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Theory of Reed-Solomon codes yields sequences of input test symbols. Two specific sequences worked out for codes of 8 bits per symbol with 223 information symbols and 32 parity check symbols per code words. Test patterns also used for decoders.
A helicopter flight test program undertaken to evaluate the performance of Tetrad (a strap down, laser gyro, inertial navigation system) is described. The results of 34 flights show a mean final navigational velocity error of 5.06 knots, with a standard deviation of 3.84 knots; a corresponding mean final position error of 2.66 n. mi., with a standard deviation of 1.48 n. mi.; and a modeled mean position error growth rate for the 34 tests of 1.96 knots, with a standard deviation of 1.09 knots. No laser gyro or accelerometer failures were detected during the flight tests. Off line parity residual studies used simulated failures with the prerecorded flight test and laboratory test data. The airborne Tetrad system's failure--detection logic, exercised during the tests, successfully demonstrated the detection of simulated ""hard'' failures and the system's ability to continue successfully to navigate by removing the simulated faulted sensor from the computations. Tetrad's four ring laser gyros provided reliable and accurate angular rate sensing during the 4 yr of the test program, and no sensor failures were detected during the evaluation of free inertial navigation performance.
The performance of maximum-distance-separable codes with symbols from GF(1) when they are used for pure error detection or for simultaneous error correction and detection is investigated. These codes are good for symbol error detection. Their probability of undetected error is upper bounded by q to the -r and decreases monotonically as the symbol error probability epsilon decreases from (q-1)/q to 0, where r is the number of parity-check symbols of a code.
The need to develop a systems approach to the management of trauma and other major clinical medical events in space along with appropriate development and evaluation of surgical techniques and required hardware was investigated. A prototype zero gravity surgical module was constructed and tested aboard a KC-135 aircraft during parabolic arc zero G flight. To insure parity of quality care to that available on Earth, it was recommended that a clinical medical and bioengineering advisory committee define and help develop the necessary components of the clinical medical care system for the space station and lunar base. Key components of the system are aerospace surgical training, medical equipment development, including support hardware and software, rapid access to a network of specialty expertise, and continued research and development.
The SOUSY-VHF-Radar operates at a frequency of 53.5 MHz in a valley in the Harz mountains, Germany, 90 km from Hanover. The radar controller, which is programmed by a 16-bit computer holds 1024 program steps in core and controls, via 8 channels, the whole radar system: in particular the master oscillator, the transmitter, the transmit-receive-switch, the receiver, the analog to digital converter, and the hardware adder. The high-sensitivity receiver has a dynamic range of 70 dB and a video bandwidth of 1 MHz. Phase coding schemes are applied, in particular for investigations at mesospheric heights, in order to carry out measurements with the maximum duty cycle and the maximum height resolution. The computer takes the data from the adder to store it in magnetic tape or disc. The radar controller is programmed by the computer using simple FORTRAN IV statements. After the program has been loaded and the computer has started the radar controller, it runs automatically, stopping at the program end. In case of errors or failures occurring during the radar operation, the radar controller is shut off caused either by a safety circuit or by a power failure circuit or by a parity check system.
In this report some shortened BCH codes for possible applications to large IC random-access memory systems are presented. These codes are given by their parity-check matrices. Encoding and decoding of these codes are discussed.
The development and evaluation of a fault-tolerant system for the Redundant Strapdown Inertial Measurement Unit (RSDIMU) being developed and evaluated by the NASA Langley Research Center was continued. The RSDIMU consists of four two-degree-of-freedom gyros and accelerometers mounted on the faces of a semi-octahedron which can be separated into two halves for damage protection. Compensated and uncompensated fault-tolerant system failure decision algorithms were compared. An algorithm to compensate for sensor noise effects in the fault-tolerant system thresholds was evaluated via simulation. The effects of sensor location and magnitude of the vehicle structural modes on system performance were assessed. A threshold generation algorithm, which incorporates noise compensation and filtered parity equation residuals for structural mode compensation, was evaluated. The effects of the fault-tolerant system on navigational accuracy were also considered. A sensor error parametric study was performed in an attempt to improve the soft failure detection capability without obtaining false alarms. Also examined was an FDI system strategy based on the pairwise comparison of sensor measurements. This strategy has the specific advantage of, in many instances, successfully detecting and isolating up to two simultaneously occurring failures.
In this paper, the linearized relativistic Vlasov equation is solved and a dispersion relation is calculated for the interaction between a relativistic electron beam and the electromagnetic fields of a rectangular waveguide supporting TE(mn) modes. The dispersion relation is simplified to the special case of a frame of reference moving with the electrons and the resulting coupling coefficient epsilon(mn)super l is calculated for various TE(mn) modes. The dependence of epsilon(mn)super l on the parity of the harmonic number l and various mn modes of the waveguide are discussed.
The performance of maximum-distance-separable codes with symbols from GF(1) when they are used for pure error detection or for simultaneous error correction and detection is investigated. These codes are good for symbol error detection. Their probability of undetected error is upper bounded by q to the -r and decreases monotonically as the symbol error probability epsilon decreases from (q-1)/q to 0, where r is the number of parity-check symbols of a code.
Hamming or shortened Hamming codes are widely used for error detection in data communications. For example, the CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) recommendation X.25 for packet-switched data networks adopts a distance-4 cyclic Hamming code with 16 parity-check bits for error detection. The natural length of this code is n = 2(15)-1 = 32,767. In practice the length of a data packet is no more than a few thousand bits which is much shorter than the natural length of the code. Consequently, a shortened version of thecode is used. Often the length of a data packet varies, say from a few hundred bits to a few thousand bits, hence the code must be shortened by various degrees. Shortening affects the performance of the code. The error-detection performance of shortened Hamming codes, particularly the codes obtained from the distance-4 Hamming codes adopted by CCITT recommendation X.25, is investigated. A method for computing the probability of an undetected error is presented.
The present work is concerned with the changes in electronic parity (e/f states) during rotationally elastic and inelastic collisions. In the OH X2Pi(i) molecule considered in the study, the differences in the e/f state production in the photodissociation of both H2O and HONO1, in the H + O2 reaction, and in the initial-state-unselected H2-OH collisions, have been experimentally examined.
A decentralized failure detection and isolation (FDI) methodology, which is robust with respect to model uncertainties and noise, is presented Redundancy metrics are developed, and optimization problems are posed for the choices of robust parity relations. Closed-form solutions for some special failure cases are given. Connections are drawn with other disciplines, and the use of the metrics to evaluate alternative FDI schemes is discussed.
Using concepts of (C,A)-invariant and unobservability (complementary observability) subspaces, a geometric formulation of the failure detection and identification filter problem is stated. Using these geometric concepts, it is shown that it is possible to design a causal linear time-invariant processor that can be used to detect and uniquely identify a component failure in a linear time-invariant system, assuming: (1) The components can fail simultaneously, and (2) The components can fail only one at a time. In addition, a geometric formulation of Beard's failure detection filter problem is stated. This new formulation completely clarifies of output separability and mutual detectability introduced by Beard and also exploits the dual relationship between a restricted version of the failure detection and identification problem and the control decoupling problem. Moreover, the frequency domain interpretation of the results is used to relate the concepts of failure sensitive observers with the generalized parity relations introduced by Chow. This interpretation unifies the various failure detection and identification concepts and design procedures.
Efforts in this reporting period were centered on four research tasks: design of failure detection filters for robust performance in the presence of modeling errors, design of generalized parity relations for robust performance in the presence of modeling errors, design of failure sensitive observers using the geometric system theory of Wonham, and computational techniques for evaluation of the performance of control systems with fault tolerance and redundancy management
If the electrodynamic measurement process is operationally described by imposing measurement color onto classical electrodynamics, self-energy infinities are eliminated and a retarded electrodynamic time arrow emerges dynamically from internal dynamic-stability conditions. This occurs because the new formalism contains nonlocal radiation fields which carry a negative parity under mathematical time reversal. This result is shown to be compatible with an extended form of T and CPT symmetry which preserves the dynamically chosen retarded electrodynamic arrow of time in the measurement color electrodynamic formalism.
Chromospheric flares are the footpoints of closed coronal field lines. In this paper different flare morphologies from observations are presented, and the implied coronal field configurations above the flaring region are examined. Flares are grouped according to the number of ribbons, from an unresolved compact point-like flare to four-ribbon flares. Quiet region flares having characteristics of their own are also presented here. It is found that compact, unresolved point-like flares have two distinct footpoints when viewed in offband H-alpha. The footpoints of some of the compact flares also show increased separation as a function of time. Unlike large two-ribbon flares, the ribbons of many small and/or short-lived two-ribbon flares usually have no measurable separation of ribbons. Multiple-ribbon (three or more ribbon) flares consists of two or more pairs of two-ribbons, or two or more sets of field lines. Parity of the ribbons in multiple-ribbon flares, or the lack of it, depends on the magnetic makeup of the locale of the ribbons. Flares in old quiet regions resulting from sudden filament eruptions show discrete small patches of emissions reflecting the 'spottiness' of the decayed and dispersed field of the quiet region.
Progress in robust design of generalized parity relations, design of failure sensitive observers using the geometric system theory of Wonham, computational techniques for evaluation of the performance of control systems with fault tolerance and redundancy management features, and the design and evaluation od control systems for structures having nonlinear joints are described.
A welding torch arc light reflector is disclosed for welding torches having optical viewing systems. A schematic of a welding torch having an internal coaxial viewing system consisting of a lens which focuses the field of view of the weld scene of the workpiece onto the end of the fiberoptic bundle is provided. The transmitted image of the fiberoptic bundle is provided to a camera lens which focuses it onto a TV sensor array for transmission. To improve the parity of the image of the monitoring system, an arc light reflector is shown fitted to the end of the torch housing or gas cup. The arc light reflector has an internal conical section portion which is polished to serve as a mirror which reflects the bright arc light back onto the darker areas of the weld area and thereby provides a more detailed image for the monitoring system. The novelty of the invention lies in the use of an arc light reflector on welding torches having optical viewing systems.