Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “signalling”

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

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

At least 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Mechanism of phase control in a klystron-like relativistic backward wave oscillator by an input signal

Theoretical analyses and particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations are carried out to understand the mechanism of microwave phase control realized by the external RF signal in a klystron-like relativistic backward wave oscillator (RBWO). Theoretical calculations show that a modulated electron beam can lead the microwave field with an arbitrary initial phase to the same equilibrium phase, which is determined by the phase factor of the modulated current, and the difference between them is fixed. Furthermore, PIC simulations demonstrate that the phase of input signal has a close relation to that of modulated current, which initiates the phase of the irregularly microwave during the build-up of oscillation. Since the microwave field is weak during the early time of starting oscillation, it is easy to be induced, and a small input signal is sufficient to control the phase of output microwave. For the klystron-like RBWO with two pre-modulation cavities and a reentrant input cavity, an input signal with 100 kW power and 4.21 GHz frequency can control the phase of 5 GW output microwave with relative phase difference less than 6% when the diode voltage is 760 kV, and beam current is 9.8 kA, corresponding to a power ratio of output microwave to input signal of 47 dB.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

An estimation method for echo signal energy of pipe inner surface longitudinal crack detection by 2-D energy coefficients integration

The echo signal energy is directly affected by the incident sound beam eccentricity or angle for thick-walled pipes inner longitudinal cracks detection. A method for analyzing the relationship between echo signal energy between the values of incident eccentricity is brought forward, which can be used to estimate echo signal energy when testing inside wall longitudinal crack of pipe, using mode-transformed compression wave adaptation of shear wave with water-immersion method, by making a two-dimension integration of “energy coefficient” in both circumferential and axial directions. The calculation model is founded for cylinder sound beam case, in which the refraction and reflection energy coefficients of different rays in the whole sound beam are considered different. The echo signal energy is calculated for a particular cylinder sound beam testing different pipes: a beam with a diameter of 0.5 inch (12.7mm) testing a φ279.4mm pipe and a φ79.4mm one. As a comparison, both the results of two-dimension integration and one-dimension (circumferential direction) integration are listed, and only the former agrees well with experimental results. The estimation method proves to be valid and shows that the usual method of simplifying the sound beam as a single ray for estimating echo signal energy and choosing optimal incident eccentricity is not so appropriate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

A comparative study of three-terminal Hanle signals in CoFe/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si and Cu/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si tunnel junctions

We performed three-terminal (3T) Hanle measurement for two types of sample series, CoFe/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si and Cu/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si, with various tunnel resistances. Clear Hanle signal and anomalous scaling between spin resistance-area product and tunnel resistance-area product were observed in CoFe/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si devices. In order to explore the origin of the Hanle signal and the impurity-assisted tunneling effect on the Hanle signal in our devices, Hanle measurement in Cu/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si devices was performed as well. However, no detectable Hanle signal was observed in Cu/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si, even though a lot of samples with various tunnel resistances were studied in wide temperature and bias voltage ranges. Through a comparative study, it is found that the impurity-assisted tunneling magnetoresistance mechanism would not play a dominant role in the 3T Hanle signal in CoFe/SiO{sub 2}/n{sup +}-Si tunnel junctions, where the SiO{sub 2} was formed by plasma oxidation to minimize impurities.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Acoustic signal investigation in the ice melting under high-power laser irradiation at a wavelength of 2940 nm

We have measured acoustic signals emerging in the melting of a thin (about 2 μm) ice layer, which is sandwiched between two substrates, under high-power laser irradiation at a wavelength of 2940 nm. A negative-pressure acoustic signal arising from the difference in the specific volumes of water and ice was found to occur in the ice melting. The amplitude of this signal was comparable to the amplitude of the positive-pressure signal produced under laser irradiation of the same layer of water. The shapes of acoustic signals were measured for different energy densities of the incident radiation. The variation of negative-pressure pulse shape with increasing radiation energy density was interpreted as a continuity break of the medium. The temperature and pressure in the layer were estimated in the heating of water and the melting of ice. (interaction of laser radiation with matter)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Learning-based traffic signal control algorithms with neighborhood information sharing: An application for sustainable mobility

Here, this research applies R-Markov Average Reward Technique based reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm, namely RMART, for vehicular signal control problem leveraging information sharing among signal controllers in connected vehicle environment. We implemented the algorithm in a network of 18 signalized intersections and compare the performance of RMART with fixed, adaptive, and variants of the RL schemes. Results show significant improvement in system performance for RMART algorithm with information sharing over both traditional fixed signal timing plans and real time adaptive control schemes. Additionally, the comparison with reinforcement learning algorithms including Q learning and SARSA indicate that RMART performs better at higher congestion levels. Further, a multi-reward structure is proposed that dynamically adjusts the reward function with varying congestion states at the intersection. Finally, the results from test networks show significant reduction in emissions (CO, CO 2 , NO x , VOC, PM 10 ) when RL algorithms are implemented compared to fixed signal timings and adaptive schemes.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Dissecting protein tyrosine phosphatase signaling by engineered chemogenetic control of its activity

Protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPases) are critical mediators of dynamic cell signaling. A tool capable of identifying transient signaling events downstream of PTPases is essential to understand phosphatase function on a physiological time scale. We report a broadly applicable protein engineering method for allosteric regulation of PTPases. This method enables dissection of transient events and reconstruction of individual signaling pathways. Implementation of this approach for Shp2 phosphatase revealed parallel MAPK and ROCK II dependent pathways downstream of Shp2, mediating transient cell spreading and migration. Furthermore, we show that the N-SH2 domain of Shp2 regulates MAPK-independent, ROCK II-dependent cell migration. Engineered targeting of Shp2 activity to different protein complexes revealed that Shp2-FAK signaling induces cell spreading whereas Shp2-Gab1 or Shp2-Gab2 mediates cell migration. We identified specific transient morphodynamic processes induced by Shp2 and determined the role of individual signaling pathways downstream of Shp2 in regulating these events. Broad application of this approach is demonstrated by regulating PTP1B and PTP-PEST phosphatases.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

INTERPRETING THE GLOBAL 21 cm SIGNAL FROM HIGH REDSHIFTS. I. MODEL-INDEPENDENT CONSTRAINTS

The sky-averaged (global) 21 cm signal is a powerful probe of the intergalactic medium (IGM) prior to the completion of reionization. However, so far it has been unclear whether it will provide more than crude estimates of when the universe's first stars and black holes formed, even in the best case scenario in which the signal is accurately extracted from the foregrounds. In contrast to previous work, which has focused on predicting the 21 cm signatures of the first luminous objects, we investigate an arbitrary realization of the signal and attempt to translate its features to the physical properties of the IGM. Within a simplified global framework, the 21 cm signal yields quantitative constraints on the Lyα background intensity, net heat deposition, ionized fraction, and their time derivatives without invoking models for the astrophysical sources themselves. The 21 cm absorption signal is most easily interpreted, setting strong limits on the heating rate density of the universe with a measurement of its redshift alone, independent of the ionization history or details of the Lyα background evolution. In a companion paper, we extend these results, focusing on the confidence with which one can infer source emissivities from IGM properties.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

A measurement of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signal toward MACS J0717.5+3745

We report our analysis of MACS J0717.5+3745 using 140 and 268 GHz Bolocam data collected at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory. We detect extended Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signal at high significance in both Bolocam bands, and we employ Herschel-SPIRE observations to subtract the signal from dusty background galaxies in the 268 GHz data. We constrain the two-band SZ surface brightness toward two of the sub-clusters of MACS J0717.5+3745: the main sub-cluster (named C), and a sub-cluster identified in spectroscopic optical data to have a line-of-sight velocity of +3200 km s{sup –1} (named B). We determine the surface brightness in two separate ways: via fits of parametric models and via direct integration of the images. For both sub-clusters, we find consistent surface brightnesses from both analysis methods. We constrain spectral templates consisting of relativistically corrected thermal and kinetic SZ signals, using a jointly-derived electron temperature from Chandra and XMM-Newton under the assumption that each sub-cluster is isothermal. The data show no evidence for a kinetic SZ signal toward sub-cluster C, but they do indicate a significant kinetic SZ signal toward sub-cluster B. The model-derived surface brightnesses for sub-cluster B yield a best-fit, line-of-sight velocity of v{sub z} = +3450 ± 900 km s{sup –1}, with (1 – Prob[v{sub z} ≥ 0]) = 1.3 × 10{sup –5} (4.2σ away from 0 for a Gaussian distribution). The directly integrated sub-cluster B SZ surface brightnesses provide a best-fit v{sub z} = +2550 ± 1050 km s{sup –1}, with (1 – Prob[v{sub z} ≥ 0]) = 2.2 × 10{sup –3} (2.9σ).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

The weak lensing signal and the clustering of BOSS galaxies. I. Measurements

A joint analysis of the clustering of galaxies and their weak gravitational lensing signal is well-suited to simultaneously constrain the galaxy–halo connection as well as the cosmological parameters by breaking the degeneracy between galaxy bias and the amplitude of clustering signal. In a series of two papers, we perform such an analysis at the highest redshift (z∼0.53) in the literature using CMASS galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey Eleventh Data Release (BOSS DR11) catalog spanning 8300 deg{sup 2}. In this paper, we present details of the clustering and weak lensing measurements of these galaxies. We define a subsample of 400,916 CMASS galaxies based on their redshifts and stellar-mass estimates so that the galaxies constitute an approximately volume-limited and similar population over the redshift range 0.47⩽z⩽0.59. We obtain a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) ≃ 56 for the galaxy clustering measurement. We also explore the redshift and stellar-mass dependence of the clustering signal. For the weak lensing measurement, we use existing deeper imaging data from the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey with publicly available shape and photometric redshift catalogs from CFHTLenS, but only in a 105 deg{sup 2} area that overlaps with BOSS. This restricts the lensing measurement to only 5084 CMASS galaxies. After careful systematic tests, we find a highly significant detection of the CMASS weak lensing signal, with total S/N ≃ 26. These measurements form the basis of the halo occupation distribution and cosmology analysis presented in More et al. (Paper II).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Offline Arterial Signal Timing Optimization for Closely Spaced Intersections

The stop-and-go driving behavior at a busy arterial causes a significant amount of fuel waste and emissions that could be reduced. For closely spaced intersections, the traditional bottom-up signal timing approach could fail under high volumes when the queues reach the upstream intersections. A well-coordinated arterial should manage the queue length to prevent the control from failing. Traditionally, coordination among signalized intersections for an arterial means finding the good offsets for each intersection. The control of the intersections along an arterial can also be coordinated by optimizing splits. Splits impact the capacity of an intersection. Similar to the highway, the capacity drop could cause growing queues. This work is based on the Virtual Phase-Link (VPL) model, a street traffic model designed for online traffic model predictive control, to obtain a top-down offline arterial signal timing. The VPL-based model can guarantee capacity consistency in intersections along an arterial. We, therefore, adopted the VPL-based model and developed an offline signal timing optimization approach. The proposed timing derived from the VPL-based offline signal timing optimization showed very good results in simulation. We also collected field experiment data, which demonstrated overall energy reductions and speed improvements on some sections of the study arterial.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimal Eco-Driving Control of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Through Signalized Intersections

This article focuses on the speed planning problem for connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) communicating to traffic lights. The uncertainty of traffic signal timing for signalized intersections on the road is considered. The eco-driving problem is formulated as a data-driven chance-constrained robust optimization problem. Effective red-light duration (ERD) is defined as a random variable, and describes the feasible passing time through the signalized intersections. Usually, the true probability distribution for ERD is unknown. Consequently, a data-driven approach is adopted to formulate chance constraints based on empirical sample data. This incorporates robustness into the eco-driving control problem with respect to uncertain signal timing. Dynamic programming (DP) is employed to solve the optimization problem. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method can generate optimal speed reference trajectories with 40% less vehicle fuel consumption, while maintaining the arrival time at a similar level compared to a modified intelligent driver model (IDM). The proposed control approach significantly improves the controller's robustness in the face of uncertain signal timing, without requiring to know the distribution of the random variable a priori.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimizing Signal Timing Control for Large Urban Traffic Networks Using an Adaptive Linear Quadratic Regulator Control Strategy

We discuss how traffic signal control is important for intersection safety and efficiency. However, most traffic signal control methods are designed for individual intersections or corridors. Although some adaptive control systems have been developed, the methods used are often proprietary and not published, making it difficult to evaluate their effectiveness. This study proposes an adaptive multi-input and multi-output traffic signal control method that not only can improve network-wide traffic operations in terms of reduced traffic delay and energy consumption, but also is more computationally feasible than existing centralized signal control methods. Considering intersection interactions, a linear dynamic traffic system model was built and adaptively updated to reflect how the signal control input of each intersection affects network-wide vehicle travel delay. Based on the system model, an adaptive linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) was designed to minimize both traffic delay and incremental changes in the control input. The proposed control method was evaluated in a microscopic traffic simulation environment with a 35-intersection network of Bellevue City, Washington. Simulation results show that the proposed method had shorter average traffic delays in the network when compared with the traffic delays controlled by the state-of-the-art max-pressure, self-organizing traffic lights, and independent deep Q network methods.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Network-Level Traffic Signal Cooperation: A Higher-Order Conflict Graph Approach

Traffic signal control and cooperation are extremely important to alleviate traffic congestion in a large traffic network. This study develops a higher-order conflict graph approach for network-wide traffic signal control and cooperation. A conflict graph is applied to model the traffic signal configurations, which identifies the conflict and unconflicted movements for each intersection. In conflict graph, the node represents each movement. The weight of each node can be defined as traffic volume, queue length, fuel consumption, or any weighted combinations of these measurements. The calculation of the optimal green light duration and green light sequence (for different movements) is equivalent to sequentially finding the maximum weight independent set (MWIS) in the conflict graph. The conflict graph also provides a uniform and efficient way to connect traffic signal operations among nearby intersections spatially. Then, we introduced the concept of the k -th order neighborhood to model the degree of connectivity between each movement to the movements at upstream or downstream intersections. The weight of each node in the higher-order conflict graph not only represents its own congestion level, but also relates to the traffic conditions of nearby intersections. Through this approach, the cooperation of multiple intersections can be realized by incorporating their spatial connectivity into conflict graph and solving the MWIS problem. A simulation network is built in SUMO to test the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results suggested that the proposed model outperformed other state-of-the-art signal control methods. Also, the scheme maintains good performance under varying traffic demands.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Improving Deployment Availability of Energy Storage With Data-Driven AGC Signal Models

Energy Storage (ES) provides great flexibility and large benefits to power system operations and control. When providing ancillary services (e.g., regulation, reserve, etc.), the real-time (RT) deployment of ES is uncertain, and it is important to manage state of charge accordingly. Aiming to improve the ES performance for providing energy and regulation service in the electricity market, we propose two data-driven Automatic Generation Control (AGC) signal models. The first one is a historical-data-driven AGC signal model, which is based on the analysis of the historical AGC signals, and is designed for ES participation in the day-ahead (DA) market. The second one is a prediction-data-driven AGC signal model, which is based on the prediction of the AGC signals, and is designed for ES participation in the RT market. We also develop a deployment availability check model and solution algorithm. The proposed framework is applied to an ES bidding problem in the DA and RT markets. The results indicate that deployment availability and operational performance of the ES are improved with the proposed data-driven AGC models compared to traditional benchmarks.

AGC signal model↗
DOE OSTI2022

Tracking and Rejection of Biased Sinusoidal Signals Using Generalized Predictive Controller

Some novel applications require the tracking/rejection of biased sinusoidal reference/distur-bances. According to the internal model principle (IMP), a controller must embed the model of a biased sinusoidal signal to track references and also reject perturbations modeled through the aforementioned signal. However, the design of that kind of controller is not straightforward, especially when they are implemented in digital processors. This paper presents a controller, based on generalized predictive control (GPC), designed for tracking/rejection of biased sinusoidal signals. In general, GPC is based on the prediction of the plant responses through an augmented prediction model. The proposed approach develops an augmented model that predicts the future errors. The prediction model and the control law used in the proposed approach embed the discrete-time model of a biased sinusoidal signal. Thus, the proposed controller can track/reject biased sinusoidal references/disturbances. The predicted errors and the future inputs of the proposed augmented model are used to define the cost function that measures the control performance. An optimization technique was applied to obtain the solution of the cost function, which is the optimal sequence of future model inputs that allows defining the control law. Experimental tests prove that the proposed controller can asymptotically track and reject biased sinusoidal signals.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Grape ASR Regulates Glucose Transport, Metabolism and Signaling

To decipher the mediator role of the grape Abscisic acid, Stress, Ripening (ASR) protein, VvMSA, in the pathways of glucose signaling through the regulation of its target, the promoter of hexose transporter VvHT1, we overexpressed and repressed VvMSA in embryogenic and non-embryogenic grapevine cells. The embryogenic cells with organized cell proliferation were chosen as an appropriate model for high sensitivity to the glucose signal, due to their very low intracellular glucose content and low glycolysis flux. In contrast, the non-embryogenic cells displaying anarchic cell proliferation, supported by high glycolysis flux and a partial switch to fermentation, appeared particularly sensitive to inhibitors of glucose metabolism. By using different glucose analogs to discriminate between distinct pathways of glucose signal transduction, we revealed VvMSA positioning as a transcriptional regulator of the glucose transporter gene VvHT1 in glycolysis-dependent glucose signaling. The effects of both the overexpression and repression of VvMSA on glucose transport and metabolism via glycolysis were analyzed, and the results demonstrated its role as a mediator in the interplay of glucose metabolism, transport and signaling. The overexpression of VvMSA in the Arabidopsis mutant abi8 provided evidence for its partial functional complementation by improving glucose absorption activity.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optimal Traffic Signal Control Using Priority Metric Based on Real-Time Measured Traffic Information

Optimizing traffic control systems at traffic intersections can reduce network-wide fuel consumption as well as improve traffic flow. While traffic signals have conventionally been controlled based on predetermined schedules, various adaptive control systems have been developed recently using advanced sensors such as cameras, radars, and LiDARs. By utilizing rich traffic information enabled by the advanced sensors, more efficient or optimal traffic signal control is possible in response to varying traffic conditions. This paper proposes an optimal traffic signal control method to minimize network-wide fuel consumption utilizing real-time traffic information provided by advanced sensors. This new method employs a priority metric calculated by a weighted sum of various factors, including the total number of vehicles, total vehicle speed, vehicle waiting time, and road preference. Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used as a global optimization method to determine the optimal weights in the priority metric. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method, a traffic simulation model is developed in a high-fidelity traffic simulation environment called SUMO, based on a real-world traffic network. The traffic flow within this model is simulated using actual measured traffic data from the traffic network, enabling a comprehensive assessment of the novel optimal traffic signal control method in realistic conditions. The simulation results show that the proposed priority metric-based real-time traffic signal control algorithm can significantly reduce network-wide fuel consumption compared to the conventional fixed-time control and coordinated actuated control methods that are currently used in the modeled network. Additionally, incorporating truck priority in the priority metric leads to further improvements in fuel consumption reduction.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS2001

Signal transduction mechanisms in plants: an overview

This article provides an overview on recent advances in some of the basic signalling mechanisms that participate in a wide variety of stimulus-response pathways. The mechanisms include calcium-based signalling, G-protein-mediated-signalling and signalling involving inositol phospholipids, with discussion on the role of protein kinases and phosphatases interspersed. As a further defining feature, the article highlights recent exciting findings on three extracellular components that have not been given coverage in previous reviews of signal transduction in plants, extracellular calmodulin, extracellular ATP, and integrin-like receptors, all of which affect plant growth and development.

Non-NASA Center↗