Possible Undergraduate or Masters Projects

There are several opportunities to work on projects for course credit, masters project credit, and/or pay with the Ptolemy Project. If you are interested, then please contact Prof. Edward A. Lee at eal@eecs.berkeley.edu. If you do not have the listed background but are highly motivated, please contact Professor Lee anyway.

Links to other local pages of interest:

Projects

• Reconfigurable hardware
  • work on synthesis of hardware configurations from high-level block diagram specifications.
  • work with state-of-the-art FPGA (field-programmable gate array) hardware.
  • involves C++ and VHDL languages.
• Design visualization.
  • develop visual, interactive representations of real-time and/or embedded system designs.
  • requires a sense of visual aesthetics, extensive experience with computers, and creativity.
• Modeling of physical and digital systems.
  • integrate modeling techniques used for physical systems (microwave circuits, micro-electromechanical devices, etc.) with modeling techniques used for digital hardware.
  • involves Java programming in the context of a redesign of the Ptolemy system.
• Mixed signal design.
  • integrate modeling of analog circuits with digital systems.
  • involves Java programming in the context of a redesign of the Ptolemy system.
• Fixed-point design
  • develop techniques for designing signal processing algorithms for fixed-point implementation in VLSI or configurable hardware.
  • involves C++ and VHDL languages.
• Retargettable block libraries
  • develop techniques for organizing and maintaining block libraries where each block has multiple possible implementations (various styles of hardware or software).
  • involves Java programming and interaction with a team working on a redesign of the kernel of the Ptolemy system.
  • The Tycho Retargetting Editor is a rough prototype of the type of tool that could be developed.
• Java Ptolemy Kernel
  • Work with the Java/Ptolemy team on designing the key Java infrastructure that will support the design of Heterogeneous Modeling and Design (HMAD) systems.
  • The core of this design is a set of classes fashioned after the core of Ptolemy that support hierarchical graphs as an abstract data structure.
  • Many specializations, for example to process networks (PN), are possible.
  • We plan PN to be the first implemented specialization since it promises to give us the most benefit from Java threads.
  • See the September, 1997 monthly report for more information.
• Object-oriented user interface design.
  • work on Itcl programming of the Tycho system, which is an extensible framework for user interface design.
  • requires knowledge of Tcl/Tk and object-oriented programming concepts.
  • develop a Tycho shell that interacts with gdb, a symbolic C/C++ debugger, emulating the functionality of the corresponding emacs interface.
  • develop an interface to jdb, the Java debugger.
  • Improve the C and C++ syntax-sensitive editors. For example, keywords could be highlighted. C++ class references could be made into hyperlinks.
  • create print dialog for Tycho and interface it to current editors.
• Interactive documentation
  • requires knowledge of HTML, Tcl/Tk, and object-oriented design principles.
  • build demonstrations and interactive tutorials for the Ptolemy and Tycho systems.
  • reimplement the Tycho documentation parser ( tydoc) by using JavaCC, a yacc like Java Compiler Compiler.
  • Modify the Tycho HTML browser to track the tree of hyperlinks that are traversed and display the tree on request. Clicking on previously visited nodes in the tree should move the view to the corresponding hyperlink.
  • Use the Tycho Model/View system to implement a publications database that is viewable from the Web.
  • Use the Tycho Model/View system to implement a contacts database.
• Real-time concurrent systems
  • explore concurrent models of computation and their implementation on standard platforms such as Posix threads, Java, Solaris, or Windows NT.
  • exploit symmetric multiprocessing in modern workstations to achieve predictable and controllable real-time behavior.
  • requires fearlessness with respect to operating systems and extensive experience with computers.
• Deployable, configurable design tools
  • requires knowledge of C++ compilers, Tcl and C shell scripts, HTML, and makefiles
  • configurable releases: combine the mkPtolemyTree and mkStarIndex Tcl scripts to create the smallest release required to support a palette of stars, galaxies, and universes
  • deployable design tools: support dynamic configuration of Ptolemy add-ons (domains, targets, etc.) without having to alter the Ptolemy binaries
  • develop a Tycho editor for merging directories.
  • develop an interface to CVS, the Concurrent Version Control system.
  • create a bug reporting dialog box that mails feedback to the Tycho design team.
• Visualization of signal processing algorithms
  • work on the design of distributed, approximate, and resource-adaptive algorithms with emphasis on developing infrastructure to support the development of such algorithms.
  • develop a gannt chart viewer using the Java Ptplot grapher.
  • enhance ptplot with log scales, raw binary format and other changes.
  • develop a better tree visualizer/editor. One simple application would be to use it to track the tree of hyperlinks that the user has visited. Clicking on previously visited nodes in the tree should move the view to the corresponding hyperlink.
  • requires experience with signal processing (ee123 and ee225a) and extensive experience with computers.
  • port the Matlab and Mathematica Tcl interface from C to C++ so that it can be loaded using the Tcl load command in a off the shelf tclsh or wish.
• Infrastructure for image and video processing
  • work on a design environment based on Ptolemy that supports high-level abstractions for image and video signal processing.
  • develop CGC Matrices that use a portable, freely redistributable C Matrix library.
  • build a simple xv replacement, written in either Java or Itcl.
  • further develop the Ptolemy SunVideo star, which uses the Sun video camera as a source.
  • develop a CG target for the Mercury Raceway system.
  • requires knowledge of image and video signal processing (like ee225b) and extensive experience with computers.

Group Only To-Do Links