Harnessing the Beast: Using Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) to Manage Complex Research Software Environments.
Abstract not provided.
Turgeon, Jennifer↗
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Results for “system software”
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.
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An Exhaust Catalyst Simulator (ExhCatSim): Reducing Catalyst Development Costs and Improving the Performance of Exhaust Aftertreatment Systems
The proposed ExhCatSim software tool can be used to account for CO/HC/NOx/PM emissions controls required by EPA regulation standards via the integration of variable catalysts listed in the tool, e.g. exploring various aftertreatment configurations and technologies (like DOC/DPF/SCR/ASC) for extra low emissions control. Moreover, the software tool can be used to investigate the tradeoff between cost and catalytic performance.
Gao, Zhiming↗
EXACTRAC x-ray and beam isocenters--What's the difference?
Purpose: To evaluate the geometric accuracy of the isocenter of an image-guidance system, as implemented in the exactrac system from brainlab, relative to the linear accelerator radiation isocenter. Subsequently to correct the x-ray isocenter of the exactrac system for any geometric discrepancies between the two isocenters. Methods: Five Varian linear accelerators all equipped with electronic imaging devices and exactrac with robotics from brainlab were evaluated. A commercially available Winston-Lutz phantom and an in-house made adjustable base were used in the setup. The electronic portal imaging device of the linear accelerators was used to acquire MV-images at various gantry angles. Stereoscopic pairs of x-ray images were acquired using the exactrac system. The deviation between the position of the external laser isocenter and the exactrac isocenter was evaluated using the commercial software of the exactrac system. In-house produced software was used to analyze the MV-images and evaluate the deviation between the external laser isocenter and the radiation isocenter of the linear accelerator. Subsequently, the deviation between the radiation isocenter and the isocenter of the exactrac system was calculated. A new method of calibrating the isocenter of the exactrac system was applied to reduce the deviations between the radiation isocenter and the exactrac isocenter. Results: To evaluate the geometric accuracy a 3D deviation vector was calculated for each relative isocenter position. The 3D deviation between the external laser isocenter and the isocenter of the exactrac system varied from 0.21 to 0.42 mm. The 3D deviation between the external laser isocenter and the linac radiation isocenter ranged from 0.37 to 0.83 mm. The 3D deviation between the radiation isocenter and the isocenter of the exactrac system ranged from 0.31 to 1.07 mm. Using the new method of calibrating the exactrac isocenter the 3D deviation of one linac was reduced from 0.90 to 0.23 mm. The results were complicated due to routine maintenance of the linac, including laser calibration. It was necessary to repeat the measurements in order to perform the calibration of the exactrac isocenter. Conclusions: The deviations between the linac radiation isocenter and the exactrac isocenter were of an order that may have clinical relevance. An alternative method of calibrating the isocenter of the exactrac system was applied and reduced the deviations between the two isocenters.
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
SU-F-J-110: MRI-Guided Single-Session Simulation, Online Adaptation, and Treatment
Purpose: To develop a combined simulation and treatment workflow for MRI-guided radiation therapy using the ViewRay treatment planning and delivery system. Methods: Several features of the ViewRay MRIdian planning and treatment workflows are used to simulate and treat patients that require emergent radiotherapy. A simple “pre-plan” is created on diagnostic imaging retrieved from radiology PACS, where conformal fields are created to target a volume defined by a physician based on review of the diagnostic images and chart notes. After initial consult in radiation oncology, the patient is brought to the treatment room, immobilized, and imaged in treatment position with a volumetric MR. While the patient rests on the table, the pre-plan is applied to the treatment planning MR and dose is calculated in the treatment geometry. After physician review, modification of the plan may include updating the target definition, redefining fields, or re-balancing beam weights. Once an acceptable treatment plan is finalized and approved, the patient is treated. Results: Careful preparation and judicious choices in the online planning process allow conformal treatment plans to be created and delivered in a single, thirty-minute session. Several advantages have been identified using this process as compared to conventional urgent CT simulation and delivery. Efficiency gains are notable, as physicians appreciate the predictable time commitment and patient waiting time for treatment is decreased. MR guidance in a treatment position offers both enhanced contrast for target delineation and reduction of setup uncertainties. The MRIdian system tools designed for adaptive radiotherapy are particularly useful, enabling plan changes to be made in minutes. Finally, the resulting plans, typically 6 conformal beams, are delivered as quickly as more conventional AP/PA beam arrangements with comparatively superior dose distributions. Conclusion: The ViewRay treatment planning software and delivery system can accommodate a fast simulation and treatment workflow.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
Final Technical Report: Commercial Advanced Lighting Control (ALC) Demonstration and Deployment
This three-year demonstration and deployment project sought to address market barriers to accelerating the adoption of Advanced Lighting Controls (ALCs), an underutilized technology with low market penetration. ALCs are defined as networked, addressable lighting control systems that utilize software or intelligent controllers to combine multiple energy-saving lighting control strategies in a single space (e.g., smart-time scheduling, daylight harvesting, task tuning, occupancy control, personal control, variable load-shedding, and plug-load control). The networked intelligent aspect of these systems allows applicable lighting control strategies to be combined in a single space, layered over one another, maximizing overall energy-savings. The project included five real building demonstrations of ALCs across the Northeast US region. The demonstrations provided valuable data and experience to support deployment tasks that are necessary to overcome market barriers. These deployment tasks included development of training resources for building designers, installers, and trades, as well as development of new energy efficiency rebates for the technology from Efficiency Forward’s utility partners. Educating designers, installers, and trades on ALCs is a critical task for reducing the cost of the technology that is currently inflated due to perceived complexity and unfamiliarity with how to design and install the systems. Further, utility and non-utility energy efficiency programs continue to relegate the technology to custom or ill-suited prescriptive program designs that do not effectively deploy the technology at scale. This project developed new, scalable rebate approaches for the technology. Efficiency Forward utilized their DesignLights Consortium® (DLC) brand and network of 81 DLC member utilities to develop and deploy the results of the project. The outputs of the project have included five published case studies, a six-hour ALC technology training curriculum that has already been deployed in five US states, and new rebates offered for the technology that have been deployed by a dozen utilities across the US. Widespread adoption of ALC technology in commercial buildings would provide tremendous benefits. The current market penetration of ALC systems is estimated at <0.1% in commercial buildings. If ALC systems were installed in all commercial buildings, approximately 1,051 TBtu of energy could be saved. This would translate into customer cost savings of approximately $10.7 billion annually.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Synthesis of Year Two Outcomes in the Smart Energy Analytics Campaign
Buildings are full of hidden energy savings potential that can be uncovered with the right analysis. With sophisticated software to inform and assist in building operations, building owners now are reducing energy and improving operations using building data analytics. The cornerstone of successful building data analytics is the ability to extract accurate and actionable insights from large amounts of data. Modern building automation systems (BAS) monitor hundreds of points per building, and an owner may have a portfolio generating many thousands of data points. The BAS can provide alarms for points out of range, but the analytical capabilities fall well short of helping achieve an optimized system. Further, common analysis tools for energy meter data tend to manage the monthly bills but do not support hourly interval data. Energy management and information systems (EMIS) are software that provide the needed analytical horsepower to building owners as they work to find meaning from data. This section highlights the benefits and challenges in using EMIS for continuous energy management.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Tomosaic : efficient acquisition and reconstruction of teravoxel tomography data using limited-size synchrotron X-ray beams
X-rays offer high penetration with the potential for tomography of centimetre-sized specimens, but synchrotron beamlines often provide illumination that is only millimetres wide. Here an approach is demonstrated termed Tomosaic for tomographic imaging of large samples that extend beyond the illumination field of view of an X-ray imaging system. This includes software modules for image stitching and calibration, while making use of existing modules available in other packages for alignment and reconstruction. The approach is compatible with conventional beamline hardware, while providing a dose-efficient method of data acquisition. By using parallelization on a distributed computing system, it provides a solution for handling teravoxel-sized or larger datasets that cannot be processed on a single workstation in a reasonable time. Using experimental data, the package is shown to provide good quality three-dimensional reconstruction for centimetre-sized samples with sub-micrometre pixel size.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Towards Sustainable Post-Exascale Leadership Computing
As computing systems approach the limits of traditional silicon technology, the diminishing returns in performance per watt present a significant barrier to sustaining growth in HPC. From a large-scale scientific supercomputing facility point of view, we propose a multifaceted strategy toward specialized hardware and architectures that are optimized for energy efficiency in specific applications. We also emphasize the need for integrating energy-aware practices across all levels of HPC, from system design and software development to operational policies. We discuss strategic opportunities such as the adoption of application-specific accelerators, the development of energy-efficient algorithms, and the implementation of data-driven operational analytics. Our goal is to develop a comprehensive roadmap ensuring that future leadership systems at OLCF can meet scientific demands while operating within stringent energy budgets, thereby supporting sustainable computing growth.
Shin, Woong↗
Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning FRNN Software for Prediction & Real-Time Control of DIII-D Plasma Control System (PCS)
This collaborative project integrated an improved version of the Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning FRNN prediction and control software into the real-time DIII-D PCS (plasma control system). A key AI/DL software challenge is to build a modern high-performance computing (HPC) enabled “synthetic plasma simulator” capable of carrying out HPC-driven real-time plasma control applications. This involves development of a deep learning framework to train the surrogate model for a first-principles-based instability analysis simulator (“SGTC”) derived from the global gyrokinetic code GTC. The role of SGTC is to provide accurate and detailed plasma instability information from a real-time AI-based simulator capability to complement the deep learning prediction and control from experimentally-measured signals, such as ECE Imaging, supplemented by synthetic SGTC-ECEI.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Total System Performance Ratio—A Systems Based Approach for Evaluating HVAC System Efficiency
The prescriptive path is the most widely used approach for commercial code compliance in the United States. Though easy to implement, prescriptive approaches do not typically discriminate between minimally compliant, high-performing and poorly performing HVAC system configurations. Hence, to meet aggressive energy and carbon reduction goals, it is clear that energy codes will need to transition from prescriptive to performance-based approaches, a transition that is riddled with several challenges. This paper discusses a new HVAC system-based performance approach (HVAC System Performance) which provides a simpler solution to HVAV system evaluation compared to whole building performance, while keeping tradeoffs limited to specific building systems. The Total System Performance Ratio (TSPR) is a metric for evaluation of overall system efficiency instead of individual component efficiency, a solution which could also eventually facilitate the transition to a 100% performance-based code structure. TSPR is a ratio that compares the annual heating and cooling load of a building to the annual energy consumed by the building’s HVAC system. A calculation software tool has been developed for determining a building’s TSPR. Already incorporated into the 2018 Washington State Energy Code, this approach is also being evaluated by ASHRAE Standard 90.l Project Committee and has the potential to provide a comprehensive performance-based approach for HVAC system evaluation and analysis.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Hybrid Solar Thermal Energy System for District Heating Application
Solar district heating (SDH) systems can be good alternatives to conventional systems when they are optimized with hybrid configurations and thermal energy storage (TES). In this scope, a hybrid renewable thermal energy system (RTES) model has been built combining flat plate collector (FPC) solar system with parabolic trough collector (PTC) system via a heat exchanger and coupled with TES. To undertake the hybridization of the system, System Advisor Model (SAM) software was modified, which allowed control over configurations and more accurate modelling of heat transfer between the collectors. The model is first compared to an existing hybrid solar district heating systems (DHS) system in Taars, Denmark. The results showed a good correlation with an overestimation of only 6.4% compared to most recent heat output. Then the same system configuration was modeled in different geographic locations to investigate the impact of changes in direct normal irradiance (DNI) to the heat sink thermal output of the hybrid system. The results showed that the annual net thermal power output in California, USA can be three times more than the annual net thermal power output in Taars, Denmark. Finally, multiple hybrid configurations with varying solar field sizes were simulated based on the heat demand of two different university campuses DHS. The results showed that, retrofit applications of this hybrid DHS system coupled with TES could reduce the natural gas consumption of the existing systems between 25% and 41%. The use of hybrid RTES highlighted in this paper can be extended to many more opportunities.
district heating↗
SU-E-T-594: Preliminary Active Scanning Results of KHIMA
Purpose: To verify the design criteria on heavy ion beam irradiation, developing a proto type active scanning system was purposed. The active scanning system consists of scanning magnet, power supplies, beam monitors, energy modulation system, and irradiation control system. Methods: Each components of the active scanning system was designed for carbon beam first. For the fast ramping a laminated yoke was purposed. To measure incoming dose and profile, a plate and strip type of ion chambers were designed. Also, ridge filter and range shifter was manufactured. And, the scanning system was modified to adopt 45 MeV of proton beam because of the absence of carbon ion beam in Korea. The system was installed in a beam line at MC-50, KIRAMS. Also, the irradiation control system and planning software was provided. Results: The scanning experiment was performed by drawing KHIMA logo on GaF film. The logo was scanned by 237 scanning points through time normalized intensity modulation. Also, a grid points scanning was performed to measure the scanning resolution and intensity resolution. Conclusion: A prototype active scanning system was successfully designed and manufactured. Also, an initial experiment to print out a drawing on GaF film through the scanning system was completed. More experiments would be required to specify the system performance.
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
TrioSim: A Lightweight Simulator for Large-Scale DNN Workloads on Multi-GPU Systems
Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have become increasingly capable of performing tasks ranging from image recognition to content generation. The training and inference of DNNs heavily rely on GPUs, as GPUs' massively parallel architecture delivers extremely high computing capability. With the growing complexity of DNNs and the size of training datasets, training DNNs with a large number of GPUs is becoming a prevalent strategy. Researchers have been exploring how to design software and hardware systems for GPU farms to achieve the best utilization, efficiency, and DNN accuracy during training or inference. However, when designing and deploying such systems, designers usually rely on testing on physical hardware platforms equipped with many GPUs, incurring high costs that are almost prohibitive for system designers to test different configurations and designs, even for highly resourceful companies. While an alternative solution is to test on GPU simulators, they are often too slow for these l
Li, Ying [William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, USA] (↗
Advanced Computing is at the Forefront of a New “Moonshot” Revolutionizing the North American Power Grid
In the 50+ years since the first humans landed on the moon, computing has grown at breakneck speed. We are faced with another challenge that is just as daunting, and just as important to overcome-modernizing the North American electric power grid-and high-performance computing (HPC) systems with specialized software will be an important element in rising to this challenge. We describe at a high level how software developed in the ExaSGD project addresses this "moonshot" goal by utilizing exascale computing and a novel high performance solver software stack to support the mission of decarbonizing power grid operations in an environment of uncertain weather and climate. To reach the exascale benchmark the team has made a number of first-of-their-kind innovations, including novel method for stochastic optimization, fine grained parallel methods for modeling power systems, and GPU resident sparse numerical linear solvers.
17 WIND ENERGY↗
WHITE DWARF MERGERS ON ADAPTIVE MESHES. I. METHODOLOGY AND CODE VERIFICATION
The Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) progenitor problem is one of the most perplexing and exciting problems in astrophysics, requiring detailed numerical modeling to complement observations of these explosions. One possible progenitor that has merited recent theoretical attention is the white dwarf (WD) merger scenario, which has the potential to naturally explain many of the observed characteristics of SNe Ia. To date there have been relatively few self-consistent simulations of merging WD systems using mesh-based hydrodynamics. This is the first paper in a series describing simulations of these systems using a hydrodynamics code with adaptive mesh refinement. In this paper we describe our numerical methodology and discuss our implementation in the compressible hydrodynamics code CASTRO, which solves the Euler equations, and the Poisson equation for self-gravity, and couples the gravitational and rotation forces to the hydrodynamics. Standard techniques for coupling gravitation and rotation forces to the hydrodynamics do not adequately conserve the total energy of the system for our problem, but recent advances in the literature allow progress and we discuss our implementation here. We present a set of test problems demonstrating the extent to which our software sufficiently models a system where large amounts of mass are advected on the computational domain over long timescales. Future papers in this series will describe our treatment of the initial conditions of these systems and will examine the early phases of the merger to determine its viability for triggering a thermonuclear detonation.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
A framework for collaborative review of candidate events in high data rate streams: The V-FASTR experiment as a case study
“Fast radio transients” are defined here as bright millisecond pulses of radio-frequency energy. These short-duration pulses can be produced by known objects such as pulsars or potentially by more exotic objects such as evaporating black holes. The identification and verification of such an event would be of great scientific value. This is one major goal of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) Fast Transient Experiment (V-FASTR), a software-based detection system installed at the VLBA. V-FASTR uses a “commensal” (piggy-back) approach, analyzing all array data continually during routine VLBA observations and identifying candidate fast transient events. Raw data can be stored from a buffer memory, which enables a comprehensive off-line analysis. This is invaluable for validating the astrophysical origin of any detection. Candidates discovered by the automatic system must be reviewed each day by analysts to identify any promising signals that warrant a more in-depth investigation. To support the timely analysis of fast transient detection candidates by V-FASTR scientists, we have developed a metadata-driven, collaborative candidate review framework. The framework consists of a software pipeline for metadata processing composed of both open source software components and project-specific code written expressly to extract and catalog metadata from the incoming V-FASTR data products, and a web-based data portal that facilitates browsing and inspection of the available metadata for candidate events extracted from the VLBA radio data.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Performance of the beam chamber vacuum system of K = 500 cyclotron at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre Kolkata
The beam chamber of Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata's K = 500 superconducting cyclotron is pumped by liquid helium cooled cryopanel with liquid nitrogen cooled radiation shield. Performance of the vacuum system was evaluated by cooling the cryopanel assembly with liquid nitrogen and liquid helium. Direct measurement of beam chamber pressure is quite difficult because of space restrictions and the presence of high magnetic field. Pressure gauges were placed away from the beam chamber. The beam chamber pressure was evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulation software for vacuum system and compared with measurements. The details of the vacuum system, measurements, and estimation of pressure of the beam chamber are described in this paper.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
URBAN-NET: A Network-based Infrastructure Monitoring and Analysis System for Emergency Management and Public Safety
Abstract Critical Infrastructures (CIs) such as energy, water, and transportation are complex networks that are crucial for sustaining day-to-day commodity flows vital to national security, economic stability, and public safety. The nature of these CIs is such that failures caused by an extreme weather event or a man-made incident can trigger widespread cascading failures, sending ripple effects at regional or even national scales. To minimize such effects, it is critical for emergency responders to identify existing or potential vulnerabilities within CIs during such stressor events in a systematic and quantifiable manner and take appropriate mitigating actions. We present here a novel critical infrastructure monitoring and analysis system named URBAN-NET. The system includes a software stack and tools for monitoring CIs, pre-processing data, interconnecting multiple CI datasets as a heterogeneous network, identifying vulnerabilities through graph-based topological analysis, and predicting consequences based on what-if simulations along with visualization. As a proof-of-concept, we present several case studies to show the capabilities of our system. We also discuss remaining challenges and future work.
Lee, Sangkeun↗