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At least 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

Using GPS Receiver 1PPS Output to Verify Time Stamp Accuracy and Measure Propagation Delay

A simple pulse overlay circuit using a logic OR gate was developed to overlay a precise leading edge 1 pulse per second time reference marker from a global positioning system receiver onto a non-return -to- zero-level pulse code modulation telemetry data stream to validate time stamp accuracy and measure propagation delay in telemetry equipment. A pulse overlay (PO) circuit was designed to produce a time reference marker within a pulse code modulation (PCM) telemetry data stream that was recorded and analyzed to validate an IRIG Standard 106-17 Chapter 10 recorder’s time stamp accuracy [1]. A manufacturer of a newly purchased Chapter 10 recorder claimed the time stamp accuracy to be better than 10 microseconds (μs) with only IRIG-B120 (IRIG-B) input and better than 1 μs with IRIG-B and one pulse per second (1PPS) inputs. The PO circuit and a Chapter 10 recorder test setup were used to verify the vendor’s data-time synchronization claims and to justify infrastructure upgrade costs to connect additional cables to each purchased recorder. The circuit was also used to measure the propagation delay (PD) of a long distance Telemetry multiplexer/demultiplexer telecommunication system which the manufacturer did not provide a PD specification. Using the one pulse per second time reference marker of the global positioning system receiver and the pulse overlay circuit to overlay the one pulse per second variable pulse width signal into a pulse code modulation telemetry stream provided an excellent means to validate time stamp accuracy within a Chapter 10 recorder and to measure propagation delays within a normal telemetry operating environment. The positive results from the Chapter 10 recorder tests validated the vendor’s claims and justified the implementation to add the one pulse per second signal to the range Chapter 10 recorders. The pulse overlay circuit and test setups defined in this paper can easily be used to measure other telemetry equipment.

Knudtson, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS2019

Comparison of Integrated Digital Radiometer with Concurrent Water Vapor Radiometer using the Alphasat Receivers in Milan, Italy

In June 2014, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and the Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) jointly deployed a pair of coherent 20 GHz and 40 GHz beacon receivers to the POLIMI campus in Milan, Italy to characterize the atmospheric channel at Ka- and Q-band within the framework of the Alphasat experiment. The Milan receivers observe the continuous-wave beacons broadcast over Europe by the Aldo Paraboni Technology Demonstration Payload (TDP #5), and, in September 2017, both channels were upgraded to incorporate a novel digital radiometer (DR) measurement which NASA has recently employed in other propagation measurement campaigns. In November 2016, a co-located water vapor radiometer (WVR) was also installed at POLIMI, and the concurrent data from both the WVR and DR thusly enables validation of this new DR technique against the established WVR. Herein, we preliminarily investigate the calibration of the DR measurements using the WVR data and also assess a calibration method that may be implemented where WVR data is not readily available.

Zemba, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Comparison of Integrated Digital Radiometer with Concurrent Water Vapor Radiometer Using the Alphasat Receivers in Milan, Italy

In June 2014, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and the Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) jointly deployed a pair of coherent 20 GHz and 40 GHz beacon receivers to the POLIMI campus in Milan, Italy to characterize the atmospheric channel at Ka- and Q-band within the framework of the Alphasat experiment. The Milan receivers observe the continuous-wave beacons broadcast over Europe by the Aldo Paraboni Technology Demonstration Payload (TDP #5), and, in September 2017, both channels were upgraded to incorporate a novel digital radiometer (DR) measurement which NASA has recently employed in other propagation measurement campaigns. In November 2016, a co-located water vapor radiometer (WVR) was also installed at POLIMI, and the concurrent data from both the WVR and DR thusly enables validation of this new DR technique against the established WVR. Herein, we preliminarily investigate the calibration of the DR measurements using the WVR data and also assess a calibration method that may be implemented where WVR data is not readily available.

Zemba, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2017

4-Pixel Heterodyne Receiver at 1.9 THz using a CMOS Spectrometer

We present results from a 4x1-pixel 1.9 THz heterodyne array for the astrophysically important [CII] spectral line. A 4-pixel multiplier chain at 1.9 THz, with a compact spacing of 5 mm, is used as an LO. Receiver performance is verified by y-factor measurements with measured sensitivities of 900 K. Finally, using a coherent source near the target frequency of 1.9 THz, we down convert to baseband and measure spectra with both an IBOB and a new CMOS-based spectrometer. The CMOS spectrometer provides several advantages over more traditional spectrometers because of its compact size and low power consumption. This receiver prototype is easily scalable to other frequencies and larger focal plane arrays. Furthermore, because of its compact configuration, it can be easily packaged for orbital or sub-orbital missions.

Mehdi, Imran↗
NASA NTRS2017

Downlink Receiver Algorithms for Deep Space Optical Communications

The goal of the Deep Space Optical Communications project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is to demonstrate laser communication links at ranges out to approximately 3 AU. In this paper, we discuss a downlink receiver concept capable of demodulating optical pulse-position modulated (PPM) waveforms with data rates varying from approximately 50 kbps up to 265 Mbps, using a range of PPM orders, slot widths, and code rates. The receiver operates on recorded timestamps corresponding to the times-of-arrival of photons detected by a photon-counting detector array followed by a commercial time-tagger. Algorithms are presented for slot, symbol, and frame synchronization as well as parameter estimation. Estimates of link performance are evaluated through Monte- Carlo simulation for an optical channel that includes optical losses, detector blocking, signal clock dynamics, and pointing-induced downlink fades. Based upon these simulation results, it is expected that link closure may be achieved with at least 3 dB of margin under a variety of relevant conditions.

Tkacenko, Andre↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Global Positioning System Constellation Modernization Impact on Sidelobe Capable GPS Receivers in Geostationary Orbit

This paper provides on-orbit insight into Global Positioning System Receiver (GPSR) performance at a geostationary orbit (GEO) and contrasts that performance regarding the modernized and heritage GPS constellation currently operational. The subject matter of this paper falls under the following topics a) heritage and modern GPS transmit pattern comparison, b) GOES-R GPSR acquisition and tracking characterization regarding the first four operational GPS III vehicles, and c)relevant signal requirements as it pertains to GEO GPSR facilitation. The GPSR described herein is onboard the GOES-R series satellites. GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series) is the first in a 4-part series of new weather satellites set to replace and upgrade the older GOES constellation. Two GOES-R have been launched to date, GOES-16 and GOES-17, the data presented in this paper are from both vehicles over common time spans. The GPSR on board this geostationary weather satellite is a mission critical, enabling technology which has been both tested on the ground and evaluated on-orbit to verify its effectivity[1]. This is a completely new system design consisting of a unique L1 GEO antenna, low-noise amplifier (LNA) assembly and a 12-channel GPSR capable of tracking the edge of the main beam and the sidelobes of the GPS L1 signal. Any satellite intending to maximize GPS navigation performance at GEO will need to implement a GPSR system that tracks sidelobes. GOES-R is the first civilian operational satellite to utilize GPS sidelobes for navigation at GEO, which is the key factor in the systems highly accurate, robust and continuous navigation solution. However, this also renders a distinct sensitivity to changes in the GPS transmit signal pattern in the sidelobe regime as a result of the new GPS III constellation modernization. This paper presents results showing that the GOES-RGPSR solution, given GPS constellation modernization to GPS III, although impacted slightly in received C/N0 at certain geometries, will continue to meet all performance requirements tracking up to 12 satellites and achieving excellent carrier-to-noise spectral density (C/N0).

GPS↗
NASA NTRS2021

Simulation of Radio Frequency Power Received by a UAV Along Its Flight Path

A ray-tracing electromagnetic simulation using ALTAIR WinProp software was performed to calculate the 2.4 GHz power received by a UAV in flight, both from the intended controller transmitter and from a fictitious interference source of equal power located near the ground. The signal-to-interference ratio was then calculated. For the chosen example, the received power from the controller varied from -88.3 to -70.1 dBm, while the signal-to-interference ratio varied from -10.9 to +11.4 db. This work was done in support of the System-Wide Safety Project Technical Challenge 2 - Emerging Operations at NASA Langley, which is studying methods to avoid interference of UAV control and data relay signals.

Electromagnetic Simulation↗
NASA NTRS2020

ICESat 2/ATLAS Onboard Flight Science Receiver Algorithms: Purpose, Process, and Performance

The Advanced Topographic Laser Altimetry System (ATLAS) is the sole instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat-2). Without some method of reducing the transmitted data, the volume of ATLAS telemetry would far exceed the normal X-band downlink capability or require many more ground station contacts. The ATLAS Onboard Flight Science Receiver Algorithms (hereinafter Receiver Algorithms or Algorithms) control the amount of science data that is telemetered from the instrument, limiting the data volume by distinguishing surface echoes from background noise, and allowing the instrument to telemeter data from only a small vertical region about the signal. This is accomplished through the transfer of the spacecraft's location and attitude to the instrument every second, use of an onboard Digital Elevation Model, implementation of signal processing techniques, and use of onboard relief and surface type reference maps. Extensive ground testing verified the performance of the Algorithms. On-orbit analysis shows that the Algorithms are working as expected from the ground testing; they are performing well and meeting the mission requirements.

Algoritms, Signal Processing, Optimization, Flight↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mars Sample Receiving Facility Research and Development to Enable Preservation, Safe Containment, and Scientific Research of Martian Samples on Earth

NASA and ESA are working together to plan a joint campaign to potentially bring back the first Martian samples to Earth in the early 2030s. On the surface of Mars, the Mars 2020Perseverance Rover is selecting and packaging samples that could be returned to Earth for careful examination by an international team of scientists. In preparation for this historic sample return, advance planning is underway to design and build a Mars Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) in the mid-2020s. In 2022, a Mars Sample Receiving Facility Assessment Study(MSAS) will be conducted to further define construction modality and capability options for a facility in the conterminous United States. Since Mars Sample Return (MSR) is currently categorized as a planetary protection restricted Earth return, this new facility would feature biosafety level 4 (BSL-4)-like high containment to protect Earth’s biosphere from any potential hazard. In addition, the facility also requires integration of cleanroom technologies to mitigate against terrestrial contamination and preserve sample integrity for science investigations. The integration of both clean handling and high containment requires significant technology research and development (R&D) by the mid-2020s to support the definition and planning of a SRF before commencing the site specific design phase. The SRF project will need to solidify the inorganic, organic, and biological contamination control (CC) requirements for the facility. This could entail a translation of Mars 2020 mission CC requirements for geologic material to engineering requirements for surfaces and airborne molecular contamination inside isolators and cleanrooms. In tandem, the project will need to determine precision cleaning and sterilization approaches for cleanrooms, isolators, equipment, and tools. Initial material selections for the facility construction materials, cleanrooms, isolators, and BSL-4 suits/garments are an important activity. The recent construction of the OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 curation cleanroom laboratories greatly benefited from early materials testing, before the design phase, to reduced organic outgassing and particulate shedding inside the laboratory. While the early biohazard investigations in the SRF may deem the samples safe to release to laboratories throughout the world, sterilization methods need to be defined to safely release Martian samples. One key aspect of enabling simultaneous sample containment and cleanliness is the concept of a Double-Walled Isolator (DWI) that ESA has been pursuing. Further R&D is needed about DWIs, sample handling, and instrumentation interfaces before beginning the SRF site specific design phase. A working isolator/DWI engineering model should be developed and fabricated. Isolator sizes, connections, pass-through antechambers, and configurations and basic interfaces with instruments and tools as well as the use of robotic, mechanical, and/or human manipulation need to be considered. Inert high purity gas supply (one-pass or recirculation) and other isolator utilities must be determined. Special accommodations for large instruments (e.g., XCT,SEM, etc.) need to be developed. Techniques for opening the sample tubes packaged by M2020and extracting the headspace gas while keeping samples pristine will be challenging, requiring additional R&D, and engagement of the M2020 project. In addition, careful micromanipulation for subdivision and packaging of samples will also need to be included. These combined R&D activities are important before commencing the SRF design phase to ensure safe biohazard containment, sample preservation, and science integrity for the samples that would be studied in the SRF and in laboratories around the world.

mars sample return↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analytical Needs in a Sample Receiving Facility: Input from the MSR Operation Definition Team

The return of scientifically selected samples from Mars would provide a rare opportunity forinvestigation with the full range of the latest technology available, but to take full advantageof this opportunity, it is important to plan ahead to ensure the pristine nature of the samplesupon arrival within the Earth environment until scientific investigations can begin.The NASA/ESA science community-driven MSR Science Planning Group – Phase 2 (MSPG2)delivered recommendations and guidance regarding curation (1) and science (2, 3) activities tobe performed on the samples under containment. High-level requirements for the infrastruc-ture were also developed by MSPG2 (4). In order to prepare infrastructure-targeted input forthe ESA and NASA facility studies planned in the 2022-2023 timeframe, the agency-led MSROperational Scenarios Definition Team (MOSDT) was assembled to conceptualize the sampleoperations that will inform future architecture teams. Emphasis was placed on the respon-sibility of MOSDT to use community-defined requirements and to represent the view of the international scientific community.All necessary and sufficient instruments and analytical needs described in MSPG2 were inte-grated in MOSDT main deliverable, the operational workflow (see Hays et al, this conference).In MSPG2, notional instruments were split between curation analytical needs, and objective-driven (time-sensitive and sterilization-sensitive) science analytical needs. In MOSDT, whilethe first phases of curation, “pre-Basic Characterization” and “Basic Characterization” wererather streamlined and separate from other analytical needs, “Preliminary Examination” and“Science” instruments were not always physically segregated. In addition to the necessary andsufficient instruments described by MSPG2, the MOSDT recommended additional supportequipment for sterilization, cleanliness and contamination monitoring.It was sometimes necessary for the MOSDT to rely on assumptions to integrate instruments inthe activity workflow. In general, the assumptions were very conservative to limit contaminationand cross-contamination risks. It is expected that future work to refine limits of contaminationwill enable optimization of instrumentation.The community was consulted during the course of the MOSDT work. This abstract’s aimis two-fold: on one hand, inform the scientific community and overall MSR stakeholders, tobring their attention on the analytical needs currently considered as necessary and sufficient;on the other hand, to solicit feedback from a larger community audience to optimize and refineanalytical needs during the next phases of MSR ground-segment preparation.Disclaimer: The decision to implement Mars Sample Return will not be finalized until NASA’scompletion of the program’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. This docu-ment is being made available for informational purposes only.[1] Tait et al. (2021) Preliminary planning for Mars Sample Return (MSR) curation activities ina Sample Receiving Facility (SRF). Astrobiology in press, doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0105. [2] Toscaet al. (2021) Time-sensitive aspects of Mars Sample Return (MSR) science. Astrobiologyin press, doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0115. [3] Velbel et al. (2021) Planning implications relatedto sterilization-sensitive science investigations associated with Mars Sample Return (MSR).Astrobiology in press, doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0113. [4] Carrier et al. (2021) Science and curationconsiderations for the design of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) Sample Receiving Facility (SRF).Astrobiology in press, doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0110.

Mars Sample Return↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design and Performance of a Multi-mode Photon-counting Receiver for the NASA O2O Mission

The NASA Orion O2O mission was designed and tested to support high-rate bi-directional optical communications between one of multiple ground sites and a crewed capsule during a 10-day mission. This paper focuses on the design and performance of the receiver that will be based at the NASA White Sands Complex, New Mexico, USA. The main receiver components consist of two 40-cm apertures, each coupled to a specialty multi-mode optical fiber; each fiber coupled to a custom array of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors; a high-speed, high-channel-count time-to-digital converter; and custom digitizing electronics to perform deserialization, demodulation, clock recovery, and forward error correction with a powerful serially-concatenated pulse-position-modulation turbo code. We show error-free data communication performance up to the maximum required data rate of 267 Mb/s.

optical↗
NASA NTRS2024

Real-Time Optical Receiver Decoder Architecture Changes for High-Speed Modes

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at Glenn Research Center (GRC) has developed an optical communications transmitter and receiver using Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. The goal of this project is to become fully compliant with Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) High Photon Efficiency (HPE) Optical Communications Coding and Synchronization standard. The receive modem’s decoder has been modified using shift registers to enable the decoding of higher data rate pulse-position modulation (PPM) 4 and PPM-8 signals. PPM-4 and PPM-8 is then verified by comparing the codeword error rate (CWER) of a hardware implementation to a software simulation. The changes show the capability to decode PPM-4 and PPM-8 for a single decoder. This memorandum details the changes made, the performance achieved with the changes, and necessary future work.

PPM↗
NASA NTRS2000

Coupled receiver-decoders

This paper describes coupled receiver-decoder architectures for suppressed carrier convolutionally-coded signals and residual carrier turbo-coded signals.

convolutional codes turbo codes receiver decoder j↗
NASA NTRS1993

A Prototype Quasi-Optical SIS Array Receiver

We report measurements on a prototype SIS array receiver consisting of a ten-element dipole antenna array with half square micron niobium SIS junctions.

SIS array antenna array mixer array SIS receiver w↗
NASA NTRS2012

Detection Performance of Upgraded "Polished Panel" Optical Receiver Concept on the Deep-Space Network's 34 Meter Research Antenna

The development and demonstration of a "polished panel" optical receiver concept on the 34 meter research antenna of the Deep Space Network (DSN) has been the subject of recent papers. This concept would enable simultaneous reception of optical and microwave signals by retaining the original shape of the main reflector for microwave reception, but with the aluminum panels polished to high reflectivity to enable focusing of optical signal energy as well. A test setup has been installed on the DSN's 34 meter research antenna at Deep Space Station 13 (DSS-13) of NASA's Goldstone Communications Complex in California, and preliminary experimental results have been obtained. This paper describes the results of our latest efforts to improve the point-spread function (PSF) generated by a custom polished panel, in an attempt to reduce the dimensions of the PSF, thus enabling more precise tracking and improved detection performance. The design of the new mechanical support structure and its operation are described, and the results quantified in terms of improvements in collected signal energy and optical communications performance, based on data obtained while tracking the planet Jupiter with the 34 meter research antenna at DSS-13.

photon-bucket receiver↗