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At least 847 records · Page 47

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NASA NTRS2016

Architecture for Cognitive Networking within NASAs Future Space Communications Infrastructure

Future space mission concepts and designs pose many networking challenges for command, telemetry, and science data applications with diverse end-to-end data delivery needs. For future end-to-end architecture designs, a key challenge is meeting expected application quality of service requirements for multiple simultaneous mission data flows with options to use diverse onboard local data buses, commercial ground networks, and multiple satellite relay constellations in LEO, MEO, GEO, or even deep space relay links. Effectively utilizing a complex network topology requires orchestration and direction that spans the many discrete, individually addressable computer systems, which cause them to act in concert to achieve the overall network goals. The system must be intelligent enough to not only function under nominal conditions, but also adapt to unexpected situations, and reorganize or adapt to perform roles not originally intended for the system or explicitly programmed. This paper describes architecture features of cognitive networking within the future NASA space communications infrastructure, and interacting with the legacy systems and infrastructure in the meantime. The paper begins by discussing the need for increased automation, including inter-system collaboration. This discussion motivates the features of an architecture including cognitive networking for future missions and relays, interoperating with both existing endpoint-based networking models and emerging information-centric models. From this basis, we discuss progress on a proof-of-concept implementation of this architecture as a cognitive networking on-orbit application on the SCaN Testbed attached to the International Space Station.

space networks↗

NASA NTRS1999

In-Space Internet-Based Communications for Space Science Platforms Using Commercial Satellite Networks

The continuing technological advances in satellite communications and global networking have resulted in commercial systems that now can potentially provide capabilities for communications with space-based science platforms. This reduces the need for expensive government owned communications infrastructures to support space science missions while simultaneously making available better service to the end users. An interactive, high data rate Internet type connection through commercial space communications networks would enable authorized researchers anywhere to control space-based experiments in near real time and obtain experimental results immediately. A space based communications network architecture consisting of satellite constellations connecting orbiting space science platforms to ground users can be developed to provide this service. The unresolved technical issues presented by this scenario are the subject of research at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Assessment of network architectures, identification of required new or improved technologies, and investigation of data communications protocols are being performed through testbed and satellite experiments and laboratory simulations.

Kerczewski, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Network device interface for digitally interfacing data channels to a controller via a network

A communications system and method are provided for digitally connecting a plurality of data channels, such as sensors, actuators, and subsystems, to a controller using a network bus. The network device interface interprets commands and data received from the controller and polls the data channels in accordance with these commands. Specifically, the network device interface receives digital commands and data from the controller, and based on these commands and data, communicates with the data channels to either retrieve data in the case of a sensor or send data to activate an actuator. Data retrieved from the sensor is converted into digital signals and transmitted to the controller. Network device interfaces associated with different data channels can coordinate communications with the other interfaces based on either a transition in a command message sent by the bus controller or a synchronous clock signal.

Ellerbrock, Philip J.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Automatic Speech Recognition for Launch Control Center Communication Using Recurrent Neural Networks with Data Augmentation and Custom Language Model

Transcribing voice communications in NASA’s launch control center is important for information utilization. However, automatic speech recognition in this environment is particularly challenging due to the lack of training data, unfamiliar words in acronyms, multiple different speakers and accents, and conversational characteristics of speaking. We used bidirectional deep recurrent neural networks to train and test speech recognition performance. We showed that data augmentation and custom language models can improve speech recognition accuracy. Transcribing communications from the launch control center will help the machine analyze information and accelerate knowledge generation.

Chow, Edward↗

NASA NTRS2016

Space Mobile Network: A Near Earth Communications and Navigation Architecture

This paper shares key findings of NASA's Earth Regime Network Evolution Study (ERNESt) team resulting from its 18-month effort to define a wholly new architecture-level paradigm for the exploitation of space by civil space and commercial sector organizations. Since the launch of Sputnik in October 1957 spaceflight missions have remained highly scripted activities from launch through disposal. The utilization of computer technology has enabled dramatic increases in mission complexity; but, the underlying premise that the diverse actions necessary to meet mission goals requires minute-by-minute scripting, defined weeks in advance of execution, for the life of the mission has remained. This archetype was appropriate for a "new frontier" but now risks overtly constraining the potential market-based opportunities for the innovation considered necessary to efficiently address the complexities associated with meeting communications and navigation requirements projected to be characteristics of the next era of space exploration: a growing number of missions in simultaneous execution, increased variance of mission types and growth in location/orbital regime diversity. The resulting ERNESt architectural cornerstone - the Space Mobile Network (SMN) - was envisioned as critical to creating an environment essential to meeting these future challenges in political, programmatic, technological and budgetary terms. The SMN incorporates technologies such as: Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) and optical communications, as well as new operations concepts such as User Initiated Services (UIS) to provide user services analogous to today's terrestrial mobile network user. Results developed in collaboration with NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Division and field centers are reported on. Findings have been validated via briefings to external focus groups and initial ground-based demonstrations. The SMN opens new niches for exploitation by the marketplace of mission planners and service providers.

Space Communication Spacecraft↗

NASA NTRS1977

Survey: Federal Aviation Administration National Communication Center

The National Communication (NATCOM) Center (commonly known as the FAA Weather Message Switching Center), is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility with responsibility for providing communication switching services to the National Weather Service (NWS), the FAA, commercial and private flight organizations under the auspices of the FAA, and DoD. Data handled by NATCOM include weather data, flight plans, and Notices to Airmen (NOTAMS) on both national and international networks. The communications and data management functions are handled through four computer-controlled communication networks designated as WMSC, AFTN, A-BDIS, and NASNET. The functions of these networks are discussed with emphasis on those networks that support the different elements of the NWS. The primary network of concern to NASA, the WMSC (Weather Message Switching Center) network, performs approximately 60 percent of its work for the NWS, 20 percent for the State Department, and 20 percent for the FAA. This document discusses the current and future systems capabilities and workload of NATCOM in terms of new roles.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2004

Interaction and Communication of Agents in Networks and Language Complexity Estimates

Knowledge acquisition and sharing are arguably the most critical activities of communicating agents. We report about our on-going project featuring knowledge acquisition and sharing among communicating agents embedded in a network. The applications we target range from hardware robots to virtual entities such as internet agents. Agent experiments can be simulated using a convenient simulation language. We analyzed the complexity of communicating agent simulations using Java and Easel. Scenarios we have studied are listed below. The communication among agents can range from declarative queries to sub-natural language queries. 1) A set of agents monitoring an object are asked to build activity profiles based on exchanging elementary observations; 2) A set of car drivers form a line, where every car is following its predecessor. An unsafe distance cm create a strong wave in the line. Individual agents are asked to incorporate and apply directions how to avoid the wave. 3) A set of micro-vehicles form a grid and are asked to propagate information and concepts to a central server.

Smid, Jan↗

DOE OSTI2023

Autonomous Restoration of Networked Microgrids Using Communication-Free Smart Sensing and Protection Units

Here this paper presents autonomous restoration of networked microgrids using distributed energy resources (DERs), inverter-based resources (IBRs) in general, and controllable assets of intelligence without communication to achieve a extremely resilient power system restoration. The main innovation of this work lies in use of real-time smart sensing and decision making that enable autonomous recombination of islanded microgrids, which are individually black-started by local grid-forming (GFM) inverter units. The smart circuit breakers (SCBs) designed and demonstrated here play critical roles in the restoration process to achieve autonomy; the autonomous restoration scheme is not pre-engineered and may be subject to encounter overloading, live or downed segments as the boundary of the microgrids dynamically expands without prior knowledge and only with local measurement. We demonstrate autonomous microgrid restoration both in simulation of a modified IEEE 13-bus system, and in a hardware testbed comprising 24 GFM-IBRs and 6-SCBs, depicting several scenarios to evaluate their functionalities and interoperability. This work validates high potential of extremely resilient microgrid using novel approaches for inverter-based bottom-up system restoration in a communication-free paradigm.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRS2015

Wireless Augmented Reality Communication System

A portable unit is for video communication to select a user name in a user name network. A transceiver wirelessly accesses a communication network through a wireless connection to a general purpose node coupled to the communication network. A user interface can receive user input to log on to a user name network through the communication network. The user name network has a plurality of user names, at least one of the plurality of user names is associated with a remote portable unit, logged on to the user name network and available for video communication.

Devereaux, Ann↗

NASA NTRS2017

Wireless Augmented Reality Communication System

Devereaux, Ann↗

NASA NTRS2023

Application of Fountain Code to High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networks

Space communication poses several unique challenges that are not always present in typical terrestrial communications. Currently, communication with satellites is based on point-to-point links, and development of an interplanetary internet is an active research area. Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) has been proposed as a way to mitigate the long delays and disruptions found in deep space. A specialized version of DTN, called High-rate Delay Tolerant Networking (HDTN), has been developed by NASA to support a variety of missions requiring store-and-forward capability. However, there are still several features that are desired for HDTN including data fragmentation, multicast, and anycast. This project proposes the application of fountain code in HDTN as a means of fragmenting, distributing, and reassembling data (in the form of bundles) across multiple nodes (i.e. satellites) to any number of receivers (i.e. ground stations). Fountain code is shown to be a promising encoding method for use with the HDTN protocol suite due to its short runtimes, small encoded file sizes, and loss tolerance.

Noah Douglass↗

NASA NTRS1991

The 1991 research and technology report, Goddard Space Flight Center

The 1991 Research and Technology Report for Goddard Space Flight Center is presented. Research covered areas such as (1) earth sciences including upper atmosphere, lower atmosphere, oceans, hydrology, and global studies; (2) space sciences including solar studies, planetary studies, Astro-1, gamma ray investigations, and astrophysics; (3) flight projects; (4) engineering including robotics, mechanical engineering, electronics, imaging and optics, thermal and cryogenic studies, and balloons; and (5) ground systems, networks, and communications including data and networks, TDRSS, mission planning and scheduling, and software development and test.

Soffen, Gerald↗

DOE OSTI2020

One step removed shadow network

A system and method includes an operational network that communicates with an external network by opening a first transmission protocol socket. A data diode coupled to the operational network and a gateway enables the one-way transfer of all information received from the external network and transmitted by the operational network to the gateway such that no information travels from the gateway to the operational network or the external network. The gateway opens a second transmission protocol socket by mapping a sequence number to an acknowledgement number and increasing that mapped acknowledgement number by a value of one. A transmitter then transmits the acknowledgment to a remote network or a gateway.

Park, Brent K.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Evolving earth-based and in-situ satellite network architectures for Mars communications and navigation support

Results of on-going studies to develop navigation/telecommunications network concepts to support future robotic and human missions to Mars are presented. The performance and connectivity improvements provided by the relay network will permit use of simpler, lower performance, and less costly telecom subsystems for the in-situ mission exploration elements. Orbiting relay satellites can serve as effective navigation aids by supporting earth-based tracking as well as providing Mars-centered radiometric data for mission elements approaching, in orbit, or on the surface of Mars. The relay satellite orbits may be selected to optimize navigation aid support and communication coverage for specific mission sets.

Hastrup, Rolf↗

DOE OSTI2020

Network packet templating for GPU-initiated communication

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for performing network packet templating for graphics processing unit (GPU)-initiated communication are disclosed. A central processing unit (CPU) creates a network packet according to a template and populates a first subset of fields of the network packet with static data. Next, the CPU stores the network packet in a memory. A GPU initiates execution of a kernel and detects a network communication request within the kernel and prior to the kernel completing execution. Responsive to this determination, the GPU populates a second subset of fields of the network packet with runtime data. Then, the GPU generates a notification that the network packet is ready to be processed. A network interface controller (NIC) processes the network packet using data retrieved from the first subset of fields and from the second subset of fields responsive to detecting the notification.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS2008

Architecture Modeling and Performance Characterization of Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Network Using MACHETE

As future space exploration missions will involve larger number of spacecraft and more complex systems, theoretical analysis alone may have limitations on characterizing system performance and interactions among the systems. Simulation tools can be useful for system performance characterization through detailed modeling and simulation of the systems and its environment...This paper reports the simulation of the Orion (Crew Exploration Vehicle) to the International Space Station (ISS) mission where Orion is launched by Ares into orbit on a 14-day mission to rendezvous with the ISS. Communications services for the mission are provided by the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) network infrastructure which includes the NASA Space Network (SN), Ground Network (GN) and NASA Integrated Services Network (NISN). The objectives of the simulation are to determine whether SCaN can meet the communications needs of the mission, to demonstrate the benefit of using QoS prioritization, and to evaluate network-key parameters of interest such as delay and throughout.

space based networking↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Interest in 3GPP Mobile Telecommunications Protocols for Near Earth Space and the Lunar Surface

In the next several years, NASA intends to return astronauts to the Moon through the Artemis Program. Under Artemis, NASA plans to collaborate with commercial and international partners to establish a long-term presence on the Moon. Near-term Artemis missions will be analogous but much more sophisticated versions of the last couple of Apollo missions. For example, the first area expected to be explored by an Artemis mission is near the south pole as opposed to the mid-latitudes visited by the Apollo astronauts, which makes direct communications with Earth more complicated. Lunar infrastructure will eventually be built over time by many organizations, public and private, to support sustained human exploration, science, and industrial activities on the Moon. A robust lunar communications and navigation infrastructure will be essential to realizing this long-term vision. Meanwhile, on Earth, major advances are being made as5G mobile telecommunications rollout across the globe. Furthermore, the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) is beginning to define future 6G capabilities. NASA envisions a lunar communications and navigation network with capabilities similar to those of communication networks we enjoy here on Earth. Building such a network will require participation by many organizations. NASA’s Tipping Point program seeks industry-developed space technologies that can both foster commercial space capabilities and benefit future NASA missions. This paper provides an overview of NASA’s interest in 3GPPanddescribescurrent work based on 3GPP standards within NASA or funded by NASA, such as Nokia’s upcoming Tipping Point demonstration of 4G/LTE on the lunar surface in early 2023.

Bernard L Edwards↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

3GPP Telecommunications Technology on the Moon

Under NASA’s Artemis program, NASA is planning to send astronauts back to the Moon in the next couple of years. Near term missions will be analogous but much more sophisticated versions of the last couple of Apollo missions. However, unlike Apollo, this time NASA intends to put the infrastructure in place to support long term human presence and eventual industrialization of the Moon. To make this vision a reality, NASA plans to collaborate with commercial and international partners as much as possible as opposed to developing, building, and operating equipment on its own. Lunar infrastructure will eventually be built over time by many organizations, public and private, to support sustained human exploration, science, and industrial activities. Obviously, this vision for the future will be impossible without a robust lunar communications and navigation system that can support many users with varying degrees of services. On Earth, most people are very familiar with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G mobile telecommunications technology. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation office would like to see a lunar communications and navigation network with similar capabilities to the cellular communication networks most of us enjoy today. Building such a network will require participation by many organizations. This paper will provide an overview of NASA’s interest in using 5G and beyond on the lunar surface; it will also describe current work based on 3GPP standards within NASA or funded by NASA, such as Nokia’s upcoming Tipping Point demonstration of 4G / LTE on the lunar surface.

Bernard Edwards↗