Date of Award

12-23-2024

Author's School

McKelvey School of Engineering

Author's Department

Computer Science & Engineering

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation presents novel coding techniques that optimize communication costs and address security challenges in decentralized systems and 3D printing technologies. The first part focuses on encoding data in distributed systems in a decentralized manner, i.e., without a central processor which orchestrates the operation. In such systems, processors require coded data generated from inputs provided by source processors. An example is a distributed storage system with geographically dispersed nodes storing a large database collected by specific source processors. To reduce communication costs, we propose a universal solution applicable to any linear code, with optimizations for systematic Reed-Solomon and Lagrange codes, which are widely used in coded storage and computation. The second part narrows the focus on blockchain, a distributed ledger where data resides in a chain of blocks that are periodically proposed and agreed upon by a consensus mechanism. We redesign current blockchain systems by introducing coded computing techniques, addressing the inherent $O(N)$ communication complexity, resulted from the fact that each of the $N$ participants must receive the entire block. Using Lagrange Coded Computing, our scheme ensures blockchain security while reducing communication complexity to a logarithmic scale relative to the number of participants. The final part explores break-resilient codes for forensic 3D fingerprinting. With the rise of 3D printing, individuals can produce untraceable items such as firearms or keys, posing significant security risks. To counter these threats, objects are tagged with identifying fingerprints that must be robust against adversarial tampering. We develop $t$-break-resilient codes (t-BRC), which ensure that identifying information can still be recovered even if the object is broken into up to $t+1$ unordered pieces. Furthermore, by incorporating our code construction with Trusted Execution Environment, we deliver a practical 3D fingerprinting solution.

Language

English (en)

Chair

Netanel Raviv

Committee Members

Roch Guérin; Itzhak Tamo; Joseph O'Sullivan; Kunal Agrawal

Available for download on Saturday, December 19, 2026

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