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At least 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

PhotonIDs: ML-Powered Photon Identification System for Dark Count Elimination

Reliable single photon detection is the foundation for practical quantum communication and networking. However, today's superconducting nanowire single photon detector(SNSPD) inherently fails to distinguish between genuine photon events and dark counts, leading to degraded fidelity in long-distance quantum communication. In this work, we introduce PhotonIDs, a machine learning-powered photon identification system that is the first end-to-end solution for real-time discrimination between photons and dark count based on full SNSPD readout signal waveform analysis. PhotonIDs ~demonstrates: 1) an FPGA-based high-speed data acquisition platform that selectively captures the full waveform of signal only while filtering out the background data in real time; 2) an efficient signal preprocessing pipeline, and a novel pseudo-position metric that is derived from the physical temporal-spatial features of each detected event; 3) a hybrid machine learning model with near 98% accuracy achieved on photon/dark count classification. Additionally, proposed PhotonIDs ~ is evaluated on the dark count elimination performance with two real-world case studies: (1) 20 km quantum link, and (2) Erbium ion-based photon emission system. Our result demonstrates that PhotonIDs ~could improve more than 31.2 times of signal-noise-ratio~(SNR) on dark count elimination. PhotonIDs ~ marks a step forward in noise-resilient quantum communication infrastructure.

Linne, Karl C. [Chicago U.] (ORCID:000900091870358↗
DOE OSTI2020

Studying impacts of communication system performance on dynamic stability of networked microgrid

The development of smart grid technologies has resulted in increased interdependence between power and communication systems. Many of the operations in the existing power system rely on a stable and secured communication system. For electrically weak systems and time‐critical applications, this reliance can be even greater, where a small degradation in communication performance can degrade system stability. However, despite inter‐dependencies between power and communication systems, only a few studies have investigated the impacts of communication system performance on power system dynamics. This study investigates the dependencies of power system dynamics operations on a communication system performance. First, a detailed, dynamic networked microgrid model is developed in the GridLAB‐D simulation environment, along with a representative multi‐traffic, multi‐channel, multi‐protocol communication system model, developed in the network simulator (ns‐3). Second, a hierarchical engine for large‐scale infrastructure co‐simulation framework is developed to co‐simulate microgrid dynamics, its communication system, and a microgrid control system. The impact of communication system delays on the dynamic stability of networked microgrids is evaluated for the loss of generation using three use‐cases. While the example use‐cases examine microgrid applications and the impact to resiliency, the framework can be applied to all levels of power system operations.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Review of Design Elements within Power Infrastructure Cyber–Physical Test Beds as Threat Analysis Environments

Cyber–physical systems (CPSs) are an integral part of modern society; thus, enhancing these systems’ reliability and resilience is paramount. Cyber–physical testbeds (CPTs) are a safe way to test and explore the interplay between the cyber and physical domains and to cost-effectively enhance the reliability and resilience of CPSs. Here a review of CPT elements, broken down into physical components (simulators, emulators, and physical hardware), soft components (communication protocols, network timing protocols), and user interfaces (visualization-dashboard design considerations) is presented. Various methods used to validate CPS performance are reviewed and evaluated for potential applications in CPT performance validation. Last, initial simulated results for a CPT design, based on the IEEE 33 bus system, are presented, along with a brief discussion on how model-based testing and fault–injection-based testing (using scaling and ramp-type attacks) may be used to help validate CPT performance.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Information Carried by Electromagnetic Radiation Launched from Accelerated Polarization Currents

We show experimentally that a continuous, linear, dielectric antenna in which a superluminal polarization-current distribution accelerates can be used to transmit a broadband signal that is reproduced in a comprehensible form at a chosen target distance and angle. The requirement for this exact correspondence between broadcast and received signals is that each moving point in the polarization-current distribution approaches the target at the speed of light at all times during its transit along the antenna. This results in a one-to-one correspondence between the time at which each point on the moving polarization current enters the antenna and the time at which all of the radiation emitted by this particular point during its transit through the antenna arrives simultaneously at the target. This has the effect of reproducing the desired time dependence of the original broadcast signal. For other observer-detector positions, the time dependence of the signal is scrambled, due to the nontrivial relationship between emission (retarded) time and reception time. This technique represents a contrast to conventional radio transmission methods; in most examples of the latter, signals are broadcast with little or no directivity, selectivity of reception being achieved through the use of narrow frequency bands. In place of this, the current paper uses a spread of frequencies to transmit information to a particular location; the signal is weaker and has a scrambled time dependence elsewhere. Here, we point out the possible relevance of this mechanism to 5G neighborhood networks and pulsar astronomy.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Networked Microgrid Framework and Testbed for Communication, Controls, and Optimization Testing

This paper presents the development and experimental results of a networked AC microgrid testbed located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The testbed comprises two, 480V three-phase, four wire microgrids designed to operate standalone, grid-tied, or as a network of microgrids. This testbed represents both the state of the industry, by incorporating grid-assets commonly found in real microgrids, and the state of the art, as it is a platform to evaluate advanced controllers. The main elements of this networked microgrid testbed are presented in this paper including a Scenario Manager, local microgrid controls, and a networked microgrid control. The Scenario Manager has the objective of emulating real-world conditions. The local microgrid controller oversees standalone, grid-tied, or islanded operation. The microgrid control is a higher-level control that coordinates interaction between islanded microgrids. This paper delves into these controllers and validates their operation in the networked microgrid testbed showcasing the operational flexibility and advance control capabilities.

Ferrari Maglia, Max↗
DOE OSTI2022

Colorectal Cancer Metastases in the Liver Establish Immunosuppressive Spatial Networking between Tumor-Associated SPP1 + Macrophages and Fibroblasts

Abstract Purpose: The liver is the most frequent metastatic site for colorectal cancer. Its microenvironment is modified to provide a niche that is conducive for colorectal cancer cell growth. This study focused on characterizing the cellular changes in the metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) liver tumor microenvironment (TME). Experimental Design: We analyzed a series of microsatellite stable (MSS) mCRCs to the liver, paired normal liver tissue, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). We validated our findings using multiplexed spatial imaging and bulk gene expression with cell deconvolution. Results: We identified TME-specific SPP1-expressing macrophages with altered metabolism features, foam cell characteristics, and increased activity in extracellular matrix (ECM) organization. SPP1+ macrophages and fibroblasts expressed complementary ligand–receptor pairs with the potential to mutually influence their gene-expression programs. TME lacked dysfunctional CD8 T cells and contained regulatory T cells, indicative of immunosuppression. Spatial imaging validated these cell states in the TME. Moreover, TME macrophages and fibroblasts had close spatial proximity, which is a requirement for intercellular communication and networking. In an independent cohort of mCRCs in the liver, we confirmed the presence of SPP1+ macrophages and fibroblasts using gene-expression data. An increased proportion of TME fibroblasts was associated with the worst prognosis in these patients. Conclusions: We demonstrated that mCRC in the liver is characterized by transcriptional alterations of macrophages in the TME. Intercellular networking between macrophages and fibroblasts supports colorectal cancer growth in the immunosuppressed metastatic niche in the liver. These features can be used to target immune-checkpoint–resistant MSS tumors.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cyber-physical cascading failure and resilience of power grid: A comprehensive review

Smart grid technologies are based on the integration of the cyber network and the power grid into a cyber-physical power system (CPPS). The increasing cyber-physical interdependencies bring about tremendous opportunities for the modeling, monitoring, control, and protection of power grids, but also create new types of vulnerabilities and failure mechanisms threatening the reliability and resiliency of system operation. A major concern regarding the interdependent networks is the cascading failure (CF), where a small initial disturbance/failure in the network results in a seemingly unexpected large-scale failure. Although there has been a significant volume of recent work in the CF research of CPPS, a comprehensive review remains unavailable. This article aims to fill the gap by providing a systematic literature survey regarding the modeling, analysis, and mitigation of CF in CPPS. The open research questions for further research are also discussed. This article allows researchers to easily understand the state of the art of CF research in CPPS and fosters future work required towards full resolutions to the remaining questions and challenges.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Systems and methods for monitoring traffic on industrial control and building automation system networks

Technologies relating to monitoring communications traffic to detect potential attacks on industrial control system networks and building automation system networks are described herein. In an embodiment, a monitoring device receives a plurality of communications from a control network. The monitoring device transmits the communications to a computing device. Based on the communications, the computing device generates a listing of devices that communicated by way of the control network over a period of time, and computes a volume of traffic between each pair of devices in the listing of devices. The computing device then outputs a graphical user interface (GUI) by way of display, the GUI comprising data indicative of the computed volumes of traffic, which may be indicative of a potential attack on the control network.

Jenkins, Chris↗
DOE OSTI2023

All-silicon quantum light source by embedding an atomic emissive center in a nanophotonic cavity

Silicon is the most scalable optoelectronic material but has suffered from its inability to generate directly and efficiently classical or quantum light on-chip. Scaling and integration are the most fundamental challenges facing quantum science and technology. We report an all-silicon quantum light source based on a single atomic emissive center embedded in a silicon-based nanophotonic cavity. We observe a more than 30-fold enhancement of luminescence, a near-unity atom-cavity coupling efficiency, and an 8-fold acceleration of the emission from the all-silicon quantum emissive center. Our work opens immediate avenues for large-scale integrated cavity quantum electrodynamics and quantum light-matter interfaces with applications in quantum communication and networking, sensing, imaging, and computing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Measurement placement in electric power transmission and distribution grids: Review of concepts, methods, and research needs

Sensing and measurement systems are quintessential to the safe and reliable operation of electric power grids. Their strategic placement is of ultimate importance because it is not economically viable to install measurement systems on every node and branch of a power grid, though they need to be monitored. An overwhelming number of strategies have been developed to meet oftentimes multiple conflicting objectives. The prime challenge in formulating the problem lies in developing a heuristic or an optimisation model that, though mathematically tractable and constrained in cost, leads to trustworthy technical solutions. Further, large-scale, long-term deployments pose additional challenges because the boundary conditions change as technologies evolve. For instance, the advent of new technologies in sensing and measurement, as well as in communications and networking, might impact the cost and performance of available solutions and shift initially set conditions. Also, the placement strategies developed for transmission grids might not be suitable for distribution grids, and vice versa, because of unique characteristics; therefore, the strategies need to be flexible, to a certain extent, because no two power grids are alike. Despite the extensive literature on the present topic, the focus of published works tends to be on a specific subject, such as the optimal placement of measurements to ensure observability in transmission grids. There is a dearth of work providing a comprehensive picture for developing optimal placement strategies. Because of the ongoing efforts on the modernisation of electric power grids, there is a need to consolidate the status quo while exposing its limitations to inform policymakers, industry stakeholders, and researchers on the research-and-development needs to push the boundaries for innovation. Accordingly, this paper first reviews the state-of-the-art considering both transmission and distribution grids. Then, it consolidates the key factors to be considered in the problem formulation. Finally, it provides a set of perspectives on the measurement placement problem, and it concludes with future research directions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

DC Microgrids Under Denial of Service Attacks: Feasibility and Stability Issues

Distributed control has been extensively studied for a DC microgrid to coordinate multiple grid assets where each asset can generate its own control decisions based on communications within its neighborhood. Nevertheless, such a control strategy usually has a strong dependence on active information exchange and needs to always maintain a pre-determined communication graph. This makes it vulnerable to cyber attacks, especially denial of service (DoS) attacks that block communication channels that effectively change the communication graph. In this paper, we study two potential impacts of DoS attacks: the inability to maintain steady-state and dynamical generation-demand balance, i.e. the feasibility and stability issues. We develop a mathematical model to describe the cyber-induced system steady-state and dynamical performance. The model reveals the impacts of DoS attacks and enables formal analysis. Case studies are shown to verify the proposed work.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Steady-State Analysis of Microgrid Distributed Control Under Denial of Service Attacks

Distributed control is an effective method to coordinate multiple components in a microgrid. It usually has mandatory requirements for communication graph topology; changing the topology unexpectedly could disrupt the operation of a distributed controller. A denial of service (DoS) attack blocks communication channels to cause variations in communication graph. Unforeseen topology changes render a controller to receive incomplete system information. Control decisions made based on incorrect information can lead to significantly reduced grid supporting capability. As a result, the vital power balance between generation and load may be challenged. Determining power balance requires steady-state power flow analysis; however, the cyber-induced steady-state analysis is not well studied in the literature. Here, in this article, we show that a cyber–physical microgrid with unknown DoS attacks has augmented uncertain power flow equations, whose special structure creates new computational issue to determining power balance. To deal with the issue, we develop a novel cyber-induced microgrid model: the cyber–physical system is transformed into a pure physical model, where the disruption effects of DoS in the cyber layer are shown to be equivalent to the variations of the physical model parameters. With the transformed system, we develop a sufficient condition to ascertain the system power balance under unknown DoS attacks. In addition, practical insights for resilient distributed control design are shown as well.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Design Methodologies for Integrated Quantum Frequency Processors

We report frequency-encoded quantum information offers intriguing opportunities for quantum communications and networking, with the quantum frequency processor paradigm—based on electro-optic phase modulators and Fourier-transform pulse shapers—providing a path for scalable construction of quantum gates. Yet all experimental demonstrations to date have relied on discrete fiber-optic components that occupy significant physical space and impart appreciable loss. In this article, we introduce a model for the design of quantum frequency processors comprising microring resonator-based pulse shapers and integrated phase modulators. We estimate the performance of single and parallel frequency-bin Hadamard gates, finding high fidelity values that extend to frequency bins with relatively wide bandwidths. By incorporating multi-order filter designs as well, we explore the limits of tight frequency spacings, a regime extremely difficult to obtain in bulk optics. Overall, our model is general, simple to use, and extendable to other material platforms, providing a much-needed design tool for future frequency processors in integrated photonics.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Accurate Consensus-based Distributed Averaging with Variable Time Delay in Support of Distributed Secondary Control Algorithms

We report that distributed secondary control has been widely used in hierarchical control structures, where multiple distributed generators (DGs) need to coordinate to regulate system voltage and frequency. In these systems, consensus algorithms determine the average of a group of dynamic states (e.g. voltages measured by a group of DGs). To be useful, consensus algorithms must be computationally efficient, stable and accurate. In practice, numerous practical implementation challenges significantly affect the consensus equilibrium. In this paper, we quantify the accuracy deviations of the distributed average observer algorithms proposed in the literature to demonstrate the problems with the state-of-the-art distributed averaging techniques. A novel approach is proposed that achieves accurate average tracking in the presence of time-varying communication delays among agents. In our implementation, time synchronization of all distributed controllers is enabled by a novel software platform, called Resilient Information Architecture Platform for the Smart Grid (RIAPS). The proposed distributed average observer is implemented on hardware controllers and its effectiveness is validated in a controller hardware-in-the-loop testbed.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

A characterization of quantum Kerr optical frequency combs

Quantum Kerr optical frequency combs are generated by pumping a high-Q microresonator with a continuous wave resonant laser. Below threshold, two pump photons are symmetrically up- and down-converted as twin photons via spontaneous four-wave mixing, thereby generating up to a hundred paired channels. Furthermore, these chipscale, high-dimensional and room-temperature systems are expected to play a major role in quantum engineering. However, their theoretical description is still unclear. Here, we present an explicit description of this quantum system via a frequency-bin state and its density operator, and explore the properties of the eigenkets.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Storm DEPART(Damage Estimate Prediction And Recovery Tool)

Damage prediction, materials needed, and resource allocation modeling capability in order to support pre-incident planning and preparation by predicting damage to the power generation capacity, transmission grids, distribution networks, and communications assets. The capabilities will be developed by multiple factors to include wind bands, storm surge, and flooding forecasts to participant’s assets which will result in a report of predicted damages. Additional factors to include available participants infrastructure data to include class, age, construction, location, wind rating, and additional information not in the public domain. Based on predicted damages, the output will be a bill of materials (BOM) to support short-term recovery operations. The extensiveness and level of detail for this BOM will depend on the replacement configuration specifications provided for each individual participant asset. Any limiting factors for the model will be applied related supply chain and resource constraints.

Klett, Mary↗
DOE OSTI2022

High-dimensional discrete Fourier transform gates with a quantum frequency processor

The discrete Fourier transform (DFT) is of fundamental interest in photonic quantum information, yet the ability to scale it to high dimensions depends heavily on the physical encoding, with practical recipes lacking in emerging platforms such as frequency bins. In this article, we show that d -point frequency-bin DFTs can be realized with a fixed three-component quantum frequency processor (QFP), simply by adding to the electro-optic modulation signals one radio-frequency harmonic per each incremental increase in d . We verify gate fidelity F W > 0.9997 and success probability P W > 0.965 up to d = 10 in numerical simulations, and experimentally implement the solution for d = 3, utilizing measurements with parallel DFTs to quantify entanglement and perform tomography of multiple two-photon frequency-bin states. Our results furnish new opportunities for high-dimensional frequency-bin protocols in quantum communications and networking.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗