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At least 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

System and Propagation Availability Analysis for NASA's Advanced Air Transportation Technologies

This report summarizes the research on the System and Propagation Availability Analysis for NASA's project on Advanced Air Transportation Technologies (AATT). The objectives of the project were to determine the communication systems requirements and architecture, and to investigate the effect of propagation on the transmission of space information. In this report, results from the first year investigation are presented and limitations are highlighted. To study the propagation links, an understanding of the total system architecture is necessary since the links form the major component of the overall architecture. This study was conducted by way of analysis, modeling and simulation on the system communication links. The overall goals was to develop an understanding of the space communication requirements relevant to the AATT project, and then analyze the links taking into consideration system availability under adverse atmospheric weather conditions. This project began with a preliminary study of the end-to-end system architecture by modeling a representative communication system in MATLAB SIMULINK. Based on the defining concepts, the possibility of computer modeling was determined. The investigations continue with the parametric studies of the communication system architecture. These studies were also carried out with SIMULINK modeling and simulation. After a series of modifications, two end-to-end communication links were identified as the most probable models for the communication architecture. Link budget calculations were then performed in MATHCAD and MATLAB for the identified communication scenarios. A remarkable outcome of this project is the development of a graphic user interface (GUI) program for the computation of the link budget parameters in real time. Using this program, one can interactively compute the link budget requirements after supplying a few necessary parameters. It provides a framework for the eventual automation of several computations required in many experimental NASA missions. For the first year of this project, most of the stated objectives were accomplished. We were able to identify probable communication systems architectures, model and analyze several communication links, perform numerous simulation on different system models, and then develop a program for the link budget analysis. However, most of the work is still unfinished. The effect of propagation on the transmission of information in the identified communication channels has not been performed. Propagation effects cannot be studied until the system under consideration is identified and characterized. To study the propagation links, an understanding of the total communications architecture is necessary. It is important to mention that the original project was intended for two years and the results presented here are only for the first year of research. It is prudent therefore that these efforts be continued in order to obtain a complete picture of the system and propagation availability requirements.

Ugweje, Okechukwu C.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Space Network IP Services (SNIS): An Architecture for Supporting Low Earth Orbiting IP Satellite Missions

The NASA Space Network (SN) supports a variety of missions using the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), which includes ground stations in White Sands, New Mexico and Guam. A Space Network IP Services (SNIS) architecture is being developed to support future users with requirements for end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) communications. This architecture will support all IP protocols, including Mobile IP, over TDRSS Single Access, Multiple Access, and Demand Access Radio Frequency (RF) links. This paper will describe this architecture and how it can enable Low Earth Orbiting IP satellite missions.

Israel, David J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Fine pointing control for free-space optical communication

Free-Space Optical Communications requires precise, stable laser pointing to maintain operating conditions. This paper also describes the software and hardware implementation of Fine Pointing Control based on the Optical Communications Demonstrator architecture.

free-space optical communication fine point contro↗
NASA NTRS2014

Evolving the NASA Near Earth Network for the Next Generation of Human Space Flight

The purpose of this paper is to present the planned development and evolution of the NASA Near Earth Network (NEN) launch communications services in support of the next generation of human space flight programs. Following the final space shuttle mission in 2011, the two NEN launch communications stations were decommissioned. Today, NASA is developing the next generation of human space flight systems focused on exploration missions beyond low-earth orbit, and supporting the emerging market for commercial crew and cargo human space flight services. The NEN is leading a major initiative to develop a modern high data rate launch communications ground architecture with support from the Kennedy Space Center Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and in partnership with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Eastern Range. This initiative, the NEN Launch Communications Stations (LCS) development project, successfully completed its System Requirements Review in November 2013. This paper provides an overview of the LCS project and a summary of its progress. The LCS ground architecture, concept of operations, and driving requirements to support the new heavy-lift Space Launch System and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle for Exploration Mission-1 are presented. Finally, potential future extensions to the ground architecture beyond EM-1 are discussed.

Launch Communications↗
NASA NTRS2005

Proceedings of the Fifth Integrated Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance (ICNS) Conference and Workshop

Contents includes papers on the following: JPDO: Inter-Agency Cooperation for the Next Generation ATS; R&T Programs; Integrated CNS Systems and Architectures; Datalink Communication Systems; Navigation, System Demonstrations and Operations; Safety and Security Initiatives Impacting CNS; Global Communications Initiatives; Airborne Internet; Avionics for System-Level Enhancements; SWIM (System Wide Information Management); Weather Products and Data Dissemination Technologies; Airsapce Communication Networks; Surveillance Systems; Workshop Breakouts Sessions and ; ICNS Conference Information.

Fujikawa, Gene↗
DOE OSTI2022

Communication Requirements for Price-Based Grid Coordination

Meeting ambitious goals for carbon reduction and supporting an electric grid with high levels of renewable energy supply will require significant flexibility from the demand side. This paper outlines a system architecture and communication technology infrastructure to enable dynamic pricing to be used to finely tune coordination between the grid and its customers. Taking a cue from the success of Internet architecture, this system — Price-Based Grid Coordination — emphasizes simplicity and universality. It enables a wide variety of ways for prices and other signals to pass from the grid to individual flexible loads, including multiple possible locations for the intelligence that combines price signals with device functional needs. The paper includes a reference data model to describe how information from the utility level can be conveyed to customer devices, but independent of any particular protocol. The paper also summarizes technology standards development needs, and reviews research needs to address the full spectrum of coordination scenarios.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2001

Advanced Communication and Networking Technologies for Mars Exploration

Next-generation Mars communications networks will provide communications and navigation services to a wide variety of Mars science vehicles including: spacecraft that are arriving at Mars, spacecraft that are entering and descending in the Mars atmosphere, scientific orbiter spacecraft, spacecraft that return Mars samples to Earth, landers, rovers, aerobots, airplanes, and sensing pods. In the current architecture plans, the communication services will be provided using capabilities deployed on the science vehicles as well as dedicated communication satellites that will together make up the Mars network. This network will evolve as additional vehicles arrive, depart or end their useful missions. Cost savings and increased reliability will result from the ability to share communication services between missions. This paper discusses the basic architecture that is needed to support the Mars Communications Network part of NASA's Space Science Enterprise (SSE) communications architecture. The network may use various networking technologies such as those employed in the terrestrial Internet, as well as special purpose deep-space protocols to move data and commands autonomously between vehicles, at disparate Mars vicinity sites (on the surface or in near-Mars space) and between Mars vehicles and earthbound users. The architecture of the spacecraft on-board local communications is being reconsidered in light of these new networking requirements. The trend towards increasingly autonomous operation of the spacecraft is aimed at reducing the dependence on resource scheduling provided by Earth-based operators and increasing system fault tolerance. However, these benefits will result in increased communication and software development requirements. As a result, the envisioned Mars communications infrastructure requires both hardware and protocol technology advancements. This paper will describe a number of the critical technology needs and some of the ongoing research activities.

Bhasin, Kul↗
NASA NTRS1990

Data distribution satellite system architecture concept

This paper describes a future communications satellite system architecture concept called the Data Distribution Satellite (DDS). The DDS is envisioned as a new system to be used as an adjunct to TDRS/TDAS for distributing new NASA science data throughout the U.S. as well as internationally. The DDS would also provide networking capability for interchange of science database files among science users and NASA archive depositories. Experimenters would be able to access and control their experimental packages remotely, relieving astronaut workload. This paper gives a conceptual system design based on year 1995 technology. Features of the design include use of Ku and Ka-bands, use of fixed spot beams, 2 Gb/s throughput, and on-board demodulation and switching. The satellite dry mass is 1,300 kg and end-of-life power is 4 kW.

Price, Kent M.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Lunar Optical Communications

Numerous studies have shown that NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) is woefully inadequate to support the current pace of space exploration. Proposals are on the table for extensive infrastructure build-out using RF communications, which is ultimately bandwidth constrained. Optical communication offers unregulated, near-infinite bandwidth that can easily support the needs of humans at the Moon and beyond. Although not part of the proposed lunar network architecture, optical communication systems should be considered; these systems are operational now, quickly proliferating near Earth space (e.g. StarLink), and offer very high bandwidths.

lunar↗
NASA NTRS2011

Delay and Disruption Tolerant Networking MACHETE Model

To verify satisfaction of communication requirements imposed by unique missions, as early as 2000, the Communications Networking Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) saw the need for an environment to support interplanetary communication protocol design, validation, and characterization. JPL's Multi-mission Advanced Communications Hybrid Environment for Test and Evaluation (MACHETE), described in Simulator of Space Communication Networks (NPO-41373) NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 29, No. 8 (August 2005), p. 44, combines various commercial, non-commercial, and in-house custom tools for simulation and performance analysis of space networks. The MACHETE environment supports orbital analysis, link budget analysis, communications network simulations, and hardware-in-the-loop testing. As NASA is expanding its Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) capabilities to support planned and future missions, building infrastructure to maintain services and developing enabling technologies, an important and broader role is seen for MACHETE in design-phase evaluation of future SCaN architectures. To support evaluation of the developing Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) field and its applicability for space networks, JPL developed MACHETE models for DTN Bundle Protocol (BP) and Licklider/Long-haul Transmission Protocol (LTP). DTN is an Internet Research Task Force (IRTF) architecture providing communication in and/or through highly stressed networking environments such as space exploration and battlefield networks. Stressed networking environments include those with intermittent (predictable and unknown) connectivity, large and/or variable delays, and high bit error rates. To provide its services over existing domain specific protocols, the DTN protocols reside at the application layer of the TCP/IP stack, forming a store-and-forward overlay network. The key capabilities of the Bundle Protocol include custody-based reliability, the ability to cope with intermittent connectivity, the ability to take advantage of scheduled and opportunistic connectivity, and late binding of names to addresses.

Segui, John S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Communications in Support of the Artemis Program

NASA has been challenged to send the first woman and first person of color to the South Pole of the moon by 2024. Named the Artemis Program, this effort serves as a proving ground for the greater Moon-to-Mars campaign and establishes a lunar outpost by 2028. The Artemis Program relies on simultaneous operation of multiple flight assets separated by large angular distances that require a unique communication strategy and is a departure from the previous Apollo-era architecture. NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program is designing a scalable, extensible, and reusable network architecture to provide communication and navigation services in support of lunar exploration. This architecture serves at the foundational infrastructure, paving the way for future exploration of Mars. In pursuance of this new architecture, the SCaN Program is augmenting NASA’s space communications networks by upgrading the current 34-meter beam waveguide antenna systems and incorporating an 18-meter class subnet. This paper presents an overview of NASA’s plans to provide high data rate communication and navigation services for lunar exploration efforts including: operations concepts to support the lunar communications architecture, major network enhancements and new capabilities, and a Mars-forward approach that maximizes the reuse of these capabilities. Capabilities include:(1) Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN), (2) Multiple Spacecraft Per Aperture (MSPA, also known as Multiple Spacecraft Per Antenna), and (3) Simultaneous Ka-band uplink and downlink. The mid-2020s era is a historic opportunity to advance NASA’s space communications infrastructure as humans return to the moon and continue to interplanetary exploration, starting with Mars. The space communication infrastructure is a lifeline that supports these endeavors, furthering humankinds’ exploration and understanding of the universe.

Philip A Baldwin↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Review of Current Research Trends in Power-Electronic Innovations in Cyber–Physical Systems

Here, in this article, a broad overview of the current research trends in power-electronic innovations in cyber–physical systems (CPSs) is presented. The recent advances in semiconductor device technologies, control architectures, and communication methodologies have enabled researchers to develop integrated smart CPSs that can cater to the emerging requirements of smart grids, renewable energy, electric vehicles, trains, ships, the Internet of Things (IoT), and so on. The topics presented in this article include novel power-distribution architectures, protection techniques considering large renewable integration in smart grids, wireless charging in electric vehicles, simultaneous power and information transmission, multihop network-based coordination, power technologies for renewable energy and smart transformer, CPS reliability, transactive smart railway grid, and real-time simulation of shipboard power systems. It is anticipated that the research trends presented in this article will provide a timely and useful overview to the power-electronics researchers with broad applications in CPSs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS2006

Simulation Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Space Networks

In space exploration missions, the coordinated use of spacecraft as communication relays increases the efficiency of the endeavors. To conduct trade-off studies of the performance and resource usage of different communication protocols and network designs, JPL designed a comprehensive extendable tool, the Multi-mission Advanced Communications Hybrid Environment for Test and Evaluation (MACHETE). The design and development of MACHETE began in 2000 and is constantly evolving. Currently, MACHETE contains Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) protocol standards such as Proximity-1, Advanced Orbiting Systems (AOS), Packet Telemetry/Telecommand, Space Communications Protocol Specification (SCPS), and the CCSDS File Delivery Protocol (CFDP). MACHETE uses the Aerospace Corporation s Satellite Orbital Analysis Program (SOAP) to generate the orbital geometry information and contact opportunities. Matlab scripts provide the link characteristics. At the core of MACHETE is a discrete event simulator, QualNet. Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) is an end-to-end architecture providing communication in and/or through highly stressed networking environments. Stressed networking environments include those with intermittent connectivity, large and/or variable delays, and high bit error rates. To provide its services, the DTN protocols reside at the application layer of the constituent internets, forming a store-and-forward overlay network. The key capabilities of the bundling protocols include custody-based reliability, ability to cope with intermittent connectivity, ability to take advantage of scheduled and opportunistic connectivity, and late binding of names to addresses. In this presentation, we report on the addition of MACHETE models needed to support DTN, namely: the Bundle Protocol (BP) model. To illustrate the use of MACHETE with the additional DTN model, we provide an example simulation to benchmark its performance. We demonstrate the use of the DTN protocol and discuss statistics gathered concerning the total time needed to simulate numerous bundle transmissions

network protocols↗
NASA NTRS2017

Mesh Network Architecture for Enabling Inter-Spacecraft Communication

To enable communication between spacecraft operating in a formation or small constellation, a mesh network architecture was developed and tested using a time division multiple access (TDMA) communication scheme. The network is designed to allow for the exchange of telemetry and other data between spacecraft to enable collaboration between small spacecraft. The system uses a peer-to-peer topology with no central router, so that it does not have a single point of failure. The mesh network is dynamically configurable to allow for addition and subtraction of new spacecraft into the communication network. Flight testing was performed using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) formation acting as a spacecraft analogue and providing a stressing environment to prove mesh network performance. The mesh network was primarily devised to provide low latency, high frequency communication but is flexible and can also be configured to provide higher bandwidth for applications desiring high data throughput. The network includes a relay functionality that extends the maximum range between spacecraft in the network by relaying data from node to node. The mesh network control is implemented completely in software making it hardware agnostic, thereby allowing it to function with a wide variety of existing radios and computing platforms..

Becker, Christopher↗
NASA NTRS1983

Space Station needs, attributes and architectural options. Volume 2, book 2, part 3: Communication system

Preliminary results of the study of the architecture and attributes of the RF communications and tracking subsystem of the space station are summarized. Only communications between the space station and other external elements such as TDRSS satellites, low-orbit spacecraft, OTV, MOTV, in the general environment of the space station are considered. The RF communications subsystem attributes and characteristics are defined and analyzed key issues are identified for evolution from an initial space station (1990) to a year 2000 space station. The mass and power characteristics of the communications subsystem for the initial space station are assessed as well as the impact of advanced technology developments. Changes needed to the second generation TDRSS to accommodate the evolutionary space station of the year 2000 are also identified.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2018

Lunar Relay Coverage Analysis for RF and Optical Links

This paper describes our effort in searching different lunar relay architectures and assessing their coverage performance and other pros and cons for RF and optical links. Regarding RF links, we considered three notional lunar relay architectures, all communicating with the three sites of the Deep Space Network (DSN): Goldstone, California; Canberra, Australia; and Madrid, Spain: 1) A constellation of three relay orbiters: two at the Polar frozen elliptical orbits, and one at an equatorial circular orbit. 2) One relay orbiter in a 74-day Lissajous orbit at Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2. 3) One relay orbiter in a 14-day Lunar distance retrograde orbit. Regarding optical link, we considered a notional multi-hop relay architecture that consists of one relay orbiter in a 74-day Lissajous orbit at Earth-Moon L2 (as in architecture #2 in the RF case), three Near-Earth relay satellites in geosynchronous orbit at longitudes 187° E, 110° E, and 347° E, and three ground stations at White Sands (US), Guam (US), and Tenerife (Spain). We introduce the additional constraints of Sun-“Earth”Probe (SEP) angle for return links, and Sun-Probe-“Earth” (SPE) angle for forward links. SPE and SPE angles determine the amount of sunlight (noise) that goes into the detector of the telescope, thus affecting the capacity of an optical link.

Lee, Charles↗
NASA NTRS2004

Scalable Architecture for Multihop Wireless ad Hoc Networks

A scalable architecture for wireless digital data and voice communications via ad hoc networks has been proposed. Although the details of the architecture and of its implementation in hardware and software have yet to be developed, the broad outlines of the architecture are fairly clear: This architecture departs from current commercial wireless communication architectures, which are characterized by low effective bandwidth per user and are not well suited to low-cost, rapid scaling in large metropolitan areas. This architecture is inspired by a vision more akin to that of more than two dozen noncommercial community wireless networking organizations established by volunteers in North America and several European countries.

Arabshahi, Payman↗