Recent Projects by Dale Shpak

Hyperspectral Image Processing *

  • Developed and implemented algorithms for the remote detection of explosives using passive infrared spectral data.
  • Developed a Linux-based demonstration system including the XCAP interface to a short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera and spectrometer, automated pan/tilt (via serial interface), GTK GUI, and image processing algorithms in C.
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Hydrocarbon Leak Detection

  • Component selection and analog and digital circuit design for a low-power embedded sensor node.
  • Co-inventor of inductively-coupled powering system that also couples communication signals.
  • Co-inventor of polymer absorption hydrocarbon sensor (patent granted April 2020).
  • Link to Product Site

Distributed Multichannel Packet Sniffer *

  • Concurrently monitors multiple radio channels to facilitate protocol analysis where links operate at different frequencies.
  • Multiple embedded single-channel packet sniffers are interfaced (serially) to one or more server computers. Then, on each of these servers, a Java UDP/TCP server process receives the time-stamped packet data and sends it over the network so that all developers can concurrently view the wireless protocol transactions.
  • Each developer has a Java application to view the time-aligned and interpreted data.
  • Developed everything except for the low-level embedded packet sniffer.
Sniffer

Petroleum Storage Tank Floating Roof Monitoring System

  • Storage tanks have floating roofs to minimize the volume of flammable/explosive vapors.
  • Explosion-proof (ATEX zone 0) wireless roof-mounted system was developed for monitoring vibration, tilt, temperature, rooftop water level, hydrocarbon vapors, etc.
  • System design, component selection and circuit design for low-power wireless sensor and relay nodes that are designed to run for 10 years on a single set of batteries.
  • Developed lightweight UDP- and TCP-like protocols for data transfer.
  • Inventor or co-inventor for several patents.
  • Link to Product Site

XML Data Description and Code Generation *

  • Requirement for bit-true data consistency across platforms, programming languages, and database in an evolving system. This is not reliable to do manually.
  • Data types and data structures are described using XML where an XML DTD defines the rules. Small snapshots from this proprietary system are shown below.
  • XML is parsed and target code is generated by output modules for the various targets, such as C, Python, and database.
  • Builds an internal expression library while parsing and also has an expression evaluator to handle dependencies between C-like #define statements.
  • Target code generation is easily extensible because the output modules are dynamically loaded at run time (using reflection API).
HS1 HS2

RF Components for Underwater Sensor Network *

  • VHF wireless system for monitoring buried pipeline river crossings (i.e., freshwater).
  • Modeling of the RF channel for underwater-to-shore communications.
  • Design, EM simulation, and prototype construction of a vertical QFH underwater antenna and matching network.
  • Design, EM simulation and CAD file generation for very-wideband equiangular planar and conical spiral antennas to be placed in the riverbed.
  • Although the RF channel is narrowband, the antennas need to be wideband because the wavelength depends on the electrical properties of the riverbed.
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* indicates a solo project



A Few Older Projects

Low-Latency Transport of IP Packets over SONET

  • Co-inventor and developer of a system for IP packet transport over Synchronous Optical Networks.
  • Compact OC-3 network-edge router was implemented using a Xilinx FPGA as the switching engine plus a single-chip computer running QNX Neutrino RTOS and ZebOS routing software.
  • Entire OS and carrier-grade router software was compressed to fit into an 8 MB flash chip. (yes, just 8 megabytes!)
  • Patents that were applied for but abandoned following the tech crash: US 20040252688   WO/2003/101122  
HS2

Contributions to MATLAB™ Toolboxes *

  • Developed and implemented proprietary new algorithms for designing digital filters for the award-winning Filter Design Toolbox:
    • FIR: firgr
    • IIR: iirlpnorm, iirlpnormc, iirgrpdelay
  • These were in addition to several contributions to the Signal Processing Toolbox, Simulink, and Real-Time Workshop.

Parametric Audio Filtering *

  • Developed closed-form expressions for minimum-phase parametric biquadratic filters.
  • Developed a fast algorithm for designing the corresponding digital filters that was well-suited to changing filter characteristics during live audio processing.
  • Resulting algorithms are used in a commercially-successful 48-channel digital mixing console.