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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 721 records · Page 40
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2006

Grayscale Optical Correlator Workbench

Grayscale Optical Correlator Workbench (GOCWB) is a computer program for use in automatic target recognition (ATR). GOCWB performs ATR with an accurate simulation of a hardware grayscale optical correlator (GOC). This simulation is performed to test filters that are created in GOCWB. Thus, GOCWB can be used as a stand-alone ATR software tool or in combination with GOC hardware for building (target training), testing, and optimization of filters. The software is divided into three main parts, denoted filter, testing, and training. The training part is used for assembling training images as input to a filter. The filter part is used for combining training images into a filter and optimizing that filter. The testing part is used for testing new filters and for general simulation of GOC output. The current version of GOCWB relies on the mathematical software tools from MATLAB binaries for performing matrix operations and fast Fourier transforms. Optimization of filters is based on an algorithm, known as OT-MACH, in which variables specified by the user are parameterized and the best filter is selected on the basis of an average result for correct identification of targets in multiple test images.

Hanan, Jay↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG)

The Los Alamos Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) is a hardware-based, high-performance Random Number Generator capable of generating 200 Mbit/s or more of true random numbers. Like flipping a coin, it is very much random and essential for information security like encrypting data on the internet, checking email, or purchasing something from an online vendor. The device harvests entropy from fluctuations in an optical source that arise from quantum mechanical properties of light. Qrypt, Inc., a company launched in 2017, began making strategic investments and developing partnerships to advance cutting-edge quantum hardware solutions. One of those key investments was licensing QRNG from Los Alamos and subsequently collaborating with advanced quantum materials and technology researcher Dr. Raymond Newell to create high-quality random keys at scale.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Real Time-Optimal Power Flow-Based Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS)

This project aims to promote lab-proven clean energy technology to commercially scalable versions of the technology, integrate the technology with broader systems, provide extended performance data, and validate the manufacturability and reliability of the technology. The lab-proven technology, RT-OPF DERMS, was developed and validated through previous U.S. Department of Energy-funded efforts, including Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy funding under the Network Optimized Distributed Energy Systems program and Holy-Cross Energy High Impact Project. In the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Network Optimized Distributed Energy Systems project, the RT-OPF DERMS was developed and implemented in multiple hardware platforms, demonstrating its performance and capabilities in the lab and field environments. The technology was also evaluated and matured via a participation in the U.S. Department of Energy I-Corps program, whose goal is to pair teams of researchers with industry mentors for an intensive 2-month training in which the researchers define technology value propositions, conduct customer discovery interviews, and develop viable market pathways for their technologies. These activities indicate the high technology maturity and Technology Readiness Level of the RT-OPF DERMS.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2000

Initial Performance of the Attitude Control and Aspect Determination Subsystems on the Chandra Observatory

The aspect determination system of the Chandra X-ray Observatory plays a key role in realizing the full potential of Chandra's X-ray optics and detectors. We review the performance of the spacecraft hardware components and sub-systems, which provide information for both real time control of the attitude and attitude stability of the Chandra Observatory and also for more accurate post-facto attitude reconstruction. These flight components are comprised of the aspect camera (star tracker) and inertial reference units (gyros), plus the fiducial lights and fiducial transfer optics which provide an alignment null reference system for the science instruments and X-ray optics, together with associated thermal and structural components. Key performance measures will be presented for aspect camera focal plane data, gyro performance both during stable pointing and during maneuvers, alignment stability and mechanism repeatability.

Cameron, R.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Unraveling Network-induced Memory Contention: Deeper Insights with Machine Learning

Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) is expected to be an integral communication mechanism for future exascale systems enabling asynchronous data transfers, so that applications may fully utilize CPU resources while simultaneously sharing data amongst remote nodes. We examine Network-induced Memory Contention (NiMC) on Infiniband networks. We expose the interactions between RDMA, main-memory and cache, when applications and out-of-band services compete for memory resources. We then explore NiMCs resulting impact on application-level performance. For a range of hardware technologies and HPC workloads, we quantify NiMC and show that NiMCs impact grows with scale resulting in up to 3X performance degradation at scales as small as 8K processes even in applications that previously have been shown to be performance resilient in the presence of noise. In addition, this work examines the problem of predicting NiMC's impact on applications by leveraging machine learning and easily accessible performance counters. This approach provides additional insights about the root cause of NiMC and facilitates dynamic selection of potential solutions. Finally, we evaluated three potential techniques to reduce NiMCs impact, namely hardware offloading, core reservation and network throttling.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Benchmarking quantum computers

The rapid pace of development in quantum computing technology has sparked a proliferation of benchmarks to assess the performance of quantum computing hardware and software. However, not all benchmarks are of equal merit. Good ones empower scientists, engineers, programmers and users to understand the power of a computing system, whereas bad ones can misdirect research and inhibit progress. In this Perspective, we survey the science of quantum computer benchmarking. Here, we discuss the role of benchmarks and benchmarking and how good benchmarks can drive and measure progress towards the long-term goal of useful quantum computations, known as quantum utility. We explain how different kinds of benchmark quantify the performance of different parts of a quantum computer, discuss existing benchmarks, examine recent trends in benchmarking, and highlight important open research questions in this field.

Proctor, Timothy James [Sandia National Laboratori↗
DOE OSTI2021

Toward Evaluating High-Level Synthesis Portability and Performance between Intel and Xilinx FPGAs

Offloading computation from a CPU to a hardware accelerator is becoming a more common solution for improving performance because traditional gains enabled by Moore’s law and Dennard scaling have slowed. GPUs are often used as hardware accelerators, but field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are gaining traction. FPGAs are beneficial because they allow hardware specific to a particular application to be created. However, they are notoriously difficult to program. To this end, two of the main FPGA manufacturers, Intel and Xilinx, have created tools and frameworks that enable the use of higher level languages to design FPGA hardware. Although Xilinx kernels can be designed by using C/C++, both Intel and Xilinx support the use of OpenCL C to architect FPGA hardware. However, not much is known about the portability and performance between these two device families other than the fact that it is theoretically possible to synthesize a kernel meant for Intel to Xilinx and vice versa.In this work, we evaluate the portability and performance of Intel and Xilinx kernels. We use OpenCL C implementations of a subset of the Rodinia benchmarking suite that were designed for an Intel FPGA and make the necessary modifications to create synthesizable OpenCL C kernels for a Xilinx FPGA. We find that the difficulty of porting certain kernel optimizations varies, depending on the construct. Once the minimum amount of modifications is made to create synthesizable hardware for the Xilinx platform, more nontrivial work is needed to improve performance. However, we find that constructs that are known to be performant for an FPGA should improve performance regardless of the platform; the difficulty comes in deciding how to invoke certain kernel optimizations while also abiding by the constraints enforced by a given platform’s hardware compiler.

Cabrera, Anthony↗
NASA NTRS1990

Spread-spectrum code acquisition in the presence of Doppler shift and data modulation

A spread-spectrum code acquisition technique for a direct-sequence (DS) system in the presence of Doppler effect and data modulation is investigated. Both the carrier-frequency offset and code-frequency offset due to severe Doppler effect are considered. The code-chip slipping during the correlation process caused by code-frequency offset can degrade the acquisition performance significantly. However, this issue can be alleviated by compensating code-frequency offset in an appropriate manner. Results are presented for the cases with and without data modulation. Coherent detection is considered when there is no data modulation. If data modulation is present, the authors partition the correlation time into subintervals and the integration results in these subintervals are square-law noncoherently combined for detection. The implementation of this code acquisition technique using the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm is described. The use of theoretical results to estimate the hardware complexity of an actual system is illustrated step by step, showing that implementation is feasible with existing technology. The tradeoff between hardware complexity and acquisition performance is discussed.

Cheng, Unjeng↗
DOE OSTI2025

Development of Hydrogen Burner for FT4000® Aeroderivative Engine - Final Report

This report details an effort to develop a retrofittable fuel/air injector for the FT4000® aeroderivative gas turbine that enables use of hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel for efficient power generation. The FT4000 engine’s low-NOx combustor was developed by Pratt & Whitney and RTX Technology Research Center with core technology from the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 turbofan aircraft engine. The current FT4000 production engine operates on either natural gas or No. 2 fuel oil with water injection to achieve high thermal efficiency and low emissions. This engine is fielded by Mitsubishi Power Aero and delivers 70 MW of power with a simple-cycle efficiency of over 41% when operating with wet compression. The work reported here advances the technology readiness level of the FT4000 combustor for operation with hydrogen, starting with an experimental assessment of the current production hardware with increasing hydrogen content mixed with natural gas and ending with improved nozzle concepts for fully robust operation with 100% hydrogen. High-pressure single-sector combustor rig tests have been completed, demonstrating the ability for the dual fuel nozzle to operate an FT4000 combustor on 100% hydrogen with low nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. Metal temperature measurements and video images of the flame structure from zero to 100% hydrogen highlight opportunities to improve the fuel nozzle robustness for high hydrogen conditions. The design of new fuel/air mixer concepts to improve durability and operability with high hydrogen levels was also completed. A total of eleven new concepts were developed and analyzed, ranging from modifications to the bill-of-materials nozzle to fully clean sheet designs. The concepts were evaluated with non-reacting and reacting flow evaluations to assess the performance of the new hardware designs. Non-reacting tests included Phase Doppler Particle Analysis (PDPA) for droplet size and velocity, mechanical patternation for liquid water flux, and planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) with acetone-seeding for gaseous fuel/air mixing characterization. Five scaled candidate fuel nozzle designs, in addition to a scaled bill-of-materials nozzle, were then successfully evaluated in an atmospheric pressure burner rig. The nozzles were evaluated for performance with natural gas, hydrogen/natural gas blends, and pure hydrogen. For 100% hydrogen, the nozzles were evaluated with and without water injection. Optical and infrared imaging of the flame and fuel nozzle was captured. NOx emissions were sampled from fixed emissions probes. The results show measurable differences between the various designs, and the data was used to down-select the two most promising designs to advance to future full pressure rig testing. Results from this study have cleared the current production FT4000 engines with dual fuel nozzles to operate at baseload power on blends of hydrogen mixed with natural gas and water. Two promising nozzle designs have been developed to enable fully robust operation with up to 100% hydrogen. These nozzles require validation at full baseload operating conditions before they can be introduced to the field.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
NASA NTRS1987

Vapor Compression Distillation Subsystem (VCDS) component enhancement, testing and expert fault diagnostics development, volume 1

Vapor compression distillation technology for phase change recovery of potable water from wastewater has evolved as a technically mature approach for use aboard the Space Station. A program to parametrically test an advanced preprototype Vapor Compression Distillation Subsystem (VCDS) was completed during 1985 and 1986. In parallel with parametric testing, a hardware improvement program was initiated to test the feasibility of incorporating several key improvements into the advanced preprototype VCDS following initial parametric tests. Specific areas of improvement included long-life, self-lubricated bearings, a lightweight, highly-efficient compressor, and a long-life magnetic drive. With the exception of the self-lubricated bearings, these improvements are incorporated. The advanced preprototype VCDS was designed to reclaim 95 percent of the available wastewater at a nominal water recovery rate of 1.36 kg/h achieved at a solids concentration of 2.3 percent and 308 K condenser temperature. While this performance was maintained for the initial testing, a 300 percent improvement in water production rate with a corresponding lower specific energy was achieved following incorporation of the improvements. Testing involved the characterization of key VCDS performance factors as a function of recycle loop solids concentration, distillation unit temperature and fluids pump speed. The objective of this effort was to expand the VCDS data base to enable defining optimum performance characteristics for flight hardware development.

Kovach, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS2014

System-Level Testing of the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator Engineering Hardware

To support future NASA deep space missions, a radioisotope power system utilizing Stirling power conversion technology was under development. This development effort was performed under the joint sponsorship of the Department of Energy and NASA, until its termination at the end of 2013 due to budget constraints. The higher conversion efficiency of the Stirling cycle compared with that of the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) used in previous missions (Viking, Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, Pluto New Horizons and Mars Science Laboratory) offers the advantage of a four-fold reduction in Pu-238 fuel, thereby extending its limited domestic supply. As part of closeout activities, system-level testing of flight-like Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASCs) with a flight-like ASC Controller Unit (ACU) was performed in February 2014. This hardware is the most representative of the flight design tested to date. The test fully demonstrates the following ACU and system functionality: system startup; ASC control and operation at nominal and worst-case operating conditions; power rectification; DC output power management throughout nominal and out-of-range host voltage levels; ACU fault management, and system command / telemetry via MIL-STD 1553 bus. This testing shows the viability of such a system for future deep space missions and bolsters confidence in the maturity of the flight design.

Deep space↗
DOE OSTI2018

Online Diagnosis of Performance Variation in HPC Systems Using Machine Learning

As the size and complexity of HPC systems grow in line with advancements in hardware and software technology, HPC systems increasingly suffer from performance variation due to shared resource contention as well as software- and hardware-related problems. Such performance variations can lead to failures and inefficiencies, and are among the main challenges in system resiliency. To minimize the impact of performance variation, one must quickly and accurately detect and diagnose the anomalies that cause the variation and take mitigating actions. However, it is difficult to identify anomalies based on the voluminous, high-dimensional, and noisy data collected by system monitoring infrastructures. This paper presents a novel machine learning based framework to automatically diagnose performance anomalies at runtime. Our framework leverages historical resource usage data to extract signatures of previously-observed anomalies. We first convert the collected time series data into easy-to-compute statistical features. We then identify the features that are required to detect anomalies, and extract the signatures of these anomalies. At runtime, we use these signatures to diagnose anomalies with negligible overhead. Here, we evaluate our framework using experiments on a real-world HPC supercomputer and demonstrate that our approach successfully identifies 98% of injected anomalies and consistently outperforms existing anomaly diagnosis techniques.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1993

STS-57 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-57 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report provides a summary of the Payloads, as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) systems performance during the fifty-sixth flight of the Space Shuttle Program and fourth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Endeavour (OV-105). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET (ET-58); three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2019, 2034, and 2017 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-059. The lightweight RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360L032A for the left SRB and 360W032B for the right SRB. The STS-57 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement, as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume 8, Appendix E. That document states that each major organizational element supporting the Program will report the results of their hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies.

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

STS-59 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-59 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) systems performance during the sixty-second flight of the Space Shuttle Program and sixth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Endeavor (OV-105). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET designated as ET-63; three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2028, 2033, and 2018 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-065. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360W037A (welterweight) for the left SRB, and 360H037B (heavyweight) for the right SRB. This STS-59 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume 8, Appendix E. That document requires that each major organizational element supporting the Program report the results of its hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objective of the STS-59 mission was to successfully perform the operations of the Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1). The secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the operations of the Space Tissue Loss-A (STL-A) and STL-B payloads, the Visual Function Tester-4 (VFT-4) payload, the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-2 (SAREX-2) experiment, the Consortium for Materials Development in Space Complex Autonomous Payload-4 (CONCAP-4), and the three Get-Away Special (GAS) payloads.

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

STS-62 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-62 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSHE) systems performance during the sixty-first flight of the Space Shuttle Program and sixteenth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Columbia (OV-102). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET designated as ET-62; three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2031, 2109, and 2029 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-064. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360L036A (lightweight) for the left SRB, and 36OWO36B (welterweight) for the right SRB. This STS-62 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume 8, Appendix E. That document requires that each major organizational element supporting the Program report the results of its hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objectives of the STS-62 mission were to perform the operations of the United States Microgravity Payload-2 (USMP-2) and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology-2 (OAST-2) payload. The secondary objectives of this flight were to perform the operations of the Dexterous End Effector (DEE), the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet/A (SSBUV/A), the Limited Duration Space Environment Candidate Material Exposure (LDCE), the Advanced Protein Crystal Growth (APCG), the Physiological Systems Experiments (PSE), the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG), the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA), the Middeck Zero-Gravity Dynamics Experiment (MODE), the Bioreactor Demonstration System (BDS), the Air Force Maui Optical Site Calibration Test (AMOS), and the Auroral Photography Experiment (APE-B).

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

STS-61 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-61 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) systems performance during the fifty-ninth flight of the Space Shuttle Program and fifth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Endeavour (OV-105). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET designated as ET-60; three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2019, 2033, and 2017 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-063. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360L023A (lightweight) for the left SRB, and 360L023B (lightweight) for the right SRB. This STS-61 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume 8, Appendix E. That document requires that each major organizational element supporting the Program report the results of its hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objective of the STS-61 mission was to perform the first on-orbit servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope. The servicing tasks included the installation of new solar arrays, replacement of the Wide Field/Planetary Camera I (WF/PC I) with WF/PC II, replacement of the High Speed Photometer (HSP) with the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR), replacement of rate sensing units (RSU's) and electronic control units (ECU's), installation of new magnetic sensing systems and fuse plugs, and the repair of the Goddard High Resolution Spectrometer (GHRS). Secondary objectives were to perform the requirements of the IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), the IMAX Camera, and the Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test.

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

STS-60 Space Shuttle mission report

The STS-60 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report summarizes the Payload activities as well as the Orbiter, External Tank (ET), Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), and the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) systems performance during the sixtieth flight of the Space Shuttle Program and eighteenth flight of the Orbiter vehicle Discovery (OV-103). In addition to the Orbiter, the flight vehicle consisted of an ET designated at ET-61 (Block 10); three SSME's which were designated as serial numbers 2012, 2034, and 2032 in positions 1, 2, and 3, respectively; and two SRB's which were designated BI-062. The RSRM's that were installed in each SRB were designated as 360L035A (lightweight) for the left SRB, and 360Q035B (quarterweight) for the right SRB. This STS-60 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report fulfills the Space Shuttle Program requirement as documented in NSTS 07700, Volume VIII, Appendix E. That document requires that each major organizational element supporting the Program report the results of its hardware evaluation and mission performance plus identify all related in-flight anomalies. The primary objectives of the STS-60 mission were to deploy and retrieve the Wake Shield Facility-1 (WSF-1), and to activate the Spacehab-2 payload and perform on-orbit experiments. Secondary objectives of this flight were to activate and command the Capillary Pumped Loop/Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres/Breman Satellite Experiment/Getaway Special (GAS) Bridge Assembly (CAPL/ODERACS/BREMSAT/GBA) payload, the Auroral Photography Experiment-B (APE-B), and the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II).

Fricke, Robert W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1986

KBGIS-2: A knowledge-based geographic information system

The architecture and working of a recently implemented knowledge-based geographic information system (KBGIS-2) that was designed to satisfy several general criteria for the geographic information system are described. The system has four major functions that include query-answering, learning, and editing. The main query finds constrained locations for spatial objects that are describable in a predicate-calculus based spatial objects language. The main search procedures include a family of constraint-satisfaction procedures that use a spatial object knowledge base to search efficiently for complex spatial objects in large, multilayered spatial data bases. These data bases are represented in quadtree form. The search strategy is designed to reduce the computational cost of search in the average case. The learning capabilities of the system include the addition of new locations of complex spatial objects to the knowledge base as queries are answered, and the ability to learn inductively definitions of new spatial objects from examples. The new definitions are added to the knowledge base by the system. The system is currently performing all its designated tasks successfully, although currently implemented on inadequate hardware. Future reports will detail the performance characteristics of the system, and various new extensions are planned in order to enhance the power of KBGIS-2.

Smith, T.↗