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One feature of this mechanism is reduction of self-modulation, a source of harmonic generation. Since amplitude of oscillation is large, cutoff frequency is varied in proportion to the amplitude and frequency of oscillation. While one transistor is experiencing a positive alteration, the other is experiencing a negative alteration. Net effect is reduction in self-modulation.
The Microchannel Spatial Light Modulator (MSLM), a versatile, highly sensitive, and optically addressed device being developed for real time optical information processing is discussed. The MSLM operates by converting an input optical image into a charge distribution at the surface of an electro-optic crystal. The charge distribution generates an electric field which modulates the refractive index of the crystal and thereby the phase or intensity of an image readout beam. Prototype devices employing 250 micron thick crystals exhibited a spatial resolution of 5 cycles/mm at 50% contrast, an exposure sensitivity of 2.2 nJ/cu cm and framing rates of 40 Hz with full modulation depth. The image processing operations that have been achieved using the internal processing mode of the MSLM include contrast reversal, contrast enhancement, edge enhancement, image addition and subtraction, analog and digital intensity thresholding, and binary level logic operations such as AND, OR, EXCLUSIVE OR, and NOR.
"Micromachining" is a chemical means of etching three-dimensional structures, typically in single- crystalline silicon. These techniques are leading toward what is coming to be referred to as MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), where in addition to the ordinary two-dimensional (planar) microelectronics, it is possible to build three-dimensional n-ticromotors, electrically- actuated raicrovalves, hydraulic systems and much more on the same microchip. These techniques become possible because of differential etching rates of various crystallographic planes and materials used for semiconductor n-ticrofabfication. The University of Cincinnati group in collaboration with Karl Baker at NASA Lewis were the first to form micro heat pipes in silicon by the above techniques. Current work now in progress using MEMS technology is now directed towards the development of the next generation in MCM (Multi Chip Module) packaging. Here we propose to develop a complete electronic thermal management system which will allow densifica6on in chip stacking by perhaps two orders of magnitude. Furthermore the proposed technique will allow ordinary conu-nercial integrated chips to be utilized. Basically, the new technique involves etching square holes into a silicon substrate and then inserting and bonding commercially available integrated chips into these holes. For example, over a 100 1/4 in. by 1 /4 in. integrated chips can be placed on a 4 in. by 4 in. silicon substrate to form a Multi-Chip Module (MCM). Placing these MCM's in-line within an integrated rack then allows for three-diniensional stacking. Increased miniaturization of microelectronic circuits will lead to very high local heat fluxes. A high performance thermal management system will be specifically designed to remove the generated energy. More specifically, a compact heat exchanger with milli / microchannels will be developed and tested to remove the heat through the back side of this MCM assembly for moderate and high heat flux applications, respectively. The high heat load application of particular interest in mind is the motor controller developed by Martin Marietta for Nasa to control the thruster's directional actuators on space vechicles. Work is also proposed to develop highly advanced and improved porous wick structures for use in advanced heat loops. The porous wick will be micromachined from silicon using MEMS technology, thus permitting far superior control of pore size and pore distribution (over wicks made from sintered n-ietals), which in turn is expected to led to significantly improved heat loop performance.
The theoretical basis and hardware implementation of a versatile device which uses digital signal-processing methods to achieve signal modulation are reported. The carrier-modulation process is formulated as a simple quadrature equation; a generalized description of the signal constellation to be processed is derived; the pulse-shaping scheme is explained; and the system architecture is described in detail and illustrated with diagrams. Experimental results obtained with a breadboard transmitter based on this modulation technique are presented in extensive graphs. The power spectra and eye diagrams generated for different QPSK, 8PSK, and MSK modulation schemes are shown to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions. It is suggested that this modulator could be readily implemented in VLSI and mass produced.
Due to distances and relative motions among the transmitter, target object, and receiver, the time-base between any transmitted and received signal will undergo distortion. Pre-distortion of the transmitted signal to compensate for this time-base distortion allows reception of an undistorted signal. In most radar applications, an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) would be used to store the pre-calculated waveform and then play back this waveform during transmission. The Goldstone Solar System Radar (GSSR), however, has transmission durations that exceed the available memory storage of such a device. A waveform generator capable of real-time pre-distortion of a radar waveform to a given time-base distortion function is needed. To pre-distort the transmitted signal, both the baseband radar waveform and the RF carrier must be modified. In the GSSR, this occurs at the up-conversion mixing stage to an intermediate frequency (IF). A programmable oscillator (PO) is used to generate the IF along with a time-varying phase component that matches the time-base distortion of the RF carrier. This serves as the IF input to the waveform generator where it is mixed with a baseband radar waveform whose time-base has been distorted to match the given time-base distortion function producing the modulated IF output. An error control feedback loop is used to precisely control the time-base distortion of the baseband waveform, allowing its real-time generation. The waveform generator produces IF modulated radar waveforms whose time-base has been pre-distorted to match a given arbitrary function. The following waveforms are supported: continuous wave (CW), frequency hopped (FH), binary phase code (BPC), and linear frequency modulation (LFM). The waveform generator takes as input an IF with a time varying phase component that matches the time-base distortion of the carrier. The waveform generator supports interconnection with deep-space network (DSN) timing and frequency standards, and is controlled through a 1 Gb/s Ethernet UDP/IP interface. This real-time generation of a timebase distorted radar waveform for continuous transmission in a planetary radar is a unique capability.
The recently developed Reactor module in the open-source MOOSE framework includes finite element meshing capabilities for analysis of common reactor geometries. Capabilities in the Reactor module have been employed to generate meshes for physics applications including a sodium-cooled fast reactor core analysis using Griffin, a fast reactor assembly thermal deformation analysis using MOOSE Tensor Mechanics, and a heat-pipe cooled microreactor coupled analysis using Griffin, Bison, and Sockeye. The process to build these meshes using MOOSE's meshing capabilities is described. Physics simulation results using MOOSE-based meshes have been verified to match results which leverage external meshing software such as Cubit or Argonne's Mesh Tools. MOOSE's Reactor module provides significant advantages compared to the use of external meshing tools when analyzing Cartesian and hexagonal reactor lattices using MOOSE-based applications: accessibility to the end user, low barrier to entry for new users, speed of mesh generation, volume preservation of meshed fuel pins, and simplification of analysis workflow when using MOOSE applications.
Increasing the penetration of photovoltaics (PV) reduces the marginal grid value of PV electricity. The declining grid value of PV with higher penetration could limit the technology's economic attractiveness and future demand. Various strategies have been proposed for preserving this value. Using a consistent framework, we analyze the net value (accounting for both cost and grid value) of more than ten strategies in the United States. Here, grid value is estimated from coincident wholesale power market prices and PV generation using observed historical prices or modeled future prices with up to 30% PV penetration. We find that established and emerging strategies designed to shift the timing of standalone PV generation at the expense of total generation—including orienting monofacial PV modules west or bifacial modules vertically—result in minor net-value benefits or penalties. Adding energy storage to such systems magnifies the net-value loss, because configurations that change the timing of PV production become redundant when the energy-shifting capabilities of storage are added. The largest net-value gains come from strategies that maximize generation (solar tracking plus oversized PV arrays) in conjunction with storage, especially at high PV penetrations. PV systems are long-lived assets. Our results suggest that efforts to promote generation-maximizing strategies today may yield increasing net-value benefits as PV and storage deployments continue to accelerate in the United States over the coming decades.
A miniature L-band transceiver that operates at a carrier frequency of 1.25 GHz has been developed as part of a generic radar electronics module (REM) that would constitute one unit in an array of many identical units in a very-large-aperture phased-array antenna. NASA and the Department of Defense are considering the deployment of such antennas in outer space; the underlying principles of operation, and some of those of design, also are applicable on Earth. The large dimensions of the antennas make it advantageous to distribute radio-frequency electronic circuitry into elements of the arrays. The design of the REM is intended to implement the distribution. The design also reflects a requirement to minimize the size and weight of the circuitry in order to minimize the weight of any such antenna. Other requirements include making the transceiver robust and radiation-hard and minimizing power demand. Figure 1 depicts the functional blocks of the REM, including the L-band transceiver. The key functions of the REM include signal generation, frequency translation, amplification, detection, handling of data, and radar control and timing. An arbitrary-waveform generator that includes logic circuitry and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) generates a linear-frequency-modulation chirp waveform. A frequency synthesizer produces local-oscillator signals used for frequency conversion and clock signals for the arbitrary-waveform generator, for a digitizer [that is, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)], and for a control and timing unit. Digital functions include command, timing, telemetry, filtering, and high-rate framing and serialization of data for a high-speed scientific-data interface. The aforementioned digital implementation of filtering is a key feature of the REM architecture. Digital filters, in contradistinction to analog ones, provide consistent and temperature-independent performance, which is particularly important when REMs are distributed throughout a large array. Digital filtering also enables selection among multiple filter parameters as required for different radar operating modes. After digital filtering, data are decimated appropriately in order to minimize the data rate out of an antenna panel. The L-band transceiver (see Figure 2) includes a radio-frequency (RF)-to-baseband down-converter chain and an intermediate- frequency (IF)-to-RF up-converter chain. Transmit/receive (T/R) switches enable the use of a single feed to the antenna for both transmission and reception. The T/R switches also afford a built-in test capability by enabling injection of a calibration signal into the receiver chain. In order of decreasing priority, components of the transceiver were selected according to requirements of radiation hardness, then compactness, then low power. All of the RF components are radiation-hard. The noise figure (NF) was optimized to the extent that (1) a low-noise amplifier (LNA) (characterized by NF < 2 dB) was selected but (2) the receiver front-end T/R switches were selected for a high degree of isolation and acceptably low loss, regardless of the requirement to minimize noise.
This paper presents a single-stage series-resonant dual active half bridge (SR-DAHB) inverter suitable for high power applications. The topology is an isolated dual half-bridge circuit with an unfolding bridge. A combined phase-shift and frequency modulation technique is utilized to generate AC power output. In high-power applications where the switching devices operate at relatively high current and voltage, the switching loss becomes the major portion of the converter’s total loss as the devices are turned on and off under hard switching condition. The primary merit of the proposed single-stage SR-DAHB inverter with the combined phase-shift and frequency modulation control is to significantly reduce the switching loss so that it is not a function of load current. A precise and comprehensive power loss model is developed for both the SR-DAHB and DAHB to optimize the operation of the inverters. The objective of the optimization is to minimize the inverter total loss while calculating the optimum combination of frequency and phase shift. A 1.5 kV, 50 kW prototype was built to demonstrate the performance of the SRDAHB versus DAHB inverters with the combined phase-shift and frequency modulation control, and validate the theoretical analysis.
The post-test evaluation of a single heat exchanger sodium hydroxide thermal energy storage module for use in solar electric generation is reported. Chemical analyses of the storage medium used in the experimental model are presented. The experimental verification of the module performance using an alternate heat transfer fluid, Caloria HT-43, is described. Based on these results, a design analysis of a dual heat exchanger concept within the storage module is presented. A computer model and a reference design for the dual system (storage working fluid/power cycle working fluid) were completed. The dual system is estimated to have a capital cost of approximately one half that of the single heat exchanger concept.
After 10 years of extensive research on crystalline-silicon flat-plate photovoltaic modules, the emphasis of recent reliability research has shifted to the emerging first-generation thin-film amorphous-silicon modules. These modules share much in common with their crystalline precursors, but also include many materials and processes that demand the development of reliability technologies. Key research thrusts include light-induced effects, cell corrosion, thermal diffusion, hot-spot heating, and electrical isolation of the cells from the module exterior. Research goals and recent achievements are described in each of these areas.
CUPID is the next generation experiment which will use scintillating cryogenic calorimeters to search for the neutrinoless double β decay. This unobserved process would shed light on the nature of the neutrino, which up to our knowledge could be a Majorana or a Dirac particle, and would give us an important hint to explain the lack of antimatter in the universe. This ambitious search needs a detector with unique characteristics such as an extremely low background level and an excellent energy resolution. CUPID is now in advanced R&D state to optimize the detector design in order to completely exploit the potentialities of scintillating cryogenic calorimeters. In the following I will describe the test performed at the LNGS (Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso) of a single module of the future CUPID detector. In this contribution we present the performance obtained with a novel assembly concept, proving that it matches the requirements for CUPID.
Noncoherent data-transition tracking loops (DTTLs) have been proposed for use as symbol synchronizers in digital communication receivers. [Communication- receiver subsystems that can perform their assigned functions in the absence of synchronization with the phases of their carrier signals ( carrier synchronization ) are denoted by the term noncoherent, while receiver subsystems that cannot function without carrier synchronization are said to be coherent. ] The proposal applies, more specifically, to receivers of binary phase-shift-keying (BPSK) signals generated by directly phase-modulating binary non-return-to-zero (NRZ) data streams onto carrier signals having known frequencies but unknown phases. The proposed noncoherent DTTLs would be modified versions of traditional DTTLs, which are coherent. The symbol-synchronization problem is essentially the problem of recovering symbol timing from a received signal. In the traditional, coherent approach to symbol synchronization, it is necessary to establish carrier synchronization in order to recover symbol timing. A traditional DTTL effects an iterative process in which it first generates an estimate of the carrier phase in the absence of symbol-synchronization information, then uses the carrier-phase estimate to obtain an estimate of the symbol-synchronization information, then feeds the symbol-synchronization estimate back to the carrier-phase-estimation subprocess. In a noncoherent symbol-synchronization process, there is no need for carrier synchronization and, hence, no need for iteration between carrier-synchronization and symbol- synchronization subprocesses. The proposed noncoherent symbolsynchronization process is justified theoretically by a mathematical derivation that starts from a maximum a posteriori (MAP) method of estimation of symbol timing utilized in traditional, coherent DTTLs. In that MAP method, one chooses the value of a variable of interest (in this case, the offset in the estimated symbol timing) that causes a likelihood function of symbol estimates over some number of symbol periods to assume a maximum value. In terms that are necessarily oversimplified to fit within the space available for this article, it can be said that the mathematical derivation involves a modified interpretation of the likelihood function that lends itself to noncoherent DTTLs. The proposal encompasses both linear and nonlinear noncoherent DTTLs. The performances of both have been computationally simulated; for comparison, the performances of linear and nonlinear coherent DTTLs have also been computationally simulated. The results of these simulations show that, among other things, the expected mean-square timing errors of coherent and noncoherent DTTLs are relatively insensitive to window width. The results also show that at high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), the performances of the noncoherent DTTLs approach those of their coherent counterparts at, while at low SNRs, the noncoherent DTTLs incur penalties of the order of 1.5 to 2 dB.
Double-side cooled power modules are being developed for next-generation traction inverters due to their better heat extraction, lower profile, and lower parasitic inductances. However, due to their rigid structure, they cause reliability concerns arising from high thermo-mechanical stresses at the interconnection joints in the module. In this work, a materials-based approach using rigid encapsulants is presented for reducing thermo-mechanical fatigue. Finite-element thermo- mechanical simulations were performed to examine the effects of the elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion of epoxy- based encapsulants on the bond deformation inside a double-side cooled power module. It was found that a rigid encapsulant with a high modulus of 6.0 GPa or above and a coefficient of thermal expansion around 20 ppm/oC would improve the thermo- mechanical reliability of double-side cooled power modules by decreasing the permanent bond deformation inside the modules by 50-60%.
Temporal modulation of the quantum vacuum through fast motion of a neutral body or fast changes of its optical properties is known to promote virtual into real photons, the so-called dynamical Casimir effect. Empowering modulation protocols with spatial control could enable the shaping of spectral, spatial, spin, and entanglement properties of the emitted photon pairs. Space–time quantum metasurfaces have been proposed as a platform to realize this physics via modulation of their optical properties. Here, we report the mechanical analog of this phenomenon by considering systems in which the lattice structure undergoes modulation in space and in time. We develop a microscopic theory that applies both to moving mirrors with a modulated surface profile and atomic array meta-mirrors with perturbed lattice configuration. Spatiotemporal modulation enables motion-induced generation of co- and cross-polarized photon pairs that feature frequency-linear momentum entanglement as well as vortex photon pairs featuring frequency-angular momentum entanglement. The proposed space–time dynamical Casimir effect can be interpreted as induced dynamical asymmetry in the quantum vacuum.
This document describes the services provided by the prototype Software Reuse Environment, which was developed by CTA for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 520. This is one of three guides delivered by CTA as part of the environment. The other two guides are: Software Generation and Installation Guide; and SEMANTX--Defining the Schema. The Software Generation and Installation Guide describes the software source modules that make up the Reuse Environment, with instructions on how to generate and install an executable system from the source code. SEMANTX--Defining the Schema describes how a reuse database is created. Actually this guide is more general than the reuse database, as it describes how to generate a SEMANTX database. SEMANTX is an off-the-shelf tool that we have used to implement the reuse database. It is a product of Semantyk Systems, Inc. The Software Reuse Environment is built upon SEMANTX as well as on the IDE Structured Analysis Integrated Environment. (IDE is Interactive Development Environments, Inc.) SEMANTX itself is built on top of the Unify Database Management System. To use the Software Reuse Environment you should have the User's Manuals for SEMANTX, for Unify, and for the IDE software. CTA has provided all of these with the environment.
This paper presents viewgraphs of S.A.F.E. (Simulated Atomic Fission Engine). The topics include: 1) Why Space Fission Propulsion? 2) History of Fission System Development; 3) New Approach to Space Fission Propulsion System Development; 4) Propulsion Flight Demonstrator Schematic Flight Configuration; 5) Ongoing Propellant Energy Source Tests; 6) First Generation Propulsion System Status; 7) Tungsten Fuel Pin Simulator Tests; 8) Full Module Test (High Efficiency Mode); and 9) First Generation Propulsion Flight Demonstrator Status.