Thesis Topics

On this page, you will find a list of available thesis topics that are available in our institute. Information about on-going and past theses can be found on this page. Some of the thesis descriptions are in German.

Note that because many of our topics are issued in German, some of the descriptions on this page are also German only. We are currently working on providing complete translations.

Open Theses

“Quantification of the Impact of Floating Point Errors in Subjective Logic,” Master's thesis or Project, J. Dispan (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
Subjective Logic (SL) is a mathematical framework for reasoning under uncertainty. It is useful for expressing opinions on how reliable information is (so-called Trust Opinions) and performing computations on these opinions. At our institute, we research applications of SL in the automotive domain, e.g. to express trust in data received from a sensor or from other vehicles. Current implementations of SL internally use floating-point arithmetic (IEEE 754) for performing calculations. However, IEEE 754 floating-point numbers are prone to introducing rounding errors. In safety-critical domains, failing to account for such errors might lead to catastrophic consequences. In this thesis/project, you will investigate the potential impact of floating-point errors in SL calculations and develop strategies to minimise it. You can choose your approach freely: whether you work theoretically (e.g. through a detailed study of literature) or practically (e.g. through implementing a test environment and explaining the observed effects) is up to you.
“Evaluating Subjective Trust Networks through Secure Multiparty Computation,” Project or Bachelor or Master's thesis, J. Dispan (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
In the future, vehicles will exchange information regarding the current traffic situation and planned maneuvers. While this has the potential to improve safety and fuel efficiency though cooperative driving, it opens up a novel attack vector: malicious actors might inject incorrect information, which could lead to accidents and thus poses a serious threat to safety. One approach to mitigate such attacks makes use of Subjective Trust Networks: vehicles form Trust Opinions on other vehicles, which are expressed using Subjective Logic and stored in a graph structure. Different vehicles can merge their Trust Networks in order to gain a more complete picture of the trustworthiness of their communication partners and make more informed decisions. However, privacy and safety considerations forbid that different vehicles simply exchange their trust networks. This thesis/project should investigate the feasibility of merging an evaluating Subjective Trust Networks using Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC). For this, it is first necessary to precisely define the task at hand: Which calculations must be performed under SMPC in order to protect confidential information? Which information cannot be protected? Second, a prototype for an example scenario in which vehicles merge and evaluate their trust Networks should be implemented using a suitable framework for SMPC. Third, benchmarks should be performed that show the (non-)applicability of SMPC for the described use-case.
“Development of a Zero Trust Service Function Chaining Compatible Policy Language,” Master's thesis, Bachelor's thesis, B. Leonard (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
Abstract: Policy Languages such as XACML or ALFA are well-known and well-defined in the area of access control. With Zero Trust Service Function Chaining (ZTSFC) [https://journal.ub.tu-berlin.de/eceasst/article/view/1138], an advanced Zero Trust (ZT) architecture, new requirements came up for such Policy Languages. The goal of the thesis is to set up a list of this requirements, to identify missing features in existing policy languages. Based on this, the most promising policy language is to be extended by this missing features.
“Automating Trust Modeling Based On Vehicular System Models,” Bachelor or Master's thesis, N. Trkulja (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
An autonomous vehicle is equipped with a variety of sensors that produce large quantites of data which the vehicle uses to run a lot of different safety-critical functions, such as Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control or Park Assist. In this thesis, we focus on the trust between the vehicle computer and other in-vehicle components that it relies upon to provide non-compromised data as input to different safety-critical functions. The goal of the thesis is to build a tool that will automate building of in-vehicular trust models based on a system model of a vehicle. A system model of a simplified vehicle will first need to be built by using the System Modeling Language (SysML). This model will serve as an input to the automation tool that needs to output a trust model in form of a Subjective Trust Network. The methodology for building such trust models within the framework of Subjective Logic will be provided.
“Comparison and Implementation of HTTPS-based Service Function Chaining Proof of Transit Solutions.,” Project, B. Leonard (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2022 – Open.
Service Function Chaining (SFC) is a technice to steer traffic through specific network services. To proof that the traffic was actually forwarded through the specified services, a Proof Of Transit (PoT) is used. In this project, different PoT approaches are compared and the most promising solution implemented in a HTTPS-based SFC environment.
“Test-Case-Generation Strategies for Network-Protocol-Model Refinements,” Bachelor's or Master's thesis, S. Kleber (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Institut of Distributed Systems, Ulm University, 2019 – Open.
Security assessments of networked systems require knowledge about the utilized communication protocol. For proprietary protocols without known specification and with only limited access to the end-points, the only source of information is the communication itself. To correctly conclude from the captured byte stream to message-formats, -types, and finally a protocol model, structure, message- and field-boundaries, data-type, and semantics need to be inferred. After an initial inference procedure, it is desirable to refine the existing protocol model. Actively probing an entity for the validity of message syntaxes allows to targetedly enhance the knowledge about the protocol. To do this efficiently a smart method of automatically generating test-cases depending on the current protocol model needs to be developed.
Contact

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Marion Köhler
E-Mail
Phone: +49 731 50-24140
available in the morning
Fax: +49 731 50-24142

Postal Address

Institute of Distributed Systems
Ulm University
Albert-Einstein-Allee 11
89081 Ulm

Visiting Address

James-Franck-Ring
Gebäude O27, Raum 349
89081 Ulm
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday all day
Tuesday and Friday mornings only.

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Topics By Degree

Topics for Bachelor Theses

“Evaluating Subjective Trust Networks through Secure Multiparty Computation,” Project or Bachelor or Master's thesis, J. Dispan (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
In the future, vehicles will exchange information regarding the current traffic situation and planned maneuvers. While this has the potential to improve safety and fuel efficiency though cooperative driving, it opens up a novel attack vector: malicious actors might inject incorrect information, which could lead to accidents and thus poses a serious threat to safety. One approach to mitigate such attacks makes use of Subjective Trust Networks: vehicles form Trust Opinions on other vehicles, which are expressed using Subjective Logic and stored in a graph structure. Different vehicles can merge their Trust Networks in order to gain a more complete picture of the trustworthiness of their communication partners and make more informed decisions. However, privacy and safety considerations forbid that different vehicles simply exchange their trust networks. This thesis/project should investigate the feasibility of merging an evaluating Subjective Trust Networks using Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC). For this, it is first necessary to precisely define the task at hand: Which calculations must be performed under SMPC in order to protect confidential information? Which information cannot be protected? Second, a prototype for an example scenario in which vehicles merge and evaluate their trust Networks should be implemented using a suitable framework for SMPC. Third, benchmarks should be performed that show the (non-)applicability of SMPC for the described use-case.
“Automating Trust Modeling Based On Vehicular System Models,” Bachelor or Master's thesis, N. Trkulja (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
An autonomous vehicle is equipped with a variety of sensors that produce large quantites of data which the vehicle uses to run a lot of different safety-critical functions, such as Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control or Park Assist. In this thesis, we focus on the trust between the vehicle computer and other in-vehicle components that it relies upon to provide non-compromised data as input to different safety-critical functions. The goal of the thesis is to build a tool that will automate building of in-vehicular trust models based on a system model of a vehicle. A system model of a simplified vehicle will first need to be built by using the System Modeling Language (SysML). This model will serve as an input to the automation tool that needs to output a trust model in form of a Subjective Trust Network. The methodology for building such trust models within the framework of Subjective Logic will be provided.
“Test-Case-Generation Strategies for Network-Protocol-Model Refinements,” Bachelor's or Master's thesis, S. Kleber (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Institut of Distributed Systems, Ulm University, 2019 – Open.
Security assessments of networked systems require knowledge about the utilized communication protocol. For proprietary protocols without known specification and with only limited access to the end-points, the only source of information is the communication itself. To correctly conclude from the captured byte stream to message-formats, -types, and finally a protocol model, structure, message- and field-boundaries, data-type, and semantics need to be inferred. After an initial inference procedure, it is desirable to refine the existing protocol model. Actively probing an entity for the validity of message syntaxes allows to targetedly enhance the knowledge about the protocol. To do this efficiently a smart method of automatically generating test-cases depending on the current protocol model needs to be developed.

Topics for Master Theses

“Quantification of the Impact of Floating Point Errors in Subjective Logic,” Master's thesis or Project, J. Dispan (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
Subjective Logic (SL) is a mathematical framework for reasoning under uncertainty. It is useful for expressing opinions on how reliable information is (so-called Trust Opinions) and performing computations on these opinions. At our institute, we research applications of SL in the automotive domain, e.g. to express trust in data received from a sensor or from other vehicles. Current implementations of SL internally use floating-point arithmetic (IEEE 754) for performing calculations. However, IEEE 754 floating-point numbers are prone to introducing rounding errors. In safety-critical domains, failing to account for such errors might lead to catastrophic consequences. In this thesis/project, you will investigate the potential impact of floating-point errors in SL calculations and develop strategies to minimise it. You can choose your approach freely: whether you work theoretically (e.g. through a detailed study of literature) or practically (e.g. through implementing a test environment and explaining the observed effects) is up to you.
“Evaluating Subjective Trust Networks through Secure Multiparty Computation,” Project or Bachelor or Master's thesis, J. Dispan (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
In the future, vehicles will exchange information regarding the current traffic situation and planned maneuvers. While this has the potential to improve safety and fuel efficiency though cooperative driving, it opens up a novel attack vector: malicious actors might inject incorrect information, which could lead to accidents and thus poses a serious threat to safety. One approach to mitigate such attacks makes use of Subjective Trust Networks: vehicles form Trust Opinions on other vehicles, which are expressed using Subjective Logic and stored in a graph structure. Different vehicles can merge their Trust Networks in order to gain a more complete picture of the trustworthiness of their communication partners and make more informed decisions. However, privacy and safety considerations forbid that different vehicles simply exchange their trust networks. This thesis/project should investigate the feasibility of merging an evaluating Subjective Trust Networks using Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC). For this, it is first necessary to precisely define the task at hand: Which calculations must be performed under SMPC in order to protect confidential information? Which information cannot be protected? Second, a prototype for an example scenario in which vehicles merge and evaluate their trust Networks should be implemented using a suitable framework for SMPC. Third, benchmarks should be performed that show the (non-)applicability of SMPC for the described use-case.
“Development of a Zero Trust Service Function Chaining Compatible Policy Language,” Master's thesis, Bachelor's thesis, B. Leonard (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
Abstract: Policy Languages such as XACML or ALFA are well-known and well-defined in the area of access control. With Zero Trust Service Function Chaining (ZTSFC) [https://journal.ub.tu-berlin.de/eceasst/article/view/1138], an advanced Zero Trust (ZT) architecture, new requirements came up for such Policy Languages. The goal of the thesis is to set up a list of this requirements, to identify missing features in existing policy languages. Based on this, the most promising policy language is to be extended by this missing features.
“Automating Trust Modeling Based On Vehicular System Models,” Bachelor or Master's thesis, N. Trkulja (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
An autonomous vehicle is equipped with a variety of sensors that produce large quantites of data which the vehicle uses to run a lot of different safety-critical functions, such as Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control or Park Assist. In this thesis, we focus on the trust between the vehicle computer and other in-vehicle components that it relies upon to provide non-compromised data as input to different safety-critical functions. The goal of the thesis is to build a tool that will automate building of in-vehicular trust models based on a system model of a vehicle. A system model of a simplified vehicle will first need to be built by using the System Modeling Language (SysML). This model will serve as an input to the automation tool that needs to output a trust model in form of a Subjective Trust Network. The methodology for building such trust models within the framework of Subjective Logic will be provided.
“Comparison and Implementation of HTTPS-based Service Function Chaining Proof of Transit Solutions.,” Project, B. Leonard (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2022 – Open.
Service Function Chaining (SFC) is a technice to steer traffic through specific network services. To proof that the traffic was actually forwarded through the specified services, a Proof Of Transit (PoT) is used. In this project, different PoT approaches are compared and the most promising solution implemented in a HTTPS-based SFC environment.
“Test-Case-Generation Strategies for Network-Protocol-Model Refinements,” Bachelor's or Master's thesis, S. Kleber (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Institut of Distributed Systems, Ulm University, 2019 – Open.
Security assessments of networked systems require knowledge about the utilized communication protocol. For proprietary protocols without known specification and with only limited access to the end-points, the only source of information is the communication itself. To correctly conclude from the captured byte stream to message-formats, -types, and finally a protocol model, structure, message- and field-boundaries, data-type, and semantics need to be inferred. After an initial inference procedure, it is desirable to refine the existing protocol model. Actively probing an entity for the validity of message syntaxes allows to targetedly enhance the knowledge about the protocol. To do this efficiently a smart method of automatically generating test-cases depending on the current protocol model needs to be developed.

Topics By Research Area

Cloud Computing

Distributed Computing & Data-intensive Systems

Fault Tolerance

IT Security

“Development of a Zero Trust Service Function Chaining Compatible Policy Language,” Master's thesis, Bachelor's thesis, B. Leonard (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
Abstract: Policy Languages such as XACML or ALFA are well-known and well-defined in the area of access control. With Zero Trust Service Function Chaining (ZTSFC) [https://journal.ub.tu-berlin.de/eceasst/article/view/1138], an advanced Zero Trust (ZT) architecture, new requirements came up for such Policy Languages. The goal of the thesis is to set up a list of this requirements, to identify missing features in existing policy languages. Based on this, the most promising policy language is to be extended by this missing features.
“Automating Trust Modeling Based On Vehicular System Models,” Bachelor or Master's thesis, N. Trkulja (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
An autonomous vehicle is equipped with a variety of sensors that produce large quantites of data which the vehicle uses to run a lot of different safety-critical functions, such as Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control or Park Assist. In this thesis, we focus on the trust between the vehicle computer and other in-vehicle components that it relies upon to provide non-compromised data as input to different safety-critical functions. The goal of the thesis is to build a tool that will automate building of in-vehicular trust models based on a system model of a vehicle. A system model of a simplified vehicle will first need to be built by using the System Modeling Language (SysML). This model will serve as an input to the automation tool that needs to output a trust model in form of a Subjective Trust Network. The methodology for building such trust models within the framework of Subjective Logic will be provided.
“Comparison and Implementation of HTTPS-based Service Function Chaining Proof of Transit Solutions.,” Project, B. Leonard (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2022 – Open.
Service Function Chaining (SFC) is a technice to steer traffic through specific network services. To proof that the traffic was actually forwarded through the specified services, a Proof Of Transit (PoT) is used. In this project, different PoT approaches are compared and the most promising solution implemented in a HTTPS-based SFC environment.

Networks

“Test-Case-Generation Strategies for Network-Protocol-Model Refinements,” Bachelor's or Master's thesis, S. Kleber (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Institut of Distributed Systems, Ulm University, 2019 – Open.
Security assessments of networked systems require knowledge about the utilized communication protocol. For proprietary protocols without known specification and with only limited access to the end-points, the only source of information is the communication itself. To correctly conclude from the captured byte stream to message-formats, -types, and finally a protocol model, structure, message- and field-boundaries, data-type, and semantics need to be inferred. After an initial inference procedure, it is desirable to refine the existing protocol model. Actively probing an entity for the validity of message syntaxes allows to targetedly enhance the knowledge about the protocol. To do this efficiently a smart method of automatically generating test-cases depending on the current protocol model needs to be developed.

Mobile Systems

Privacy

“Evaluating Subjective Trust Networks through Secure Multiparty Computation,” Project or Bachelor or Master's thesis, J. Dispan (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
In the future, vehicles will exchange information regarding the current traffic situation and planned maneuvers. While this has the potential to improve safety and fuel efficiency though cooperative driving, it opens up a novel attack vector: malicious actors might inject incorrect information, which could lead to accidents and thus poses a serious threat to safety. One approach to mitigate such attacks makes use of Subjective Trust Networks: vehicles form Trust Opinions on other vehicles, which are expressed using Subjective Logic and stored in a graph structure. Different vehicles can merge their Trust Networks in order to gain a more complete picture of the trustworthiness of their communication partners and make more informed decisions. However, privacy and safety considerations forbid that different vehicles simply exchange their trust networks. This thesis/project should investigate the feasibility of merging an evaluating Subjective Trust Networks using Secure Multiparty Computation (SMPC). For this, it is first necessary to precisely define the task at hand: Which calculations must be performed under SMPC in order to protect confidential information? Which information cannot be protected? Second, a prototype for an example scenario in which vehicles merge and evaluate their trust Networks should be implemented using a suitable framework for SMPC. Third, benchmarks should be performed that show the (non-)applicability of SMPC for the described use-case.

Web

Miscellaneous Topics

“Quantification of the Impact of Floating Point Errors in Subjective Logic,” Master's thesis or Project, J. Dispan (Supervisor), F. Kargl (Examiner), Inst. of Distr. Sys., Ulm Univ., 2023 – Open.
Subjective Logic (SL) is a mathematical framework for reasoning under uncertainty. It is useful for expressing opinions on how reliable information is (so-called Trust Opinions) and performing computations on these opinions. At our institute, we research applications of SL in the automotive domain, e.g. to express trust in data received from a sensor or from other vehicles. Current implementations of SL internally use floating-point arithmetic (IEEE 754) for performing calculations. However, IEEE 754 floating-point numbers are prone to introducing rounding errors. In safety-critical domains, failing to account for such errors might lead to catastrophic consequences. In this thesis/project, you will investigate the potential impact of floating-point errors in SL calculations and develop strategies to minimise it. You can choose your approach freely: whether you work theoretically (e.g. through a detailed study of literature) or practically (e.g. through implementing a test environment and explaining the observed effects) is up to you.