Tactical edge networks are characterized by wireless links that have limited capacity and are pro... more Tactical edge networks are characterized by wireless links that have limited capacity and are prone to disconnection. In such a challenging and hostile environment, replication of information could be desirable as it increases information availability through redundancy and accessibility through proximity. However, replication of information has a negative effect on security because it broadens the attack surface -- more nodes may be targeted to obtain sensitive information, thereby potentially increasing the overall risk of the information being compromised or leaked. Furthermore, replicating information takes away resources (particularly communications and power, but also to some extent computation and storage) from other tasks that might also need the same resources. These trade-offs between information availability, information protection, and resource utilization exist and need to be explored in the context of different solutions that could be applied to the challenging problem of information dispersal for assured operations in tactical environments.
Robustness against real-world distribution shifts is crucial for the successful deployment of obj... more Robustness against real-world distribution shifts is crucial for the successful deployment of object detection models in practical applications. In this paper, we address the problem of assessing and enhancing the robustness of object detection models against natural perturbations, such as varying lighting conditions, blur, and brightness. We analyze four state-of-the-art deep neural network models, Detr-ResNet-101, Detr-ResNet-50, YOLOv4, and YOLOv4-tiny, using the COCO 2017 dataset and ExDark dataset. By simulating synthetic perturbations with the AugLy package, we systematically explore the optimal level of synthetic perturbation required to improve the models' robustness through data augmentation techniques. Our comprehensive ablation study meticulously evaluates the impact of synthetic perturbations on object detection models' performance against real-world distribution shifts, establishing a tangible connection between synthetic augmentation and real-world robustness. Our findings not only substantiate the effectiveness of synthetic perturbations in improving model robustness, but also provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in developing more robust and reliable object detection models tailored for real-world applications.
The ability to understand, predict, adapt, and exploit the vast array of inter-networked things t... more The ability to understand, predict, adapt, and exploit the vast array of inter-networked things that will be present in the future battlefield is critical for maintaining and increasing military competitive advantage. In this paper, we present a proof-of-concept architecture for Internet of Things (IoT) in military applications. The proposed architecture utilizes LoRaWAN (Long Range low power Wide Area Network) state-of-the-art commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. The proposed architecture consists of sensors, embedded micro-controllers equipped with LoRaWAN compatible radio, and a LoRaWAN gateway. The primary contributions of this paper are on evaluating the performance and suitability of LoRaWAN for the military environment as well as exploring the challenges of integrating LoRaWAN-based IoT devices into existing Command and Control (C2) systems within the military.
An increasing emphasis of the US Army lies in supporting efficient operation in contested environ... more An increasing emphasis of the US Army lies in supporting efficient operation in contested environments, where access to air (e.g., aerial surveillance and pictures) and access to the spectrum (e.g., wireless communication) are highly reduced or denied. A data fusion system, called Athena, was recently developed to optimize information collection for decision making in this context [1]. In this paper, we discuss the use of Athena to track realistic targets on city blocks using deployed security cameras. The work has two objectives: (i) investigate the efficacy of monitoring with sensors available in a city environment (e.g., security cameras, as opposed to, say, aerial imagery), and (ii) minimize communication needs among sensors to better handle bandwidth limitations. 284 vehicle trajectories were collected by inspecting USC campus security cameras to emulate realistic targets. Predictors were trained to anticipate future locations of targets based on past observations. We evaluate the efficacy of such predictors regarding tracking accuracy versus resource savings (e.g., size of footage collected for tracking).
In this paper, we study the challenge of enabling an intelligent search, rescue, and disaster rec... more In this paper, we study the challenge of enabling an intelligent search, rescue, and disaster recovery operation via Internet of Things (IoT). This paper i) provides a practical research framework to study intelligent search, rescue, and disaster recovery missions, ii) reviews necessary fundamental machine learning algorithms required in object detection and path planning for intelligent search and rescue missions, and iii) demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed architecture using a proof-of-concept hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator framework to support a specific rescue mission scenario. We present the IoT architecture for search, rescue, and disaster recovery missions and verify it by developing a proof-of-concept prototype.
In this paper we introduce the FlexFeed framework in the context of military combat operations. F... more In this paper we introduce the FlexFeed framework in the context of military combat operations. FlexFeed realizes the notion of Agile Computing for streaming data communications and implements a flexible, robust and efficient publish/subscribe infrastructure for dynamic ad hoc environments under resource and policy constraints. The framework uses mobile software agents for underlying configuration and policy enforcement. The paper illustrates the effectiveness of the framework with quantitative experiments over simulated scenarios.
ABSTRACT Ramsey Theory studies the existence of highly regular patterns within a large system or ... more ABSTRACT Ramsey Theory studies the existence of highly regular patterns within a large system or a set of randomly selected points or numbers. The role of Ramsey Numbers is to quantify some of the general existential theorems in Ramsey Theory. Attempting to find ...
Mobile agents are programs with the additional capability to move between computers across a netw... more Mobile agents are programs with the additional capability to move between computers across a network connection. Movement implies that the running program that constitutes an agent moves from one system to another, taking with the agent the code that constitutes the agent as well as the state information of the agent. The movement of agents may be user-directed or self-directed (i.e. autonomous). In the case of user-directed movement, agents are configured with an itinerary that dictates the movement of the agents. In the case of self-directed movement, agents may move in order to better optimize their operation. Mobility may also be a combination of user- and self-directedness. Mobile agents provide three basic capabilities: mobile code, mobile computation, and mobile state. These three capabilities are shown in the figure below. Each of the capabilities is an evolution of previously well-established notions in distributed and networked systems. Mobile computation involves moving a computation from one system to another. This capability is an evolution of remote computation, which allows a system to tap into the computational resources of another system over a network connection. One of the original mechanisms for remote computation was Remote Procedure Call (RPC). Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) is another example of remote computation as are servlets and stored procedures. The difference between mobile and remote computation is that mobile computation supports network disconnection. In a traditional remote computation model, the system requesting the service (the client) must remain connected to the system providing the service (the server) for the duration of the remote computation operation. Additionally, depending on the interface exposed by the server, an interaction can require an arbitrary number of messages between client and server. If network connectivity is lost, the remote computation will become an orphaned computation that will either be terminated or whose results will be discarded. A mobile computation, on the other hand, is an autonomous entity. Once the computation moves from the first system (which may nominally be called the client) to the second system (the server), the computation continues to execute on the server even if the client becomes disconnected. The agent returns to the client with the results of the computation when (and if) the connectivity is recovered. Mobile Code is the ability to move code from one system to another. The code may be either source code that is compiled or interpreted or binary code. Binary code may further be either machine dependent or be some intermediate, machine-independent form. Mobile code is used in other contexts besides mobile agents. For example, system administrators use mobile code in order to remotely install or upgrade software on client systems. Similarly, a web browser uses mobile code to pull an applet or script to execute as part of a web page. Code may be mobile in two different ways: push and pull. In the push model, the system sending the code originates the code transfer operation whereas in the pull model, the system receiving the code originates the code transfer operation. An example of the pull model is a Web browser downloading components such as applets or scripts. Remote installation is an example of the push model. Mobile agent systems use the push model of code mobility. Pull mobility is often considered to be more secure and trustworthy because the host receiving the code is the one that requested the code. Usually, the origin of the request lies in some action carried out by a user of the system and hence pull mobility is superficially more secure. Push mobility on the other hand allows a system to send code to the receiving system at unexpected or unmonitored times. Hence push mobility is less trustworthy from a user’s point of view. In practice the overwhelming majority of security exploits encountered in distributed systems originates in careless user actions such as running mail attachments. Mobile code allows systems to be extremely flexible. New capabilities can be downloaded to systems on the fly thereby dynamically adding features or upgrading existing features. Moreover, if capabilities can be downloaded on demand, temporarily unused capabilities can also be discarded. Swapping capabilities on an as-needed basis allows systems to support small memory constrained devices. Discarding capabilities after use can also help improve system security. Mobile state is an evolution of state capture, which allows the execution state of a process to be captured. State capture has been traditionally used for checkpointing systems to protect against unexpected system failure. In the event of a failure, the execution of a process can be restarted from the last checkpointed state thereby not wasting time by starting from the very beginning. Checkpointing is thus very useful for long-running processes. Operating system…
2019 International Conference on Military Communications and Information Systems (ICMCIS)
The Anglova scenario was developed as part of the NATO IST-124 Research Task Group on Improving C... more The Anglova scenario was developed as part of the NATO IST-124 Research Task Group on Improving Connectivity and Network Efficiency in Heterogeneous Tactical Networks. Since then, it has been successfully used to conduct emulation-based experimentation by multiple groups. This paper describes extensions to the Anglova scenario for the purpose of experimentation within an Urban environment. In particular, the focus is on Vignette 3 and its extension for the new IST-168 Research Task Group on Adaptive Information Processing and Distribution for Command and Control.
Proceedings of the 2022 Workshop on Advanced tools, programming languages, and PLatforms for Implementing and Evaluating algorithms for Distributed systems
Tactical edge networks are characterized by wireless links that have limited capacity and are pro... more Tactical edge networks are characterized by wireless links that have limited capacity and are prone to disconnection. In such a challenging and hostile environment, replication of information could be desirable as it increases information availability through redundancy and accessibility through proximity. However, replication of information has a negative effect on security because it broadens the attack surface -- more nodes may be targeted to obtain sensitive information, thereby potentially increasing the overall risk of the information being compromised or leaked. Furthermore, replicating information takes away resources (particularly communications and power, but also to some extent computation and storage) from other tasks that might also need the same resources. These trade-offs between information availability, information protection, and resource utilization exist and need to be explored in the context of different solutions that could be applied to the challenging problem of information dispersal for assured operations in tactical environments.
Robustness against real-world distribution shifts is crucial for the successful deployment of obj... more Robustness against real-world distribution shifts is crucial for the successful deployment of object detection models in practical applications. In this paper, we address the problem of assessing and enhancing the robustness of object detection models against natural perturbations, such as varying lighting conditions, blur, and brightness. We analyze four state-of-the-art deep neural network models, Detr-ResNet-101, Detr-ResNet-50, YOLOv4, and YOLOv4-tiny, using the COCO 2017 dataset and ExDark dataset. By simulating synthetic perturbations with the AugLy package, we systematically explore the optimal level of synthetic perturbation required to improve the models' robustness through data augmentation techniques. Our comprehensive ablation study meticulously evaluates the impact of synthetic perturbations on object detection models' performance against real-world distribution shifts, establishing a tangible connection between synthetic augmentation and real-world robustness. Our findings not only substantiate the effectiveness of synthetic perturbations in improving model robustness, but also provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in developing more robust and reliable object detection models tailored for real-world applications.
The ability to understand, predict, adapt, and exploit the vast array of inter-networked things t... more The ability to understand, predict, adapt, and exploit the vast array of inter-networked things that will be present in the future battlefield is critical for maintaining and increasing military competitive advantage. In this paper, we present a proof-of-concept architecture for Internet of Things (IoT) in military applications. The proposed architecture utilizes LoRaWAN (Long Range low power Wide Area Network) state-of-the-art commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. The proposed architecture consists of sensors, embedded micro-controllers equipped with LoRaWAN compatible radio, and a LoRaWAN gateway. The primary contributions of this paper are on evaluating the performance and suitability of LoRaWAN for the military environment as well as exploring the challenges of integrating LoRaWAN-based IoT devices into existing Command and Control (C2) systems within the military.
An increasing emphasis of the US Army lies in supporting efficient operation in contested environ... more An increasing emphasis of the US Army lies in supporting efficient operation in contested environments, where access to air (e.g., aerial surveillance and pictures) and access to the spectrum (e.g., wireless communication) are highly reduced or denied. A data fusion system, called Athena, was recently developed to optimize information collection for decision making in this context [1]. In this paper, we discuss the use of Athena to track realistic targets on city blocks using deployed security cameras. The work has two objectives: (i) investigate the efficacy of monitoring with sensors available in a city environment (e.g., security cameras, as opposed to, say, aerial imagery), and (ii) minimize communication needs among sensors to better handle bandwidth limitations. 284 vehicle trajectories were collected by inspecting USC campus security cameras to emulate realistic targets. Predictors were trained to anticipate future locations of targets based on past observations. We evaluate the efficacy of such predictors regarding tracking accuracy versus resource savings (e.g., size of footage collected for tracking).
In this paper, we study the challenge of enabling an intelligent search, rescue, and disaster rec... more In this paper, we study the challenge of enabling an intelligent search, rescue, and disaster recovery operation via Internet of Things (IoT). This paper i) provides a practical research framework to study intelligent search, rescue, and disaster recovery missions, ii) reviews necessary fundamental machine learning algorithms required in object detection and path planning for intelligent search and rescue missions, and iii) demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed architecture using a proof-of-concept hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator framework to support a specific rescue mission scenario. We present the IoT architecture for search, rescue, and disaster recovery missions and verify it by developing a proof-of-concept prototype.
In this paper we introduce the FlexFeed framework in the context of military combat operations. F... more In this paper we introduce the FlexFeed framework in the context of military combat operations. FlexFeed realizes the notion of Agile Computing for streaming data communications and implements a flexible, robust and efficient publish/subscribe infrastructure for dynamic ad hoc environments under resource and policy constraints. The framework uses mobile software agents for underlying configuration and policy enforcement. The paper illustrates the effectiveness of the framework with quantitative experiments over simulated scenarios.
ABSTRACT Ramsey Theory studies the existence of highly regular patterns within a large system or ... more ABSTRACT Ramsey Theory studies the existence of highly regular patterns within a large system or a set of randomly selected points or numbers. The role of Ramsey Numbers is to quantify some of the general existential theorems in Ramsey Theory. Attempting to find ...
Mobile agents are programs with the additional capability to move between computers across a netw... more Mobile agents are programs with the additional capability to move between computers across a network connection. Movement implies that the running program that constitutes an agent moves from one system to another, taking with the agent the code that constitutes the agent as well as the state information of the agent. The movement of agents may be user-directed or self-directed (i.e. autonomous). In the case of user-directed movement, agents are configured with an itinerary that dictates the movement of the agents. In the case of self-directed movement, agents may move in order to better optimize their operation. Mobility may also be a combination of user- and self-directedness. Mobile agents provide three basic capabilities: mobile code, mobile computation, and mobile state. These three capabilities are shown in the figure below. Each of the capabilities is an evolution of previously well-established notions in distributed and networked systems. Mobile computation involves moving a computation from one system to another. This capability is an evolution of remote computation, which allows a system to tap into the computational resources of another system over a network connection. One of the original mechanisms for remote computation was Remote Procedure Call (RPC). Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) is another example of remote computation as are servlets and stored procedures. The difference between mobile and remote computation is that mobile computation supports network disconnection. In a traditional remote computation model, the system requesting the service (the client) must remain connected to the system providing the service (the server) for the duration of the remote computation operation. Additionally, depending on the interface exposed by the server, an interaction can require an arbitrary number of messages between client and server. If network connectivity is lost, the remote computation will become an orphaned computation that will either be terminated or whose results will be discarded. A mobile computation, on the other hand, is an autonomous entity. Once the computation moves from the first system (which may nominally be called the client) to the second system (the server), the computation continues to execute on the server even if the client becomes disconnected. The agent returns to the client with the results of the computation when (and if) the connectivity is recovered. Mobile Code is the ability to move code from one system to another. The code may be either source code that is compiled or interpreted or binary code. Binary code may further be either machine dependent or be some intermediate, machine-independent form. Mobile code is used in other contexts besides mobile agents. For example, system administrators use mobile code in order to remotely install or upgrade software on client systems. Similarly, a web browser uses mobile code to pull an applet or script to execute as part of a web page. Code may be mobile in two different ways: push and pull. In the push model, the system sending the code originates the code transfer operation whereas in the pull model, the system receiving the code originates the code transfer operation. An example of the pull model is a Web browser downloading components such as applets or scripts. Remote installation is an example of the push model. Mobile agent systems use the push model of code mobility. Pull mobility is often considered to be more secure and trustworthy because the host receiving the code is the one that requested the code. Usually, the origin of the request lies in some action carried out by a user of the system and hence pull mobility is superficially more secure. Push mobility on the other hand allows a system to send code to the receiving system at unexpected or unmonitored times. Hence push mobility is less trustworthy from a user’s point of view. In practice the overwhelming majority of security exploits encountered in distributed systems originates in careless user actions such as running mail attachments. Mobile code allows systems to be extremely flexible. New capabilities can be downloaded to systems on the fly thereby dynamically adding features or upgrading existing features. Moreover, if capabilities can be downloaded on demand, temporarily unused capabilities can also be discarded. Swapping capabilities on an as-needed basis allows systems to support small memory constrained devices. Discarding capabilities after use can also help improve system security. Mobile state is an evolution of state capture, which allows the execution state of a process to be captured. State capture has been traditionally used for checkpointing systems to protect against unexpected system failure. In the event of a failure, the execution of a process can be restarted from the last checkpointed state thereby not wasting time by starting from the very beginning. Checkpointing is thus very useful for long-running processes. Operating system…
2019 International Conference on Military Communications and Information Systems (ICMCIS)
The Anglova scenario was developed as part of the NATO IST-124 Research Task Group on Improving C... more The Anglova scenario was developed as part of the NATO IST-124 Research Task Group on Improving Connectivity and Network Efficiency in Heterogeneous Tactical Networks. Since then, it has been successfully used to conduct emulation-based experimentation by multiple groups. This paper describes extensions to the Anglova scenario for the purpose of experimentation within an Urban environment. In particular, the focus is on Vignette 3 and its extension for the new IST-168 Research Task Group on Adaptive Information Processing and Distribution for Command and Control.
Proceedings of the 2022 Workshop on Advanced tools, programming languages, and PLatforms for Implementing and Evaluating algorithms for Distributed systems
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