Luke Novey

I/M period 5&6

Annotated Source List
Hayes, M. H., and M. H. Hayes. Schaum's Outlines Digital Signal Processing. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Schaums Digital Processing has a large amount of information about how signal
processing works and the second version is very up to date. Schaums provides information and
questions to practice work with signal processing. It describes how signal processing is currently
taught and used.
Schaums Digital Signal Processing is a great supplement to my learning at APL and I
will be able to verify my knowledge of information learned at APL and how it is used in other
lessons. Although signal processing is very relevant in my department, I do not think Schaums
book will be as important to me. I do not need to be fully versed in the fundamentals of signal
processing for my projects. Currently, I am not working with a wide range of signal processing,
but looking specifically at the physical layer of radio signals and mostly working with software
solely to examine the signals.
JHUAPL. (2015). Retrieved October 25, 2015, from http://www.jhuapl.edu/
The APL website provides information on projects, career fields, employees, and other
information about their cause, etc. The information is extremely widely based, and looks at
many of the possible needs someone doing research would be looking at the site for. The
mission and career areas show what work is being done and how it will be implemented and
what the employees are working on. The site indicates the top stories and big breakthroughs
that will be interesting to all viewers.
I may use the APL website in order to locate broad topics being worked on, but for the
purpose of my project, it will have limited use. My project requires specific research based on
scholarly articles and experiments and the APL website does not show specific experiments
done relating to my field. I will not be able to do research through the APL website that is nearly
as thorough as other sources I can find, especially with access through the APL network.
Because of the lack of specific information or broad experiments done, the APL website will not
have much use for me.
Martens, F. (2012, July 27). Interactive MATLAB course. Retrieved October 1,
2015, from http://www.imc.tue.nl
MATLAB is a high level, matrix based, scripting software that allows me to look at and
manipulate larges amounts of data easily. The Interactive MATLAB course, provided by the
Eindhoven University of Technology, shows how to use MATLAB and gives information on basic
functions, logic, and syntax in MATLAB and scripts. It explains how the matrices work and how
calculations on matrices and scalers are used.
Because the beginning of my project is based on using MATLAB to examine radio
signals, I will be using MATLAB and will need to understand how to script programs that will
need little to no user input to operate. The tutorial is easy to understand and gives a wide array
of information that I can use to educate myself and continue to improve my ability without help
from others. The tutorial goes through simply declaring variables and how to instantiate matrices
to creating functions and looking at data. Even though functions will not be a big part of my
current project, they are very similar to the scripts I will be writing and give me a good idea of
the concept being script writing and the power of the MATLAB software. I will continue to work

through the tutorial if I need to understand more complex parts of MATLAB, but the tutorial has
currently provided enough information to get me through my first projects.

Polak, A.C.; Dolatshahi, S.; Goeckel, D.L., "Identifying Wireless Users via Transmitter
Imperfections," in Selected Areas in Communications, IEEE Journal on , vol.29, no.7,
pp.1469-1479, August 2011
The problem identified in the article is almost the exact same as the problem I am looking
at for my project, for different types of radio signals. The article discusses how identification is
useful in situations where two systems are transmitting and one attempts to hide a crime by
changing its software identity. In order to verify which system is the criminal, unique
characteristics in the signal caused by imperfections in the transmitters are found and used to
label the transmitters. Then when the transmitter identity is hidden, it is still possible to identify
the different systems by finding the same unique characteristics. The article explains how this is
done and how it can be used over wireless systems, no matter how the software identity changes,
to identify wireless systems. The characteristics the article looks at are all hardware differences
which can be located on the same computer, anywhere in the world. If the computer changes
locations, the party looking for this computer can find the new position it is broadcasting from
very easily. The new location is found when data with the same characteristics as previously
found is broadcasted. After the explanation of the concept behind classifying radio signals, the
paper delves into the mathematics and algorithms behind the classification, and how random
motion can be used to find distinctions in the signals. The random motion is used when learning
to find which random elements are most related to the radio signals. These random elements are
what will be used to locate the radio after it has hidden its identity or changed location.
This paper will be helpful for the conceptual ideas presented in clarification between
signals. The ideas behind their classification of signals can be used in my project to help me
understand how my solution will be used in the future and in real world applications. Also, the
classification of radio signals using random motion as characteristics may be useful if I can give
my code a learning period. Additionally, the paper gives multiple tests that I can use to base my
software off of. I can try many of the same techniques and use trial and error to figure out which
path is the most effective. The results of experimentation are discussed at great lengths at the end
of the paper which is helpful in learning about areas that their software was strong, weak, and
usable in my project. Although the paper is very similar in its problem and solution, the actual
situation is not entirely the same. The paper is focused on wi-fi radios and signals, not
necessarily a wide range of radio systems broadcasting, which is what I am focusing on.
Additionally, they look only at two possible radios to differentiate between where I will classify
many sources if possible. Besides the concepts, the math behind the paper is very complex and
somewhat beyond my level, so I would need help deciphering how to use the information in the
paper, if it is even a viable option to support my project. Looking at wavelets and other complex
functions will require time to understand, and my mentor has mentioned that we may not need to
focus on the higher-level mathematics to solve the problem, leaving this article as a secondary
option to look at for the first solution ideas.

Ossmann, M. (2014, August). Software Defined Radio with HackRF. Retrieved from
http://greatscottgadgets.com/sdr/1/
Michael Ossmann presents his tutorial on SDR using HackRF hardware and gnu radio
software. His tutorial is presented in hour long episodes and goes through many of the options
of signal processing provided by gnu radio and SDR in general. The software he uses is easily
downloadable and is commonly used to show the capabilities of SDR in signal processing.
I will use his tutorials to understand SDR and GNU radio before starting at APL and
possible further from there to solidify the fundamental principles I will be focused on during my
internship. Ossmanns tutorials are easy to comprehend and explain what he is doing so that I
will be able to transfer my knowledge into my internship. GNU radio is becoming more important
for my projects so having an extra resource outside of APL is a good opportunity to work on my
software and increase my understanding.
Rondeau, Tom. "Welcome to GNU Radio!." WikiStart. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2015.
http://gnuradio.org/redmine/projects/gnuradio/wiki
Gnu radio is a software defined radio(SDR) that is easily downloaded and provides a
programming language that I can toy around with and learn how SDR works. This page
provides many other links and resources and has simple steps to set up and begin to
understand the gnu software works. Mr. McKeever also recommended this source to me before
beginning my internship and it is a huge part of a final project that I may be working on. GNU
radio uses python and C++ programming which will allow me to increase my understanding of
other coding languages.
I will use the GNU software to begin to understand the software side of signal
processing, a possible project that I will be doing involves the software side of signal
processing. GNU radio is capable of giving me a real life radio signal and providing radio signals
that I can work with to develop my ability in SDR and radio processing. GNU radio will allow me
to have a constant radio input to look at while differentiating between signals. The constant
signal input will allow me to develop an algorithm in a different way from MATLAB by using the
Fourier transform and other wavelet functions. Using wavelets will be very useful for my project
upgrades in the future and GNU radio looks to be a huge part of my project for that reason.
Thirumuruganathan, S. (2010, May 17). A Detailed Introduction to K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN)
Algorithm. Retrieved October 7, 2015, from
https://saravananthirumuruganathan.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/
a-detailed-introduction-to-k-nearest-neighbor-knn-algorithm/
This website contains a brief overview of K-nearest neighbor, a machine learning
algorithm. KNN is one way I am considering to solve my problem of differentiating between
radio classes for my project. The website has explanations of how KNN works and gives a few
examples of its possible uses. Using simple concepts and deeper clarifications, it gives a way to
understanding to the KNN algorithm as well as its strengths and weaknesses.
Machine learning is going to be a part of my project that is key to success. I am
interested in learning about how machine learning and KNN are used and created. I use
machine learning to make my program usable in any situation with as little user input as
possible. KNN is a possible solution to the problem of having totally different characteristics to
differentiate between signal sources without human intervention. I will be looking into KNN and
other techniques to find what is the most relevant and easy to work with for my project.

Toonstra, J.; Kinsner, W., "A radio transmitter fingerprinting system ODO-1," in Electrical and
Computer Engineering, 1996. Canadian Conference on , vol.1, no., pp.60-63 vol.1,
26-29 May 1996
By experimenting with different, low quality transmitters and receivers, the authors found
a genetic learning algorithm that is very effective at distinguishing between radio signal
transmitters. The authors experiment by changing values in an array and genetically picking the
best values to evolve. The array of signal values is changed repeatedly in order to find the best
assortment of data to teach a function how to differentiate between radio signals. Then, using the
genetically evolved, self-learning program, radio signals were presented to the receiver in a
learning set, then a testing set. The learning set was used to show the computer which
characteristics were from each radio. The computer used the genetically growing algorithm to
learn the classification pattern that best fits the data. New data is sent to the network multiple
times and the random selection process continues to happen until the most efficient algorithm for
the characteristics is found and defined. The algorithm successfully picked nearly all of the
unknown radio signals and classified each new signal in the test phase as a previous signal in the
learning phase.
The article uses a genetically evolving algorithm to teach itself which new transmission is
from the previous transmissions in the testing phase. The experiment is very similar to what I
will be working on and provides an excellent start for me to look at how RF fingerprinting has
already been done. My project is continuing to follow the footsteps of the experiment done in
this article, and already uses a similar concept. Even for the amplitude differentiating program I
am creating, the script will run with a similar learning process. Using resources related to this
will give me a perfect background to understanding how software-based learning systems can be
used to differentiate radio systems after a learning period to understand the characteristics of the
radios. I will use the information and reread the article to clarify points and completely
understand how the testing was done and how the algorithm was implemented. Once I am
finished with my differentiation based on signal strength, my understanding of the learning
algorithm will be enough to implement the frequency differentiation. I will use a similar
algorithm in my project to remove as much user input as possible and make my software as easy
to implement as possible. My first technique using a learning system will use buckets to place
different amplitude bursts in broader average buckets. The code will then use these buckets to
look at future signals. Whichever bucket the future signals are closer to, the algorithm will place
in that bucket to label it and signify which user is broadcasting. Once my project moves on to
more difficult to classify characteristics, I will be able to use the computers abilities to easily
characterize the radios. Computers are very capable of looking at unique properties of data in
ways that humans may struggle with. By having a large learning period as the experiment does, I
can make my code successful in predicting the different radios broadcasting to it.

Ur Rehman, S.; Sowerby, K.; Coghill, C., "Effect of receiver Signal to Noise Ratio on the
classification performance of RF fingerprinting," in Multitopic Conference (INMIC), 2012
15th International , vol., no., pp.143-148, 13-15 Dec. 2012
RF fingerprinting is becoming more and more necessary in wireless communications
and networking. It is very easy to hack software to falsify the label of who is sending or trying to
access information wirelessly, but, with RF fingerprinting, it is possible to verify the device using
characteristics of its signal. In the publication, large discussion is made about the accuracy of
the softwares predictions of different radios signals based on the noise of the surrounding
environment. The article discusses how less noise during the training phase of the experiment
led to drastic improvement in the results of the lower-end receivers. By explaining the real-life
scenarios, this information is useful when receivers are not the highest quality and are not in
perfect receiving conditions. This experiment represents the amount of noise being picked up
from many sources that do not provide information compared to the signal strength of the
important signal transmitters. By having a higher ratio of signal level to noise level, it is easier to
locate what the transmitter is trying to send. If a signals level is under the noise level, it will be
nearly impossible to distinguish the message from that radio. The signal to noise ratio is
changed in this experiment to find how well algorithms work to differentiate radios using RF
fingerprinting in different SNR situations. It mentions that different algorithms and other ways to
differentiate between radios are commonly tested in better-than-ideal situations with very high
signal to noise ratios (SNR) and high quality transmitters and receivers. By experimenting with
lower quality radios and receivers and testing results in with different SNR, the paper shows its
algorithm is still very successful with lower (to a point) SNR. It explains that the experiments
done for research are more likely to be the same as realistic field situations.
This paper was useful for the information it provided in that SNR does affect results of
RF fingerprinting, but that algorithms can still be successful with lower SNR. My project is
currently looking at radio signals with very high SNR, but knowing its limitations is very
important. I have been asked to provide well-documented evidence of its successes and failures
and how I researched. This paper is helpful for me to compare my results with other algorithms.
My project will be used in the future and that requires me to be able to explain the limitations of
its results to others who will be using it. In addition to finding my limitations for others, I will be
able to learn how my software, which is developed in a near-perfect environment, will be able to
work in the real world. My project is also based off of the same problem as the paper, so having
another resource to look at will be helpful. It allows me to see another viewpoint and expect
challenges that I did not foresee. I did not realize that SNR would impact my results, so I will
have to implement something within my algorithm to account for lower SNR situations. Although
the results do provide useful information, after reading the paper, there does not seem to be
much more to get out of it than the results of the experiment with SNR. I am currently
researching to find previously done experiments that relate to my project in order to decrease
the amount of new software that I need to produce. The experiment in this paper is not very
similar to the start of my project, and does not seem to be useful in the near future. Other
research provides more direct information that I can easily transfer into my project now or will be
able to soon.

Ureten, O.; Serinken, N., "Wireless security through RF fingerprinting," in Electrical and
Computer Engineering, Canadian Journal of , vol.32, no.1, pp.27-33, Winter 2007
This article discusses possible uses for RF fingerprinting and how it can be used in real
world situations. It has a large amount of information on how it is possible to look at the physical
layer and how you can differentiate between radios based on their signal characteristics. The
article explains how looking at random differences based on mathematical equations can allow
differentiation of radios even if they hide their identities in the software layers. After explaining
some of the uses of the fingerprinting techniques, the article experiments with different
transmitters and receivers and looks at how different factors impact the results of trying to
identify different radios.
The article is somewhat useful in that it has some examples of how RF fingerprinting can
be used and how it is used in the real world. Unfortunately, it does not give enough information
to base my software off of. I would like to find articles that give more explanation of how to
implement RF fingerprinting systems and what characteristics to look for. The article does
provide some information on how to use it, but most of the use will be from looking at references
and previous experiments to find how RF fingerprinting can be done using software. Although
this article itself does not have the information that I am looking for, it still provides some
possible future use for my project and gives background information and references for other
sources.
Buckner, M. A., Stubbs, T. D., Ramsey, B. W., Mullins, B. E., & Temple, M. A.
(2015). Wireless infrastructure protection using low-cost radio frequency
fingerprinting receivers. International Journal for Critical Infrastructure
Protection, 8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcip.2014.11.002
This article focuses on the security in WPAN networks which are used by millions of
transmitters and receivers. People from civilians to military facilities rely on WPAN networks to
communicate information, and there needs to be an improvement to the security. The current
techniques for protecting WPAN users require expensive equipment in order to look at and
differentiate transient signals. The experiment in this article uses less expensive equipment with
a different algorithm that looks at steady signals. The experiment uses RZUSBsticks to simulate
common WPAN attacks. It uses transceivers that simulate a moving attacker around the
network. Both of these techniques are more similar to real-world attacks and show an accurate
representation of attacks. Although these techniques are not as well documented, the
experiment showed that security can be successful against them. The technique used for
protection in this article is somewhat less successful than the old, more expensive one, but with
greater SNR, it works fairly consistently. Even though the technique modeled in this experiment
is less successful, the cheaper equipment would allow a much larger number of users to have
drastically increased security on WPAN networks.
The idea behind this article is somewhat similar to the project I am working on. Currently,
I am focused on amplitude of signals, and my next step will be transient signals. Because I will
be able to focus on transient signals, and am not using WPAN networks, most of the detail
within the experiment is not useful. I will make sure that I understand the idea behind this article
and keep in mind that steady signals is a possible place to look to differentiate radios. Because
this article had success using steady state signals, it could be another addition to add to my
project before I am finished. By using steady signals instead of transients, I may be able to
avoid using wavelet transforms which are complicated and somewhat beyond my level of
understanding. Until I decide to look outside of transient signals however, this experiment will
not be very useful for me.

Kannan, R., & Ravi, S. (2012). Digital Signals Classification in Cognitive Radio
Based on Discrete Wavelet Transform. International Conference on Control
Engineering and Communication Technology.
The article discusses discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and its use in communications
with signals. DWT allows differentiation of radio signals based on time and frequency domains
instead of just time domains. Wavelet transforms allow complicated signals to be broken down
from seemingly random data points that are measured discretely into easily viewable twodimensional signals. The signal can not be measured with enough accuracy to remove the
discrete nature, but wavelet transforms allow these complex signals to be viewed as individual
wavelet coefficients that describe the wave nature. The DWT breaks the signal into these
wavelet coefficients which can then be organized and sorted based on their ratios.
For my project, I will need to use DWT in order to examine transient signals which are
finished too quickly to be measured in just the time domain. By using a wavelet transform and
finding coefficients, different transient signals can be classified. If I am able to understand how
to use DWT on my radio signals, I will be able to use wavelets to differentiate transient signals.
My algorithm will be based on wavelet coefficients in order to classify radio signals from different
transmitters. DWT allows the transient signals to be viewed with more detail and transient
signals are the easiest to see unique characteristics of transmitters. The characteristics that
differ because of the physical layer will be looked at by wavelet functions so using this article
may be very useful. If I can understand how to use DWT in my project, it will be the main point
that allows me to be successful in verifying radio signal transmitters.