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At least 343 records · Page 19

Demonstration of a Novel Technology to Manage Electricity Demand in Grid-Independent Military Microgrids

This research was conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with the S&C Electric Inc. through funding provided by the ESTCP. The project demonstrates use of cybersecure Automated Demand Response (ADR) technology to effectively manage microgrid loads during grid-independent, also known as "islanded," operation. When military microgrids become isolated from the main electrical grid, they are required to balance electricity supply and demand locally. Given that local generation may be constrained, the prevailing strategy involves shedding all but the most critical loads by tripping smart circuit breakers, which then necessitate manual resetting. This approach is generally implemented at the building level, which means that the buildings with mission-critical activities are exempt from load management and remain fully powered, whereas those deemed non-critical can experience a complete loss of service. In this research we developed a method that allows building automation systems to selectively control their assets in response to load shedding request from a microgrid controller, avoiding total loss of service in contrast to the conventional control approach. A commercial OpenADR client server by GridFabric is used for communication between the microgrid controller and the building management system (BMS). The microgrid controller monitors both generation capacity and various assets within the microgrid and issues a demand reduction request when necessary. This request is communicated to the OpenADR server via Modbus. Upon receiving the request, the OpenADR server forwards it to the BMS utilizing the OpenADR protocol. The BMS is pre-configured with various levels of load reduction strategies based on the controllable assets available, allowing for a nuanced approach to demand reduction. Both lab and field tests were performed that considered load shedding needed to achieve closed transition into island mode and to accommodate changing loads and power source availability while islanded. A commercial microgrid controller was used for these tests with normal programming within the expected constraints of the system capabilities. That is, the solution did not require any specialized modification to the code base of the controller. Given the latency of the round-trip communication path between the microgrid controller and the various devices involved with the load shed processes, there are certain scenarios for which the demonstrated solution are appropriate and some which are not. The methods described in this report can be used for load shedding/restoration during transitions between islanded and grid-tied modes of operation, as well as accommodating normal variations in load and the need to remove a power source from operation for maintenance. These methods should not be used for scenarios that require load shedding within a second or two such as sudden and unanticipated significant load increases or loss of power sources through equipment faults.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Precursor Analysis Report: SQL Slammer Worm Infection of Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant 2003

The SQL Slammer Worm Infection of Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant 2003 Precursor Analysis Report leverages publicly available information about Davis-Besse’s 2003 cyber attack and catalogs anomalous observables for each technique employed in the attack. This analysis is based upon the methodology of the Cybersecurity for the Operational Technology Environment (CyOTE) program. On 25 January 2003, the SQL Slammer worm infected more than 90% of vulnerable hosts and crashed the internet in 10 to 15 minutes, making it one of the fastest spreading worms in history. SQL Slammer is a fileless, memory-resident worm that remotely exploits a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability on local hosts to intensively scan and rapidly self-propagate across the internet. The worm infected approximately 300,000 unpatched hosts running Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server 2000 or Microsoft Desktop Engine (MSDE) 2000 with SQL Server Resolution Service. The SQL Slammer worm indirectly infected FirstEnergy’s Davis-Besse nuclear power plant by first infecting a consultant’s company network server and then propagating through an external misconfigured connection into Davis-Besse’s site network. The infection caused major network congestion, slow performance, data overloads, and the inability of local hosts to communicate with each other, which eventually caused a loss of availability and a loss of view when the Safety Parameter Display System (SPDS) and Plant Process Computer (PPC) crashed. At the time of the infection, the plant was already offline, the digital monitoring systems had redundant analog backups, and the plant control and safety functions were not affected, so there were no concerns of a safety breach. However, this incident resulted in many lessons learned and spawned important discussions about cybersecurity’s role in nuclear safety and electric power reliability regulation, policy, and guidance. Researchers and analysts identified 10 unique techniques utilized during the attack with a total of 640 observables using MITRE ATT&CK® for Industrial Control Systems. The CyOTE program assesses observables accompanying techniques used prior to the triggering event to identify opportunities to detect malicious activity. If observables accompanying the attack techniques are perceived and investigated prior to the triggering event, earlier comprehension of malicious activity can take place. Eight of the identified techniques used during Davis-Besse cyber attack were precursors to the triggering event. Analysis identified 596 observables associated with these precursor techniques, 428 of which were assessed to have an increased likelihood of being perceived in the 331 days preceding the triggering event. The response and comprehension time could have been reduced if the observables had been identified earlier. The information gathered in this report contributes to a library of observables tied to a repository of artifacts, data sources, and technique detection references for practitioners and developers to support the comprehension of indicators of attack. Asset owners and operators can use these products if they experience similar observables or to prepare for comparable scenarios.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

The Dark Energy Survey Data Release I

We describe the first public data release of the Dark Energy Survey, DES DR1, consisting of reduced single-epoch images, co-added images, co-added source catalogs, and associated products and services assembled over the first 3 yr of DES science operations. DES DR1 is based on optical/near-infrared imaging from 345 distinct nights (2013 August to 2016 February) by the Dark Energy Camera mounted on the 4 m Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory in Chile. We release data from the DES wide-area survey covering similar to 5000 deg(2) of the southern Galactic cap in five broad photometric bands, grizY. DES DR1 has a median delivered point-spread function of g = 1.12, r = 0.96, i = 0.88, z = 0.84, and Y = 0.'' 90 FWHM, a photometric precision of <1% in all bands, and an astrometric precision of 151 mas. The median co-added catalog depth for a 1.'' 95 diameter aperture at signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) = 10 is g = 24.33, r = 24.08, i = 23.44, z = 22.69, and Y = 21.44 mag. DES DR1 includes nearly 400 million distinct astronomical objects detected in similar to 10,000 co-add tiles of size 0.534 deg(2) produced from similar to 39,000 individual exposures. Benchmark galaxy and stellar samples contain similar to 310 million and similar to 80 million objects, respectively, following a basic object quality selection. These data are accessible through a range of interfaces, including query web clients, image cutout servers, jupyter notebooks, and an interactive co-add image visualization tool. DES DR1 constitutes the largest photometric data set to date at the achieved depth and photometric precision.

Abbott, T. M. C.↗

FedADMP: A Joint Anomaly Detection and Mobility Prediction Framework via Federated Learning

With the proliferation of mobile devices and smart cameras, detecting anomalies and predicting their mobility are critical for enhancing safety in ubiquitous computing systems. Due to data privacy regulations and limited communication bandwidth, it is infeasible to collect, transmit, and store all data from mobile devices at a central location. To overcome this challenge, we propose FedADMP, a federated learning based joint Anomaly Detection and Mobility Prediction framework. FedADMP adaptively splits the training process between the server and clients to reduce computation loads on clients. To protect the privacy of user data, clients in FedADMP upload only intermediate model parameters to the cloud server. We also develop a differential privacy method to prevent the cloud server and external attackers from inferring private information during the model upload procedure. Extensive experiments using real-world datasets show that FedADMP consistently outperforms existing methods.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Synchronizing computer clocks using a local area network

Researchers completed the first tests of a method to synchronize the clocks of networked computers to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) time scale. The method uses a server computer to disseminate the time to other clients on the same local-area network. The server is synchronized to NIST using the ACTS protocol over a dial-up telephone line. The software in both the server and the parameters of this model are used to adjust the time of the local clock and the interval between calibration requests in a statistically optimum way. The algorithm maximizes the time between calibrations while at the same time keeping the time of the local clock correct within a specific tolerance. The method can be extended to synchronize computers linked over wide-area networks, and an experiment to test the performance of the algorithms over such networks is being planned.

Levine, Judah↗

A CLIPS/X-window interface

The design and implementation of an interface between the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) expert system development environment and the graphic user interface development tools of the X-Window system are described. The underlying basis of the CLIPS/X-Window is a client-server model in which multiple clients can attach to a single server that interprets, executes, and returns operation results, in response to client action requests. Implemented in an AIX (UNIX) operating system environment, the interface has been successfully applied in the development of graphics interfaces for production rule cooperating agents in a knowledge-based computer aided design (CAD) system. Initial findings suggest that the client-server model is particularly well suited to a distributed parallel processing operational mode in a networked workstation environment.

Pohl, Kym Jason↗

Integrating a local database into the StarView distributed user interface

A distributed user interface to the Space Telescope Data Archive and Distribution Service (DADS) known as StarView is being developed. The DADS architecture consists of the data archive as well as a relational database catalog describing the archive. StarView is a client/server system in which the user interface is the front-end client to the DADS catalog and archive servers. Users query the DADS catalog from the StarView interface. Query commands are transmitted via a network and evaluated by the database. The results are returned via the network and are displayed on StarView forms. Based on the results, users decide which data sets to retrieve from the DADS archive. Archive requests are packaged by StarView and sent to DADS, which returns the requested data sets to the users. The advantages of distributed client/server user interfaces over traditional one-machine systems are well known. Since users run software on machines separate from the database, the overall client response time is much faster. Also, since the server is free to process only database requests, the database response time is much faster. Disadvantages inherent in this architecture are slow overall database access time due to the network delays, lack of a 'get previous row' command, and that refinements of a previously issued query must be submitted to the database server, even though the domain of values have already been returned by the previous query. This architecture also does not allow users to cross correlate DADS catalog data with other catalogs. Clearly, a distributed user interface would be more powerful if it overcame these disadvantages. A local database is being integrated into StarView to overcome these disadvantages. When a query is made through a StarView form, which is often composed of fields from multiple tables, it is translated to an SQL query and issued to the DADS catalog. At the same time, a local database table is created to contain the resulting rows of the query. The returned rows are displayed on the form as well as inserted into the local database table. Identical results are produced by reissuing the query to either the DADS catalog or to the local table. Relational databases do not provide a 'get previous row' function because of the inherent complexity of retrieving previous rows of multiple-table joins. However, since this function is easily implemented on a single table, StarView uses the local table to retrieve the previous row. Also, StarView issues subsequent query refinements to the local table instead of the DADS catalog, eliminating the network transmission overhead. Finally, other catalogs can be imported into the local database for cross correlation with local tables. Overall, it is believe that this is a more powerful architecture for distributed, database user interfaces.

Silberberg, D. P.↗

STELAR: An experiment in the electronic distribution of astronomical literature

STELAR (Study of Electronic Literature for Astronomical Research) is a Goddard-based project designed to test methods of delivering technical literature in machine readable form. To that end, we have scanned a five year span of the ApJ, ApJ Supp, AJ and PASP, and have obtained abstracts for eight leading academic journals from NASA/STI CASI, which also makes these abstracts available through the NASA RECON system. We have also obtained machine readable versions of some journal volumes from the publishers, although in many instances, the final typeset versions are no longer available. The fundamental data object for the STELAR database is the article, a collection of items associated with a scientific paper - abstract, scanned pages (in a variety of formats), figures, OCR extractions, forward and backward references, errata and versions of the paper in various formats (e.g., TEX, SGML, PostScript, DVI). Articles are uniquely referenced in the database by journal name, volume number and page number. The selection and delivery of articles is accomplished through the WAIS (Wide Area Information Server) client/server models requiring only an Internet connection. Modest modifications to the server code have made it capable of delivering the multiple data types required by STELAR. WAIS is a platform independent and fully open multi-disciplinary delivery system, originally developed by Thinking Machines Corp. and made available free of charge. It is based on the ISO Z39.50 standard communications protocol. WAIS servers run under both UNIX and VMS. WAIS clients run on a wide variety of machines, from UNIX-based Xwindows systems to MS-DOS and macintosh microcomputers. The WAIS system includes full-test indexing and searching of documents, network interface and easy access to a variety of document viewers. ASCII versions of the CASI abstracts have been formatted for display and the full test of the abstracts has been indexed. The entire WAIS database of abstracts is now available for use by the astronomical community. Enhancements of the search and retrieval system are under investigation to include specialized searches (by reference, author or keyword, as opposed to full test searches), improved handling of word stems, improvements in relevancy criteria and other retrieval techniques, such as factor spaces. The STELAR project has been assisted by the full cooperation of the AAS, the ASP, the publishers of the academic journals, librarians from GSFC, NRAO and STScI, the Library of Congress, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Warnock, A.↗

An architecture for real-time vision processing

To study the feasibility of developing an architecture for real time vision processing, a task queue server and parallel algorithms for two vision operations were designed and implemented on an i860-based Mercury Computing System 860VS array processor. The proposed architecture treats each vision function as a task or set of tasks which may be recursively divided into subtasks and processed by multiple processors coordinated by a task queue server accessible by all processors. Each idle processor subsequently fetches a task and associated data from the task queue server for processing and posts the result to shared memory for later use. Load balancing can be carried out within the processing system without the requirement for a centralized controller. The author concludes that real time vision processing cannot be achieved without both sequential and parallel vision algorithms and a good parallel vision architecture.

Chien, Chiun-Hong↗

An incremental database access method for autonomous interoperable databases

We investigated a number of design and performance issues of interoperable database management systems (DBMS's). The major results of our investigation were obtained in the areas of client-server database architectures for heterogeneous DBMS's, incremental computation models, buffer management techniques, and query optimization. We finished a prototype of an advanced client-server workstation-based DBMS which allows access to multiple heterogeneous commercial DBMS's. Experiments and simulations were then run to compare its performance with the standard client-server architectures. The focus of this research was on adaptive optimization methods of heterogeneous database systems. Adaptive buffer management accounts for the random and object-oriented access methods for which no known characterization of the access patterns exists. Adaptive query optimization means that value distributions and selectives, which play the most significant role in query plan evaluation, are continuously refined to reflect the actual values as opposed to static ones that are computed off-line. Query feedback is a concept that was first introduced to the literature by our group. We employed query feedback for both adaptive buffer management and for computing value distributions and selectivities. For adaptive buffer management, we use the page faults of prior executions to achieve more 'informed' management decisions. For the estimation of the distributions of the selectivities, we use curve-fitting techniques, such as least squares and splines, for regressing on these values.

Roussopoulos, Nicholas↗

An object-oriented, technology-adaptive information model

The primary objective was to develop a computer information system for effectively presenting NASA's technologies to American industries, for appropriate commercialization. To this end a comprehensive information management model, applicable to a wide variety of situations, and immune to computer software/hardware technological gyrations, was developed. The model consists of four main elements: a DATA_STORE, a data PRODUCER/UPDATER_CLIENT and a data PRESENTATION_CLIENT, anchored to a central object-oriented SERVER engine. This server engine facilitates exchanges among the other model elements and safeguards the integrity of the DATA_STORE element. It is designed to support new technologies, as they become available, such as Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), on-demand audio-video data streaming with compression (such as is required for video conferencing), Worldwide Web (WWW) and other information services and browsing, fax-back data requests, presentation of information on CD-ROM, and regular in-house database management, regardless of the data model in place. The four components of this information model interact through a system of intelligent message agents which are customized to specific information exchange needs. This model is at the leading edge of modern information management models. It is independent of technological changes and can be implemented in a variety of ways to meet the specific needs of any communications situation. This summer a partial implementation of the model has been achieved. The structure of the DATA_STORE has been fully specified and successfully tested using Microsoft's FoxPro 2.6 database management system. Data PRODUCER/UPDATER and PRESENTATION architectures have been developed and also successfully implemented in FoxPro; and work has started on a full implementation of the SERVER engine. The model has also been successfully applied to a CD-ROM presentation of NASA's technologies in support of Langley Research Center's TAG efforts.

Anyiwo, Joshua C.↗

A strategy for providing electronic library services to members of the AGATE Consortium

In November, 1992, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin established a Task Force to evaluate conditions which have lead to the precipitous decline of the US General Aviation System and to recommend actions needed to re-establish US leadership in General Aviation. The Task Force Report and a report by Dr. Bruce J. Holmes, Manager of the General Aviation/Commuter Office at NASA Langley Research Center provided the directions for the formation of the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE), a consortium of government, industry and university committed to the revitalization of the US General Aviation Industry. One of the recommendations of the Task Force Report was that 'a central repository of information should be created to disseminate NASA research as well as other domestic and foreign aeronautical research that has been accomplished, is ongoing or is planned... A user friendly environment should be created.' This paper describes technical and logistic issues and recommends a plan for providing technical information to members of the AGATE Consortium. It is recommended that the General Aviation office establish and maintain an electronic literature page on the AGATE server. This page should provide a user friendly interface to existing technical report and index servers identified in the report and listed in the Recommendations section. A page should also be provided which gives links to Web resources. A list of specific resources is provided in the Recommendations section. Links should also be provided to a page with tips on searching, a form to provide for feedback and suggestions from users for other resources. Finally, a page should be maintained which provides pointers to other resources like the LaRCsim workstation simulation software which is avail from LaRC at no cost. The developments of the Web is very dynamic. These developments should be monitored regularly by the GA staff and links to additional resources should be provided on the server as they become available. An recommendation to NASA Headquarters should be made to establish a logically central access to all of the NASA Technical Libraries, to make these resources available both to all NASA employees and to the AGATE Consortium.

Thompson, J. Garth↗

Towards the Interoperability of Web, Database, and Mass Storage Technologies for Petabyte Archives

At the San Diego Supercomputer Center, a massive data analysis system (MDAS) is being developed to support data-intensive applications that manipulate terabyte sized data sets. The objective is to support scientific application access to data whether it is located at a Web site, stored as an object in a database, and/or storage in an archival storage system. We are developing a suite of demonstration programs which illustrate how Web, database (DBMS), and archival storage (mass storage) technologies can be integrated. An application presentation interface is being designed that integrates data access to all of these sources. We have developed a data movement interface between the Illustra object-relational database and the NSL UniTree archival storage system running in a production mode at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. With this interface, an Illustra client can transparently access data on UniTree under the control of the Illustr DBMS server. The current implementation is based on the creation of a new DBMS storage manager class, and a set of library functions that allow the manipulation and migration of data stored as Illustra 'large objects'. We have extended this interface to allow a Web client application to control data movement between its local disk, the Web server, the DBMS Illustra server, and the UniTree mass storage environment. This paper describes some of the current approaches successfully integrating these technologies. This framework is measured against a representative sample of environmental data extracted from the San Diego Ba Environmental Data Repository. Practical lessons are drawn and critical research areas are highlighted.

Moore, Reagan↗

The ASC Data Archive for the AXAF Ground Calibration

A data archive is near completion at the AXAF Science Center (ASC) to store and provide access to AXAF data. The archive is a distributed client/server system. It consists of a number of different servers which handle flat data files, relational data, replication across multiple sites, and the interface to the WWW. There is a 4GL client interface for each type of data server, C++ and Java APIs, and a number of standard clients to archive and retrieve data. The architecture is scalable and configurable in order to accommodate future data types and increasing data volumes. The first release of the system became available in August 1996 and has been successfully operated since then in support of the AXAF calibration at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. This paper will present the overall archive architecture and the design of client and server components. It will also review the ground calibration data contents, the plan for flight data, and the access to the data by ASC internal users and processing pipelines.

Zografou, Panagoula↗

Inference System Integration Via Logic Morphisms

This is a final report on the accomplishments during the period of the NASA grant. The work on inference servers accomplished the integration of the SLANG logic (Specware's default specification logic) with a number of inference servers in order to make their complementary strengths available. These inverence servers are (1) SNARK. (2) Gandalf, Setheo, and Spass, (3) the Prototype Verification System (PVS) from SRI. (4) HOL98. We designed and implemented MetaSlang, an ML-like language, which we are using to specify and implement all our logic morphisms.

Bjorner, Nikolaj S.↗

Leo Satellite Communication through a LEO Constellation using TCP/IP Over ATM

The simulated performance characteristics for communication between a terrestrial client and a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite server are presented. The client and server nodes consist of a Transmission Control Protocol /Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) over ATM configuration. The ATM cells from the client or the server are transmitted to a gateway, packaged with some header information and transferred to a commercial LEO satellite constellation. These cells are then routed through the constellation to a gateway on the globe that allows the client/server communication to take place. Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) is specified as the quality of service (QoS). Various data rates are considered.

Foore, Lawrence R.↗

NASA/University JOint VEnture (JOVE) Program. VIXEN(tm): Object-Oriented, Technology-Adaptive, Virtual Information Exchange Environment

Vixen is a collection of enabling technologies for uninhibited distributed object computing. In the Spring of 1995 when Vixen was proposed, it was an innovative idea very much ahead of its time. But today the technologies proposed in Vixen have become standard technologies for Enterprise Computing. Sun Microsystems J2EE/EJB specifications, among others, are independently proposed technologies of the Vixen type. I have brought Vixen completely under the J2EE standard in order to maximize interoperability and compatibility with other computing industry efforts. Vixen and the Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) Server technologies are now practically identical; OIL, another Vixen technology, and the Java Messaging System (JMS) are practically identical; and so on. There is no longer anything novel or patentable in the Vixen work performed under this grant. The above discussion, notwithstanding, my independent development of Vixen has significantly helped me, my university, my students and the local community. The undergraduate students who worked with me in developing Vixen have enhanced their expertise in what has become the cutting edge technology of their industry and are therefore well positioned for lucrative employment opportunities in the industry. My academic department has gained a new course: "Multi-media System Development", which provides a highly desirable expertise to our students for employment in any enterprise today. The many Outreach Programs that I conducted during this grant period have exposed local Middle School students to the contributions that NASA is making in our society as well as awakened desires in many such students for careers in Science and Technology. I have applied Vixen to the development of two software packages: (a) JAS: Joshua Application Server - which allows a user to configure an EJB Server to serve a J2EE compliant application over the world wide web; (b) PCM: Professor Course Manager: a J2EE compliant application for configuring a course for distance learning. These types of applications are, however, generally available in the industry today.

Anyiwo, Joshua C.↗

A Portable Debugger for Parallel and Distributed Programs

In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a portable debugger for parallel and distributed programs. The design incorporates a client-server model in order to isolate non-portable debugger code from the user interface. The precise definition of a protocol for client-server interaction permits a high degree of portability of the client user interface. Replication of server components permits the implementation of a debugger for distributed computations. Portability across message passing implementations is achieved with a protocol that dictates the interaction between a message passing library and the debugger. This permits the same debugger to be used both on PVM and MTI programs. The process abstractions used for debugging message-passing programs can be easily adapted to debug HPF programs at the source level. This allows the debugger to present information hidden in tool-generated code in a meaningful manner.

Cheng, Doreen Y.↗