Interchangeable end effector tools utilized on the PFMA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cody, Joe; Carroll, John; Crow, George; Gierow, Paul; Littles, Jay; Maness, Michael; Morrison, Jim

1992-01-01

An instrumented task board, used for measuring forces applied by the Protoflight Manipulator Arm (PFMA) to the task board, was fabricated and delivered to Marshall Space Flight Center. SRS Technologies phased out the existing IBM compatible data acquisition system, used with a instrumented task board, and integrated the force measuring electronic hardware in with the Macintosh II data acquisition system. The purpose of this change was to acquire all data with the same time tag, allowing easier and more accurate data reduction in addition to real-time graphics. A three-dimensional optical position sensing system for determining the location of the PFMA's end effect or in reference to the center of the instrumented task board was also designed and delivered under. An improved task board was fabricated which included an improved instrumented beam design. The modified design of the task board improved the force/torque measurement system by increasing the sensitivity, reliability, load range and ease of maintenance. A calibration panel for the optical position system was also designed and fabricated. The calibration method developed for the position sensors enhanced the performance of the sensors as well as simplified the installation and calibration procedures required. The modifications made under this effort expanded the capabilities of the task board system. The system developed determines the arm's position relative to the task board and measures the signals to the joints resulting from the operator's control signals in addition to the task board forces. The software and hardware required to calculate and record the position of the PFMA during the performance of tasks with the instrumented task board were defined, designed and delivered to MSFC. PFMA joint input signals can be measured from a breakout box to evaluate the sensitivity or response of the arm operation to control commands. The data processing system provides the capability for post processing of time-history graphics and plots of the PFMA positions, the operator's actions, and the PFMA servo reactions in addition to realtime force and position sensor data presentation.

Interchangeable end effector tools utilized on the PFMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cody, Joe; Carroll, John; Crow, George; Gierow, Paul; Littles, Jay; Maness, Michael; Morrison, Jim

1992-02-01

An instrumented task board, used for measuring forces applied by the Protoflight Manipulator Arm (PFMA) to the task board, was fabricated and delivered to Marshall Space Flight Center. SRS Technologies phased out the existing IBM compatible data acquisition system, used with a instrumented task board, and integrated the force measuring electronic hardware in with the Macintosh II data acquisition system. The purpose of this change was to acquire all data with the same time tag, allowing easier and more accurate data reduction in addition to real-time graphics. A three-dimensional optical position sensing system for determining the location of the PFMA's end effect or in reference to the center of the instrumented task board was also designed and delivered under. An improved task board was fabricated which included an improved instrumented beam design. The modified design of the task board improved the force/torque measurement system by increasing the sensitivity, reliability, load range and ease of maintenance. A calibration panel for the optical position system was also designed and fabricated. The calibration method developed for the position sensors enhanced the performance of the sensors as well as simplified the installation and calibration procedures required. The modifications made under this effort expanded the capabilities of the task board system. The system developed determines the arm's position relative to the task board and measures the signals to the joints resulting from the operator's control signals in addition to the task board forces. The software and hardware required to calculate and record the position of the PFMA during the performance of tasks with the instrumented task board were defined, designed and delivered to MSFC. PFMA joint input signals can be measured from a breakout box to evaluate the sensitivity or response of the arm operation to control commands. The data processing system provides the capability for post processing of time-history graphics and plots of the PFMA positions, the operator's actions, and the PFMA servo reactions in addition to realtime force and position sensor data presentation.

Position Sensor with Integrated Signal-Conditioning Electronics on a Printed Wiring Board

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alhorn, Dean C. (Inventor); Howard, David E. (Inventor); Smith, Dennis A. (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A position sensor, such as a rotary position sensor, includes the signal-conditioning electronics in the housing. The signal-conditioning electronics are disposed on a printed wiring board, which is assembled with another printed wiring board including the sensor windings to provide a sub-assembly. A mu-metal shield is interposed between the printed wiring boards to prevent magnetic interference. The sub-assembly is disposed in the sensor housing adjacent to an inductor board which turns on a shaft. The inductor board emanates an internally or externally generated excitation signal that induces a signal in the sensor windings. The induced signal represents the rotary position of the inductor board relative to the sensor winding board.

High frequency signal acquisition and control system based on DSP+FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xiao-qi; Zhang, Da-zhi; Yin, Ya-dong

2017-10-01

This paper introduces a design and implementation of high frequency signal acquisition and control system based on DSP + FPGA. The system supports internal/external clock and internal/external trigger sampling. It has a maximum sampling rate of 400MBPS and has a 1.4GHz input bandwidth for the ADC. Data can be collected continuously or periodically in systems and they are stored in DDR2. At the same time, the system also supports real-time acquisition, the collected data after digital frequency conversion and Cascaded Integrator-Comb (CIC) filtering, which then be sent to the CPCI bus through the high-speed DSP, can be assigned to the fiber board for subsequent processing. The system integrates signal acquisition and pre-processing functions, which uses high-speed A/D, high-speed DSP and FPGA mixed technology and has a wide range of uses in data acquisition and recording. In the signal processing, the system can be seamlessly connected to the dedicated processor board. The system has the advantages of multi-selectivity, good scalability and so on, which satisfies the different requirements of different signals in different projects.

Architecture of PAU survey camera readout electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castilla, Javier; Cardiel-Sas, Laia; De Vicente, Juan; Illa, Joseph; Jimenez, Jorge; Maiorino, Marino; Martinez, Gustavo

2012-07-01

PAUCam is a new camera for studying the physics of the accelerating universe. The camera will consist of eighteen 2Kx4K HPK CCDs: sixteen for science and two for guiding. The camera will be installed at the prime focus of the WHT (William Herschel Telescope). In this contribution, the architecture of the readout electronics system is presented. Back- End and Front-End electronics are described. Back-End consists of clock, bias and video processing boards, mounted on Monsoon crates. The Front-End is based on patch panel boards. These boards are plugged outside the camera feed-through panel for signal distribution. Inside the camera, individual preamplifier boards plus kapton cable completes the path to connect to each CCD. The overall signal distribution and grounding scheme is shown in this paper.

LSST camera readout chip ASPIC: test tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antilogus, P.; Bailly, Ph; Jeglot, J.; Juramy, C.; Lebbolo, H.; Martin, D.; Moniez, M.; Tocut, V.; Wicek, F.

2012-02-01

The LSST camera will have more than 3000 video-processing channels. The readout of this large focal plane requires a very compact readout chain. The correlated ''Double Sampling technique'', which is generally used for the signal readout of CCDs, is also adopted for this application and implemented with the so called ''Dual Slope integrator'' method. We have designed and implemented an ASIC for LSST: the Analog Signal Processing asIC (ASPIC). The goal is to amplify the signal close to the output, in order to maximize signal to noise ratio, and to send differential outputs to the digitization. Others requirements are that each chip should process the output of half a CCD, that is 8 channels and should operate at 173 K. A specific Back End board has been designed especially for lab test purposes. It manages the clock signals, digitizes the analog differentials outputs of ASPIC and stores data into a memory. It contains 8 ADCs (18 bits), 512 kwords memory and an USB interface. An FPGA manages all signals from/to all components on board and generates the timing sequence for ASPIC. Its firmware is written in Verilog and VHDL languages. Internals registers permit to define various tests parameters of the ASPIC. A Labview GUI allows to load or update these registers and to check a proper operation. Several series of tests, including linearity, noise and crosstalk, have been performed over the past year to characterize the ASPIC at room and cold temperature. At present, the ASPIC, Back-End board and CCD detectors are being integrated to perform a characterization of the whole readout chain.

Spacecube: A Family of Reconfigurable Hybrid On-Board Science Data Processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flatley, Thomas P.

2015-01-01

SpaceCube is a family of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based on-board science data processing systems developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The goal of the SpaceCube program is to provide 10x to 100x improvements in on-board computing power while lowering relative power consumption and cost. SpaceCube is based on the Xilinx Virtex family of FPGAs, which include processor, FPGA logic and digital signal processing (DSP) resources. These processing elements are leveraged to produce a hybrid science data processing platform that accelerates the execution of algorithms by distributing computational functions to the most suitable elements. This approach enables the implementation of complex on-board functions that were previously limited to ground based systems, such as on-board product generation, data reduction, calibration, classification, eventfeature detection, data mining and real-time autonomous operations. The system is fully reconfigurable in flight, including data parameters, software and FPGA logic, through either ground commanding or autonomously in response to detected eventsfeatures in the instrument data stream.

Performance verification and system integration tests of the pulse shape processor for the soft x-ray spectrometer onboard ASTRO-H

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takeda, Sawako; Tashiro, Makoto S.; Ishisaki, Yoshitaka; Tsujimoto, Masahiro; Seta, Hiromi; Shimoda, Yuya; Yamaguchi, Sunao; Uehara, Sho; Terada, Yukikatsu; Fujimoto, Ryuichi; Mitsuda, Kazuhisa

2014-07-01

The soft X-ray spectrometer (SXS) aboard ASTRO-H is equipped with dedicated digital signal processing units called pulse shape processors (PSPs). The X-ray microcalorimeter system SXS has 36 sensor pixels, which are operated at 50 mK to measure heat input of X-ray photons and realize an energy resolution of 7 eV FWHM in the range 0.3-12.0 keV. Front-end signal processing electronics are used to filter and amplify the electrical pulse output from the sensor and for analog-to-digital conversion. The digitized pulses from the 36 pixels are multiplexed and are sent to the PSP over low-voltage differential signaling lines. Each of two identical PSP units consists of an FPGA board, which assists the hardware logic, and two CPU boards, which assist the onboard software. The FPGA board triggers at every pixel event and stores the triggering information as a pulse waveform in the installed memory. The CPU boards read the event data to evaluate pulse heights by an optimal filtering algorithm. The evaluated X-ray photon data (including the pixel ID, energy, and arrival time information) are transferred to the satellite data recorder along with event quality information. The PSP units have been developed and tested with the engineering model (EM) and the flight model. Utilizing the EM PSP, we successfully verified the entire hardware system and the basic software design of the PSPs, including their communication capability and signal processing performance. In this paper, we show the key metrics of the EM test, such as accuracy and synchronicity of sampling clocks, event grading capability, and resultant energy resolution.

Evaluation of telerobotic systems using an instrumented task board

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carroll, John D.; Gierow, Paul A.; Bryan, Thomas C.

1991-01-01

An instrumented task board was developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). An overview of the task board design, and current development status is presented. The task board was originally developed to evaluate operator performance using the Protoflight Manipulator Arm (PFMA) at MSFC. The task board evaluates tasks for Orbital Replacement Unit (ORU), fluid connect and transfers, electrical connect/disconnect, bolt running, and other basic tasks. The instrumented task board measures the 3-D forces and torques placed on the board, determines the robot arm's 3-D position relative to the task board using IR optics, and provides the information in real-time. The PFMA joint input signals can also be measured from a breakout box to evaluate the sensitivity or response of the arm operation to control commands. The data processing system provides the capability for post processing of time-history graphics and plots of the PFMA positions, the operator's actions, and the PFMA servo reactions in addition to real-time force/torque data presentation. The instrumented task board's most promising use is developing benchmarks for NASA centers for comparison and evaluation of telerobotic performance.

Adaptable Transponder for Multiple Telemetry Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sims, William Herbert, III (Inventor); Varnavas, Kosta A. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

The present invention is a stackable telemetry circuit board for use in telemetry systems for satellites and other purposes. The present invention incorporates previously-qualified interchangeable circuit boards, or "decks," that perform functions such as power, signal receiving and transmission, and processing. Each deck is adapted to serve a range of telemetry applications. This provides flexibility in the construction of the stackable telemetry circuit board and significantly reduces the cost and time necessary to develop a telemetry system.

Requirements on Needed Frequency Bandwidth Depending on Pulse Waveforms and Their Allowed Distortion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigmund, Milan; Brancik, Lubomir

2016-12-01

This paper deals with pulse signals influenced by loss of energy in high frequency band. Five types of pulses were tested and evaluated under various conditions. Achieved results can be helpful for some specific tasks in signal transmission. An example presents highest frequency of periodic pulse signals processed on printed circuit board.

Design of video interface conversion system based on FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Heng; Wang, Xiang-jun

2014-11-01

This paper presents a FPGA based video interface conversion system that enables the inter-conversion between digital and analog video. Cyclone IV series EP4CE22F17C chip from Altera Corporation is used as the main video processing chip, and single-chip is used as the information interaction control unit between FPGA and PC. The system is able to encode/decode messages from the PC. Technologies including video decoding/encoding circuits, bus communication protocol, data stream de-interleaving and de-interlacing, color space conversion and the Camera Link timing generator module of FPGA are introduced. The system converts Composite Video Broadcast Signal (CVBS) from the CCD camera into Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS), which will be collected by the video processing unit with Camera Link interface. The processed video signals will then be inputted to system output board and displayed on the monitor.The current experiment shows that it can achieve high-quality video conversion with minimum board size.

Real-Time On-Board Processing Validation of MSPI Ground Camera Images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pingree, Paula J.; Werne, Thomas A.; Bekker, Dmitriy L.

2010-01-01

The Earth Sciences Decadal Survey identifies a multiangle, multispectral, high-accuracy polarization imager as one requirement for the Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission. JPL has been developing a Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (MSPI) as a candidate to fill this need. A key technology development needed for MSPI is on-board signal processing to calculate polarimetry data as imaged by each of the 9 cameras forming the instrument. With funding from NASA's Advanced Information Systems Technology (AIST) Program, JPL is solving the real-time data processing requirements to demonstrate, for the first time, how signal data at 95 Mbytes/sec over 16-channels for each of the 9 multiangle cameras in the spaceborne instrument can be reduced on-board to 0.45 Mbytes/sec. This will produce the intensity and polarization data needed to characterize aerosol and cloud microphysical properties. Using the Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA including PowerPC440 processors we have implemented a least squares fitting algorithm that extracts intensity and polarimetric parameters in real-time, thereby substantially reducing the image data volume for spacecraft downlink without loss of science information.

Concepts for on-board satellite image registration. Volume 3: Impact of VLSI/VHSIC on satellite on-board signal processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aanstoos, J. V.; Snyder, W. E.

1981-01-01

Anticipated major advances in integrated circuit technology in the near future are described as well as their impact on satellite onboard signal processing systems. Dramatic improvements in chip density, speed, power consumption, and system reliability are expected from very large scale integration. Improvements are expected from very large scale integration enable more intelligence to be placed on remote sensing platforms in space, meeting the goals of NASA's information adaptive system concept, a major component of the NASA End-to-End Data System program. A forecast of VLSI technological advances is presented, including a description of the Defense Department's very high speed integrated circuit program, a seven-year research and development effort.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Digital Signal Processing in Radio Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price, D. C.; Kocz, J.; Bailes, M.; Greenhill, L. J.

2016-03-01

Advances in astronomy are intimately linked to advances in digital signal processing (DSP). This special issue is focused upon advances in DSP within radio astronomy. The trend within that community is to use off-the-shelf digital hardware where possible and leverage advances in high performance computing. In particular, graphics processing units (GPUs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are being used in place of application-specific circuits (ASICs); high-speed Ethernet and Infiniband are being used for interconnect in place of custom backplanes. Further, to lower hurdles in digital engineering, communities have designed and released general-purpose FPGA-based DSP systems, such as the CASPER ROACH board, ASTRON Uniboard, and CSIRO Redback board. In this introductory paper, we give a brief historical overview, a summary of recent trends, and provide an outlook on future directions.

RF Device for Acquiring Images of the Human Body

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gaier, Todd C.; McGrath, William R.

2010-01-01

A safe, non-invasive method for forming images through clothing of large groups of people, in order to search for concealed weapons either made of metal or not, has been developed. A millimeter wavelength scanner designed in a unique, ring-shaped configuration can obtain a full 360 image of the body with a resolution of less than a millimeter in only a few seconds. Millimeter waves readily penetrate normal clothing, but are highly reflected by the human body and concealed objects. Millimeter wave signals are nonionizing and are harmless to human tissues when used at low power levels. The imager (see figure) consists of a thin base that supports a small-diameter vertical post about 7 ft (=2.13 m) tall. Attached to the post is a square-shaped ring 2 in. (=5 cm) wide and 3 ft (=91 cm) on a side. The ring is oriented horizontally, and is supported halfway along one side by a connection to a linear bearing on the vertical post. A planar RF circuit board is mounted to the inside of each side of the ring. Each circuit board contains an array of 30 receivers, one transmitter, and digitization electronics. Each array element has a printed-circuit patch antenna coupled to a pair of mixers by a 90 coupler. The mixers receive a reference local oscillator signal to a subharmonic of the transmitter frequency. A single local oscillator line feeds all 30 receivers on the board. The resulting MHz IF signals are amplified and carried to the edge of the board where they are demodulated and digitized. The transmitted signal is derived from the local oscillator at a frequency offset determined by a crystal oscillator. One antenna centrally located on each side of the square ring provides the source illumination power. The total transmitted power is less than 100 mW, resulting in an exposure level that is completely safe to humans. The output signals from all four circuit boards are fed via serial connection to a data processing computer. The computer processes the approximately 1-MB data set into a three-dimensional image in a matter of seconds. The innovation is to configure the receiver array in a ring topology surrounding the scanned object. The ring is then scanned vertically to cover the necessary two-dimensional surface. This fabrication of the ring is made possible by using planar antenna and circuit technology. A planar circuit board serves as a medium for both antennas and signal processing components. Using this technique, parts counts are kept low, and the cost per element is a small fraction of a waveguide-based system.

UniBoard: generic hardware for radio astronomy signal processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargreaves, J. E.

2012-09-01

UniBoard is a generic high-performance computing platform for radio astronomy, developed as a Joint Research Activity in the RadioNet FP7 Programme. The hardware comprises eight Altera Stratix IV Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) interconnected by a high speed transceiver mesh. Each FPGA is connected to two DDR3 memory modules and three external 10Gbps ports. In addition, a total of 128 low voltage differential input lines permit connection to external ADC cards. The DSP capability of the board exceeds 644E9 complex multiply-accumulate operations per second. The first production run of eight boards was distributed to partners in The Netherlands, France, Italy, UK, China and Korea in May 2011, with a further production runs completed in December 2011 and early 2012. The function of the board is determined by the firmware loaded into its FPGAs. Current applications include beamformers, correlators, digital receivers, RFI mitigation for pulsar astronomy, and pulsar gating and search machines The new UniBoard based correlator for the European VLBI network (EVN) uses an FX architecture with half the resources of the board devoted to station based processing: delay and phase correction and channelization, and half to the correlation function. A single UniBoard can process a 64MHz band from 32 stations, 2 polarizations, sampled at 8 bit. Adding more UniBoards can expand the total bandwidth of the correlator. The design is able to process both prerecorded and real time (eVLBI) data.

On-Board, Real-Time Preprocessing System for Optical Remote-Sensing Imagery

PubMed Central

Qi, Baogui; Zhuang, Yin; Chen, He; Chen, Liang

2018-01-01

With the development of remote-sensing technology, optical remote-sensing imagery processing has played an important role in many application fields, such as geological exploration and natural disaster prevention. However, relative radiation correction and geometric correction are key steps in preprocessing because raw image data without preprocessing will cause poor performance during application. Traditionally, remote-sensing data are downlinked to the ground station, preprocessed, and distributed to users. This process generates long delays, which is a major bottleneck in real-time applications for remote-sensing data. Therefore, on-board, real-time image preprocessing is greatly desired. In this paper, a real-time processing architecture for on-board imagery preprocessing is proposed. First, a hierarchical optimization and mapping method is proposed to realize the preprocessing algorithm in a hardware structure, which can effectively reduce the computation burden of on-board processing. Second, a co-processing system using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and a digital signal processor (DSP; altogether, FPGA-DSP) based on optimization is designed to realize real-time preprocessing. The experimental results demonstrate the potential application of our system to an on-board processor, for which resources and power consumption are limited. PMID:29693585

On-Board, Real-Time Preprocessing System for Optical Remote-Sensing Imagery.

PubMed

Qi, Baogui; Shi, Hao; Zhuang, Yin; Chen, He; Chen, Liang

2018-04-25

With the development of remote-sensing technology, optical remote-sensing imagery processing has played an important role in many application fields, such as geological exploration and natural disaster prevention. However, relative radiation correction and geometric correction are key steps in preprocessing because raw image data without preprocessing will cause poor performance during application. Traditionally, remote-sensing data are downlinked to the ground station, preprocessed, and distributed to users. This process generates long delays, which is a major bottleneck in real-time applications for remote-sensing data. Therefore, on-board, real-time image preprocessing is greatly desired. In this paper, a real-time processing architecture for on-board imagery preprocessing is proposed. First, a hierarchical optimization and mapping method is proposed to realize the preprocessing algorithm in a hardware structure, which can effectively reduce the computation burden of on-board processing. Second, a co-processing system using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and a digital signal processor (DSP; altogether, FPGA-DSP) based on optimization is designed to realize real-time preprocessing. The experimental results demonstrate the potential application of our system to an on-board processor, for which resources and power consumption are limited.

40 CFR 86.004-40 - Heavy-duty engine rebuilding practices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

..., replacement of multiple parts due to wear, and reassembly, and also may include the removal of the engine from..., emissions-related codes or signals from on-board monitoring systems may not be erased or reset without... signals may not be rendered inoperative during the rebuilding process. (d) When conducting a rebuild...

40 CFR 86.004-40 - Heavy-duty engine rebuilding practices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

..., replacement of multiple parts due to wear, and reassembly, and also may include the removal of the engine from..., emissions-related codes or signals from on-board monitoring systems may not be erased or reset without... signals may not be rendered inoperative during the rebuilding process. (d) When conducting a rebuild...

40 CFR 86.004-40 - Heavy-duty engine rebuilding practices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

..., replacement of multiple parts due to wear, and reassembly, and also may include the removal of the engine from..., emissions-related codes or signals from on-board monitoring systems may not be erased or reset without... signals may not be rendered inoperative during the rebuilding process. (d) When conducting a rebuild...

40 CFR 86.004-40 - Heavy-duty engine rebuilding practices.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

..., replacement of multiple parts due to wear, and reassembly, and also may include the removal of the engine from..., emissions-related codes or signals from on-board monitoring systems may not be erased or reset without... signals may not be rendered inoperative during the rebuilding process. (d) When conducting a rebuild...

Automated recognition of helium speech. Phase I: Investigation of microprocessor based analysis/synthesis system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jelinek, H. J.

1986-01-01

This is the Final Report of Electronic Design Associates on its Phase I SBIR project. The purpose of this project is to develop a method for correcting helium speech, as experienced in diver-surface communication. The goal of the Phase I study was to design, prototype, and evaluate a real time helium speech corrector system based upon digital signal processing techniques. The general approach was to develop hardware (an IBM PC board) to digitize helium speech and software (a LAMBDA computer based simulation) to translate the speech. As planned in the study proposal, this initial prototype may now be used to assess expected performance from a self contained real time system which uses an identical algorithm. The Final Report details the work carried out to produce the prototype system. Four major project tasks were: a signal processing scheme for converting helium speech to normal sounding speech was generated. The signal processing scheme was simulated on a general purpose (LAMDA) computer. Actual helium speech was supplied to the simulation and the converted speech was generated. An IBM-PC based 14 bit data Input/Output board was designed and built. A bibliography of references on speech processing was generated.

UWGSP7: a real-time optical imaging workstation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, John E.; Kim, Yongmin; Pennington, Stan D.; Alleman, Andrew P.

1995-04-01

With the development of UWGSP7, the University of Washington Image Computing Systems Laboratory has a real-time workstation for continuous-wave (cw) optical reflectance imaging. Recent discoveries in optical science and imaging research have suggested potential practical use of the technology as a medical imaging modality and identified the need for a machine to support these applications in real time. The UWGSP7 system was developed to provide researchers with a high-performance, versatile tool for use in optical imaging experiments with the eventual goal of bringing the technology into clinical use. One of several major applications of cw optical reflectance imaging is tumor imaging which uses a light-absorbing dye that preferentially sequesters in tumor tissue. This property could be used to locate tumors and to identify tumor margins intraoperatively. Cw optical reflectance imaging consists of illumination of a target with a band-limited light source and monitoring the light transmitted by or reflected from the target. While continuously illuminating the target, a control image is acquired and stored. A dye is injected into a subject and a sequence of data images are acquired and processed. The data images are aligned with the control image and then subtracted to obtain a signal representing the change in optical reflectance over time. This signal can be enhanced by digital image processing and displayed in pseudo-color. This type of emerging imaging technique requires a computer system that is versatile and adaptable. The UWGSP7 utilizes a VESA local bus PC as a host computer running the Windows NT operating system and includes ICSL developed add-on boards for image acquisition and processing. The image acquisition board is used to digitize and format the analog signal from the input device into digital frames and to the average frames into images. To accommodate different input devices, the camera interface circuitry is designed in a small mezzanine board that supports the RS-170 standard. The image acquisition board is connected to the image- processing board using a direct connect port which provides a 66 Mbytes/s channel independent of the system bus. The image processing board utilizes the Texas Instruments TMS320C80 Multimedia Video Processor chip. This chip is capable of 2 billion operations per second providing the UWGSP7 with the capability to perform real-time image processing functions like median filtering, convolution and contrast enhancement. This processing power allows interactive analysis of the experiments as compared to current practice of off-line processing and analysis. Due to its flexibility and programmability, the UWGSP7 can be adapted into various research needs in intraoperative optical imaging.

High Frequency Sampling of TTL Pulses on a Raspberry Pi for Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy Applications.

PubMed

Tivnan, Matthew; Gurjar, Rajan; Wolf, David E; Vishwanath, Karthik

2015-08-12

Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy (DCS) is a well-established optical technique that has been used for non-invasive measurement of blood flow in tissues. Instrumentation for DCS includes a correlation device that computes the temporal intensity autocorrelation of a coherent laser source after it has undergone diffuse scattering through a turbid medium. Typically, the signal acquisition and its autocorrelation are performed by a correlation board. These boards have dedicated hardware to acquire and compute intensity autocorrelations of rapidly varying input signal and usually are quite expensive. Here we show that a Raspberry Pi minicomputer can acquire and store a rapidly varying time-signal with high fidelity. We show that this signal collected by a Raspberry Pi device can be processed numerically to yield intensity autocorrelations well suited for DCS applications. DCS measurements made using the Raspberry Pi device were compared to those acquired using a commercial hardware autocorrelation board to investigate the stability, performance, and accuracy of the data acquired in controlled experiments. This paper represents a first step toward lowering the instrumentation cost of a DCS system and may offer the potential to make DCS become more widely used in biomedical applications.

High Frequency Sampling of TTL Pulses on a Raspberry Pi for Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy Applications

PubMed Central

Tivnan, Matthew; Gurjar, Rajan; Wolf, David E.; Vishwanath, Karthik

2015-01-01

Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy (DCS) is a well-established optical technique that has been used for non-invasive measurement of blood flow in tissues. Instrumentation for DCS includes a correlation device that computes the temporal intensity autocorrelation of a coherent laser source after it has undergone diffuse scattering through a turbid medium. Typically, the signal acquisition and its autocorrelation are performed by a correlation board. These boards have dedicated hardware to acquire and compute intensity autocorrelations of rapidly varying input signal and usually are quite expensive. Here we show that a Raspberry Pi minicomputer can acquire and store a rapidly varying time-signal with high fidelity. We show that this signal collected by a Raspberry Pi device can be processed numerically to yield intensity autocorrelations well suited for DCS applications. DCS measurements made using the Raspberry Pi device were compared to those acquired using a commercial hardware autocorrelation board to investigate the stability, performance, and accuracy of the data acquired in controlled experiments. This paper represents a first step toward lowering the instrumentation cost of a DCS system and may offer the potential to make DCS become more widely used in biomedical applications. PMID:26274961

Method of recording bioelectrical signals using a capacitive coupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simon, V. A.; Gerasimov, V. A.; Kostrin, D. K.; Selivanov, L. M.; Uhov, A. A.

2017-11-01

In this article a technique for the bioelectrical signals acquisition by means of the capacitive sensors is described. A feedback loop for the ultra-high impedance biasing of the input instrumentation amplifier, which provides receiving of the electrical cardiac signal (ECS) through a capacitive coupling, is proposed. The mains 50/60 Hz noise is suppressed by a narrow-band stop filter with an independent notch frequency and quality factor tuning. Filter output is attached to a ΣΔ analog-to-digital converter (ADC), which acquires the filtered signal with a 24-bit resolution. Signal processing board is connected through universal serial bus interface to a personal computer, where ECS in a digital form is recorded and processed.

Digital data, composite video multiplexer and demultiplexer boards for an IBM PC/AT compatible computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Dean Lance

1993-01-01

Work continued on the design of two IBM PC/AT compatible computer interface boards. The boards will permit digital data to be transmitted over a composite video channel from the Orbiter. One board combines data with a composite video signal. The other board strips the data from the video signal.

DSPACE hardware architecture for on-board real-time image/video processing in European space missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saponara, Sergio; Donati, Massimiliano; Fanucci, Luca; Odendahl, Maximilian; Leupers, Reiner; Errico, Walter

2013-02-01

The on-board data processing is a vital task for any satellite and spacecraft due to the importance of elaborate the sensing data before sending them to the Earth, in order to exploit effectively the bandwidth to the ground station. In the last years the amount of sensing data collected by scientific and commercial space missions has increased significantly, while the available downlink bandwidth is comparatively stable. The increasing demand of on-board real-time processing capabilities represents one of the critical issues in forthcoming European missions. Faster and faster signal and image processing algorithms are required to accomplish planetary observation, surveillance, Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging and telecommunications. The only available space-qualified Digital Signal Processor (DSP) free of International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions faces inadequate performance, thus the development of a next generation European DSP is well known to the space community. The DSPACE space-qualified DSP architecture fills the gap between the computational requirements and the available devices. It leverages a pipelined and massively parallel core based on the Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) paradigm, with 64 registers and 8 operational units, along with cache memories, memory controllers and SpaceWire interfaces. Both the synthesizable VHDL and the software development tools are generated from the LISA high-level model. A Xilinx-XC7K325T FPGA is chosen to realize a compact PCI demonstrator board. Finally first synthesis results on CMOS standard cell technology (ASIC 180 nm) show an area of around 380 kgates and a peak performance of 1000 MIPS and 750 MFLOPS at 125MHz.

FPGA-based real-time swept-source OCT systems for B-scan live-streaming or volumetric imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandi, Vinzenz; Goette, Josef; Jacomet, Marcel; von Niederhäusern, Tim; Bachmann, Adrian H.; Duelk, Marcus

2013-03-01

We have developed a Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography (Ss-OCT) system with high-speed, real-time signal processing on a commercially available Data-Acquisition (DAQ) board with a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The Ss-OCT system simultaneously acquires OCT and k-clock reference signals at 500MS/s. From the k-clock signal of each A-scan we extract a remap vector for the k-space linearization of the OCT signal. The linear but oversampled interpolation is followed by a 2048-point FFT, additional auxiliary computations, and a data transfer to a host computer for real-time, live-streaming of B-scan or volumetric C-scan OCT visualization. We achieve a 100 kHz A-scan rate by parallelization of our hardware algorithms, which run on standard and affordable, commercially available DAQ boards. Our main development tool for signal analysis as well as for hardware synthesis is MATLAB® with add-on toolboxes and 3rd-party tools.

CDF trigger interface board 'FRED'

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Campbell, M.; Dell' Orso, M.; Giannetti, P.

1985-08-01

We describe FASTBUS boards which interface sixteen different trigger interrupts to the Collider Detector Facility (CDF) data acquisition system. The boards are known to CDF by the acronym 'FRED'. The data acquisition scheme for CDF allows for up to 16 different parts of the detector, called 'Partitions', to run independently. Four partitions are reserved for physics runs and sophisticated calibration and debugging: they use the common Level 1 and Level 2 trigger logic and have access to information from all the components of the CDF detector. These four partitions are called ''CDF Partitions''. The remaining twelve partitions have no accessmore » to the common trigger logic and provide their own Level 1 and Level 2 signals: they are called ''Autonomous Partitions''. Fred collects and interprets signals from independent parts of the CDF trigger system and delivers Level 1 and Level 2 responses to the Trigger Supervisors (FASTBUS masters which control the data acquisition process in each partition).« less

Digital seismo-acoustic signal processing aboard a wireless sensor platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcillo, O.; Johnson, J. B.; Lorincz, K.; Werner-Allen, G.; Welsh, M.

2006-12-01

We are developing a low power, low-cost wireless sensor array to conduct real-time signal processing of earthquakes at active volcanoes. The sensor array, which integrates data from both seismic and acoustic sensors, is based on Moteiv TMote Sky wireless sensor nodes (www.moteiv.com). The nodes feature a Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller, 48 Kbytes of program memory, 10 Kbytes of static RAM, 1 Mbyte of external flash memory, and a 2.4-GHz Chipcon CC2420 IEEE 802.15.4 radio. The TMote Sky is programmed in TinyOS. Basic signal processing occurs on an array of three peripheral sensor nodes. These nodes are tied into a dedicated GPS receiver node, which is focused on time synchronization, and a central communications node, which handles data integration and additional processing. The sensor nodes incorporate dual 12-bit digitizers sampling a seismic sensor and a pressure transducer at 100 samples per second. The wireless capabilities of the system allow flexible array geometry, with a maximum aperture of 200m. We have already developed the digital signal processing routines on board the Moteiv Tmote sensor nodes. The developed routines accomplish Real-time Seismic-Amplitude Measurement (RSAM), Seismic Spectral- Amplitude Measurement (SSAM), and a user-configured Short Term Averaging / Long Term Averaging (STA LTA ratio), which is used to calculate first arrivals. The processed data from individual nodes are transmitted back to a central node, where additional processing may be performed. Such processing will include back azimuth determination and other wave field analyses. Future on-board signal processing will focus on event characterization utilizing pattern recognition and spectral characterization. The processed data is intended as low bandwidth information which can be transmitted periodically and at low cost through satellite telemetry to a web server. The processing is limited by the computational capabilities (RAM, ROM) of the nodes. Nevertheless, we envision this product to be a useful tool for assessing the state of unrest at remote volcanoes.

An Airborne Ultrasonic Imaging System Based on 16 Elements: 150 kHz Piezopolymer Transducer Arrays—Preliminary Simulated and Experimental Results for Cylindrical Targets Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capineri, L.; Bulletti, A.; Calzolai, M.; Giannelli, P.

2016-12-01

This paper describes the design and fabrication of a 16-element transducer array for airborne ultrasonic imaging operating at 150 kHz, that can operate both at close range (50 mm) in the near field of a synthetic aperture, and up to 250 mm. The proposed imaging technique is based on a modified version of the delay and sum algorithm implemented with a synthetic aperture where each pixel amplitude is determined by the integration of the signal obtained by the coherent summation of the acquired signals over a delayed window with fixed length. The image reconstruction methods using raw data provides the possibility to detect targets with smaller feature size on the order of one wavelength because the coherent signals summation over the selected window length while the image reconstruction methods using the summation of enveloped signals increases the amplitude response at the expenses of a lower spatial resolution. For the implementation of this system it is important to design compact airborne transducers with large field of view and this can be obtained with a new design of hemi-cylindrical polyvinylidene fluoride film transducers directly mounted on a printed circuit board. This new method is low cost and has repeatable transducer characteristics. The complete system is compact, with a modular architecture, in which eight boards with dual ultrasonic channels are mounted on a mother board. Each daughter board hosts a microcontroller unit and can operate with transducers in the bandwidth 40-200 kHz with on-board data acquisition, pre-processing and transfer on a dedicated bus.

A Timer for Synchronous Digital Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

McKenney, Elizabeth; Irwin, Philip

2003-01-01

The Real-Time Interferometer Control Systems Testbed (RICST) timing board is a VersaModule Eurocard (VME)-based board that can generate up to 16 simultaneous, phase-locked timing signals at a rate defined by the user. It can also generate all seven VME interrupt requests (IRQs). The RICST timing board is suitable mainly for robotic, aerospace, and real-time applications. Several circuit boards on the market are capable of generating periodic IRQs. Most are associated with Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and Inter Range Instrumentation Group (IRIG) time-code generators, whereas this board uses either an internal VME clock or an externally generated clock signal to synchronize multiple components of the system. The primary advantage of this board is that there is no discernible jitter in the output clock waveforms because the signals are divided down from a high-frequency clock signal instead of being phase-locked from a lower frequency. The primary disadvantage to this board, relative to other periodic-IRQ-generating boards, is that it is more difficult to synchronize the system to wall clock time.

Pattern Generator for Bench Test of Digital Boards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Berkun, Andrew C.; Chu, Anhua J.

2012-01-01

All efforts to develop electronic equipment reach a stage where they need a board test station for each board. The SMAP digital system consists of three board types that interact with each other using interfaces with critical timing. Each board needs to be tested individually before combining into the integrated digital electronics system. Each board needs critical timing signals from the others to be able to operate. A bench test system was developed to support test of each board. The test system produces all the outputs of the control and timing unit, and is delivered much earlier than the timing unit. Timing signals are treated as data. A large file is generated containing the state of every timing signal at any instant. This file is streamed out to an IO card, which is wired directly to the device-under-test (DUT) input pins. This provides a flexible test environment that can be adapted to any of the boards required to test in a standalone configuration. The problem of generating the critical timing signals is then transferred from a hardware problem to a software problem where it is more easily dealt with.

Electronics for a prototype variable field of view PET camera using the PMT-quadrant-sharing detector array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, H.; Wong, Wai-Hoi; Zhang, N.; Wang, J.; Uribe, J.; Baghaei, H.; Yokoyama, S.

1999-06-01

Electronics for a prototype high-resolution PET camera with eight position-sensitive detector modules has been developed. Each module has 16 BGO (Bi/sub 4/Ge/sub 3/O/sub 12/) blocks (each block is composed of 49 crystals). The design goals are component and space reduction. The electronics is composed of five parts: front-end analog processing, digital position decoding, fast timing, coincidence processing and master data acquisition. The front-end analog circuit is a zone-based structure (each zone has 3/spl times/3 PMTs). Nine ADCs digitize integration signals of an active zone identified by eight trigger clusters; each cluster is composed of six photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). A trigger corresponding to a gamma ray is sent to a fast timing board to obtain a time-mark, and the nine digitized signals are passed to the position decoding board, where a real block (four PMTs) can be picked out from the zone for position decoding. Lookup tables are used for energy discrimination and to identify the gamma-hit crystal location. The coincidence board opens a 70-ns initial timing window, followed by two 20-ns true/accidental time-mark lookup table windows. The data output from the coincidence board can be acquired either in sinogram mode or in list mode with a Motorola/IRONICS VME-based system.

Development of ROACH firmware for microwave multiplexed X-ray TES microcalorimeters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Madden, T. J.; Cecil, T. W.; Gades, L. M.

We are developing room temperature electronics based upon the ROACH platform for reading out microwave multiplexed X-ray TES. ROACH is an open-source hardware and software platform featuring a large Xilinx Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Power PC processor, several 10GB Ethernet SFP+ interfaces, and a collection of daughter boards for analog signal generation and acquisition. The combination of a ROACH board, ADC/DAC conversion daughter boards, and hardware for RF mixing allows for the generation and capture of multiple RF tones for reading out microwave multiplexed x-ray TES microcalorimeters. The FPGA is used to generate multiple tones in base band, frommore » 10MHz to 250MHz, which are subsequently mixed to RF in the multiple GHz range and sent through the microwave multiplexer. The tones are generated in the FPGA by storing a large lookup table in Quad Data Rate (QDR) SRAM modules and playing out the waveform to a DAC board. Once the signal has been modulated to RF, passed through the microwave multiplexer, and has been modulated back to base band, the signal is digitized by an ADC board. The tones are modulated to 0Hz by using a FPGA circuit consisting of a polyphase filter bank, several Xilinx FFT blocks, Xilinx CORDIC blocks (for converting to magnitude and phase), and special phase accumulator circuit for mixing to exactly 0Hz. Upwards of 256 channels can be simultaneously captured and written into a bank of 256 First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memories, with each FIFO corresponding to a channel. Individual channel data can be further processed in the FPGA before being streamed through a 10GB Ethernet fiber-optic interface to a Linux system. The Linux system runs software written in Python and QT C++ for controlling the ROACH system, capturing data, and processing data.« less

Tracking Data Acquisition System (TDAS) for the 1990's. Volume 6: TDAS navigation system architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elrod, B. D.; Jacobsen, A.; Cook, R. A.; Singh, R. N. P.

1983-01-01

One-way range and Doppler methods for providing user orbit and time determination are examined. Forward link beacon tracking, with on-board processing of independent navigation signals broadcast continuously by TDAS spacecraft; forward link scheduled tracking; with on-board processing of navigation data received during scheduled TDAS forward link service intervals; and return link scheduled tracking; with ground-based processing of user generated navigation data during scheduled TDAS return link service intervals are discussed. A system level definition and requirements assessment for each alternative, an evaluation of potential navigation performance and comparison with TDAS mission model requirements is included. TDAS satellite tracking is also addressed for two alternatives: BRTS and VLBI tracking.

An on-board processing satellite payload for European mobile communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, B. G.; Casewell, I. E.; Craig, A. D.

1987-06-01

An examination of the use of satellite on-board processing (OBP) for land mobile applications shows the feasibility of designing an OBP payload to satisfy the functional requirements of the land mobile system projected for the 1990s. Following a discussion of the proposed land mobile system, advantages of OBP over conventional transport payloads are considered. The use of digital signal processing techniques is shown to provide a solution for the merging of the routing and transmultiplexing functions into a single element, and such techniques are ideally suited to space applications. It is suggested that the projected power, mass, and size estimates are compatible with the payload capacity of one of the large Olympus satellites.

A CMOS ASIC Design for SiPM Arrays

PubMed Central

Dey, Samrat; Banks, Lushon; Chen, Shaw-Pin; Xu, Wenbin; Lewellen, Thomas K.; Miyaoka, Robert S.; Rudell, Jacques C.

2012-01-01

Our lab has previously reported on novel board-level readout electronics for an 8×8 silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) array featuring row/column summation technique to reduce the hardware requirements for signal processing. We are taking the next step by implementing a monolithic CMOS chip which is based on the row-column architecture. In addition, this paper explores the option of using diagonal summation as well as calibration to compensate for temperature and process variations. Further description of a timing pickoff signal which aligns all of the positioning (spatial channels) pulses in the array is described. The ASIC design is targeted to be scalable with the detector size and flexible to accommodate detectors from different vendors. This paper focuses on circuit implementation issues associated with the design of the ASIC to interface our Phase II MiCES FPGA board with a SiPM array. Moreover, a discussion is provided for strategies to eventually integrate all the analog and mixed-signal electronics with the SiPM, on either a single-silicon substrate or multi-chip module (MCM). PMID:24825923

Maglev Train Signal Processing Architecture Based on Nonlinear Discrete Tracking Differentiator.

PubMed

Wang, Zhiqiang; Li, Xiaolong; Xie, Yunde; Long, Zhiqiang

2018-05-24

In a maglev train levitation system, signal processing plays an important role for the reason that some sensor signals are prone to be corrupted by noise due to the harsh installation and operation environment of sensors and some signals cannot be acquired directly via sensors. Based on these concerns, an architecture based on a new type of nonlinear second-order discrete tracking differentiator is proposed. The function of this signal processing architecture includes filtering signal noise and acquiring needed signals for levitation purposes. The proposed tracking differentiator possesses the advantages of quick convergence, no fluttering, and simple calculation. Tracking differentiator's frequency characteristics at different parameter values are studied in this paper. The performance of this new type of tracking differentiator is tested in a MATLAB simulation and this tracking-differentiator is implemented in Very-High-Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL). In the end, experiments are conducted separately on a test board and a maglev train model. Simulation and experiment results show that the performance of this novel signal processing architecture can fulfill the real system requirement.

A space-based classification system for RF transients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, K. R.; Call, D.; Johnson, S.; Payne, T.; Ford, W.; Spencer, K.; Wilkerson, J. F.; Baumgart, C.

The FORTE (Fast On-Orbit Recording of Transient Events) small satellite is scheduled for launch in mid 1995. The mission is to measure and classify VHF (30-300 MHz) electromagnetic pulses, primarily due to lightning, within a high noise environment dominated by continuous wave carriers such as TV and FM stations. The FORTE Event Classifier will use specialized hardware to implement signal processing and neural network algorithms that perform onboard classification of RF transients and carriers. Lightning events will also be characterized with optical data telemetered to the ground. A primary mission science goal is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the correlation between the optical flash and the VHF emissions from lightning. By combining FORTE measurements with ground measurements and/or active transmitters, other science issues can be addressed. Examples include the correlation of global precipitation rates with lightning flash rates and location, the effects of large scale structures within the ionosphere (such as traveling ionospheric disturbances and horizontal gradients in the total electron content) on the propagation of broad bandwidth RF signals, and various areas of lightning physics. Event classification is a key feature of the FORTE mission. Neural networks are promising candidates for this application. The authors describe the proposed FORTE Event Classifier flight system, which consists of a commercially available digital signal processing board and a custom board, and discuss work on signal processing and neural network algorithms.

Vibration Pattern Imager (VPI): A control and data acquisition system for scanning laser vibrometers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rizzi, Stephen A.; Brown, Donald E.; Shaffer, Thomas A.

1993-01-01

The Vibration Pattern Imager (VPI) system was designed to control and acquire data from scanning laser vibrometer sensors. The PC computer based system uses a digital signal processing (DSP) board and an analog I/O board to control the sensor and to process the data. The VPI system was originally developed for use with the Ometron VPI Sensor, but can be readily adapted to any commercially available sensor which provides an analog output signal and requires analog inputs for control of mirror positioning. The sensor itself is not part of the VPI system. A graphical interface program, which runs on a PC under the MS-DOS operating system, functions in an interactive mode and communicates with the DSP and I/O boards in a user-friendly fashion through the aid of pop-up menus. Two types of data may be acquired with the VPI system: single point or 'full field.' In the single point mode, time series data is sampled by the A/D converter on the I/O board (at a user-defined sampling rate for a selectable number of samples) and is stored by the PC. The position of the measuring point (adjusted by mirrors in the sensor) is controlled via a mouse input. The mouse input is translated to output voltages by the D/A converter on the I/O board to control the mirror servos. In the 'full field' mode, the measurement point is moved over a user-selectable rectangular area. The time series data is sampled by the A/D converter on the I/O board (at a user-defined sampling rate for a selectable number of samples) and converted to a root-mean-square (rms) value by the DSP board. The rms 'full field' velocity distribution is then uploaded for display and storage on the PC.

Real Time Phase Noise Meter Based on a Digital Signal Processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Angrisani, Leopoldo; D'Arco, Mauro; Greenhall, Charles A.; Schiano Lo Morille, Rosario

2006-01-01

A digital signal-processing meter for phase noise measurement on sinusoidal signals is dealt with. It enlists a special hardware architecture, made up of a core digital signal processor connected to a data acquisition board, and takes advantage of a quadrature demodulation-based measurement scheme, already proposed by the authors. Thanks to an efficient measurement process and an optimized implementation of its fundamental stages, the proposed meter succeeds in exploiting all hardware resources in such an effective way as to gain high performance and real-time operation. For input frequencies up to some hundreds of kilohertz, the meter is capable both of updating phase noise power spectrum while seamlessly capturing the analyzed signal into its memory, and granting as good frequency resolution as few units of hertz.

A microprogrammable radar controller

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Law, D. C.

1986-01-01

The Wave Propagation Lab. has completed the design and construction of a microprogrammable radar controller for atmospheric wind profiling. Unlike some radar controllers using state machines or hardwired logic for radar timing, this design is a high speed programmable sequencer with signal processing resources. A block diagram of the device is shown. The device is a single 8 1/2 inch by 10 1/2 inch printed circuit board and consists of three main subsections: (1) the host computer interface; (2) the microprogram sequencer; and (3) the signal processing circuitry. Each of these subsections are described in detail.

Arrays of Miniature Microphones for Aeroacoustic Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shams, Qamar A.; Humphreys, William M.; Sealey, Bradley S.; Bartram, Scott M.; Zuckewar, Allan J.; Comeaux, Toby; Adams, James K.

2007-01-01

A phased-array system comprised of custom-made and commercially available microelectromechanical system (MEMS) silicon microphones and custom ancillary hardware has been developed for use in aeroacoustic testing in hard-walled and acoustically treated wind tunnels. Recent advances in the areas of multi-channel signal processing and beam forming have driven the construction of phased arrays containing ever-greater numbers of microphones. Traditional obstacles to this trend have been posed by (1) the high costs of conventional condenser microphones, associated cabling, and support electronics and (2) the difficulty of mounting conventional microphones in the precise locations required for high-density arrays. The present development overcomes these obstacles. One of the hallmarks of the new system is a series of fabricated platforms on which multiple microphones can be mounted. These mounting platforms, consisting of flexible polyimide circuit-board material (see left side of figure), include all the necessary microphone power and signal interconnects. A single bus line connects all microphones to a common power supply, while the signal lines terminate in one or more data buses on the sides of the circuit board. To minimize cross talk between array channels, ground lines are interposed as shields between all the data bus signal lines. The MEMS microphones are electrically connected to the boards via solder pads that are built into the printed wiring. These flexible circuit boards share many characteristics with their traditional rigid counterparts, but can be manufactured much thinner, as small as 0.1 millimeter, and much lighter with boards weighing as much as 75 percent less than traditional rigid ones. For a typical hard-walled wind-tunnel installation, the flexible printed-circuit board is bonded to the tunnel wall and covered with a face sheet that contains precise cutouts for the microphones. Once the face sheet is mounted, a smooth surface is established over the entire array due to the flush mounting of all microphones (see right side of figure). The face sheet is made from a continuous glass-woven-fabric base impregnated with an epoxy resin binder. This material offers a combination of high mechanical strength and low dielectric loss, making it suitable for withstanding the harsh test section environment present in many wind tunnels, while at the same time protecting the underlying polyimide board. Customized signal-conditioning hardware consisting of line drivers and antialiasing filters are coupled with the array. The line drivers are constructed using low-supply-current, high-gain-bandwidth operational amplifiers designed to transmit the microphone signals several dozen feet from the array to external acquisition hardware. The anti-alias filters consist of individual Chebyshev low-pass filters (one for each microphone channel) housed on small printed-circuit boards mounted on one or more motherboards. The mother/daughter board design results in a modular system, which is easy to debug and service and which enables the filter characteristics to be changed by swapping daughter boards with ones containing different filter parameters. The filter outputs are passed to commercially- available acquisition hardware to digitize and store the conditioned microphone signals. Wind-tunnel testing of the new MEMS microphone polyimide mounting system shows that the array performance is comparable to that of traditional arrays, but with significantly less cost of construction.

Development of a beam test telescope based on the Alibava readout system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marco-Hernández, R.

2011-01-01

A telescope for a beam test have been developed as a result of a collaboration among the University of Liverpool, Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (CNM) of Barcelona and Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC) of Valencia. This system is intended to carry out both analogue charge collection and spatial resolution measurements with different types of microstrip or pixel silicon detectors in a beam test environment. The telescope has four XY measurement as well as trigger planes (XYT board) and it can accommodate up to twelve devices under test (DUT board). The DUT board uses two Beetle ASICs for the readout of chilled silicon detectors. The board could operate in a self-triggering mode. The board features a temperature sensor and it can be mounted on a rotary stage. A peltier element is used for cooling the DUT. Each XYT board measures the track space points using two silicon strip detectors connected to two Beetle ASICs. It can also trigger on the particle tracks in the beam test. The board includes a CPLD which allows for the synchronization of the trigger signal to a common clock frequency, delaying and implementing coincidence with other XYT boards. An Alibava mother board is used to read out and to control each XYT/DUT board from a common trigger signal and a common clock signal. The Alibava board has a TDC on board to have a time stamp of each trigger. The data collected by each Alibava board is sent to a master card by means of a local data/address bus following a custom digital protocol. The master board distributes the trigger, clock and reset signals. It also merges the data streams from up to sixteen Alibava boards. The board has also a test channel for testing in a standard mode a XYT or DUT board. This board is implemented with a Xilinx development board and a custom patch board. The master board is connected with the DAQ software via 100M Ethernet. Track based alignment software has also been developed for the data obtained with the DAQ software.

Dynamic tunable notch filters for the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allison, P.; Banerjee, O.; Beatty, J. J.; Connolly, A.; Deaconu, C.; Gordon, J.; Gorham, P. W.; Kovacevich, M.; Miki, C.; Oberla, E.; Roberts, J.; Rotter, B.; Stafford, S.; Tatem, K.; Batten, L.; Belov, K.; Besson, D. Z.; Binns, W. R.; Bugaev, V.; Cao, P.; Chen, C.; Chen, P.; Chen, Y.; Clem, J. M.; Cremonesi, L.; Dailey, B.; Dowkontt, P. F.; Hsu, S.; Huang, J.; Hupe, R.; Israel, M. H.; Kowalski, J.; Lam, J.; Learned, J. G.; Liewer, K. M.; Liu, T. C.; Ludwig, A. B.; Matsuno, S.; Mulrey, K.; Nam, J.; Nichol, R. J.; Novikov, A.; Prohira, S.; Rauch, B. F.; Ripa, J.; Romero-Wolf, A.; Russell, J.; Saltzberg, D.; Seckel, D.; Shiao, J.; Stockham, J.; Stockham, M.; Strutt, B.; Varner, G. S.; Vieregg, A. G.; Wang, S.; Wissel, S. A.; Wu, F.; Young, R.

2018-06-01

The Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) is a NASA long-duration balloon experiment with the primary goal of detecting ultra-high-energy (> 1018eV) neutrinos via the Askaryan Effect. The fourth ANITA mission, ANITA-IV, recently flew from Dec 2 to Dec 29, 2016. For the first time, the Tunable Universal Filter Frontend (TUFF) boards were deployed for mitigation of narrow-band, anthropogenic noise with tunable, switchable notch filters. The TUFF boards also performed second-stage amplification by approximately 45 dB to boost the ∼ μV-level radio frequency (RF) signals to ∼ mV-level for digitization, and supplied power via bias tees to the first-stage, antenna-mounted amplifiers. The other major change in signal processing in ANITA-IV is the resurrection of the 90 ° hybrids deployed previously in ANITA-I, in the trigger system, although in this paper we focus on the TUFF boards. During the ANITA-IV mission, the TUFF boards were successfully operated throughout the flight. They contributed to a factor of 2.8 higher total instrument livetime on average in ANITA-IV compared to ANITA-III due to reduction of narrow-band, anthropogenic noise before a trigger decision is made.

Circuit design of an EMCCD camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Binhua; Song, Qian; Jin, Jianhui; He, Chun

2012-07-01

EMCCDs have been used in the astronomical observations in many ways. Recently we develop a camera using an EMCCD TX285. The CCD chip is cooled to -100°C in an LN2 dewar. The camera controller consists of a driving board, a control board and a temperature control board. Power supplies and driving clocks of the CCD are provided by the driving board, the timing generator is located in the control board. The timing generator and an embedded Nios II CPU are implemented in an FPGA. Moreover the ADC and the data transfer circuit are also in the control board, and controlled by the FPGA. The data transfer between the image workstation and the camera is done through a Camera Link frame grabber. The software of image acquisition is built using VC++ and Sapera LT. This paper describes the camera structure, the main components and circuit design for video signal processing channel, clock driver, FPGA and Camera Link interfaces, temperature metering and control system. Some testing results are presented.

Real Time Data Acquisition and Online Signal Processing for Magnetoencephalography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rongen, H.; Hadamschek, V.; Schiek, M.

2006-06-01

To establish improved therapies for patients suffering from severe neurological and psychiatric diseases, a demand controlled and desynchronizing brain-pacemaker has been developed with techniques from statistical physics and nonlinear dynamics. To optimize the novel therapeutic approach, brain activity is investigated with a Magnetoencephalography (MEG) system prior to surgery. For this, a real time data acquisition system for a 148 channel MEG and online signal processing for artifact rejection, filtering, cross trial phase resetting analysis and three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of the cerebral current sources was developed. The developed PCI bus hardware is based on a FPGA and DSP design, using the benefits from both architectures. The reconstruction and visualization of the 3-D volume data is done by the PC which hosts the real time DAQ and pre-processing board. The framework of the MEG-online system is introduced and the architecture of the real time DAQ board and online reconstruction is described. In addition we show first results with the MEG-Online system for the investigation of dynamic brain activities in relation to external visual stimulation, based on test data sets.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ianakiev, Kiril Dimitrov; Iliev, Metodi; Swinhoe, Martyn Thomas

The KM200 device is a versatile, configurable front-end electronics boards that can be used as a functional replacement for Canberra’s JAB-01 boards based on the Amptek A-111 hybrid chip, which continues to be the preferred choice of electronics for large number of the boards in junction boxes of multiplicity counters that process the signal from an array of 3He detectors. Unlike the A-111 chip’s fixed time constants and sensitivity range, the shaping time and sensitivity of the new KM200 can be optimized for demanding applications such as spent fuel, and thus could improve the safeguards measurements of existing systems wheremore » the A-111 or PDT electronics does not perform well.« less

A design of real time image capturing and processing system using Texas Instrument's processor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wee, Toon-Joo; Chaisorn, Lekha; Rahardja, Susanto; Gan, Woon-Seng

2007-09-01

In this work, we developed and implemented an image capturing and processing system that equipped with capability of capturing images from an input video in real time. The input video can be a video from a PC, video camcorder or DVD player. We developed two modes of operation in the system. In the first mode, an input image from the PC is processed on the processing board (development platform with a digital signal processor) and is displayed on the PC. In the second mode, current captured image from the video camcorder (or from DVD player) is processed on the board but is displayed on the LCD monitor. The major difference between our system and other existing conventional systems is that image-processing functions are performed on the board instead of the PC (so that the functions can be used for further developments on the board). The user can control the operations of the board through the Graphic User Interface (GUI) provided on the PC. In order to have a smooth image data transfer between the PC and the board, we employed Real Time Data Transfer (RTDX TM) technology to create a link between them. For image processing functions, we developed three main groups of function: (1) Point Processing; (2) Filtering and; (3) 'Others'. Point Processing includes rotation, negation and mirroring. Filter category provides median, adaptive, smooth and sharpen filtering in the time domain. In 'Others' category, auto-contrast adjustment, edge detection, segmentation and sepia color are provided, these functions either add effect on the image or enhance the image. We have developed and implemented our system using C/C# programming language on TMS320DM642 (or DM642) board from Texas Instruments (TI). The system was showcased in College of Engineering (CoE) exhibition 2006 at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and have more than 40 users tried our system. It is demonstrated that our system is adequate for real time image capturing. Our system can be used or applied for applications such as medical imaging, video surveillance, etc.

The OPERA muon spectrometer tracking electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ambrosio, M.; Barichello, G.; Brugnera, R.; Carrara, E.; Consiglio, L.; Corradi, A.; Dal Corso, F.; Dusini, S.; Felici, G.; Garfagnini, A.; Manea, C.; Masone, V.; Paoloni, A.; Paoluzzi, G.; Papalino, G.; Parascandolo, P.; Sorrentino, G.; Spinetti, M.; Stanco, L.; Terranova, F.; Votano, L.

2004-11-01

The document describes the front-end electronics that instrument the spectrometer of the OPERA experiment. The spectrometer is made of two separate modules. Each module consists of 22 RPC planes equipped with horizontal and vertical strips readout for a total amount of about 25,000 digital channels. The front end electronics is self-triggered and has single plane readout capability. It is made of three different stages: the Front End Boards (FEBs) system, the Controller Boards (CBs) system and the Timing Boards (TBs) system. The FEB system provides discrimination of the strip incoming signals; a FAST OR output of the input signals is also available for trigger plane signal generation. FEBs discriminated signals are acquired by the CBs system that manages also the communication to the experiment DAQ and Slow Control interface. A Trigger Board allows to operate in both self-trigger (the FEB FAST OR signal starts the plane acquisition) or external-trigger (different conditions can be set on the OR signals generated from different planes) modes.

A Method for Implementing Force-Limited Vibration Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Worth, Daniel B.

1997-01-01

NASA/GSFC has implemented force-limited vibration control on a controller which can only accept one profile. The method uses a personal computer based digital signal processing board to convert force and/or moment signals into what appears to he an acceleration signal to the controller. This technique allows test centers with older controllers to use the latest force-limited control techniques for random vibration testing. The paper describes the method, hardware, and test procedures used. An example from a test performed at NASA/GSFC is used as a guide.

Digital Signal Processing by Virtual Instrumentation of a MEMS Magnetic Field Sensor for Biomedical Applications

PubMed Central

Juárez-Aguirre, Raúl; Domínguez-Nicolás, Saúl M.; Manjarrez, Elías; Tapia, Jesús A.; Figueras, Eduard; Vázquez-Leal, Héctor; Aguilera-Cortés, Luz A.; Herrera-May, Agustín L.

2013-01-01

We present a signal processing system with virtual instrumentation of a MEMS sensor to detect magnetic flux density for biomedical applications. This system consists of a magnetic field sensor, electronic components implemented on a printed circuit board (PCB), a data acquisition (DAQ) card, and a virtual instrument. It allows the development of a semi-portable prototype with the capacity to filter small electromagnetic interference signals through digital signal processing. The virtual instrument includes an algorithm to implement different configurations of infinite impulse response (IIR) filters. The PCB contains a precision instrumentation amplifier, a demodulator, a low-pass filter (LPF) and a buffer with operational amplifier. The proposed prototype is used for real-time non-invasive monitoring of magnetic flux density in the thoracic cage of rats. The response of the rat respiratory magnetogram displays a similar behavior as the rat electromyogram (EMG). PMID:24196434

Digital signal processing by virtual instrumentation of a MEMS magnetic field sensor for biomedical applications.

PubMed

Juárez-Aguirre, Raúl; Domínguez-Nicolás, Saúl M; Manjarrez, Elías; Tapia, Jesús A; Figueras, Eduard; Vázquez-Leal, Héctor; Aguilera-Cortés, Luz A; Herrera-May, Agustín L

2013-11-05

We present a signal processing system with virtual instrumentation of a MEMS sensor to detect magnetic flux density for biomedical applications. This system consists of a magnetic field sensor, electronic components implemented on a printed circuit board (PCB), a data acquisition (DAQ) card, and a virtual instrument. It allows the development of a semi-portable prototype with the capacity to filter small electromagnetic interference signals through digital signal processing. The virtual instrument includes an algorithm to implement different configurations of infinite impulse response (IIR) filters. The PCB contains a precision instrumentation amplifier, a demodulator, a low-pass filter (LPF) and a buffer with operational amplifier. The proposed prototype is used for real-time non-invasive monitoring of magnetic flux density in the thoracic cage of rats. The response of the rat respiratory magnetogram displays a similar behavior as the rat electromyogram (EMG).

VPI - VIBRATION PATTERN IMAGER: A CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR SCANNING LASER VIBROMETERS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rizzi, S. A.

1994-01-01

The Vibration Pattern Imager (VPI) system was designed to control and acquire data from laser vibrometer sensors. The PC computer based system uses a digital signal processing (DSP) board and an analog I/O board to control the sensor and to process the data. The VPI system was originally developed for use with the Ometron VPI Sensor (Ometron Limited, Kelvin House, Worsley Bridge Road, London, SE26 5BX, England), but can be readily adapted to any commercially available sensor which provides an analog output signal and requires analog inputs for control of mirror positioning. VPI's graphical user interface allows the operation of the program to be controlled interactively through keyboard and mouse-selected menu options. The main menu controls all functions for setup, data acquisition, display, file operations, and exiting the program. Two types of data may be acquired with the VPI system: single point or "full field". In the single point mode, time series data is sampled by the A/D converter on the I/O board at a user-defined rate for the selected number of samples. The position of the measuring point, adjusted by mirrors in the sensor, is controlled via a mouse input. In the "full field" mode, the measurement point is moved over a user-selected rectangular area with up to 256 positions in both x and y directions. The time series data is sampled by the A/D converter on the I/O board and converted to a root-mean-square (rms) value by the DSP board. The rms "full field" velocity distribution is then uploaded for display and storage. VPI is written in C language and Texas Instruments' TMS320C30 assembly language for IBM PC series and compatible computers running MS-DOS. The program requires 640K of RAM for execution, and a hard disk with 10Mb or more of disk space is recommended. The program also requires a mouse, a VGA graphics display, a Four Channel analog I/O board (Spectrum Signal Processing, Inc.; Westborough, MA), a break-out box and a Spirit-30 board (Sonitech International, Inc.; Wellesley, MA) which includes a TMS320C30 DSP processor, 256Kb zero wait state SRAM, and a daughter board with 8Mb one wait state DRAM. Please contact COSMIC for additional information on required hardware and software. In order to compile the provided VPI source code, a Microsoft C version 6.0 compiler, a Texas Instruments' TMS320C30 assembly language compiler, and the Spirit 30 run time libraries are required. A math co-processor is highly recommended. A sample MS-DOS executable is provided on the distribution medium. The standard distribution medium for this program is one 5.25 inch 360K MS-DOS format diskette. The contents of the diskettes are compressed using the PKWARE archiving tools. The utility to unarchive the files, PKUNZIP.EXE, is included. VPI was developed in 1991-1992.

DBSAR's First Multimode Flight Campaign

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rincon, Rafael F.; Vega, Manuel; Buenfil, Manuel; Geist, Alessandro; Hilliard, Lawrence; Racette, Paul

2010-01-01

The Digital Beamforming SAR (DBSAR) is an airborne imaging radar system that combines phased array technology, reconfigurable on-board processing and waveform generation, and advances in signal processing to enable techniques not possible with conventional SARs. The system exploits the versatility inherently in phased-array technology with a state-of-the-art data acquisition and real-time processor in order to implement multi-mode measurement techniques in a single radar system. Operational modes include scatterometry over multiple antenna beams, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) over several antenna beams, or Altimetry. The radar was flight tested in October 2008 on board of the NASA P3 aircraft over the Delmarva Peninsula, MD. The results from the DBSAR system performance is presented.

Ultra-low current biosensor output detection using portable electronic reader

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yahaya, N. A. N.; Rajapaksha, R. D. A. A.; Uda, M. N. Afnan; Hashim, U.

2017-09-01

Generally, the electrical biosensor usually shows extremely low current signal output around pico ampere to microampere range. In this research, electronic reader with amplifier has been demonstrated to detect ultra low current via the biosensor. The operational amplifier Burr-Brown OPA 128 and Arduino Uno board were used to construct the portable electronic reader. There are two cascaded inverting amplifier were used to detect ultra low current through the biosensor from pico amperes (pA) to nano amperes ranges (nA). A small known input current was form by applying variable voltage between 0.1V to 5.0V across a 5GΩ high resistor to check the amplifier circuit. The amplifier operation was measured with the high impedance current source and has been compared with the theoretical measurement. The Arduino Uno was used to convert the analog signal to digital signal and process the data to display on reader screen. In this project, Proteus software was used to design and test the circuit. Then it was implemented together with Arduino Uno board. Arduino board was programmed using C programming language to make whole circuit communicate each order. The current was measured then it shows a small difference values compared to theoretical values, which is approximately 14pA.

On-Board Fiber-Optic Network Architectures for Radar and Avionics Signal Distribution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alam, Mohammad F.; Atiquzzaman, Mohammed; Duncan, Bradley B.; Nguyen, Hung; Kunath, Richard

2000-01-01

Continued progress in both civil and military avionics applications is overstressing the capabilities of existing radio-frequency (RF) communication networks based on coaxial cables on board modem aircrafts. Future avionics systems will require high-bandwidth on- board communication links that are lightweight, immune to electromagnetic interference, and highly reliable. Fiber optic communication technology can meet all these challenges in a cost-effective manner. Recently, digital fiber-optic communication systems, where a fiber-optic network acts like a local area network (LAN) for digital data communications, have become a topic of extensive research and development. Although a fiber-optic system can be designed to transport radio-frequency (RF) signals, the digital fiber-optic systems under development today are not capable of transporting microwave and millimeter-wave RF signals used in radar and avionics systems on board an aircraft. Recent advances in fiber optic technology, especially wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), has opened a number of possibilities for designing on-board fiber optic networks, including all-optical networks for radar and avionics RF signal distribution. In this paper, we investigate a number of different novel approaches for fiber-optic transmission of on-board VHF and UHF RF signals using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. The relative merits and demerits of each architecture are discussed, and the suitability of each architecture for particular applications is pointed out. All-optical approaches show better performance than other traditional approaches in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, power consumption, and weight requirements.

Design of a signal conditioner for the Fermilab Magnet Test Facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Giannelli, Pietro

2012-01-01

This thesis describes the design of a remotely-programmable signal conditioner for the harmonic measurement of accelerator magnets. A 10-channel signal conditioning circuit featuring bucking capabilities was designed from scratch and implemented to the level of the printed circuit board layout. Other system components were chosen from those available on the market. Software design was started with the definition of routine procedures. This thesis is part of an upgrade project for replacing obsolescent automated test equipment belonging to the Fermilab Magnet Test Facility. The design started with a given set of requirements. Using a top-down approach, all the circuits were designedmore » and their expected performances were theoretically predicted and simulated. A limited prototyping phase followed. The printed circuit boards were laid out and routed using a CAD software and focusing the design on maximum electromagnetic interference immunity. An embedded board was selected for controlling and interfacing the signal conditioning circuitry with the instrumentation network. Basic low level routines for hardware access were defined. This work covered the entire design process of the signal conditioner, resulting in a project ready for manufacturing. The expected performances are in line with the requirements and, in the cases where this was not possible, approval of trade-offs was sought and received from the end users. Part I deals with the global structure of the signal conditioner and the subdivision in functional macro-blocks. Part II treats the hardware design phase in detail, covering the analog and digital circuits, the printed circuit layouts, the embedded controller and the power supply selection. Part III deals with the basic hardware-related routines to be implemented in the final software.« less

A digital frequency stabilization system of external cavity diode laser based on LabVIEW FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhuohuan; Hu, Zhaohui; Qi, Lu; Wang, Tao

2015-10-01

Frequency stabilization for external cavity diode laser has played an important role in physics research. Many laser frequency locking solutions have been proposed by researchers. Traditionally, the locking process was accomplished by analog system, which has fast feedback control response speed. However, analog system is susceptible to the effects of environment. In order to improve the automation level and reliability of the frequency stabilization system, we take a grating-feedback external cavity diode laser as the laser source and set up a digital frequency stabilization system based on National Instrument's FPGA (NI FPGA). The system consists of a saturated absorption frequency stabilization of beam path, a differential photoelectric detector, a NI FPGA board and a host computer. Many functions, such as piezoelectric transducer (PZT) sweeping, atomic saturation absorption signal acquisition, signal peak identification, error signal obtaining and laser PZT voltage feedback controlling, are totally completed by LabVIEW FPGA program. Compared with the analog system, the system built by the logic gate circuits, performs stable and reliable. User interface programmed by LabVIEW is friendly. Besides, benefited from the characteristics of reconfiguration, the LabVIEW program is good at transplanting in other NI FPGA boards. Most of all, the system periodically checks the error signal. Once the abnormal error signal is detected, FPGA will restart frequency stabilization process without manual control. Through detecting the fluctuation of error signal of the atomic saturation absorption spectrum line in the frequency locking state, we can infer that the laser frequency stability can reach 1MHz.

Test of ATLAS RPCs Front-End electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aielli, G.; Camarri, P.; Cardarelli, R.; Di Ciaccio, A.; Di Stante, L.; Liberti, B.; Paoloni, A.; Pastori, E.; Santonico, R.

2003-08-01

The Front-End Electronics performing the ATLAS RPCs readout is a full custom 8 channels GaAs circuit, which integrates in a single die both the analog and digital signal processing. The die is bonded on the Front-End board which is completely closed inside the detector Faraday cage. About 50 000 FE boards are foreseen for the experiment. The complete functionality of the FE boards will be certificated before the detector assembly. We describe here the systematic test devoted to check the dynamic functionality of each single channel and the selection criteria applied. It measures and registers all relevant electronics parameters to build up a complete database for the experiment. The statistical results from more than 1100 channels are presented.

Design of handwriting drawing board based on common copper clad laminate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hongyuan; Gao, Wenzhi; Wang, Yuan

2015-02-01

Handwriting drawing board is not only a subject which can be used to write and draw, but also a method to measure and process weak signals. This design adopts 8051 single chip microprocessor as the main controller. It applies a constant-current source[1][2] to copper plate and collects the voltage value according to the resistance divider effect. Then it amplifies the signal with low-noise and high-precision amplifier[3] AD620 which is placed in the low impedance and anti-interference pen. It converts analog signal to digital signal by an 11-channel, 12-bit A/D converter TLC2543. Adoption of average filtering algorithm can effectively improve the measuring accuracy, reduce the error and make the collected voltage signal more stable. The accurate position can be detected by scanning the horizontal and vertical ordinates with the analog switch via the internal bridge of module L298 which can change the direction of X-Y axis signal scan. DM12864 is used as man-machine interface and this hominization design is convenient for man-machine communication. This collecting system has high accuracy, high stability and strong anti-interference capability. It's easy to control and has very large development space in the future.

Signal Collection Processing Enhancements

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-04-01

APPROVED: /s/ ALFREDO VEGA IRIZARRY Project Engineer FOR THE DIRECTOR: /s/ JOSEPH CAMERA, Chief...SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER AFRL-IF-RS-TR-2004-108 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES AFRL Project Engineer: Alfredo Vega Irizzary...Mercury representative, Emilio Velilla, suggested several actions to better diagnose the problem. Both boards were moved to different PCI slots. The

A Low-cost 4 Bit, 10 Giga-samples-per-second Analog-to-digital Converter Printed Circuit Board Assembly for FPGA-based Backends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Homin; Yu, Chen-Yu; Kubo, Derek; Chen, Ming-Tang; Guzzino, Kim

2016-11-01

In this study, a 4 bit, 10 giga-samples-per-second analog-to-digital converter (ADC) printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) was designed, manufactured, and characterized for digitizing radio telescopes. For this purpose, an Adsantec ANST7120A-KMA flash ADC chip was used. Together with the field-programmable gate array platform, developed by the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research community, the PCBA enables data acquisition with a wide bandwidth and simplifies the intermediate frequency section. In the current version, the PCBA and the chip exhibit an analog bandwidth of 10 GHz (3 dB loss) and 20 GHz, respectively, which facilitates second, third, and even fourth Nyquist sampling. The following average performance parameters were obtained from the first and second Nyquist zones of the three boards: a spurious-free dynamic range of 31.35/30.45 dB, a signal-to-noise and distortion ratio of 22.95/21.83 dB, and an effective number of bits of 3.65/3.43, respectively.

Design principles and realization of electro-optical circuit boards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Betschon, Felix; Lamprecht, Tobias; Halter, Markus; Beyer, Stefan; Peterson, Harry

2013-02-01

The manufacturing of electro-optical circuit boards (EOCB) is based to a large extent on established technologies. First products with embedded polymer waveguides are currently produced in series. The range of applications within the sensor and data communication markets is growing with the increasing maturity level. EOCBs require design flows, processes and techniques similar to existing printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing and appropriate for optical signal transmission. A key aspect is the precise and automated assembly of active and passive optical components to the optical waveguides which has to be supported by the technology. The design flow is described after a short introduction into the build-up of EOCBs and the motivation for the usage of this technology within the different application fields. Basis for the design of EOCBs are the required optical signal transmission properties. Thereafter, the devices for the electro-optical conversion are chosen and the optical coupling approach is defined. Then, the planar optical elements (waveguides, splitters, couplers) are designed and simulated. This phase already requires co-design of the optical and electrical domain using novel design flows. The actual integration of an optical system into a PCB is shown in the last part. The optical layer is thereby laminated to the purely electrical PCB using a conventional PCB-lamination process to form the EOCB. The precise alignment of the various electrical and optical layers is thereby essential. Electrical vias are then generated, penetrating also the optical layer, to connect the individual electrical layers. Finally, the board has to be tested electrically and optically.

Sensors, Volume 1, Fundamentals and General Aspects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grandke, Thomas; Ko, Wen H.

1996-12-01

'Sensors' is the first self-contained series to deal with the whole area of sensors. It describes general aspects, technical and physical fundamentals, construction, function, applications and developments of the various types of sensors. This volume deals with the fundamentals and common principles of sensors and covers the wide areas of principles, technologies, signal processing, and applications. Contents include: Sensor Fundamentals, e.g. Sensor Parameters, Modeling, Design and Packaging; Basic Sensor Technologies, e.g. Thin and Thick Films, Integrated Magnetic Sensors, Optical Fibres and Intergrated Optics, Ceramics and Oxides; Sensor Interfaces, e.g. Signal Processing, Multisensor Signal Processing, Smart Sensors, Interface Systems; Sensor Applications, e.g. Automotive: On-board Sensors, Traffic Surveillance and Control, Home Appliances, Environmental Monitoring, etc. This volume is an indispensable reference work and text book for both specialits and newcomers, researchers and developers.

Upgrade of BPM Electronics for the SPring-8 Storage Ring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sasaki, Shigeki; Fujita, Takahiro; Shoji, Masazumi

2006-11-20

SPring-8, a 3rd generation synchrotron light source, has operated since 1997. Improvement of BPM performance is required as a part of upgrading activities of the storage ring as a light source. We have developed new electronics circuits for signal processing of the storage ring BPM, with target performance of sub-{mu}m range resolution with sufficiently fast measurement speed and good long-term stability. A set of the new circuits consists of multiplexers, an RF amplifier, a mixer, an IF amplifier, and a local oscillator for analog signal processing. The IF amplifier outputs are sampled with 16-bit 2-MSPS ADC on ADC boards andmore » the data are sent to a DSP board. The sampled data are processed and converted to position information in the DSP. A multiplexing method was employed to have a better stability of the performance by cancellation of variation common to each channel. Evaluation of the performance by using a prototype shows that position resolution well into the sub-{mu}m range has been achieved with a bandwidth of 1 kHz, and long-term stability of within 1 {mu}m has also been achieved.« less

Radar image processing module development program, phase 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The feasibility of using charge coupled devices in an IPM for processing synthetic aperture radar signals onboard the NASA Convair 990 (CV990) aircraft was demonstrated. Radar data onboard the aircraft was recorded and processed using a CCD sampler and digital tape recorder. A description of equipment and testing was provided. The derivation of the digital presum filter was documented. Photographs of the sampler/tape recorder, real time display and circuit boards in the IPM were also included.

Device for modular input high-speed multi-channel digitizing of electrical data

DOEpatents

VanDeusen, Alan L.; Crist, Charles E.

1995-09-26

A multi-channel high-speed digitizer module converts a plurality of analog signals to digital signals (digitizing) and stores the signals in a memory device. The analog input channels are digitized simultaneously at high speed with a relatively large number of on-board memory data points per channel. The module provides an automated calibration based upon a single voltage reference source. Low signal noise at such a high density and sample rate is accomplished by ensuring the A/D converters are clocked at the same point in the noise cycle each time so that synchronous noise sampling occurs. This sampling process, in conjunction with an automated calibration, yields signal noise levels well below the noise level present on the analog reference voltages.

Concepts for on-board satellite image registration, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruedger, W. H.; Daluge, D. R.; Aanstoos, J. V.

1980-01-01

The NASA-NEEDS program goals present a requirement for on-board signal processing to achieve user-compatible, information-adaptive data acquisition. One very specific area of interest is the preprocessing required to register imaging sensor data which have been distorted by anomalies in subsatellite-point position and/or attitude control. The concepts and considerations involved in using state-of-the-art positioning systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) in concert with state-of-the-art attitude stabilization and/or determination systems to provide the required registration accuracy are discussed with emphasis on assessing the accuracy to which a given image picture element can be located and identified, determining those algorithms required to augment the registration procedure and evaluating the technology impact on performing these procedures on-board the satellite.

Interferometric direction finding with a metamaterial detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venkatesh, Suresh; Shrekenhamer, David; Xu, Wangren; Sonkusale, Sameer; Padilla, Willie; Schurig, David

2013-12-01

We present measurements and analysis demonstrating useful direction finding of sources in the S band (2-4 GHz) using a metamaterial detector. An augmented metamaterial absorber that supports magnitude and phase measurement of the incident electric field, within each unit cell, is described. The metamaterial is implemented in a commercial printed circuit board process with off-board back-end electronics. We also discuss on-board back-end implementation strategies. Direction finding performance is analyzed for the fabricated metamaterial detector using simulated data and the standard algorithm, MUtiple SIgnal Classification. The performance of this complete system is characterized by its angular resolution as a function of radiation density at the detector. Sources with power outputs typical of mobile communication devices can be resolved at kilometer distances with sub-degree resolution and high frame rates.

Electronics design of the RPC system for the OPERA muon spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acquafredda, R.; Ambrosio, M.; Balsamo, E.; Barichello, G.; Bergnoli, A.; Consiglio, L.; Corradi, G.; dal Corso, F.; Felici, G.; Manea, C.; Masone, V.; Parascandolo, P.; Sorrentino, G.

2004-09-01

The present document describes the front-end electronics of the RPC system that instruments the magnet muon spectrometer of the OPERA experiment. The main task of the OPERA spectrometer is to provide particle tracking information for muon identification and simplify the matching between the Precision Trackers. As no trigger has been foreseen for the experiment, the spectrometer electronics must be self-triggered with single-plane readout capability. Moreover, precision time information must be added within each event frame for off-line reconstruction. The read-out electronics is made of three different stages: the Front-End Boards (FEBs) system, the Controller Boards (CBs) system and the Trigger Boards (TBs) system. The FEB system provides discrimination of the strip incoming signals; a FAST-OR output of the input signals is also available for trigger plane signal generation. FEB signals are acquired by the CB system that provides the zero suppression and manages the communication to the DAQ and Slow Control. A Trigger Board allows to operate in both self-trigger mode (the FEB's FAST-OR signal starts the plane acquisition) or in external-trigger mode (different conditions can be set on the FAST-OR signals generated from different planes).

Fiber-Optic Communication Links Suitable for On-Board Use in Modern Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Hung; Ngo, Duc; Alam, Mohammad F.; Atiquzzaman, Mohammed; Sluse, James; Slaveski, Filip

2004-01-01

The role of the Advanced Air Transportation Technologies program undertaken at the NASA Glenn Research Centers has been focused mainly on the improvement of air transportation safety, with particular emphasis on air transportation communication systems in on-board aircraft. The conventional solutions for digital optical communications systems specifically designed for local/metro area networks are, unfortunately, not capable of transporting the microwave and millimeter RF signals used in avionics systems. Optical networks capable of transporting RF signals are substantially different from the standard digital optical communications systems. The objective of this paper is to identify a number of different communication link architectures for RF/fiber optic transmission using a single backbone fiber for carrying VHF and UHF RF signals in the aircraft. To support these architectures, two approaches derived from both hybrid RF-optical and all-optical processing methodologies are discussed with single and multiple antennas for explicitly transporting VHF and UHF signals, while the relative merits and demerits of each architecture are also addressed. Furthermore, the experimental results of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) link architecture from our test-bed platform, configured for aircraft environment to support simultaneous transmission of multiple RF signals over a single optical fiber, exhibit no appreciable signal degradation at wavelengths of both 1330 and 1550 nm, respectively. Our measurements of signal to noise ratio carried out for the transmission of FM and AM analog modulated signals at these wavelengths indicate that WDM is a fiber optic technology which is potentially suitable for avionics applications.

Beam forming network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cramer, P. W., Jr. (Inventor)

1985-01-01

The network, which is connected to a layer of 134 feed elements that transmit and receive microwaves, consists of a pair of circuit boards parallel to the feed element layer. One of the two boards has 87 dividers that each divide a signal to be transmitted into seven portions, and the other board has 134 combiners that each collect seven transmit signal portions and deliver the sum to one of the feed elements. A similar arrangement is used to handle received signals. The large number of interconnections are made by printed circuit conductors radiating from each of the numerous dividers and combiners, and by providing interconnection pins that interconnect the ends of pairs of conductors lying on the two boards. The printed circuit conductors extend in undulating paths that provide maximum separation of conductors to minimize crosstalk.

A low-noise low-power EEG acquisition node for scalable brain-machine interfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, Thomas J.; Deiss, Stephen R.; Cauwenberghs, Gert; Jung, Tzyy-Ping

2007-05-01

Electroencephalograph (EEG) recording systems offer a versatile, noninvasive window on the brain's spatio-temporal activity for many neuroscience and clinical applications. Our research aims at improving the spatial resolution and mobility of EEG recording by reducing the form factor, power drain and signal fanout of the EEG acquisition node in a scalable sensor array architecture. We present such a node integrated onto a dimesized circuit board that contains a sensor's complete signal processing front-end, including amplifier, filters, and analog-to-digital conversion. A daisy-chain configuration between boards with bit-serial output reduces the wiring needed. The circuit's low power consumption of 423 μW supports EEG systems with hundreds of electrodes to operate from small batteries for many hours. Coupling between the bit-serial output and the highly sensitive analog input due to dense integration of analog and digital functions on the circuit board results in a deterministic noise component in the output, larger than the intrinsic sensor and circuit noise. With software correction of this noise contribution, the system achieves an input-referred noise of 0.277 μVrms in the signal band of 1 to 100 Hz, comparable to the best medical-grade systems in use. A chain of seven nodes using EEG dry electrodes created in micro-electrical-mechanical system (MEMS) technology is demonstrated in a real-world setting.

Energy-efficient hierarchical processing in the network of wireless intelligent sensors (WISE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raskovic, Dejan

Sensor network nodes have benefited from technological advances in the field of wireless communication, processing, and power sources. However, the processing power of microcontrollers is often not sufficient to perform sophisticated processing, while the power requirements of digital signal processing boards or handheld computers are usually too demanding for prolonged system use. We are matching the intrinsic hierarchical nature of many digital signal-processing applications with the natural hierarchy in distributed wireless networks, and building the hierarchical system of wireless intelligent sensors. Our goal is to build a system that will exploit the hierarchical organization to optimize the power consumption and extend battery life for the given time and memory constraints, while providing real-time processing of sensor signals. In addition, we are designing our system to be able to adapt to the current state of the environment, by dynamically changing the algorithm through procedure replacement. This dissertation presents the analysis of hierarchical environment and methods for energy profiling used to evaluate different system design strategies, and to optimize time-effective and energy-efficient processing.

Signal-to-noise optimization and evaluation of a home-made visible diode-array spectrophotometer

PubMed Central

Raimundo, Jr., Ivo M.; Pasquini, Celio

1993-01-01

This paper describes a simple low-cost multichannel visible spectrophotometer built with an RL512G EGG-Reticon photodiode array. A symmetric Czerny-Turner optical design was employed; instrument control was via a single-board microcomputer based on the 8085 Intel microprocessor. Spectral intensity data are stored in the single-board's RAM and then transferred to an IBM-AT 3865X compatible microcomputer through a RS-232C interface. This external microcomputer processes the data to recover transmittance, absorbance or relative intensity of the spectra. The signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range were improved by using variable integration times, which increase during the same scan; and by the use of either weighted or unweighted sliding average of consecutive diodes. The instrument is suitable for automatic methods requiring quasi-simultaneous multiwavelength detections, such as multivariative calibration and flow-injection gradient scan techniques. PMID:18924979

SpaceCube v2.0 Space Flight Hybrid Reconfigurable Data Processing System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Petrick, Dave

2014-01-01

This paper details the design architecture, design methodology, and the advantages of the SpaceCube v2.0 high performance data processing system for space applications. The purpose in building the SpaceCube v2.0 system is to create a superior high performance, reconfigurable, hybrid data processing system that can be used in a multitude of applications including those that require a radiation hardened and reliable solution. The SpaceCube v2.0 system leverages seven years of board design, avionics systems design, and space flight application experiences. This paper shows how SpaceCube v2.0 solves the increasing computing demands of space data processing applications that cannot be attained with a standalone processor approach.The main objective during the design stage is to find a good system balance between power, size, reliability, cost, and data processing capability. These design variables directly impact each other, and it is important to understand how to achieve a suitable balance. This paper will detail how these critical design factors were managed including the construction of an Engineering Model for an experiment on the International Space Station to test out design concepts. We will describe the designs for the processor card, power card, backplane, and a mission unique interface card. The mechanical design for the box will also be detailed since it is critical in meeting the stringent thermal and structural requirements imposed by the processing system. In addition, the mechanical design uses advanced thermal conduction techniques to solve the internal thermal challenges.The SpaceCube v2.0 processing system is based on an extended version of the 3U cPCI standard form factor where each card is 190mm x 100mm in size The typical power draw of the processor card is 8 to 10W and scales with application complexity. The SpaceCube v2.0 data processing card features two Xilinx Virtex-5 QV Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA), eight memory modules, a monitor FPGA with analog monitoring, Ethernet, configurable interconnect to the Xilinx FPGAs including gigabit transceivers, and the necessary voltage regulation. The processor board uses a back-to-back design methodology for common parts that maximizes the board real estate available. This paper will show how to meet the IPC 6012B Class 3A standard with a 22-layer board that has two column grid array devices with 1.0mm pitch. All layout trades such as stack-up options, via selection, and FPGA signal breakout will be discussed with feature size results. The overall board design process will be discussed including parts selection, circuit design, proper signal termination, layout placement and route planning, signal integrity design and verification, and power integrity results. The radiation mitigation techniques will also be detailed including configuration scrubbing options, Xilinx circuit mitigation and FPGA functional monitoring, and memory protection.Finally, this paper will describe how this system is being used to solve the extreme challenges of a robotic satellite servicing mission where typical space-rated processors are not sufficient enough to meet the intensive data processing requirements. The SpaceCube v2.0 is the main payload control computer and is required to control critical subsystems such as autonomous rendezvous and docking using a suite of vision sensors and object avoidance when controlling two robotic arms.

KM3NeT Digital Optical Module electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Real, Diego

2016-04-01

The KM3NeT collaboration is currently building of a neutrino telescope with a volume of several cubic kilometres at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. The telescope consists of a matrix of Digital Optical Modules that will detect the Cherenkov light originated by the interaction of the neutrinos in the proximity of the detector. This contribution describes the main components of the read-out electronics of the Digital Optical Module: the Power Board, which delivers all the power supply required by the Digital Optical Molule electronics; the Central Logic Board, the main core of the read-out system, hosting 31 Time to Digital Converters with 1 ns resolution and the White Rabbit protocol embedded in the Central Logic Board Field Programmable Gate Array; the Octopus boards, that transfer the Low Voltage Digital Signals from the PMT bases to the Central Logic Board and finally the PMT bases, in charge of converting the analogue signal produced in the 31 3" PMTs into a Low Voltage Digital Signal.

Design of a smart ECG garment based on conductive textile electrode and flexible printed circuit board.

PubMed

Cai, Zhipeng; Luo, Kan; Liu, Chengyu; Li, Jianqing

2017-08-09

A smart electrocardiogram (ECG) garment system was designed for continuous, non-invasive and comfortable ECG monitoring, which mainly consists of four components: Conductive textile electrode, garment, flexible printed circuit board (FPCB)-based ECG processing module and android application program. Conductive textile electrode and FPCB-based ECG processing module (6.8 g, 55 mm × 53 mm × 5 mm) are identified as two key techniques to improve the system's comfort and flexibility. Preliminary experimental results verified that the textile electrodes with circle shape, 40 mm size in diameter, and 5 mm thickness sponge are best suited for the long-term ECG monitoring application. The tests on the whole system confirmed that the designed smart garment can obtain long-term ECG recordings with high signal quality.

Multicopter control with Navio using REX control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golembiovsky, Matej; Dedek, Jan; Ozana, Stepan

2017-06-01

This article deals with study of possible connection of the REXcontrols platform with Raspberry Pi based control system and Navio2 expansion board. This board is designed for development of autonomous robotic platforms type car, plane or multicopter. In this article, control system REXcontrols is introduced and its integration possibilities for control board Navio2 are discussed. The main discussed aspects are communication possibilities of the REXcontrols system with external scripts which further on allow control of this board. The main reasons for this undertaking are vast possibilities of archiving, visualization, signal processing and control which REXcontrols system allows. The control itself of the navio2 board is done through numerous interfaces. Specifically it is a pair of SPI data buses, an I2C data bus, UART and multiple GPIO pins. However, since REXcontrols control system has only limited access to these data buses, it is necessary to establish the communication through external scripts. For this purpose REXcontrols is equipped with mechanisms; SILO, EPC and REXLANG which are described in the article. Due to its simple implementation into REXcontrols and the option to utilize available libraries for communication with Navio2 board in external script, an EPC block was selected for the final implementation.

Technical Note: Asteroid Detection Demonstration from SkySat-3 - B612 Data Using Synthetic Tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhai, C.; Shao, M.; Lai, S.; Boerner, P.; Dyer, J.; Lu, E.; Reitsema, H.; Buie, M.

2018-01-01

We report results from analyzing the data taken by the sCMOS cameras on board of SkySat3 using the synthetic tracking technique. The analysis demonstrates the expected sensitivity improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio of the faint asteroids from properly stacking up the short exposure images in post-processing.

Optical printed circuit board (O-PCB) and VLSI photonic integrated circuits: visions, challenges, and progresses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, El-Hang; Lee, S. G.; O, B. H.; Park, S. G.; Noh, H. S.; Kim, K. H.; Song, S. H.

2006-09-01

A collective overview and review is presented on the original work conducted on the theory, design, fabrication, and in-tegration of micro/nano-scale optical wires and photonic devices for applications in a newly-conceived photonic systems called "optical printed circuit board" (O-PCBs) and "VLSI photonic integrated circuits" (VLSI-PIC). These are aimed for compact, high-speed, multi-functional, intelligent, light-weight, low-energy and environmentally friendly, low-cost, and high-volume applications to complement or surpass the capabilities of electrical PCBs (E-PCBs) and/or VLSI electronic integrated circuit (VLSI-IC) systems. These consist of 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional planar arrays of micro/nano-optical wires and circuits to perform the functions of all-optical sensing, storing, transporting, processing, switching, routing and distributing optical signals on flat modular boards or substrates. The integrated optical devices include micro/nano-scale waveguides, lasers, detectors, switches, sensors, directional couplers, multi-mode interference devices, ring-resonators, photonic crystal devices, plasmonic devices, and quantum devices, made of polymer, silicon and other semiconductor materials. For VLSI photonic integration, photonic crystals and plasmonic structures have been used. Scientific and technological issues concerning the processes of miniaturization, interconnection and integration of these systems as applicable to board-to-board, chip-to-chip, and intra-chip integration, are discussed along with applications for future computers, telecommunications, and sensor-systems. Visions and challenges toward these goals are also discussed.

Device for modular input high-speed multi-channel digitizing of electrical data

DOEpatents

VanDeusen, A.L.; Crist, C.E.

1995-09-26

A multi-channel high-speed digitizer module converts a plurality of analog signals to digital signals (digitizing) and stores the signals in a memory device. The analog input channels are digitized simultaneously at high speed with a relatively large number of on-board memory data points per channel. The module provides an automated calibration based upon a single voltage reference source. Low signal noise at such a high density and sample rate is accomplished by ensuring the A/D converters are clocked at the same point in the noise cycle each time so that synchronous noise sampling occurs. This sampling process, in conjunction with an automated calibration, yields signal noise levels well below the noise level present on the analog reference voltages. 1 fig.

A 16 channel discriminator VME board with enhanced triggering capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borsato, E.; Garfagnini, A.; Menon, G.

2012-08-01

Electronics and data acquisition systems used in small and large scale laboratories often have to handle analog signals with varying polarity, amplitude and duration which have to be digitized to be used as trigger signals to validate the acquired data. In the specific case of experiments dealing with ionizing radiation, ancillary particle detectors (for instance plastic scintillators or Resistive Plate Chambers) are used to trigger and select the impinging particles for the experiment. A novel approach using commercial LVDS line receivers as discriminator devices is presented. Such devices, with a proper calibration, can handle positive and negative analog signals in a wide dynamic range (from 20 mV to 800 mV signal amplitude). The clear advantages, with respect to conventional discriminator devices, are reduced costs, high reliability of a mature technology and the possibility of high integration scale. Moreover, commercial discriminator boards with positive input signal and a wide threshold swing are not available on the market. The present paper describes the design and characterization of a VME board capable to handle 16 differential or single-ended input channels. The output digital signals, available independently for each input, can be combined in the board into three independent trigger logic units which provide additional outputs for the end user.

Evaluation of the organisation and effectiveness of internal audits to govern patient safety in hospitals: a mixed-methods study

PubMed Central

van Gelderen, Saskia C; Zegers, Marieke; Boeijen, Wilma; Westert, Gert P; Robben, Paul B; Wollersheim, Hub C

2017-01-01

Objectives Hospital boards are legally responsible for safe healthcare. They need tools to assist them in their task of governing patient safety. Almost every Dutch hospital performs internal audits, but the effectiveness of these audits for hospital governance has never been evaluated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the organisation of internal audits and their effectiveness for hospitals boards to govern patient safety. Design and setting A mixed-methods study consisting of a questionnaire regarding the organisation of internal audits among all Dutch hospitals (n=89) and interviews with stakeholders regarding the audit process and experienced effectiveness of audits within six hospitals. Results Response rate of the questionnaire was 76% and 43 interviews were held. In every responding hospital, the internal audits followed the plan–do–check–act cycle. Every hospital used interviews, document analysis and site visits as input for the internal audit. Boards stated that effective aspects of internal audits were their multidisciplinary scope, their structured and in-depth approach, the usability to monitor improvement activities and to change hospital policy and the fact that results were used in meetings with staff and boards of supervisors. The qualitative methods (interviews and site visits) used in internal audits enable the identification of soft signals such as unsafe culture or communication and collaboration problems. Reported disadvantages were the low frequency of internal audits and the absence of soft signals in the actual audit reports. Conclusion This study shows that internal audits are regarded as effective for patient safety governance, as they help boards to identify patient safety problems, proactively steer patient safety and inform boards of supervisors on the status of patient safety. The description of the Dutch internal audits makes these audits replicable to other healthcare organisations in different settings, enabling hospital boards to complement their systems to govern patient safety. PMID:28698328

Optical interconnects for in-plane high-speed signal distribution at 10 Gb/s: Analysis and demonstration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Yin-Jung

With decreasing transistor size, increasing chip speed, and larger numbers of processors in a system, the performance of a module/system is being limited by the off-chip and off-module bandwidth-distance products. Optical links have moved from fiber-based long distance communications to the cabinet level of 1m--100m, and recently to the backplane-level (10cm--1m). Board-level inter-chip parallel optical interconnects have been demonstrated recently by researchers from Intel, IBM, Fujitsu, NTT and a few research groups in universities. However, the board-level signal/clock distribution function using optical interconnects, the lightwave circuits, the system design, a practically convenient integration scheme committed to the implementation of a system prototype have not been explored or carefully investigated. In this dissertation, the development of a board-level 1 x 4 optical-to-electrical signal distribution at 10Gb/s is presented. In contrast to other prototypes demonstrating board-level parallel optical interconnects that have been drawing much attention for the past decade, the optical link design for the high-speed signal broadcasting is even more complicated and the pitch between receivers could be varying as opposed to fixed-pitch design that has been widely-used in the parallel optical interconnects. New challenges for the board-level high-speed signal broadcasting include, but are not limited to, a new optical link design, a lightwave circuit as a distribution network, and a novel integration scheme that can be a complete radical departure from the traditional assembly method. One of the key building blocks in the lightwave circuit is the distribution network in which a 1 x 4 multimode interference (MMI) splitter is employed. MMI devices operating at high data rates are important in board-level optical interconnects and need to be characterized in the application of board-level signal broadcasting. To determine the speed limitations of MMI devices, the ultra-short pulse response of these devices is modeled based on the guided-mode theory incorporated with Fourier transform technique. For example, for 50 fs Gaussian input pulses into a 1 x 16 splitter, the output pulses are severely degraded in coupling efficiency (48%) and completely broken up in time primarily due to inter-modal and intra-modal (waveguide) dispersion. Material dispersion is found to play only a minor role in the pulse response of MMI devices. However, for 1ps input pulses into the same 1 x 16 splitter, the output pulses are only moderately degraded in coupling efficiency (86%) and only slightly degraded in shape. With the understanding of the necessary condition of the distortionless high-speed signal transmission through MMI devices, high-speed data transmission at 40Gb/s per channel with a total bandwidth of 320Gb/s for 8 output ports is demonstrated for the first time on a 1 x 8 photo-definable polymer-based MMI power splitter. The device is designed with multimode input/output waveguides of 10mum in width and 7.6mum in height for a better input coupling efficiency for which the high-speed testing demands. The eye diagrams are all clear and fully open with an extinction ratio of 10.1dB and a jitter of 1.65 ps. The transmission validity is further confirmed by the bit-error-rate testing at the pseudoramdom binary sequence of 27--1. The fabrication process developed lays the cornerstone of the integration scheme and system design for the prototype of hybrid interconnects. An important problem regarding the guided-mode attenuation associated with optical-interconnect-polymer waveguides fabricated on FR-4 printed-circuit boards is also quantified for the first time. On-board optical waveguides are receiving more attention recently from Fujitsu American Laboratory, IBM Watson Research Center, and Packaging Research Center here at Georgia Tech. This branch of research work is part of the effort in investigating, scientifically, the attenuation mechanism and the effects of the buffer layer thickness on board-level in-plane optical interconnects. The rigorous transmission-line network approach is used and the FR-4 substrate is treated as a long-period substrate grating. A quantitative metric for an appropriate matrix truncation is presented. The peaks of attenuation are shown to occur near the Bragg conditions that characterize the leaky-wave stop bands. For a typical 400mum period FR-4 substrate with an 8mum corrugation depth, a buffer layer thickness of about 40mum is found to be needed to make the attenuation negligibly small. An experimental prototype for on-board optical-to-electrical signal broadcasting operating at 10Gb/s per channel over an interconnect distance of 10cm is demonstrated. An improved 1 x 4 multimode interference (MMI) splitter at 1550nm with linearly-tapered output facet is heterogeneously integrated with four p-i-n photodetectors (PDs) on a Silicon (Si) bench. The Si bench itself is hybrid integrated onto an FR-4 printed-circuit board with four receiver channels. A novel fabrication/integration approach demonstrates the simultaneous alignment between the four waveguides and the four PDs during the MMI fabrication process. The entire system is fully functional at 10Gb/s.

A Vision for MSSP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mottershead, John E.

2015-05-01

MSSP is our journal. It developed out of the research community and in that sense is owned by us, its readers and authors. It was started by a small group, all international leaders in System Identification, Measurement and Signal Processing, Modal Analysis, Machine and Structural Diagnostics etc., several of whom still provide invaluable advice and guidance through their work on the Editorial Board. Most importantly, Simon's leadership for almost three decades has been inspirational, dedicated and energetic. So, it is a great honour for me to have been invited to assume the editorial leadership of MSSP and continue the work of serving a new generation of researchers in the broad and evolving field of Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing.

Methods for increasing noise immunity of radio electronic systems with redundancy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlov, P. E.; Medvedev, A. V.; Sharafutdinov, V. R.; Gazizov, T. R.; Ubaichin, A. V.

2018-05-01

The idea of increasing the noise immunity of radioelectronic systems with redundancy is presented. Specific technical solutions based on this idea of modal redundancy are described. An estimation of noise immunity improvement was performed by the example of implementation of modal redundancy with the broad-side electromagnetic coupling for a printed circuit board of the digital signal processing unit for an autonomous navigation system of a spacecraft. It is shown that the implementation of modal redundancy can provide an attenuation coefficient for the interference signal up to 12 dB.

Microwave Photonic Architecture for Direction Finding of LPI Emitters: Post-Processing for Angle of Arrival Estimation

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

mean- square (RMS) error of 0.29° at ə° resolution. For a P4 coded signal, the RMS error in estimating the AOA is 0.32° at 1° resolution. 14...FMCW signal, it was demonstrated that the system is capable of estimating the AOA with a root-mean- square (RMS) error of 0.29° at ə° resolution. For a...Modulator PCB printed circuit board PD photodetector RF radio frequency RMS root-mean- square xvi THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK xvii

GPU-accelerated algorithms for compressed signals recovery with application to astronomical imagery deblurring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiandrotti, Attilio; Fosson, Sophie M.; Ravazzi, Chiara; Magli, Enrico

2018-04-01

Compressive sensing promises to enable bandwidth-efficient on-board compression of astronomical data by lifting the encoding complexity from the source to the receiver. The signal is recovered off-line, exploiting GPUs parallel computation capabilities to speedup the reconstruction process. However, inherent GPU hardware constraints limit the size of the recoverable signal and the speedup practically achievable. In this work, we design parallel algorithms that exploit the properties of circulant matrices for efficient GPU-accelerated sparse signals recovery. Our approach reduces the memory requirements, allowing us to recover very large signals with limited memory. In addition, it achieves a tenfold signal recovery speedup thanks to ad-hoc parallelization of matrix-vector multiplications and matrix inversions. Finally, we practically demonstrate our algorithms in a typical application of circulant matrices: deblurring a sparse astronomical image in the compressed domain.

On-board computational efficiency in real time UAV embedded terrain reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Partsinevelos, Panagiotis; Agadakos, Ioannis; Athanasiou, Vasilis; Papaefstathiou, Ioannis; Mertikas, Stylianos; Kyritsis, Sarantis; Tripolitsiotis, Achilles; Zervos, Panagiotis

2014-05-01

In the last few years, there is a surge of applications for object recognition, interpretation and mapping using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Specifications in constructing those UAVs are highly diverse with contradictory characteristics including cost-efficiency, carrying weight, flight time, mapping precision, real time processing capabilities, etc. In this work, a hexacopter UAV is employed for near real time terrain mapping. The main challenge addressed is to retain a low cost flying platform with real time processing capabilities. The UAV weight limitation affecting the overall flight time, makes the selection of the on-board processing components particularly critical. On the other hand, surface reconstruction, as a computational demanding task, calls for a highly demanding processing unit on board. To merge these two contradicting aspects along with customized development, a System on a Chip (SoC) integrated circuit is proposed as a low-power, low-cost processor, which natively supports camera sensors and positioning and navigation systems. Modern SoCs, such as Omap3530 or Zynq, are classified as heterogeneous devices and provide a versatile platform, allowing access to both general purpose processors, such as the ARM11, as well as specialized processors, such as a digital signal processor and floating field-programmable gate array. A UAV equipped with the proposed embedded processors, allows on-board terrain reconstruction using stereo vision in near real time. Furthermore, according to the frame rate required, additional image processing may concurrently take place, such as image rectification andobject detection. Lastly, the onboard positioning and navigation (e.g., GNSS) chip may further improve the quality of the generated map. The resulting terrain maps are compared to ground truth geodetic measurements in order to access the accuracy limitations of the overall process. It is shown that with our proposed novel system,there is much potential in computational efficiency on board and in optimized time constraints.

Multi-channel imaging cytometry with a single detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Locknar, Sarah; Barton, John; Entwistle, Mark; Carver, Gary; Johnson, Robert

2018-02-01

Multi-channel microscopy and multi-channel flow cytometry generate high bit data streams. Multiple channels (both spectral and spatial) are important in diagnosing diseased tissue and identifying individual cells. Omega Optical has developed techniques for mapping multiple channels into the time domain for detection by a single high gain, high bandwidth detector. This approach is based on pulsed laser excitation and a serial array of optical fibers coated with spectral reflectors such that up to 15 wavelength bins are sequentially detected by a single-element detector within 2.5 μs. Our multichannel microscopy system uses firmware running on dedicated DSP and FPGA chips to synchronize the laser, scanning mirrors, and sampling clock. The signals are digitized by an NI board into 14 bits at 60MHz - allowing for 232 by 174 pixel fields in up to 15 channels with 10x over sampling. Our multi-channel imaging cytometry design adds channels for forward scattering and back scattering to the fluorescence spectral channels. All channels are detected within the 2.5 μs - which is compatible with fast cytometry. Going forward, we plan to digitize at 16 bits with an A-toD chip attached to a custom board. Processing these digital signals in custom firmware would allow an on-board graphics processing unit to display imaging flow cytometry data over configurable scanning line lengths. The scatter channels can be used to trigger data buffering when a cell is present in the beam. This approach enables a low cost mechanically robust imaging cytometer.

First Tests of a New Fast Waveform Digitizer for PMT Signal Read-out from Liquid Argon Dark Matter Detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szelc, A. M.; Canci, N.; Cavanna, F.; Cortopassi, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Mini, G.; Pietropaolo, F.; Romboli, A.; Segreto, E.; Acciarri, R.

A new generation Waveform Digitizer board as been recently made available on the market by CAEN. The new board CAEN V1751 with 8 Channels per board, 10 bit, 1 GS/s Flash ADC Waveform Digitizer (or 4 channel, 10 bit, 2 GS/s Flash ADC Waveform Digitizer -Dual Edge Sampling mode) with threshold and Auto-Trigger capabilities provides an ideal (relatively low-cost) solution for reading signals from liquid Argon detectors for Dark Matter search equipped with an array of PMTs for the detection of scintillation light. The board was extensively used in real experimental conditions to test its usefulness for possible future uses and to compare it with a state of the art digital oscilloscope. As results, PMT Signal sampling at 1 or 2 GS/s is appropriate for the reconstruction of the fast component of the signal scintillation in Argon (characteristic time of about 4 ns) and the extended dynamic range, after a small customization, allows for the detection of signals in the range of energy needed. The bandwidth is found to be adequate and the intrinsic noise is very low.

Physically separating printed circuit boards with a resilient, conductive contact

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baker, John D. (Inventor); Montalvo, Alberto (Inventor)

1999-01-01

A multi-board module provides high density electronic packaging in which multiple printed circuit boards are stacked. Electrical power, or signals, are conducted between the boards through a resilient contact. One end of the contact is located at a via in the lower circuit board and soldered to a pad near the via. The top surface of the contact rests against a via of the facing printed circuit board.

Development of a frequency-modulated ultrasonic sensor inspired by bat echolocation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kepa, Krzysztof; Abaid, Nicole

2015-03-01

Bats have evolved to sense using ultrasonic signals with a variety of different frequency signatures which interact with their environment. Among these signals, those with time-varying frequencies may enable the animals to gather more complex information for obstacle avoidance and target tracking. Taking inspiration from this system, we present the development of a sonar sensor capable of generating frequency-modulated ultrasonic signals. The device is based on a miniature mobile computer, with on board data capture and processing capabilities, which is designed for eventual autonomous operation in a robotic swarm. The hardware and software components of the sensor are detailed, as well their integration. Preliminary results for target detection using both frequency-modulated and constant frequency signals are discussed.

The Systems Engineering Design of a Smart Forward Operating Base Surveillance System for Forward Operating Base Protection

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-06-01

fixed sensors located along the perimeter of the FOB. The video is analyzed for facial recognition to alert the Network Operations Center (NOC...the UAV is processed on board for facial recognition and video for behavior analysis is sent directly to the Network Operations Center (NOC). Video...captured by the fixed sensors are sent directly to the NOC for facial recognition and behavior analysis processing. The multi- directional signal

Experimental validation of A-mode ultrasound acquisition system for computer assisted orthopaedic surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Lorenzo, Danilo; De Momi, Elena; Beretta, Elisa; Cerveri, Pietro; Perona, Franco; Ferrigno, Giancarlo

2009-02-01

Computer Assisted Orthopaedic Surgery (CAOS) systems improve the results and the standardization of surgical interventions. Anatomical landmarks and bone surface detection is straightforward to either register the surgical space with the pre-operative imaging space and to compute biomechanical parameters for prosthesis alignment. Surface points acquisition increases the intervention invasiveness and can be influenced by the soft tissue layer interposition (7-15mm localization errors). This study is aimed at evaluating the accuracy of a custom-made A-mode ultrasound (US) system for non invasive detection of anatomical landmarks and surfaces. A-mode solutions eliminate the necessity of US images segmentation, offers real-time signal processing and requires less invasive equipment. The system consists in a single transducer US probe optically tracked, a pulser/receiver and an FPGA-based board, which is responsible for logic control command generation and for real-time signal processing and three custom-made board (signal acquisition, blanking and synchronization). We propose a new calibration method of the US system. The experimental validation was then performed measuring the length of known-shape polymethylmethacrylate boxes filled with pure water and acquiring bone surface points on a bovine bone phantom covered with soft-tissue mimicking materials. Measurement errors were computed through MR and CT images acquisitions of the phantom. Points acquisition on bone surface with the US system demonstrated lower errors (1.2mm) than standard pointer acquisition (4.2mm).

Experimental industrial signal acquisition board in a large scientific device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Xiangzhen; Ren, Bin

2018-02-01

In order to measure the industrial signal of neutrino experiment, a set of general-purpose industrial data acquisition board has been designed. It includes the function of switch signal input and output, and the function of analog signal input. The main components are signal isolation amplifier and filter circuit, ADC circuit, microcomputer systems and isolated communication interface circuit. Through the practical experiments, it shows that the system is flexible, reliable, convenient and economical, and the system has characters of high definition and strong anti-interference ability. Thus, the system fully meets the design requirements.

Digital Front End for Wide-Band VLBI Science Receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jongeling, Andre; Sigman, Elliott; Navarro, Robert; Goodhart, Charles; Rogstad, Steve; Chandra, Kumar; Finley, Sue; Trinh, Joseph; Soriano, Melissa; White, Les;

Plastic Scintillator Based Detector for Observations of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barghi, M. R., Sr.; Delaney, N.; Forouzani, A.; Wells, E.; Parab, A.; Smith, D.; Martinez, F.; Bowers, G. S.; Sample, J.

2017-12-01

We present an overview of the concept and design of the Light and Fast TGF Recorder (LAFTR), a balloon borne gamma-ray detector designed to observe Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes (TGFs). Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes (TGFs) are extremely bright, sub-millisecond bursts of gamma-rays observed to originate inside thunderclouds coincident with lightning. LAFTR is joint institutional project built by undergraduates at the University of California Santa Cruz and Montana State University. It consists of a detector system fed into analog front-end electronics and digital processing. The presentation focuses specifically on the UCSC components, which consists of the detector system and analog front-end electronics. Because of the extremely high count rates observed during TGFs, speed is essential for both the detector and electronics of the instrument. The detector employs a fast plastic scintillator (BC-408) read out by a SensL Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM). BC-408 is chosen for its speed ( 4 ns decay time) and low cost and availability. Furthermore, GEANT3 simulations confirm the scintillator is sensitive to 500 counts at 7 km horizontal distance from the TGF source (for a 13 km source altitude and 26 km balloon altitude) and to 5 counts out to 20 km. The signal from the SiPM has a long exponential decay tail and is sent to a custom shaping circuit board that amplifies and shapes the signal into a semi-Gaussian pulse with a 40 ns FWHM. The signal is then input to a 6-channel discriminator board that clamps the signal and outputs a Low Voltage Differential Signal (LVDS) for processing by the digital electronics.

Developments of FPGA-based digital back-ends for low frequency antenna arrays at Medicina radio telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naldi, G.; Bartolini, M.; Mattana, A.; Pupillo, G.; Hickish, J.; Foster, G.; Bianchi, G.; Lingua, A.; Monari, J.; Montebugnoli, S.; Perini, F.; Rusticelli, S.; Schiaffino, M.; Virone, G.; Zarb Adami, K.

In radio astronomy Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology is largely used for the implementation of digital signal processing techniques applied to antenna arrays. This is mainly due to the good trade-off among computing resources, power consumption and cost offered by FPGA chip compared to other technologies like ASIC, GPU and CPU. In the last years several digital backend systems based on such devices have been developed at the Medicina radio astronomical station (INAF-IRA, Bologna, Italy). Instruments like FX correlator, direct imager, beamformer, multi-beam system have been successfully designed and realized on CASPER (Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research, https://casper.berkeley.edu) processing boards. In this paper we present the gained experience in this kind of applications.

Design of the Trigger Interface and Distribution Board for CEBAF 12 GeV Upgrade

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gu, Jianhui; Dong, Hai; Cuevas, R

The design of the Trigger Interface and Distribution (TID) board for the 12 GeV Upgrade at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at TJNAL is described. The TID board distributes a low jitter system clock, synchronized trigger, and synchronized multi-purpose SYNC signal. The TID also initiates data acquisition for the crate. With the TID boards, a multi-crate system can be setup for experiment test and commissioning. The TID board can be selectively populated as a Trigger Interface (TI) board, or a Trigger Distribution (TD) board for the 12 GeV upgrade experiments. When the TID is populated as a TI,more » it can be located in the VXS crate and distribute the CLOCK/TRIGGER/SYNC through the VXS P0 connector; it can also be located in the standard VME64 crate, and distribute the CLOCK/TRIGGER/SYNC through the VME P2 connector or front panel. It initiates the data acquisition for the front crate where the TI is positioned in. When the TID is populated as a TD, it fans out the CLOCK/TRIGGER/SYNC from trigger supervisor to the front end crates through optical fibres. The TD monitors the trigger processing on the TIs, and gives feedback to the TS for trigger flow control. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) is utilised on TID board to provide programmability. The TID boards were intensively tested on the bench, and various setups.« less

Automated Design of Board and MCM Level Digital Systems.

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-10-01

Partitioning for Multicomponent Synthesis 159 Appendix K: Resource Constrained RTL Partitioning for Synthesis of Multi- FPGA Designs 169 Appendix L...digital signal processing) ar- chitectures. These target architectures, illustrated in Figure 1, can contain application-specific ASICS, FPGAs ...synthesis tools for ASIC, FPGA and MCM synthesis (Figure 8). Multicomponent Partitioning Engine The par- titioning engine is a hierarchical partitioning

A digital-receiver for the MurchisonWidefield Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prabu, Thiagaraj; Srivani, K. S.; Roshi, D. Anish; Kamini, P. A.; Madhavi, S.; Emrich, David; Crosse, Brian; Williams, Andrew J.; Waterson, Mark; Deshpande, Avinash A.; Shankar, N. Udaya; Subrahmanyan, Ravi; Briggs, Frank H.; Goeke, Robert F.; Tingay, Steven J.; Johnston-Hollitt, Melanie; R, Gopalakrishna M.; Morgan, Edward H.; Pathikulangara, Joseph; Bunton, John D.; Hampson, Grant; Williams, Christopher; Ord, Stephen M.; Wayth, Randall B.; Kumar, Deepak; Morales, Miguel F.; deSouza, Ludi; Kratzenberg, Eric; Pallot, D.; McWhirter, Russell; Hazelton, Bryna J.; Arcus, Wayne; Barnes, David G.; Bernardi, Gianni; Booler, T.; Bowman, Judd D.; Cappallo, Roger J.; Corey, Brian E.; Greenhill, Lincoln J.; Herne, David; Hewitt, Jacqueline N.; Kaplan, David L.; Kasper, Justin C.; Kincaid, Barton B.; Koenig, Ronald; Lonsdale, Colin J.; Lynch, Mervyn J.; Mitchell, Daniel A.; Oberoi, Divya; Remillard, Ronald A.; Rogers, Alan E.; Salah, Joseph E.; Sault, Robert J.; Stevens, Jamie B.; Tremblay, S.; Webster, Rachel L.; Whitney, Alan R.; Wyithe, Stuart B.

2015-03-01

An FPGA-based digital-receiver has been developed for a low-frequency imaging radio interferometer, the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The MWA, located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) in Western Australia, consists of 128 dual-polarized aperture-array elements (tiles) operating between 80 and 300 MHz, with a total processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for each polarization. Radio-frequency signals from the tiles are amplified and band limited using analog signal conditioning units; sampled and channelized by digital-receivers. The signals from eight tiles are processed by a single digital-receiver, thus requiring 16 digital-receivers for the MWA. The main function of the digital-receivers is to digitize the broad-band signals from each tile, channelize them to form the sky-band, and transport it through optical fibers to a centrally located correlator for further processing. The digital-receiver firmware also implements functions to measure the signal power, perform power equalization across the band, detect interference-like events, and invoke diagnostic modes. The digital-receiver is controlled by high-level programs running on a single-board-computer. This paper presents the digital-receiver design, implementation, current status, and plans for future enhancements.

Laser Scanner For Automatic Inspection Of Printed Wiring Boards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geise, Philip; George, Eugene; Freese, Fritz; Brown, Robert; Ruwe, Victor

1980-11-01

An, Instrument is described which inspects unpopulated, populated (components onserted and leads clinched), and soldered printed wiring boards for correct hole location, component presence, correct lead clinch direction and solder bridges. The instrument consists of a low power heliumneon laser, an x-y moving iron galvanometer scanner and several folding mirros. A unique shadow signature is detected by silicon photodiodes located at the optium geometry to allow rapid and reliable detection of components with correctly clinched leads. A reflective glint screen is utilized to inspect for a solder bridges. The detected signal are processed and evaluated by a minocomputer which also controls the scan inspection rate of at least 25 components or 50 components holes per second. The return of investment on this instrument for high volume production of printed wirind boards is less than one yea and only slightly longer for medium run military application.

All-digital multicarrier demodulators for on-board processing satellites in mobile communication systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yim, Wan Hung

Economical operation of future satellite systems for mobile communications can only be fulfilled by using dedicated on-board processing satellites, which would allow both cheap earth terminals and lower space segment costs. With on-board modems and codecs, the up-link and down-link can be optimized separately. An attractive scheme is to use frequency-division multiple access/single chanel per carrier (FDMA/SCPC) on the up-link and time division multiplexing (TDM) on the down-link. This scheme allows mobile terminals to transmit a narrow band, low power signal, resulting in smaller dishes and high power amplifiers (HPA's) with lower output power. On the up-link, there are hundreds to thousands of FDM channels to be demodulated on-board. The most promising approach is the use of all-digital multicarrier demodulators (MCD's), where analog and digital hardware are efficiently shared among channels, and digital signal processing (DSP) is used at an early stage to take advantage of very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation. A MCD consists of a channellizer for separation of frequency division multiplexing (FDM) channels, followed by individual modulators for each channel. Major research areas in MCD's are in multirate DSP, and the optimal estimation for synchronization, which form the basis of the thesis. Complex signal theories are central to the development of structured approaches for the sampling and processing of bandpass signals, which are the foundations in both channellizer and demodulator design. In multirate DSP, polyphase theories replace many ad-hoc, tedious and error-prone design procedures. For example, a polyphase-matrix deep space network frequency and timing system (DFT) channellizer includes all efficient filter bank techniques as special cases. Also, a polyphase-lattice filter is derived, not only for sampling rate conversion, but also capable of sampling phase variation, which is required for symbol timing adjustment in all-digital demodulators. In modulation schemes, a systematic survey is reported, based on two expressions that includes all formats in linear and constant envelope modulation. In synchronization techniques, classifications according to the criterion of statistical optimization, the data dependecy, and the method of parameter extraction, reflect the inherent complexity and performance of numerous existing algorithms. The designs of two new algorithms are presented: a differential decision frequency error detector that is simple and fast; a dual-comb-filter frequency/timing error detector that is targeted at VLSI implementation. The real-time implementation of a complete 4 x 16 kb/s MCD for the T-SAT project is described in detail, which proved many of the structured design concepts developed in this thesis. The requirements of software tools for various levels of simulation in multirate DSP and communications are analyzed. This led to the implementation of a data-flow oriented simulation system, which was used in all research work in the thesis.

High-Speed Isolation Board for Flight Hardware Testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yamamoto, Clifford K.; Goodpasture, Richard L.

2011-01-01

There is a need to provide a portable and cost-effective galvanic isolation between ground support equipment and flight hardware such that any unforeseen voltage differential between ground and power supplies is eliminated. An interface board was designed for use between the ground support equipment and the flight hardware that electrically isolates all input and output signals and faithfully reproduces them on each side of the interface. It utilizes highly integrated multi-channel isolating devices to minimize size and reduce assembly time. This single-board solution provides appropriate connector hardware and breakout of required flight signals to individual connectors as needed for various ground support equipment. The board utilizes multi-channel integrated circuits that contain transformer coupling, thereby allowing input and output signals to be isolated from one another while still providing high-fidelity reproduction of the signal up to 90 MHz. The board also takes in a single-voltage power supply input from the ground support equipment and in turn provides a transformer-derived isolated voltage supply to power the portion of the circuitry that is electrically connected to the flight hardware. Prior designs used expensive opto-isolated couplers that were required for each signal to isolate and were time-consuming to assemble. In addition, these earlier designs were bulky and required a 2U rack-mount enclosure. The new design is smaller than a piece of 8.5 11-in. (.22 28-mm) paper and can be easily hand-carried where needed. The flight hardware in question is based on a lineage of existing software-defined radios (SDRs) that utilize a common interface connector with many similar input-output signals present. There are currently four to five variations of this SDR, and more upcoming versions are planned based on the more recent design.

Possibility of deriving the Hermean surface composition through low energy neutral atom detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milillo, A.; Orsini, S.; Massetti, S.; Mura, A.; de Angelis, E.; Lammer, H.; Wurz, P.; di Lellis, A. M.

2003-04-01

The release processes induced by ion sputtering and/or micrometeoroids impacts induces erosion of the Mercury surface. The sputtered neutrals exhibit spectra peaked at low energies (few eV). Nevertheless, a high-energy neutral signal also emerges, due to these release processes. In principle, the directional neutral signal can be detected, providing information on the local surface composition. In this study, we simulate the neutral signal due to ion sputtering below the cusp regions, assuming a highly anisotropic surface composition. The NPA SERENA / ELENA instrument proposed on board the ESA mission BepiColombo is a nadir-pointing 1-D sensor, able to detect neutral atoms, form tens of eV to about 5 keV with a capability of resolving the major species. The ELENA field-of-view (FOV) is ~ 60 degrees, with the FOV plane perpendicular to the MPO orbital plane. Here, we speculate on the possibility of discriminating composition anisotropies by detecting the high-energy portion of the sputtered signal.

Development of a hardware-in-loop attitude control simulator for a CubeSat satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tapsawat, Wittawat; Sangpet, Teerawat; Kuntanapreeda, Suwat

2018-01-01

Attitude control is an important part in satellite on-orbit operation. It greatly affects the performance of satellites. Testing of an attitude determination and control subsystem (ADCS) is very challenging since it might require attitude dynamics and space environment in the orbit. This paper develops a low-cost hardware-in-loop (HIL) simulator for testing an ADCS of a CubeSat satellite. The simulator consists of a numerical simulation part, a hardware part, and a HIL interface hardware unit. The numerical simulation part includes orbital dynamics, attitude dynamics and Earth’s magnetic field. The hardware part is the real ADCS board of the satellite. The simulation part outputs satellite’s angular velocity and geomagnetic field information to the HIL interface hardware. Then, based on this information, the HIL interface hardware generates I2C signals mimicking the signals of the on-board rate-gyros and magnetometers and consequently outputs the signals to the ADCS board. The ADCS board reads the rate-gyro and magnetometer signals, calculates control signals, and drives the attitude actuators which are three magnetic torquers (MTQs). The responses of the MTQs sensed by a separated magnetometer are feedback to the numerical simulation part completing the HIL simulation loop. Experimental studies are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the simulator.

Synchronized operation by field programmable gate array based signal controller for the Thomson scattering diagnostic system in KSTAR.

PubMed

Lee, W R; Kim, H S; Park, M K; Lee, J H; Kim, K H

2012-09-01

The Thomson scattering diagnostic system is successfully installed in the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) facility. We got the electron temperature and electron density data for the first time in 2011, 4th campaign using a field programmable gate array (FPGA) based signal control board. It operates as a signal generator, a detector, a controller, and a time measuring device. This board produces two configurable trigger pulses to operate Nd:YAG laser system and receives a laser beam detection signal from a photodiode detector. It allows a trigger pulse to be delivered to a time delay module to make a scattered signal measurement, measuring an asynchronous time value between the KSTAR timing board and the laser system injection signal. All functions are controlled by the embedded processor running on operating system within a single FPGA. It provides Ethernet communication interface and is configured with standard middleware to integrate with KSTAR. This controller has operated for two experimental campaigns including commissioning and performed the reconfiguration of logic designs to accommodate varying experimental situation without hardware rebuilding.

Design of micro-ring optical sensors and circuits for integration on optical printed circuit boards (O-PCBs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, El-Hang; Lee, Hyun S.; Lee, S. G.; O, B. H.; Park, S. G.; Kim, K. H.

2007-05-01

We report on the design of micro-ring resonator optical sensors for integration on what we call optical printed circuit boards (O-PCBs). The objective is to realize application-specific O-PCBs, either on hard board or on flexible board, by integrating micro/nano-scale optical sensors for compact, light-weight, low-energy, high-speed, intelligent, and environmentally friendly processing of information. The O-PCBs consist of two-dimensional planar arrays of micro/nano-scale optical wires, circuits and devices that are interconnected and integrated to perform the functions of sensing and then storing, transporting, processing, switching, routing and distributing optical signals that have been collected by means of sensors. For fabrication, the polymer and organic optical wires and waveguides are first fabricated on a board and are used to interconnect and integrate sensors and other micro/ nano-scale photonic devices. Here, in our study, we focus on the sensors based on the micro-ring structures. We designed bio-sensors using silicon based micro-ring resonator. We investigate the characteristics such as sensitivity and selectivity (or quality factor) of micro-ring resonator for their use in bio-sensing application. We performed simulation studies on the quality factor of micro-ring resonators by varying the radius of the ring resonators and the separation between adjacent waveguides. We introduce the effective coupling coefficient as a realistic value to describe the strength of the coupling in micro-ring resonators.

On Certain New Methodology for Reducing Sensor and Readout Electronics Circuitry Noise in Digital Domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kizhner, Semion; Miko, Joseph; Bradley, Damon; Heinzen, Katherine

2008-01-01

NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and upcoming cosmology science missions carry instruments with multiple focal planes populated with many large sensor detector arrays. These sensors are passively cooled to low temperatures for low-level light (L3) and near-infrared (NIR) signal detection, and the sensor readout electronics circuitry must perform at extremely low noise levels to enable new required science measurements. Because we are at the technological edge of enhanced performance for sensors and readout electronics circuitry, as determined by thermal noise level at given temperature in analog domain, we must find new ways of further compensating for the noise in the signal digital domain. To facilitate this new approach, state-of-the-art sensors are augmented at their array hardware boundaries by non-illuminated reference pixels, which can be used to reduce noise attributed to sensors. There are a few proposed methodologies of processing in the digital domain the information carried by reference pixels, as employed by the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope Projects. These methods involve using spatial and temporal statistical parameters derived from boundary reference pixel information to enhance the active (non-reference) pixel signals. To make a step beyond this heritage methodology, we apply the NASA-developed technology known as the Hilbert- Huang Transform Data Processing System (HHT-DPS) for reference pixel information processing and its utilization in reconfigurable hardware on-board a spaceflight instrument or post-processing on the ground. The methodology examines signal processing for a 2-D domain, in which high-variance components of the thermal noise are carried by both active and reference pixels, similar to that in processing of low-voltage differential signals and subtraction of a single analog reference pixel from all active pixels on the sensor. Heritage methods using the aforementioned statistical parameters in the digital domain (such as statistical averaging of the reference pixels themselves) zeroes out the high-variance components, and the counterpart components in the active pixels remain uncorrected. This paper describes how the new methodology was demonstrated through analysis of fast-varying noise components using the Hilbert-Huang Transform Data Processing System tool (HHT-DPS) developed at NASA and the high-level programming language MATLAB (Trademark of MathWorks Inc.), as well as alternative methods for correcting for the high-variance noise component, using an HgCdTe sensor data. The NASA Hubble Space Telescope data post-processing, as well as future deep-space cosmology projects on-board instrument data processing from all the sensor channels, would benefit from this effort.

A bunch to bucket phase detector for the RHIC LLRF upgrade platform

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Smith, K.S.; Harvey, M.; Hayes, T.

2011-03-28

As part of the overall development effort for the RHIC LLRF Upgrade Platform [1,2,3], a generic four channel 16 bit Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) daughter module was developed to provide high speed, wide dynamic range digitizing and processing of signals from DC to several hundred megahertz. The first operational use of this card was to implement the bunch to bucket phase detector for the RHIC LLRF beam control feedback loops. This paper will describe the design and performance features of this daughter module as a bunch to bucket phase detector, and also provide an overview of its place within the overallmore » LLRF platform architecture as a high performance digitizer and signal processing module suitable to a variety of applications. In modern digital control and signal processing systems, ADCs provide the interface between the analog and digital signal domains. Once digitized, signals are then typically processed using algorithms implemented in field programmable gate array (FPGA) logic, general purpose processors (GPPs), digital signal processors (DSPs) or a combination of these. For the recently developed and commissioned RHIC LLRF Upgrade Platform, we've developed a four channel ADC daughter module based on the Linear Technology LTC2209 16 bit, 160 MSPS ADC and the Xilinx V5FX70T FPGA. The module is designed to be relatively generic in application, and with minimal analog filtering on board, is capable of processing signals from DC to 500 MHz or more. The module's first application was to implement the bunch to bucket phase detector (BTB-PD) for the RHIC LLRF system. The same module also provides DC digitizing of analog processed BPM signals used by the LLRF system for radial feedback.« less

FPGA Flash Memory High Speed Data Acquisition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonzalez, April

2013-01-01

The purpose of this research is to design and implement a VHDL ONFI Controller module for a Modular Instrumentation System. The goal of the Modular Instrumentation System will be to have a low power device that will store data and send the data at a low speed to a processor. The benefit of such a system will give an advantage over other purchased binary IP due to the capability of allowing NASA to re-use and modify the memory controller module. To accomplish the performance criteria of a low power system, an in house auxiliary board (Flash/ADC board), FPGA development kit, debug board, and modular instrumentation board will be jointly used for the data acquisition. The Flash/ADC board contains four, 1 MSPS, input channel signals and an Open NAND Flash memory module with an analog to digital converter. The ADC, data bits, and control line signals from the board are sent to an Microsemi/Actel FPGA development kit for VHDL programming of the flash memory WRITE, READ, READ STATUS, ERASE, and RESET operation waveforms using Libero software. The debug board will be used for verification of the analog input signal and be able to communicate via serial interface with the module instrumentation. The scope of the new controller module was to find and develop an ONFI controller with the debug board layout designed and completed for manufacture. Successful flash memory operation waveform test routines were completed, simulated, and tested to work on the FPGA board. Through connection of the Flash/ADC board with the FPGA, it was found that the device specifications were not being meet with Vdd reaching half of its voltage. Further testing showed that it was the manufactured Flash/ADC board that contained a misalignment with the ONFI memory module traces. The errors proved to be too great to fix in the time limit set for the project.

Considering chance in quality and safety performance measures: an analysis of performance reports by boards in English NHS trusts.

PubMed

Schmidtke, Kelly Ann; Poots, Alan J; Carpio, Juan; Vlaev, Ivo; Kandala, Ngianga-Bakwin; Lilford, Richard J

2017-01-01

Hospital board members are asked to consider large amounts of quality and safety data with a duty to act on signals of poor performance. However, in order to do so it is necessary to distinguish signals from noise (chance). This article investigates whether data in English National Health Service (NHS) acute care hospital board papers are presented in a way that helps board members consider the role of chance in their decisions. Thirty English NHS trusts were selected at random and their board papers retrieved. Charts depicting quality and safety were identified. Categorical discriminations were then performed to document the methods used to present quality and safety data in board papers, with particular attention given to whether and how the charts depicted the role of chance, that is, by including control lines or error bars. Thirty board papers, containing a total of 1488 charts, were sampled. Only 88 (6%) of these charts depicted the role of chance, and only 17 of the 30 board papers included any charts depicting the role of chance. Of the 88 charts that attempted to represent the role of chance, 16 included error bars and 72 included control lines. Only 6 (8%) of the 72 control charts indicated where the control lines had been set (eg, 2 vs 3 SDs). Hospital board members are expected to consider large amounts of information. Control charts can help board members distinguish signals from noise, but often boards are not using them. We discuss demand-side and supply-side barriers that could be overcome to increase use of control charts in healthcare. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Reducing Printed Circuit Board Emissions with Low-Noise Design Practices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bradley, Arthur T.; Fowler, Jennifer; Yavoich, Brian J.; Jennings, Stephen A.

2012-01-01

This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to determine the effectiveness of adopting several low-noise printed circuit board (PCB) design practices. Two boards were designed and fabricated, each consisting of identical mixed signal circuitry. Several important differences were introduced between the board layouts: one board was constructed using recommended low-noise practices and the other constructed without such attention. The emissions from the two boards were then measured and compared, demonstrating an improvement in radiated emissions of up to 22 dB.

Concepts for on-board satellite image registration. Volume 2: IAS prototype performance evaluation standard definition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daluge, D. R.; Ruedger, W. H.

1981-06-01

Problems encountered in testing onboard signal processing hardware designed to achieve radiometric and geometric correction of satellite imaging data are considered. These include obtaining representative image and ancillary data for simulation and the transfer and storage of a large quantity of image data at very high speed. The high resolution, high speed preprocessing of LANDSAT-D imagery is considered.

A portable telescope based on the ALIBAVA system for test beam studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernabeu, J.; Casse, G.; Garcia, C.; Greenall, A.; Lacasta, C.; Lozano, M.; Marti-Garcia, S.; Pellegrini, G.; Rodriguez, J.; Ullan, M.; Tsurin, I.

2013-12-01

A test beam telescope has been built using the ALIBAVA system to drive its data acquisition. The basic telescope planes consist of four XYT stations. Each station is built from a detector board with two strip sensors, mounted one in each side (strips crossing at 90°). The ensemble is coupled to an ALIBAVA daughter board. These stations act as reference frame and allow a precise track reconstruction. The system is triggered by the coincidence signal of the two scintillators located up and down stream. The telescope can hold several devices under tests. Each ALIBAVA daughter board is linked to its corresponding mother board. The system can hold up to 16 mother boards. A master board synchronizes and controls all the mother boards and collects their data. The off-line analysis software has been developed to study the charge collection, cluster width, tracking efficiency, resolution, etc., of the devices under test. Moreover, the built-in ALIBAVA TDC allows the analysis of the time profile of the device signal. The ALIBAVA telescope has been successfully operated in two test runs at the DESY and CERN-SPS beam lines.

Dynamically Timed Electric Motor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Casper, Ann M. (Inventor)

1997-01-01

A brushless DC motor including a housing having an end cap secured thereto. The housing encloses a rotor. a stator and a rotationally displaceable commutation board having sensors secured thereon and spaced around the periphery of the rotor. An external rotational force is applied to the commutation board for displacement of the sensors to various positions whereby varying feedback signals are generated by the positioning of the sensors relative to the rotating rotor. The commutation board is secured in a fixed position in response to feedback signals indicative of optimum sensor position being determined. The rotation of the commutation board and the securing of the sensors in the desired fixed position is accomplished without requiring the removal of the end cap and with the DC motor operating.

Performance of the Low-Jitter High-Gain/Bandwidth Front-End Electronics of the HADES tRPC Wall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belver, Daniel; Cabanelas, P.; Castro, E.; Garzon, J. A.; Gil, A.; Gonzalez-Diaz, D.; Koenig, W.; Traxler, M.

2010-10-01

A front-end electronics (FEE) chain for accurate time measurements has been developed for the new Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC)-based Time-of-Flight (TOF) wall of the High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES). The wall covers an area of around 8 m2, divided in 6 sectors. In total, 1122 4-gap timing RPC cells are read-out by 2244 time and charge sensitive channels. The FEE chain consists of 2 custom-made boards: a 4-channel DaughterBOard (DBO) and a 32-channel MotherBOard (MBO). The DBO uses a fast 2 GHz amplifier feeding a dual high-speed discriminator. The time and charge information are encoded, respectively, in the leading edge and the width of an LVDS signal. Each MBO houses up to 8 DBOs providing them regulated voltage supply, threshold values via DACs, test signals and, additionally, routing out a signal proportional to the channel multiplicity needed for a 1st level trigger decision. The MBO delivers LVDS signals to a multi-purpose Trigger Readout Board (TRB) for data acquisition. The FEE allows achieving a system resolution around 75 ps fulfilling comfortably the requirements of the HADES upgrade .

Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Advancement of the MSPI On-Board Processing Platform for the ACE Decadal Survey Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pingree, Paula J.; Werne, Thomas A.; Bekker, Dmitriy L.; Wilson, Thor O.

2011-01-01

The Xilinx Virtex-5QV is a new Single-event Immune Reconfigurable FPGA (SIRF) device that is targeted as the spaceborne processor for the NASA Decadal Survey Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission's Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (MSPI) instrument, currently under development at JPL. A key technology needed for MSPI is on-board processing (OBP) to calculate polarimetry data as imaged by each of the 9 cameras forming the instrument. With funding from NASA's ESTO1 AIST2 Program, JPL is demonstrating how signal data at 95 Mbytes/sec over 16 channels for each of the 9 multi-angle cameras can be reduced to 0.45 Mbytes/sec, thereby substantially reducing the image data volume for spacecraft downlink without loss of science information. This is done via a least-squares fitting algorithm implemented on the Virtex-5 FPGA operating in real-time on the raw video data stream.

Satellite analog FDMA/FM to digital TDMA conversion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Driggers, T.; Nguyen, T.; Kolavennu, V.

1987-01-01

The results of a study which investigated design issues regarding the use of analog to digital (A/D) conversion on board a satellite are presented. The need for A/D, and of course D/A as well, conversion arose from a satellite design which required analog FDMA/FM up and down links to/from a digitally modulated intersatellite link. There are also some advantages when one must interconnect a large number of various spot beams which are using analog, and therefore cannot take advantage of SS/TDMA switching among the beams, thus resulting in low fill factors. Various tradeoffs were performed regarding the implementation of on-board A/D processing, including mass, power, and costs. The various technologies which were considered included flash ADCs, surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices, and digital signal processing (DSP) chips. Impact analyses were also performed to determine the effect on ground stations to convert to digital if the A/D approach were not implemented.

Psycho-physiological training approach for amputee rehabilitation.

PubMed

Dhal, Chandan; Wahi, Akshat

2015-01-01

Electromyography (EMG) signals are very noisy and difficult to acquire. Conventional techniques involve amplification and filtering through analog circuits, which makes the system very unstable. The surface EMG signals lie in the frequency range of 6Hz to 600Hz, and the dominant range is between the ranges from 20Hz to 150Hz. 1 Our project aimed to analyze an EMG signal effectively over its complete frequency range. To remove these defects, we designed what we think is an easy, effective, and reliable signal processing technique. We did spectrum analysis, so as to perform all the processing such as amplification, filtering, and thresholding on an Arduino Uno board, hence removing the need for analog amplifiers and filtering circuits, which have stability issues. The conversion of time domain to frequency domain of any signal gives a detailed data of the signal set. Our main aim is to use this useful data for an alternative methodology for rehabilitation called a psychophysiological approach to rehabilitation in prosthesis, which can reduce the cost of the myoelectric arm, as well as increase its efficiency. This method allows the user to gain control over their muscle sets in a less stressful environment. Further, we also have described how our approach is viable and can benefit the rehabilitation process. We used our DSP EMG signals to play an online game and showed how this approach can be used in rehabilitation.

7 CFR 2200.4 - Authority of the Board.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Authority of the Board. 2200.4 Section 2200.4 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE BOARD ACCESS TO LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM; GENERAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES § 2200.4...

7 CFR 2200.3 - Composition of the Board.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Composition of the Board. 2200.3 Section 2200.3 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE BOARD ACCESS TO LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM; GENERAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES § 2200.3...

Magnetic profiling of the San Andreas Fault using a dual magnetometer UAV aerial survey system.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbate, J. A.; Angelopoulos, V.; Masongsong, E. V.; Yang, J.; Medina, H. R.; Moon, S.; Davis, P. M.

2017-12-01

Aeromagnetic survey methods using planes are more time-effective than hand-held methods, but can be far more expensive per unit area unless large areas are covered. The availability of low cost UAVs and low cost, lightweight fluxgate magnetometers (FGMs) allows, with proper offset determination and stray fields correction, for low-cost magnetic surveys. Towards that end, we have developed a custom multicopter UAV for magnetic mapping using a dual 3-axis fluxgate magnetometer system: the GEOphysical Drone Enhanced Survey Instrument (GEODESI). A high precision sensor measures the UAV's position and attitude (roll, pitch, and yaw) and is recorded using a custom Arduino data processing system. The two FGMs (in-board and out-board) are placed on two ends of a vertical 1m boom attached to the base of the UAV. The in-board FGM is most sensitive to stray fields from the UAV and its signal is used, after scaling, to clean the signal of the out-board FGM from the vehicle noise. The FGMs record three orthogonal components of the magnetic field in the UAV body coordinates which are then transformed into a north-east-down coordinate system using a rotation matrix determined from the roll-pitch-yaw attitude data. This ensures knowledge of the direction of all three field components enabling us to perform inverse modeling of magnetic anomalies with greater accuracy than total or vertical field measurements used in the past. Field tests were performed at Dragon's Back Pressure Ridge in the Carrizo Plain of California, where there is a known crossing of the San Andreas Fault. Our data and models were compared to previously acquired LiDAR and hand-held magnetometer measurements. Further tests will be carried out to solidify our results and streamline our processing for educational use in the classroom and student field training.

Evaluation of the organisation and effectiveness of internal audits to govern patient safety in hospitals: a mixed-methods study.

PubMed

van Gelderen, Saskia C; Zegers, Marieke; Boeijen, Wilma; Westert, Gert P; Robben, Paul B; Wollersheim, Hub C

2017-07-10

Hospital boards are legally responsible for safe healthcare. They need tools to assist them in their task of governing patient safety. Almost every Dutch hospital performs internal audits, but the effectiveness of these audits for hospital governance has never been evaluated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the organisation of internal audits and their effectiveness for hospitals boards to govern patient safety. A mixed-methods study consisting of a questionnaire regarding the organisation of internal audits among all Dutch hospitals (n=89) and interviews with stakeholders regarding the audit process and experienced effectiveness of audits within six hospitals. Response rate of the questionnaire was 76% and 43 interviews were held. In every responding hospital, the internal audits followed the plan-do-check-act cycle. Every hospital used interviews, document analysis and site visits as input for the internal audit. Boards stated that effective aspects of internal audits were their multidisciplinary scope, their structured and in-depth approach, the usability to monitor improvement activities and to change hospital policy and the fact that results were used in meetings with staff and boards of supervisors. The qualitative methods (interviews and site visits) used in internal audits enable the identification of soft signals such as unsafe culture or communication and collaboration problems. Reported disadvantages were the low frequency of internal audits and the absence of soft signals in the actual audit reports. This study shows that internal audits are regarded as effective for patient safety governance, as they help boards to identify patient safety problems, proactively steer patient safety and inform boards of supervisors on the status of patient safety. The description of the Dutch internal audits makes these audits replicable to other healthcare organisations in different settings, enabling hospital boards to complement their systems to govern patient safety. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Real-Time Visualization of Tissue Ischemia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bearman, Gregory H. (Inventor); Chrien, Thomas D. (Inventor); Eastwood, Michael L. (Inventor)

2000-01-01

A real-time display of tissue ischemia which comprises three CCD video cameras, each with a narrow bandwidth filter at the correct wavelength is discussed. The cameras simultaneously view an area of tissue suspected of having ischemic areas through beamsplitters. The output from each camera is adjusted to give the correct signal intensity for combining with, the others into an image for display. If necessary a digital signal processor (DSP) can implement algorithms for image enhancement prior to display. Current DSP engines are fast enough to give real-time display. Measurement at three, wavelengths, combined into a real-time Red-Green-Blue (RGB) video display with a digital signal processing (DSP) board to implement image algorithms, provides direct visualization of ischemic areas.

Modeling and characteristic of the SMT Board Plug connector in high speed optical communication system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Haoran; Dong, Zhenzhen; Wang, Tanglin; Zhao, Heng; Feng, Junbo; Cui, Naidi; Teng, Jie; Guo, Jin

2015-04-01

Modeling and characteristic of the SMT Board Plug connector, which is used to connect micro optical transceiver to the main board, are proposed and analyzed in this paper. When the high speed signal transfers from the PCB of transceiver to main board through SMT Board Plug connector, the structure and material discontinuity of the connector causes insertion losses and impedance mismatches. This makes the performance of high speed digital system exacerbated. So it is essential to analyze the signal transfer characteristics of the connector and find out what factors affected the signal quality at the design stage of the digital system. To solve this problem, Ansoft's High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS), based on the finite element method, was employed to build accurate 3D models, analyze the effects of various structure parameters, and obtain the full-wave characteristics of the SMT Board Plug connectors in this paper. Then an equivalent circuit model was developed. The circuit parameters were extracted precisely in the frequency range of interests by using the curve fitting method in ADS software, and the result was in good agreement with HFSS simulations up to 8GHz with different structure parameters. At last, the measurement results of S-parameter and eye diagram were given and the S-parameters showed good coincidence between the measurement and HFSS simulation up to 4GHz.

Stripline/Microstrip Transition in Multilayer Circuit Board

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Epp, Larry; Khan, Abdur

2005-01-01

A stripline-to-microstrip transition has been incorporated into a multilayer circuit board that supports a distributed solid-state microwave power amplifier, for the purpose of coupling the microwave signal from a buried-layer stripline to a top-layer microstrip. The design of the transition could be adapted to multilayer circuit boards in such products as cellular telephones (for connecting between circuit-board signal lines and antennas), transmitters for Earth/satellite communication systems, and computer mother boards (if processor speeds increase into the range of tens of gigahertz). The transition is designed to satisfy the following requirements in addition to the basic coupling requirement described above: (1) The transition must traverse multiple layers, including intermediate layers that contain DC circuitry. (2) The transition must work at a frequency of 32 GHz with low loss and low reflection. (3) The power delivered by the transition to top-layer microstrip must be split equally in opposite directions along the microstrip. Referring to the figure, this amounts to a requirement that when power is supplied to input port 1, equal amounts of power flow through output ports 2 and 3. (4) The signal-line via that is necessarily a part of such a transition must not be what is known in the art as a blind via; that is, it must span the entire thickness of the circuit board.

7 CFR 2200.6 - Meetings and actions of the Board.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Meetings and actions of the Board. 2200.6 Section 2200.6 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE BOARD ACCESS TO LOCAL TELEVISION SIGNALS GUARANTEED LOAN PROGRAM; GENERAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES...

A Macintosh-Based Scientific Images Video Analysis System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Groleau, Nicolas; Friedland, Peter (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

A set of experiments was designed at MIT's Man-Vehicle Laboratory in order to evaluate the effects of zero gravity on the human orientation system. During many of these experiments, the movements of the eyes are recorded on high quality video cassettes. The images must be analyzed off-line to calculate the position of the eyes at every moment in time. To this aim, I have implemented a simple inexpensive computerized system which measures the angle of rotation of the eye from digitized video images. The system is implemented on a desktop Macintosh computer, processes one play-back frame per second and exhibits adequate levels of accuracy and precision. The system uses LabVIEW, a digital output board, and a video input board to control a VCR, digitize video images, analyze them, and provide a user friendly interface for the various phases of the process. The system uses the Concept Vi LabVIEW library (Graftek's Image, Meudon la Foret, France) for image grabbing and displaying as well as translation to and from LabVIEW arrays. Graftek's software layer drives an Image Grabber board from Neotech (Eastleigh, United Kingdom). A Colour Adapter box from Neotech provides adequate video signal synchronization. The system also requires a LabVIEW driven digital output board (MacADIOS II from GW Instruments, Cambridge, MA) controlling a slightly modified VCR remote control used mainly to advance the video tape frame by frame.

Influence of approaching tram on behaviour of pedestrians in signalised crosswalks in Poland.

PubMed

Kruszyna, Maciej; Rychlewski, Jeremi

2013-06-01

Research done in two Polish cities has uncovered an influence of an approaching tram on pedestrian behaviour. The measurements were done by counting pedestrians waiting for a green signal, crossing on red signal safely, or crossing on red signal taking a risk of being hit by a car, differentiating between pedestrians attempting to board a public transport vehicle and other pedestrians. It was expected, that pedestrian behaviour might be influenced by traffic control predictability, therefore two cities were chosen for the task: Wrocław with fixed time traffic control and Poznań with a majority of traffic responsive traffic signals. Data from the measurements was compared in order to find behaviour patterns - the comparison led to a conclusion, that an attempt to get on board of an incoming public transport vehicle can be a major cause for pedestrians to violate a red signal, including an increase of unsafe behaviour. These pedestrians may provoke other pedestrians to cross on a red signal. On the other hand if traffic control guarantees boarding the public transport vehicle, passengers-to-be may be even more obedient than other pedestrians. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analog signal processing for optical coherence imaging systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Wei

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence microscopy (OCM) are non-invasive optical coherence imaging techniques, which enable micron-scale resolution, depth resolved imaging capability. Both OCT and OCM are based on Michelson interferometer theory. They are widely used in ophthalmology, gastroenterology and dermatology, because of their high resolution, safety and low cost. OCT creates cross sectional images whereas OCM obtains en face images. In this dissertation, the design and development of three increasingly complicated analog signal processing (ASP) solutions for optical coherence imaging are presented. The first ASP solution was implemented for a time domain OCT system with a Rapid Scanning Optical Delay line (RSOD)-based optical signal modulation and logarithmic amplifier (Log amp) based demodulation. This OCT system can acquire up to 1600 A-scans per second. The measured dynamic range is 106dB at 200A-scan per second. This OCT signal processing electronics includes an off-the-shelf filter box with a Log amp circuit implemented on a PCB board. The second ASP solution was developed for an OCM system with synchronized modulation and demodulation and compensation for interferometer phase drift. This OCM acquired micron-scale resolution, high dynamic range images at acquisition speeds up to 45,000 pixels/second. This OCM ASP solution is fully custom designed on a perforated circuit board. The third ASP solution was implemented on a single 2.2 mm x 2.2 mm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip. This design is expandable to a multiple channel OCT system. A single on-chip CMOS photodetector and ASP channel was used for coherent demodulation in a time domain OCT system. Cross-sectional images were acquired with a dynamic range of 76dB (limited by photodetector responsivity). When incorporated with a bump-bonded InGaAs photodiode with higher responsivity, the expected dynamic range is close to 100dB.

HypsIRI On-Board Science Data Processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flatley, Tom

2010-01-01

Topics include On-board science data processing, on-board image processing, software upset mitigation, on-board data reduction, on-board 'VSWIR" products, HyspIRI demonstration testbed, and processor comparison.

Energy consumption estimation of an OMAP-based Android operating system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González, Gabriel; Juárez, Eduardo; Castro, Juan José; Sanz, César

2011-05-01

System-level energy optimization of battery-powered multimedia embedded systems has recently become a design goal. The poor operational time of multimedia terminals makes computationally demanding applications impractical in real scenarios. For instance, the so-called smart-phones are currently unable to remain in operation longer than several hours. The OMAP3530 processor basically consists of two processing cores, a General Purpose Processor (GPP) and a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). The former, an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, is aimed to run a generic Operating System (OS) while the latter, a DSP core based on the C64x+, has architecture optimized for video processing. The BeagleBoard, a commercial prototyping board based on the OMAP processor, has been used to test the Android Operating System and measure its performance. The board has 128 MB of SDRAM external memory, 256 MB of Flash external memory and several interfaces. Note that the clock frequency of the ARM and DSP OMAP cores is 600 MHz and 430 MHz, respectively. This paper describes the energy consumption estimation of the processes and multimedia applications of an Android v1.6 (Donut) OS on the OMAP3530-Based BeagleBoard. In addition, tools to communicate the two processing cores have been employed. A test-bench to profile the OS resource usage has been developed. As far as the energy estimates concern, the OMAP processor energy consumption model provided by the manufacturer has been used. The model is basically divided in two energy components. The former, the baseline core energy, describes the energy consumption that is independent of any chip activity. The latter, the module active energy, describes the energy consumed by the active modules depending on resource usage.

Dynamically timed electric motor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Casper, Ann M. (Inventor)

1994-01-01

The invention disclosed in this document is a brushless DC motor including a housing having an end cap secured thereto. The housing encloses a rotor, a stator and a rotationally displaceable commutation board having 5 sensors secured thereon and spaced around the periphery of the rotor. An external rotational force is applied to the commutation board for displacement of the sensors to various positions whereby varying feedback signals are generated by the positioning of the sensors relative to the rotating rotor. The commutation board is secured in a fixed position in response to feedback signals indicative of optimum sensor position being determined. The rotation of the commutation board and the securing of the sensors in the desired fixed position is accomplished without requiring the removal of the 5 end cap and with the DC motor operating.

Multi-level Simulation of a Real Time Vibration Monitoring System Component

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robertson, Bryan A.; Wilkerson, Delisa

2005-01-01

This paper describes the development of a custom built Digital Signal Processing (DSP) printed circuit board designed to implement the Advanced Real Time Vibration Monitoring Subsystem proposed by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Transportation Directorate in 2000 for the Space Shuttle Main Engine Advanced Health Management System (AHMS). This Real Time Vibration Monitoring System (RTVMS) is being developed for ground use as part of the AHMS Health Management Computer-Integrated Rack Assembly (HMC-IRA). The HMC-IRA RTVMS design contains five DSPs which are highly interconnected through individual communication ports, shared memory, and a unique communication router that allows all the DSPs to receive digitized data fiom two multi-channel analog boards simultaneously. This paper will briefly cover the overall board design but will focus primarily on the state-of-the-art simulation environment within which this board was developed. This 16-layer board with over 1800 components and an additional mezzanine card has been an extremely challenging design. Utilization of a Mentor Graphics simulation environment provided the unique board and system level simulation capability to ascertain any timing or functional concerns before production. By combining VHDL, Synopsys Software and Hardware Models, and the Mentor Design Capture Environment, multiple simulations were developed to verify the RTVMS design. This multi-level simulation allowed the designers to achieve complete operability without error the first time the RTVMS printed circuit board was powered. The HMC-IRA design has completed all engineering and deliverable unit testing. P

Multi-level Simulation of a Real Time Vibration Monitoring System Component

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberston, Bryan; Wilkerson, DeLisa

2004-01-01

This paper describes the development of a custom built Digital Signal Processing (DSP) printed circuit board designed to implement the Advanced Real Time Vibration Monitoring Subsystem proposed by MSFC Transportation Directorate in 2000 for the Space Shuttle Main Engine Advanced Health Management System (AHMS). This Real Time Vibration Monitoring System (RTVMS) is being developed for ground use as part of the AHMS Health Management Computer-Integrated Rack Assembly (HMC-IRA). The HMC-IRA RTVMS design contains five DSPs which are highly interconnected through individual communication ports, shared memory, and a unique communication router that allows all the DSPs to receive digitized data from two multi-channel analog boards simultaneously. This paper will briefly cover the overall board design but will focus primarily on the state-of-the-art simulation environment within which this board was developed. This 16-layer board with over 1800 components and an additional mezzanine card has been an extremely challenging design. Utilization of a Mentor Graphics simulation environment provided the unique board and system level simulation capability to ascertain any timing or functional concerns before production. By combining VHDL, Synopsys Software and Hardware Models, and the Mentor Design Capture Environment, multiple simulations were developed to verify the RTVMS design. This multi-level simulation allowed the designers to achieve complete operability without error the first time the RTVMS printed circuit board was powered. The HMCIRA design has completed all engineering unit testing and the deliverable unit is currently under development.

Avionics-compatible video facial cognizer for detection of pilot incapacitation.

PubMed

Steffin, Morris

2006-01-01

High-acceleration loss of consciousness is a serious problem for military pilots. In this laboratory, a video cognizer has been developed that in real time detects facial changes closely coupled to the onset of loss of consciousness. Efficient algorithms are compatible with video digital signal processing hardware and are thus configurable on an autonomous single board that generates alarm triggers to activate autopilot, and is avionics-compatible.

Concepts for on-board satellite image registration. Volume 2: IAS prototype performance evaluation standard definition. [NEEDS Information Adaptive System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Daluge, D. R.; Ruedger, W. H.

1981-01-01

Problems encountered in testing onboard signal processing hardware designed to achieve radiometric and geometric correction of satellite imaging data are considered. These include obtaining representative image and ancillary data for simulation and the transfer and storage of a large quantity of image data at very high speed. The high resolution, high speed preprocessing of LANDSAT-D imagery is considered.

Real-time co-registered ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging system based on FPGA and DSP architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alqasemi, Umar; Li, Hai; Aguirre, Andres; Zhu, Quing

2011-03-01

Co-registering ultrasound (US) and photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a logical extension to conventional ultrasound because both modalities provide complementary information of tumor morphology, tumor vasculature and hypoxia for cancer detection and characterization. In addition, both modalities are capable of providing real-time images for clinical applications. In this paper, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) module-based real-time US/PA imaging system is presented. The system provides real-time US/PA data acquisition and image display for up to 5 fps* using the currently implemented DSP board. It can be upgraded to 15 fps, which is the maximum pulse repetition rate of the used laser, by implementing an advanced DSP module. Additionally, the photoacoustic RF data for each frame is saved for further off-line processing. The system frontend consists of eight 16-channel modules made of commercial and customized circuits. Each 16-channel module consists of two commercial 8-channel receiving circuitry boards and one FPGA board from Analog Devices. Each receiving board contains an IC† that combines. 8-channel low-noise amplifiers, variable-gain amplifiers, anti-aliasing filters, and ADC's‡ in a single chip with sampling frequency of 40MHz. The FPGA board captures the LVDSξ Double Data Rate (DDR) digital output of the receiving board and performs data conditioning and subbeamforming. A customized 16-channel transmission circuitry is connected to the two receiving boards for US pulseecho (PE) mode data acquisition. A DSP module uses External Memory Interface (EMIF) to interface with the eight 16-channel modules through a customized adaptor board. The DSP transfers either sub-beamformed data (US pulse-echo mode or PAI imaging mode) or raw data from FPGA boards to its DDR-2 memory through the EMIF link, then it performs additional processing, after that, it transfer the data to the PC** for further image processing. The PC code performs image processing including demodulation, beam envelope detection and scan conversion. Additionally, the PC code pre-calculates the delay coefficients used for transmission focusing and receiving dynamic focusing for different types of transducers to speed up the imaging process. To further speed up the imaging process, a multi-threads technique is implemented in order to allow formation of previous image frame data and acquisition of the next one simultaneously. The system is also capable of doing semi-real-time automated SO2 imaging at 10 seconds per frame by changing the wavelength knob of the laser automatically using a stepper motor controlled by the system. Initial in vivo experiments were performed on animal tumors to map out its vasculature and hypoxia level, which were superimposed on co-registered US images. The real-time system allows capturing co-registered US/PA images free of motion artifacts and also provides dynamitic information when contrast agents are used.

TDRSS Onboard Navigation System (TONS) experiment for the Explorer Platform (EP)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gramling, C. J.; Hornstein, R. S.; Long, A. C.; Samii, M. V.; Elrod, B. D.

A TDRSS Onboard Navigation System (TONS) is currently being developed by NASA to provide a high-accuracy autonomous spacecraft navigation capability for users of TDRSS and its successor, the Advanced TDRSS. A TONS experiment will be performed in conjunction with the Explorer Platform (EP)/EUV Explorer mission to flight-qualify TONS Block I. This paper presents an overview of TDRSS on-board navigation goals and plans and the technical objectives of the TONS experiment. The operations concept of the experiment is described, including the characteristics of the ultrastable oscillator, the Doppler extractor, the signal-acquisition process, the TONS ground-support system, and the navigation flight software. A description of the on-board navigation algorithms and the rationale for their selection is also presented.

ICC '86; Proceedings of the International Conference on Communications, Toronto, Canada, June 22-25, 1986, Conference Record. Volumes 1, 2, & 3

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papers are presented on ISDN, mobile radio systems and techniques for digital connectivity, centralized and distributed algorithms in computer networks, communications networks, quality assurance and impact on cost, adaptive filters in communications, the spread spectrum, signal processing, video communication techniques, and digital satellite services. Topics discussed include performance evaluation issues for integrated protocols, packet network operations, the computer network theory and multiple-access, microwave single sideband systems, switching architectures, fiber optic systems, wireless local communications, modulation, coding, and synchronization, remote switching, software quality, transmission, and expert systems in network operations. Consideration is given to wide area networks, image and speech processing, office communications application protocols, multimedia systems, customer-controlled network operations, digital radio systems, channel modeling and signal processing in digital communications, earth station/on-board modems, computer communications system performance evaluation, source encoding, compression, and quantization, and adaptive communications systems.

AFEII Analog Front End Board Design Specifications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rubinov, Paul; /Fermilab

2005-04-01

This document describes the design of the 2nd iteration of the Analog Front End Board (AFEII), which has the function of receiving charge signals from the Central Fiber Tracker (CFT) and providing digital hit pattern and charge amplitude information from those charge signals. This second iteration is intended to address limitations of the current AFE (referred to as AFEI in this document). These limitations become increasingly deleterious to the performance of the Central Fiber Tracker as instantaneous luminosity increases. The limitations are inherent in the design of the key front end chips on the AFEI board (the SVXIIe and themore » SIFT) and the architecture of the board itself. The key limitations of the AFEI are: (1) SVX saturation; (2) Discriminator to analog readout cross talk; (3) Tick to tick pedestal variation; and (4) Channel to channel pedestal variation. The new version of the AFE board, AFEII, addresses these limitations by use of a new chip, the TriP-t and by architectural changes, while retaining the well understood and desirable features of the AFEI board.« less

In-line rotating torque sensor with on-board amplifier

DOEpatents

Kronberg, James W.

1990-01-01

A rotating torque sensor apparatus and method for measuring small torques comprising a shaft, a platform having a circuit board and a first moment arm attached to the shaft, a rotatable wheel coaxial with the shaft and having a second moment arm spaced apart from the first moment arm with a load cell therebetween for generating an electric signal as the torque is applied to the shaft and transferred through the moment arms to the load cell. The electrical signal is conducted from the load cell to the circuit board for filtering and amplification before being extracted from the torque assembly through a slip ring.

Non-invasive measurement of pulse wave velocity using transputer-based analysis of Doppler flow audio signals.

PubMed

Stewart, W R; Ramsey, M W; Jones, C J

1994-08-01

A system for the measurement of arterial pulse wave velocity is described. A personal computer (PC) plug-in transputer board is used to process the audio signals from two pocket Doppler ultrasound units. The transputer is used to provide a set of bandpass digital filters on two channels. The times of excursion of power through thresholds in each filter are recorded and used to estimate the onset of systolic flow. The system does not require an additional spectrum analyser and can work in real time. The transputer architecture provides for easy integration into any wider physiological measurement system.

Front-end electronics and DAQ for the EURITRACK tagged neutron inspection system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lunardon, M.; Bottosso, C.; Fabris, D.; Moretto, S.; Nebbia, G.; Pesente, S.; Viesti, G.; Bigongiari, A.; Colonna, A.; Tintori, C.; Valkovic, V.; Sudac, D.; Peerani, P.; Sequeira, V.; Salvato, M.

2007-08-01

The EURopean Illicit TRAfficing Countermeasures Kit (EURITRACK) Front-End and Data Acquisition System is a compact set of VME boards interfaced with a standard PC. The system is part of a cargo container inspection portal based on the tagged neutrons technique. The front-end processes all detector signals and checks coincidences between any of the 64 pixels of the alpha particle detector and any gamma-ray signals in 22 NaI(Tl) scintillators. The system is capable of handling the data flow at neutron flux up to the portal limiting value of 108 neutrons/second. Some typical applications are presented.

An integrated Ka/Ku-band payload for personal, mobile and private business communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hayes, Edward J.; Keelty, J. Malcolm

1991-01-01

The Canadian Department of Communications has been studying options for a government-sponsored demonstration payload to be launched before the end of the century. A summary of the proposed system concepts and network architectures for providing an advanced private business network service at Ku-band and personal and mobile communications at Ka-band is presented. The system aspects addressed include coverage patterns, traffic capacity, and grade of service, multiple access options as well as special problems, such as Doppler in mobile applications. Earth terminal types and the advanced payload concept proposed in a feasibility study for the demonstration mission are described. This concept is a combined Ka-band/Ku-band payload which incorporates a number of advanced satellite technologies including a group demodulator to convert single-channel-per-carrier frequency division multiple access uplink signals to a time division multiplex downlink, on-board signal regeneration, and baseband switching to support packet switched data operation. The on-board processing capability of the payload provides a hubless VSAT architecture which permits single-hop full mesh interconnectivity. The Ka-band and Ku-band portions of the payload are fully integrated through an on-board switch, thereby providing the capability for fully integrated services, such as using the Ku-band VSAT terminals as gateway stations for the Ka-band personal and mobile communications services.

Preliminary results of SAR soil moisture experiment, November 1975

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhury, B. J.; Chang, A. T. C.; Schmugge, T. J.; Salomonson, V. V.; Wang, J. R.

1979-01-01

The experiment was performed using the Environmental Research Institute of Michigan's (ERIM) dual-frequency and dual-polarization side-looking SAR system on board a C-46 aircraft. For each frequency, horizontally polarized pulses were transmitted and both horizontally and vertically polarized return signals were recorded on the signal film simultaneously. The test sites were located in St. Charles, Missouri; Centralia, Missouri; and Lafayette, Indiana. Each test site was a 4.83 km by 8.05 km (3 mile by 5 mile) rectangular strip of terrain. Concurrent with SAR overflight, ground soil samples of 0-to-2.5 cm and 0-to-15 cm layers were collected for soil moisture estimation. The surface features were also noted. Hard-copy image films and the digital data produced via optical processing of the signal films are analyzed in this report to study the relationship of radar backscatter to the moisture content and the surface roughness. Many difficulties associated with processing and analysis of the SAR imagery are noted. In particular, major uncertainty in the quantitative analysis appeared due to the difficulty of quality reproduction of digital data from the signal films.

Design and implementation of a reconfigurable mixed-signal SoC based on field programmable analog arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lintao; Gao, Yuhan; Deng, Jun

2017-11-01

This work presents a reconfigurable mixed-signal system-on-chip (SoC), which integrates switched-capacitor-based field programmable analog arrays (FPAA), analog-to-digital converter (ADC), digital-to-analog converter, digital down converter , digital up converter, 32-bit reduced instruction-set computer central processing unit (CPU) and other digital IPs on a single chip with 0.18 μm CMOS technology. The FPAA intellectual property could be reconfigured as different function circuits, such as gain amplifier, divider, sine generator, and so on. This single-chip integrated mixed-signal system is a complete modern signal processing system, occupying a die area of 7 × 8 mm 2 and consuming 719 mW with a clock frequency of 150 MHz for CPU and 200 MHz for ADC/DAC. This SoC chip can help customers to shorten design cycles, save board area, reduce the system power consumption and depress the system integration risk, which would afford a big prospect of application for wireless communication. Project supported by the National High Technology and Development Program of China (No. 2012AA012303).

A single-board NMR spectrometer based on a software defined radio architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Weinan; Wang, Weimin

2011-01-01

A single-board software defined radio (SDR) spectrometer for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is presented. The SDR-based architecture, realized by combining a single field programmable gate array (FPGA) and a digital signal processor (DSP) with peripheral radio frequency (RF) front-end circuits, makes the spectrometer compact and reconfigurable. The DSP, working as a pulse programmer, communicates with a personal computer via a USB interface and controls the FPGA through a parallel port. The FPGA accomplishes digital processing tasks such as a numerically controlled oscillator (NCO), digital down converter (DDC) and gradient waveform generator. The NCO, with agile control of phase, frequency and amplitude, is part of a direct digital synthesizer that is used to generate an RF pulse. The DDC performs quadrature demodulation, multistage low-pass filtering and gain adjustment to produce a bandpass signal (receiver bandwidth from 3.9 kHz to 10 MHz). The gradient waveform generator is capable of outputting shaped gradient pulse waveforms and supports eddy-current compensation. The spectrometer directly acquires an NMR signal up to 30 MHz in the case of baseband sampling and is suitable for low-field (<0.7 T) application. Due to the featured SDR architecture, this prototype has flexible add-on ability and is expected to be suitable for portable NMR systems.

Intelligent Automatic Right-Left Sign Lamp Based on Brain Signal Recognition System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winda, A.; Sofyan; Sthevany; Vincent, R. S.

2017-12-01

Comfort as a part of the human factor, plays important roles in nowadays advanced automotive technology. Many of the current technologies go in the direction of automotive driver assistance features. However, many of the driver assistance features still require physical movement by human to enable the features. In this work, the proposed method is used in order to make certain feature to be functioning without any physical movement, instead human just need to think about it in their mind. In this work, brain signal is recorded and processed in order to be used as input to the recognition system. Right-Left sign lamp based on the brain signal recognition system can potentially replace the button or switch of the specific device in order to make the lamp work. The system then will decide whether the signal is ‘Right’ or ‘Left’. The decision of the Right-Left side of brain signal recognition will be sent to a processing board in order to activate the automotive relay, which will be used to activate the sign lamp. Furthermore, the intelligent system approach is used to develop authorized model based on the brain signal. Particularly Support Vector Machines (SVMs)-based classification system is used in the proposed system to recognize the Left-Right of the brain signal. Experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed intelligent Automatic brain signal-based Right-Left sign lamp access control system. The signal is processed by Linear Prediction Coefficient (LPC) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs), and the resulting experiment shows the training and testing accuracy of 100% and 80%, respectively.

High density printed electrical circuit board card connection system

DOEpatents

Baumbaugh, Alan E.

1997-01-01

A zero insertion/extraction force printed circuit board card connection system comprises a cam-operated locking mechanism disposed along an edge portion of the printed circuit board. The extrusions along the circuit board mate with an extrusion fixed to the card cage having a plurality of electrical connectors. The card connection system allows the connectors to be held away from the circuit board during insertion/extraction and provides a constant mating force once the circuit board is positioned. The card connection system provides a simple solution to the need for a greater number of electrical signal connections.

Efficient heart beat detection using embedded system electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramasamy, Mouli; Oh, Sechang; Varadan, Vijay K.

2014-04-01

The present day bio-technical field concentrates on developing various types of innovative ambulatory and wearable devices to monitor several bio-physical, physio-pathological, bio-electrical and bio-potential factors to assess a human body's health condition without intruding quotidian activities. One of the most important aspects of this evolving technology is monitoring heart beat rate and electrocardiogram (ECG) from which many other subsidiary results can be derived. Conventionally, the devices and systems consumes a lot of power since the acquired signals are always processed on the receiver end. Because of this back end processing, the unprocessed raw data is transmitted resulting in usage of more power, memory and processing time. This paper proposes an innovative technique where the acquired signals are processed by a microcontroller in the front end of the module and just the processed signal is then transmitted wirelessly to the display unit. Therefore, power consumption is considerably reduced and clearer data analysis is performed within the module. This also avoids the need for the user to be educated about usage of the device and signal/system analysis, since only the number of heart beats will displayed at the user end. Additionally, the proposed concept also eradicates the other disadvantages like obtrusiveness, high power consumption and size. To demonstrate the above said factors, a commercial controller board was used to extend the monitoring method by using the saved ECG data from a computer.

Implementation of real-time nonuniformity correction with multiple NUC tables using FPGA in an uncooled imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Gyong Jin; Kim, Lyang-June; Sheen, Sue-Ho; Koo, Gyou-Phyo; Jin, Sang-Hun; Yeo, Bo-Yeon; Lee, Jong-Ho

2009-05-01

This paper presents a real time implementation of Non Uniformity Correction (NUC). Two point correction and one point correction with shutter were carried out in an uncooled imaging system which will be applied to a missile application. To design a small, light weight and high speed imaging system for a missile system, SoPC (System On a Programmable Chip) which comprises of FPGA and soft core (Micro-blaze) was used. Real time NUC and generation of control signals are implemented using FPGA. Also, three different NUC tables were made to make the operating time shorter and to reduce the power consumption in a large range of environment temperature. The imaging system consists of optics and four electronics boards which are detector interface board, Analog to Digital converter board, Detector signal generation board and Power supply board. To evaluate the imaging system, NETD was measured. The NETD was less than 160mK in three different environment temperatures.

Implementation of real-time digital endoscopic image processing system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Chul Gyu; Lee, Young Mook; Lee, Sang Min; Kim, Won Ky; Lee, Jae Ho; Lee, Myoung Ho

1997-10-01

Endoscopy has become a crucial diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in clinical areas. Over the past four years, we have developed a computerized system to record and store clinical data pertaining to endoscopic surgery of laparascopic cholecystectomy, pelviscopic endometriosis, and surgical arthroscopy. In this study, we developed a computer system, which is composed of a frame grabber, a sound board, a VCR control board, a LAN card and EDMS. Also, computer system controls peripheral instruments such as a color video printer, a video cassette recorder, and endoscopic input/output signals. Digital endoscopic data management system is based on open architecture and a set of widely available industry standards; namely Microsoft Windows as an operating system, TCP/IP as a network protocol and a time sequential database that handles both images and speech. For the purpose of data storage, we used MOD and CD- R. Digital endoscopic system was designed to be able to store, recreate, change, and compress signals and medical images. Computerized endoscopy enables us to generate and manipulate the original visual document, making it accessible to a virtually unlimited number of physicians.

Latency study of the High Performance Time to Digital Converter for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer trigger upgrade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, X. T.; Levin, D. S.; Chapman, J. W.; Li, D. C.; Yao, Z. E.; Zhou, B.

2017-02-01

The High Performance Time to Digital Converter (HPTDC), a multi-channel ASIC designed by the CERN Microelectronics group, has been proposed for the digitization of the thin-Resistive Plate Chambers (tRPC) in the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer Phase-1 upgrade project. These chambers, to be staged for higher luminosity LHC operation, will increase trigger acceptance and reduce or eliminate the fake muon trigger rates in the barrel-endcap transition region, corresponding to pseudo-rapidity range 1<|η|<1.3. Low level trigger candidates must be flagged within a maximum latency of 1075 ns, thus imposing stringent signal processing time performance requirements on the readout system in general, and on the digitization electronics in particular. This paper investigates the HPTDC signal latency performance based on a specially designed evaluation board coupled with an external FPGA evaluation board, when operated in triggerless mode, and under hit rate conditions expected in Phase-I. This hardware based study confirms previous simulations and demonstrates that the HPTDC in triggerless operation satisfies the digitization timing requirements in both leading edge and pair modes.

A DSP equipped digitizer for online analysis of nuclear detector signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pasquali, G.; Ciaranfi, R.; Bardelli, L.; Bini, M.; Boiano, A.; Giannelli, F.; Ordine, A.; Poggi, G.

2007-01-01

In the framework of the NUCL-EX collaboration, a DSP equipped fast digitizer has been implemented and it has now reached the production stage. Each sampling channel is implemented on a separate daughter-board to be plugged on a VME mother-board. Each channel features a 12-bit, 125 MSamples/s ADC and a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for online analysis of detector signals. A few algorithms have been written and successfully tested on detectors of different types (scintillators, solid-state, gas-filled), implementing pulse shape discrimination, constant fraction timing, semi-Gaussian shaping, gated integration.

Data Telemetry and Acquisition System for Acoustic Signal Processing Investigations.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-02-20

were VME- based computer systems operating under the VxWorks real - time operating system . Each system shared a common hardware and software... real - time operating system . It interfaces to the Berg PCM Decommutator board, which searches for the embedded synchronization word in the data and re...software were built on top of this architecture. The multi-tasking, message queue and memory management facilities of the VxWorks real - time operating system are

Optimization of an optically implemented on-board FDMA demultiplexer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fargnoli, J.; Riddle, L.

1991-01-01

Performance of a 30 GHz frequency division multiple access (FDMA) uplink to a processing satellite is modelled for the case where the onboard demultiplexer is implemented optically. Included in the performance model are the effects of adjacent channel interference, intersymbol interference, and spurious signals associated with the optical implementation. Demultiplexer parameters are optimized to provide the minimum bit error probability at a given bandwidth efficiency when filtered QPSK modulation is employed.

Trust Management and Security in Satellite Telecommand Processing

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-24

include XREP, NICE, and P- Grid . These systems aggregate the perception of entities in the system to calculate a local reputation value for a specific...peripheral used is a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter ( UART ) which is connected to a Recommended Standard 232 (RS232) transceiver onboard [49...satellite, a logic analyzer was connected to monitor UART signals on the test board. The logic analyzer used for this testing was a USBee ZX module

SWARM: A Compact High Resolution Correlator and Wideband VLBI Phased Array Upgrade for SMA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weintroub, Jonathan

2014-06-01

A new digital back end (DBE) is being commissioned on Mauna Kea. The “SMA Wideband Astronomical ROACH2 Machine”, or SWARM, processes a 4 GHz usable band in single polarization mode and is flexibly reconfigurable for 2 GHz full Stokes dual polarization. The hardware is based on the open source Reconfigurable Open Architecture Computing Hardware 2 (ROACH2) platform from the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research (CASPER). A 5 GSps quad-core analog-to-digital converter board uses a commercial chip from e2v installed on a CASPER-standard printed circuit board designed by Homin Jiang’s group at ASIAA. Two ADC channels are provided per ROACH2, each sampling a 2.3 GHz Nyquist band generated by a custom wideband block downconverter (BDC). The ROACH2 logic includes 16k-channel Polyphase Filterbank (F-engine) per input followed by a 10 GbE switch based corner-turn which feeds into correlator-accumulator logic (X-engines) co-located with the F-engines. This arrangement makes very effective use of a small amount of digital hardware (just 8 ROACH2s in 1U rack mount enclosures). The primary challenge now is to meet timing at full speed for a large and very complex FPGA bit code. Design of the VLBI phased sum and recorder interface logic is also in process. Our poster will describe the instrument design, with the focus on the particular challenges of ultra wideband signal processing. Early connected commissioning and science verification data will be presented.

Design and implementation of a sigma delta technology based pulse oximeter's acquisition stage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, E. E.; Peñalva, A.; Schaumburg, F.

2011-12-01

Pulse oximetry is a widely used tool in medical practice for estimating patient's fraction of hemoglobin bonded to oxygen. Conventional oximetry presents limitations when changes in the baseline, or low amplitude of signals involved occur. The aim of this paper is to simultaneously solve these constraints and to simplify the circuitry needed, by using ΣΔ technology. For this purpose, a board for the acquisition of the needed signals was developed, together with a PC managed software which controls it, and displays and processes in real time the information acquired. Also laboratory and field tests where designed and executed to verify the performance of this equipment in adverse situations. A simple, robust and economic instrument was achieved, capable of obtaining signals even in situations where conventional oximetry fails.

High stability integrated Tri-axial fluxgate sensor with suspended technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chen; Teng, Yuntian; Wang, Xiaomei; Fan, Xiaoyong; Wu, Qiong

2017-04-01

The relative geomagnetic record of China Geomagnetic Network of China(GNC) has been digitized, network, meanwhile achieving second data acquisition and storage during after 9th five-year and 10th five-year plan upgraded. Currently the relative record in geomagnetic observatories are generally two sets of the same type instrument with parallel observation, which could distinguish the differential between observation instrument failures and environmental interference, and ensure the continuity and integrity of the observation data. Fluxgate magnetometer has become mainstream equipment for relative geomagnetic record because of its low noise, high sensitivity, and fast response. There is a problem about data inconsistency by the same type of instrument in the same station though few years observation data analysis. The researchers have done a lot of experiments and found three main error sources:1. The instrument performances, due to the limitation of manufacturing and assembly process level it is difficult to ensure the orthogonality of the instrument; other performances of scale, zero offset and temperature coefficient; 2. horizontal error, which introduced by the initial installation process due to horizontal adjustment and pillar tilling due to long-term observations; 3.The observation environment, the temperature and humidity, power supply system. The new fluxgate magnetometer uses special nonmagnetic gimbaled (made by beryllium / bronze material) construction for suspension, so the fluxgate sensor is fixed at the suspended platform in order to automatically keep the horizontal level. The advantage of this design is to eliminate horizontal error introduced by the initial installation process due to horizontal adjustment and pillar tilling due to long-term observations. The signal processing circuit board is fixed on the top of the suspended platform with certain distance to ensure the static and dynamic magnetic field produced by circuit board no effect to the sensor, so we could get flexible instrument due to signal attenuation resulting signal transmission cable limited length.

High-performance electronics for time-of-flight PET systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choong, W.-S.; Peng, Q.; Vu, C. Q.; Turko, B. T.; Moses, W. W.

2013-01-01

We have designed and built a high-performance readout electronics system for time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF PET) cameras. The electronics architecture is based on the electronics for a commercial whole-body PET camera (Siemens/CPS Cardinal electronics), modified to improve the timing performance. The fundamental contributions in the electronics that can limit the timing resolution include the constant fraction discriminator (CFD), which converts the analog electrical signal from the photo-detector to a digital signal whose leading edge is time-correlated with the input signal, and the time-to-digital converter (TDC), which provides a time stamp for the CFD output. Coincident events are identified by digitally comparing the values of the time stamps. In the Cardinal electronics, the front-end processing electronics are performed by an Analog subsection board, which has two application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), each servicing a PET block detector module. The ASIC has a built-in CFD and TDC. We found that a significant degradation in the timing resolution comes from the ASIC's CFD and TDC. Therefore, we have designed and built an improved Analog subsection board that replaces the ASIC's CFD and TDC with a high-performance CFD (made with discrete components) and TDC (using the CERN high-performance TDC ASIC). The improved Analog subsection board is used in a custom single-ring LSO-based TOF PET camera. The electronics system achieves a timing resolution of 60 ps FWHM. Prototype TOF detector modules are read out with the electronics system and give coincidence timing resolutions of 259 ps FWHM and 156 ps FWHM for detector modules coupled to LSO and LaBr3 crystals respectively.

High-performance electronics for time-of-flight PET systems.

PubMed

Choong, W-S; Peng, Q; Vu, C Q; Turko, B T; Moses, W W

2013-01-01

We have designed and built a high-performance readout electronics system for time-of-flight positron emission tomography (TOF PET) cameras. The electronics architecture is based on the electronics for a commercial whole-body PET camera (Siemens/CPS Cardinal electronics), modified to improve the timing performance. The fundamental contributions in the electronics that can limit the timing resolution include the constant fraction discriminator (CFD), which converts the analog electrical signal from the photo-detector to a digital signal whose leading edge is time-correlated with the input signal, and the time-to-digital converter (TDC), which provides a time stamp for the CFD output. Coincident events are identified by digitally comparing the values of the time stamps. In the Cardinal electronics, the front-end processing electronics are performed by an Analog subsection board, which has two application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), each servicing a PET block detector module. The ASIC has a built-in CFD and TDC. We found that a significant degradation in the timing resolution comes from the ASIC's CFD and TDC. Therefore, we have designed and built an improved Analog subsection board that replaces the ASIC's CFD and TDC with a high-performance CFD (made with discrete components) and TDC (using the CERN high-performance TDC ASIC). The improved Analog subsection board is used in a custom single-ring LSO-based TOF PET camera. The electronics system achieves a timing resolution of 60 ps FWHM. Prototype TOF detector modules are read out with the electronics system and give coincidence timing resolutions of 259 ps FWHM and 156 ps FWHM for detector modules coupled to LSO and LaBr 3 crystals respectively.

Detection of underground pipeline based on Golay waveform design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dai, Jingjing; Xu, Dazhuan

2017-08-01

The detection of underground pipeline is an important problem in the development of the city, but the research about it is not mature at present. In this paper, based on the principle of waveform design in wireless communication, we design an acoustic signal detection system to detect the location of underground pipelines. According to the principle of acoustic localization, we chose DSP-F28335 as the development board, and use DA and AD module as the master control chip. The DA module uses complementary Golay sequence as emission signal. The AD module acquisiting data synchronously, so that the echo signals which containing position information of the target is recovered through the signal processing. The test result shows that the method in this paper can not only calculate the sound velocity of the soil, but also can locate the location of underground pipelines accurately.

Electronic inverter assembly

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Brij N.; Schmit, Christopher J.

A first driver portion comprises a set of first components mounted on or associated with a first circuit board. A second circuit board is spaced apart from the first circuit board. A second driver portion comprises a set of second components mounted on or associated with the second circuit board, where the first driver portion and the second driver portion collectively are adapted to provide input signals to the control terminal of each semiconductor switch of an inverter. A first edge connector is mounted on the first circuit board. A second edge connector is mounted on the second circuit board.more » An interface board has mating edges that mate with the first edge connector and the second edge connector.« less

Method for enhanced control of welding processes

DOEpatents

Sheaffer, Donald A.; Renzi, Ronald F.; Tung, David M.; Schroder, Kevin

2000-01-01

Method and system for producing high quality welds in welding processes, in general, and gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding, in particular by controlling weld penetration. Light emitted from a weld pool is collected from the backside of a workpiece by optical means during welding and transmitted to a digital video camera for further processing, after the emitted light is first passed through a short wavelength pass filter to remove infrared radiation. By filtering out the infrared component of the light emitted from the backside weld pool image, the present invention provides for the accurate determination of the weld pool boundary. Data from the digital camera is fed to an imaging board which focuses on a 100.times.100 pixel portion of the image. The board performs a thresholding operation and provides this information to a digital signal processor to compute the backside weld pool dimensions and area. This information is used by a control system, in a dynamic feedback mode, to automatically adjust appropriate parameters of a welding system, such as the welding current, to control weld penetration and thus, create a uniform weld bead and high quality weld.

Development of IR imaging system simulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiang, Xinglang; He, Guojing; Dong, Weike; Dong, Lu

2017-02-01

To overcome the disadvantages of the tradition semi-physical simulation and injection simulation equipment in the performance evaluation of the infrared imaging system (IRIS), a low-cost and reconfigurable IRIS simulator, which can simulate the realistic physical process of infrared imaging, is proposed to test and evaluate the performance of the IRIS. According to the theoretical simulation framework and the theoretical models of the IRIS, the architecture of the IRIS simulator is constructed. The 3D scenes are generated and the infrared atmospheric transmission effects are simulated using OGRE technology in real-time on the computer. The physical effects of the IRIS are classified as the signal response characteristic, modulation transfer characteristic and noise characteristic, and they are simulated on the single-board signal processing platform based on the core processor FPGA in real-time using high-speed parallel computation method.

Real-Time Data Display

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pedings, Marc

2007-01-01

RT-Display is a MATLAB-based data acquisition environment designed to use a variety of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware to digitize analog signals to a standard data format usable by other post-acquisition data analysis tools. This software presents the acquired data in real time using a variety of signal-processing algorithms. The acquired data is stored in a standard Operator Interactive Signal Processing Software (OISPS) data-formatted file. RT-Display is primarily configured to use the Agilent VXI (or equivalent) data acquisition boards used in such systems as MIDDAS (Multi-channel Integrated Dynamic Data Acquisition System). The software is generalized and deployable in almost any testing environment, without limitations or proprietary configuration for a specific test program or project. With the Agilent hardware configured and in place, users can start the program and, in one step, immediately begin digitizing multiple channels of data. Once the acquisition is completed, data is converted into a common binary format that also can be translated to specific formats used by external analysis software, such as OISPS and PC-Signal (product of AI Signal Research Inc.). RT-Display at the time of this reporting was certified on Agilent hardware capable of acquisition up to 196,608 samples per second. Data signals are presented to the user on-screen simultaneously for 16 channels. Each channel can be viewed individually, with a maximum capability of 160 signal channels (depending on hardware configuration). Current signal presentations include: time data, fast Fourier transforms (FFT), and power spectral density plots (PSD). Additional processing algorithms can be easily incorporated into this environment.

Unitary Shaft-Angle and Shaft-Speed Sensor Assemblies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alhorn, Dean C.; Howard, David E.; Smith, Dennis A.

2006-01-01

The figure depicts a unit that contains a rotary-position or a rotary-speed sensor, plus electronic circuitry necessary for its operation, all enclosed in a single housing with a shaft for coupling to an external rotary machine. This rotation sensor unit is complete: when its shaft is mechanically connected to that of the rotary machine and it is supplied with electric power, it generates an output signal directly indicative of the rotary position or speed, without need for additional processing by other circuitry. The incorporation of all of the necessary excitatory and readout circuitry into the housing (in contradistinction to using externally located excitatory and/or readout circuitry) in a compact arrangement is the major difference between this unit and prior rotation-sensor units. The sensor assembly inside the housing includes excitatory and readout integrated circuits mounted on a circular printed-circuit board. In a typical case in which the angle or speed transducer(s) utilize electromagnetic induction, the assembly also includes another circular printed-circuit board on which the transducer windings are mounted. A sheet of high-magnetic permeability metal ("mu metal") is placed between the winding board and the electronic-circuit board to prevent spurious coupling of excitatory signals from the transducer windings to the readout circuits. The housing and most of the other mechanical hardware can be common to a variety of different sensor designs. Hence, the unit can be configured to generate any of variety of outputs by changing the interior sensor assembly. For example, the sensor assembly could contain an analog tachometer circuit that generates an output proportional (in both magnitude and sign or in magnitude only) to the speed of rotation.

A Compact Cosmic Ray Telescope using Silicon Photomultipliers for use in High Schools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro, Luis; Elizondo, Leonardo; Shelor, Mark; Cervantes, Omar; Fan, Sewan; Ritt, Stefan

2016-03-01

Over the years, the QuarkNet and the LBL Cosmic Ray Project have helped trained thousands of high school students and teachers to explore cosmic ray physics. To get high school students in the Salinas, CA area also excited about cosmic rays, we constructed a cosmic ray telescope as a physics outreach apparatus. Our apparatus includes a pair of plastic scintillators coupled to silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) and a coincidence circuit board. We designed and constructed custom circuit boards for mounting the SiPM detectors, the high voltage power supplies and coincidence AND circuit. The AND logic signals can be used for triggering data acquisition devices including an oscilloscope, a waveform digitizer or an Arduino microcontroller. To properly route the circuit wire traces, the circuit boards were layout in Eagle and fabricated in-house using a circuit board maker from LPKF LASER, model Protomat E33. We used a Raspberry Pi computer to control a fast waveform sampler, the DRS4 to digitize the SiPM signal waveforms. The CERN PAW software package was used to analyze the amplitude and time distributions of SiPM detector signals. At this conference, we present our SiPM experimental setup, circuit board fabrication procedures and the data analysis work flow. AIP Megger's Award, Dept. of Ed. Title V Grant PO31S090007.

Power converter using near-load output capacitance, direct inductor contact, and/or remote current sense

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coteus, Paul W.; Ferencz, Andrew; Hall, Shawn A.

An apparatus includes a first circuit board including first components including a load, and a second circuit board including second components including switching power devices and an output inductor. Ground and output voltage contacts between the circuit boards are made through soldered or connectorized interfaces. Certain components on the first circuit board and certain components, including the output inductor, on the second circuit board act as a DC-DC voltage converter for the load. An output capacitance for the conversion is on the first circuit board with no board-to-board interface between the output capacitance and the load. The inductance of themore » board-to-board interface functions as part of the output inductor's inductance and not as a parasitic inductance. Sense components for sensing current through the output inductor are located on the first circuit board. Parasitic inductance of the board-to-board interface has less effect on a sense signal provided to a controller.« less

Design and Application of a Collocated Capacitance Sensor for Magnetic Bearing Spindle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shin, Dongwon; Liu, Seon-Jung; Kim, Jongwon

1996-01-01

This paper presents a collocated capacitance sensor for magnetic bearings. The main feature of the sensor is that it is made of a specific compact printed circuit board (PCB). The signal processing unit has been also developed. The results of the experimental performance evaluation on the sensitivity, resolution and frequency response of the sensor are presented. Finally, an application example of the sensor to the active control of a magnetic bearing is described.

Planetary Waves and Mesoscale Disturbances in the Middle and Upper Atmosphere

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-05-14

processing of ionogram records made us to begin designing a computer - controlled system to collect, store, display and scale the ionograms in digital...circuit board " L - 154". L - 154 passed signals from the re- ceiver and the system of the control to computer in order to collect in for motion...the main purpose of the PSMOS project is the establishment of a ground-based mesopause observing system for the investigation of planetary scale

LANDSAT-D flight segment operations manual, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Varhola, J.

1982-01-01

Hardware, systems, and subsystems for the multimission modular spacecraft used for LANDSAT 4 are described and depicted in block diagrams and schematics. Components discussed include the modular attitude control system; the communication and data handling subsystem; the narrowband tape recorder; the on-board computer; the propulsion module subsystem; the signal conditioning and control unit; the modular power subsystem; the solar array drive and power transmission assembly; the power distribution unit; the digital processing unit; and the wideband communication subsystem.

ULA-OP 256: A 256-Channel Open Scanner for Development and Real-Time Implementation of New Ultrasound Methods.

PubMed

Boni, Enrico; Bassi, Luca; Dallai, Alessandro; Guidi, Francesco; Meacci, Valentino; Ramalli, Alessandro; Ricci, Stefano; Tortoli, Piero

2016-10-01

Open scanners offer an increasing support to the ultrasound researchers who are involved in the experimental test of novel methods. Each system presents specific performance in terms of number of channels, flexibility, processing power, data storage capability, and overall dimensions. This paper reports the design criteria and hardware/software implementation details of a new 256-channel ultrasound advanced open platform. This system is organized in a modular architecture, including multiple front-end boards, interconnected by a high-speed (80 Gb/s) ring, capable of finely controlling all transmit (TX) and receive (RX) signals. High flexibility and processing power (equivalent to 2500 GFLOP) are guaranteed by the possibility of individually programming multiple digital signal processors and field programmable gate arrays. Eighty GB of on-board memory are available for the storage of prebeamforming, postbeamforming, and baseband data. The use of latest generation devices allowed to integrate all needed electronics in a small size ( 34 cm ×30 cm ×26 cm). The system implements a multiline beamformer that allows obtaining images of 96 lines by 2048 depths at a frame rate of 720 Hz (expandable to 3000 Hz). The multiline beamforming capability is also exploited to implement a real-time vector Doppler scheme in which a single TX and two independent RX apertures are simultaneously used to maintain the analysis over a full pulse repetition frequency range.

Arduino-based noise robust online heart-rate detection.

PubMed

Das, Sangita; Pal, Saurabh; Mitra, Madhuchhanda

2017-04-01

This paper introduces a noise robust real time heart rate detection system from electrocardiogram (ECG) data. An online data acquisition system is developed to collect ECG signals from human subjects. Heart rate is detected using window-based autocorrelation peak localisation technique. A low-cost Arduino UNO board is used to implement the complete automated process. The performance of the system is compared with PC-based heart rate detection technique. Accuracy of the system is validated through simulated noisy ECG data with various levels of signal to noise ratio (SNR). The mean percentage error of detected heart rate is found to be 0.72% for the noisy database with five different noise levels.

Hard and flexible optical printed circuit board

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, El-Hang; Lee, Hyun Sik; Lee, S. G.; O, B. H.; Park, S. G.; Kim, K. H.

2007-02-01

We report on the design and fabrication of hard and flexible optical printed circuit boards (O-PCBs). The objective is to realize generic and application-specific O-PCBs, either in hard form or flexible form, that are compact, light-weight, low-energy, high-speed, intelligent, and environmentally friendly, for low-cost and high-volume universal applications. The O-PCBs consist of 2-dimensional planar arrays of micro/nano-scale optical wires, circuits and devices that are interconnected and integrated to perform the functions of sensing, storing, transporting, processing, switching, routing and distributing optical signals on flat modular boards. For fabrication, the polymer and organic optical wires and waveguides are first fabricated on a board and are used to interconnect and integrate micro/nano-scale photonic devices. The micro/nano-optical functional devices include lasers, detectors, switches, sensors, directional couplers, multi-mode interference devices, ring-resonators, photonic crystal devices, plasmonic devices, and quantum devices. For flexible boards, the optical waveguide arrays are fabricated on flexible poly-ethylen terephthalate (PET) substrates by UV embossing. Electrical layer carrying VCSEL and PD array is laminated with the optical layer carrying waveguide arrays. Both hard and flexible electrical lines are replaced with high speed optical interconnection between chips over four waveguide channels up to 10Gbps on each. We discuss uses of hard or flexible O-PCBs for telecommunication systems, computer systems, transportation systems, space/avionic systems, and bio-sensor systems.

High density electrical card connector system

DOEpatents

Haggard, J. Eric; Trotter, Garrett R.

2000-01-01

An electrical circuit board card connection system is disclosed which comprises a wedge-operated locking mechanism disposed along an edge portion of the printed circuit board. An extrusion along the edge of the circuit board mates with an extrusion fixed to the card cage having a plurality of electrical connectors. The connection system allows the connectors to be held away from the circuit board during insertion/extraction and provides a constant mating force once the circuit board is positioned and the wedge inserted. The disclosed connection system is a simple solution to the need for a greater number of electrical signal connections.

A Functional Description of the Geophysical Data Acquisition System

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-08-10

less than 50 SPS nor greater than 250 SPS 3.0 SENSORS/TRANSDUCERS 3.1 CHAPTER OVERVIEW Most of the research supported by GDAS has primarily involved two...signal for the computer. The SRUN signal from the computer is fed to a retriggerable oneshot multivibrator on the board. SRUN consists of a pulse train...that is present when the computer is running. The oneshot output drives the RUN lamp on the front panel. Finally, one pin on the board edge connector is

A Synchronous Multi-Body Sensor Platform in a Wireless Body Sensor Network: Design and Implementation

PubMed Central

Gil, Yeongjoon; Wu, Wanqing; Lee, Jungtae

2012-01-01

Background Human life can be further improved if diseases and disorders can be predicted before they become dangerous, by correctly recognizing signals from the human body, so in order to make disease detection more precise, various body-signals need to be measured simultaneously in a synchronized manner. Object This research aims at developing an integrated system for measuring four signals (EEG, ECG, respiration, and PPG) and simultaneously producing synchronous signals on a Wireless Body Sensor Network. Design We designed and implemented a platform for multiple bio-signals using Bluetooth communication. Results First, we developed a prototype board and verified the signals from the sensor platform using frequency responses and quantities. Next, we designed and implemented a lightweight, ultra-compact, low cost, low power-consumption Printed Circuit Board. Conclusion A synchronous multi-body sensor platform is expected to be very useful in telemedicine and emergency rescue scenarios. Furthermore, this system is expected to be able to analyze the mutual effects among body signals. PMID:23112605

The internal processes and behavioral dynamics of hospital boards: an exploration of differences between high- and low-performing hospitals.

PubMed

Kane, Nancy M; Clark, Jonathan R; Rivenson, Howard L

2009-01-01

Nonprofit hospital boards are under increasing pressure to improve financial, clinical, and charitable and community benefit performance. Most research on board effectiveness focuses on variables measuring board structure and attributes associated with competing ideal models of board roles. However, the results do not provide clear evidence that one role is superior to another and suggest that in practice boards pursue hybrid roles. Board dynamics and processes have received less attention from researchers, but emerging theoretical frameworks highlight them as key to effective corporate governance. We explored differences in board processes and behavioral dynamics between financially high- and low-performing hospitals, with the goal of developing a better understanding of the best board practices in nonprofit hospitals. A comparative case study approach allowed for in-depth, qualitative assessments of how the internal workings of boards differ between low- and high-performing facilities. Boards of hospitals with strong financial performance exhibited behavioral dynamics and internal processes that differed in important ways from those of hospitals with poor financial performance. Boards need to actively attend to key processes and foster positive group dynamics in decision making to be more effective in governing hospitals.

Application of Reconfigurable Computing Technology to Multi-KiloHertz Micro-Laser Altimeter (MMLA) Data Processing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Powell, Wesley; Dabney, Philip; Hicks, Edward; Pinchinat, Maxime; Day, John H. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The Multi-KiloHertz Micro-Laser Altimeter (MMLA) is an aircraft based instrument developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with several potential spaceflight applications. This presentation describes how reconfigurable computing technology was employed to perform MMLA signal extraction in real-time under realistic operating constraints. The MMLA is a "single-photon-counting" airborne laser altimeter that is used to measure land surface features such as topography and vegetation canopy height. This instrument has to date flown a number of times aboard the NASA P3 aircraft acquiring data at a number of sites in the Mid-Atlantic region. This instrument pulses a relatively low-powered laser at a very high rate (10 kHz) and then measures the time-of-flight of discrete returns from the target surface. The instrument then bins these measurements into a two-dimensional array (vertical height vs. horizontal ground track) and selects the most likely signal path through the array. Return data that does not correspond to the selected signal path are classified as noise returns and are then discarded. The MMLA signal extraction algorithm is very compute intensive in that a score must be computed for every possible path through the two dimensional array in order to select the most likely signal path. Given a typical array size with 50 x 6, up to 33 arrays must be processed per second. And for each of these arrays, roughly 12,000 individual paths must be scored. Furthermore, the number of paths increases exponentially with the horizontal size of the array, and linearly with the vertical size. Yet, increasing the horizontal and vertical sizes of the array offer science advantages such as improved range, resolution, and noise rejection. Due to the volume of return data and the compute intensive signal extraction algorithm, the existing PC-based MMLA data system has been unable to perform signal extraction in real-time unless the array is limited in size to one column, This limits the ability of the MMLA to operate in environments with sparse signal returns and a high number of noise return. However, under an IR&D project, an FPGA-based, reconfigurable computing data system has been developed that has been demonstrated to perform real-time signal extraction under realistic operating constraints. This reconfigurable data system is based on the commercially available Firebird Board from Annapolis Microsystems. This PCI board consists of a Xilinx Virtex 2000E FPGA along with 36 MB of SRAM arranged in five separately addressable banks. This board is housed in a rackmount PC with dual 850MHz Pentium processors running the Windows 2000 operating system. This data system performs all signal extraction in hardware on the Firebird, but also runs the existing "software based" signal extraction in tandem for comparison purposes. Using a relatively small amount of the Virtex XCV2000E resources, the reconfigurable data system has demonstrated to improve performance improvement over the existing software based data system by an order of magnitude. Performance could be further improved by employing parallelism. Ground testing and a preliminary engineering test flight aboard the NASA P3 has been performed, during which the reconfigurable data system has been demonstrated to match the results of the existing data system.

Reduction of ETS-VI Laser Communication Equipment Optical-Downlink Telemetry Collected During GOLD

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toyoshima, M.; Araki, K.; Arimoto, Y.; Toyoda, M.; Jeganathan, M.; Wilson, K.; Lesh, J. R.

1997-01-01

Free-space laser communications experiments were conducted between the laser communication equipment (LCE) on board the Japanese Engineering Test Satellite VI (ETS-VI) and the ground station located at the Table Mountain Facility (TMF) during late 1995 and early 1996. This article describes the on-line data reduction process used to decode LCE telemetry (called E2) downlinked on the optical carrier during the Ground/Orbiter Lasercomm Demonstration (GOLD) experiments. The LCE has the capability of transmitting real-time sensor and status information at 128 kbps by modulating the onboard diode laser. The optical downlink was detected on the ground, bit synchronized, and the resulting data stream stored on a data recorder. The recorded data were subsequently decoded by on-line data processing that included cross-correlation of the known telemetry data format and the downlink data stream. Signals obtained from the processing can be useful not only in evaluating the characteristics of the LCE but also in understanding uplink and downlink signal quality.

Advanced optical network architecture for integrated digital avionics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, D. Reed

1996-12-01

For the first time in the history of avionics, the network designer now has a choice in selecting the media that interconnects the sources and sinks of digital data on aircraft. Electrical designs are already giving way to photonics in application areas where the data rate times distance product is large or where special design requirements such as low weight or EMI considerations are critical. Future digital avionic architectures will increasingly favor the use of photonic interconnects as network data rates of one gigabit/second and higher are needed to support real-time operation of high-speed integrated digital processing. As the cost of optical network building blocks is reduced and as temperature-rugged laser sources are matured, metal interconnects will be forced to retreat to applications spanning shorter and shorter distances. Although the trend is already underway, the widespread use of digital optics will first occur at the system level, where gigabit/second, real-time interconnects between sensors, processors, mass memories and displays separated by a least of few meters will be required. The application of photonic interconnects for inter-printed wiring board signalling across the backplane will eventually find application for gigabit/second applications since signal degradation over copper traces occurs before one gigabit/second and 0.5 meters are reached. For the foreseeable future however, metal interconnects will continue to be used to interconnect devices on printed wiring boards since 5 gigabit/second signals can be sent over metal up to around 15 centimeters. Current-day applications of optical interconnects at the system level are described and a projection of how advanced optical interconnect technology will be driven by the use of high speed integrated digital processing on future aircraft is presented. The recommended advanced network for application in the 2010 time frame is a fiber-based system with a signalling speed of around 2-3 gigabits per second. This switch-based unified network will interconnect sensors, displays, mass memory and controls and displays to computer modules within the processing complex. The characteristics of required building blocks needed for the future are described. These building blocks include the fiber, an optical switch, a laser-based transceiver, blind-mate connectors and an optical backplane.

Impact of VLSI/VHSIC on satellite on-board signal processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aanstoos, J. V.; Ruedger, W. H.; Snyder, W. E.; Kelly, W. L.

Forecasted improvements in IC fabrication techniques, such as the use of X-ray lithography, are expected to yield submicron circuit feature sizes within the decade of the 1980s. As dimensions decrease, reliability, cost, speed, power consumption and density improvements will be realized which have a significant impact on the capabilities of onboard spacecraft signal processing functions. This will in turn result in increases of the intelligence that may be deployed on spaceborne remote sensing platforms. Among programs oriented toward such goals are the silicon-based Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) researches sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, and efforts toward the development of GaAs devices which will compete with silicon VLSI technology for future applications. GaAs has an electron mobility which is five to six times that of silicon, and promises commensurate computation speed increases under low field conditions.

Single-Event Transient Testing of Low Dropout PNP Series Linear Voltage Regulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adell, Philippe; Allen, Gregory

2013-01-01

As demand for high-speed, on-board, digital-processing integrated circuits on spacecraft increases (field-programmable gate arrays and digital signal processors in particular), the need for the next generation point-of-load (POL) regulator becomes a prominent design issue. Shrinking process nodes have resulted in core rails dropping to values close to 1.0 V, drastically reducing margin to standard switching converters or regulators that power digital ICs. The goal of this task is to perform SET characterization of several commercial POL converters, and provide a discussion of the impact of these results to state-of-the-art digital processing IC through laser and heavy ion testing

Fundamental study of microelectronic chip response under laser ultrasonic-interferometric inspection using C-scan method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lei; Gong, Jie; Ume, I. Charles

2014-02-01

In modern surface mount packaging technologies, such as flip chips, chip scale packages, and ball grid arrays(BGA), chips are attached to the substrates/printed wiring board (PWB) using solder bump interconnections. The quality of solder bumps between the chips and the substrate/board is difficult to inspect. Laser ultrasonic-interferometric technique was proved to be a promising approach for solder bump inspection because of its noncontact and nondestructive characteristics. Different indicators extracted from received signals have been used to predict the potential defects, such as correlation coefficient, error ratio, frequency shifting, etc. However, the fundamental understanding of the chip behavior under laser ultrasonic inspection is still missing. Specifically, it is not sure whether the laser interferometer detected out-of-plane displacements were due to wave propagation or structural vibration when the chip was excited by pulsed laser. Plus, it is found that the received signals are chip dependent. Both challenges impede the interpretation of acquired signals. In this paper, a C-scan method was proposed to study the underlying phenomenon during laser ultrasonic inspection. The full chip was inspected. The response of the chip under laser excitation was visualized in a movie resulted from acquired signals. Specifically, a BGA chip was investigated to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method. By characterizing signals using discrete wavelet transform(DWT), both ultrasonic wave propagation and vibration were observed. Separation of them was successfully achieved using ideal band-pass filter and visualized in resultant movies, too. The observed ultrasonic waves were characterized and their respective speeds were measured by applying 2-D FFT. The C-scan method, combined with different digital signal processing techniques, was proved to be an very effective methodology to learn the behavior of chips under laser excitation. This general procedure can be applied to any unknown chip before inspection. A wealth of information can be provided by this learning procedure, which greatly benefits the interpretation of inspection signals afterwards.

Method of Enhancing On-Board State Estimation Using Communication Signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anzalone, Evan J. (Inventor); Chuang, Jason C. H. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A method of enhancing on-board state estimation for a spacecraft utilizes a network of assets to include planetary-based assets and space-based assets. Communication signals transmitted from each of the assets into space are defined by a common protocol. Data is embedded in each communication signal transmitted by the assets. The data includes a time-of-transmission for a corresponding one of the communication signals and a position of a corresponding one of the assets at the time-of-transmission. A spacecraft is equipped to receive the communication signals, has a clock synchronized to the space-wide time reference frame, and has a processor programmed to generate state estimates of the spacecraft. Using its processor, the spacecraft determines a one-dimensional range from itself to at least one of the assets and then updates its state estimates using each one-dimensional range.

Performances of the Front-End Electronics for the HADES RPC TOF wall on a 12C beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belver, D.; Cabanelas, P.; Castro, E.; Díaz, J.; Garzón, J. A.; Gil, A.; Gonzalez-Diaz, D.; Koenig, W.; Traxler, M.; Zapata, M.

2009-05-01

A Front-End Electronics (FEE) chain for timing accurate measurements has been developed for the RPC wall upgrade of the High-Acceptance DiElectron Spectrometer (HADES). The wall will cover an area of around 8 m with 1122 RPC cells (2244 electronic channels). The FEE chain consists of two boards: a four-channel DaughterBOard (DBO) and a 32-channel MotherBOard (MBO). The DBO uses a fast 2 GHz amplifier feeding a discriminator. The time and the charge information are encoded in the leading and the trailing edge (by a charge to width method) of an LVDS signal. Each MBO houses up to eight DBOs providing them regulated voltage supply, threshold values via DACs, test signals and collection of their trigger outputs. The MBO delivers LVDS signals to a time-to-digital converter readout board (TRB) based on HPTDC for data acquisition. In this work, we present the performance of the FEE measured using: (a) narrow electronic test pulses and (b) real signals read out in a fully instrumented RPC sextant installed in its final position at the HADES. The detector was exposed to particles coming from reactions of a 12C beam on Be and Nb targets at 2 GeV/A kinetic energy. Results for the whole electronic chain (DBO+MBO+TRB) show a timing jitter of around 40 ps/channel for pulses above 100 fC and 80 ps/channel for beam data taken with the RPC.

System and Method for an Integrated Satellite Platform

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Starin, Scott R. (Inventor); Sheikh, Salman I. (Inventor); Hesse, Michael (Inventor); Clagett, Charles E. (Inventor); Santos Soto, Luis H. (Inventor); Hesh, Scott V. (Inventor); Paschalidis, Nikolaos (Inventor); Ericsson, Aprille J. (Inventor); Johnson, Michael A. (Inventor)

2018-01-01

A system, method, and computer-readable storage devices for a 6U CubeSat with a magnetometer boom. The example 6U CubeSat can include an on-board computing device connected to an electrical power system, wherein the electrical power system receives power from at least one of a battery and at least one solar panel, a first fluxgate sensor attached to an extendable boom, a release mechanism for extending the extendable boom, at least one second fluxgate sensor fixed within the satellite, an ion neutral mass spectrometer, and a relativistic electron/proton telescope. The on-board computing device can receive data from the first fluxgate sensor, the at least one second fluxgate sensor, the ion neutral mass spectrometer, and the relativistic electron/proton telescope via the bus, and can then process the data via an algorithm to deduce a geophysical signal.

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Military System Applications of Superconductors

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-01

sensitivity increases over current scan- ning IR sensors, # W’W Ana/&_ and U/tin- Fast Di sia$zd W Pfor radar and optical sen- sors; W’Ujh Power Motors...The electromagnetic (EM) mass accelerator concept is some 25 years old and has been ex- plored intermittently . Recently, SDIO has supported EM rail...Increased Radar Range HIS - Medium Risk (Phased-Array Antenna) WIDEBAND ANALOG AND ULTRA- FAST LTS - Low Risk (Analog) DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING Medium Risk

Acousto-ultrasonic system for the inspection of composite armored vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Godinez, Valery F.; Carlos, Mark F.; Delamere, Michael; Hoch, William; Fotopoulos, Christos; Dai, Weiming; Raju, Basavaraju B.

2001-04-01

In this paper the design and implementation of a unique acousto-ultrasonics system for the inspection of composite armored vehicles is discussed. The system includes a multi-sensor probe with a position-tracking device mounted on a computer controlled scanning bridge. The system also includes an arbitrary waveform generator with a multiplexer and a multi-channel acoustic emission board capable of simultaneously collecting and processing up to four acoustic signals in real time. C-scans of an armored vehicle panel with defects are presented.

Protective Socket For Integrated Circuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilkinson, Chris; Henegar, Greg

1988-01-01

Socket for intergrated circuits (IC's) protects from excessive voltages and currents or from application of voltages and currents in wrong sequence during insertion or removal. Contains built-in switch that opens as IC removed, disconnecting leads from signals and power. Also protects other components on circuit board from transients produced by insertion and removal of IC. Makes unnecessary to turn off power to entire circuit board so other circuits on board continue to function.

Boarding Team Networking on the Move: Applying Unattended Relay Nodes

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

below the main deck via a wireless ad-hoc network will enhance the situational awareness. Regarding the boarding of a non-compliant vessel, tracking...reaction time. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Maritime Interdiction Operations, Boarding Team Networking , Unattended Relay Nodes, Wireless Mesh Networks Onboard...the steel structures of naval vessels obstruct signals to propagate below the main deck. Extending the network below the main deck via a wireless ad

OpenPET: A Flexible Electronics System for Radiotracer Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moses, W. W.; Buckley, S.; Vu, C.; Peng, Q.; Pavlov, N.; Choong, W.-S.; Wu, J.; Jackson, C.

2010-10-01

We present the design for OpenPET, an electronics readout system designed for prototype radiotracer imaging instruments. The critical requirements are that it has sufficient performance, channel count, channel density, and power consumption to service a complete camera, and yet be simple, flexible, and customizable enough to be used with almost any detector or camera design. An important feature of this system is that each analog input is processed independently. Each input can be configured to accept signals of either polarity as well as either differential or ground referenced signals. Each signal is digitized by a continuously sampled ADC, which is processed by an FPGA to extract pulse height information. A leading edge discriminator creates a timing edge that is “time stamped” by a TDC implemented inside the FPGA. This digital information from each channel is sent to an FPGA that services 16 analog channels, and information from multiple channels is processed by this FPGA to perform logic for crystal lookup, DOI calculation, calibration, etc. As all of this processing is controlled by firmware and software, it can be modified/customized easily. The system is open source, meaning that all technical data (specifications, schematics and board layout files, source code, and instructions) will be publicly available.

Board task performance: An exploration of micro- and macro-level determinants of board effectiveness

PubMed Central

Minichilli, Alessandro; Zattoni, Alessandro; Nielsen, Sabina; Huse, Morten

2012-01-01

This paper addresses recent calls to narrow the micro–macro gap in management research (Bamberger, 2008), by incorporating a macro-level context variable (country) in exploring micro-level determinants of board effectiveness. Following the integrated model proposed by Forbes and Milliken (1999), we identify three board processes as micro-level determinants of board effectiveness. Specifically, we focus on effort norms, cognitive conflicts and the use of knowledge and skills as determinants of board control and advisory task performance. Further, we consider how two different institutional settings influence board tasks, and how the context moderates the relationship between processes and tasks. Our hypotheses are tested on a survey-based dataset of 535 medium-sized and large industrial firms in Italy and Norway, which are considered to substantially differ along legal and cultural dimensions. The findings show that: (i) Board processes have a larger potential than demographic variables to explain board task performance; (ii) board task performance differs significantly between boards operating in different contexts; and (iii) national context moderates the relationships between board processes and board task performance. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID:23365485

Fully optical backplane system using novel optical plug and slot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, In-Kui; Ahn, Seung-Ho; Lee, Woo-Jin; Han, Sang-Pil; Kim, Jin-Tae; Choi, Chun-Ki; Shin, Kyung-Up; Yoon, Keun Byoung; Jeong, Myung-Yung; Park, Hyo Hoon

2005-10-01

A fully optical PCB with transmitter/receiver system boards and optical bakcplane was prepared, which is board-to-board interconnection by an optical slot. We report a 10 Gb/s PRBS NRZ data transmission between transmitter system board and optical backplane embedded multimode polymeric waveguide arrays. The basic concept of the optical PCB is as follows; 1) Metal optical bench is integrated with optoelectronic devices, driver and receiver circuits, polymeric waveguide and access line PCB module. 2) Multimode polymeric waveguide inside an optical backplane, which is embedded into PCB, 3) Optical slot and plug for high-density (channel pitch : 500 um) board-to-board interconnection. The polymeric waveguide technology can be used for transmission of data between transmitter/receiver processing boards and backplane boards. The main components are low-loss tapered polymeric waveguides and a novel optical plug and slot for board-to-board interconnections, respectively. The transmitter/receiver processing boards are designed as plug types, and can be easily plugged-in and -out at an optical backplane board. The optical backplane boards are prepared by employing the lamination processes for conventional electrical PCBs. A practical optical backplane system was implemented with two processing boards and an optical backplane. As connection components between the transmitter/receiver processing boards and backplane board, optical slots made of a 90°-bending structure-embedded optical plug was used. A 10 Gb/s data link was successfully demonstrated. The bit error rate (BER) was determined and is 5.6×10 -9(@10Gb/s) and the BER of 8 Gb/s is < 10 -12.

Adaptive Injection-locking Oscillator Array for RF Spectrum Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leung, Daniel

2011-04-19

A highly parallel radio frequency receiver using an array of injection-locking oscillators for on-chip, rapid estimation of signal amplitudes and frequencies is considered. The oscillators are tuned to different natural frequencies, and variable gain amplifiers are used to provide negative feedback to adapt the locking band-width with the input signal to yield a combined measure of input signal amplitude and frequency detuning. To further this effort, an array of 16 two-stage differential ring oscillators and 16 Gilbert-cell mixers is designed for 40-400 MHz operation. The injection-locking oscillator array is assembled on a custom printed-circuit board. Control and calibration is achievedmore » by on-board microcontroller.« less

Self-shielding printed circuit boards for high frequency amplifiers and transmitters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galvin, D.

1969-01-01

Printed circuit boards retaining as much copper as possible provide electromagnetic shielding between stages of the high frequency amplifiers and transmitters. Oscillation is prevented, spurious output signals are reduced, and multiple stages are kept isolated from each other, both thermally and electrically.

Patient Safety Policy in Long-Term Care: A Research Protocol to Assess Executive WalkRounds to Improve Management of Early Warning Signs for Patient Safety.

PubMed

van Dusseldorp, Loes; Hamers, Hub; van Achterberg, Theo; Schoonhoven, Lisette

2014-07-15

At many hospitals and long-term care organizations (such as nursing homes), executive board members have a responsibility to manage patient safety. Executive WalkRounds offer an opportunity for boards to build a trusting relationship with professionals and seem useful as a leadership tool to pick up on soft signals, which are indirect signals or early warnings that something is wrong. Because the majority of the research on WalkRounds has been performed in hospitals, it is unknown how board members of long-term care organizations develop their patient safety policy. Also, it is not clear if these board members use soft signals as a leadership tool and, if so, how this influences their patient safety policies. The objective of this study is to explore the added value and the feasibility of WalkRounds for patient safety management in long-term care. This study also aims to identify how executive board members of long-term care organizations manage patient safety and to describe the characteristics of boards. An explorative before-and-after study was conducted between April 2012 and February 2014 in 13 long-term care organizations in the Netherlands. After implementing the intervention in 6 organizations, data from 72 WalkRounds were gathered by observation and a reporting form. Before and after the intervention period, data collection included interviews, questionnaires, and studying reports of the executive boards. A mixed-method analysis is performed using descriptive statistics, t tests, and content analysis. Results are expected to be ready in mid 2014. It is a challenge to keep track of ongoing development and implementation of patient safety management tools in long-term care. By performing this study in cooperation with the participating long-term care organizations, insight into the potential added value and the feasibility of this method will increase.

Cognitive measure on different profiles.

PubMed

Spindola, Marilda; Carra, Giovani; Balbinot, Alexandre; Zaro, Milton A

2010-01-01

Based on neurology and cognitive science many studies are developed to understand the human model mental, getting to know how human cognition works, especially about learning processes that involve complex contents and spatial-logical reasoning. Event Related Potential - ERP - is a basic and non-invasive method of electrophysiological investigation. It can be used to assess aspects of human cognitive processing by changing the rhythm of the frequency bands brain indicate that some type of processing or neuronal behavior. This paper focuses on ERP technique to help understand cognitive pathway in subjects from different areas of knowledge when they are exposed to an external visual stimulus. In the experiment we used 2D and 3D visual stimulus in the same picture. The signals were captured using 10 (ten) Electroencephalogram - EEG - channel system developed for this project and interfaced in a ADC (Analogical Digital System) board with LabVIEW system - National Instruments. That research was performed using project of experiments technique - DOE. The signal processing were done (math and statistical techniques) showing the relationship between cognitive pathway by groups and intergroups.

Board-level optical clock signal distribution using Si CMOS-compatible polyimide-based 1- to 48-fanout H-tree

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Linghui; Bihari, Bipin; Gan, Jianhua; Chen, Ray T.; Tang, Suning

1998-08-01

Si-CMOS compatible polymer-based waveguides for optoelectronic interconnects and packaging have been fabricated and characterized. A 1-to-48 fanout optoelectronic interconnection layer (OIL) structure based on Ultradel 9120/9020 for the high-speed massive clock signal distribution for a Cray T-90 supercomputer board has been constructed. The OIL employs multimode polymeric channel waveguides in conjunction with surface-normal waveguide output coupler and 1-to-2 splitter. A total insertion loss of 7.98 dB at 850 nm was measured experimentally.

Automated system for analyzing the activity of individual neurons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bankman, Isaac N.; Johnson, Kenneth O.; Menkes, Alex M.; Diamond, Steve D.; Oshaughnessy, David M.

1993-01-01

This paper presents a signal processing system that: (1) provides an efficient and reliable instrument for investigating the activity of neuronal assemblies in the brain; and (2) demonstrates the feasibility of generating the command signals of prostheses using the activity of relevant neurons in disabled subjects. The system operates online, in a fully automated manner and can recognize the transient waveforms of several neurons in extracellular neurophysiological recordings. Optimal algorithms for detection, classification, and resolution of overlapping waveforms are developed and evaluated. Full automation is made possible by an algorithm that can set appropriate decision thresholds and an algorithm that can generate templates on-line. The system is implemented with a fast IBM PC compatible processor board that allows on-line operation.

Analysis and compensation of synchronous measurement error for multi-channel laser interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Shengwu; Hu, Jinchun; Zhu, Yu; Hu, Chuxiong

2017-05-01

Dual-frequency laser interferometer has been widely used in precision motion system as a displacement sensor, to achieve nanoscale positioning or synchronization accuracy. In a multi-channel laser interferometer synchronous measurement system, signal delays are different in the different channels, which will cause asynchronous measurement, and then lead to measurement error, synchronous measurement error (SME). Based on signal delay analysis of the measurement system, this paper presents a multi-channel SME framework for synchronous measurement, and establishes the model between SME and motion velocity. Further, a real-time compensation method for SME is proposed. This method has been verified in a self-developed laser interferometer signal processing board (SPB). The experiment result showed that, using this compensation method, at a motion velocity 0.89 m s-1, the max SME between two measuring channels in the SPB is 1.1 nm. This method is more easily implemented and applied to engineering than the method of directly testing smaller signal delay.

A Front-End electronics board for single photo-electron timing and charge from MaPMT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giordano, F.; Breton, D.; Beigbeder, C.; De Robertis, G.; Fusco, P.; Gargano, F.; Liuzzi, R.; Loparco, F.; Mazziotta, M. N.; Rizzi, V.; Tocut, V.

2013-08-01

A Front-End (FE) design based on commercial operational amplifiers has been developed to read-out signals from a Multianode PhotoMultiplier Tube (MaPMT). The overall design has been optimised for single photo-electron signal from the Hamamatsu H8500. The signal is collected by a current sensitive preamplifier and then it is fed into both a ECL fast discriminator and a shaper for analog output readout in differential mode. The analog signal and the digital gates are then registered on VME ADC and TDC modules respectively. Performances in terms of linearity, gain and timing resolution will be discussed, presenting results obtained on a test bench with differentiated step voltage inputs and also with a prototype electronic board plugged into the H8500 PMT illuminated by a picosecond laser.

On-Board GPS Clock Monitoring for Signal Integrity

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

to-alert requirements to permit primary reliance for safety -of-life applications. Augmentation systems are being developed and deployed to address...virtually no false alerts from the combined system . With three running, on-board AFSs , occasional breaks of the error threshold can be allowed if the... system can be assured of transfer to another AFS within a period shorter than the required TTA. With only two AFSs on board running and measured

Electronic system for Langmuir probe measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitov, M.; Bankova, A.; Dimitrova, M.; Ivanova, P.; Tutulkov, K.; Djermanova, N.; Dejarnac, R.; Stöckel, J.; Popov, Tsv K.

2012-03-01

A newly developed Langmuir probe system for measurements of current-voltage (IV) characteristics in the tokamak divertor area is presented and discussed. The system is partially controlled by a computer allowing simultaneous and independent feeding and registration of signals. The system is mounted in the COMPASS tokamak, Institute of Plasma Physics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The new electronic circuit boards include also active low-pass filters which smooth the signal before recording by the data acquisition system (DAQ). The signal is thus less noisy and the data processing is much easier. We also designed and built a microcontroller-driven waveform generator with resolution of 1 Ms/s. The power supply is linear and uses a transformer. We avoided the use of a switching power supply because of the noise that it could generate. Examples of measurements of the IV characteristics by divertor probes in the COMPASS tokamak and evaluation of the EEDF are presented.

A high-speed digital signal processor for atmospheric radar, part 7.3A

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brosnahan, J. W.; Woodard, D. M.

1984-01-01

The Model SP-320 device is a monolithic realization of a complex general purpose signal processor, incorporating such features as a 32-bit ALU, a 16-bit x 16-bit combinatorial multiplier, and a 16-bit barrel shifter. The SP-320 is designed to operate as a slave processor to a host general purpose computer in applications such as coherent integration of a radar return signal in multiple ranges, or dedicated FFT processing. Presently available is an I/O module conforming to the Intel Multichannel interface standard; other I/O modules will be designed to meet specific user requirements. The main processor board includes input and output FIFO (First In First Out) memories, both with depths of 4096 W, to permit asynchronous operation between the source of data and the host computer. This design permits burst data rates in excess of 5 MW/s.

GPS and Galileo Developments on Board the International Space Station With the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pozzobon, Oscar; Fantinato, Samuele; Dalla Chiara, Andrea; Gamba, Giovanni; Crisci, Massimo; Giordana, Pietro; Enderle, Werner; Chelmins, David; Sands, Obed S.; Clapper, Carolyn J.;

Design and Verification of a Digital Controller for a 2-Piece Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope.

PubMed

Lee, Jungshin; Yun, Sung Wook; Rhim, Jaewook

2016-04-20

A Hemispherical Resonator Gyro (HRG) is the Coriolis Vibratory Gyro (CVG) that measures rotation angle or angular velocity using Coriolis force acting the vibrating mass. A HRG can be used as a rate gyro or integrating gyro without structural modification by simply changing the control scheme. In this paper, differential control algorithms are designed for a 2-piece HRG. To design a precision controller, the electromechanical modelling and signal processing must be pre-performed accurately. Therefore, the equations of motion for the HRG resonator with switched harmonic excitations are derived with the Duhamel Integral method. Electromechanical modeling of the resonator, electric module and charge amplifier is performed by considering the mode shape of a thin hemispherical shell. Further, signal processing and control algorithms are designed. The multi-flexing scheme of sensing, driving cycles and x, y-axis switching cycles is appropriate for high precision and low maneuverability systems. The differential control scheme is easily capable of rejecting the common mode errors of x, y-axis signals and changing the rate integrating mode on basis of these studies. In the rate gyro mode the controller is composed of Phase-Locked Loop (PLL), amplitude, quadrature and rate control loop. All controllers are designed on basis of a digital PI controller. The signal processing and control algorithms are verified through Matlab/Simulink simulations. Finally, a FPGA and DSP board with these algorithms is verified through experiments.

Micro-ARES, an electric-field sensor for ExoMars 2016: Electric fields modelling, sensitivity evaluations and end-to-end tests.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Déprez, Grégoire; Montmessin, Franck; Witasse, Olivier; Lapauw, Laurent; Vivat, Francis; Abbaki, Sadok; Granier, Philippe; Moirin, David; Trautner, Roland; Hassen-Khodja, Rafik; d'Almeida, Éric; Chardenal, Laurent; Berthelier, Jean-Jacques; Esposito, Francesca; Debei, Stefano; Rafkin, Scott; Barth, Erika

2014-05-01

For the past few years, LATMOS has been involved in the development of micro-ARES, an electric field sensor part of the science payload (DREAMS) of the ExoMars 2016 Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator. It is dedicated to the very first measurement and characterization of the Martian atmospheric electricity which is suspected to be at the very basis of various phenomenon such as dust lifting, formation of oxidizing agents or Schumann resonances. Although the data collection will be restricted to a few days of operations, these first results will be of importance to understand the Martian dust cycle, the electrical environment and possibly relevant to atmospheric chemistry. The instrument, a compact version of the ARES instrument for the ExoMars Humboldt payload, is composed of an electronic board, with an amplification line and a real-time data processing DSP, which handles the electric signal measured between the spherical electrode (located at the top of a 27-cm high antenna) that adjusts itself to the local atmospheric potential, and the lander chassis, connected to the mechanical ground. Since the electric fields on Mars have never been measured before, we can rely on two sources in order to know their expected order of magnitude. The first one is the measurement of the atmospheric electric fields on Earth, at the surface (in dust storms or the so-called dust-devils) or in the high atmosphere (closer to the Martian temperature and pressure conditions). The second one is the computer simulation of the phenomenon, that we obtained by combining two models. On the one hand, the mesoscale PRAMS model, developed at SwRI, which has the ability to simulate the dust transportation, and on the other hand the implementation made at LATMOS of Farell's 2005 dust-triboelectricity equations. Those models allowed us to simulate electric fields up to tens or even hundreds of kilo-volts per meter inside dust devils, which corresponds to the observations made on Earth and transposed to the Martian atmospheric parameters. Knowing the expected electric fields and simulating them, the next step in order to evaluate the performance of the instrument is to determine its sensitivity by modelling the response of the instrument. The last step is to confront the model of the instrument, and the expected results for a given signal with the effective outputs of the electric board with the same signal as an input. To achieve this end-to-end test, we use a signal generator followed by an electrical circuit reproducing the electrode behaviour in the Martian environment, in order to inject a realistic electric signal in the processing board and finally compare the produced formatted data with the expected ones.

Real-time plasma control based on the ISTTOK tomography diagnostica)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carvalho, P. J.; Carvalho, B. B.; Neto, A.; Coelho, R.; Fernandes, H.; Sousa, J.; Varandas, C.; Chávez-Alarcón, E.; Herrera-Velázquez, J. J. E.

2008-10-01

The presently available processing power in generic processing units (GPUs) combined with state-of-the-art programmable logic devices benefits the implementation of complex, real-time driven, data processing algorithms for plasma diagnostics. A tomographic reconstruction diagnostic has been developed for the ISTTOK tokamak, based on three linear pinhole cameras each with ten lines of sight. The plasma emissivity in a poloidal cross section is computed locally on a submillisecond time scale, using a Fourier-Bessel algorithm, allowing the use of the output signals for active plasma position control. The data acquisition and reconstruction (DAR) system is based on ATCA technology and consists of one acquisition board with integrated field programmable gate array (FPGA) capabilities and a dual-core Pentium module running real-time application interface (RTAI) Linux. In this paper, the DAR real-time firmware/software implementation is presented, based on (i) front-end digital processing in the FPGA; (ii) a device driver specially developed for the board which enables streaming data acquisition to the host GPU; and (iii) a fast reconstruction algorithm running in Linux RTAI. This system behaves as a module of the central ISTTOK control and data acquisition system (FIRESIGNAL). Preliminary results of the above experimental setup are presented and a performance benchmarking against the magnetic coil diagnostic is shown.

Interactive water monitoring system accessible by cordless telephone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Volpicelli, Richard; Andeweg, Pierre; Hagar, William G.

1985-12-01

A battery-operated, microcomputer-controlled monitoring device linked with a cordless telephone has been developed for remote measurements. This environmental sensor is self-contained and collects and processes data according to the information sent to its on-board computer system. An RCA model 1805 microprocessor forms the basic controller with a program encoded in memory for data acquisition and analysis. Signals from analog sensing devices used to monitor the environment are converted into digital signals and stored in random access memory of the microcomputer. This remote sensing system is linked to the laboratory by means of a cordless telephone whose base unit is connected to regular telephone lines. This offshore sensing system is simply accessed by a phone call originating from a computer terminal in the laboratory. Data acquisition is initiated upon request: Information continues to be processed and stored until the computer is reprogrammed by another phone call request. Information obtained may be recalled by a phone call after the desired environmental measurements are finished or while they are in progress. Data sampling parameters may be reset at any time, including in the middle of a measurement cycle. The range of the system is limited only by existing telephone grid systems and by the transmission characteristics of the cordless phone used as a communications link. This use of a cordless telephone, coupled with the on-board computer system, may be applied to other field studies requiring data transfer between an on-site analytical system and the laboratory.

Investigation into the Educational Process of Cancer Case Conferences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nyquist, Julie G.; And Others

1990-01-01

This study investigated the educational process used in tumor boards (cancer case conferences) and whether the process varied based on type of board, frequency of meetings, and presence or absence of residency training programs in the hospital. These data were collected through observation of 715 board sessions of 37 hospitals and 43 tumor boards.…

46 CFR 199.80 - Muster list and emergency instructions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... the general emergency alarm system and public address system; (2) The emergency signals; (3) The... on board; (vi) Using communication equipment; (vii) Manning the emergency squad assigned to deal with... assigned to members of the crew in relation to passengers and other persons on board in case of an...

The discrete Fourier transform algorithm for determining decay constants—Implementation using a field programmable gate array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostrom, G.; Atkinson, D.; Rice, A.

2015-04-01

Cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) uses the exponential decay constant of light exiting a high-finesse resonance cavity to determine analyte concentration, typically via absorption. We present a high-throughput data acquisition system that determines the decay constant in near real time using the discrete Fourier transform algorithm on a field programmable gate array (FPGA). A commercially available, high-speed, high-resolution, analog-to-digital converter evaluation board system is used as the platform for the system, after minor hardware and software modifications. The system outputs decay constants at maximum rate of 4.4 kHz using an 8192-point fast Fourier transform by processing the intensity decay signal between ringdown events. We present the details of the system, including the modifications required to adapt the evaluation board to accurately process the exponential waveform. We also demonstrate the performance of the system, both stand-alone and incorporated into our existing CRDS system. Details of FPGA, microcontroller, and circuitry modifications are provided in the Appendix and computer code is available upon request from the authors.

On a Three-Channel Cosmic Ray Detector based on Aluminum Blocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arceo, L.; Félix, J.

2017-10-01

There are many general purpose cosmic ray detectors based on plastic scintillators and electronic boards from the market. This is a new cosmic ray detector designed on three 2.54 cm × 5.08 cm × 20.32 cm Aluminum blocks in stack arrangement, and three Hamamatsu S12572-100P photodiodes. The photodiode board, the passive electronic board, and the discriminator board are own designed. The electronic signals are stored with a CompactRIO -cRIO- by National Instruments. It is presented the design, the construction, the data acquisition system algorithm, and the preliminary physical results.

Advanced Engine Health Management Applications of the SSME Real-Time Vibration Monitoring System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fiorucci, Tony R.; Lakin, David R., II; Reynolds, Tracy D.; Turner, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Real Time Vibration Monitoring System (RTVMS) is a 32-channel high speed vibration data acquisition and processing system developed at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). It Delivers sample rates as high as 51,200 samples/second per channel and performs Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing via on-board digital signal processing (DSP) chips in a real-time format. Advanced engine health assessment is achieved by utilizing the vibration spectra to provide accurate sensor validation and enhanced engine vibration redlines. Discrete spectral signatures (such as synchronous) that are indicators of imminent failure can be assessed and utilized to mitigate catastrophic engine failures- a first in rocket engine health assessment. This paper is presented in viewgraph form.

The European project Merlin on multi-gigabit, energy-efficient, ruggedized lightwave engines for advanced on-board digital processors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stampoulidis, L.; Kehayas, E.; Karppinen, M.; Tanskanen, A.; Heikkinen, V.; Westbergh, P.; Gustavsson, J.; Larsson, A.; Grüner-Nielsen, L.; Sotom, M.; Venet, N.; Ko, M.; Micusik, D.; Kissinger, D.; Ulusoy, A. C.; King, R.; Safaisini, R.

2017-11-01

Modern broadband communication networks rely on satellites to complement the terrestrial telecommunication infrastructure. Satellites accommodate global reach and enable world-wide direct broadcasting by facilitating wide access to the backbone network from remote sites or areas where the installation of ground segment infrastructure is not economically viable. At the same time the new broadband applications increase the bandwidth demands in every part of the network - and satellites are no exception. Modern telecom satellites incorporate On-Board Processors (OBP) having analogue-to-digital (ADC) and digital-to-analogue converters (DAC) at their inputs/outputs and making use of digital processing to handle hundreds of signals; as the amount of information exchanged increases, so do the physical size, mass and power consumption of the interconnects required to transfer massive amounts of data through bulk electric wires.

The application of the analog signal to discrete time interval converter to the signal conditioner power supplies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schoenfeld, A. D.; Yu, Y.

1973-01-01

The Analog Signal to Discrete Time Interval Converter microminiaturized module was utilized to control the signal conditioner power supplies. The multi-loop control provides outstanding static and dynamic performance characteristics, exceeding those generally associated with single-loop regulators. Eight converter boards, each containing three independent dc to dc converter, were built, tested, and delivered.

Method and apparatus for detection of catalyst failure on-board a motor vehicle using a dual oxygen sensor and an algorithm

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Clemmens, W.B.; Koupal, J.W.; Sabourin, M.A.

1993-07-20

Apparatus is described for detecting motor vehicle exhaust gas catalytic converter deterioration comprising a first exhaust gas oxygen sensor adapted for communication with an exhaust stream before passage of the exhaust stream through a catalytic converter and a second exhaust gas oxygen sensor adapted for communication with the exhaust stream after passage of the exhaust stream through the catalytic converter, an on-board vehicle computational means, said computational means adapted to accept oxygen content signals from the before and after catalytic converter oxygen sensors and adapted to generate signal threshold values, said computational means adapted to compare over repeated time intervalsmore » the oxygen content signals to the signal threshold values and to store the output of the compared oxygen content signals, and in response after a specified number of time intervals for a specified mode of motor vehicle operation to determine and indicate a level of catalyst deterioration.« less

Advanced technology for a satellite multichannel demultiplexer/demodulator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abramovitz, Irwin J.; Flechsig, Drew E.; Matteis, Richard M., Jr.

1994-01-01

Satellite on-board processing is needed to efficiently service multiple users while at the same time minimizing earth station complexity. The processing satellite receives a wideband uplink at 30 GHz and down-converts it to a suitable intermediate frequency. A multichannel demultiplexer then separates the composite signal into discrete channels. Each channel is then demodulated by bulk demodulators, with the baseband signals routed to the downlink processor for retransmission to the receiving earth stations. This type of processing circumvents many of the difficulties associated with traditional bent-pipe repeater satellites. Uplink signal distortion and interference are not retransmitted on the downlink. Downlink power can be allocated in accordance with user needs, independent of uplink transmissions. This allows the uplink users to employ different data rates as well as different modulation and coding schemes. In addition, all downlink users have a common frequency standard and symbol clock on the satellite, which is useful for network synchronization in time division multiple access schemes. The purpose of this program is to demonstrate the concept of an optically implemented multichannel demultiplexer (MCD). A proof-of-concept (POC) model has been developed which has the ability to receive a 40 MHz wide composite signal consisting of up to 1000 40 kHz QPSK modulated channels and perform the demultiplexing process. In addition a set of special test equipment (STE) has been configured to evaluate the performance of the POC model. The optical MCD is realized as an acousto-optic spectrum analyzer utilizing the capability of Bragg cells to perform the required channelization. These Bragg cells receive an optical input from a laser source and an RF input (the signal). The Bragg interaction causes optical output diffractions at angles proportional to the RF input frequency. These discrete diffractions are optically detected and output to individual demodulators for baseband conversion. Optimization of the MCD design was conducted in order to achieve a compromise between two opposing sources of signal degradation: adjacent channel interference and intersymbol interference. The system was also optimized to allow simple, inexpensive ground stations communications with the MCD. These design goals led to the realization of a POC MCD which demonstrates the demultiplexing function with minimal signal degradation. Performance evaluation results using the STE equipment indicate that the dynamic range of the demultiplexer in the presence of adjacent and multiple channel loading is 40 - 50 dB. Measured bit error rate (BER) probabilities varied from the predicted theoretical results by one dB or less. The performance of the proof-of-concept model indicate that the development of a space qualified optically implemented MCD are feasible. The advantages to such an implementation include reduced size, weight and power and increased reliability when compared with electronic approaches. All of these factors are critical to on-board satellite processors. Further optimization can be conducted which trade ground station complexity and MCD performance to achieve desired system results.

An Evaluation of a Numerical Prediction Method for Electric Field Strength of Low Frequency Radio Waves based on Wave-Hop Ionospheric Propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitauchi, H.; Nozaki, K.; Ito, H.; Kondo, T.; Tsuchiya, S.; Imamura, K.; Nagatsuma, T.; Ishii, M.

2014-12-01

We present our recent efforts on an evaluation of the numerical prediction method of electric field strength for ionospheric propagation of low frequency (LF) radio waves based on a wave-hop propagation theory described in Section 2.4 of Recommendation ITU-R P.684-6 (2012), "Prediction of field strength at frequencies below about 150 kHz," made by International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). As part of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE), we conduct on-board measurements of the electric field strengths and phases of LF 40 kHz and 60 kHz of radio signals (call sign JJY) continuously along both the ways between Tokyo, Japan and Syowa Station, the Japanese Antarctic station, at 69° 00' S, 39° 35' E on East Ongul Island, Lützow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica. The measurements are made by a newly developed, highly sensitive receiving system installed on board the Japanese Antarctic research vessel (RV) Shirase. We obtained new data sets of the electric field strength up to approximately 13,000-14,000 km propagation of LF JJY 40 kHz and 60 kHz radio waves by utilizing a newly developed, highly sensitive receiving system, comprised of an orthogonally crossed double-loop antenna and digital-signal-processing lock-in amplifiers, on board RV Shirase during the 55th JARE from November 2013 to April 2014. We have made comparisons between those on-board measurements and the numerical predictions of field strength for long-range propagation of low frequency radio waves based on a wave-hop propagation theory described in Section 2.4 of Recommendation ITU-R P.684-6 (2012) to show that our results qualitatively support the recommended wave-hop theory for the great-circle paths approximately 7,000-8,000 km and 13,000-14,000 km propagations.

A multi-threshold sampling method for TOF-PET signal processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, H.; Kao, C. M.; Xie, Q.; Chen, C. T.; Zhou, L.; Tang, F.; Frisch, H.; Moses, W. W.; Choong, W. S.

2009-04-01

As an approach to realizing all-digital data acquisition for positron emission tomography (PET), we have previously proposed and studied a multi-threshold sampling method to generate samples of a PET event waveform with respect to a few user-defined amplitudes. In this sampling scheme, one can extract both the energy and timing information for an event. In this paper, we report our prototype implementation of this sampling method and the performance results obtained with this prototype. The prototype consists of two multi-threshold discriminator boards and a time-to-digital converter (TDC) board. Each of the multi-threshold discriminator boards takes one input and provides up to eight threshold levels, which can be defined by users, for sampling the input signal. The TDC board employs the CERN HPTDC chip that determines the digitized times of the leading and falling edges of the discriminator output pulses. We connect our prototype electronics to the outputs of two Hamamatsu R9800 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) that are individually coupled to a 6.25×6.25×25 mm3 LSO crystal. By analyzing waveform samples generated by using four thresholds, we obtain a coincidence timing resolution of about 340 ps and an ˜18% energy resolution at 511 keV. We are also able to estimate the decay-time constant from the resulting samples and obtain a mean value of 44 ns with an ˜9 ns FWHM. In comparison, using digitized waveforms obtained at a 20 GSps sampling rate for the same LSO/PMT modules we obtain ˜300 ps coincidence timing resolution, ˜14% energy resolution at 511 keV, and ˜5 ns FWHM for the estimated decay-time constant. Details of the results on the timing and energy resolutions by using the multi-threshold method indicate that it is a promising approach for implementing digital PET data acquisition.

Overview of a FPGA-based nuclear instrumentation dedicated to primary activity measurements.

PubMed

Bobin, C; Bouchard, J; Pierre, S; Thiam, C

2012-09-01

In National Metrology Institutes like LNE-LNHB, renewal and improvement of the instrumentation is an important task. Nowadays, the current trend is to adopt digital boards, which present numerous advantages over the standard electronics. The feasibility of an on-line fulfillment of nuclear-instrumentation functionalities using a commercial FPGA-based (Field-Programmable Gate Array) board has been validated in the case of TDCR primary measurements (Triple to Double Coincidence Ratio method based on liquid scintillation). The new applications presented in this paper have been included to allow either an on-line processing of the information or a raw-data acquisition for an off-line treatment. Developed as a complementary tool for TDCR counting, a time-to-digital converter specifically designed for this technique has been added. In addition, the description is given of a spectrometry channel based on the connection between conventional shaping amplifiers and the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) input available on the same digital board. First results are presented in the case of α- and γ-counting related to, respectively, the defined solid angle and well-type NaI(Tl) primary activity techniques. The combination of two different channels (liquid scintillation and γ-spectrometry) implementing the live-time anticoincidence processing is also described for the application of the 4πβ-γ coincidence method. The need for an optimized coupling between the analog chain and the ADC stage is emphasized. The straight processing of the signals delivered by the preamplifier connected to a HPGe detector is also presented along with the first development of digital filtering. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hi Fi Audio Tape to Sun Workstation Transfer System for Digital Audio Data

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-03-01

33 Figure 13 The Interface Memory Map (for 64K X 32 SRAM ). [Ref. 10] ..... 35 Figure 14 Main board data bus connection to the DM bus...module are described separately below. DSP-LINK’C OR SCSI 2K x 32 SRAM 40MMO 51K x 32 atuffersOM C SBus TMS320C30 - - Slave Floating Point A t a...and an ENABLE signal is sent to the device along with a read or a write signal. The memory map of the board with 64k SRAM is shown in Figure 13. The

Defibrillator synchronization tester.

PubMed

Demirbilek, Fatma N; Krajnak, Mike; Stolarczyk, George

2009-01-01

A defibrillator sync output signal connector provides an ECG synchronization signal that can be used by some defibrillators for the purpose of performing synchronized cardioversion [1]. This process is used to stop an abnormally fast heart rate or cardiac arrhythmia by the delivery of a therapeutic dose of electric current to the heart during the R-wave of the cardiac cycle. Timing the shock to the R-wave prevents the delivery of the shock during the vulnerable period of the cardiac cycle, which could induce ventricular fibrillation [2]. GE patient monitors include a selectable analog output feature, which provides an analog ECG or arterial blood pressure signal. The blood pressure signal can be used to synchronize balloon pumps to provide cardiac assist to post-MI patients with poor injection fraction. Proper operation requires the defibrillator sync and analog output function to be checked. Checkouts are typically done during planned maintenance and after major part replacements such as patient monitor's main CPU board. Checking out defibrillator sync signals could be done using a GE defibrillator sync tester. The defibrillator sync tester provides a loop back path for the defibrillator sync signals to be displayed on the patient monitor screen and eliminates the need for an external oscilloscope.

Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis

DOE PAGES

Gao, Wei; Emaminejad, Sam; Nyein, Hnin Yin Yin; ...

2016-01-27

We report that wearable sensor technologies are essential to the realization of personalized medicine through continuously monitoring an individual’s state of health. Sampling human sweat, which is rich in physiological information13, could enable non-invasive monitoring. Previously reported sweat-based and other noninvasive biosensors either can only monitor a single analyte at a time or lack on-site signal processing circuitry and sensor calibration mechanisms for accurate analysis of the physiological state14–18. Given the complexity of sweat secretion, simultaneous and multiplexed screening of target biomarkers is critical and requires full system integration to ensure the accuracy of measurements. Here we present a mechanicallymore » flexible and fully integrated (that is, no external analysis is needed) sensor array for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis, which simultaneously and selectively measures sweat metabolites (such as glucose and lactate) and electrolytes (such as sodium and potassium ions), as well as the skin temperature (to calibrate the response of the sensors). Lastly, our work bridges the technological gap between signal transduction, conditioning (amplification and filtering), processing and wireless transmission in wearable biosensors by merging plasticbased sensors that interface with the skin with silicon integrated circuits consolidated on a flexible circuit board for complex signal processing.« less

Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gao, Wei; Emaminejad, Sam; Nyein, Hnin Yin Yin

We report that wearable sensor technologies are essential to the realization of personalized medicine through continuously monitoring an individual’s state of health. Sampling human sweat, which is rich in physiological information13, could enable non-invasive monitoring. Previously reported sweat-based and other noninvasive biosensors either can only monitor a single analyte at a time or lack on-site signal processing circuitry and sensor calibration mechanisms for accurate analysis of the physiological state14–18. Given the complexity of sweat secretion, simultaneous and multiplexed screening of target biomarkers is critical and requires full system integration to ensure the accuracy of measurements. Here we present a mechanicallymore » flexible and fully integrated (that is, no external analysis is needed) sensor array for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis, which simultaneously and selectively measures sweat metabolites (such as glucose and lactate) and electrolytes (such as sodium and potassium ions), as well as the skin temperature (to calibrate the response of the sensors). Lastly, our work bridges the technological gap between signal transduction, conditioning (amplification and filtering), processing and wireless transmission in wearable biosensors by merging plasticbased sensors that interface with the skin with silicon integrated circuits consolidated on a flexible circuit board for complex signal processing.« less

Construction of a wireless communication contact closure system for liquid chromatography with multiple parallel mass spectrometers and other detectors

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A contact closure system has been constructed and implemented that utilizes two contact closure sender boards that communicate wirelessly to four contact closure receiver boards to distribute start signals from two or three liquid chromatographs to fourteen instruments, pumps, detectors, or other co...

Technical and economic feasibility of integrated video service by satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Price, Kent M.; Garlow, R. K.; Henderson, T. R.; Kwan, Robert K.; White, L. W.

1992-01-01

The trends and roles of satellite based video services in the year 2010 time frame are examined based on an overall network and service model for that period. Emphasis is placed on point to point and multipoint service, but broadcast could also be accommodated. An estimate of the video traffic is made and the service and general network requirements are identified. User charges are then estimated based on several usage scenarios. In order to accommodate these traffic needs, a 28 spot beam satellite architecture with on-board processing and signal mixing is suggested.

Literature Review of the State of the Art for Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) for a Series of Oil Quality Monitoring Sensors for Shipboard Equipment

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-03-01

sensors, the hardware may impose amplification and filtering on the input signal prior to the A/D conversion process. The third component in the...Assessment by FTIR – A Case Study on HEMM in Indian Mines”, Industrial Lubrication and Tribology , Vol. 152, pp. 61-66, 2000. [7] KarisAllen, K.J...and Engine Oil Condition”, Industrial Lubrication and Tribology , April 2005. [16] Jakoby, B., Eisenschmid, H., Schatz, O., “On-Board Evaluation of

DSP code optimization based on cache

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Chengfa; Li, Chengcheng; Tang, Bin

2013-03-01

DSP program's running efficiency on board is often lower than which via the software simulation during the program development, which is mainly resulted from the user's improper use and incomplete understanding of the cache-based memory. This paper took the TI TMS320C6455 DSP as an example, analyzed its two-level internal cache, and summarized the methods of code optimization. Processor can achieve its best performance when using these code optimization methods. At last, a specific algorithm application in radar signal processing is proposed. Experiment result shows that these optimization are efficient.

Quantitative evaluation of low-cost frame-grabber boards for personal computers.

PubMed

Kofler, J M; Gray, J E; Fuelberth, J T; Taubel, J P

1995-11-01

Nine moderately priced frame-grabber boards for both Macintosh (Apple Computers, Cupertino, CA) and IBM-compatible computers were evaluated using a Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE) pattern and a video signal generator for dynamic range, gray-scale reproducibility, and spatial integrity of the captured image. The degradation of the video information ranged from minor to severe. Some boards are of reasonable quality for applications in diagnostic imaging and education. However, price and quality are not necessarily directly related.

FPGA and USB based control board for quantum random number generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian; Wan, Xu; Zhang, Hong-Fei; Gao, Yuan; Chen, Teng-Yun; Liang, Hao

2009-09-01

The design and implementation of FPGA-and-USB-based control board for quantum experiments are discussed. The usage of quantum true random number generator, control- logic in FPGA and communication with computer through USB protocol are proposed in this paper. Programmable controlled signal input and output ports are implemented. The error-detections of data frame header and frame length are designed. This board has been used in our decoy-state based quantum key distribution (QKD) system successfully.

Multi-Modulator for Bandwidth-Efficient Communication

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gray, Andrew; Lee, Dennis; Lay, Norman; Cheetham, Craig; Fong, Wai; Yeh, Pen-Shu; King, Robin; Ghuman, Parminder; Hoy, Scott; Fisher, Dave

2009-01-01

A modulator circuit board has recently been developed to be used in conjunction with a vector modulator to generate any of a large number of modulations for bandwidth-efficient radio transmission of digital data signals at rates than can exceed 100 Mb/s. The modulations include quadrature phaseshift keying (QPSK), offset quadrature phase-shift keying (OQPSK), Gaussian minimum-shift keying (GMSK), and octonary phase-shift keying (8PSK) with square-root raised-cosine pulse shaping. The figure is a greatly simplified block diagram showing the relationship between the modulator board and the rest of the transmitter. The role of the modulator board is to encode the incoming data stream and to shape the resulting pulses, which are fed as inputs to the vector modulator. The combination of encoding and pulse shaping in a given application is chosen to maximize the bandwidth efficiency. The modulator board includes gallium arsenide serial-to-parallel converters at its input end. A complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) field-programmable gate array (FPGA) performs the coding and modulation computations and utilizes parallel processing in doing so. The results of the parallel computation are combined and converted to pulse waveforms by use of gallium arsenide parallel-to-serial converters integrated with digital-to-analog converters. Without changing the hardware, one can configure the modulator to produce any of the designed combinations of coding and modulation by loading the appropriate bit configuration file into the FPGA.

An FPGA-based High Speed Parallel Signal Processing System for Adaptive Optics Testbed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, H.; Choi, Y.; Yang, Y.

In this paper a state-of-the-art FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) based high speed parallel signal processing system (SPS) for adaptive optics (AO) testbed with 1 kHz wavefront error (WFE) correction frequency is reported. The AO system consists of Shack-Hartmann sensor (SHS) and deformable mirror (DM), tip-tilt sensor (TTS), tip-tilt mirror (TTM) and an FPGA-based high performance SPS to correct wavefront aberrations. The SHS is composed of 400 subapertures and the DM 277 actuators with Fried geometry, requiring high speed parallel computing capability SPS. In this study, the target WFE correction speed is 1 kHz; therefore, it requires massive parallel computing capabilities as well as strict hard real time constraints on measurements from sensors, matrix computation latency for correction algorithms, and output of control signals for actuators. In order to meet them, an FPGA based real-time SPS with parallel computing capabilities is proposed. In particular, the SPS is made up of a National Instrument's (NI's) real time computer and five FPGA boards based on state-of-the-art Xilinx Kintex 7 FPGA. Programming is done with NI's LabView environment, providing flexibility when applying different algorithms for WFE correction. It also facilitates faster programming and debugging environment as compared to conventional ones. One of the five FPGA's is assigned to measure TTS and calculate control signals for TTM, while the rest four are used to receive SHS signal, calculate slops for each subaperture and correction signal for DM. With this parallel processing capabilities of the SPS the overall closed-loop WFE correction speed of 1 kHz has been achieved. System requirements, architecture and implementation issues are described; furthermore, experimental results are also given.

GET: A generic electronics system for TPCs and nuclear physics instrumentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollacco, E. C.; Grinyer, G. F.; Abu-Nimeh, F.; Ahn, T.; Anvar, S.; Arokiaraj, A.; Ayyad, Y.; Baba, H.; Babo, M.; Baron, P.; Bazin, D.; Beceiro-Novo, S.; Belkhiria, C.; Blaizot, M.; Blank, B.; Bradt, J.; Cardella, G.; Carpenter, L.; Ceruti, S.; De Filippo, E.; Delagnes, E.; De Luca, S.; De Witte, H.; Druillole, F.; Duclos, B.; Favela, F.; Fritsch, A.; Giovinazzo, J.; Gueye, C.; Isobe, T.; Hellmuth, P.; Huss, C.; Lachacinski, B.; Laffoley, A. T.; Lebertre, G.; Legeard, L.; Lynch, W. G.; Marchi, T.; Martina, L.; Maugeais, C.; Mittig, W.; Nalpas, L.; Pagano, E. V.; Pancin, J.; Poleshchuk, O.; Pedroza, J. L.; Pibernat, J.; Primault, S.; Raabe, R.; Raine, B.; Rebii, A.; Renaud, M.; Roger, T.; Roussel-Chomaz, P.; Russotto, P.; Saccà, G.; Saillant, F.; Sizun, P.; Suzuki, D.; Swartz, J. A.; Tizon, A.; Usher, N.; Wittwer, G.; Yang, J. C.

2018-04-01

General Electronics for TPCs (GET) is a generic, reconfigurable and comprehensive electronics and data-acquisition system for nuclear physics instrumentation of up to 33792 channels. The system consists of a custom-designed ASIC for signal processing, front-end cards that each house 4 ASIC chips and digitize the data in parallel through 12-bit ADCs, concentration boards to read and process the digital data from up to 16 ASICs, a 3-level trigger and master clock module to trigger the system and synchronize the data, as well as all of the associated firmware, communication and data-acquisition software. An overview of the system including its specifications and measured performances are presented.

Towards co-packaging of photonics and microelectronics in existing manufacturing facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janta-Polczynski, Alexander; Cyr, Elaine; Bougie, Jerome; Drouin, Alain; Langlois, Richard; Childers, Darrell; Takenobu, Shotaro; Taira, Yoichi; Lichoulas, Ted W.; Kamlapurkar, Swetha; Engelmann, Sebastian; Fortier, Paul; Boyer, Nicolas; Barwicz, Tymon

2018-02-01

The impact of integrated photonics on optical interconnects is currently muted by challenges in photonic packaging and in the dense integration of photonic modules with microelectronic components on printed circuit boards. Single mode optics requires tight alignment tolerance for optical coupling and maintaining this alignment in a cost-efficient package can be challenging during thermal excursions arising from downstream microelectronic assembly processes. In addition, the form factor of typical fiber connectors is incompatible with the dense module integration expected on printed circuit boards. We have implemented novel approaches to interfacing photonic chips to standard optical fibers. These leverage standard high throughput microelectronic assembly tooling and self-alignment techniques resulting in photonic packaging that is scalable in manufacturing volume and in the number of optical IOs per chip. In addition, using dense optical fiber connectors with space-efficient latching of fiber patch cables results in compact module size and efficient board integration, bringing the optics closer to the logic chip to alleviate bandwidth bottlenecks. This packaging direction is also well suited for embedding optics in multi-chip modules, including both photonic and microelectronic chips. We discuss the challenges and rewards in this type of configuration such as thermal management and signal integrity.

Advantages and Challenges of 10-Gbps Transmission on High-Density Interconnect Boards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yee, Chang Fei; Jambek, Asral Bahari; Al-Hadi, Azremi Abdullah

2016-06-01

This paper provides a brief introduction to high-density interconnect (HDI) technology and its implementation on printed circuit boards (PCBs). The advantages and challenges of implementing 10-Gbps signal transmission on high-density interconnect boards are discussed in detail. The advantages (e.g., smaller via dimension and via stub removal) and challenges (e.g., crosstalk due to smaller interpair separation) of HDI are studied by analyzing the S-parameter, time-domain reflectometry (TDR), and transmission-line eye diagrams obtained by three-dimensional electromagnetic modeling (3DEM) and two-dimensional electromagnetic modeling (2DEM) using Mentor Graphics HyperLynx and Keysight Advanced Design System (ADS) electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) software. HDI outperforms conventional PCB technology in terms of signal integrity, but proper routing topology should be applied to overcome the challenge posed by crosstalk due to the tight spacing between traces.

Autonomous navigation using lunar beacons

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khatib, A. R.; Ellis, J.; French, J.; Null, G.; Yunck, T.; Wu, S.

1983-01-01

The concept of using lunar beacon signal transmission for on-board navigation for earth satellites and near-earth spacecraft is described. The system would require powerful transmitters on the earth-side of the moon's surface and black box receivers with antennae and microprocessors placed on board spacecraft for autonomous navigation. Spacecraft navigation requires three position and three velocity elements to establish location coordinates. Two beacons could be soft-landed on the lunar surface at the limits of allowable separation and each would transmit a wide-beam signal with cones reaching GEO heights and be strong enough to be received by small antennae in near-earth orbit. The black box processor would perform on-board computation with one-way Doppler/range data and dynamical models. Alternatively, GEO satellites such as the GPS or TDRSS spacecraft can be used with interferometric techniques to provide decimeter-level accuracy for aircraft navigation.

Arduino: a low-cost multipurpose lab equipment.

PubMed

D'Ausilio, Alessandro

2012-06-01

Typical experiments in psychological and neurophysiological settings often require the accurate control of multiple input and output signals. These signals are often generated or recorded via computer software and/or external dedicated hardware. Dedicated hardware is usually very expensive and requires additional software to control its behavior. In the present article, I present some accuracy tests on a low-cost and open-source I/O board (Arduino family) that may be useful in many lab environments. One of the strengths of Arduinos is the possibility they afford to load the experimental script on the board's memory and let it run without interfacing with computers or external software, thus granting complete independence, portability, and accuracy. Furthermore, a large community has arisen around the Arduino idea and offers many hardware add-ons and hundreds of free scripts for different projects. Accuracy tests show that Arduino boards may be an inexpensive tool for many psychological and neurophysiological labs.

Second year technical report on-board processing for future satellite communications systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandon, W. T.; Green, W. K.; Hoffman, M.; Jean, P. N.; Neal, W. R.; White, B. E.

1980-01-01

Advanced baseband and microwave switching techniques for large domestic communications satellites operating in the 30/20 GHz frequency bands are discussed. The nominal baseband processor throughput is one million packets per second (1.6 Gb/s) from one thousand T1 carrier rate customer premises terminals. A frequency reuse factor of sixteen is assumed by using 16 spot antenna beams with the same 100 MHz bandwidth per beam and a modulation with a one b/s per Hz bandwidth efficiency. Eight of the beams are fixed on major metropolitan areas and eight are scanning beams which periodically cover the remainder of the U.S. under dynamic control. User signals are regenerated (demodulated/remodulated) and message packages are reformatted on board. Frequency division multiple access and time division multiplex are employed on the uplinks and downlinks, respectively, for terminals within the coverage area and dwell interval of a scanning beam. Link establishment and packet routing protocols are defined. Also described is a detailed design of a separate 100 x 100 microwave switch capable of handling nonregenerated signals occupying the remaining 2.4 GHz bandwidth with 60 dB of isolation, at an estimated weight and power consumption of approximately 400 kg and 100 W, respectively.

The initial characterization of a revised 10-Gsps analog-to-digital converter board for radio telescopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiango, Homin; Liuo, Howard; Guzzino, Kim

2016-07-01

In this study, the design of a 4 bit, 10-gigasamples-per-second analog-to-digital converter (ADC) printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) was revised, manufactured, and tested. It is used for digitizing radio telescopes. An Adsantec ANST7120-KMA flash ADC chip was used, as in the original design. Associated with the field-programmable gate array platform developed by the Collaboration for Astronomy Signal Processing and Electronics Research community, the developed PCBA provides data acquisition systems with a wider bandwidth and simplifies the intermediate frequency section. The current version of the PCBA exhibits an analog bandwidth of up to 10 GHz (3 dB loss), and the chip exhibits an analog bandwidth of up to 18 GHz. This facilitates second and third Nyquist sampling. The following worstcase performance parameters were obtained from the revised PCBA at over 5 GHz: spurious-free dynamic range of 12 dB, signal-to-noise and distortion ratio of 2 dB, and effective number of bits of 0.7. The design bugs in the ADC chip caused the poor performance. The vendor created a new batch run and confirmed that the ADC chips of the new batch will meet the specifications addressed in its data sheet.

Second year technical report on-board processing for future satellite communications systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandon, W. T.; Green, W. K.; Hoffman, M.; Jean, P. N.; Neal, W. R.; White, B. E.

1980-10-01

Advanced baseband and microwave switching techniques for large domestic communications satellites operating in the 30/20 GHz frequency bands are discussed. The nominal baseband processor throughput is one million packets per second (1.6 Gb/s) from one thousand T1 carrier rate customer premises terminals. A frequency reuse factor of sixteen is assumed by using 16 spot antenna beams with the same 100 MHz bandwidth per beam and a modulation with a one b/s per Hz bandwidth efficiency. Eight of the beams are fixed on major metropolitan areas and eight are scanning beams which periodically cover the remainder of the U.S. under dynamic control. User signals are regenerated (demodulated/remodulated) and message packages are reformatted on board. Frequency division multiple access and time division multiplex are employed on the uplinks and downlinks, respectively, for terminals within the coverage area and dwell interval of a scanning beam. Link establishment and packet routing protocols are defined. Also described is a detailed design of a separate 100 x 100 microwave switch capable of handling nonregenerated signals occupying the remaining 2.4 GHz bandwidth with 60 dB of isolation, at an estimated weight and power consumption of approximately 400 kg and 100 W, respectively.

WE-G-204-01: BEST IN PHYSICS (IMAGING): Effect of Image Processing Parameters On Nodule Detectability in Chest Radiography

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Little, K; Lu, Z; MacMahon, H

Purpose: To investigate the effect of varying system image processing parameters on lung nodule detectability in digital radiography. Methods: An anthropomorphic chest phantom was imaged in the posterior-anterior position using a GE Discovery XR656 digital radiography system. To simulate lung nodules, a polystyrene board with 6.35mm diameter PMMA spheres was placed adjacent to the phantom (into the x-ray path). Due to magnification, the projected simulated nodules had a diameter in the radiographs of approximately 7.5 mm. The images were processed using one of GE’s default chest settings (Factory3) and reprocessed by varying the “Edge” and “Tissue Contrast” processing parameters, whichmore » were the two user-configurable parameters for a single edge and contrast enhancement algorithm. For each parameter setting, the nodule signals were calculated by subtracting the chest-only image from the image with simulated nodules. Twenty nodule signals were averaged, Gaussian filtered, and radially averaged in order to generate an approximately noiseless signal. For each processing parameter setting, this noise-free signal and 180 background samples from across the lung were used to estimate ideal observer performance in a signal-known-exactly detection task. Performance was estimated using a channelized Hotelling observer with 10 Laguerre-Gauss channel functions. Results: The “Edge” and “Tissue Contrast” parameters each had an effect on the detectability as calculated by the model observer. The CHO-estimated signal detectability ranged from 2.36 to 2.93 and was highest for “Edge” = 4 and “Tissue Contrast” = −0.15. In general, detectability tended to decrease as “Edge” was increased and as “Tissue Contrast” was increased. A human observer study should be performed to validate the relation to human detection performance. Conclusion: Image processing parameters can affect lung nodule detection performance in radiography. While validation with a human observer study is needed, model observer detectability for common tasks could provide a means for optimizing image processing parameters.« less

Upgraded Readout Electronics for the ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeters at the High Luminosity LHC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andeen, Timothy R.; ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter Group

2012-12-01

The ATLAS liquid-argon calorimeters produce a total of 182,486 signals which are digitized and processed by the front-end and back-end electronics at every triggered event. In addition, the front-end electronics sum analog signals to provide coarsely grained energy sums, called trigger towers, to the first-level trigger system, which is optimized for nominal LHC luminosities. However, the pile-up background expected during the high luminosity phases of the LHC will be increased by factors of 3 to 7. An improved spatial granularity of the trigger primitives is therefore proposed in order to improve the identification performance for trigger signatures, like electrons or photons, at high background rejection rates. For the first upgrade phase in 2018, new Liquid Argon Trigger Digitizer Boards are being designed to receive higher granularity signals, digitize them on detector and send them via fast optical links to a new, off-detector digital processing system. The digital processing system applies digital filtering and identifies significant energy depositions. The refined trigger primitives are then transmitted to the first level trigger system to extract improved trigger signatures. The general concept of the upgraded liquid-argon calorimeter readout together with the various electronics components to be developed for such a complex system is presented. The research activities and architectural studies undertaken by the ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter Group are described, particularly details of the on-going design of mixed-signal front-end electronics, of radiation tolerant optical-links, and of the high-speed off-detector digital processing system.

SOLARTRAK. Solar Array Tracking Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Manish, A.B.; Dudley, J.

1995-06-01

SolarTrak used in conjunction with various versions of 68HC11-based SolarTrack hardware boards provides control system for one or two axis solar tracking arrays. Sun position is computed from stored position data and time from an on-board clock/calendar chip. Position feedback can be by one or two offset motor turn counter square wave signals per axis, or by a position potentiometer. A limit of 256 counts resolution is imposed by the on-board analog to digital (A/D) convertor. Control is provided for one or two motors. Numerous options are provided to customize the controller for specific applications. Some options are imposed atmore » compile time, some are setable during operation. Software and hardware board designs are provided for Control Board and separate User Interface Board that accesses and displays variables from Control Board. Controller can be used with range of sensor options ranging from a single turn count sensor per motor to systems using dual turn-count sensors, limit sensors, and a zero reference sensor. Dual axis trackers oriented azimuth elevation, east west, north south, or polar declination can be controlled. Misalignments from these orientations can also be accommodated. The software performs a coordinate transformation using six parameters to compute sun position in misaligned coordinates of the tracker. Parameters account for tilt of tracker in two directions, rotation about each axis, and gear ration errors in each axis. The software can even measure and compute these prameters during an initial setup period if current from a sun position sensor or output from photovoltaic array is available as an anlog voltage to the control board`s A/D port. Wind or emergency stow to aj present position is available triggered by digital or analog signals. Night stow is also available. Tracking dead band is adjustable from narrow to wide. Numerous features of the hardware and software conserve energy for use with battery powered systems.« less

Solar Array Tracking Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maish, Alexander

1995-06-22

SolarTrak used in conjunction with various versions of 68HC11-based SolarTrack hardware boards provides control system for one or two axis solar tracking arrays. Sun position is computed from stored position data and time from an on-board clock/calendar chip. Position feedback can be by one or two offset motor turn counter square wave signals per axis, or by a position potentiometer. A limit of 256 counts resolution is imposed by the on-board analog to digital (A/D) convertor. Control is provided for one or two motors. Numerous options are provided to customize the controller for specific applications. Some options are imposed atmore » compile time, some are setable during operation. Software and hardware board designs are provided for Control Board and separate User Interface Board that accesses and displays variables from Control Board. Controller can be used with range of sensor options ranging from a single turn count sensor per motor to systems using dual turn-count sensors, limit sensors, and a zero reference sensor. Dual axis trackers oriented azimuth elevation, east west, north south, or polar declination can be controlled. Misalignments from these orientations can also be accommodated. The software performs a coordinate transformation using six parameters to compute sun position in misaligned coordinates of the tracker. Parameters account for tilt of tracker in two directions, rotation about each axis, and gear ration errors in each axis. The software can even measure and compute these prameters during an initial setup period if current from a sun position sensor or output from photovoltaic array is available as an anlog voltage to the control board''s A/D port. Wind or emergency stow to aj present position is available triggered by digital or analog signals. Night stow is also available. Tracking dead band is adjustable from narrow to wide. Numerous features of the hardware and software conserve energy for use with battery powered systems.« less

Autonomous Telemetry Collection for Single-Processor Small Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Speer, Dave

2003-01-01

For the Space Technology 5 mission, which is being developed under NASA's New Millennium Program, a single spacecraft processor will be required to do on-board real-time computations and operations associated with attitude control, up-link and down-link communications, science data processing, solid-state recorder management, power switching and battery charge management, experiment data collection, health and status data collection, etc. Much of the health and status information is in analog form, and each of the analog signals must be routed to the input of an analog-to-digital converter, converted to digital form, and then stored in memory. If the micro-operations of the analog data collection process are implemented in software, the processor may use up a lot of time either waiting for the analog signal to settle, waiting for the analog-to-digital conversion to complete, or servicing a large number of high frequency interrupts. In order to off-load a very busy processor, the collection and digitization of all analog spacecraft health and status data will be done autonomously by a field-programmable gate array that can configure the analog signal chain, control the analog-to-digital converter, and store the converted data in memory.

Energy and Timing Measurement with Time-Based Detector Readout for PET Applications: Principle and Validation with Discrete Circuit Components

PubMed Central

Sun, Xishan; Lan, Allan K.; Bircher, Chad; Deng, Zhi; Liu, Yinong; Shao, Yiping

2011-01-01

A new signal processing method for PET application has been developed, with discrete circuit components to measure energy and timing of a gamma interaction based solely on digital timing processing without using an amplitude-to-digital convertor (ADC) or a constant fraction discriminator (CFD). A single channel discrete component time-based readout (TBR) circuit was implemented in a PC board. Initial circuit functionality and performance evaluations have been conducted. Accuracy and linearity of signal amplitude measurement were excellent, as measured with test pulses. The measured timing accuracy from test pulses reached to less than 300 ps, a value limited mainly by the timing jitter of the prototype electronics circuit. Both suitable energy and coincidence timing resolutions (~18% and ~1.0 ns) have been achieved with 3 × 3 × 20 mm3 LYSO scintillator and photomultiplier tube-based detectors. With its relatively simple circuit and low cost, TBR is expected to be a suitable front-end signal readout electronics for compact PET or other radiation detectors requiring the reading of a large number of detector channels and demanding high performance for energy and timing measurement. PMID:21743761

Certification renewal process of the American Board of Orthodontics.

PubMed

Castelein, Paul T; DeLeon, Eladio; Dugoni, Steven A; Chung, Chun-Hsi; Tadlock, Larry P; Barone, Nicholas D; Kulbersh, Valmy P; Sabott, David G; Kastrop, Marvin C

2015-05-01

The American Board of Orthodontics was established in 1929 and is the oldest specialty board in dentistry. Its goal is to protect the public by ensuring competency through the certification of eligible orthodontists. Originally, applicants for certification submitted a thesis, 5 case reports, and a set of casts with appliances. Once granted, the certification never expired. Requirements have changed over the years. In 1950, 15 cases were required, and then 10 in 1987. The Board has continued to refine and improve the certification process. In 1998, certification became time limited, and a renewal process was initiated. The Board continues to improve the recertification process. Copyright © 2015 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design and Verification of a Digital Controller for a 2-Piece Hemispherical Resonator Gyroscope

PubMed Central

Lee, Jungshin; Yun, Sung Wook; Rhim, Jaewook

2016-01-01

A Hemispherical Resonator Gyro (HRG) is the Coriolis Vibratory Gyro (CVG) that measures rotation angle or angular velocity using Coriolis force acting the vibrating mass. A HRG can be used as a rate gyro or integrating gyro without structural modification by simply changing the control scheme. In this paper, differential control algorithms are designed for a 2-piece HRG. To design a precision controller, the electromechanical modelling and signal processing must be pre-performed accurately. Therefore, the equations of motion for the HRG resonator with switched harmonic excitations are derived with the Duhamel Integral method. Electromechanical modeling of the resonator, electric module and charge amplifier is performed by considering the mode shape of a thin hemispherical shell. Further, signal processing and control algorithms are designed. The multi-flexing scheme of sensing, driving cycles and x, y-axis switching cycles is appropriate for high precision and low maneuverability systems. The differential control scheme is easily capable of rejecting the common mode errors of x, y-axis signals and changing the rate integrating mode on basis of these studies. In the rate gyro mode the controller is composed of Phase-Locked Loop (PLL), amplitude, quadrature and rate control loop. All controllers are designed on basis of a digital PI controller. The signal processing and control algorithms are verified through Matlab/Simulink simulations. Finally, a FPGA and DSP board with these algorithms is verified through experiments. PMID:27104539

An Open-Source Hardware and Software System for Acquisition and Real-Time Processing of Electrophysiology during High Field MRI

PubMed Central

Purdon, Patrick L.; Millan, Hernan; Fuller, Peter L.; Bonmassar, Giorgio

2008-01-01

Simultaneous recording of electrophysiology and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of growing importance in neuroscience. Rapidly evolving clinical and scientific requirements have created a need for hardware and software that can be customized for specific applications. Hardware may require customization to enable a variety of recording types (e.g., electroencephalogram, local field potentials, or multi-unit activity) while meeting the stringent and costly requirements of MRI safety and compatibility. Real-time signal processing tools are an enabling technology for studies of learning, attention, sleep, epilepsy, neurofeedback, and neuropharmacology, yet real-time signal processing tools are difficult to develop. We describe an open source system for simultaneous electrophysiology and fMRI featuring low-noise (< 0.6 uV p-p input noise), electromagnetic compatibility for MRI (tested up to 7 Tesla), and user-programmable real-time signal processing. The hardware distribution provides the complete specifications required to build an MRI-compatible electrophysiological data acquisition system, including circuit schematics, print circuit board (PCB) layouts, Gerber files for PCB fabrication and robotic assembly, a bill of materials with part numbers, data sheets, and vendor information, and test procedures. The software facilitates rapid implementation of real-time signal processing algorithms. This system has used in human EEG/fMRI studies at 3 and 7 Tesla examining the auditory system, visual system, sleep physiology, and anesthesia, as well as in intracranial electrophysiological studies of the non-human primate visual system during 3 Tesla fMRI, and in human hyperbaric physiology studies at depths of up to 300 feet below sea level. PMID:18761038

An open-source hardware and software system for acquisition and real-time processing of electrophysiology during high field MRI.

PubMed

Purdon, Patrick L; Millan, Hernan; Fuller, Peter L; Bonmassar, Giorgio

2008-11-15

Simultaneous recording of electrophysiology and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique of growing importance in neuroscience. Rapidly evolving clinical and scientific requirements have created a need for hardware and software that can be customized for specific applications. Hardware may require customization to enable a variety of recording types (e.g., electroencephalogram, local field potentials, or multi-unit activity) while meeting the stringent and costly requirements of MRI safety and compatibility. Real-time signal processing tools are an enabling technology for studies of learning, attention, sleep, epilepsy, neurofeedback, and neuropharmacology, yet real-time signal processing tools are difficult to develop. We describe an open-source system for simultaneous electrophysiology and fMRI featuring low-noise (<0.6microV p-p input noise), electromagnetic compatibility for MRI (tested up to 7T), and user-programmable real-time signal processing. The hardware distribution provides the complete specifications required to build an MRI-compatible electrophysiological data acquisition system, including circuit schematics, print circuit board (PCB) layouts, Gerber files for PCB fabrication and robotic assembly, a bill of materials with part numbers, data sheets, and vendor information, and test procedures. The software facilitates rapid implementation of real-time signal processing algorithms. This system has been used in human EEG/fMRI studies at 3 and 7T examining the auditory system, visual system, sleep physiology, and anesthesia, as well as in intracranial electrophysiological studies of the non-human primate visual system during 3T fMRI, and in human hyperbaric physiology studies at depths of up to 300 feet below sea level.

Superintendent Selection Processes: Perspectives of Professional Search Consultants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waite, Robert

2013-01-01

Hiring the superintendent is the most important job of a school board. The superintendent selection process is increasingly being guided by paid consultants employed to work with school boards in a process to select superintendents. This qualitative study examined the selection criteria school boards use from the perspective of the professional…

National Board Certification: It's Time for Preschool Teachers!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillentine, Jonathan

2010-01-01

National Board Certification is a voluntary process by which teachers of students ages 3 through 18 demonstrate accomplished teaching. This article describes the process and certification requirements for one certificate--the Early Childhood/Generalist (ECG), for teachers of children ages 3 through 8. The National Board Certification process was…

Software/hardware distributed processing network supporting the Ada environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wood, Richard J.; Pryk, Zen

1993-09-01

A high-performance, fault-tolerant, distributed network has been developed, tested, and demonstrated. The network is based on the MIPS Computer Systems, Inc. R3000 Risc for processing, VHSIC ASICs for high speed, reliable, inter-node communications and compatible commercial memory and I/O boards. The network is an evolution of the Advanced Onboard Signal Processor (AOSP) architecture. It supports Ada application software with an Ada- implemented operating system. A six-node implementation (capable of expansion up to 256 nodes) of the RISC multiprocessor architecture provides 120 MIPS of scalar throughput, 96 Mbytes of RAM and 24 Mbytes of non-volatile memory. The network provides for all ground processing applications, has merit for space-qualified RISC-based network, and interfaces to advanced Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools for application software development.

Systemwide board assessment.

PubMed

Hafertepe, E C

1987-01-01

The Sisters of Charity Health Care System (SCHCS), Inc., Cincinnati, undertook a systemwide board evaluation project to support and enhance effective aspects of governance and to deal with obstacles that often arise due to differing beliefs and role confusion. A task force of chief executive officers developed the questionnaire, which was then administered to members of individual facilities' boards and the system's board. The documented highlighted value issues important to SCHCS's ministry and business activities: overall board responsibilities, financial responsibilities, strategic planning, the board's role, committee structures, the board's operating process, board education, and overall board effectiveness. The responses from each member were returned to the local boards, who analyzed them and developed an action plan. A summary of each facility's responses and action plans were forwarded to the system's corporate office. The CEO committee critiqued the process and reported on significant issues and action plans. In general, survey results revealed a strong influence of mission and philosophy in decision making, support for current processes, and effective interaction among board members. The system's corporate office will use the responses to respond to a dynamic environment and strengthen their role in the delivery of Catholic health care services.

High-Speed On-Board Data Processing for Science Instruments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beyon, Jeffrey Y.; Ng, Tak-Kwong; Lin, Bing; Hu, Yongxiang; Harrison, Wallace

2014-01-01

A new development of on-board data processing platform has been in progress at NASA Langley Research Center since April, 2012, and the overall review of such work is presented in this paper. The project is called High-Speed On-Board Data Processing for Science Instruments (HOPS) and focuses on a high-speed scalable data processing platform for three particular National Research Council's Decadal Survey missions such as Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons (ASCENDS), Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystems (ACE), and Doppler Aerosol Wind Lidar (DAWN) 3-D Winds. HOPS utilizes advanced general purpose computing with Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based algorithm implementation techniques. The significance of HOPS is to enable high speed on-board data processing for current and future science missions with its reconfigurable and scalable data processing platform. A single HOPS processing board is expected to provide approximately 66 times faster data processing speed for ASCENDS, more than 70% reduction in both power and weight, and about two orders of cost reduction compared to the state-of-the-art (SOA) on-board data processing system. Such benchmark predictions are based on the data when HOPS was originally proposed in August, 2011. The details of these improvement measures are also presented. The two facets of HOPS development are identifying the most computationally intensive algorithm segments of each mission and implementing them in a FPGA-based data processing board. A general introduction of such facets is also the purpose of this paper.

Development of automatic pre-tracking system for fillet weld based on laser trigonometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Xiaoqin; Yu, Fusheng

2005-01-01

In this paper, an automatic fillet weld pre-tracking system for welding the work piece of lorry back boards with several bend in haul automobile is developed basing on laser trigonometry. The optical measuring head based on laser-PSD trigonometry is used as position sensor. It is placed in front of the traveling direction of welding wire to get the distances from welding wire to the two side boards of the welding lines, upper board and bottom board of the fillet weld respectively. A chip of AT89S52 is used as the micro controller in this system. The AC servomotors, ball-screws and straight guide rails constitute the sliding table to take welding wire move. The laser-PSD sensors pass through the vertical board, upper board and bottom board of the fillet weld when welding wire moves and then get the distance. The laser-PSD sensors output the analog signals. After A/D conversion, the digital signal is input into AT89S52 and calculated. Then the information of the position and lateral deviation of the welding wire when welding a certain position are gotten to control welding wires. So the weld pre-tracking for welding the work piece with long distance and large bend in haul automobile is realized. The position information is input into EEPROM to be saved for short time after handled by AT89S52. The information is as the welding position information as well as the speed adjusting data of the welding wire when it welds the several bend of the work piece. The practice indicates that this system has high pre-tracking precision, good anti-disturb ability, excellent reliability, easy operating ability and good adaptability to the field of production.

22 CFR 1429.12 - Service of process and papers by the Board.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Service of process and papers by the Board. 1429.12 Section 1429.12 Foreign Relations FOREIGN SERVICE LABOR RELATIONS BOARD; FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS... AUTHORITY MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Miscellaneous § 1429.12 Service of process and papers by...

Turning Schools Around: The National Board Certification Process as a School Improvement Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaquith, Ann; Snyder, Jon

2016-01-01

Can the National Board certification process support school improvement where large proportions of students score below grade level on standardized tests? This SCOPE study examines a project that sought to seize and capitalize upon the learning opportunities embedded in the National Board certification process, particularly opportunities to learn…

Turning Schools Around: The National Board Certification Process as a School Improvement Strategy. Research Brief

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaquith, Ann; Snyder, Jon

2016-01-01

Can the National Board certification process support school improvement where large proportions of students score below grade level on standardized tests? This SCOPE study examines a project that sought to seize and capitalize upon the learning opportunities embedded in the National Board certification process, particularly opportunities to learn…

Hospital boards and hospital strategic focus: the impact of board involvement in strategic decision making.

PubMed

Ford-Eickhoff, Karen; Plowman, Donde Ashmos; McDaniel, Reuben R

2011-01-01

Despite pressures to change the role of hospital boards, hospitals have made few changes in board composition or director selection criteria. Hospital boards have often continued to operate in their traditional roles as either "monitors" or "advisors." More attention to the direct involvement of hospital boards in the strategic decision-making process of the organizations they serve, the timing and circumstances under which board involvement occurs, and the board composition that enhances their abilities to participate fully is needed. We investigated the relationship between broader expertise among hospital board members, board involvement in the stages of strategic decision making, and the hospital's strategic focus. We surveyed top management team members of 72 nonacademic hospitals to explore the participation of critical stakeholder groups such as the board of directors in the strategic decision-making process. We used hierarchical regression analysis to explore our hypotheses that there is a relationship between both the nature and involvement of the board and the hospital's strategic orientation. Hospitals with broader expertise on their boards reported an external focus. For some of their externally-oriented goals, hospitals also reported that their boards were involved earlier in the stages of decision making. In light of the complex and dynamic environment of hospitals today, those charged with developing hospital boards should match the variety in the external issues that the hospital faces with more variety in board makeup. By developing a board with greater breadth of expertise, the hospital responds to its complex environment by absorbing that complexity, enabling a greater potential for sensemaking and learning. Rather than acting only as monitors and advisors, boards impact their hospitals' strategic focus through their participation in the strategic decision-making process.

Portable Cytometry Using Microscale Electronic Sensing

PubMed Central

Emaminejad, Sam; Paik, Kee-Hyun; Tabard-Cossa, Vincent; Javanmard, Mehdi

2015-01-01

In this manuscript, we present three different micro-impedance sensing architectures for electronic counting of cells and beads. The first method of sensing is based on using an open circuit sensing electrode integrated in a micro-pore, which measures the shift in potential as a micron-sized particle passes through. Our micro-pore, based on a funnel shaped microchannel, was fabricated in PDMS and was bound covalently to a glass substrate patterned with a gold open circuit electrode. The amplification circuitry was integrated onto a battery-powered custom printed circuit board. The second method is based on a three electrode differential measurement, which opens up the potential of using signal processing techniques to increase signal to noise ratio post measurement. The third architecture uses a contactless sensing approach, which significantly minimizes the cost of the consumable component of the impedance cytometer. We demonstrated proof of concept for the three sensing architectures by measuring the detected signal due to the passage of micron sized beads through the pore. PMID:27647950

Development and realization of the open fault diagnosis system based on XPE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hui; Wang, TaiYong; He, HuiLong; Xu, YongGang; Zeng, JuXiang

2005-12-01

To make the complex mechanical equipment work in good service, the technology for realizing an embedded open system is introduced systematically, including open hardware configuration, customized embedded operation system and open software structure. The ETX technology is adopted in this system, integrating the CPU main-board functions, and achieving the quick, real-time signal acquisition and intelligent data analysis with applying DSP and CPLD data acquisition card. Under the open configuration, the signal bus mode such as PCI, ISA and PC/104 can be selected and the styles of the signals can be chosen too. In addition, through customizing XPE system, adopting the EWF (Enhanced Write Filter), and realizing the open system authentically, the stability of the system is enhanced. Multi-thread and multi-task programming techniques are adopted in the software programming process. Interconnecting with the remote fault diagnosis center via the net interface, cooperative diagnosis is conducted and the intelligent degree of the fault diagnosis is improved.

Data acquisition architecture and online processing system for the HAWC gamma-ray observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abeysekara, A. U.; Alfaro, R.; Alvarez, C.; Álvarez, J. D.; Arceo, R.; Arteaga-Velázquez, J. C.; Ayala Solares, H. A.; Barber, A. S.; Baughman, B. M.; Bautista-Elivar, N.; Becerra Gonzalez, J.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; BenZvi, S. Y.; Berley, D.; Bonilla Rosales, M.; Braun, J.; Caballero-Lopez, R. A.; Caballero-Mora, K. S.; Carramiñana, A.; Castillo, M.; Cotti, U.; Cotzomi, J.; de la Fuente, E.; De León, C.; DeYoung, T.; Diaz-Cruz, J.; Diaz Hernandez, R.; Díaz-Vélez, J. C.; Dingus, B. L.; DuVernois, M. A.; Ellsworth, R. W.; Fiorino, D. W.; Fraija, N.; Galindo, A.; Garfias, F.; González, M. M.; Goodman, J. A.; Grabski, V.; Gussert, M.; Hampel-Arias, Z.; Harding, J. P.; Hui, C. M.; Hüntemeyer, P.; Imran, A.; Iriarte, A.; Karn, P.; Kieda, D.; Kunde, G. J.; Lara, A.; Lauer, R. J.; Lee, W. H.; Lennarz, D.; León Vargas, H.; Linares, E. C.; Linnemann, J. T.; Longo Proper, M.; Luna-García, R.; Malone, K.; Marinelli, A.; Marinelli, S. S.; Martinez, O.; Martínez-Castro, J.; Martínez-Huerta, H.; Matthews, J. A. J.; McEnery, J.; Mendoza Torres, E.; Miranda-Romagnoli, P.; Moreno, E.; Mostafá, M.; Nellen, L.; Newbold, M.; Noriega-Papaqui, R.; Oceguera-Becerra, T.; Patricelli, B.; Pelayo, R.; Pérez-Pérez, E. G.; Pretz, J.; Rivière, C.; Rosa-González, D.; Ruiz-Velasco, E.; Ryan, J.; Salazar, H.; Salesa Greus, F.; Sanchez, F. E.; Sandoval, A.; Schneider, M.; Silich, S.; Sinnis, G.; Smith, A. J.; Sparks Woodle, K.; Springer, R. W.; Taboada, I.; Toale, P. A.; Tollefson, K.; Torres, I.; Ukwatta, T. N.; Villaseñor, L.; Weisgarber, T.; Westerhoff, S.; Wisher, I. G.; Wood, J.; Yapici, T.; Yodh, G. B.; Younk, P. W.; Zaborov, D.; Zepeda, A.; Zhou, H.

2018-04-01

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory (HAWC) is an air shower array devised for TeV gamma-ray astronomy. HAWC is located at an altitude of 4100 m a.s.l. in Sierra Negra, Mexico. HAWC consists of 300 Water Cherenkov Detectors, each instrumented with 4 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). HAWC re-uses the Front-End Boards from the Milagro experiment to receive the PMT signals. These boards are used in combination with Time to Digital Converters (TDCs) to record the time and the amount of light in each PMT hit (light flash). A set of VME TDC modules (128 channels each) is operated in a continuous (dead time free) mode. The TDCs are read out via the VME bus by Single-Board Computers (SBCs), which in turn are connected to a gigabit Ethernet network. The complete system produces ≈500 MB/s of raw data. A high-throughput data processing system has been designed and built to enable real-time data analysis. The system relies on off-the-shelf hardware components, an open-source software technology for data transfers (ZeroMQ) and a custom software framework for data analysis (AERIE). Multiple trigger and reconstruction algorithms can be combined and run on blocks of data in a parallel fashion, producing a set of output data streams which can be analyzed in real time with minimal latency (<5 s). This paper provides an overview of the hardware set-up and an in-depth description of the software design, covering both the TDC data acquisition system and the real-time data processing system. The performance of these systems is also discussed.

Test Bench for Coupling and Shielding Magnetic Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jordan, J.; Esteve, V.; Dede, E.; Sanchis, E.; Maset, E.; Ferreres, A.; Ejea, J. B.; Cases, C.

2016-05-01

This paper describes a test bench for training purposes, which uses a magnetic field generator to couple this magnetic field to a victim circuit. It can be very useful to test for magnetic susceptibility as well. The magnetic field generator consists of a board, which generates a variable current that flows into a printed circuit board with spiral tracks (noise generator). The victim circuit consists of a coaxial cable concentric with the spiral tracks and its generated magnetic field. The coaxial cable is part of a circuit which conducts a signal produced by a signal generator and a resistive load. In the paper three cases are studied. First, the transmitted signal from the signal generator uses the central conductor of the coaxial cable and the shield is floating. Second, the shield is short circuited at its ends (and thus forming a loop). Third, when connecting the shield in series with the inner conductor and therefore having the current flowing into the coax via the inner conductor and returning via the shield.

Recycling of WEEE: characterization of spent printed circuit boards from mobile phones and computers.

PubMed

Yamane, Luciana Harue; de Moraes, Viviane Tavares; Espinosa, Denise Crocce Romano; Tenório, Jorge Alberto Soares

2011-12-01

This paper presents a comparison between printed circuit boards from computers and mobile phones. Since printed circuits boards are becoming more complex and smaller, the amount of materials is constantly changing. The main objective of this work was to characterize spent printed circuit boards from computers and mobile phones applying mineral processing technique to separate the metal, ceramic, and polymer fractions. The processing was performed by comminution in a hammer mill, followed by particle size analysis, and by magnetic and electrostatic separation. Aqua regia leaching, loss-on-ignition and chemical analysis (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy - ICP-OES) were carried out to determine the composition of printed circuit boards and the metal rich fraction. The composition of the studied mobile phones printed circuit boards (PCB-MP) was 63 wt.% metals; 24 wt.% ceramics and 13 wt.% polymers; and of the printed circuit boards from studied personal computers (PCB-PC) was 45 wt.% metals; 27 wt.% polymers and ceramics 28 wt.% ceramics. The chemical analysis showed that copper concentration in printed circuit boards from personal computers was 20 wt.% and in printed circuit boards from mobile phones was 34.5 wt.%. According to the characteristics of each type of printed circuit board, the recovery of precious metals may be the main goal of the recycling process of printed circuit boards from personal computers and the recovery of copper should be the main goal of the recycling process of printed circuit boards from mobile phones. Hence, these printed circuit boards would not be mixed prior treatment. The results of this paper show that copper concentration is increasing in mobile phones and remaining constant in personal computers. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Flexible digital signal processing architecture for narrowband and spread-spectrum lock-in detection in multiphoton microscopy and time-resolved spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Wilson, Jesse W.; Park, Jong Kang; Warren, Warren S.

2015-01-01

The lock-in amplifier is a critical component in many different types of experiments, because of its ability to reduce spurious or environmental noise components by restricting detection to a single frequency and phase. One example application is pump-probe microscopy, a multiphoton technique that leverages excited-state dynamics for imaging contrast. With this application in mind, we present here the design and implementation of a high-speed lock-in amplifier on the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) coprocessor of a data acquisition board. The most important advantage is the inherent ability to filter signals based on more complex modulation patterns. As an example, we use the flexibility of the FPGA approach to enable a novel pump-probe detection scheme based on spread-spectrum communications techniques. PMID:25832238

Flexible digital signal processing architecture for narrowband and spread-spectrum lock-in detection in multiphoton microscopy and time-resolved spectroscopy.

PubMed

Wilson, Jesse W; Park, Jong Kang; Warren, Warren S; Fischer, Martin C

2015-03-01

The lock-in amplifier is a critical component in many different types of experiments, because of its ability to reduce spurious or environmental noise components by restricting detection to a single frequency and phase. One example application is pump-probe microscopy, a multiphoton technique that leverages excited-state dynamics for imaging contrast. With this application in mind, we present here the design and implementation of a high-speed lock-in amplifier on the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) coprocessor of a data acquisition board. The most important advantage is the inherent ability to filter signals based on more complex modulation patterns. As an example, we use the flexibility of the FPGA approach to enable a novel pump-probe detection scheme based on spread-spectrum communications techniques.

National Labor Relations Board: Action Needed to Improve Case-Processing Time at Headquarters

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-01

Board more than 2 years. The Board agreed with the report regarding (1) the disruptive impact of Board-member turnover and vacancies, (2) Board...establish) and the impact of lead case delays were signifi- cant factors that warrant the extent of discussion in the report. ’’A Staff Report on the...of course, too early to evaluate the final impact of the Draft Report’s recommendations on action needed to improve case-processing time at the five

Application of advanced on-board processing concepts to future satellite communications systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Katz, J. L.; Hoffman, M.; Kota, S. L.; Ruddy, J. M.; White, B. F.

1979-01-01

An initial definition of on-board processing requirements for an advanced satellite communications system to service domestic markets in the 1990's is presented. An exemplar system architecture with both RF on-board switching and demodulation/remodulation baseband processing was used to identify important issues related to system implementation, cost, and technology development.

AN OPTIMIZED 64X64 POINT TWO-DIMENSIONAL FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miko, J.

1994-01-01

Scientists at Goddard have developed an efficient and powerful program-- An Optimized 64x64 Point Two-Dimensional Fast Fourier Transform-- which combines the performance of real and complex valued one-dimensional Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT's) to execute a two-dimensional FFT and its power spectrum coefficients. These coefficients can be used in many applications, including spectrum analysis, convolution, digital filtering, image processing, and data compression. The program's efficiency results from its technique of expanding all arithmetic operations within one 64-point FFT; its high processing rate results from its operation on a high-speed digital signal processor. For non-real-time analysis, the program requires as input an ASCII data file of 64x64 (4096) real valued data points. As output, this analysis produces an ASCII data file of 64x64 power spectrum coefficients. To generate these coefficients, the program employs a row-column decomposition technique. First, it performs a radix-4 one-dimensional FFT on each row of input, producing complex valued results. Then, it performs a one-dimensional FFT on each column of these results to produce complex valued two-dimensional FFT results. Finally, the program sums the squares of the real and imaginary values to generate the power spectrum coefficients. The program requires a Banshee accelerator board with 128K bytes of memory from Atlanta Signal Processors (404/892-7265) installed on an IBM PC/AT compatible computer (DOS ver. 3.0 or higher) with at least one 16-bit expansion slot. For real-time operation, an ASPI daughter board is also needed. The real-time configuration reads 16-bit integer input data directly into the accelerator board, operating on 64x64 point frames of data. The program's memory management also allows accumulation of the coefficient results. The real-time processing rate to calculate and accumulate the 64x64 power spectrum output coefficients is less than 17.0 mSec. Documentation is included in the price of the program. Source code is written in C, 8086 Assembly, and Texas Instruments TMS320C30 Assembly Languages. This program is available on a 5.25 inch 360K MS-DOS format diskette. IBM and IBM PC are registered trademarks of International Business Machines. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Advanced methods in NDE using machine learning approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wunderlich, Christian; Tschöpe, Constanze; Duckhorn, Frank

2018-04-01

Machine learning (ML) methods and algorithms have been applied recently with great success in quality control and predictive maintenance. Its goal to build new and/or leverage existing algorithms to learn from training data and give accurate predictions, or to find patterns, particularly with new and unseen similar data, fits perfectly to Non-Destructive Evaluation. The advantages of ML in NDE are obvious in such tasks as pattern recognition in acoustic signals or automated processing of images from X-ray, Ultrasonics or optical methods. Fraunhofer IKTS is using machine learning algorithms in acoustic signal analysis. The approach had been applied to such a variety of tasks in quality assessment. The principal approach is based on acoustic signal processing with a primary and secondary analysis step followed by a cognitive system to create model data. Already in the second analysis steps unsupervised learning algorithms as principal component analysis are used to simplify data structures. In the cognitive part of the software further unsupervised and supervised learning algorithms will be trained. Later the sensor signals from unknown samples can be recognized and classified automatically by the algorithms trained before. Recently the IKTS team was able to transfer the software for signal processing and pattern recognition to a small printed circuit board (PCB). Still, algorithms will be trained on an ordinary PC; however, trained algorithms run on the Digital Signal Processor and the FPGA chip. The identical approach will be used for pattern recognition in image analysis of OCT pictures. Some key requirements have to be fulfilled, however. A sufficiently large set of training data, a high signal-to-noise ratio, and an optimized and exact fixation of components are required. The automated testing can be done subsequently by the machine. By integrating the test data of many components along the value chain further optimization including lifetime and durability prediction based on big data becomes possible, even if components are used in different versions or configurations. This is the promise behind German Industry 4.0.

A fast one-chip event-preprocessor and sequencer for the Simbol-X Low Energy Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schanz, T.; Tenzer, C.; Maier, D.; Kendziorra, E.; Santangelo, A.

2010-12-01

We present an FPGA-based digital camera electronics consisting of an Event-Preprocessor (EPP) for on-board data preprocessing and a related Sequencer (SEQ) to generate the necessary signals to control the readout of the detector. The device has been originally designed for the Simbol-X low energy detector (LED). The EPP operates on 64×64 pixel images and has a real-time processing capability of more than 8000 frames per second. The already working releases of the EPP and the SEQ are now combined into one Digital-Camera-Controller-Chip (D3C).

Signal Acquisition Using AXIe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Narciso, Steven J.

2011-08-01

An emerging test and measurement standard called AXIe, AdvancedTCA extensions for Instrumentation, is expected to find wide acceptance within the Physics community as it offers many benefits to applications including shock, plasma, particle and nuclear physics. It is expected that many COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) signal conditioning, acquisition and processing modules will become available from a range of different suppliers. AXIe uses AdvancedTCA® as its basis, but then levers test and measurement industry standards such as PXI, IVI, and LXI to facilitate cooperation and plug-and-play interoperability between COTS instrument suppliers. AXIe's large board footprint and power allows high density in a 19" rack, enabling the development of high-performance signal conditioning, analog-to-digital conversion, and data processing, while offering channel count scalability inherent in modular systems. Synchronization between modules is flexible and provided by two triggering structures: a parallel trigger bus, and radially-distributed, time-matched point-to-point trigger lines. Inter-module communication is also provided with an adjacent module local bus allowing data transfer to 600 Gbits/s in each direction, for example between a front-end digitizer and DSP. AXIe allows embedding high performance computing and a range of COTS AdvancedTCA® computer blades are currently available that provide low cost alternatives to the development of custom signal processing modules. The availability of both LAN and PCI Express allow interconnection between modules, as well as industry-standard high-performance data paths to external host computer systems. AXIe delivers a powerful environment for custom module devel opment. As in the case of VXIbus and PXI before it, commercial development kits are expected to be available. This paper will give an overview of the architectural elements of AXIe 1.0, the compatibility model with AdvancedTCA, and signal acquisition performance of many of the AXIe structures.

Second Harmonic Imaging improves Echocardiograph Quality on board the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garcia, Kathleen; Sargsyan, Ashot; Hamilton, Douglas; Martin, David; Ebert, Douglas; Melton, Shannon; Dulchavsky, Scott

2008-01-01

Ultrasound (US) capabilities have been part of the Human Research Facility (HRF) on board the International Space Station (ISS) since 2001. The US equipment on board the ISS includes a first-generation Tissue Harmonic Imaging (THI) option. Harmonic imaging (HI) is the second harmonic response of the tissue to the ultrasound beam and produces robust tissue detail and signal. Since this is a first-generation THI, there are inherent limitations in tissue penetration. As a breakthrough technology, HI extensively advanced the field of ultrasound. In cardiac applications, it drastically improves endocardial border detection and has become a common imaging modality. U.S. images were captured and stored as JPEG stills from the ISS video downlink. US images with and without harmonic imaging option were randomized and provided to volunteers without medical education or US skills for identification of endocardial border. The results were processed and analyzed using applicable statistical calculations. The measurements in US images using HI improved measurement consistency and reproducibility among observers when compared to fundamental imaging. HI has been embraced by the imaging community at large as it improves the quality and data validity of US studies, especially in difficult-to-image cases. Even with the limitations of the first generation THI, HI improved the quality and measurability of many of the downlinked images from the ISS and should be an option utilized with cardiac imaging on board the ISS in all future space missions.

Real-time Enhancement, Registration, and Fusion for a Multi-Sensor Enhanced Vision System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hines, Glenn D.; Rahman, Zia-ur; Jobson, Daniel J.; Woodell, Glenn A.

2006-01-01

Over the last few years NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has been developing an Enhanced Vision System (EVS) to aid pilots while flying in poor visibility conditions. The EVS captures imagery using two infrared video cameras. The cameras are placed in an enclosure that is mounted and flown forward-looking underneath the NASA LaRC ARIES 757 aircraft. The data streams from the cameras are processed in real-time and displayed on monitors on-board the aircraft. With proper processing the camera system can provide better-than- human-observed imagery particularly during poor visibility conditions. However, to obtain this goal requires several different stages of processing including enhancement, registration, and fusion, and specialized processing hardware for real-time performance. We are using a real-time implementation of the Retinex algorithm for image enhancement, affine transformations for registration, and weighted sums to perform fusion. All of the algorithms are executed on a single TI DM642 digital signal processor (DSP) clocked at 720 MHz. The image processing components were added to the EVS system, tested, and demonstrated during flight tests in August and September of 2005. In this paper we briefly discuss the EVS image processing hardware and algorithms. We then discuss implementation issues and show examples of the results obtained during flight tests. Keywords: enhanced vision system, image enhancement, retinex, digital signal processing, sensor fusion

20 CFR 405.405 - Decision Review Board.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Decision Review Board. 405.405 Section 405.405 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW PROCESS FOR ADJUDICATING... judge's decision has been effectuated to study our disability determination process. If the Board...

The Microscope Space Mission and the In-Orbit Calibration Plan for its Instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levy, Agnès Touboul, Pierre; Rodrigues, Manuel; Onera, Émilie Hardy; Métris, Gilles; Robert, Alain

2015-01-01

The MICROSCOPE space mission aims at testing the Equivalence Principle (EP) with an accuracy of 10-15. This principle is one of the basis of the General Relativity theory; it states the equivalence between gravitational and inertial mass. The test is based on the precise measurement of a gravitational signal by a differential electrostatic accelerometer which includes two cylindrical test masses made of different materials. The accelerometers constitute the payload accommodated on board a drag-free micro-satellite which is controlled inertial or rotating about the normal to the orbital plane. The acceleration estimates used for the EP test are disturbed by the instruments physical parameters and by the instrument environment conditions on-board the satellite. These parameters are partially measured with ground tests or during the integration of the instrument in the satellite (alignment). Nevertheless, the ground evaluations are not sufficient with respect to the EP test accuracy objectives. An in-orbit calibration is therefore needed to characterize them finely. The calibration process for each parameter has been defined.

ICE: A Scalable, Low-Cost FPGA-Based Telescope Signal Processing and Networking System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandura, K.; Bender, A. N.; Cliche, J. F.; de Haan, T.; Dobbs, M. A.; Gilbert, A. J.; Griffin, S.; Hsyu, G.; Ittah, D.; Parra, J. Mena; Montgomery, J.; Pinsonneault-Marotte, T.; Siegel, S.; Smecher, G.; Tang, Q. Y.; Vanderlinde, K.; Whitehorn, N.

2016-03-01

We present an overview of the ‘ICE’ hardware and software framework that implements large arrays of interconnected field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based data acquisition, signal processing and networking nodes economically. The system was conceived for application to radio, millimeter and sub-millimeter telescope readout systems that have requirements beyond typical off-the-shelf processing systems, such as careful control of interference signals produced by the digital electronics, and clocking of all elements in the system from a single precise observatory-derived oscillator. A new generation of telescopes operating at these frequency bands and designed with a vastly increased emphasis on digital signal processing to support their detector multiplexing technology or high-bandwidth correlators — data rates exceeding a terabyte per second — are becoming common. The ICE system is built around a custom FPGA motherboard that makes use of an Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA and ARM-based co-processor. The system is specialized for specific applications through software, firmware and custom mezzanine daughter boards that interface to the FPGA through the industry-standard FPGA mezzanine card (FMC) specifications. For high density applications, the motherboards are packaged in 16-slot crates with ICE backplanes that implement a low-cost passive full-mesh network between the motherboards in a crate, allow high bandwidth interconnection between crates and enable data offload to a computer cluster. A Python-based control software library automatically detects and operates the hardware in the array. Examples of specific telescope applications of the ICE framework are presented, namely the frequency-multiplexed bolometer readout systems used for the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Simons Array and the digitizer, F-engine, and networking engine for the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and Hydrogen Intensity and Real-time Analysis eXperiment (HIRAX) radio interferometers.

Recycling of WEEE: Characterization of spent printed circuit boards from mobile phones and computers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yamane, Luciana Harue, E-mail: lucianayamane@uol.com.br; Tavares de Moraes, Viviane, E-mail: tavares.vivi@gmail.com; Crocce Romano Espinosa, Denise, E-mail: espinosa@usp.br

Highlights: > This paper presents new and important data on characterization of wastes of electric and electronic equipments. > Copper concentration is increasing in mobile phones and remaining constant in personal computers. > Printed circuit boards from mobile phones and computers would not be mixed prior treatment. - Abstract: This paper presents a comparison between printed circuit boards from computers and mobile phones. Since printed circuits boards are becoming more complex and smaller, the amount of materials is constantly changing. The main objective of this work was to characterize spent printed circuit boards from computers and mobile phones applying mineralmore » processing technique to separate the metal, ceramic, and polymer fractions. The processing was performed by comminution in a hammer mill, followed by particle size analysis, and by magnetic and electrostatic separation. Aqua regia leaching, loss-on-ignition and chemical analysis (inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy - ICP-OES) were carried out to determine the composition of printed circuit boards and the metal rich fraction. The composition of the studied mobile phones printed circuit boards (PCB-MP) was 63 wt.% metals; 24 wt.% ceramics and 13 wt.% polymers; and of the printed circuit boards from studied personal computers (PCB-PC) was 45 wt.% metals; 27 wt.% polymers and ceramics 28 wt.% ceramics. The chemical analysis showed that copper concentration in printed circuit boards from personal computers was 20 wt.% and in printed circuit boards from mobile phones was 34.5 wt.%. According to the characteristics of each type of printed circuit board, the recovery of precious metals may be the main goal of the recycling process of printed circuit boards from personal computers and the recovery of copper should be the main goal of the recycling process of printed circuit boards from mobile phones. Hence, these printed circuit boards would not be mixed prior treatment. The results of this paper show that copper concentration is increasing in mobile phones and remaining constant in personal computers.« less

On-Board Mining in the Sensor Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanner, S.; Conover, H.; Graves, S.; Ramachandran, R.; Rushing, J.

2004-12-01

On-board data mining can contribute to many research and engineering applications, including natural hazard detection and prediction, intelligent sensor control, and the generation of customized data products for direct distribution to users. The ability to mine sensor data in real time can also be a critical component of autonomous operations, supporting deep space missions, unmanned aerial and ground-based vehicles (UAVs, UGVs), and a wide range of sensor meshes, webs and grids. On-board processing is expected to play a significant role in the next generation of NASA, Homeland Security, Department of Defense and civilian programs, providing for greater flexibility and versatility in measurements of physical systems. In addition, the use of UAV and UGV systems is increasing in military, emergency response and industrial applications. As research into the autonomy of these vehicles progresses, especially in fleet or web configurations, the applicability of on-board data mining is expected to increase significantly. Data mining in real time on board sensor platforms presents unique challenges. Most notably, the data to be mined is a continuous stream, rather than a fixed store such as a database. This means that the data mining algorithms must be modified to make only a single pass through the data. In addition, the on-board environment requires real time processing with limited computing resources, thus the algorithms must use fixed and relatively small amounts of processing time and memory. The University of Alabama in Huntsville is developing an innovative processing framework for the on-board data and information environment. The Environment for On-Board Processing (EVE) and the Adaptive On-board Data Processing (AODP) projects serve as proofs-of-concept of advanced information systems for remote sensing platforms. The EVE real-time processing infrastructure will upload, schedule and control the execution of processing plans on board remote sensors. These plans provide capabilities for autonomous data mining, classification and feature extraction using both streaming and buffered data sources. A ground-based testbed provides a heterogeneous, embedded hardware and software environment representing both space-based and ground-based sensor platforms, including wireless sensor mesh architectures. The AODP project explores the EVE concepts in the world of sensor-networks, including ad-hoc networks of small sensor platforms.

High stability buffered phase comparator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, W. A.; Reinhardt, V. S. (Inventor)

1984-01-01

A low noise RF signal phase comparator comprised of two high stability driver buffer amplifiers driving a double balanced mixer which operate to generate a beat frequency between the two RF input signals coupled to the amplifiers from the RF sources is described. The beat frequency output from the mixer is applied to a low noise zero crossing detector which is the phase difference between the two RF inputs. Temperature stability is provided by mounting the amplifiers and mixer on a common circuit board with the active circuit elements located on one side of a circuit board and the passive circuit elements located on the opposite side. A common heat sink is located adjacent the circuit board. The active circuit elements are embedded into the bores of the heat sink which slows the effect of ambient temperature changes and reduces the temperature gradients between the active circuit elements, thus improving the cancellation of temperature effects. The two amplifiers include individual voltage regulators, which increases RF isolation.

Fpga based L-band pulse doppler radar design and implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Savci, Kubilay

As its name implies RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) is an electromagnetic sensor used for detection and locating targets from their return signals. Radar systems propagate electromagnetic energy, from the antenna which is in part intercepted by an object. Objects reradiate a portion of energy which is captured by the radar receiver. The received signal is then processed for information extraction. Radar systems are widely used for surveillance, air security, navigation, weather hazard detection, as well as remote sensing applications. In this work, an FPGA based L-band Pulse Doppler radar prototype, which is used for target detection, localization and velocity calculation has been built and a general-purpose Pulse Doppler radar processor has been developed. This radar is a ground based stationary monopulse radar, which transmits a short pulse with a certain pulse repetition frequency (PRF). Return signals from the target are processed and information about their location and velocity is extracted. Discrete components are used for the transmitter and receiver chain. The hardware solution is based on Xilinx Virtex-6 ML605 FPGA board, responsible for the control of the radar system and the digital signal processing of the received signal, which involves Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) detection and Pulse Doppler processing. The algorithm is implemented in MATLAB/SIMULINK using the Xilinx System Generator for DSP tool. The field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) implementation of the radar system provides the flexibility of changing parameters such as the PRF and pulse length therefore it can be used with different radar configurations as well. A VHDL design has been developed for 1Gbit Ethernet connection to transfer digitized return signal and detection results to PC. An A-Scope software has been developed with C# programming language to display time domain radar signals and detection results on PC. Data are processed both in FPGA chip and on PC. FPGA uses fixed point arithmetic operations as it is fast and facilitates source requirement as it consumes less hardware than floating point arithmetic operations. The software uses floating point arithmetic operations, which ensure precision in processing at the expense of speed. The functionality of the radar system has been tested for experimental validation in the field with a moving car and the validation of submodules are tested with synthetic data simulated on MATLAB.

Study of the human/ITS interface issues on the design of traffic information bulletin board and traffic control signal displays

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-10-01

The success of automation for intelligent transportation systems is ultimately contingent upon the Interface between the users (humans) and the system (ITS). The issues of variable message signs (VMS) and traffic signal device (TSD) design were studi...

Pre-Hardware Optimization of Spacecraft Image Processing Algorithms and Hardware Implementation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kizhner, Semion; Petrick, David J.; Flatley, Thomas P.; Hestnes, Phyllis; Jentoft-Nilsen, Marit; Day, John H. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

Spacecraft telemetry rates and telemetry product complexity have steadily increased over the last decade presenting a problem for real-time processing by ground facilities. This paper proposes a solution to a related problem for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Spacecraft (GOES-8) image data processing and color picture generation application. Although large super-computer facilities are the obvious heritage solution, they are very costly, making it imperative to seek a feasible alternative engineering solution at a fraction of the cost. The proposed solution is based on a Personal Computer (PC) platform and synergy of optimized software algorithms, and reconfigurable computing hardware (RC) technologies, such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and Digital Signal Processors (DSP). It has been shown that this approach can provide superior inexpensive performance for a chosen application on the ground station or on-board a spacecraft.

CuOF: an electrical to optical interface for the upgrade of the CMS muon Drift Tubes system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dattola, D.; De Remigis, P.; Maselli, S.; Mazza, G.; Rotondo, F.; Wheadon, R.

2013-02-01

The upgrade of the Drift Tube system of the CMS experiment foresee the relocation of the electronics actually sitting on the racks beside the magnet from the cavern to the counting room. It is thus required to convert the signals from electrical to optical, for a total number of 3500 channels that run at up to 480 Mb/s. A Copper to Optical Fiber board is currently under design. The board is divided into a mother board, which hosts the slow control system based on Field Programmable Gate Array, and four mezzanine cards, each with 8 conversion channels. A prototype of the mezzanine board has been designed and tested under irradiation.

A Social Cognitive Investigation of Australian Independent School Boards as Teams

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krishnan, Aparna; Barnett, Kerry; McCormick, John; Newcombe, Geoffrey

2016-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate independent school Boards as teams using a social cognitive perspective. Specifically, the study investigated Board processes and the nature of relationships between Board member self-efficacy, Board collective efficacy and performance of independent school Boards in New South Wales, Australia.…

Design and characterization of the PREC (Prototype Readout Electronics for Counting particles)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Assis, P.; Brogueira, P.; Ferreira, M.; Luz, R.; Mendes, L.

2016-08-01

The design, tests and performance of a novel, low noise, acquisition system—the PREC (Prototype Readout Electronics for Counting particles) is presented in this article. PREC is a system developed using discrete electronics for particle counting applications using RPCs (Resistive Plate Chamber) detectors. PREC can, however, be used with other kind of detectors that present fast pulses, e.g. Silicon Photomultipliers. The PREC system consists in several Front-End boards that transmit data to a purely digital Motherboard. The amplification and discrimination of the signal is performed in the Front-End boards, making them the critical component of the system. In this paper, the Front-End was tested extensively by measuring the gain, noise level, crosstalk, trigger efficiency, propagation time and power consumption. The gain shows a decrease with the working temperature and an increase with the power supply voltage. The Front-End board shows a low noise level (<= 1.6 mV at 3σ level) and no crosstalk is detected above this level. The s-curve of the trigger efficiency is characterized by a 3 mV gap from the region where most of the signals are triggered to almost no signal is triggered. The signal transit time between the Front-End input and the digital Motherboard is estimated to be 5.82 ns. The maximum power consumption is 3.372 W for the Motherboard and 3.576 W and 1.443 W for each Front-End analogue circuitry and digital part, respectively.

The μ-RWELL: A compact, spark protected, single amplification-stage MPGD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poli Lener, M.; Bencivenni, G.; de Olivera, R.; Felici, G.; Franchino, S.; Gatta, M.; Maggi, M.; Morello, G.; Sharma, A.

2016-07-01

In this work we present two innovative architectures of resistive MPGDs based on the WELL-amplification concept: - the micro-Resistive WELL (μ-RWELL) is a compact spark-protected single amplification-stage Micro-Pattern Gas Detector (MPGD). The amplification stage, realized with a structure very similar to a GEM foil (called WELL), is embedded through a resistive layer in the readout board. A cathode electrode, defining the gas conversion/drift gap, completes the detector mechanics. The new architecture, showing an excellent space resolution, 50 μm, is a very compact device, robust against discharges and exhibiting a large gain (>104), simple to construct and easy for engineering and then suitable for large area tracking devices as well as digital calorimeters. - the Fast Timing Micro-pattern (FTM): a new device with an architecture based on a stack of several coupled full-resistive layers where drift and multiplication stages (WELL type) alternate in the structure. The signals from each multiplication stage can be read out from any external readout boards through the capacitive couplings, providing a signal with a gain of 104-105. The main advantage of this new device is the improvement of the timing provided by the competition of the ionization processes in the different drift regions, which can be exploited for fast timing at the high luminosity accelerators (e.g. HL-LHC upgrade) as well as for applications like medical imaging.

Fermilab Recycler Ring BPM Upgrade Based on Digital Receiver Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webber, R.; Crisp, J.; Prieto, P.; Voy, D.; Briegel, C.; McClure, C.; West, R.; Pordes, S.; Mengel, M.

2004-11-01

Electronics for the 237 BPMs in the Fermilab Recycler Ring have been upgraded from a log-amplifier based system to a commercially produced digitizer-digital down converter based system. The hardware consists of a pre-amplifier connected to a split-plate BPM, an analog differential receiver-filter module and an 8-channel 80-MHz digital down converter VME board. The system produces position and intensity with a dynamic range of 30 dB and a resolution of ±10 microns. The position measurements are made on 2.5-MHz bunched beam and barrier buckets of the un-bunched beam. The digital receiver system operates in one of six different signal processing modes that include 2.5-MHz average, 2.5-MHz bunch-by-bunch, 2.5-MHz narrow band, unbunched average, un-bunched head/tail and 89-kHz narrow band. Receiver data is acquired on any of up to sixteen clock events related to Recycler beam transfers and other machine activities. Data from the digital receiver board are transferred to the front-end CPU for position and intensity computation on an on-demand basis through the VME bus. Data buffers are maintained for each of the acquisition events and support flash, closed orbit and turn-by-turn measurements. A calibration system provides evaluation of the BPM signal path and application programs.

A Versatile Embedded Platform for EMG Acquisition and Gesture Recognition.

PubMed

Benatti, Simone; Casamassima, Filippo; Milosevic, Bojan; Farella, Elisabetta; Schönle, Philipp; Fateh, Schekeb; Burger, Thomas; Huang, Qiuting; Benini, Luca

2015-10-01

Wearable devices offer interesting features, such as low cost and user friendliness, but their use for medical applications is an open research topic, given the limited hardware resources they provide. In this paper, we present an embedded solution for real-time EMG-based hand gesture recognition. The work focuses on the multi-level design of the system, integrating the hardware and software components to develop a wearable device capable of acquiring and processing EMG signals for real-time gesture recognition. The system combines the accuracy of a custom analog front end with the flexibility of a low power and high performance microcontroller for on-board processing. Our system achieves the same accuracy of high-end and more expensive active EMG sensors used in applications with strict requirements on signal quality. At the same time, due to its flexible configuration, it can be compared to the few wearable platforms designed for EMG gesture recognition available on market. We demonstrate that we reach similar or better performance while embedding the gesture recognition on board, with the benefit of cost reduction. To validate this approach, we collected a dataset of 7 gestures from 4 users, which were used to evaluate the impact of the number of EMG channels, the number of recognized gestures and the data rate on the recognition accuracy and on the computational demand of the classifier. As a result, we implemented a SVM recognition algorithm capable of real-time performance on the proposed wearable platform, achieving a classification rate of 90%, which is aligned with the state-of-the-art off-line results and a 29.7 mW power consumption, guaranteeing 44 hours of continuous operation with a 400 mAh battery.

17 CFR 202.190 - Public Company Accounting Oversight Board budget approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Public Company Accounting... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION INFORMAL AND OTHER PROCEDURES Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (Regulation P) § 202.190 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board budget approval process. (a) Purpose. These...

17 CFR 202.190 - Public Company Accounting Oversight Board budget approval process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Public Company Accounting... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION INFORMAL AND OTHER PROCEDURES Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (Regulation P) § 202.190 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board budget approval process. (a) Purpose. These...

National Board Certified Teachers in Pennsylvania: A Study of Motivation and Persistence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Starnes, Ronald Jay

2013-01-01

This descriptive study identifies: 1) the factors which motivated Pennsylvania teachers to begin the National Board Certification process; 2) the factors of persistence which led teachers to successful achievement of National Board Certification and; 3) the personal transformation which took place in the process. Quantitative and qualitative…

The research of laser marking control technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qiue; Zhang, Rong

2009-08-01

In the area of Laser marking, the general control method is insert control card to computer's mother board, it can not support hot swap, it is difficult to assemble or it. Moreover, the one marking system must to equip one computer. In the system marking, the computer can not to do the other things except to transmit marking digital information. Otherwise it can affect marking precision. Based on traditional control methods existed some problems, introduced marking graphic editing and digital processing by the computer finish, high-speed digital signal processor (DSP) control marking the whole process. The laser marking controller is mainly contain DSP2812, digital memorizer, DAC (digital analog converting) transform unit circuit, USB interface control circuit, man-machine interface circuit, and other logic control circuit. Download the marking information which is processed by computer to U disk, DSP read the information by USB interface on time, then processing it, adopt the DSP inter timer control the marking time sequence, output the scanner control signal by D/A parts. Apply the technology can realize marking offline, thereby reduce the product cost, increase the product efficiency. The system have good effect in actual unit markings, the marking speed is more quickly than PCI control card to 20 percent. It has application value in practicality.

A wide-range programmable frequency synthesizer based on a finite state machine filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alser, Mohammed H.; Assaad, Maher M.; Hussin, Fawnizu A.

2013-11-01

In this article, an FPGA-based design and implementation of a fully digital wide-range programmable frequency synthesizer based on a finite state machine filter is presented. The advantages of the proposed architecture are that, it simultaneously generates a high frequency signal from a low frequency reference signal (i.e. synthesising), and synchronising the two signals (signals have the same phase, or a constant difference) without jitter accumulation issue. The architecture is portable and can be easily implemented for various platforms, such as FPGAs and integrated circuits. The frequency synthesizer circuit can be used as a part of SERDES devices in intra/inter chip communication in system-on-chip (SoC). The proposed circuit is designed using Verilog language and synthesized for the Altera DE2-70 development board, with the Cyclone II (EP2C35F672C6) device on board. Simulation and experimental results are included; they prove the synthesizing and tracking features of the proposed architecture. The generated clock signal frequency of a range from 19.8 MHz to 440 MHz is synchronized to the input reference clock with a frequency step of 0.12 MHz.

36 CFR 222.11 - Grazing advisory boards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... such boards, the area to be covered, and the number of advisers on each board. (3) Processing Petitions... permittees are nominated and board members are elected. Nominations will be made by petition with all term...

Novel Ultrahigh Vacuum System for Chip-Scale Trapped Ion Quantum Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shaw-Pin; Trapped Team

2011-05-01

This presentation reports the experimental results of an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) system as a scheme to implement scalable trapped-ion quantum computers that use micro-fabricated ion traps as fundamental building blocks. The novelty of this system resides in our design, material selection, mechanical liability, low complexity of assembly, and reduced signal interference between DC and RF electrodes. Our system utilizes RF isolation and onsite-filtering topologies to attenuate AC signals generated from the resonator. We use a UHV compatible printed circuit board (PCB) material to perform DC routing, while the RF high and RF ground received separated routing via wire-wrapping. The standard PCB fabrication process enabled us to implement ceramic-based filter components adjacent to the chip trap. The DC electrodes are connected to air-side electrical feed through using four 25D adaptors made with polyether ether ketone (PEEK). The assembly process of this system is straight forward and in-chamber structure is self-supporting. We report on initial testing of this concept with a linear chip trap fabricated by the Sandia National Labs.

Influence of fiber treatment on dimensional stabilities of rattan waste composite boards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuraida, A.; Insyirah, Y.; Maisarah, T.; Zahurin, H.

2018-01-01

The main drawback of using natural fibers in composite boards is its hydrophilic properties which absorb a high volume of moisture. This results in low dimensional stability of the produced composite boards. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of fibers’ treatment processes of the rattan waste fibers on the dimensional stabilities of composite boards. The collected fibers underwent two types of retting processes, namely a water treatment and alkaline treatment retting processes; where the fibers were soaked in water and a 1% sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, respectively. The fibers were dried and mixed with poly(lactic) acid (PLA) pellets with ratio of 30% fibers: 70% matrix; before being fabricated into composite boards via a hot-pressing process and were labelled as RF/PLA, WRF/PLA, CRF/PLA for untreated rattan, rattan treated by water retting, rattan treated by chemical retting, respectively. The produced composite boards were cut and soaked in water for 24 hours for dimensional stability in terms of water absorption and thickness swelling tests. The results showed that WRF/PLA has the lowest water absorption (3.2%), and the CRF/PLA had the highest water absorption (23.2%). The thickness swelling showed a similar trend as water absorption. The presence of void contents and fibers damaged the insides of the boards, which contributed to low dimensional stabilities of the composite boards. It can be concluded that water retting facilitated in improving dimensional stability of the produced composite board.

The Level 0 Pixel Trigger system for the ALICE experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aglieri Rinella, G.; Kluge, A.; Krivda, M.; ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector project

2007-01-01

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector contains 1200 readout chips. Fast-OR signals indicate the presence of at least one hit in the 8192 pixel matrix of each chip. The 1200 bits are transmitted every 100 ns on 120 data readout optical links using the G-Link protocol. The Pixel Trigger System extracts and processes them to deliver an input signal to the Level 0 trigger processor targeting a latency of 800 ns. The system is compact, modular and based on FPGA devices. The architecture allows the user to define and implement various trigger algorithms. The system uses advanced 12-channel parallel optical fiber modules operating at 1310 nm as optical receivers and 12 deserializer chips closely packed in small area receiver boards. Alternative solutions with multi-channel G-Link deserializers implemented directly in programmable hardware devices were investigated. The design of the system and the progress of the ALICE Pixel Trigger project are described in this paper.

Research on the Filtering Algorithm in Speed and Position Detection of Maglev Trains

PubMed Central

Dai, Chunhui; Long, Zhiqiang; Xie, Yunde; Xue, Song

2011-01-01

This paper introduces in brief the traction system of a permanent magnet electrodynamic suspension (EDS) train. The synchronous traction mode based on long stators and track cable is described. A speed and position detection system is recommended. It is installed on board and is used as the feedback end. Restricted by the maglev train’s structure, the permanent magnet electrodynamic suspension (EDS) train uses the non-contact method to detect its position. Because of the shake and the track joints, the position signal sent by the position sensor is always aberrant and noisy. To solve this problem, a linear discrete track-differentiator filtering algorithm is proposed. The filtering characters of the track-differentiator (TD) and track-differentiator group are analyzed. The four series of TD are used in the signal processing unit. The result shows that the track-differentiator could have a good effect and make the traction system run normally. PMID:22164012

Research on the filtering algorithm in speed and position detection of maglev trains.

PubMed

Dai, Chunhui; Long, Zhiqiang; Xie, Yunde; Xue, Song

2011-01-01

This paper introduces in brief the traction system of a permanent magnet electrodynamic suspension (EDS) train. The synchronous traction mode based on long stators and track cable is described. A speed and position detection system is recommended. It is installed on board and is used as the feedback end. Restricted by the maglev train's structure, the permanent magnet electrodynamic suspension (EDS) train uses the non-contact method to detect its position. Because of the shake and the track joints, the position signal sent by the position sensor is always aberrant and noisy. To solve this problem, a linear discrete track-differentiator filtering algorithm is proposed. The filtering characters of the track-differentiator (TD) and track-differentiator group are analyzed. The four series of TD are used in the signal processing unit. The result shows that the track-differentiator could have a good effect and make the traction system run normally.

Fluorescent Microscopy Enhancement Using Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conrad, Morgan P.; Reck tenwald, Diether J.; Woodhouse, Bryan S.

1986-06-01

To enhance our capabilities for observing fluorescent stains in biological systems, we are developing a low cost imaging system based around an IBM AT microcomputer and a commercial image capture board compatible with a standard RS-170 format video camera. The image is digitized in real time with 256 grey levels, while being displayed and also stored in memory. The software allows for interactive processing of the data, such as histogram equalization or pseudocolor enhancement of the display. The entire image, or a quadrant thereof, can be averaged over time to improve the signal to noise ratio. Images may be stored to disk for later use or comparison. The camera may be selected for better response in the UV or near IR. Combined with signal averaging, this increases the sensitivity relative to that of the human eye, while still allowing for the fluorescence distribution on either the surface or internal cytoskeletal structure to be observed.

7 CFR 2201.9 - Limitation on the applicability of the definition of Local Television Broadcast Signals.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Limitation on the applicability of the definition of Local Television Broadcast Signals. 2201.9 Section 2201.9 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE BOARD LOCAL TELEVISION LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM-PROGRAM...

78 FR 28801 - Foreign-Trade Zone 117-Orange, TX, Authorization of Production Activity, Signal International...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-16

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B-2-2013] Foreign-Trade Zone 117--Orange, TX, Authorization of Production Activity, Signal International Texas GP, LLC (Shipbuilding), Orange, TX On January 10, 2013, the Foreign Trade Zone of Southeast Texas, Inc., grantee of FTZ 117, submitted a...

Advanced Hybrid On-Board Science Data Processor - SpaceCube 2.0

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flatley, Tom

2010-01-01

Topics include an overview of On-board science data processing, software upset mitigation, on-board data reduction, on-board products, HyspIRI demonstration testbed, SpaceCube 2.0 block diagram, and processor comparison.

The SpaceCube Family of Hybrid On-Board Science Data Processors: An Update

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flatley, T.

2012-12-01

SpaceCube is an FPGA based on-board hybrid science data processing system developed at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The goal of the SpaceCube program is to provide 10x to 100x improvements in on-board computing power while lowering relative power consumption and cost. The SpaceCube design strategy incorporates commercial rad-tolerant FPGA technology and couples it with an upset mitigation software architecture to provide "order of magnitude" improvements in computing power over traditional rad-hard flight systems. Many of the missions proposed in the Earth Science Decadal Survey (ESDS) will require "next generation" on-board processing capabilities to meet their specified mission goals. Advanced laser altimeter, radar, lidar and hyper-spectral instruments are proposed for at least ten of the ESDS missions, and all of these instrument systems will require advanced on-board processing capabilities to facilitate the timely conversion of Earth Science data into Earth Science information. Both an "order of magnitude" increase in processing power and the ability to "reconfigure on the fly" are required to implement algorithms that detect and react to events, to produce data products on-board for applications such as direct downlink, quick look, and "first responder" real-time awareness, to enable "sensor web" multi-platform collaboration, and to perform on-board "lossless" data reduction by migrating typical ground-based processing functions on-board, thus reducing on-board storage and downlink requirements. This presentation will highlight a number of SpaceCube technology developments to date and describe current and future efforts, including the collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense - Space Test Program (DoD/STP) on the STP-H4 ISS experiment pallet (launch June 2013) that will demonstrate SpaceCube 2.0 technology on-orbit.; ;

High accuracy analysis of whistlers measured simultaneously on ground station and on board of the DEMETER satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamar, D.; Ferencz, Cs.; Steinbach, P.; Lichtenberger, J.; Ferencz, O. E.; Parrot, M.

2009-04-01

Examining the mechanism and effect of the coupling of the electromagnetic signals from the lower ionosphere into the Earth-ionosphere waveguide (EIWG) can be maintained with the analysis of simultaneous broadband VLF recordings acquired at ground station (Tihany, Hungary) and on LEO orbiting satellite (DEMETER) during nearby passes. Single hop whistlers, selected from concurrent broadband VLF data sets were analyzed with high accuracy applying the matched filtering (MF) technique, developed previously for signal analysis. The accuracy of the frequency-time-amplitude pattern and the resolution of the closely spaced whistler traces were further increased with least-square estimation of the parameters of the output of MF procedure. One result of this analysis is the fine structure of the whistler which can not be recognized in conventional spectrogram. The comparison of the detailed fine structure of the whistlers measured on board and on the ground enabled us to select reliably the corresponding signal pairs. The remarkable difference seen in the fine structure of matching whistler occurrences in the satellite and the ground data series can be addressed e.g. to the effect of the inhomogeneous ionospheric plasma (trans-ionosperic impulse propagation) or the process of wave energy leaking out from the ionized medium into the EIWG. This field needs further investigations. References: Ferencz Cs., Ferencz O. E., Hamar D. and Lichtenberger, J., (2001) Whistler Phenomena, Short Impulse Propagation; Kluwer Academic Publisher, ISBN 0-7923-6995-5, Netherlands Lichtenberger, J., Hamar D. and Ferencz Cs.,(2003) Methods for analyzing the structure and propagation characteristics of whistlers, in: Very Low Frequency (VLF) Phenomena, Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, p. 88-107.

Signal-Conditioning Amplifier Recorders

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Medelius, Pedro J.; Taylor, John

2003-01-01

Signal-conditioning amplifier recorders (SCAmpRs) have been proposed as a means of simplifying and upgrading the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Ground Measurement System (GMS), which is a versatile data-acquisition system that gathers and records a variety of measurement data before and during the launch of a space shuttle. In the present version of the GMS system, signal conditioning amplifiers digitize and transmit data to a VME chassis that multiplexes up to 416 channels. The data is transmitted via a high-speed data bus to a second VME chassis where it is available for snapshots. The data is passed from the second VME chassis to a high-speed data recorder. This process is duplicated for installations at two launch pads and the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Since any failure of equipment in the data path results in loss of data, much of the system is redundant. The architecture of the existing GMS limits expansion or any modification to the system to meet changing requirements because of the cost and time required. A SCAmpR-based system is much more flexible. The basis of the simplification, flexibility, and reliability is the shifting of the recording function to the individual amplifier channels. Each SCAmpR is a self-contained single channel data acquisition system, which in its current implementation, has a data storage capacity of up to 30 minutes when operating at the fastest data sampling rates. The SCAmpR channels are self-configuring and self-calibrating. Multiple SCAmpR channels are ganged on printed circuit boards and mounted in a chassis that provides power, a network hub, and Inter-Range Instrument Group (IRIG) time signals. The SCAmpR channels share nothing except physical mounting on a circuit board. All circuitry is electrically separate for each channel. All that is necessary to complete the data acquisition system is a single master computer tied to the SCAmpR channels by standard network equipment. The size of the data acquisition system dictates the requirements for the specific network equipment.

Separating higher-order nonlinearities in transient absorption microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Jesse W.; Anderson, Miguel; Park, Jong Kang; Fischer, Martin C.; Warren, Warren S.

2015-08-01

The transient absorption response of melanin is a promising optically-accessible biomarker for distinguishing malignant melanoma from benign pigmented lesions, as demonstrated by earlier experiments on thin sections from biopsied tissue. The technique has also been demonstrated in vivo, but the higher optical intensity required for detecting these signals from backscattered light introduces higher-order nonlinearities in the transient response of melanin. These components that are higher than linear with respect to the pump or the probe introduce intensity-dependent changes to the overall response that complicate data analysis. However, our data also suggest these nonlinearities might be advantageous to in vivo imaging, in that different types of melanins have different nonlinear responses. Therefore, methods to separate linear from nonlinear components in transient absorption measurements might provide additional information to aid in the diagnosis of melanoma. We will discuss numerical methods for analyzing the various nonlinear contributions to pump-probe signals, with the ultimate objective of real time analysis using digital signal processing techniques. To that end, we have replaced the lock-in amplifier in our pump-probe microscope with a high-speed data acquisition board, and reprogrammed the coprocessor field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to perform lock-in detection. The FPGA lock-in offers better performance than the commercial instrument, in terms of both signal to noise ratio and speed. In addition, the flexibility of the digital signal processing approach enables demodulation of more complicated waveforms, such as spread-spectrum sequences, which has the potential to accelerate microscopy methods that rely on slow relaxation phenomena, such as photo-thermal and phosphorescence lifetime imaging.

Laser-Induced Incandescence Calibration via Gravimetric Sampling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanderWal, R. L.; Zhou, Z.; Choi, M. Y.

1995-01-01

Various beam imaging and/or sheet forming optics delivered light at 1064 nm from a pulsed Nd:YAG laser for use either as a beam of 3 mm radius or as a laser sheet. Imaging measurements were performed with a grated intensified array camera equipped with an ultraviolet f4.5 lens and a 40 mm extension tube. Point measurements were performed using an ultraviolet 250 mm focal length lens to collect and focus the laser induced incandescence (LII) signal into a 1 meter long quartz optical fiber which directed the LII signal to a 1/4 meter monochromator. An aperture preceding the lens restricted the signal collection region to 1 cm along the laser beam at the center of the gravimetric chimney. Signals from the PMT were processed by a boxcar integrator whereas the images were captured digitally using a frame-grabber with 16 MByte of on-board memory. Both 'point' and planar measurements were made with detector gates of 250 ns to minimize possible morphology bias in collection of the LII signal. Additionally, the imaging measurements were performed with broadband spectral collection of the LII signal to maximize the signal and again minimize any potential effects of morphology dependent heating and/or cooling rates. Digital delay generators controlled the firing of he laser, detector gates and data acquisition. Neutral density filters were used for both sets of measurements to maintain signal levels within linear dynamic ranges of the detectors, the range being determined prior to experiments.

Outsourcing the Superintendency: Contextual Changes to the Urban School Superintendent.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanders, Eugene T. W.; And Others

1998-01-01

Analyzes an urban Ohio school board's decision regarding potential employment of a business firm instead of a traditional superintendent, highlighting the board's selection process and the nature of board/community interactions. The study used an interview guide format with five board members. The board chose not to hire a Minnesota-based firm for…

IEEE Standards activities: A year in review. Annual activities report 1996

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1997-09-01

For IEEE Standards and the constituency it serves, 1996 was a milestone year. It was a period that signaled the beginning of the Standards Program of the future. This program responds to worldwide standards issues and to the technical, market and competitive strategies of industrial sectors. It represents technological innovation, global participation in electrotechnology standards development and dedication to the on-going advancement and promotion of new concepts and technology. Instrumental in ensuring IEEE`s growth opportunities and leadership position in electrotechnology standards development and dissemination is IEEE membership. The value of members and their involvement in IEEE Standards is vital tomore » IEEE`s ability to continuously be the best professional association in the world. To fulfill this vision, IEEE set forth five goals -- increased globalization, career enhancement, electronic dissemination of existing products and services, organizational improvements and public responsibility. Key in the process for the achievement of these goals is to make certain that IEEE members are well informed about opportunities and benefits the present system of standardization offers, and what the future system will offer. With the member in mind, the Standards Board reviewed its strategic direction and operational structures, and its ability to deliver products and services that are needed now and, more importantly, that will be needed in the future. This Annual Activities Report provides a comprehensive picture of 1996 accomplishments and performance. It gives readers a broad picture of the Standards Board`s activities, the evolving role of IEEE Standards and the technological opportunities that the Board encourages.« less

Space Debris Detection on the HPDP, a Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Array Architecture for Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suarez, Diego Andres; Bretz, Daniel; Helfers, Tim; Weidendorfer, Josef; Utzmann, Jens

2016-08-01

Stream processing, widely used in communications and digital signal processing applications, requires high- throughput data processing that is achieved in most cases using Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) designs. Lack of programmability is an issue especially in space applications, which use on-board components with long life-cycles requiring applications updates. To this end, the High Performance Data Processor (HPDP) architecture integrates an array of coarse-grained reconfigurable elements to provide both flexible and efficient computational power suitable for stream-based data processing applications in space. In this work the capabilities of the HPDP architecture are demonstrated with the implementation of a real-time image processing algorithm for space debris detection in a space-based space surveillance system. The implementation challenges and alternatives are described making trade-offs to improve performance at the expense of negligible degradation of detection accuracy. The proposed implementation uses over 99% of the available computational resources. Performance estimations based on simulations show that the HPDP can amply match the application requirements.

An experimental 20/30 GHz communications satellite conceptual design employing multiple-beam paraboloid reflector antennas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldman, A. M., Jr.

1980-01-01

An experimental 20/30 GHz communications satellite conceptual design is described which employs multiple-beam paraboloid reflector antennas coupled to a TDMA transponder. It is shown that the satellite employs solid state GaAs FET power amplifiers and low noise amplifiers while signal processing and switching takes place on-board the spacecraft. The proposed areas to be served by this satellite would be the continental U.S. plus Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as southern Canada and Mexico City. Finally, attention is given to the earth stations which are designed to be low cost.

The instrument development status of hyper-spectral imager suite (HISUI)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Itoh, Yoshiyuki; Kawashima, Takahiro; Inada, Hitomi; Tanii, Jun; Iwasaki, Akira

2012-11-01

The hyper-multi spectral mission named HISUI (Hyper-spectral Imager SUIte) is the next Japanese earth observation project. This project is the follow up mission of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Advanced Land Imager (ALDS). HISUI is composed of hyperspectral radiometer with higher spectral resolution and multi-spectral radiometer with higher spatial resolution. The development of functional evaluation model was carried out to confirm the spectral and radiometric performance prior to the flight model manufacture phase. This model contains the VNIR and SWIR spectrograph, the VNIR and SWIR detector assemblies with a mechanical cooler for SWIR, signal processing circuit and on-board calibration source.

Data Acquisition System for Silicon Ultra Fast Cameras for Electron and Gamma Sources in Medical Applications (sucima Imager)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Czermak, A.; Zalewska, A.; Dulny, B.; Sowicki, B.; Jastrząb, M.; Nowak, L.

2004-07-01

The needs for real time monitoring of the hadrontherapy beam intensity and profile as well as requirements for the fast dosimetry using Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) forced the SUCIMA collaboration to the design of the unique Data Acquisition System (DAQ SUCIMA Imager). The DAQ system has been developed on one of the most advanced XILINX Field Programmable Gate Array chip - VERTEX II. The dedicated multifunctional electronic board for the detector's analogue signals capture, their parallel digital processing and final data compression as well as transmission through the high speed USB 2.0 port has been prototyped and tested.

Modular space vehicle boards, control software, reprogramming, and failure recovery

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Judd, Stephen; Dallmann, Nicholas; McCabe, Kevin

A space vehicle may have a modular board configuration that commonly uses some or all components and a common operating system for at least some of the boards. Each modular board may have its own dedicated processing, and processing loads may be distributed. The space vehicle may be reprogrammable, and may be launched without code that enables all functionality and/or components. Code errors may be detected and the space vehicle may be reset to a working code version to prevent system failure.

Thought-based row-column scanning communication board for individuals with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Scherer, Reinhold; Billinger, Martin; Wagner, Johanna; Schwarz, Andreas; Hettich, Dirk Tassilo; Bolinger, Elaina; Lloria Garcia, Mariano; Navarro, Juan; Müller-Putz, Gernot

2015-02-01

Impairment of an individual's ability to communicate is a major hurdle for active participation in education and social life. A lot of individuals with cerebral palsy (CP) have normal intelligence, however, due to their inability to communicate, they fall behind. Non-invasive electroencephalogram (EEG) based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as potential assistive devices for individuals with CP. BCIs translate brain signals directly into action. Motor activity is no longer required. However, translation of EEG signals may be unreliable and requires months of training. Moreover, individuals with CP may exhibit high levels of spontaneous and uncontrolled movement, which has a large impact on EEG signal quality and results in incorrect translations. We introduce a novel thought-based row-column scanning communication board that was developed following user-centered design principles. Key features include an automatic online artifact reduction method and an evidence accumulation procedure for decision making. The latter allows robust decision making with unreliable BCI input. Fourteen users with CP participated in a supporting online study and helped to evaluate the performance of the developed system. Users were asked to select target items with the row-column scanning communication board. The results suggest that seven among eleven remaining users performed better than chance and were consequently able to communicate by using the developed system. Three users were excluded because of insufficient EEG signal quality. These results are very encouraging and represent a good foundation for the development of real-world BCI-based communication devices for users with CP. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Woodmetrics: imaging devices and processes in wood inspection at Lulea University of Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagman, Olle

1999-09-01

Wood Technology research and education at Lulea University of Technology is located in Skelleftea 800 km north of Stockholm. At the campus about 25 persons are involved in education and research in Wood Technology. We are educating M.Sc. and post- graduate students in Wood Technology. The research at the campus includes the following main fields: -- Wood Machining - - Woodmetrics -- Wood Drying -- Wood Composites/Wood Material Science. Our research strategy is to obtain an individual treatment of every tree, board and piece of wood in order to get highest possible value for the forest products. This shall be accomplished by the aid of advanced scanning technology and computer technology. Woodmetrics means to measure different wood parameters in order to optimize the utilization of the raw material. Today we have the following projects in this field: Automatic wood inspection -- Color changes and moisture flow in drying processes -- Inner quality of logs and lumber - - Stem quality database -- Computer tomography -- Aesthetic properties of wood -- Market/industry/forest relations. In the Woodmetrics field we are using computer tomography, CCD cameras and other sensors in order to find and measure defects in trees and on boards. The signals are analyzed and classified with modern image analyzing techniques and advanced statistical methods.

Health and wellbeing boards: public health decision making bodies or political pawns?

PubMed

Greaves, Z; McCafferty, S

2017-02-01

Health and Wellbeing boards in England are uniquely constituted; embedded in the local authorities with membership drawn from a range of stakeholders and partner organizations. This raises the question of how decision making functions of the boards reflects wider public health decision making, if criteria are applied to decision making, and what prioritization processes, if any, are used. Qualitative research methods were employed and five local boards were approached, interview dyads were conducted with the boards Chair and Director of Public Health across four of these (n = 4). Three questions were addressed: how are decisions made? What are the criteria applied to decision making? And how are criteria then prioritized? A thematic approach was used to analyse data identifying codes and extracting key themes. Equity, effectiveness and consistency with strategies of board and partners were most consistently identified by participants as criteria influencing decisions. Prioritization was described as an engaged and collaborative process, but criteria were not explicitly referenced in the decision making of the boards which instead made unstructured prioritization of population sub-groups or interventions agreed by consensus. Criteria identified are broadly consistent with those used in wider public health practice but additionally incorporated criteria which recognizes the political siting of the boards. The study explored the variety in different board's approaches to prioritization and identified a lack of clarity and rigour in the identification and use of criteria in prioritization processes. Decision making may benefit from the explicit inclusion of criteria in the prioritization process. Copyright © 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trigger readout electronics upgrade for the ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinkespiler, B.

2017-09-01

The upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) scheduled for the 2019-2020 shut-down period, referred to as Phase-I upgrade, will increase the instantaneous luminosity to about three times the design value. Since the current ATLAS trigger system does not allow sufficient increase of the trigger rate, an improvement of the trigger system is required. The Liquid Argon (LAr) Calorimeter read-out will therefore be modified to deliver digital trigger signals with a higher spatial granularity in order to improve the identification efficiencies of electrons, photons, tau, jets and missing energy, at high background rejection rates at the Level-1 trigger. The new trigger signals will be arranged in 34000 so-called Super Cells which achieves 5-10 times better granularity than the trigger towers currently used and allows an improved background rejection. The readout of the trigger signals will process the signal of the Super Cells at every LHC bunch-crossing at 12-bit precision and a frequency of 40 MHz. The data will be transmitted to the Back End using a custom serializer and optical converter and 5.12 Gb/s optical links. In order to verify the full functionality of the future Liquid Argon trigger system, a demonstrator set-up has been installed on the ATLAS detector and is operated in parallel to the regular ATLAS data taking during the LHC Run-2 in 2015 and 2016. Noise level and linearity on the energy measurement have been verified to be within our requirements. In addition, we have collected data from 13 TeV proton collisions during the LHC 2015 and 2016 runs, and have observed real pulses from the detector through the demonstrator system. The talk will give an overview of the Phase-I Upgrade of the ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeter readout and present the custom developed hardware including their role in real-time data processing and fast data transfer. This contribution will also report on the performance of the newly developed ASICs including their radiation tolerance and on the performance of the prototype boards in the demonstrator system based on various measurements with the 13 TeV collision data. Results of the high-speed link test with the prototypes of the final electronic boards will be also reported.

A Software Defined Radio Based Airplane Communication Navigation Simulation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, L.; Zhong, H. T.; Song, D.

2018-01-01

Radio communication and navigation system plays important role in ensuring the safety of civil airplane in flight. Function and performance should be tested before these systems are installed on-board. Conventionally, a set of transmitter and receiver are needed for each system, thus all the equipment occupy a lot of space and are high cost. In this paper, software defined radio technology is applied to design a common hardware communication and navigation ground simulation system, which can host multiple airplane systems with different operating frequency, such as HF, VHF, VOR, ILS, ADF, etc. We use a broadband analog frontend hardware platform, universal software radio peripheral (USRP), to transmit/receive signal of different frequency band. Software is compiled by LabVIEW on computer, which interfaces with USRP through Ethernet, and is responsible for communication and navigation signal processing and system control. An integrated testing system is established to perform functional test and performance verification of the simulation signal, which demonstrate the feasibility of our design. The system is a low-cost and common hardware platform for multiple airplane systems, which provide helpful reference for integrated avionics design.

Temporal Taylor's scaling of facial electromyography and electrodermal activity in the course of emotional stimulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chołoniewski, Jan; Chmiel, Anna; Sienkiewicz, Julian; Hołyst, Janusz A.; Küster, Dennis; Kappas, Arvid

2016-09-01

High frequency psychophysiological data create a challenge for quantitative modeling based on Big Data tools since they reflect the complexity of processes taking place in human body and its responses to external events. Here we present studies of fluctuations in facial electromyography (fEMG) and electrodermal activity (EDA) massive time series and changes of such signals in the course of emotional stimulation. Zygomaticus major (ZYG, "smiling" muscle) activity, corrugator supercilii (COR, "frowning"bmuscle) activity, and phasic skin conductance (PHSC, sweating) levels of 65 participants were recorded during experiments that involved exposure to emotional stimuli (i.e., IAPS images, reading and writing messages on an artificial online discussion board). Temporal Taylor's fluctuations scaling were found when signals for various participants and during various types of emotional events were compared. Values of scaling exponents were close to 1, suggesting an external origin of system dynamics and/or strong interactions between system's basic elements (e.g., muscle fibres). Our statistical analysis shows that the scaling exponents enable identification of high valence and arousal levels in ZYG and COR signals.

Wireless AE Event and Environmental Monitoring for Wind Turbine Blades at Low Sampling Rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouzid, Omar M.; Tian, Gui Y.; Cumanan, K.; Neasham, J.

Integration of acoustic wireless technology in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications introduces new challenges due to requirements of high sampling rates, additional communication bandwidth, memory space, and power resources. In order to circumvent these challenges, this chapter proposes a novel solution through building a wireless SHM technique in conjunction with acoustic emission (AE) with field deployment on the structure of a wind turbine. This solution requires a low sampling rate which is lower than the Nyquist rate. In addition, features extracted from aliased AE signals instead of reconstructing the original signals on-board the wireless nodes are exploited to monitor AE events, such as wind, rain, strong hail, and bird strike in different environmental conditions in conjunction with artificial AE sources. Time feature extraction algorithm, in addition to the principal component analysis (PCA) method, is used to extract and classify the relevant information, which in turn is used to classify or recognise a testing condition that is represented by the response signals. This proposed novel technique yields a significant data reduction during the monitoring process of wind turbine blades.

An Exploration of the Superintendent Hiring Process in Texas Used by School Boards That Utilized Search Consultants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beagle, Steven W.

2012-01-01

This study explored the superintendent hiring process in Texas. Participating school board presidents were part of a target population who used search consultants and hired a superintendent during 2011. Using survey research methods, data were collected from 17 school board presidents. The Superintendent Profile survey was used to measure how…

77 FR 38701 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Amending...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-28

... process for the nomination and selection of fair representation directors for the NYSE Arca Board of Directors (``NYSE Arca Board''), and NYSE Arca Equities Rule 3.2 sets forth a similar process for the nomination and selection of fair representation directors for the NYSE Arca Equities Board of Directors...

Constellation Mission Operation Working Group: ESMO Maneuver Planning Process Review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moyer, Eric

2015-01-01

The Earth Science Mission Operation (ESMO) Project created an Independent Review Board to review our Conjunction Risk evaluation process and Maneuver Planning Process to identify improvements that safely manages mission conjunction risks, maintains ground track science requirements, and minimizes overall hours expended on High Interest Events (HIE). The Review Board is evaluating the current maneuver process which requires support by multiple groups. In the past year, there have been several changes to the processes although many prior and new concerns exist. This presentation will discuss maneuver process reviews and Board comments, ESMO assessment and path foward, ESMO future plans, recent changes and concerns.

A Research Guide on National Board Certification[R] of Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, 2007

2007-01-01

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards[R] (NBPTS) has always welcomed scrutiny of the National Board Certification[R] process and the impact that National Board Certified Teachers[R] (NBCTs) have on teaching and learning. As a result, in the 20 years since NBPTS was founded, National Board Certification has become one of the most…

77 FR 33202 - Meeting of the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors; Correction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-05

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Department of the Navy Meeting of the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors... meeting of the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors. The document failed to publish before the 15-day... Academy Board of Visitors or its Designated Federal Officer, the Board was unable to process the Federal...

Presidential Search: An Overview for Board Members

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 2012

2012-01-01

The selection of a president is a governing board's most important responsibility, and the search process is the board's best opportunity to help guide its institution into a successful new era. This guide outlines the leadership roles during a search (those of the board, the board chair, the search committee, and others), briefs board…

Vermont State Board of Education Department of Education Strategic Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vermont Department of Education, 2005

2005-01-01

Section 180 of Title 16 requires the State Board of Education (Board) to "adopt through a public process a statewide strategic education plan to describe how the agency will help school boards to improve student performance." The Vermont State Board of Education and Commissioner Richard H. Cate drafted a plan that was adopted by the…

Wireless gyroscope platform enabled by a portable media device for quantifying wobble board therapy.

PubMed

LeMoyne, Robert; Mastroianni, Timothy

2017-07-01

The wobble board enables a therapy strategy for rehabilitation of the ankle foot complex. Quantification of therapy, such as through the use of a wobble board, can facilitate a therapist's acuity for advancing and optimizing the overall therapy strategy. The portable media device, such as an iPod, can be equipped with a software application to function as a wireless gyroscope platform. Integration of the wobble board with the portable media device functioning as a wireless gyroscope enables the potential for patient to therapist interaction through connectivity to the Internet. A patient can conduct wobble board therapy for the ankle foot complex from the convenient vantage point of a homebound setting with therapy data transmitted wirelessly as email attachments. The gyroscope signal of the wobble board therapy can be consolidated into a feature set for machine learning classification. Using a multilayer perceptron neural network considerable classification accuracy has been achieved for differentiating between a hemiplegic affected ankle and unaffected ankle while using a wobble board. The combination of machine learning, wireless systems, such as a portable media device functioning as a wireless gyroscope, and a conventional therapy device, such as a wobble board, are envisioned to advance the capability to optimally impact the rehabilitation experience.

THOR Fields and Wave Processor - FWP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soucek, Jan; Rothkaehl, Hanna; Ahlen, Lennart; Balikhin, Michael; Carr, Christopher; Dekkali, Moustapha; Khotyaintsev, Yuri; Lan, Radek; Magnes, Werner; Morawski, Marek; Nakamura, Rumi; Uhlir, Ludek; Yearby, Keith; Winkler, Marek; Zaslavsky, Arnaud

2017-04-01

If selected, Turbulence Heating ObserveR (THOR) will become the first spacecraft mission dedicated to the study of plasma turbulence. The Fields and Waves Processor (FWP) is an integrated electronics unit for all electromagnetic field measurements performed by THOR. FWP will interface with all THOR fields sensors: electric field antennas of the EFI instrument, the MAG fluxgate magnetometer, and search-coil magnetometer (SCM), and perform signal digitization and on-board data processing. FWP box will house multiple data acquisition sub-units and signal analyzers all sharing a common power supply and data processing unit and thus a single data and power interface to the spacecraft. Integrating all the electromagnetic field measurements in a single unit will improve the consistency of field measurement and accuracy of time synchronization. The scientific value of highly sensitive electric and magnetic field measurements in space has been demonstrated by Cluster (among other spacecraft) and THOR instrumentation will further improve on this heritage. Large dynamic range of the instruments will be complemented by a thorough electromagnetic cleanliness program, which will prevent perturbation of field measurements by interference from payload and platform subsystems. Taking advantage of the capabilities of modern electronics and the large telemetry bandwidth of THOR, FWP will provide multi-component electromagnetic field waveforms and spectral data products at a high time resolution. Fully synchronized sampling of many signals will allow to resolve wave phase information and estimate wavelength via interferometric correlations between EFI probes. FWP will also implement a plasma resonance sounder and a digital plasma quasi-thermal noise analyzer designed to provide high cadence measurements of plasma density and temperature complementary to data from particle instruments. FWP will rapidly transmit information about magnetic field vector and spacecraft potential to the particle instrument data processing unit (PPU) via a dedicated digital link. This information will help particle instruments to optimize energy and angular sweeps and calculate on-board moments. FWP will also coordinate the acquisition of high resolution waveform snapshots with very high time resolution electron data from the TEA instrument. This combined wave/particle measurement will provide the ultimate dataset for investigation of wave-particle interactions on electron scales. The FWP instrument shall be designed and built by an international consortium of scientific institutes from Czech Republic, Poland, France, UK, Sweden and Austria.

High stability amplifier

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, W. A.; Reinhardt, V. S. (Inventor)

1983-01-01

An electrical RF signal amplifier for providing high temperature stability and RF isolation and comprised of an integrated circuit voltage regulator, a single transistor, and an integrated circuit operational amplifier mounted on a circuit board such that passive circuit elements are located on side of the circuit board while the active circuit elements are located on the other side is described. The active circuit elements are embedded in a common heat sink so that a common temperature reference is provided for changes in ambient temperature. The single transistor and operational amplifier are connected together to form a feedback amplifier powered from the voltage regulator with transistor implementing primarily the desired signal gain while the operational amplifier implements signal isolation. Further RF isolation is provided by the voltage regulator which inhibits cross-talk from other like amplifiers powered from a common power supply. Input and output terminals consisting of coaxial connectors are located on the sides of a housing in which all the circuit components and heat sink are located.

Flexible lock-in detection system based on synchronized computer plug-in boards applied in sensitive gas spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andersson, Mats; Persson, Linda; Svensson, Tomas; Svanberg, Sune

2007-11-01

We present a flexible and compact, digital, lock-in detection system and its use in high-resolution tunable diode laser spectroscopy. The system involves coherent sampling, and is based on the synchronization of two data acquisition cards running on a single standard computer. A software-controlled arbitrary waveform generator is used for laser modulation, and a four-channel analog/digital board records detector signals. Gas spectroscopy is performed in the wavelength modulation regime. The coherently detected signal is averaged a selected number of times before it is stored or analyzed by software-based, lock-in techniques. Multiple harmonics of the modulation signal (1f, 2f, 3f, 4f, etc.) are available in each single data set. The sensitivity is of the order of 10-5, being limited by interference fringes in the measurement setup. The capabilities of the system are demonstrated by measurements of molecular oxygen in ambient air, as well as dispersed gas in scattering materials, such as plants and human tissue.

Flexible lock-in detection system based on synchronized computer plug-in boards applied in sensitive gas spectroscopy.

PubMed

Andersson, Mats; Persson, Linda; Svensson, Tomas; Svanberg, Sune

2007-11-01

We present a flexible and compact, digital, lock-in detection system and its use in high-resolution tunable diode laser spectroscopy. The system involves coherent sampling, and is based on the synchronization of two data acquisition cards running on a single standard computer. A software-controlled arbitrary waveform generator is used for laser modulation, and a four-channel analog/digital board records detector signals. Gas spectroscopy is performed in the wavelength modulation regime. The coherently detected signal is averaged a selected number of times before it is stored or analyzed by software-based, lock-in techniques. Multiple harmonics of the modulation signal (1f, 2f, 3f, 4f, etc.) are available in each single data set. The sensitivity is of the order of 10(-5), being limited by interference fringes in the measurement setup. The capabilities of the system are demonstrated by measurements of molecular oxygen in ambient air, as well as dispersed gas in scattering materials, such as plants and human tissue.

Modeling inter-signal arrival times for accurate detection of CAN bus signal injection attacks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, Michael Roy; Bridges, Robert A; Combs, Frank L

Modern vehicles rely on hundreds of on-board electronic control units (ECUs) communicating over in-vehicle networks. As external interfaces to the car control networks (such as the on-board diagnostic (OBD) port, auxiliary media ports, etc.) become common, and vehicle-to-vehicle / vehicle-to-infrastructure technology is in the near future, the attack surface for vehicles grows, exposing control networks to potentially life-critical attacks. This paper addresses the need for securing the CAN bus by detecting anomalous traffic patterns via unusual refresh rates of certain commands. While previous works have identified signal frequency as an important feature for CAN bus intrusion detection, this paper providesmore » the first such algorithm with experiments on five attack scenarios. Our data-driven anomaly detection algorithm requires only five seconds of training time (on normal data) and achieves true positive / false discovery rates of 0.9998/0.00298, respectively (micro-averaged across the five experimental tests).« less

32 CFR 1657.2 - Local boards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Local boards. 1657.2 Section 1657.2 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM OVERSEAS REGISTRANT PROCESSING § 1657.2 Local boards. The Director shall establish local boards with jurisdiction to determine...

32 CFR 1657.2 - Local boards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 32 National Defense 6 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Local boards. 1657.2 Section 1657.2 National Defense Other Regulations Relating to National Defense SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM OVERSEAS REGISTRANT PROCESSING § 1657.2 Local boards. The Director shall establish local boards with jurisdiction to determine...

Preparing for Negotiations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lundberg, Larry

The school board's negotiating team is all-important in the collective bargaining process, especially in light of the unity and organization of teacher association teams. Upper echelon administrative personnel, not the board members themselves, should compose the board's negotiating team. A board inexperienced in collective bargaining can hire a…

WeaselBoard :

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mulder, John C.; Schwartz, Moses Daniel; Berg, Michael J.

2013-10-01

Critical infrastructures, such as electrical power plants and oil refineries, rely on programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to control essential processes. State of the art security cannot detect attacks on PLCs at the hardware or firmware level. This renders critical infrastructure control systems vulnerable to costly and dangerous attacks. WeaselBoard is a PLC backplane analysis system that connects directly to the PLC backplane to capture backplane communications between modules. WeaselBoard forwards inter-module traffic to an external analysis system that detects changes to process control settings, sensor values, module configuration information, firmware updates, and process control program (logic) updates. WeaselBoard provides zero-daymore » exploit detection for PLCs by detecting changes in the PLC and the process. This approach to PLC monitoring is protected under U.S. Patent Application 13/947,887.« less

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defensive Information Operations. 2000 Summer Study. Volume II

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-03-01

distinguishing between attacks and other events such as accidents, system failures, or hacking by thrill-seekers. This challenge is exacerbated by the...and is referred to as Signaling System # 7 ( SS7 ). Commercial Intelligent Network Architecture Switching Signal Point (SSP) Service - Originates...Wireless access point to fixed infrastructure Ut c Signaling Transfer Point (STP) - Packet switch in CCITT#7 Network SP SW SS7 System Data Bases Network

A generic FPGA-based detector readout and real-time image processing board

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarpotdar, Mayuresh; Mathew, Joice; Safonova, Margarita; Murthy, Jayant

2016-07-01

For space-based astronomical observations, it is important to have a mechanism to capture the digital output from the standard detector for further on-board analysis and storage. We have developed a generic (application- wise) field-programmable gate array (FPGA) board to interface with an image sensor, a method to generate the clocks required to read the image data from the sensor, and a real-time image processor system (on-chip) which can be used for various image processing tasks. The FPGA board is applied as the image processor board in the Lunar Ultraviolet Cosmic Imager (LUCI) and a star sensor (StarSense) - instruments developed by our group. In this paper, we discuss the various design considerations for this board and its applications in the future balloon and possible space flights.

Superintendent Searches Public or Confidential? The Case for an Open Search Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Terre

2010-01-01

Board of education members come and go, but the community remains. Wise candidates for a superintendent position, as well as the dedicated board members involved in fulfilling this important duty, understand this and therefore want the public to be part of the superintendent search process. As a search consultant to school boards for 20 years, the…

Superintendent Search and Selection Processes in the State of Wisconsin: Seeking the Best Match

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, Lisa

2012-01-01

Local school boards have the responsibility to select school superintendents to lead their districts. The process by which school boards go about searching for and selecting a superintendent varies. In Wisconsin, school boards have the option to hire a search firm or other outside assistance, or they can choose to search for and select a…

A Nonparametric Approach to Segmentation of Ladar Images

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-12-01

82 5.3.4 Simulation ...91 6.2.1 Multi-Facet Board Simulation ...Pulse spreading effects are ignored. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 xiii Figure Page 5.4. Signal pulse energy with

Development of a time-variable nuclear pulser for half life measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zahn, Guilherme S.; Domienikan, Claudio; Carvalhaes, Roberto P. M.

2013-05-06

In this work a time-variable pulser system with an exponentially-decaying pulse frequency is presented, which was developed using the low-cost, open-source Arduino microcontroler plataform. In this system, the microcontroller produces a TTL signal in the selected rate and a pulse shaper board adjusts it to be entered in an amplifier as a conventional pulser signal; both the decay constant and the initial pulse rate can be adjusted using a user-friendly control software, and the pulse amplitude can be adjusted using a potentiometer in the pulse shaper board. The pulser was tested using several combinations of initial pulse rate and decaymore » constant, and the results show that the system is stable and reliable, and is suitable to be used in half-life measurements.« less

Method and system for environmentally adaptive fault tolerant computing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Copenhaver, Jason L. (Inventor); Jeremy, Ramos (Inventor); Wolfe, Jeffrey M. (Inventor); Brenner, Dean (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A method and system for adapting fault tolerant computing. The method includes the steps of measuring an environmental condition representative of an environment. An on-board processing system's sensitivity to the measured environmental condition is measured. It is determined whether to reconfigure a fault tolerance of the on-board processing system based in part on the measured environmental condition. The fault tolerance of the on-board processing system may be reconfigured based in part on the measured environmental condition.

Thunder Energy Inc. applications to modify an existing sweet gas processing facility to a sour gas processing facility and increase the hydrogen sulfide concentration of existing pipelines, Kelsey area: Examiner report 98-2, application numbers 1007719 and 1013399

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

Thunder Energy Inc. received approval from the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board for modification of an existing gas plant to process sour gas, and also applied for permission to increase the hydrogen sulfide content of its existing pipelines in the Kelsey area. This report presents the views of Thunder Energy, the Board, and various intervenors at a hearing held to consider objections to the plant approval and matters related to the application. Issues considered include the need for sour gas processing, the need for the plant modification as opposed to the feasibility of using existing sour gas processing facilities, environmentalmore » impacts, and the requirements for notification of industry in the area. The report concludes with the Board`s decision.« less

AER image filtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gómez-Rodríguez, F.; Linares-Barranco, A.; Paz, R.; Miró-Amarante, L.; Jiménez, G.; Civit, A.

2007-05-01

Address Event Representation (AER) is an emergent neuromorphic interchip communication protocol that allows real-time virtual massive connectivity among huge number of neurons located on different chips.[1] By exploiting high speed digital communication circuits (with nano-seconds timing), synaptic neural connections can be time multiplexed, while neural activity signals (with mili-seconds timings) are sampled at low frequencies. Neurons generate "events" according to their activity levels. That is, more active neurons generate more events per unit time and access the interchip communication channel more frequently than neurons with low activity. In Neuromorphic system development, AER brings some advantages to develop real-time image processing system: (1) AER represents the information like time continuous stream not like a frame; (2) AER sends the most important information first (although this depends on the sender); (3) AER allows to process information as soon as it is received. When AER is used in artificial vision field, each pixel is considered like a neuron, so pixel's intensity is represented like a sequence of events; modifying the number and the frequency of these events, it is possible to make some image filtering. In this paper we present four image filters using AER: (a) Noise addition and suppression, (b) brightness modification, (c) single moving object tracking and (d) geometrical transformations (rotation, translation, reduction and magnification). For testing and debugging, we use USB-AER board developed by Robotic and Technology of Computers Applied to Rehabilitation (RTCAR) research group. This board is based on an FPGA, devoted to manage the AER functionality. This board also includes a micro-controlled for USB communication, 2 Mbytes RAM and 2 AER ports (one for input and one for output).

Army Training Study: Training Effectiveness Analysis (TEA) Summary. Volume 4. Ordnance, Signal, CAMMS (Computer Assisted Map Maneuver System).

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-08-08

learning can be reinforced on the job because individuals at all aptitude and experience levels investigated have the ability to be successful ...both game board and brigade controllers provided realistic feedback and guidance to the command group players . A second major function of the brigade...and experimental measures. The brigade level data collectors and game board players were controllers provided by the participating units’ parent

Experimental test of airplane boarding methods

DOE PAGES

Steffen, Jason H.; Hotchkiss, Jon

2011-10-26

We report the results of an experimental comparison of different airplane boarding methods. This test was conducted in a mock 757 fuselage, located on a Southern California soundstage, with 12 rows of six seats and a single aisle. Five methods were tested using 72 passengers of various ages. We found a significant reduction in the boarding times of optimized methods over traditional methods. These improved methods, if properly implemented, could result in a significant savings to airline companies. The process of boarding an airplane is of interest to a variety of groups. The public is interested both as a curiosity,more » as it is something that they may regularly experience, and as a consumer, as their experiences good or bad can affect their loyalties. Airline companies and their employees also have a stake in an efficient boarding procedure as time saved in the boarding process may result is monetary savings, in the quality of interactions with passengers, and in the application of human resources to the general process of preparing an airplane for departure. A recent study (Nyquist and McFadden, 2008) indicates that the average cost to an airline company for each minute of time spent at the terminal is roughly $30. Thus, each minute saved in the turn-around time of a flight has the potential to generate over $16,000,000 in annual savings (assuming an average of 1500 flights per day). While the boarding process may not be the primary source of delay in returning an airplane to the skies, reducing the boarding time may effectively eliminate passenger boarding as a contributor in any meaningful measure. Consequently, subsequent efforts to streamline the other necessary tasks, such as refueling and maintenance, would be rewarded with a material reduction in time at the gate for each flight.« less

Data transmission and acquisition in NEMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunkheila, G.

2006-11-01

A comprehensive system for data transmission and acquisition has been developed for an "à la NEMO" underwater neutrino telescope based on Čerenkov light detection using photomultipliers (PMTs) as sensors. Signals generated by each sensor are triggered, sampled and tagged by an electronics board, called Front End Module (FEM). Data streams from up to eight FEMs located on one tower floor are collected by a concentration board called Floor Control Module (FCM) and sent to a twin FCM board—located at the onshore station and plugged into an interface machine (FCM Interface, or FCMI) via a PCI bus—through a DWDM-compliant optical fiber and using a self-synchronous serial protocol. All sensor data reach the onshore lab through FCMI where they are made available to subsequent elaboration processes, such as time-wise alignment and muon track event-triggering. To meet requirements of the latter, onshore data unpacking is carried out with respect to their topological origin. The system promised, and keeps on showing, very light charges on power consumption and infrastructure complexity, while having recently proved to behave at high performance levels in its optical part.

Impact of Data Transmission over 10 Gbps on High-Density and Low-Cost Optoelectronic Module with Polynorbornene Waveguides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ito, Yuka; Terada, Shinsuke; Arai, Shinya; Fujiwara, Makoto; Mori, Tetsuya; Choki, Koji; Fukushima, Takafumi; Koyanagi, Mitsumasa

2012-04-01

We proposed a rigid/flex optoelectronic (O/E) module with 48-channel polymeric waveguides for short-distance board-level optical interconnection. A flexible O/E test module was fabricated in the following two steps by using standard packaging processes. First, two vertical cavity surface emitting laser diodes (VCSELs) and one VCSEL driver (VD) were flip-chip bonded to a completed flexible printed circuit board (PCB), and two photodiodes (PDs) and one transimpedance amplifier/limiting amplifier (TIA/LA) to another flexible PCB. Second, the two flexible PCBs were attached with a polynorbornene (PNB) sheet in which high-density PNB waveguides were formed by UV exposure. Active areas of VCSELs and PDs on the flexible PCBs were aligned to micromirrors of the waveguides with -6 µm offset toward the signal propagation direction. We successfully demonstrated data transmission over 10 Gbps and low inter-channel crosstalk of less than -20 dB was achieved in the flexible O/E test module with 120-mm-long and 62.5-µm-pitch waveguides.

Design and Implementation of a Brain Computer Interface System for Controlling a Robotic Claw

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Angelakis, D.; Zoumis, S.; Asvestas, P.

2017-11-01

The aim of this paper is to present the design and implementation of a brain-computer interface (BCI) system that can control a robotic claw. The system is based on the Emotiv Epoc headset, which provides the capability of simultaneous recording of 14 EEG channels, as well as wireless connectivity by means of the Bluetooth protocol. The system is initially trained to decode what user thinks to properly formatted data. The headset communicates with a personal computer, which runs a dedicated software application, implemented under the Processing integrated development environment. The application acquires the data from the headset and invokes suitable commands to an Arduino Uno board. The board decodes the received commands and produces corresponding signals to a servo motor that controls the position of the robotic claw. The system was tested successfully on a healthy, male subject, aged 28 years. The results are promising, taking into account that no specialized hardware was used. However, tests on a larger number of users is necessary in order to draw solid conclusions regarding the performance of the proposed system.

Adaptation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and glucose to repeated immobilization or restraint stress is not influenced by associative signals.

PubMed

Rabasa, Cristina; Delgado-Morales, Raúl; Muñoz-Abellán, Cristina; Nadal, Roser; Armario, Antonio

2011-02-02

Repeated exposure to the same stressor very often results in a reduction of some prototypical stress responses, namely those related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and sympatho-medullo-adrenal (SMA) axes. This reduced response to repeated exposure to the same (homotypic) stressor (adaptation) is usually considered as a habituation-like process, and therefore, a non-associative type of learning. However, there is some evidence that contextual cues and therefore associative processes could contribute to adaptation. In the present study we demonstrated in two experiments using adult male rats that repeated daily exposure to restraint (REST) or immobilization on boards (IMO) reduced the HPA (plasma levels of ACTH and corticosterone) and glucose responses to the homotypic stressor and such reduced responses remained intact when all putative cues associated to the procedure (experimenter, way of transporting to the stress room, stress boxes, stress room and colour of the restrainer in the case of REST) were modified on the next day. Therefore, the present results do not favour the view that adaptation after repeated exposure to a stressor may involve associative processes related to signals predicting the imminence of the stressors, but more studies are needed on this issue. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

78 FR 54956 - Proposed Information Collection (Board of Veterans' Appeals Voice of the Veteran Appellant...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-06

... the Board to make potential improvements to the Board's operational processes and service delivery... Surveys'' in any correspondence. During the comment period, comments may be viewed online through FDMS.... Abstract: Currently, the Board collects customer satisfaction on a very limited basis. Surveys are...

Current Issues in Reductions-in-Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caplan, Gerald A.

The practitioner advising a school board in connection with a reduction in force can appreciate that the board has great flexibility in implementing its decision. As long as the board's actions are not arbitrary, capricious, or pretextual, and they afford minimal due process protections to tenured teachers, the board's decisions will withstand…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Petersen, T.; Diamond, J.; Liu, N.

The readout electronics for the resonant beam position monitors (BPMs) in the Fermilab Switchyard (SY) have been upgraded, utilizing a low noise amplifier transition board and Fermilab designed digitizer boards. The stripline BPMs are estimated to have an average signal output of between -110 dBm and -80 dBm, with an estimated peak output of -70 dBm. The external resonant circuit is tuned to the SY machine frequency of 53.10348 MHz. Both the digitizer and transition boards have variable gain in order to accommodate the large dynamic range and irregularity of the resonant extraction spill. These BPMs will aid in auto-tuningmore » of the SY beamline as well as enabling operators to monitor beam position through the spill.« less

Intelligent On-Board Processing in the Sensor Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tanner, S.

2005-12-01

Most existing sensing systems are designed as passive, independent observers. They are rarely aware of the phenomena they observe, and are even less likely to be aware of what other sensors are observing within the same environment. Increasingly, intelligent processing of sensor data is taking place in real-time, using computing resources on-board the sensor or the platform itself. One can imagine a sensor network consisting of intelligent and autonomous space-borne, airborne, and ground-based sensors. These sensors will act independently of one another, yet each will be capable of both publishing and receiving sensor information, observations, and alerts among other sensors in the network. Furthermore, these sensors will be capable of acting upon this information, perhaps altering acquisition properties of their instruments, changing the location of their platform, or updating processing strategies for their own observations to provide responsive information or additional alerts. Such autonomous and intelligent sensor networking capabilities provide significant benefits for collections of heterogeneous sensors within any environment. They are crucial for multi-sensor observations and surveillance, where real-time communication with external components and users may be inhibited, and the environment may be hostile. In all environments, mission automation and communication capabilities among disparate sensors will enable quicker response to interesting, rare, or unexpected events. Additionally, an intelligent network of heterogeneous sensors provides the advantage that all of the sensors can benefit from the unique capabilities of each sensor in the network. The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is developing a unique approach to data processing, integration and mining through the use of the Adaptive On-Board Data Processing (AODP) framework. AODP is a key foundation technology for autonomous internetworking capabilities to support situational awareness by sensors and their on-board processes. The two primary research areas for this project are (1) the on-board processing and communications framework itself, and (2) data mining algorithms targeted to the needs and constraints of the on-board environment. The team is leveraging its experience in on-board processing, data mining, custom data processing, and sensor network design. Several unique UAH-developed technologies are employed in the AODP project, including EVE, an EnVironmEnt for on-board processing, and the data mining tools included in the Algorithm Development and Mining (ADaM) toolkit.

Processing mill scale study data on a type 650 electronic machine.

Treesearch

Floyd A. Johnson

1956-01-01

During April 1956, about 20,000 boards from 210 white fir and 290 western hemlock logs were measured at a lumber mill in western Washington. A magnetic drum, data-processing machine (type 650) was then used to calculate board-feet volumes by lumber grade for each log, and average board-foot volumes by lumber grade for each log diameter-class within log grades and...

45 CFR 16.7 - The first steps in the appeal process: The notice of appeal and the Board's response.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false The first steps in the appeal process: The notice... SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION PROCEDURES OF THE DEPARTMENTAL GRANT APPEALS BOARD § 16.7 The first steps... of these procedures, and advise the appellant of the next steps. The Board will also send a copy of...

22 CFR 510.1 - Service of process.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2012-04-01 2009-04-01 true Service of process. 510.1 Section 510.1 Foreign Relations BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS SERVICE OF PROCESS § 510.1 Service of process. (a) The General Counsel of the Broadcasting Board of Governors or any of his/her designees shall act as agent for the...

Flight Test Results from the Low Power Transceiver Communications and Navigation Demonstration on Shuttle (CANDOS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rush, John; Israel, David; Harlacher, Marc; Haas, Lin

2003-01-01

The Low Power Transceiver (LPT) is an advanced signal processing platform that offers a configurable and reprogrammable capability for supporting communications, navigation and sensor functions for mission applications ranging from spacecraft TT&C and autonomous orbit determination to sophisticated networks that use crosslinks to support communications and real-time relative navigation for formation flying. The LPT is the result of extensive collaborative research under NASNGSFC s Advanced Technology Program and ITT Industries internal research and development efforts. Its modular, multi-channel design currently enables transmitting and receiving communication signals on L- or S-band frequencies and processing GPS L-band signals for precision navigation. The LPT flew as a part of the GSFC Hitchhiker payload named Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science Technology And Research (FREESTAR) on-board Space Shuttle Columbia s final mission. The experiment demonstrated functionality in GPS-based navigation and orbit determination, NASA STDN Ground Network communications, space relay communications via the NASA TDRSS, on-orbit reconfiguration of the software radio, the use of the Internet Protocol (IP) for TT&C, and communication concepts for space based range safety. All data from the experiment was recovered and, as a result, all primary and secondary objectives of the experiment were successful. This paper presents the results of the LPTs maiden space flight as a part of STS- 107.

Radiation Tolerant Electronics and Digital Processing for the Phase-1 Read-out Upgrade of the ATLAS Liquid Argon Calorimeters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Milic, A.

The ATLAS Liquid Argon calorimeters are designed and built to study proton-proton collisions produced at the LHC at centre-of-mass energies up to 14 TeV. Liquid argon (LAr) sampling calorimeters are employed for all electromagnetic calorimetry in the pseudorapidity region |η|<3.2, and for hadronic calorimetry in the region from |η|=1.5 to |η|=4.9. Although the nominal LHC experimental programme is still in progress, an upgrade of the read-out electronics is being launched to cope with luminosities of up to 3x10{sup 34} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}, which are beyond the original design by a factor of 3. An improved spatial granularity of the triggermore » primitives is therefore proposed in order to improve the identification performance for trigger signatures, like electrons, photons, tau leptons, jets, total and missing energy, at high background rejection rates. For the upgrade Phase-1 in 2018, new LAr Trigger Digitizer Boards (LTDB) are being designed to receive higher granularity signals, digitize them on detector and send them via fast optical links to a new LAr digital processing system (LDPS). The LDPS applies a digital filtering and identifies significant energy depositions in each trigger channel. The refined trigger primitives are then transmitted to the first level trigger system to extract improved trigger signatures. The read-out of the trigger signals will process 34000 so-called Super Cells at every LHC bunch-crossing at a frequency of 40 MHz. The new LTDB on-detector electronics is designed to be radiation tolerant in order to be operated for the remaining live-time of the ATLAS detector up to a total luminosity of 3000 fb{sup -1}. For the analog-to-digital conversion (12-bit ADC at 40 MSPS), the data serialization and the fast optical link (5.44 Gb/s) custom components have been developed. They have been qualified for the expected radiation environment of a total ionization dose of 1.3 kGy and a hadron fluence of 6 x 10{sup 13} h/cm{sup 2} with energies above 20 MeV. For the digital components like the ADC, cross-sections for single event effects have been determined. This talk will present R and D results from tests of the radiation tolerant components, the fast data processing electronics and prototypes of the LTDB and LDPS boards. First experience from a Demonstrator setup will be reported, in which about 1/10 of the full Super Cell readout will be equipped with prototype versions of the LTDB and LDPS boards. The Demonstrator will be operated in parallel to the regular ATLAS trigger read-out during the upcoming LHC run. (authors)« less

Insulation board and process of making

DOEpatents

Nowobilski, Jeffert J.; Owens, William J.

1985-01-01

Insulation board capable of bearing a load without significant loss of insulating capacity due to compression, produced by a method wherein the board is made in compliance with specified conditions of time, temperature and pressure.

A rocket-borne pulse-height analyzer for energetic particle measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leung, W.; Smith, L. G.; Voss, H. D.

1979-01-01

The pulse-height analyzer basically resembles a time-sharing multiplexing data-acquisition system which acquires analog data (from energetic particle spectrometers) and converts them into digital code. The PHA simultaneously acquires pulse-height information from the analog signals of the four input channels and sequentially multiplexes the digitized data to a microprocessor. The PHA together with the microprocessor form an on-board real-time data-manipulation system. The system processes data obtained during the rocket flight and reduces the amount of data to be sent back to the ground station. Consequently the data-reduction process for the rocket experiments is speeded up. By using a time-sharing technique, the throughput rate of the microprocessor is increased. Moreover, data from several particle spectrometers are manipulated to share one information channel; consequently, the TM capacity is increased.

Drift chamber readout system of the DIRAC experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afanasyev, L.; Karpukhin, V.

2002-10-01

A drift chamber readout system of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is presented. The system is intended to read out the signals from planar chambers operating in a high current mode. The sense wire signals are digitized in the 16-channel time-to-digital converter boards which are plugged in the signal plane connectors. This design results in a reduced number of modules, a small number of cables and high noise immunity. The system has been successfully operating in the experiment since 1999.

Vibro-acoustic condition monitoring of Internal Combustion Engines: A critical review of existing techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delvecchio, S.; Bonfiglio, P.; Pompoli, F.

2018-01-01

This paper deals with the state-of-the-art strategies and techniques based on vibro-acoustic signals that can monitor and diagnose malfunctions in Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs) under both test bench and vehicle operating conditions. Over recent years, several authors have summarized what is known in critical reviews mainly focused on reciprocating machines in general or on specific signal processing techniques: no attempts to deal with IC engine condition monitoring have been made. This paper first gives a brief summary of the generation of sound and vibration in ICEs in order to place further discussion on fault vibro-acoustic diagnosis in context. An overview of the monitoring and diagnostic techniques described in literature using both vibration and acoustic signals is also provided. Different faulty conditions are described which affect combustion, mechanics and the aerodynamics of ICEs. The importance of measuring acoustic signals, as opposed to vibration signals, is due since the former seem to be more suitable for implementation on on-board monitoring systems in view of their non-intrusive behaviour, capability in simultaneously capturing signatures from several mechanical components and because of the possibility of detecting faults affecting airborne transmission paths. In view of the recent needs of the industry to (-) optimize component structural durability adopting long-life cycles, (-) verify the engine final status at the end of the assembly line and (-) reduce the maintenance costs monitoring the ICE life during vehicle operations, monitoring and diagnosing system requests are continuously growing up. The present review can be considered a useful guideline for test engineers in understanding which types of fault can be diagnosed by using vibro-acoustic signals in sufficient time in both test bench and operating conditions and which transducer and signal processing technique (of which the essential background theory is here reported) could be considered the most reliable and informative to be implemented for the fault in question.

78 FR 78821 - Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

... focus on (1) MEP administrative updates, and (2) Board input into the NIST MEP strategic planning process. The agenda may change to accommodate other Board business. The final agenda will be posted on the...

A Fast Event Preprocessor and Sequencer for the Simbol-X Low Energy Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schanz, T.; Tenzer, C.; Maier, D.; Kendziorra, E.; Santangelo, A.

2009-05-01

The Simbol-X Low Energy Detector (LED), a 128×128 pixel DEPFET (Depleted Field Effect Transistor) array, will be read out at a very high rate (8000 frames/second) and, therefore, requires a very fast on board electronics. We present an FPGA-based LED camera electronics consisting of an Event Preprocessor (EPP) for on board data preprocessing and filtering of the Simbol-X low-energy detector and a related Sequencer (SEQ) to generate the necessary signals to control the readout.

School Board Decision Making Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beard, Nicole R.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the way in which school boards use data when making decisions, specifically their orientations, perceptions, concerns and priorities around data. This study sought to understand how school boards use data when setting or tracking progress toward goals and aimed following the process of board use of data to…

Why Do National Board Certified Teachers from Generation X Leave the Classroom?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crain, Julie Christi

2013-01-01

This qualitative multiple case study focused on National Board Certified teachers from Generation X who have left the classroom. The study explored aspects of the teaching profession, the National Board Certification process, and Generation X as potential influences for National Board Certified teachers from Generation X to leave the classroom.…

Serving on Organizational Boards: What Nurses Need to Know

PubMed

Stalter, Ann M; Arms, Deborah

2016-02-26

If you have ever thought about serving on a board or being actively involved in meetings aimed at making policy decisions, but are not sure you have the knowledge, skills or abilities to serve competently, this article is for you! In this article, the authors describe six competencies needed by nurses who are serving on boards and/or policy committees so as to contribute in a productive manner. These competencies include a professional commitment to serving on a governing board; knowledge about board types, bylaws, and job descriptions; an understanding of standard business protocols, board member roles, and voting processes; a willingness to use principles for managing and leading effective and efficient board meetings; an appreciation for the ethical and legal processes for conducting meetings; and the ability to employ strategies for maintaining control during intense/uncivil situations. They also discuss strategies for demonstrating these competencies and describe personal responsibilities of board members. The authors conclude that a knowledge of these rules and standards is essential in order for nurses to assume leadership roles that will enhance the health of today’s and tomorrow’s societies.

Development of Labview based data acquisition and multichannel analyzer software for radioactive particle tracking system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rahman, Nur Aira Abd, E-mail: nur-aira@nuclearmalaysia.gov.my; Yussup, Nolida; Ibrahim, Maslina Bt. Mohd

2015-04-29

A DAQ (data acquisition) software called RPTv2.0 has been developed for Radioactive Particle Tracking System in Malaysian Nuclear Agency. RPTv2.0 that features scanning control GUI, data acquisition from 12-channel counter via RS-232 interface, and multichannel analyzer (MCA). This software is fully developed on National Instruments Labview 8.6 platform. Ludlum Model 4612 Counter is used to count the signals from the scintillation detectors while a host computer is used to send control parameters, acquire and display data, and compute results. Each detector channel consists of independent high voltage control, threshold or sensitivity value and window settings. The counter is configured withmore » a host board and twelve slave boards. The host board collects the counts from each slave board and communicates with the computer via RS-232 data interface.« less

Readout ASICs and Electronics for the 144-channel HAPDs for the Aerogel RICH at Belle II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishida, S.; Adachi, I.; Ikeda, H.; Hara, K.; Iijima, T.; Iwata, S.; Korpar, S.; Križan, P.; Kuroda, E.; Pestotnik, R.; Seljak, A.; Sumiyoshi, T.; Takagaki, H.

The particle identification (PID) device in the endcap of the Belle detector will be upgraded to a ring imaging Cherenkov counter (RICH) using aerogel as a radiator at the Belle II experiment. We develop the electronics to read out the 70,000 channels of hit information from the 144-channel hybrid avalanche photodetectors (HAPD), of the aerogel RICH detector. A readout ASIC is developed to digitize the HAPD signals, and was used in a beam test with the prototype detector. The performance and plan of the ASIC is reported in this study. We have also designed the readout electronics for the aerogel RICH, which consist of front-end boards with the ASICs merger boards to collect data from the front-end boards. A front-end board that fits in the actual available space for the aerogel RICH electronics was produced.

On-board closed-loop congestion control for satellite based packet switching networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chu, Pong P.; Ivancic, William D.; Kim, Heechul

1993-01-01

NASA LeRC is currently investigating a satellite architecture that incorporates on-board packet switching capability. Because of the statistical nature of packet switching, arrival traffic may fluctuate and thus it is necessary to integrate congestion control mechanism as part of the on-board processing unit. This study focuses on the closed-loop reactive control. We investigate the impact of the long propagation delay on the performance and propose a scheme to overcome the problem. The scheme uses a global feedback signal to regulate the packet arrival rate of ground stations. In this scheme, the satellite continuously broadcasts the status of its output buffer and the ground stations respond by selectively discarding packets or by tagging the excessive packets as low-priority. The two schemes are evaluated by theoretical queuing analysis and simulation. The former is used to analyze the simplified model and to determine the basic trends and bounds, and the later is used to assess the performance of a more realistic system and to evaluate the effectiveness of more sophisticated control schemes. The results show that the long propagation delay makes the closed-loop congestion control less responsive. The broadcasted information can only be used to extract statistical information. The discarding scheme needs carefully-chosen status information and reduction function, and normally requires a significant amount of ground discarding to reduce the on-board packet loss probability. The tagging scheme is more effective since it tolerates more uncertainties and allows a larger margin of error in status information. It can protect the high-priority packets from excessive loss and fully utilize the downlink bandwidth at the same time.

Low-power analog integrated circuits for wireless ECG acquisition systems.

PubMed

Tsai, Tsung-Heng; Hong, Jia-Hua; Wang, Liang-Hung; Lee, Shuenn-Yuh

2012-09-01

This paper presents low-power analog ICs for wireless ECG acquisition systems. Considering the power-efficient communication in the body sensor network, the required low-power analog ICs are developed for a healthcare system through miniaturization and system integration. To acquire the ECG signal, a low-power analog front-end system, including an ECG signal acquisition board, an on-chip low-pass filter, and an on-chip successive-approximation analog-to-digital converter for portable ECG detection devices is presented. A quadrature CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator and a 2.4 GHz direct-conversion transmitter with a power amplifier and upconversion mixer are also developed to transmit the ECG signal through wireless communication. In the receiver, a 2.4 GHz fully integrated CMOS RF front end with a low-noise amplifier, differential power splitter, and quadrature mixer based on current-reused folded architecture is proposed. The circuits have been implemented to meet the specifications of the IEEE 802.15.4 2.4 GHz standard. The low-power ICs of the wireless ECG acquisition systems have been fabricated using a 0.18 μm Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) CMOS standard process. The measured results on the human body reveal that ECG signals can be acquired effectively by the proposed low-power analog front-end ICs.

A dual-wavelength light-emitting diode based detector for flow-injection analysis process analysers.

PubMed

Huang, J; Liu, H; Tan, A; Xu, J; Zhao, X

1992-06-01

In this paper, a small dual-wavelength light-emitting diode (LED) based detector for FIA process analysers is designed. The detector's optical parts include a flow cell, a dual-wavelength LED and a photodiode. Neither mirrors nor lenses are used. The optical paths for the different light beams are almost the same, distinguishing it from previously reported LED based detectors. The detector's electronic components, including a signal amplifier, an A/D and D/A converter, and an Intel 8031 single-chip microcomputer, are integrated on one small board. In order to obtain response signals of approximate intensity for the two colours, the D/A converter and a multiplexer are used to adjust the emission intensity of the two colours respectively. Under microcomputer control, light beams are rapidly electronically modulated. Therefore, dark current and intensity of the light beams are measured almost simultaneously; as a result, the effect of drift is negligible. While a solution of absorbance 0.875 was measured repeatedly, an RSD (relative standard deviation) of 0.24% could be reached. Furthermore, such a detector with a red/yellow LED has been coupled with the FIA technique for the determination of 10(-6)M levels of cobalt.

All-Fiber Airborne Coherent Doppler Lidar to Measure Wind Profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jiqiao; Zhu, Xiaopeng; Diao, Weifeng; Zhang, Xin; Liu, Yuan; Bi, Decang; Jiang, Liyuan; Shi, Wei; Zhu, Xiaolei; Chen, Weibiao

2016-06-01

An all-fiber airborne pulsed coherent Doppler lidar (CDL) prototype at 1.54μm is developed to measure wind profiles in the lower troposphere layer. The all-fiber single frequency pulsed laser is operated with pulse energy of 300μJ, pulse width of 400ns and pulse repetition rate of 10kHz. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest pulse energy of all-fiber eye-safe single frequency laser that is used in airborne coherent wind lidar. The telescope optical diameter of monostatic lidar is 100 mm. Velocity-Azimuth-Display (VAD) scanning is implemented with 20 degrees elevation angle in 8 different azimuths. Real-time signal processing board is developed to acquire and process the heterodyne mixing signal with 10000 pulses spectra accumulated every second. Wind profiles are obtained every 20 seconds. Several experiments are implemented to evaluate the performance of the lidar. We have carried out airborne wind lidar experiments successfully, and the wind profiles are compared with aerological theodolite and ground based wind lidar. Wind speed standard error of less than 0.4m/s is shown between airborne wind lidar and balloon aerological theodolite.

Using Correlative Properties of Neighboring Pixels to Enhance Contrast-to-Noise Ratio of Abnormal Hippocampus in Patients With Intractable Epilepsy and Mesial Temporal Sclerosis.

PubMed

Parsons, Matthew S; Sharma, Aseem; Hildebolt, Charles

2018-06-12

To test whether an image-processing algorithm can aid in visualization of mesial temporal sclerosis on magnetic resonance imaging by selectively increasing contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between abnormal hippocampus and normal brain. In this Institutional Review Board-approved and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant study, baseline coronal fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of 18 adults (10 females, eight males; mean age 41.2 years) with proven mesial temporal sclerosis were processed using a custom algorithm to produce corresponding enhanced images. Average (Hmean) and maximum (Hmax) CNR for abnormal hippocampus were calculated relative to normal ipsilateral white matter. CNR values for normal gray matter (GM) were similarly calculated using ipsilateral cingulate gyrus as the internal control. To evaluate effect of image processing on visual conspicuity of hippocampal signal alteration, a neuroradiologist masked to the side of hippocampal abnormality rated signal intensity (SI) of hippocampi on baseline and enhanced images using a five-point scale (definitely abnormal to definitely normal). Differences in Hmean, Hmax, GM, and SI ratings for abnormal hippocampi on baseline and enhanced images were assessed for statistical significance. Both Hmean and Hmax were significantly higher in enhanced images as compared to baseline images (p < 0.0001 for both). There was no significant difference in the GM between baseline and enhanced images (p = 0.9375). SI ratings showed a more confident identification of abnormality on enhanced images (p = 0.0001). Image-processing resulted in increased CNR of abnormal hippocampus without affecting the CNR of normal gray matter. This selective increase in conspicuity of abnormal hippocampus was associated with more confident identification of hippocampal signal alteration. Copyright © 2018 Academic Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Fiber optic multiplex optical transmission system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, C. H. (Inventor)

1977-01-01

A multiplex optical transmission system which minimizes external interference while simultaneously receiving and transmitting video, digital data, and audio signals is described. Signals are received into subgroup mixers for blocking into respective frequency ranges. The outputs of these mixers are in turn fed to a master mixer which produces a composite electrical signal. An optical transmitter connected to the master mixer converts the composite signal into an optical signal and transmits it over a fiber optic cable to an optical receiver which receives the signal and converts it back to a composite electrical signal. A de-multiplexer is coupled to the output of the receiver for separating the composite signal back into composite video, digital data, and audio signals. A programmable optic patch board is interposed in the fiber optic cables for selectively connecting the optical signals to various receivers and transmitters.

Design concepts for an on-board coherent optical image processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Husain-Abidi, A. S.

1972-01-01

On-board spacecraft image data processing systems for transmitting processed data rather than raw data are discussed. A brief history of the development of the optical data processing techniques is presented along with the conceptual design of a coherent optical system with a noncoherent image input.

Advances in measuring techniques for turbine cooling test rigs - Status report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pollack, F. G.

1974-01-01

Instrumentation development pertaining to turbine cooling research has resulted in the design and testing of several new systems. Pressure measurements on rotating components are being made with a rotating system incorporating ten miniature transducers and a slip-ring assembly. The system has been tested successfully up to speeds of 9000 rpm. An advanced system development combining pressure transducer and thermocouple signals is also underway. Thermocouple measurements on rotating components are transferred off the shaft by a 72-channel rotating data system. Thermocouple data channels are electronically processed on board and then removed from the shaft in the form of a digital serial train by one winding of a rotary transformer.

System on a Chip (SoC) Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

LaBel, Kenneth A.

2010-01-01

System-on-a-chip or system on chip (SoC or SOC) refers to integrating all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single integrated circuit (chip). It may contain digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions all on a single chip substrate. Complexity drives it all: Radiation tolerance and testability are challenges for fault isolation, propagation, and validation. Bigger single silicon die than flown before and technology is scaling below 90nm (new qual methods). Packages have changed and are bigger and more difficult to inspect, test, and understand. Add in embedded passives. Material interfaces are more complex (underfills, processing). New rules for board layouts. Mechanical and thermal designs, etc.

Tracking the NOvA Detectors' Performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Psihas, Fernanda; NOvA Collaboration

2016-03-01

The NOvA experiment measures long baseline νμ -->νe oscillations in Fermilab's NuMI beam. We employ two detectors equipped with over 10 thousand sets of data-taking electronics; avalanche photo diodes and front end boards which collect and process the scintillation signal from particle interactions within the detectors. These sets of electronics -as well as the systems which power and cool them- must be monitored and maintained at precise working conditions to ensure maximal data-taking uptime, good data quality and a lasting life for our detectors. This poster describes the automated systems used on NOvA to simultaneously monitor our data quality, diagnose hardware issues, track our performance and coordinate maintenance for the detectors.

29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... time signals, and present other similar routine on-the-air material. In small stations, an announcer may, in addition to these duties, operate the studio control board, give cues to the control room for...

29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... time signals, and present other similar routine on-the-air material. In small stations, an announcer may, in addition to these duties, operate the studio control board, give cues to the control room for...

29 CFR 793.7 - “Announcer.”

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... time signals, and present other similar routine on-the-air material. In small stations, an announcer may, in addition to these duties, operate the studio control board, give cues to the control room for...

Discrete wavelet-aided delineation of PCG signal events via analysis of an area curve length-based decision statistic.

PubMed

Homaeinezhad, M R; Atyabi, S A; Daneshvar, E; Ghaffari, A; Tahmasebi, M

2010-12-01

The aim of this study is to describe a robust unified framework for segmentation of the phonocardiogram (PCG) signal sounds based on the false-alarm probability (FAP) bounded segmentation of a properly calculated detection measure. To this end, first the original PCG signal is appropriately pre-processed and then, a fixed sample size sliding window is moved on the pre-processed signal. In each slid, the area under the excerpted segment is multiplied by its curve-length to generate the Area Curve Length (ACL) metric to be used as the segmentation decision statistic (DS). Afterwards, histogram parameters of the nonlinearly enhanced DS metric are used for regulation of the α-level Neyman-Pearson classifier for FAP-bounded delineation of the PCG events. The proposed method was applied to all 85 records of Nursing Student Heart Sounds database (NSHSDB) including stenosis, insufficiency, regurgitation, gallop, septal defect, split sound, rumble, murmur, clicks, friction rub and snap disorders with different sampling frequencies. Also, the method was applied to the records obtained from an electronic stethoscope board designed for fulfillment of this study in the presence of high-level power-line noise and external disturbing sounds and as the results, no false positive (FP) or false negative (FN) errors were detected. High noise robustness, acceptable detection-segmentation accuracy of PCG events in various cardiac system conditions, and having no parameters dependency to the acquisition sampling frequency can be mentioned as the principal virtues and abilities of the proposed ACL-based PCG events detection-segmentation algorithm.

49 CFR 1104.12 - Service of pleadings and papers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... express mail. If a document is filed with the Board through the e-filing process, a copy of the e-filed... BOARD, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RULES OF PRACTICE FILING WITH THE BOARD-COPIES-VERIFICATION-SERVICE...

Ergonomics intervention on an alternative design of a spinal board.

PubMed

Zadry, Hilma Raimona; Susanti, Lusi; Rahmayanti, Dina

2017-09-01

A spinal board is the evacuation tool of first aid to help the injured spinal cord. The existing spinal board has several weaknesses, both in terms of user comfort and the effectiveness and efficiency of the evacuation process. This study designs an ergonomic spinal board using the quality function deployment approach. A preliminary survey was conducted through direct observation and interviews with volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross. Data gathered were translated into a questionnaire and answered by 47 participants in West Sumatra. The results indicate that the selection of materials, the application of strap systems as well as the addition of features are very important in designing an ergonomic spinal board. The data were used in designing an ergonomic spinal board. The use of anthropometric data ensures that this product can accommodate safety and comfort when immobilized, as well as the flexibility and speed of the rescue evacuation process.

Design and construction of a high frame rate imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jing; Waugaman, John L.; Liu, Anjun; Lu, Jian-Yu

2002-05-01

A new high frame rate imaging method has been developed recently [Jian-yu Lu, ``2D and 3D high frame rate imaging with limited diffraction beams,'' IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr. Freq. Control 44, 839-856 (1997)]. This method may have a clinical application for imaging of fast moving objects such as human hearts, velocity vector imaging, and low-speckle imaging. To implement the method, an imaging system has been designed. The system consists of one main printed circuit board (PCB) and 16 channel boards (each channel board contains 8 channels), in addition to a set-top box for connections to a personal computer (PC), a front panel board for user control and message display, and a power control and distribution board. The main board contains a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and controls all channels (each channel has also an FPGA). We will report the analog and digital circuit design and simulations, multiplayer PCB designs with commercial software (Protel 99), PCB signal integrity testing and system RFI/EMI shielding, and the assembly and construction of the entire system. [Work supported in part by Grant 5RO1 HL60301 from NIH.

TOPEX orbit determination using GPS signals plus a sidetone ranging system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bender, P. L.; Larden, D. R.

1982-01-01

The GPS orbit determination was studied to see how well the radial coordinate for altimeter satellites such as TOPEX could be found by on board measurements of GPS signals, including the reconstructed carrier phase. The inclusion on altimeter satellites of an additional high accuracy tracking system is recommended. It is suggested that a sidetone ranging system is used in conjunction with TRANET 2 beacons.

Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis.

PubMed

Gao, Wei; Emaminejad, Sam; Nyein, Hnin Yin Yin; Challa, Samyuktha; Chen, Kevin; Peck, Austin; Fahad, Hossain M; Ota, Hiroki; Shiraki, Hiroshi; Kiriya, Daisuke; Lien, Der-Hsien; Brooks, George A; Davis, Ronald W; Javey, Ali

2016-01-28

Wearable sensor technologies are essential to the realization of personalized medicine through continuously monitoring an individual's state of health. Sampling human sweat, which is rich in physiological information, could enable non-invasive monitoring. Previously reported sweat-based and other non-invasive biosensors either can only monitor a single analyte at a time or lack on-site signal processing circuitry and sensor calibration mechanisms for accurate analysis of the physiological state. Given the complexity of sweat secretion, simultaneous and multiplexed screening of target biomarkers is critical and requires full system integration to ensure the accuracy of measurements. Here we present a mechanically flexible and fully integrated (that is, no external analysis is needed) sensor array for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis, which simultaneously and selectively measures sweat metabolites (such as glucose and lactate) and electrolytes (such as sodium and potassium ions), as well as the skin temperature (to calibrate the response of the sensors). Our work bridges the technological gap between signal transduction, conditioning (amplification and filtering), processing and wireless transmission in wearable biosensors by merging plastic-based sensors that interface with the skin with silicon integrated circuits consolidated on a flexible circuit board for complex signal processing. This application could not have been realized using either of these technologies alone owing to their respective inherent limitations. The wearable system is used to measure the detailed sweat profile of human subjects engaged in prolonged indoor and outdoor physical activities, and to make a real-time assessment of the physiological state of the subjects. This platform enables a wide range of personalized diagnostic and physiological monitoring applications.

Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Wei; Emaminejad, Sam; Nyein, Hnin Yin Yin; Challa, Samyuktha; Chen, Kevin; Peck, Austin; Fahad, Hossain M.; Ota, Hiroki; Shiraki, Hiroshi; Kiriya, Daisuke; Lien, Der-Hsien; Brooks, George A.; Davis, Ronald W.; Javey, Ali

2016-01-01

Wearable sensor technologies are essential to the realization of personalized medicine through continuously monitoring an individual’s state of health. Sampling human sweat, which is rich in physiological information, could enable non-invasive monitoring. Previously reported sweat-based and other non-invasive biosensors either can only monitor a single analyte at a time or lack on-site signal processing circuitry and sensor calibration mechanisms for accurate analysis of the physiological state. Given the complexity of sweat secretion, simultaneous and multiplexed screening of target biomarkers is critical and requires full system integration to ensure the accuracy of measurements. Here we present a mechanically flexible and fully integrated (that is, no external analysis is needed) sensor array for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis, which simultaneously and selectively measures sweat metabolites (such as glucose and lactate) and electrolytes (such as sodium and potassium ions), as well as the skin temperature (to calibrate the response of the sensors). Our work bridges the technological gap between signal transduction, conditioning (amplification and filtering), processing and wireless transmission in wearable biosensors by merging plastic-based sensors that interface with the skin with silicon integrated circuits consolidated on a flexible circuit board for complex signal processing. This application could not have been realized using either of these technologies alone owing to their respective inherent limitations. The wearable system is used to measure the detailed sweat profile of human subjects engaged in prolonged indoor and outdoor physical activities, and to make a real-time assessment of the physiological state of the subjects. This platform enables a wide range of personalized diagnostic and physiological monitoring applications.

Random On-Board Pixel Sampling (ROPS) X-Ray Camera

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Zhehui; Iaroshenko, O.; Li, S.

Recent advances in compressed sensing theory and algorithms offer new possibilities for high-speed X-ray camera design. In many CMOS cameras, each pixel has an independent on-board circuit that includes an amplifier, noise rejection, signal shaper, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and optional in-pixel storage. When X-ray images are sparse, i.e., when one of the following cases is true: (a.) The number of pixels with true X-ray hits is much smaller than the total number of pixels; (b.) The X-ray information is redundant; or (c.) Some prior knowledge about the X-ray images exists, sparse sampling may be allowed. Here we first illustratemore » the feasibility of random on-board pixel sampling (ROPS) using an existing set of X-ray images, followed by a discussion about signal to noise as a function of pixel size. Next, we describe a possible circuit architecture to achieve random pixel access and in-pixel storage. The combination of a multilayer architecture, sparse on-chip sampling, and computational image techniques, is expected to facilitate the development and applications of high-speed X-ray camera technology.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steffen, Jason H.; Hotchkiss, Jon

We report the results of an experimental comparison of different airplane boarding methods. This test was conducted in a mock 757 fuselage, located on a Southern California soundstage, with 12 rows of six seats and a single aisle. Five methods were tested using 72 passengers of various ages. We found a significant reduction in the boarding times of optimized methods over traditional methods. These improved methods, if properly implemented, could result in a significant savings to airline companies. The process of boarding an airplane is of interest to a variety of groups. The public is interested both as a curiosity,more » as it is something that they may regularly experience, and as a consumer, as their experiences good or bad can affect their loyalties. Airline companies and their employees also have a stake in an efficient boarding procedure as time saved in the boarding process may result is monetary savings, in the quality of interactions with passengers, and in the application of human resources to the general process of preparing an airplane for departure. A recent study (Nyquist and McFadden, 2008) indicates that the average cost to an airline company for each minute of time spent at the terminal is roughly $30. Thus, each minute saved in the turn-around time of a flight has the potential to generate over $16,000,000 in annual savings (assuming an average of 1500 flights per day). While the boarding process may not be the primary source of delay in returning an airplane to the skies, reducing the boarding time may effectively eliminate passenger boarding as a contributor in any meaningful measure. Consequently, subsequent efforts to streamline the other necessary tasks, such as refueling and maintenance, would be rewarded with a material reduction in time at the gate for each flight.« less

Metals Recovery from Artificial Ore in Case of Printed Circuit Boards, Using Plasmatron Plasma Reactor

PubMed Central

Szałatkiewicz, Jakub

2016-01-01

This paper presents the investigation of metals production form artificial ore, which consists of printed circuit board (PCB) waste, processed in plasmatron plasma reactor. A test setup was designed and built that enabled research of plasma processing of PCB waste of more than 700 kg/day scale. The designed plasma process is presented and discussed. The process in tests consumed 2 kWh/kg of processed waste. Investigation of the process products is presented with their elemental analyses of metals and slag. The average recovery of metals in presented experiments is 76%. Metals recovered include: Ag, Au, Pd, Cu, Sn, Pb, and others. The chosen process parameters are presented: energy consumption, throughput, process temperatures, and air consumption. Presented technology allows processing of variable and hard-to-process printed circuit board waste that can reach up to 100% of the input mass. PMID:28773804

Metals Recovery from Artificial Ore in Case of Printed Circuit Boards, Using Plasmatron Plasma Reactor.

PubMed

Szałatkiewicz, Jakub

2016-08-10

This paper presents the investigation of metals production form artificial ore, which consists of printed circuit board (PCB) waste, processed in plasmatron plasma reactor. A test setup was designed and built that enabled research of plasma processing of PCB waste of more than 700 kg/day scale. The designed plasma process is presented and discussed. The process in tests consumed 2 kWh/kg of processed waste. Investigation of the process products is presented with their elemental analyses of metals and slag. The average recovery of metals in presented experiments is 76%. Metals recovered include: Ag, Au, Pd, Cu, Sn, Pb, and others. The chosen process parameters are presented: energy consumption, throughput, process temperatures, and air consumption. Presented technology allows processing of variable and hard-to-process printed circuit board waste that can reach up to 100% of the input mass.

ScanImage: flexible software for operating laser scanning microscopes.

PubMed

Pologruto, Thomas A; Sabatini, Bernardo L; Svoboda, Karel

2003-05-17

Laser scanning microscopy is a powerful tool for analyzing the structure and function of biological specimens. Although numerous commercial laser scanning microscopes exist, some of the more interesting and challenging applications demand custom design. A major impediment to custom design is the difficulty of building custom data acquisition hardware and writing the complex software required to run the laser scanning microscope. We describe a simple, software-based approach to operating a laser scanning microscope without the need for custom data acquisition hardware. Data acquisition and control of laser scanning are achieved through standard data acquisition boards. The entire burden of signal integration and image processing is placed on the CPU of the computer. We quantitate the effectiveness of our data acquisition and signal conditioning algorithm under a variety of conditions. We implement our approach in an open source software package (ScanImage) and describe its functionality. We present ScanImage, software to run a flexible laser scanning microscope that allows easy custom design.

NASA Tech Briefs, December 2004

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

opics include: High-Rate Digital Receiver Board; Signal Design for Improved Ranging Among Multiple Transceivers; Automated Analysis, Classification, and Display of Waveforms; Fast-Acquisition/Weak-Signal-Tracking GPS Receiver for HEO; Format for Interchange and Display of 3D Terrain Data; Program Analyzes Radar Altimeter Data; Indoor Navigation using Direction Sensor and Beacons; Software Assists in Responding to Anomalous Conditions; Software for Autonomous Spacecraft Maneuvers; WinPlot; Software for Automated Testing of Mission-Control Displays; Nanocarpets for Trapping Microscopic Particles; Precious-Metal Salt Coatings for Detecting Hydrazines; Amplifying Electrochemical Indicators; Better End-Cap Processing for Oxidation-Resistant Polyimides; Carbon-Fiber Brush Heat Exchangers; Solar-Powered Airplane with Cameras and WLAN; A Resonator for Low-Threshold Frequency Conversion; Masked Proportional Routing; Algorithm Determines Wind Speed and Direction from Venturi-Sensor Data; Feature-Identification and Data-Compression Software; Alternative Attitude Commanding and Control for Precise Spacecraft Landing; Inspecting Friction Stir Welding using Electromagnetic Probes; and Helicity in Supercritical O2/H2 and C7H16/N2 Mixing Layers.

Wireless biopotential acquisition system for portable healthcare monitoring.

PubMed

Wang, W-S; Huang, H-Y; Wu, Z-C; Chen, S-C; Wang, W-F; Wu, C-F; Luo, C-H

2011-07-01

A complete biopotential acquisition system with an analogue front-end (AFE) chip is proposed for portable healthcare monitoring. A graphical user interface (GUI) is also implemented to display the extracted biopotential signals in real-time on a computer for patients or in a hospital via the internet for doctors. The AFE circuit defines the quality of the acquired biosignals. Thus, an AFE chip with low power consumption and a high common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR) was implemented in the TSMC 0.18-μm CMOS process. The measurement results show that the proposed AFE, with a core area of 0.1 mm(2), has a CMRR of 90 dB, and power consumption of 21.6 μW. Biopotential signals of electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyogram (EMG) were measured to verify the proposed system. The board size of the proposed system is 6 cm × 2.5 cm and the weight is 30 g. The total power consumption of the proposed system is 66 mW. Copyright © 2011 Informa UK, Ltd.

Develop Direct Geo-referencing System Based on Open Source Software and Hardware Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, H. S.; Liao, H. M.

2015-08-01

Direct geo-referencing system uses the technology of remote sensing to quickly grasp images, GPS tracks, and camera position. These data allows the construction of large volumes of images with geographic coordinates. So that users can be measured directly on the images. In order to properly calculate positioning, all the sensor signals must be synchronized. Traditional aerial photography use Position and Orientation System (POS) to integrate image, coordinates and camera position. However, it is very expensive. And users could not use the result immediately because the position information does not embed into image. To considerations of economy and efficiency, this study aims to develop a direct geo-referencing system based on open source software and hardware platform. After using Arduino microcontroller board to integrate the signals, we then can calculate positioning with open source software OpenCV. In the end, we use open source panorama browser, panini, and integrate all these to open source GIS software, Quantum GIS. A wholesome collection of data - a data processing system could be constructed.

Insulation board and process of making

DOEpatents

Nowobilski, J.J.; Owens, W.J.

1985-08-27

Insulation board is described which is capable of bearing a load without significant loss of insulating capacity due to compression, produced by a method wherein the board is made in compliance with specified conditions of time, temperature and pressure. 2 figs.

Hardware Testing for the Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Slagle, Amanda

2011-01-01

Hardware for several subsystems of the proposed Optical PAyload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS), including the gimbal and avionics, was tested. Microswitches installed on the gimbal were evaluated to verify that their point of actuation would remain within the acceptable range even if the switches themselves move slightly during launch. An inspection of the power board was conducted to ensure that all power and ground signals were isolated, that polarized components were correctly oriented, and that all components were intact and securely soldered. Initial testing on the power board revealed several minor problems, but once they were fixed the power board was shown to function correctly. All tests and inspections were documented for future use in verifying launch requirements.

Microcoil Spring Interconnects for Ceramic Grid Array Integrated Circuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strickland, S. M.; Hester, J. D.; Gowan, A. K.; Montgomery, R. K.; Geist, D. L.; Blanche, J. F.; McGuire, G. D.; Nash, T. S.

2011-01-01

As integrated circuit miniaturization trends continue, they drive the need for smaller higher input/output (I/O) packages. Hermetically sealed ceramic area array parts are the package of choice by the space community for high reliability space flight electronic hardware. Unfortunately, the coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between the ceramic area array package and the epoxy glass printed wiring board limits the life of the interconnecting solder joint. This work presents the results of an investigation by Marshall Space Flight Center into a method to increase the life of this second level interconnection by the use of compliant microcoil springs. The design of the spring and its attachment process are presented along with thermal cycling results of microcoil springs (MCS) compared with state-of-the-art ball and column interconnections. Vibration testing has been conducted on MCS and high lead column parts. Radio frequency simulation and measurements have been made and the MCS has been modeled and a stress analysis performed. Thermal cycling and vibration testing have shown MCS interconnects to be significantly more reliable than solder columns. Also, MCS interconnects are less prone to handling damage than solder columns. Future work that includes shock testing, incorporation into a digital signal processor board, and process evaluation of expansion from a 400 I/O device to a device with over 1,100 I/O is identified.

MINERVA: An INSAR Monitoring Service for Volcanic Hazard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tampellini, M. L.; Sansosti, E.; Usai, S.; Lanari, R.; Borgstrom, S.; van Persie, M.; Ricciardi, G. P.; Maddalena, V.; Cicero, L.; Pepe, A.

2004-06-01

MINERVA (Monitoring by Interferometric SAR of Environmental Risk in Volcanic Areas) is a small scale service demonstration project financed by ESA in the Data User Programme framework. The objective of the project is the design, development and assessment of a demonstrative information service based on the interferometric processing of images acquired from either the ASAR instrument on board ENVISAT-I or SAR instruments on board ERS1/2. The system is based on a new approach for the processing of INSAR data, which allows to optimize the quality of interferograms spanning from 35 days up to several years, and to merge them to generate a single solution describing the temporal evolution of the ground deformations in the examined risk area. The system allows to update this solution each time a new SAR image is available, and constitutes therefore an innovative tool for monitoring of the ground displacements in risk areas. The system has been implemented and demonstrated at Osservatorio Vesuviano (Naples, Italy), which is the institution responsible for monitoring the volcanic phenomena in the Neapolitan volcanic district, and for alerting the Italian civil authorities (''Protezione Civile'') in case such monitoring activity reveals signals of imminent eruptions. In particular, the MINERVA system has been used to monitor the ground deformations at the Phlegrean Fields, a densely populated, high-hazard zone which is subject to alternate phases of uplift and subsidence, accompanied often by seismic activity.

Autonomous Lawnmower using FPGA implementation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmad, Nabihah; Lokman, Nabill bin; Helmy Abd Wahab, Mohd

2016-11-01

Nowadays, there are various types of robot have been invented for multiple purposes. The robots have the special characteristic that surpass the human ability and could operate in extreme environment which human cannot endure. In this paper, an autonomous robot is built to imitate the characteristic of a human cutting grass. A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is used to control the movements where all data and information would be processed. Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) is used to describe the hardware using Quartus II software. This robot has the ability of avoiding obstacle using ultrasonic sensor. This robot used two DC motors for its movement. It could include moving forward, backward, and turning left and right. The movement or the path of the automatic lawn mower is based on a path planning technique. Four Global Positioning System (GPS) plot are set to create a boundary. This to ensure that the lawn mower operates within the area given by user. Every action of the lawn mower is controlled by the FPGA DE' Board Cyclone II with the help of the sensor. Furthermore, Sketch Up software was used to design the structure of the lawn mower. The autonomous lawn mower was able to operate efficiently and smoothly return to coordinated paths after passing the obstacle. It uses 25% of total pins available on the board and 31% of total Digital Signal Processing (DSP) blocks.

Incidental magnetic resonance imaging signal changes in the extensor carpi radialis brevis origin are more common with age.

PubMed

van Leeuwen, Wouter F; Janssen, Stein J; Ring, David; Chen, Neal

2016-07-01

Patients with enthesopathy of the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) demonstrate signal changes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It is likely that these MRI changes persist for many years or may be permanent, regardless of symptoms, and represent an estimation of disease prevalence. We tested the hypothesis that the prevalence of incidental signal changes in the ECRB origin increases with age. We searched MRI reports of 3374 patients who underwent an MRI scan, including the elbow, for signal changes in the ECRB origin. Medical records were reviewed for symptoms consistent with ECRB enthesopathy. Prevalences of incidental and symptomatic signal changes were calculated and stratified by age. We used multivariate logistic regression analysis to test whether age, sex, and race were independently associated with ECRB enthesopathy and calculated odds ratios. Signal changes in ECRB origin were identified on MRI scans of 369 of 3374 patients (11%) without a clinical suspicion of tennis elbow. The prevalence increased from 5.7% in patients aged between 18 and 30 years up to 16% in patients aged 71 years and older. Older age (odds ratio, 1.04; P <.001) was independently associated with the incidental finding of ECRB enthesopathy on elbow MRI scans. Increased MRI signal in the ECRB origin is common in symptomatic and in asymptomatic elbows. Our findings support the concept that ECRB enthesopathy is a highly prevalent, self-limited process that seems to affect a minimum of 1 in approximately every 7 people. Copyright © 2016 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multichannel FPGA based MVT system for high precision time (20 ps RMS) and charge measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pałka, M.; Strzempek, P.; Korcyl, G.; Bednarski, T.; Niedźwiecki, Sz.; Białas, P.; Czerwiński, E.; Dulski, K.; Gajos, A.; Głowacz, B.; Gorgol, M.; Jasińska, B.; Kamińska, D.; Kajetanowicz, M.; Kowalski, P.; Kozik, T.; Krzemień, W.; Kubicz, E.; Mohhamed, M.; Raczyński, L.; Rudy, Z.; Rundel, O.; Salabura, P.; Sharma, N. G.; Silarski, M.; Smyrski, J.; Strzelecki, A.; Wieczorek, A.; Wiślicki, W.; Zieliński, M.; Zgardzińska, B.; Moskal, P.

2017-08-01

In this article it is presented an FPGA based Multi-Voltage Threshold (MVT) system which allows of sampling fast signals (1-2 ns rising and falling edge) in both voltage and time domain. It is possible to achieve a precision of time measurement of 20 ps RMS and reconstruct charge of signals, using a simple approach, with deviation from real value smaller than 10%. Utilization of the differential inputs of an FPGA chip as comparators together with an implementation of a TDC inside an FPGA allowed us to achieve a compact multi-channel system characterized by low power consumption and low production costs. This paper describes realization and functioning of the system comprising 192-channel TDC board and a four mezzanine cards which split incoming signals and discriminate them. The boards have been used to validate a newly developed Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography system based on plastic scintillators. The achieved full system time resolution of σ(TOF) ≈ 68 ps is by factor of two better with respect to the current TOF-PET systems.

To Plan or Not to Plan, That Is the Question

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dolph, David A.

2016-01-01

Strategic planning is a process utilized by numerous organizations, including K-12 school boards, intent on improvement and reform. A thoughtful strategic planning process can help develop a board's desired future driven by goals and strategies aimed at progress. However, improvement processes such as strategic planning are challenging. In fact,…

Prototyping an automated lumber processing system

Treesearch

Powsiri Klinkhachorn; Ravi Kothari; Henry A. Huber; Charles W. McMillin; K. Mukherjee; V. Barnekov

1993-01-01

The Automated Lumber Processing System (ALPS)is a multi-disciplinary continuing effort directed toward increasing the yield obtained from hardwood lumber boards during their process of remanufacture into secondary products (furniture, etc.). ALPS proposes a nondestructive vision system to scan a board for its dimension and the location and expanse of surface defects on...

DOE's Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board: The Roles, Work, and Assessment of the Constituent Local Boards - 13587

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alexander, Catherine; Freeman, Jenny; Cantrell, Yvette

2013-07-01

The charter for the Department of Energy's Environmental Management (EM) Site-Specific Advisory Board (SSAB) was approved under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) in 1994. With a unique mandate to provide public input on issues associated with the cleanup of nuclear legacy sites in the U.S., the EM SSAB comprises eight local boards, which are based at major EM sites. While each board is unique to the community in which it is located and reflects the diversity of the local population, the boards are governed by FACA, related regulations, and DOE policies that are intended to standardize agency advisory boardmore » operations. The EM SSAB local boards are made up of a diverse group of citizens who want to understand the mission and goals of the EM program and to help EM achieve those goals for the benefit of their communities. Some are quite passionate about their mission; others need to be coaxed into active participation. Maintaining productive relationships and a supportive environment for effective board operations is the challenge of board management for DOE EM and the board members themselves. DOE draws on research findings and best practices literature from academics and practitioners in the field of public involvement in its board management practices. The EM SSAB is also evaluated annually under the law to ensure that the investment of taxpayer dollars in the board is warranted in light of the contributions of the board. Further evaluation takes place at the agency and site levels in order to identify what aspects of board functioning the agency and board members find important to its success and to address areas where improvement is needed. Board contributions, compliance factors, and measurable outcomes related to board products and process areas are key to agency commitment to ongoing support of the boards and to participant satisfaction and thus continued member involvement. In addition to evaluation of these factors in improving board effectiveness, the agency draws on the experience of members to create best practices for the EM SSAB, as a unique form of public involvement. Four areas that have been identified by local board Chairpersons as important to their local board operations are - Enhancing communication between technical and non-technical board members; - Building on common ground toward recommendations; - Public involvement in EM SSAB local board activities; - The EM SSAB annual work plan process. The first three areas are addressed below by current or former chairpersons of the EM SSAB: Ralph Phelps, former Chairperson of the Northern New Mexico Citizens' Advisory Board; Susan Leckband, former Chairperson and current Vice Chairperson of the Hanford Advisory Board; and Val Francis, Vice Chairperson of the Portsmouth (PORTS) SSAB. In addition, Eric Roberts, facilitator of the PORTS SSAB, has contributed to the section on public involvement. In a separate paper for this session, Ralph Young, Chairperson of the Paducah Citizens' Advisory Board addresses the EM SSAB annual work plan process. (authors)« less

37 CFR 381.6 - Performance of musical compositions by other public broadcasting entities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... COPYRIGHT ROYALTY BOARD, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RATES AND TERMS FOR STATUTORY LICENSES USE OF CERTAIN...-channel (“IBOC”) digital radio signal and such programming is different than the station's analog...

37 CFR 381.6 - Performance of musical compositions by other public broadcasting entities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... COPYRIGHT ROYALTY BOARD, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RATES AND TERMS FOR STATUTORY LICENSES USE OF CERTAIN...-channel (“IBOC”) digital radio signal and such programming is different than the station's analog...

Hospital board structure: changing form and changing issues.

PubMed

Tregoning, S

2000-01-01

Economic and social pressures are compelling many hospitals to consider their current board structure in an effort to position their hospital to meet changing demands. A national profile of the structures of hospital boards has been compiled from a questionnaire completed by hospital board representatives from both government and non-government sectors. Results show that hospital board structures are a hybrid of both philanthropic and corporate models. New structures may be required to meet future challenges. In developing new structures, consideration should be given to identifying the skills and processes required to undertake board business.

The Screening of Genes Sensitive to Long-Term, Low-Level Microwave Exposure and Bioinformatic Analysis of Potential Correlations to Learning and Memory.

PubMed

Zhao, Ya Li; Li, Ying Xian; Ma, Hong Bo; Li, Dong; Li, Hai Liang; Jiang, Rui; Kan, Guang Han; Yang, Zhen Zhong; Huang, Zeng Xin

2015-08-01

To gain a better understanding of gene expression changes in the brain following microwave exposure in mice. This study hopes to reveal mechanisms contributing to microwave-induced learning and memory dysfunction. Mice were exposed to whole body 2100 MHz microwaves with specific absorption rates (SARs) of 0.45 W/kg, 1.8 W/kg, and 3.6 W/kg for 1 hour daily for 8 weeks. Differentially expressing genes in the brains were screened using high-density oligonucleotide arrays, with genes showing more significant differences further confirmed by RT-PCR. The gene chip results demonstrated that 41 genes (0.45 W/kg group), 29 genes (1.8 W/kg group), and 219 genes (3.6 W/kg group) were differentially expressed. GO analysis revealed that these differentially expressed genes were primarily involved in metabolic processes, cellular metabolic processes, regulation of biological processes, macromolecular metabolic processes, biosynthetic processes, cellular protein metabolic processes, transport, developmental processes, cellular component organization, etc. KEGG pathway analysis showed that these genes are mainly involved in pathways related to ribosome, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, long-term potentiation, Huntington's disease, and Neurotrophin signaling. Construction of a protein interaction network identified several important regulatory genes including synbindin (sbdn), Crystallin (CryaB), PPP1CA, Ywhaq, Psap, Psmb1, Pcbp2, etc., which play important roles in the processes of learning and memorye. Long-term, low-level microwave exposure may inhibit learning and memory by affecting protein and energy metabolic processes and signaling pathways relating to neurological functions or diseases. Copyright © 2015 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by China CDC. All rights reserved.

Fast gradient-based algorithm on extended landscapes for wave-front reconstruction of Earth observation satellite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiebaut, C.; Perraud, L.; Delvit, J. M.; Latry, C.

2016-07-01

We present an on-board satellite implementation of a gradient-based (optical flows) algorithm for the shifts estimation between images of a Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor on extended landscapes. The proposed algorithm has low complexity in comparison with classical correlation methods which is a big advantage for being used on-board a satellite at high instrument data rate and in real-time. The electronic board used for this implementation is designed for space applications and is composed of radiation-hardened software and hardware. Processing times of both shift estimations and pre-processing steps are compatible of on-board real-time computation.

Making Commissions Work: A Handbook for Parish Religious Education Boards/Commissions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClain, Maria Thornton, Ed.

This handbook is part of an ongoing process to share models of Total Catholic Education boards, religious education boards, and Catholic school boards. The purpose of the book is two-fold: (1) to provide a rationale for having a group within the parish that sets the direction for the religious education of children, youth, and adults; and (2) to…

Trends in lumber processing in the western United States. Part I: board foot Scribner volume per cubic foot of timber

Treesearch

Charles E. Keegan; Todd A. Morgan; Keith A. Blatner; Jean M. Daniels

2010-01-01

This article describes trends in board foot Scribner volume per cubic foot of timber for logs processed by sawmills in the western United States. Board foot to cubic foot (BF/CF) ratios for the period from 2000 through 2006 ranged from 3.70 in Montana to 5.71 in the Four Corners Region (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah). Sawmills in the Four Corners Region,...

Iterative development of visual control systems in a research vivarium.

PubMed

Bassuk, James A; Washington, Ida M

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that reintroduction of Continuous Performance Improvement (CPI) methodology, a lean approach to management at Seattle Children's (Hospital, Research Institute, Foundation), would facilitate engagement of vivarium employees in the development and sustainment of a daily management system and a work-in-process board. Such engagement was implemented through reintroduction of aspects of the Toyota Production System. Iterations of a Work-In-Process Board were generated using Shewhart's Plan-Do-Check-Act process improvement cycle. Specific attention was given to the importance of detecting and preventing errors through assessment of the following 5 levels of quality: Level 1, customer inspects; Level 2, company inspects; Level 3, work unit inspects; Level 4, self-inspection; Level 5, mistake proofing. A functioning iteration of a Mouse Cage Work-In-Process Board was eventually established using electronic data entry, an improvement that increased the quality level from 1 to 3 while reducing wasteful steps, handoffs and queues. A visual workplace was realized via a daily management system that included a Work-In-Process Board, a problem solving board and two Heijunka boards. One Heijunka board tracked cage changing as a function of a biological kanban, which was validated via ammonia levels. A 17% reduction in cage changing frequency provided vivarium staff with additional time to support Institute researchers in their mutual goal of advancing cures for pediatric diseases. Cage washing metrics demonstrated an improvement in the flow continuum in which a traditional batch and queue push system was replaced with a supermarket-type pull system. Staff engagement during the improvement process was challenging and is discussed. The collective data indicate that the hypothesis was found to be true. The reintroduction of CPI into daily work in the vivarium is consistent with the 4P Model of the Toyota Way and selected Principles that guide implementation of the Toyota Production System.

Iterative Development of Visual Control Systems in a Research Vivarium

PubMed Central

Bassuk, James A.; Washington, Ida M.

2014-01-01

The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that reintroduction of Continuous Performance Improvement (CPI) methodology, a lean approach to management at Seattle Children’s (Hospital, Research Institute, Foundation), would facilitate engagement of vivarium employees in the development and sustainment of a daily management system and a work-in-process board. Such engagement was implemented through reintroduction of aspects of the Toyota Production System. Iterations of a Work-In-Process Board were generated using Shewhart’s Plan-Do-Check-Act process improvement cycle. Specific attention was given to the importance of detecting and preventing errors through assessment of the following 5 levels of quality: Level 1, customer inspects; Level 2, company inspects; Level 3, work unit inspects; Level 4, self-inspection; Level 5, mistake proofing. A functioning iteration of a Mouse Cage Work-In-Process Board was eventually established using electronic data entry, an improvement that increased the quality level from 1 to 3 while reducing wasteful steps, handoffs and queues. A visual workplace was realized via a daily management system that included a Work-In-Process Board, a problem solving board and two Heijunka boards. One Heijunka board tracked cage changing as a function of a biological kanban, which was validated via ammonia levels. A 17% reduction in cage changing frequency provided vivarium staff with additional time to support Institute researchers in their mutual goal of advancing cures for pediatric diseases. Cage washing metrics demonstrated an improvement in the flow continuum in which a traditional batch and queue push system was replaced with a supermarket-type pull system. Staff engagement during the improvement process was challenging and is discussed. The collective data indicate that the hypothesis was found to be true. The reintroduction of CPI into daily work in the vivarium is consistent with the 4P Model of the Toyota Way and selected Principles that guide implementation of the Toyota Production System. PMID:24736460

Reduction Characteristics of FM-Band Cross-Talks between Two Parallel Signal Traces on Printed Circuit Boards for Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maeno, Tsuyoshi; Ueyama, Hiroya; Iida, Michihira; Fujiwara, Osamu

It is well known that electromagnetic disturbances in vehicle-mounted radios are mainly caused by conducted noise currents flowing through wiring-harnesses from vehicle-mounted printed circuit boards (PCBs) with common ground patterns with slits. To suppress the noise current outflows from the PCBs of this kind, we previously measured noise current outflows from simple two-layer PCBs having two parallel signal traces and different ground patterns with/without slits, which revealed that making slits with open ends on the ground patterns in parallel with the traces can reduce the conducted noise currents. In the present study, with the FDTD simulation, we investigated reduction characteristics of the FM-band cross-talk noise levels between two parallel signal traces for eighteen PCBs, which have different ground patterns with/without slits parallel to the traces and dielectric layers with different thickness. As a result, we found that the cross-talk reduction effect due to slits is obtained by 3.6-5.3dB, while the cross-talks between signal traces are reduced in inverse proportion to the square of the dielectric-layer thickness and in proportion to the square of the trace interval and, which can quantitatively be explained from an inductive coupling theory.

Adaptive beamforming in a CDMA mobile satellite communications system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munoz-Garcia, Samuel G.

1993-01-01

Code-Division Multiple-Access (CDMA) stands out as a strong contender for the choice of multiple access scheme in these future mobile communication systems. This is due to a variety of reasons such as the excellent performance in multipath environments, high scope for frequency reuse and graceful degradation near saturation. However, the capacity of CDMA is limited by the self-interference between the transmissions of the different users in the network. Moreover, the disparity between the received power levels gives rise to the near-far problem, this is, weak signals are severely degraded by the transmissions from other users. In this paper, the use of time-reference adaptive digital beamforming on board the satellite is proposed as a means to overcome the problems associated with CDMA. This technique enables a high number of independently steered beams to be generated from a single phased array antenna, which automatically track the desired user signal and null the unwanted interference sources. Since CDMA is interference limited, the interference protection provided by the antenna converts directly and linearly into an increase in capacity. Furthermore, the proposed concept allows the near-far effect to be mitigated without requiring a tight coordination of the users in terms of power control. A payload architecture will be presented that illustrates the practical implementation of this concept. This digital payload architecture shows that with the advent of high performance CMOS digital processing, the on-board implementation of complex DSP techniques -in particular digital beamforming- has become possible, being most attractive for Mobile Satellite Communications.

Adaptive beamforming in a CDMA mobile satellite communications system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munoz-Garcia, Samuel G.

Code-Division Multiple-Access (CDMA) stands out as a strong contender for the choice of multiple access scheme in these future mobile communication systems. This is due to a variety of reasons such as the excellent performance in multipath environments, high scope for frequency reuse and graceful degradation near saturation. However, the capacity of CDMA is limited by the self-interference between the transmissions of the different users in the network. Moreover, the disparity between the received power levels gives rise to the near-far problem, this is, weak signals are severely degraded by the transmissions from other users. In this paper, the use of time-reference adaptive digital beamforming on board the satellite is proposed as a means to overcome the problems associated with CDMA. This technique enables a high number of independently steered beams to be generated from a single phased array antenna, which automatically track the desired user signal and null the unwanted interference sources. Since CDMA is interference limited, the interference protection provided by the antenna converts directly and linearly into an increase in capacity. Furthermore, the proposed concept allows the near-far effect to be mitigated without requiring a tight coordination of the users in terms of power control. A payload architecture will be presented that illustrates the practical implementation of this concept. This digital payload architecture shows that with the advent of high performance CMOS digital processing, the on-board implementation of complex DSP techniques -in particular digital beamforming- has become possible, being most attractive for Mobile Satellite Communications.

In search of intelligence: evolving a developmental neuron capable of learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Gul Muhammad; Miller, Julian Francis

2014-10-01

A neuro-inspired multi-chromosomal genotype for a single developmental neuron capable of learning and developing memory is proposed. This genotype is evolved so that the phenotype which changes and develops during an agent's lifetime (while problem-solving) gives the agent the capacity for learning by experience. Seven important processes of signal processing and neural structure development are identified from biology and encoded using Cartesian Genetic Programming. These chromosomes represent the electrical and developmental aspects of dendrites, axonal branches, synapses and the neuron soma. The neural morphology that occurs by running these chromosomes is highly dynamic. The dendritic/axonal branches and synaptic connections form and change in response to situations encountered in the learning task. The approach has been evaluated in the context of maze-solving and the board game of checkers (draughts) demonstrating interesting learning capabilities. The motivation underlying this research is to, ab initio, evolve genotypes that build phenotypes with an ability to learn.

A neural network controller for automated composite manufacturing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lichtenwalner, Peter F.

1994-01-01

At McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA), an artificial neural network based control system has been developed and implemented to control laser heating for the fiber placement composite manufacturing process. This neurocontroller learns an approximate inverse model of the process on-line to provide performance that improves with experience and exceeds that of conventional feedback control techniques. When untrained, the control system behaves as a proportional plus integral (PI) controller. However after learning from experience, the neural network feedforward control module provides control signals that greatly improve temperature tracking performance. Faster convergence to new temperature set points and reduced temperature deviation due to changing feed rate have been demonstrated on the machine. A Cerebellar Model Articulation Controller (CMAC) network is used for inverse modeling because of its rapid learning performance. This control system is implemented in an IBM compatible 386 PC with an A/D board interface to the machine.

Improved chemical identification from sensor arrays using intelligent algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roppel, Thaddeus A.; Wilson, Denise M.

2001-02-01

Intelligent signal processing algorithms are shown to improve identification rates significantly in chemical sensor arrays. This paper focuses on the use of independently derived sensor status information to modify the processing of sensor array data by using a fast, easily-implemented "best-match" approach to filling in missing sensor data. Most fault conditions of interest (e.g., stuck high, stuck low, sudden jumps, excess noise, etc.) can be detected relatively simply by adjunct data processing, or by on-board circuitry. The objective then is to devise, implement, and test methods for using this information to improve the identification rates in the presence of faulted sensors. In one typical example studied, utilizing separately derived, a-priori knowledge about the health of the sensors in the array improved the chemical identification rate by an artificial neural network from below 10 percent correct to over 99 percent correct. While this study focuses experimentally on chemical sensor arrays, the results are readily extensible to other types of sensor platforms.

20 CFR 363.5 - Miscellaneous.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...' Benefits RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION, POLICY AND PROCEDURES GARNISHMENT OF... disbursement cycles in order to comply with legal process. (b) Except as provided in these regulations, the... by the Board pursuant to legal process regular on its face, if such payment is made in accordance...

SOHO Mission Interruption Joint NASA/ESA Investigation Board

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Contact with the SOlar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft was lost in the early morning hours of June 25, 1998, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), during a planned period of calibrations, maneuvers, and spacecraft reconfigurations. Prior to this the SOHO operations team had concluded two years of extremely successful science operations. A joint European Space Agency (ESA)/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineering team has been planning and executing recovery efforts since loss of contact with some success to date. ESA and NASA management established the SOHO Mission Interruption Joint Investigation Board to determine the actual or probable cause(s) of the SOHO spacecraft mishap. The Board has concluded that there were no anomalies on-board the SOHO spacecraft but that a number of ground errors led to the major loss of attitude experienced by the spacecraft. The Board finds that the loss of the SOHO spacecraft was a direct result of operational errors, a failure to adequately monitor spacecraft status, and an erroneous decision which disabled part of the on-board autonomous failure detection. Further, following the occurrence of the emergency situation, the Board finds that insufficient time was taken by the operations team to fully assess the spacecraft status prior to initiating recovery operations. The Board discovered that a number of factors contributed to the circumstances that allowed the direct causes to occur. The Board strongly recommends that the two Agencies proceed immediately with a comprehensive review of SOHO operations addressing issues in the ground procedures, procedure implementation, management structure and process, and ground systems. This review process should be completed and process improvements initiated prior to the resumption of SOHO normal operations.

Finding Sub-threshold Short Gamma-ray Bursts in Fermi GBM Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burns, Eric; Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor Team

2018-01-01

The all-sky monitoring capability of Fermi GBM makes it ideal for finding transients, and the most prolific detector of short gamma-ray bursts with about 40 on-board triggers per year. Because the observed brightness of short gamma-ray bursts has no correlation with redshift, weak short gamma-ray bursts are important during the gravitational wave era. With this in mind, we discuss two searches of GBM data to find short gamma-ray which were below the on-board trigger threshold. The untargeted search looks for significant background-subtracted signals in two or more detectors at various timescales in the continuous data, detecting ~80 additional short GRB candidates per year. The targeted search is the most sensitive search for weak gamma-ray signals in GBM data and is run over limited time intervals around sources of interest like gravitational waves.

Fractional channel multichannel analyzer

DOEpatents

Brackenbush, L.W.; Anderson, G.A.

1994-08-23

A multichannel analyzer incorporating the features of the present invention obtains the effect of fractional channels thus greatly reducing the number of actual channels necessary to record complex line spectra. This is accomplished by using an analog-to-digital converter in the asynchronous mode, i.e., the gate pulse from the pulse height-to-pulse width converter is not synchronized with the signal from a clock oscillator. This saves power and reduces the number of components required on the board to achieve the effect of radically expanding the number of channels without changing the circuit board. 9 figs.

Fractional channel multichannel analyzer

DOEpatents

Brackenbush, Larry W.; Anderson, Gordon A.

1994-01-01

A multichannel analyzer incorporating the features of the present invention obtains the effect of fractional channels thus greatly reducing the number of actual channels necessary to record complex line spectra. This is accomplished by using an analog-to-digital converter in the asynscronous mode, i.e., the gate pulse from the pulse height-to-pulse width converter is not synchronized with the signal from a clock oscillator. This saves power and reduces the number of components required on the board to achieve the effect of radically expanding the number of channels without changing the circuit board.

On-board multicarrier demodulator for mobile applications using DSP implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yim, W. H.; Kwan, C. C. D.; Coakley, F. P.; Evans, B. G.

1990-11-01

This paper describes the design and implementation of an on-board multicarrier demodulator using commercial digital signal processors. This is for use in a mobile satellite communication system employing an up-link SCPC/FDMA scheme. Channels are separated by a flexible multistage digital filter bank followed by a channel multiplexed digital demodulator array. The cross/dot product design approach of error detector leads to a new QPSK frequency control algorithm that allows fast acquisition without special preamble pattern. Timing correction is performed digitally using an extended stack of polyphase sub-filters.

American Board of Orthodontics: Time for change.

PubMed

Chung, Chun-Hsi; Tadlock, Larry P; Barone, Nicholas; Pangrazio-Kulbersh, Valmy; Sabott, David G; Foley, Patrick F; Trulove, Timothy S; Park, Jae Hyun; Dugoni, Steven A

2018-03-01

The American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) works to certify orthodontists in a fair, reliable, and valid manner. The process must examine an orthodontist's knowledge, abilities, and critical thinking skills to ensure that each certified orthodontist has the expertise to provide the highest level of patient care. Many medical specialty boards and 4 American Dental Association specialty boards use scenario-based testing for board certification. Changing to a scenario-based clinical examination will allow the ABO to test more orthodontists. The new process will not result in an easier examination; standards will not be lowered. It will offer an improved testing method that will be fair, valid, and reliable for the specialty of orthodontics while increasing accessibility and complementing residency curricula. The ABO's written examination will remain as it is. Copyright © 2018 American Association of Orthodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Utility of a Work Process Classification System for characterizing non-fatal injuries in the Alaskan commercial fishing industry

PubMed Central

Syron, Laura N.; Lucas, Devin L.; Bovbjerg, Viktor E.; Bethel, Jeffrey W.; Kincl, Laurel D.

2016-01-01

Background The US commercial fishing industry is hazardous, as measured by mortality data. However, research on non-fatal injuries is limited. Non-fatal injuries constitute the majority of occupational injuries and can result in workers’ lowered productivity and wages, lost quality of life, and disability. In the United States, a Work Process Classification System (WPCS) has previously been applied in Alaskan freezer-trawl and freezer-longline fleets to identify causes of injuries and specific hazards, but not to other fishing fleets. Objectives This descriptive epidemiologic study aimed to explore the application and modification of the WPCS in multiple Alaskan fleets, characterize non-fatal occupational injuries in these fleets, and identify work processes that could be targeted for further investigation and future injury prevention efforts. Design Traumatic, non-fatal injuries on-board Alaskan commercial fishing vessels were identified through United States Coast Guard investigative reports. Characteristics of injuries, as well as worker characteristics, were analysed. Injuries were coded using the WPCS. Results We successfully utilized the WPCS to code non-fatal injury cases (n = 136). The most frequent main work processes associated with non-fatal injuries included: on-board trawlers, handling frozen fish and processing the catch; on-board vessels using pot/trap gear, handling the gear and shooting/setting the gear; on-board longliners, traffic on board and hauling the gear; and on-board processor vessels, processing the catch, other work with the catch, and handling frozen fish. Conclusions The study confirmed that a WPCS can be applied to multiple Alaskan fleets to identify hazardous tasks. Hazards were unique for each vessel gear type. Future injury prevention efforts should target work processes associated with the most frequent and most severe injuries. Future studies should establish time estimates for work processes in order to determine risk estimates. Efforts to improve non-fatal injury reporting, especially on smaller commercial fishing vessels, should be undertaken. PMID:26782030

Utility of a Work Process Classification System for characterizing non-fatal injuries in the Alaskan commercial fishing industry.

PubMed

Syron, Laura N; Lucas, Devin L; Bovbjerg, Viktor E; Bethel, Jeffrey W; Kincl, Laurel D

2016-01-01

Background The US commercial fishing industry is hazardous, as measured by mortality data. However, research on non-fatal injuries is limited. Non-fatal injuries constitute the majority of occupational injuries and can result in workers' lowered productivity and wages, lost quality of life, and disability. In the United States, a Work Process Classification System (WPCS) has previously been applied in Alaskan freezer-trawl and freezer-longline fleets to identify causes of injuries and specific hazards, but not to other fishing fleets. Objectives This descriptive epidemiologic study aimed to explore the application and modification of the WPCS in multiple Alaskan fleets, characterize non-fatal occupational injuries in these fleets, and identify work processes that could be targeted for further investigation and future injury prevention efforts. Design Traumatic, non-fatal injuries on-board Alaskan commercial fishing vessels were identified through United States Coast Guard investigative reports. Characteristics of injuries, as well as worker characteristics, were analysed. Injuries were coded using the WPCS. Results We successfully utilized the WPCS to code non-fatal injury cases (n = 136). The most frequent main work processes associated with non-fatal injuries included: on-board trawlers, handling frozen fish and processing the catch; on-board vessels using pot/trap gear, handling the gear and shooting/setting the gear; on-board longliners, traffic on board and hauling the gear; and on-board processor vessels, processing the catch, other work with the catch, and handling frozen fish. Conclusions The study confirmed that a WPCS can be applied to multiple Alaskan fleets to identify hazardous tasks. Hazards were unique for each vessel gear type. Future injury prevention efforts should target work processes associated with the most frequent and most severe injuries. Future studies should establish time estimates for work processes in order to determine risk estimates. Efforts to improve non-fatal injury reporting, especially on smaller commercial fishing vessels, should be undertaken.

Utility of a Work Process Classification System for characterizing non-fatal injuries in the Alaskan commercial fishing industry.

PubMed

Syron, Laura N; Lucas, Devin L; Bovbjerg, Viktor E; Bethel, Jeffrey W; Kincl, Laurel D

2016-01-01

The US commercial fishing industry is hazardous, as measured by mortality data. However, research on non-fatal injuries is limited. Non-fatal injuries constitute the majority of occupational injuries and can result in workers' lowered productivity and wages, lost quality of life, and disability. In the United States, a Work Process Classification System (WPCS) has previously been applied in Alaskan freezer-trawl and freezer-longline fleets to identify causes of injuries and specific hazards, but not to other fishing fleets. This descriptive epidemiologic study aimed to explore the application and modification of the WPCS in multiple Alaskan fleets, characterize non-fatal occupational injuries in these fleets, and identify work processes that could be targeted for further investigation and future injury prevention efforts. Traumatic, non-fatal injuries on-board Alaskan commercial fishing vessels were identified through United States Coast Guard investigative reports. Characteristics of injuries, as well as worker characteristics, were analysed. Injuries were coded using the WPCS. We successfully utilized the WPCS to code non-fatal injury cases (n = 136). The most frequent main work processes associated with non-fatal injuries included: on-board trawlers, handling frozen fish and processing the catch; on-board vessels using pot/trap gear, handling the gear and shooting/setting the gear; on-board longliners, traffic on board and hauling the gear; and on-board processor vessels, processing the catch, other work with the catch, and handling frozen fish. The study confirmed that a WPCS can be applied to multiple Alaskan fleets to identify hazardous tasks. Hazards were unique for each vessel gear type. Future injury prevention efforts should target work processes associated with the most frequent and most severe injuries. Future studies should establish time estimates for work processes in order to determine risk estimates. Efforts to improve non-fatal injury reporting, especially on smaller commercial fishing vessels, should be undertaken.

Boarding Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boarding Schools, Boston, MA.

This booklet has been prepared to provide students, parents, and counselors with information about America's boarding schools and to help them with the application process. It includes brief descriptions of 139 boarding schools--junior schools, boys' schools, girls' schools, military academies, and coeducational schools. It is offered solely as an…

A Red Oak Data Bank for Computer Simulations of Secondary Processing

Treesearch

Charles J. Gatchell; Janice K. Wiedenbeck; Elizabeth S. Walker

1993-01-01

An extensive data bank for red oak lumber that is compatible with most secondary manufacturing computer simulator tools is now available. Currently, the data bank contains 10,718 board feet in 1,578 boards. The National Hardwood Lumber Associations (NHLA) Special Kiln Dried Rule was used to grade the boards. The percentage of a boardâs surface measure contained in...

National Board Certification as Professional Development: An Empirical Study of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Process, Final Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavalluzzo, Linda; Barrow, Lisa; Henderson, Stephen

2014-01-01

This study responds to a request from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to analyze National Board certification among high school teachers in understudied subject areas and locales to help fill gaps in the research literature. The authors also were asked to use multiple indicators of performance. The research team selected two…

The general utilization of scrapped PC board.

PubMed

Liu, Robert; Shieh, R S; Yeh, Ruth Y L; Lin, C H

2009-11-01

The traditional burning process is used to recover copper from scrapped PC board (printed circuit board) but it causes serious environmental problems. In this research a new process was developed which not only prevents pollution problems, but also maximizes the utility of all the materials on the waste board. First, the scrapped PC board was crushed and grounded, then placed in the NH3/NH5CO3 solution with aeration in order to dissolve copper. After distilling the copper NH3/NH5CO3 solution and then heating the distilled residue of copper carbonate, pure copper oxide was obtained with particle size of about 0.2 microm and the shape elliptical. The remaining solid residue after copper removal was then leached with 6N hydrochloric acid to remove tin and lead. The last residue was used as a filler in PVC plastics. The PVC plastics with PC board powder as filling material was found to have the same tensile strength as unfilled plastics, but had higher elastic modulus, higher abrasion resistance, and was cheaper.

An empirical comparison between the board's strategic role in nonprofit hospitals and in for-profit industrial firms.

PubMed Central

Judge, W Q; Zeithaml, C P

1992-01-01

As the health care environment becomes more competitive, nonprofit hospitals are under pressure to adopt for-profit business practices. Based on an extensive field study, this research examines the central issue of organizational governance by comparing the strategic roles of nonprofit hospital boards with for-profit industrial boards. The results show that nonprofit hospital boards are generally more involved in the strategic decision process than their for-profit counterparts. If this governance activity is seen as desirable, hospital boards should exercise caution in emulating for-profit board practices. PMID:1563953

High speed CMOS acquisition system based on FPGA embedded image processing for electro-optical measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosu-Hamzescu, Mihnea; Polonschii, Cristina; Oprea, Sergiu; Popescu, Dragos; David, Sorin; Bratu, Dumitru; Gheorghiu, Eugen

2018-06-01

Electro-optical measurements, i.e., optical waveguides and plasmonic based electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (P-EIS), are based on the sensitive dependence of refractive index of electro-optical sensors on surface charge density, modulated by an AC electrical field applied to the sensor surface. Recently, P-EIS has emerged as a new analytical tool that can resolve local impedance with high, optical spatial resolution, without using microelectrodes. This study describes a high speed image acquisition and processing system for electro-optical measurements, based on a high speed complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) board. The FPGA is used to configure CMOS parameters, as well as to receive and locally process the acquired images by performing Fourier analysis for each pixel, deriving the real and imaginary parts of the Fourier coefficients for the AC field frequencies. An AC field generator, for single or multi-sine signals, is synchronized with the high speed acquisition system for phase measurements. The system was successfully used for real-time angle-resolved electro-plasmonic measurements from 30 Hz up to 10 kHz, providing results consistent to ones obtained by a conventional electrical impedance approach. The system was able to detect amplitude variations with a relative variation of ±1%, even for rather low sampling rates per period (i.e., 8 samples per period). The PC (personal computer) acquisition and control software allows synchronized acquisition for multiple FPGA boards, making it also suitable for simultaneous angle-resolved P-EIS imaging.

Coherent dual-frequency lidar system design for distance and speed measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Xingyuan; Zhao, Changming; Zhang, Haiyang; Zheng, Zheng; Yang, Hongzhi

2018-01-01

Lidars have a wide range of applications in military detection and civilian remote sensing. Coherent Dual-Frequency Lidar (CDFL) is a new concept of laser radar that is using electrical coherence instead of optical coherence. It uses laser with two coherent frequency components as transmitting wave. The method is based on the use of an optically-carried radio frequency (RF) signal, which is the frequency difference between the two components, which is specially designed for distance and speed measurements. It not only ensures the system has the characteristics of high spatial resolution, high ranging and velocity precision of laser radar, but also can use mature signal processing technology of microwave radar, and it is a research direction that attracts more concern in recent years. A CDFL detection system is constructed and field experiment is carried out. In the system, a narrow linewidth fiber laser with a wavelength of 1064nm is adopted. The dual-frequency laser with frequency difference of 200MHz and 200.6MHz is obtained by acousto-optic frequency shift and recombination. The maximum output power of dual frequency laser is 200mW. The receiver consists of all-fiber balanced InGaAs photo-detector and homemade analog signal processing board. The experimental results show that the distance resolution and velocity resolution of the system are 0.1m and 0.1m/s separately when the working distance is greater than 200m, and the spatial resolution is 0.5mrad.

Modular cryogenic interconnects for multi-qubit devices.

PubMed

Colless, J I; Reilly, D J

2014-11-01

We have developed a modular interconnect platform for the control and readout of multiple solid-state qubits at cryogenic temperatures. The setup provides 74 filtered dc-bias connections, 32 control and readout connections with -3 dB frequency above 5 GHz, and 4 microwave feed lines that allow low loss (less than 3 dB) transmission 10 GHz. The incorporation of a radio-frequency interposer enables the platform to be separated into two printed circuit boards, decoupling the simple board that is bonded to the qubit chip from the multilayer board that incorporates expensive connectors and components. This modular approach lifts the burden of duplicating complex interconnect circuits for every prototype device. We report the performance of this platform at milli-Kelvin temperatures, including signal transmission and crosstalk measurements.

A Whole-Genome Microarray Study of Arabidopsis thaliana Semisolid Callus Cultures Exposed to Microgravity and Nonmicrogravity Related Spaceflight Conditions for 5 Days on Board of Shenzhou 8

PubMed Central

Neef, Maren; Ecke, Margret; Hampp, Rüdiger

2015-01-01

The Simbox mission was the first joint space project between Germany and China in November 2011. Eleven-day-old Arabidopsis thaliana wild type semisolid callus cultures were integrated into fully automated plant cultivation containers and exposed to spaceflight conditions within the Simbox hardware on board of the spacecraft Shenzhou 8. The related ground experiment was conducted under similar conditions. The use of an in-flight centrifuge provided a 1 g gravitational field in space. The cells were metabolically quenched after 5 days via RNAlater injection. The impact on the Arabidopsis transcriptome was investigated by means of whole-genome gene expression analysis. The results show a major impact of nonmicrogravity related spaceflight conditions. Genes that were significantly altered in transcript abundance are mainly involved in protein phosphorylation and MAPK cascade-related signaling processes, as well as in the cellular defense and stress responses. In contrast to short-term effects of microgravity (seconds, minutes), this mission identified only minor changes after 5 days of microgravity. These concerned genes coding for proteins involved in the plastid-associated translation machinery, mitochondrial electron transport, and energy production. PMID:25654111

APA guidelines: their importance and a plan to keep them current: 2013 annual report of the Policy and Planning Board.

PubMed

2014-01-01

When guidelines are approved by APA, they become association policy, and it is imperative that they remain current. The revision of guidelines poses several challenges to the association. These challenges range from the availability and allocation of resources to support the complicated processes involved in developing and updating these policies to the lack of a clearly defined process that includes identification of tasks, assignments of responsibilities, and so forth. For this reason, the APA Board of Directors asked the Policy and Planning Board (P&P) to work with the boards of the four directorates (i.e., the Education Directorate, the Practice Directorate, the Public Interest Directorate, and the Science Directorate) to create a proposal that would (a) make recommendations with regard to how the review and revision of guidelines documents might best be accomplished in accordance with the APA Strategic Plan and existing policies and procedures and (b) make suggestions regarding the association resources that might be required. The Board of Directors approved the proposed review process in December 2013. 2014 APA, all rights reserved

The AGU Data Management Maturity Model Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bates, J. J.

2015-12-01

In September 2014, the AGU Board of Directors approved two initiatives to help the Earth and space sciences community address the growing challenges accompanying the increasing size and complexity of data. These initiatives are: 1) Data Science Credentialing: development of a continuing education and professional certification program to help scientists in their careers and to meet growing responsibilities and requirements around data science; and 2) Data Management Maturity (DMM) Model: development and implementation of a data management maturity model to assess process maturity against best practices, and to identify opportunities in organizational data management processes. Each of these has been organized within AGU as an Editorial Board and both Boards have held kick off meetings. The DMM model Editorial Board will recommend strategies for adapting and deploying a DMM model to the Earth and space sciences create guidance documents to assist in its implementation, and provide input on a pilot appraisal process. This presentation will provide an overview of progress to date in the DMM model Editorial Board and plans for work to be done over the upcoming year.

A 24-GHz portable FMCW radar with continuous beam steering phased array (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Zhengyu; Li, Changzhi

2017-05-01

A portable 24-GHz frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar with continuous beam steering phased array is presented. This board-level integrated radar system consists of a phased array antenna, a radar transceiver and a baseband. The phased array used by the receiver is a 4-element linear array. The beam of the phased array can be continuously steered with a range of ±30° on the H-plane through an array of vector controllers. The vector controller is based on the concept of vector sum with binary-phase-shift attenuators. Each vector controller is capable of independently controlling the phase and the amplitude of each element of the linear array. The radar transceiver is based on the six-port technique. A free-running voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) is controlled by an analog "sawtooth" voltage generator to produce frequency-modulated chirp signal. This chirp signal is used as the transmitter signal, as well as the local oscillator (LO) signal to drive the six-port circuit. The transmitter antenna is a single patch antenna. In the baseband, the beat signal of the FMCW radar is detected by the six-port circuit and then processed by a laptop in real time. Experiments have been performed to reveal the capabilities of the proposed radar system for applications including indoor inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging, vital sign detection, and short-range navigation, etc. (This abstract is for the profiles session.)

8. VIEW, LOOKING NORTH, OF INTERLOCKING MACHINE WITH ORIGINAL MODEL ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

8. VIEW, LOOKING NORTH, OF INTERLOCKING MACHINE WITH ORIGINAL MODEL BOARD IN CENTER AND MODEL SEMAPHORE SIGNALS (AT TOP OF PHOTOGRAPH), THIRD FLOOR - South Station Tower No. 1 & Interlocking System, Dewey Square, Boston, Suffolk County, MA

41. INTERIOR VIEW, GREEN SWITCH TOWER, COS COB, SHOWING SWITCH ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

41. INTERIOR VIEW, GREEN SWITCH TOWER, COS COB, SHOWING SWITCH LEVER ASSEMBLAGE AND DISPLAY BOARD - New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Automatic Signalization System, Long Island Sound shoreline between Stamford & New Haven, Stamford, Fairfield County, CT

43. OBLIQUE VIEW, GREEN SWITCH TOWER, COS COB, SHOWING SWITCH ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

43. OBLIQUE VIEW, GREEN SWITCH TOWER, COS COB, SHOWING SWITCH LEVER ASSEMBLAGE AND DISPLAY BOARD - New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Automatic Signalization System, Long Island Sound shoreline between Stamford & New Haven, Stamford, Fairfield County, CT

A study of the effect of ADA accessibility on Kansas roundabouts.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-11-01

The Access Board, with authority to enforce provisions of the American Disabilities Act (ADA), initially determined : that roundabouts are not accessible by blind pedestrians and drafted proposed guidelines to require pedestrian : signals at all roun...

Landsat 8 OLI radiometric calibration performance after three years (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morfitt, Ron A.

2016-09-01

The Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) impressed science users soon after launch in early 2013 with both its radiometric and geometric performance. After three years on-orbit, OLI continues to exceed expectations with its high signal-to-noise ratio, low striping, and stable response. The few artifacts that do exist, such as ghosting, continue to be minimal and show no signs of increasing. The on-board calibration sources showed a small decrease in response during the first six months of operations in the coastal aerosol band, but that decrease has stabilized to less than a half percent per year since that time. The other eight bands exhibit very little change over the past three years and have remained well within a half percent of their initial response to all on-board calibration sources. Analysis of lunar acquisitions also agree with the on-board calibrators. Overall, the OLI on-board the Landsat 8 spacecraft continues to provide exceptional measurements of the Earth's surface to continue the long tradition of Landsat.

Beyond Strategic Planning: Tailoring District Resources to Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bollin, Thomas D.; Eadie, Douglas C.

1991-01-01

The strategic management process tries to create and maintain a dynamic balance between an organization's vision, mission, goals, strategies, and resources and its external environment. One Ohio school district's strategic management process succeeded resulting from a highly committed school board, a strong board-superintendent partnership, active…

JWST Program Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Januszewski, William

2018-01-01

This poster will feature what is involved in preparing a James Webb Space Telescope program for execution on board the spacecraft. The process from when the principle investigator hits the submit button to when the observations are executed on board the spacecraft will be addressed. Although the process shares a number of sumilarities with the implementation process for the Hubble Space Telescope, there are significant differences.

40-Gbps optical backbone network deep packet inspection based on FPGA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuo, Yuan; Huang, Zhiping; Su, Shaojing

2014-11-01

In the era of information, the big data, which contains huge information, brings about some problems, such as high speed transmission, storage and real-time analysis and process. As the important media for data transmission, the Internet is the significant part for big data processing research. With the large-scale usage of the Internet, the data streaming of network is increasing rapidly. The speed level in the main fiber optic communication of the present has reached 40Gbps, even 100Gbps, therefore data on the optical backbone network shows some features of massive data. Generally, data services are provided via IP packets on the optical backbone network, which is constituted with SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy). Hence this method that IP packets are directly mapped into SDH payload is named POS (Packet over SDH) technology. Aiming at the problems of real time process of high speed massive data, this paper designs a process system platform based on ATCA for 40Gbps POS signal data stream recognition and packet content capture, which employs the FPGA as the CPU. This platform offers pre-processing of clustering algorithms, service traffic identification and data mining for the following big data storage and analysis with high efficiency. Also, the operational procedure is proposed in this paper. Four channels of 10Gbps POS signal decomposed by the analysis module, which chooses FPGA as the kernel, are inputted to the flow classification module and the pattern matching component based on TCAM. Based on the properties of the length of payload and net flows, buffer management is added to the platform to keep the key flow information. According to data stream analysis, DPI (deep packet inspection) and flow balance distribute, the signal is transmitted to the backend machine through the giga Ethernet ports on back board. Practice shows that the proposed platform is superior to the traditional applications based on ASIC and NP.

Satellite on-board real-time SAR processor prototype

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergeron, Alain; Doucet, Michel; Harnisch, Bernd; Suess, Martin; Marchese, Linda; Bourqui, Pascal; Desnoyers, Nicholas; Legros, Mathieu; Guillot, Ludovic; Mercier, Luc; Châteauneuf, François

2017-11-01

A Compact Real-Time Optronic SAR Processor has been successfully developed and tested up to a Technology Readiness Level of 4 (TRL4), the breadboard validation in a laboratory environment. SAR, or Synthetic Aperture Radar, is an active system allowing day and night imaging independent of the cloud coverage of the planet. The SAR raw data is a set of complex data for range and azimuth, which cannot be compressed. Specifically, for planetary missions and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems with limited communication data rates this is a clear disadvantage. SAR images are typically processed electronically applying dedicated Fourier transformations. This, however, can also be performed optically in real-time. Originally the first SAR images were optically processed. The optical Fourier processor architecture provides inherent parallel computing capabilities allowing real-time SAR data processing and thus the ability for compression and strongly reduced communication bandwidth requirements for the satellite. SAR signal return data are in general complex data. Both amplitude and phase must be combined optically in the SAR processor for each range and azimuth pixel. Amplitude and phase are generated by dedicated spatial light modulators and superimposed by an optical relay set-up. The spatial light modulators display the full complex raw data information over a two-dimensional format, one for the azimuth and one for the range. Since the entire signal history is displayed at once, the processor operates in parallel yielding real-time performances, i.e. without resulting bottleneck. Processing of both azimuth and range information is performed in a single pass. This paper focuses on the onboard capabilities of the compact optical SAR processor prototype that allows in-orbit processing of SAR images. Examples of processed ENVISAT ASAR images are presented. Various SAR processor parameters such as processing capabilities, image quality (point target analysis), weight and size are reviewed.

Compensatory hypertrophy of the teres minor muscle after large rotator cuff tear model in adult male rat.

PubMed

Ichinose, Tsuyoshi; Yamamoto, Atsushi; Kobayashi, Tsutomu; Shitara, Hitoshi; Shimoyama, Daisuke; Iizuka, Haku; Koibuchi, Noriyuki; Takagishi, Kenji

2016-02-01

Rotator cuff tear (RCT) is a common musculoskeletal disorder in the elderly. The large RCT is often irreparable due to the retraction and degeneration of the rotator cuff muscle. The integrity of the teres minor (TM) muscle is thought to affect postoperative functional recovery in some surgical treatments. Hypertrophy of the TM is found in some patients with large RCTs; however, the process underlying this hypertrophy is still unclear. The objective of this study was to determine if compensatory hypertrophy of the TM muscle occurs in a large RCT rat model. Twelve Wistar rats underwent transection of the suprascapular nerve and the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons in the left shoulder. The rats were euthanized 4 weeks after the surgery, and the cuff muscles were collected and weighed. The cross-sectional area and the involvement of Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling were examined in the remaining TM muscle. The weight and cross-sectional area of the TM muscle was higher in the operated-on side than in the control side. The phosphorylated Akt/Akt protein ratio was not significantly different between these sides. The phosphorylated-mTOR/mTOR protein ratio was significantly higher on the operated-on side. Transection of the suprascapular nerve and the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons activates mTOR signaling in the TM muscle, which results in muscle hypertrophy. The Akt-signaling pathway may not be involved in this process. Nevertheless, activation of mTOR signaling in the TM muscle after RCT may be an effective therapeutic target of a large RCT. Copyright © 2016 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

QI2S - Quick Image Interpretation System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naghmouchi, Jamin; Aviely, Peleg; Ginosar, Ran; Ober, Giovanna; Bischoff, Ole; Nadler, Ron; Guiser, David; Citroen, Meira; Freddi, Riccardo; Berekovic, Mladen

2015-09-01

The evolution of the Earth Observation mission will be driven by many factors, and the deveploment of new processing paradigms to facilitate data downlink, handling and storage will be a key factor. Next generation EO satellites will generate a great amount of data at a very high data rate, both radar and optical. Real-time onboard processing can be the solution to reduce data downlink and management on ground. Radiometric, geometric, and atmospheric corrections of EO data as well as material/object detection in addition to the well-known needs for image compression and signal processing can be performed directly on board and the aim of QI2S project is to demonstrate this. QI2S, a concept prototype system for novel onboard image processing and image interpretation which has been designed, developed and validated in the framework of an EU FP7 project, targets these needs and makes a significant step towards exceeding current roadmaps of leading space agencies for future payload processors. The QI2S system features multiple chip components of the RC64, a novel rad-hard 64-core signal processing chip, which targets DSP performance of 75 GMACs (16bit), 150 GOPS and 38 single precision GFLOPS while dissipating less than 10 Watts. It integrates advanced DSP cores with a multibank shared memory and a hardware scheduler, also supporting DDR2/3 memory and twelve 3.125 Gbps full duplex high-speed serial links using SpaceFibre and other protocols. The processor is being developed within the European FP7 Framework Program and will be qualified to the highest space standards.

77 FR 10026 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-21

...-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change Related to Stock-Option Processing February 14, 2012. Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the... on February 7, 2012, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (``Exchange'' or ``CBOE...

The Meaning of Reflective Teaching to National Board Certified Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carey, Sharlotte F.

2017-01-01

This qualitative study examined how National Board certified teachers (NBCTs) perceive the meaning of reflective teaching and how their perceptions compare to the literature on reflective thinking and teaching. The study included five participants who had completed the National Board certification process. Data collection included three…

4 CFR 28.146 - Explanation and definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... are oral or written communications between decision-making personnel of the Board and an interested... person who might be affected by the outcome of a proceeding before the Board. (2) “Decision-making... employee of the Board, who reasonably can be expected to participate in the decision-making process of the...

How to Develop Written School Board Policies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, T. Susan

The speaker presents the steps to be followed in creating a systematized and up-to-date district manual of board policies and administrative rules. The process was developed by the National School Boards Association's Educational Policies Service. Included are the eight performance objectives identified as stepping stones to the manual, the five…

Assessments and Applications of Terra and Aqua MODIS On-Orbit Electronic Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Xiong, Xiaoxiong; Chen, Na; Li, Yonghong; Wilson, Truman

2016-01-01

MODIS has 36 spectral bands located on four focal plane assemblies (FPAs), covering wavelengths from 0.41 to 14.4 micrometers. MODIS bands 1-30 collect data using photovoltaic (PV) detectors and, therefore, are referred to as the PV bands. Similarly, bands 31-36 using photoconductive (PC) detectors are referred to as the PC bands.The MODIS instrument was built with a set of on-board calibrators (OBCs) in order to track on-orbit changes of its radiometric, spatial, and spectral characteristics. In addition, an electronic calibration (ECAL) function can be used to monitor on-orbit changes of its electronic responses (gains). This is accomplished via a series of stair step signals generated by the ECAL function. These signals, in place of the FPA detector signals, are amplified and digitized just like the detector signals. Over the entire mission of both Terra and Aqua MODIS,the ECAL has been performed for the PV bands and used to assess their on-orbit performance. This paper provides an overview of MODIS on-orbit calibration activities with a focus on the PV ECAL, including its calibration process and approaches used to monitor the electronic performance. It presents the results derived and lessons learned from Terra and Aqua MODIS on-orbit ECAL. Also discussed are some of the applications performed with the information provided by the ECAL data.