Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Frequency synthesizers”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2009

Synthesis and Control of Flexible Systems with Component-Level Uncertainties

An efficient and computationally robust method for synthesis of component dynamics is developed. The method defines the interface forces/moments as feasible vectors in transformed coordinates to ensure that connectivity requirements of the combined structure are met. The synthesized system is then defined in a transformed set of feasible coordinates. The simplicity of form is exploited to effectively deal with modeling parametric and non-parametric uncertainties at the substructure level. Uncertainty models of reasonable size and complexity are synthesized for the combined structure from those in the substructure models. In particular, we address frequency and damping uncertainties at the component level. The approach first considers the robustness of synthesized flexible systems. It is then extended to deal with non-synthesized dynamic models with component-level uncertainties by projecting uncertainties to the system level. A numerical example is given to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Psychoacoustic Test for Urban Air Mobility Vehicle Sound Quality

This paper describes a psychoacoustic test in the Exterior Effects Room (EER) at the NASA Langley Research Center. The test investigated the degree to which sound quality metrics (sharpness, tonality, etc.) are predictive of annoyance to notional sounds of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles (i.e., air taxis). A suite of 136 unique (4.6 second duration) UAM rotor noise stimuli was generated. These stimuli were based on aeroacoustic predictions of a NASA reference UAM quadrotor aircraft under two flight conditions. The synthesizer changed rotor noise parameters such as the blade passage frequency, the relative level of broadband self-noise, and the relative level of tonal motor noise. With loudness constant, the synthesis parameters impacted sound quality in a way that created a spread of predictors both in synthesizer parameters and in sound quality metrics. Forty subjects listened to the suite of UAM noise stimuli in the EER and judged each sound individually on a standard scale of annoyance. Additionally, a subset of the UAM noise stimuli were compared to a reference sound that varied in loudness. From these responses, the relative effect of changes in loudness or changes in other sound quality metrics on annoyance was evaluated. This paper covers background and motivation for the test, details of how the sound stimuli were generated, and details of the test design and execution. Test results investigate how sound quality may affect perceived annoyance to UAM vehicle noise, indicating the importance of sharpness, tonality, impulsiveness, and roughness on annoyance to UAM noise.

UAM↗
DOE OSTI2025

Monolithic AlScN/SiC phononic waveguides for scalable acoustoelectric and quantum devices

Unlike conventional surface acoustic wave devices, phononic waveguide systems enable higher circuit density and stronger strain and piezoelectric fields, making them promising for advanced acoustoelectric and quantum applications. One such material system for generating and guiding phonons at gigahertz frequencies is AlScN on SiC, which can be synthesized by sputter depositing AlScN directly onto SiC wafers. The AlScN on the SiC platform allows for tightly vertically-confined acoustic modes with high electromechanical coupling, high speed of sound, and simple fabrication of strip and rib waveguides. Until now, this system has only been studied as a slab waveguide platform, i.e., without any lateral waveguiding. Here, we demonstrate a two-dimensionally confined phononic architecture in AlScN on SiC that supports guided modes at 2.95 and 4.05 GHz. These modes exhibit strong electromechanical coupling coefficients (k 2 = 4.27%) and propagation losses on the order of 10 dB/mm. Furthermore, this architecture is well-suited for phononic routing and power-efficient active or nonlinear devices such as amplifiers, mixers, and oscillators, and is compatible with the integration of quantum systems, including vacancy centers, charge carriers, photons, and spins, either embedded in SiC or heterogeneously integrated on the surface.

Electrical components↗
NASA NTRS1992

Spectral analysis of wave motion in plane solids with boundaries

A spectral formulation is employed whereby in-plane stress waves are synthesized from the superposition of components at discrete frequencies and wavenumbers. The summations are performed using the fast Fourier transform and the Fourier series, respectively. Because the components are discrete, the solution to problems (over the entire field) with completely arbitrary loading, both in time and space, is made tractable. Waves generated from a line load acting on an infinite and semiinfinite plane are first considered. A cascade approach is then adopted for the treatment of these waves incident on a free, fixed, and elastic boundary. At each stage, the results are compared with those obtained from the available classical solutions and/or finite element results. These studies will form the basis for the investigation of in-plane stress waves in multiply layered media.

Rizzi, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

A Comparison of Multivariable Control Design Techniques for a Turbofan Engine Control

This paper compares two previously published design procedures for two different multivariable control design techniques for application to a linear engine model of a jet engine. The two multivariable control design techniques compared were the Linear Quadratic Gaussian with Loop Transfer Recovery (LQG/LTR) and the H-Infinity synthesis. The two control design techniques were used with specific previously published design procedures to synthesize controls which would provide equivalent closed loop frequency response for the primary control loops while assuring adequate loop decoupling. The resulting controllers were then reduced in order to minimize the programming and data storage requirements for a typical implementation. The reduced order linear controllers designed by each method were combined with the linear model of an advanced turbofan engine and the system performance was evaluated for the continuous linear system. Included in the performance analysis are the resulting frequency and transient responses as well as actuator usage and rate capability for each design method. The controls were also analyzed for robustness with respect to structured uncertainties in the unmodeled system dynamics. The two controls were then compared for performance capability and hardware implementation issues.

Garg, Sanjay↗
DOE OSTI2025

Radio Frequency Field Programable Gate Array Implementation of Reflectometry Cable Monitoring

PNNL has developed an innovative cable testing system that leverages the Xilinx RF System-on-Chip (RFSoC) technology to create a more flexible and capable measurement tool than traditional approaches. The architecture is designed on the ZCU111 development board and takes advantage of the high-speed digital to analog converters (DAC) and analog to digital converters (ADC) to generate and capture digitally synthesized waveforms. The platform allows engineers to easily adjust power, frequency, duration and modulation on the fly rather than being locked into fixed hardware configurations

Tedeschi, Jonathan [Pacific Northwest National Lab↗
NASA NTRS1981

A new approach for synthesizing dual reflector antennas

It is pointed out that the offset geometry for dual reflector antennas is attractive for satellite communications where low side lobes are necessary to achieve good isolation between adjacent main lobes operating over the same frequency band. A description is presented of a new, numerically rigorous technique for synthesizing dual offset reflectors. The objective of the synthesis procedure is to transform a given primary feed pattern into a desired aperture distribution through two reflections in an offset dual reflector system. It is found that a given specification for the aperture distribution does not always lead to a smooth solution for the two surfaces. In this event, the so-called energy condition on the specified amplitude distribution is relaxed, and an approximate solution which satisfies the energy condition only within a certain numerical tolerance is derived.

Mittra, R.↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Method for In-Situ Q₀ Measurements of High-Quality SRF Resonators

Accelerator projects such as LCLS-II naturally require low-loss superconducting (SRF) cavities. Due to strong demand for improving intrinsic quality factor (Q₀), importance of accurate cavity characterization increases. We propose a method to measure Q₀ in situ for an SRF resonator installed in its cryogenic module and connected with a RF feed source via a fixed RF coupler. The method exploits measurements of a response for an SRF resonator fed by an amplitude-modulated signal. Such a signal can be synthesized as a beat-wave composed of two frequencies that are close to the resonant frequency. Analyzing the envelope of the reflected signal, one can find the difference in reflection for the chosen frequencies and use them to compute the intrinsic Q. We also develop the methodology to carry out measurements of Q₀ at the nominal cavity operating voltage. We verified our method in experiments with a room temperature copper resonator and with two SRF resonators including Fermilab’s 650 MHz cavity and JLab’s 1500 MHz cavity.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1973

A spaceborne receiver for measuring electromagnetic field intensity

Description of a very accurately controlled receiver for monitoring the electromagnetic radiations in both existing and projected space communication bands. Based on analysis of the existing and projected space communication bands, 108 to 174 MHz, 240 to 478 MHz, and 1535 to 1665 MHz were covered. The receiver achieves accurate control via a digitally tuned synthesizer and a wide range of digital control including frequency band coverage and gain control selection. Digital memory was provided to store 16 separate digital command instructions which can be programmed via a command data link. The receiver provides for transmission to the ground of both a predetection signal and signals in digital format, which in turn, were provided by sampling and analog-to-digital conversions.

Reich, B. W.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Method for shaping and aiming narrow beams

A sonar method and apparatus is discribed which utilizes a linear frequency chirp in a transmitter/receiver having a correlator to synthesize a narrow beamwidth pattern from otherwise broadbeam transducers when there is relative velocity between the transmitter/receiver and the target. The chirp is so produced in a generator in bandwidth, B, and time, T, as to produce a time bandwidth product, TB, that is increased for a narrower angle. A replica of the chirp produced in a generator is time delayed and Doppler shifted for use as a reference in the receiver for correlation of received chirps from targets. This reference is Doppler shifted to select targets preferentially, thereby to not only synthesize a narrow beam but also aim the beam in azimuth and elevation.

Heyser, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The leaking mode problem in atmospheric acoustic-gravity wave propagation

The problem of predicting the transient acoustic pressure pulse at long horizontal distances from large explosions in the atmosphere is examined. Account is taken of poles off the real axis and of branch line integrals in the general integral governing the transient waveform. Perturbation techniques are described for the computation of the imaginary ordinate of the poles and numerical studies are described for a model atmosphere terminated by a halfspace with c = 478 m/sec above 125 km. For frequencies less than 0.0125 rad/sec, the GR sub 1 mode, for example, is found to have a frequency dependent amplitude decay of the order of 0.0001 nepers/km. Examples of numerically synthesized transient waveforms are exhibited with and without the inclusion of leaking modes. The inclusion of leaking modes results in waveforms with a more marked beginning rather than a low frequency oscillating precursor of gradually increasing amplitude. Also, the revised computations indicate that waveforms invariably begin with a pressure rise, a result supported by other theoretical considerations and by experimental data.

Kinney, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Epitaxial Ferroelectric Ba(0.5)Sr(0.5)TiO3 Thin Films for Room-Temperature High-Frequency Tunable Element Applications

Perovskite Ba(0.5)SR(0.5)TiO3 thin films have been synthesized on (001) LaAl03 substrates by pulsed laser ablation. Extensive X-ray diffraction, rocking curve, and pole-figure studies suggest that the films are c-axis oriented and exhibit good in-plane relationship of <100>(sub BSTO)//<100>(sub LAO). Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry studies indicate that the epitaxial films have excellent crystalline quality with an ion beam minimum yield chi(sub min) Of only 2.6 %. The dielectric property measurements by the interdigital technique at 1 MHz show room temperature values of the relative dielectric constant, epsilon(sub r), and loss tangent, tan(sub delta), of 1430 and 0.007 with no bias, and 960 and 0.001 with 35 V bias, respectively. The obtained data suggest that the as-grown Ba(0.5)SR(0.5)TiO3 films can be used for development of room-temperature high-frequency tunable elements.

Chen, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The estimation of decay coefficient in pulsed transient data

The problem of estimation and interpretation of a decay coefficient in a pulsed transient signal is considered. Two methods are proposed in estimating the decay coefficient of pulsed decay transient data. The methods are derived through a spectral analysis for a parametric model of impulse response function of signal frequency. The several pulsed response data from T burner tests as well as some synthesized data are analyzed and the performance of the estimation procedures are examined. Suggestions for further research in this area are offered. The estimation procedures presented can be extended to the case of multiple frequencies in pulse response function and time dependent decay or growth coefficients.

Park, T. W.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Synthesis of amorphous Pd-based nanocatalysts for efficient alcoholysis of styrene oxide and electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Amorphous nanomaterials with long-range disordered structures could possess distinct properties and promising applications, especially in catalysis, as compared with their conventional crystalline counterparts. It is imperative to achieve the controlled preparation of amorphous noble metal-based nanomaterials for the exploration of their phase-dependent applications. Here, in this work, we report a facile wet-chemical reduction strategy to synthesize various amorphous multimetallic Pd-based nanomaterials, including PdRu, PdRh, and PdRuRh. The phase-dependent catalytic performances of distinct Pd-based nanomaterials towards diverse catalytic applications have been demonstrated. Specifically, the usage of PdRu nanocatalysts with amorphous and crystalline face-centered cubic (fcc) phases can efficiently switch the ring-opening route of styrene oxide to obtain different products with high selectivity through alcoholysis reaction and hydrogenation reaction, respectively. Moreover, when used as an electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the synthesized amorphous PdRh nanocatalyst exhibits low overpotential and high turnover frequency values, outperforming its crystalline fcc counterpart and most of the reported Pd-based HER electrocatalysts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

TaO x electron transport layers for CO 2 reduction Si photocathodes

Electron transport layers (ETLs) used as components of photocathodes for light-driven CO 2 reduction (CO 2 R) in aqueous media should have good electronic transport, be stable under CO 2 R conditions, and, ideally, be catalytically inert for the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, using planar p-Si (100) as the absorbing material, we show that TaO x satisfies all three of the above criteria. TaO x films were synthesized by both pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and radio-frequency (RF) sputtering. In both cases, careful control of the oxygen partial pressure during growth was required to produce ETLs with acceptable electron conductivity. p-Si/TaO x photocathodes were interfaced with ca. 10 nm of a CO 2 R catalyst: Cu or Au. Under front illumination with simulated AM 1.5G in CO 2 -saturated bicarbonate buffer, we observed, for both metals, faradaic efficiencies for CO 2 R products of ~50% and ~30% for PLD TaO x and RF sputtered TaO x , respectively, at photocurrent densities up to 8 mA cm -2 . p-Si/TiO 2 /Cu photocathodes were also evaluated but produced mostly H 2 (>97%) due to reduction of the TiO 2 to Ti metal under CO 2 R conditions. In contrast, a dual ETL photocathode (p-Si/TiO 2 /TaO x /Cu) was selective for CO 2 R, which suggests a strategy for separately optimizing selective charge collection and the stability of the ETL/water interface. The maximum photovoltage obtained with p-Si/TaO x /Cu devices was 300 mV which was increased to 430–460 mV by employing ion implantation to make pn + -Si/TaO x /Cu structures. Photocathodes with RF sputtered TaO x ETLs are stable for CO 2 R for at least 300 min. In conclusion, techno-economic analysis shows that the reported system, if scaled, could allow for an economically viable production of feedstocks for chemical synthesis under the adoption of specific CO 2 credit schemes, thus becoming a significant component of carbon-neutral manufacturing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1993

Estimating the size of Huffman code preambles

Data compression via block-adaptive Huffman coding is considered. The compressor consecutively processes blocks of N data symbols, estimates source statistics by computing the relative frequencies of each source symbol in the block, and then synthesizes a Huffman code based on these estimates. In order to let the decompressor know which Huffman code is being used, the compressor must begin the transmission of each compressed block with a short preamble or header file. This file is an encoding of the list n = (n(sub 1), n(sub 2)....,n(sub m)), where n(sub i) is the length of the Hufffman codeword associated with the ith source symbol. A simple method of doing this encoding is to individually encode each n(sub i) into a fixed-length binary word of length log(sub 2)l, where l is an a priori upper bound on the codeword length. This method produces a maximum preamble length of mlog(sub 2)l bits. The object is to show that, in most cases, no substantially shorter header of any kind is possible.

Mceliece, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Radar Interferometer for Topographic Mapping of Glaciers and Ice Sheets

A report discusses Ka-band (35-GHz) radar for mapping the surface topography of glaciers and ice sheets at high spatial resolution and high vertical accuracy, independent of cloud cover, with a swath-width of 70 km. The system is a single- pass, single-platform interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) with an 8-mm wavelength, which minimizes snow penetration while remaining relatively impervious to atmospheric attenuation. As exhibited by the lower frequency SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) AirSAR and GeoSAR systems, an InSAR measures topography using two antennas separated by a baseline in the cross-track direction, to view the same region on the ground. The interferometric combination of data received allows the system to resolve the pathlength difference from the illuminated area to the antennas to a fraction of a wavelength. From the interferometric phase, the height of the target area can be estimated. This means an InSAR system is capable of providing not only the position of each image point in along-track and slant range as with a traditional SAR but also the height of that point through interferometry. Although the evolution of InSAR to a millimeter-wave center frequency maximizes the interferometric accuracy from a given baseline length, the high frequency also creates a fundamental problem of swath coverage versus signal-to-noise ratio. While the length of SAR antennas is typically fixed by mass and stowage or deployment constraints, the width is constrained by the desired illuminated swath width. As the across-track beam width which sets the swath size is proportional to the wavelength, a fixed swath size equates to a smaller antenna as the frequency is increased. This loss of antenna size reduces the two-way antenna gain to the second power, drastically reducing the signal-to-noise ratio of the SAR system. This fundamental constraint of high-frequency SAR systems is addressed by applying digital beam-forming (DBF) techniques to synthesize multiple simultaneous receive beams in elevation while maintaining a broad transmit illumination. Through this technique, a high antenna gain on receive is preserved, thereby reducing the required transmit power and thus enabling high-frequency SARs and high-precision InSAR from a single spacecraft.

Moller, Delwyn K.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Structural and Spectroscopic Properties of Butanediol-Modified Boehmite Materials

Glycoboehmite (GB) materials are synthesized by a solvothermal reaction to form layered aluminum oxyhydroxide (boehmite) modified by intercalated butanediol molecules. These hybrid materials offer a platform to design materials with potentially novel sorption, wetting, and catalytic properties. Several synthetic methods have been used, resulting in different structural and spectroscopic properties, but atomistic detail is needed to determine the interlayer structure to explore the synthetic control of GB materials. Here, in this study, we use classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to compare the structural properties of GB interlayers containing chemisorbed butanediol molecules as a function of diol loading. Accompanying quantum (density functional theory, DFT) static calculations and MD simulations are used to validate the classical model and compute the infrared spectra of various models. Classical MD results reveal the existence of two unique interlayer environments at higher butanediol loading, corresponding to smaller (cross-linked) and expanded interlayers. DFT-computed infrared spectra reveal the sensitivity of the aluminol O–H stretch frequencies to the interlayer environment, consistent with the spectrum of the synthesized material. Insight from these simulations will aid in the characterization of the newly synthesized GB materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗