Engineering topics

Sumner, Matthew

Publications and source records attributed to Sumner, Matthew.

3 records

DOE OSTI2022

Experimental Wargaming with SIGNAL

Wargames are a common tool for investigating complex conflict scenarios and have a long history of informing military and strategic study. Historically, these games have often been one-offs, may not rigorously collect data, and have been built primarily for exploration rather than developing data-driven analytical conclusions. Experimental wargaming, a new wargaming approach that employs the basic principles of experimental design to facilitate an objective basis for exploring fundamental research questions around human behavior (such as understanding conflict escalation), is a potential tool that can be used in combination with existing wargaming approaches. The Project on Nuclear Gaming, a consortium involving the University of California, Berkeley, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, developed an experimental wargame, SIGNAL, to explore questions surrounding conflict escalation and strategic stability in the nuclear context. To date, the SIGNAL experimental wargame has been played hundreds of times by thousands of players from around the world, creating the largest database of wargame data for academic purposes known to the authors. Here, this paper discusses the design of SIGNAL, focusing on how the principles of experimental design influenced this design.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

NASA NTRS2004

A Wide-Bandwidth, Low-Noise SIS Receiver Design for Millimeter and Submillimeter Wavelengths

In principle, millimeter and submillimeter heterodyne receivers using state-of-the-art SIS detectors are capable of extremely large instantaneous bandwidths with noise temperatures within a few Kelvin of the quantum limit. We are applying modem design tools, such as 3D electromagnetic simulators and Caltech's SuperMix SIS analysis package, to develop a new generation of waveguide SIS mixers with very broad RF and IF bandwidths. Our initial design consists of a double-sideband mixer targeted for the 180- 300 GHz band that uses a single SIS junction excited by a full bandwidth, fixed-tuned waveguide probe on a silicon substrate. The IF output band, limited by the MMIC low-noise IF preamplifier, is 6-18 GHz, providing an instantaneous RF bandwidth of 24 GHz (double-sideband). The SIS mixer conversion loss is predicted to be no more than 1-2 dB (single-sideband) with mixer noise temperatures across the band within 10 Kelvin of the quantum limit. The single-sideband receiver noise temperature goal is 70 Kelvin. The wide instantaneous bandwidth and low noise will result in an instrument capable of a variety of important astrophysical observations beyond the capabilities of current instruments. Lab testing of the receiver will begin in the summer of 2002, and a demonstration on the CSO should occur in the spring of 2003.

Sumner, Matthew↗

NASA NTRS2002

An Extremely Wide Bandwidth, Low-Noise SIS Heterodyne Receiver Design for Millimeter and Submillimeter Observations

Millimeter and submillimeter heterodyne receivers using state-of-the-art SIS detectors are capable of extremely large instantaneous bandwidths with noise temperatures within a few Kelvin of the quantum limit. We present the design for a broadband, sensitive, heterodyne spectrometer under development for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). The 180-300 GHz double-sideband design uses a single SIS device excited by a full bandwidth, fixed-tuned waveguide probe on a silicon substrate. The IF output frequency (limited by the MMIC low noise IF preamplifier) is 6-18 GHz, providing an instantaneous RF bandwidth of 24 GHz (double-sideband). The SIS mixer conversion loss should be no more than 1-2 dB with mixer noise temperatures across the band within 10 K of the quantum limit. The single-sideband receiver noise temperature goal is 70 K. The wide instantaneous bandwidth and low noise will result in an instrument capable of a variety of important astrophysical observations beyond the capabilities of current instruments. Lab testing of the receiver will begin in the summer of 2002, and the first use on the CSO should occur in the spring of 2003.

Sumner, Matthew↗