Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Access”

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

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

At least 199 records · Page 11

Waterproof Raised Floor Makes Utility Lines Accessible

Floor for laboratories, hospitals and factories waterproof yet allows access to subfloor utilities. Elevated access floor system designed for installations with multitude of diverse utility systems routed under and up through floor and requirement of separation of potentially conflicting utility services. Floor covered by continuous sheet of heat resealable vinyl. Floor system cut open when changes are made in utility lines and ducts. After modifications, floor covering resealed to protect subfloor utilities from spills and leaks.

Cohen, M. M.↗

McIDAS III - A modern interactive data access and analysis system

A powerful facility for meteorological analysis called the Man Computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS) was designed and implemented in the early 1970's at the Space Science and Engineering Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hardware and software experience gained via extensive use of that facility and its derivatives have led to a newer implementation of McIDAS on a larger computer with significant enhancements to the supporting McIDAS software. McIDAS allows remote and local access to a wide range of data from satellites and conventional observations, time lapse displays of imagery data, overlaid graphics, and current and past meteorological data. Available software allows one to perform analysis of a wide range of digital images as well as temperature and moisture sounding data obtained from satellites. McIDAS can generate multicolor composites of conventional and satellite weather data, radar and forecast data in a wide variety of two- and three-dimensional displays as well as time lapse movies of these analyses. These and other capabilities are described in this paper.

Suomi, V. E.↗

Method for Accessing Distributed Heterogeneous Databases

A scenario of relational, hierarchial, and network data bases is presented and a distributed access view integrated data base system (DAVID) is described for uniformly accessing data bases which are heterogeneous and physically distributed. The DAVID system is based on data base logic so that the relational approach is generalized to the heterogeneous approach. The global data manager is explained as are global data manipulation languages which can operate on all the data bases and can query the data dictionary and the data directory.

Jacobs, B. E.↗

Magnetopause structure and the question of particle accessibility

A simple plane model of the magnetopause is used to address the question of particle accessibility. Particle motion in the current sheet region is analyzed, showing that the concept of gyromotion is useful even when the electric and magnetic fields vary significantly over the gyroradius, as long as the variation is perpendicular to the drift direction. The first adiabatic invariant for particle motion is defined in such a way that it is preserved in regions of large field gradients, provided that the gradients are in a direction primarily perpendicular to the particle drifts. This generalized invariant provides an adiabatically conserved quantity that can be used to characterize particles as they move from a source region through the drift region and into the magnetopause itself, helping to resolve the accessibility question. Some preliminary results are given for the magnetopause structure based on the location of particle guiding points.

Whipple, E. C.↗

An integrated voice and data multiple-access scheme for a land-mobile satellite system

An analytical study is performed of the satellite requirements for a land mobile satellite system (LMSS). The spacecraft (MSAT-X) would be in GEO and would be compatible with multiple access by mobile radios and antennas and fixed stations. The FCC has received a petition from NASA to reserve the 821-825 and 866-870 MHz frequencies for the LMSS, while communications with fixed earth stations would be in the Ku band. MSAT-X transponders would alter the frequencies of signal and do no processing in the original configuration considered. Channel use would be governed by an integrated demand-assigned, multiple access protocol, which would divide channels into reservation and information channels, governed by a network management center. Further analyses will cover tradeoffs between data and voice users, probability of blocking, and the performance impacts of on-board switching and variable bandwidth assignment. Initial calculations indicate that a large traffic volume can be handled with acceptable delays and voice blocking probabilities.

Li, V. O. K.↗

Thermal design of the ACCESS erectable space truss

Thermal design requirements for the erectable truss beam to be assembled in-orbit during extra-vehicular activity as part of the ACCESS experiment to take place in 1985-1986 are formulated and assessed. The coatings, insulation, and materials chosen for the structural elements of the beam are detailed. A combined radiation and conduction thermal model reveals that worst-case thermal gradients within the ACCESS structure over plane-to-sun angles of 0 to 80 deg will be less than 29 F, which is within the allowable limit of 50 F. The individual strut insulation concept using aluminized Kapton is shown to offer significant advantages over white paint or a chromic acid anodized surface for controlling the thermal response.

Bradley, O. H., Jr.↗

Access control and privacy in large distributed systems

Large scale distributed systems consists of workstations, mainframe computers, supercomputers and other types of servers, all connected by a computer network. These systems are being used in a variety of applications including the support of collaborative scientific research. In such an environment, issues of access control and privacy arise. Access control is required for several reasons, including the protection of sensitive resources and cost control. Privacy is also required for similar reasons, including the protection of a researcher's proprietary results. A possible architecture for integrating available computer and communications security technologies into a system that meet these requirements is described. This architecture is meant as a starting point for discussion, rather that the final answer.

Leiner, B. M.↗

Fairness of channel access for non-time-critical traffic using the FDDI token ring protocol

The Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) is an ANSI draft proposed standard for a 100 megabit per second fiber optic token ring. FDDI supports two types of traffic, synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous traffic is time critical traffic; stations are assigned guaranteed bandwidth to support their synchronous needs. Asynchronous traffic is lower priority and is sent only if time permits. It is proved analytically that the FDDI access protocol provides all stations on the ring with equal access to the channel to transmit asynchronous frames, regardless of the relative sizes of synchronous bandwidth allocations for individual stations. Analytic results are supported with data from simulation runs.

Johnson, M. J.↗

ACCESS (Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structure) - A Shuttle flight experiment

ACCESS is a planned Shuttle flight experiment to assess the potential of an on-orbit construction concept designed for efficient manual assembly of a space truss. The experiment, which is scheduled for launch November 27, 1985, on the Space Transportation System (STS) flight 61-B, uses two astronauts secured in fixed foot restraints located in the Shuttle cargo bay to assemble a 45-foot long aluminum truss beam from 93 tubular struts and 33 nodal joints. Neutral buoyancy simulations of the flight experiment indicate the truss can be assembled in less than thirty minutes. Structural assembly, structural repair, flexible cable attachment and manual manipulation of the truss is also planned for the experiment using an astronaut secured in the Manipulator Foot Restraint attached to the Remote Manipulator System arm. Flight assembly data will be generated for correlation of the neutral buoyancy ground test data. This paper describes the ACCESS flight experiment and presents results of the neutral buoyancy development and training tests.

Heard, W. L., Jr.↗

Results of the ACCESS space construction Shuttle flight experiment

The ACCESS (Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structure) experiment was launched on the Orbiter Atlantis on November 26, 1985. ACCESS was designed to study manual assembly of a 45-foot long truss structure by two astronauts working in space suits in the Orbiter cargo bay. This paper describes the experiment and hardware used, and compares on-orbit construction timelines to underwater neutral buoyancy data. In-flight photographs of assembly tasks and comments made by the crew at the postflight debriefing are also included. It was found that all tasks could be accomplished and that assembly times compared favorably with neutral buoyancy data.

Heard, W. L., Jr.↗

Elevated waterproof access floor system and method of making the same

An elevated waterproof access floor system having subfloor channels or compartments for power lines, gas lines or the like is adapted such that it can be opened and subsequently resealed without destroying the waterproofing and without destroying its aesthetic appearance. A multiplicity of tiles are supported on a support grid, and a flooring sheet is supported on the tiles. Attachment means are provided to prevent lateral but not vertical movement of the flooring sheet with respect to the tiles so that the flooring sheet can be lifted off the tiles, but when the flooring sheet is supported on the tiles, no lateral slipping will occur. The flooring sheet is made of a heat resealable material, so that it can be cut away in sections, and the tiles therebelow lifted off, to provide access to subfloor compartments.

Cohen, Marc M.↗

Channel access schemes and fiber optic configurations for integrated-services local area networks

Local Area Networks are in common use for data communications and have enjoyed great success. Recently, there is a growing interest in using a single network to support many applications in addition to traditional data traffic. These additional applications introduce new requirements in terms of volume of traffic and real-time delivery of data which are not met by existing networks. To satisfy these requirements, a high-bandwidth tranmission medium, such as fiber optics, and a distributed channel access scheme for the efficient sharing of the bandwidth among the various applications are needed. As far as the throughput-delay requirements of the various application are concerned, a network structure along with a distributed channel access are proposed which incorporate appropriate scheduling policies for the transmission of outstanding messages on the network. A dynamic scheduling policy was devised which outperforms all existing policies in terms of minimizing the expected cost per message. A broadcast mechanism was devised for the efficient dissemination of all relevant information. Fiber optic technology is considered for the high-bandwidth transmisison medium.

Nassehi, M. Mehdi↗

Access control and privacy in large distributed systems

Large scale distributed systems consists of workstations, mainframe computers, supercomputers and other types of servers, all connected by a computer network. These systems are being used in a variety of applications including the support of collaborative scientific research. In such an environment, issues of access control and privacy arise. Access control is required for several reasons, including the protection of sensitive resources and cost control. Privacy is also required for similar reasons, including the protection of a researcher's proprietary results. A possible architecture for integrating available computer and communications security technologies into a system that meet these requirements is described. This architecture is meant as a starting point for discussion, rather that the final answer.

Leiner, B. M.↗

High data rate modem simulation for the space station multiple-access communications system

The communications system for the space station will require a space based multiple access component to provide communications between the space based program elements and the station. A study was undertaken to investigate two of the concerns of this multiple access system, namely, the issues related to the frequency spectrum utilization and the possibilities for higher order (than QPSK) modulation schemes for use in possible modulators and demodulators (modems). As a result of the investigation, many key questions about the frequency spectrum utilization were raised. At this point, frequency spectrum utilization is seen as an area requiring further work. Simulations were conducted using a computer aided communications system design package to provide a straw man modem structure to be used for both QPSK and 8-PSK channels.

Horan, Stephen↗

Data access for scientific problem solving

An essential ingredient in scientific work is data. In disciplines such as Oceanography, data sources are many and volumes are formidable. The full value of large stores of data cannot be realized unless careful thought is given to data access. JPL has developed the Pilot Ocean Data System to investigate techniques for archiving and accessing ocean data obtained from space. These include efficient storage and rapid retrieval of satellite data, an easy-to-use user interface, and a variety of output products which, taken together, permit researchers to extract and use data rapidly and conveniently.

Brown, James W.↗

Spread-spectrum multiple access using wideband noncoherent MFSK

Two spread-spectrum multiple access systems which use wideband M-ary frequency shift keying (FSK) (MFSK) as the primary modulation are presented. A bit error rate performance analysis is presented and system throughput is calculated for sample C band and Ku band satellite systems. Sample link analyses are included to illustrate power and adjacent satellite interference considerations in practical multiple access systems.

Ha, Tri T.↗

Satellite data management for effective data access

The management of data generated from satellite missions has not always led to effective access of that data by the scientific community. NASA has tried to alleviate this problem for ocean scientists, by initiating a program, the NASA Ocean Data System (NODS). The menu-based user interface that NODS employs allows a user to make request and receive answers within a short time of accessing the system. A catalog system, which holds information about oceanographic data sets may be queried to determine the suitability of a particular data set. Once a candidate data set is found, the user is directed to the person or place which actually holds the data. NODS also has an archive system that holds data from ocean-observing satellites. The archive may be queried to obtain a manageable data subset that can be delivered in a useful form.

Hogan, Patrick D.↗

A rapid prototyping/artificial intelligence approach to space station-era information management and access

Applications of rapid prototyping and Artificial Intelligence techniques to problems associated with Space Station-era information management systems are described. In particular, the work is centered on issues related to: (1) intelligent man-machine interfaces applied to scientific data user support, and (2) the requirement that intelligent information management systems (IIMS) be able to efficiently process metadata updates concerning types of data handled. The advanced IIMS represents functional capabilities driven almost entirely by the needs of potential users. Space Station-era scientific data projected to be generated is likely to be significantly greater than data currently processed and analyzed. Information about scientific data must be presented clearly, concisely, and with support features to allow users at all levels of expertise efficient and cost-effective data access. Additionally, mechanisms for allowing more efficient IIMS metadata update processes must be addressed. The work reported covers the following IIMS design aspects: IIMS data and metadata modeling, including the automatic updating of IIMS-contained metadata, IIMS user-system interface considerations, including significant problems associated with remote access, user profiles, and on-line tutorial capabilities, and development of an IIMS query and browse facility, including the capability to deal with spatial information. A working prototype has been developed and is being enhanced.

Carnahan, Richard S., Jr.↗