance with its neighbours. The aim of this project
is to investigate the effect of feedback in suppressing the coil currents, and hence in reducing mutual inductance. The project
would suit someone interested in medical physics and analog circuit design.
Array-type detection of MRI
signals
1401082
Syms,R.R.A.
Array-type detection of MRI
signals
1401083
1401085
1401086
10 February 2015
Implanted electronic systems are increasingly being used to control medical conditions that are beyond the use of drugs,
including heart arrhythmia, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, chronic pain, and incontinence. Unfortunately, the electrical cables
that are generally used to link the controller with a stimulating electrode can be heated very rapidly by strong electric fields in a
magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The aim of this project is to use simple electrical models investigate tradeoffs in the
design of RF-safe cables. The project would suit someone with an interest in medical physics and the ability to program in
MATLAB or PSPICE.
702
Linear control systems conventionally have continuous feedback (for example, of position or velocity in a dynamical system).
Under some circumstances, however, it may not be possible to observe the position continually, for example, if a feedback
signal is only available over a the extremities of a travel range. The aim of this project is to investigate the circumstances under
which a working control system may still be constructed, and to evaluate the performance of the resulting controller. The project
would suit someone with an interest in control theory and ability to program in MATLAB and SIMULINK.
702
Military scenarios such as the recruitment and deployment of forces and the attrition of forces resulting from combat can be
modelled using systems of coupled differential equations. Because the equations are nonlinear, many surprising solutions are
possible. The aim of this project is to investigate the circumstances under which stable, cyclic and chaotic solutions are
obtained to combat scenarios involving more than two sets of forces. The project would suit someone with an interest the
application of control techniques to the simulation of modern world events, and ability to program in MATLAB and SIMULINK.
702
Some common types of waveguide (e.g. coaxial cables) have simple dispersion characteristics and can propagate signals for
long distances without significant distortion. Others are much more dispersive. The aim of this project is to consider the effect of
dispersion on the propagation of signals in magneto-inductive waveguides, a type of periodically structured thin-film
interconnect currently being developed for human internal detection of magnetic resonance imaging signals.
1C
Syms,R.R.A.
Signal distortion in highly
dispersive interconnects
702
1C
Syms,R.R.A.
Modelling of nonlinear combat
scenarios
The detection of RF signals in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner is carried out using resonant L-C circuits. Because
the signals are weak, is important to minimise the pickup of any noise, which arises mainly from the human body itself. Rather
than using one large coil (which picks up noise from the whole body), an array of smaller coils is used. Each element detects
local signals, together with a much smaller amount of noise. The outputs are then combined together, so that the signals add
coherently while the noise adds incoherently. For small numbers of coils, the result is increased signal-to-noise ratio.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to prevent each coil being detuned by mutual inductance with its neighbours. The aim of this project
is to investigate the effect of feedback in suppressing the coil currents, and hence in reducing mutual inductance. The project
would suit someone interested in medical physics and analog circuit design.
1A
Syms,R.R.A.
Control systems with
intermittent feedback
702
1A
Syms,R.R.A.
RF-safe cables for implanted
electronic systems
1401084
3E3I
1S
Page 38 of 39
PID
Supervisor
Room
Description
1401196
Syms,R.R.A.
702
Counter-terrorism operations often require covert examination of the interior of a building, for example to determine the number
of occupants and (ideally) whether or not any are carrying weapons. Radio signals can pass through concrete and brick walls,
suggesting that short-range radar might provide a suitable method. However two factors complicate matters. Firstly, the outside
wall provides a very large primary reflection. Secondly, the wall is usually strongly attenuating, so that reflections from human
targets are small, and buried deeply in a background of clutter. In addition, ranges are very short, and Doppler shifts cannot be
used to remove clutter because the human targets move so slowly. Instead, the primary reflection is suppressed using range
gating, which requires very short pulses and an ultra-wide-band system. The aim of this project is to develop a simulation model
for UWB through-the-wall radar using MATLAB, and examine possible additional approaches to tracking of human targets.
Simulation of UWB through-thewall radar
1401199
Syms,R.R.A.
Diffraction from nanoscale
objects
10 February 2015
3E3I
702
3E4D4T3I4J
It is well known that waves tend to spread after passing through a small aperture. This phenomenon is known as diffraction, and
among its consequences is an inability to focus light beyond a limit set by its wavelength. It is less well known that waves can
also spread when they pass round a small object, so that (for example) the shadow region immediately behind the object can
suddenly become bright. The aim of this project is to simulate diffraction effects for a range of objects, to see if careful control of
the object shape can allow images to be formed at sizes well below the diffraction limit for light, namely in the nanoscale
regime. This project involves Matlab programming and would suit someone with an interest in optics and nanotechnology.
Page 39 of 39

projects - Electrical Engineering

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