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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 55 records · Page 3

A real-time signal combining system for Ka-band feed arrays using maximum-likelihood weight estimates

A real-time digital signal combining system for use with Ka-band feed arrays is proposed. The combining system attempts to compensate for signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss resulting from antenna deformations induced by gravitational and atmospheric effects. The combining weights are obtained directly from the observed samples by using a sliding-window implementation of a vector maximum-likelihood parameter estimator. It is shown that with averaging times of about 0.1 second, combining loss for a seven-element array can be limited to about 0.1 dB in a realistic operational environment. This result suggests that the real-time combining system proposed here is capable of recovering virtually all of the signal power captured by the feed array, even in the presence of severe wind gusts and similar disturbances.

Vilnrotter, V. A.↗

Autonomous onboard navigation using tracking and data relay satellite system (TDRSS) signals

Analyses have indicated that the NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) can furnish its orbital users accurate, low cost onboard navigation services via two different modes: (1) Forward-Link Scheduled Tracking, designated 'Block-I', and (2) Forward-Link Beacon Tracking, designated 'Block II'. Attention is presently given to the Block-I and Block-II system configurations, signal definition, and observation data descriptions. Projected accuracies for orbit-determination, time-determination, and frequency-determination are presented, in conjunction with user-navigation scenarios and covariance analysis results detailing error sources and magnitudes. The status of the two navigation service modes in both TDRSS and Advanced TDRSS is noted.

Engel, Cheryl↗

Memory systems for signal generating photoelectric image detectors

Digital systems are discussed which have the capacity to handle the large amounts of information contained in a typical image. It was used with a high gain pulse counting television camera tube, with a silicon target image detector and an analog to digital converter between the detector and the memory.

Dennison, E. W.↗

Metal detector system

Signal voltage resulting from the disturbance of an electromagnetic field within the volume of a sensitive area is compared with a reference ac voltage for polarity information, which identifies the material. System output amplitude and polarity indicate approximate size and type of metal, respectively.

Lee, R. D.↗

Modeling Guidelines for Code Generation in the Railway Signaling Context

Modeling guidelines constitute one of the fundamental cornerstones for Model Based Development. Their relevance is essential when dealing with code generation in the safety-critical domain. This article presents the experience of a railway signaling systems manufacturer on this issue. Introduction of Model-Based Development (MBD) and code generation in the industrial safety-critical sector created a crucial paradigm shift in the development process of dependable systems. While traditional software development focuses on the code, with MBD practices the focus shifts to model abstractions. The change has fundamental implications for safety-critical systems, which still need to guarantee a high degree of confidence also at code level. Usage of the Simulink/Stateflow platform for modeling, which is a de facto standard in control software development, does not ensure by itself production of high-quality dependable code. This issue has been addressed by companies through the definition of modeling rules imposing restrictions on the usage of design tools components, in order to enable production of qualified code. The MAAB Control Algorithm Modeling Guidelines (MathWorks Automotive Advisory Board)[3] is a well established set of publicly available rules for modeling with Simulink/Stateflow. This set of recommendations has been developed by a group of OEMs and suppliers of the automotive sector with the objective of enforcing and easing the usage of the MathWorks tools within the automotive industry. The guidelines have been published in 2001 and afterwords revisited in 2007 in order to integrate some additional rules developed by the Japanese division of MAAB [5]. The scope of the current edition of the guidelines ranges from model maintainability and readability to code generation issues. The rules are conceived as a reference baseline and therefore they need to be tailored to comply with the characteristics of each industrial context. Customization of these recommendations has been performed for the automotive control systems domain in order to enforce code generation [7]. The MAAB guidelines have been found profitable also in the aerospace/avionics sector [1] and they have been adopted by the MathWorks Aerospace Leadership Council (MALC). General Electric Transportation Systems (GETS) is a well known railway signaling systems manufacturer leading in Automatic Train Protection (ATP) systems technology. Inside an effort of adopting formal methods within its own development process, GETS decided to introduce system modeling by means of the MathWorks tools [2], and in 2008 chose to move to code generation. This article reports the experience performed by GETS in developing its own modeling standard through customizing the MAAB rules for the railway signaling domain and shows the result of this experience with a successful product development story.

Ferrari, Alessio↗

A digital signal processing system for coherent laser radar

A data processing system for use with continuous-wave lidar is described in terms of its configuration and performance during the second survey mission of NASA'a Global Backscatter Experiment. The system is designed to estimate a complete lidar spectrum in real time, record the data from two lidars, and monitor variables related to the lidar operating environment. The PC-based system includes a transient capture board, a digital-signal processing (DSP) board, and a low-speed data-acquisition board. Both unprocessed and processed lidar spectrum data are monitored in real time, and the results are compared to those of a previous non-DSP-based system. Because the DSP-based system is digital it is slower than the surface-acoustic-wave signal processor and collects 2500 spectra/s. However, the DSP-based system provides complete data sets at two wavelengths from the continuous-wave lidars.

Hampton, Diana M.↗

Space Shuttle communications - Wideband direct link signal and system design

This paper describes the design of a wideband S-band communications link from the Space Shuttle Orbiter to a ground-based terminal. This link will be used for transmission of television, digital data (various rates), or analog data, and is of interest because of the presence of bandwidth, power, and hardware constraints. The procedure followed to arrive at an overall signal and system design is outlined, and system performance margins are presented for various operational configurations. Finally, the growth potential of this link for digital data transmission is discussed.

Batson, B. H.↗

A design study of a signal detection system

A system is described which can aid in the search for radio signals from extraterrestrial sources, or in other applications characterized by low signal-to-noise ratios and very high data rates. The system follows a multichannel (16 million bin) spectrum analyzer, and has critical processing, system control, and memory fuctions. The design includes a moderately rich set of algorithms to be used in parallel to detect signals of unknown form. A multi-threshold approach is used to obtain high and low signal sensitivities. Relatively compact and transportable memory systems are specified.

Healy, T. J.↗

Auxiliary signal processing system for a multiparameter radar

The design of an auxiliary signal processor for a multiparameter radar is described with emphasis on low cost, quick development, and minimum disruption of radar operations. The processor is based around a low-cost digital signal processor card and personal computer controller. With the use of such a concept, an auxiliary processor was implemented for the NCAR CP-2 radar during a 1991 summer field campaign and allowed measurement of additional polarimetric parameters, namely, the differential phase and the copolar cross correlation. Sample data are presented from both the auxiliary and existing radar signal processors.

Chandrasekar, V.↗

Goldstone solar system radar signal processing

A performance analysis of the planetary radar data acquisition system is presented. These results extend previous computer simulation analysis and are facilitated by the development of a simple analytical model that predicts radar system performance over a wide range of operational parameters. The results of this study are useful to both the radar system designer and the science investigator in establishing operational radar data acquisition parameters which result in the best systems performance for a given set of input conditions.

Jurgens, R.↗

A timed-correlated four-link Doppler Tracking system

Phase perturbations that occur in the following components of the one and two-way systems are considered: (1) one-way system (signal from A to B): station a oscillator - transmitter A antenna A - signal path - antenna B - receiver B station B oscillator - recording system B; (2) two-way system (signal from A to B back to A): station A oscillator - transmitter A - antenna A - signal path up - antenna B - transponder B - antenna B - signal path down - receiver A - station A oscillator - recording system A. A symmetrical one- and two-way system which can identify the place of origin of the fluctuation and quantify it so as to recover the unperturbed phase at a given moment of time by time-correlating the phase fluctuations obtained in the one- and two-way data taken at both stations is described

Vessot, R. F. C.↗

Signal acquisition system

A frequency-tracking feedback circuit for acquiring a communication carrier signal from a relatively noisy environment. The circuit includes a digital phase-frequency detector, a limiter, a mixer, and a voltage-controlled oscillator, connected in a long control loop in such a manner that an input band of signals is translated in frequency until the desired carrier is centered within a relatively narrow acquisition window. The characteristics of the loop are such that acquisition may be achieved even when the total power of the noise in the input signal band exceeds the carrier power, provided that the noise is relatively uniformly distributed over the input band. A technique is also disclosed for compensating from any unbalance in the noise spectrum, so that relatively low carrier-to-noise ratios can be tolerated. Also disclosed are improvements for dynamically varying the parameters of the frequency-tracking loop in such a manner as to reduce acquisition time, and a technique for detecting acquisition and handing control to post-acquisition control circuitry.

Crackel, John E.↗