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At least 1,063 records · Page 59

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NASA NTRS1994

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 41: Technical communication practices of Dutch and US aerospace engineers and scientists: International perspective on aerospace

As part of Phase 4 of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project, studies were conducted that investigated the technical communications practices of Dutch and U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists. The studies had the following objectives: (1) to solicit the opinions of aerospace engineers and scientists regarding the importance of technical communication to their professions, (2) to determine the use and production of technical communication by aerospace engineers and scientists, (3) to investigate their use of libraries and technical information centers, (4) to investigate their use of and the importance to them of computer and information technology, (5) to examine their use of electronic networks, and (6) to determine their use of foreign and domestically produced technical reports. Self-administered (mail) questionnaires were distributed to Dutch aerospace engineers and scientists at the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) in the Netherlands, the NASA Ames Research Center in the U.S., and the NASA Langley Research Center in the U.S. Responses of the Dutch and U.S. participants to selected questions are presented in this paper.

Barclay, Rebecca O.↗

NASA NTRS1994

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 40: Technical communications in aerospace education: A study of AIAA student members

This paper describes the preliminary analysis of a survey of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) student members. In the paper we examine (1) the demographic characteristics of the students, (2) factors that affected their career decisions, (3) their career goals and aspirations, and (4) their training in technical communication and techniques for finding and using aerospace scientific and technical information (STI). We determine that aerospace engineering students receive training in technical communication skills and the use of STI. While those in the aerospace industry think that more training is needed, we believe the students receive the appropriate amount of training. We think that the differences between the amount of training students receive and the perception of training needs is related partially to the characteristics of the students and partially to the structure of the aerospace STI dissemination system. Overall, we conclude that the students' technical communication training and knowledge of STI, while limited by external forces, makes it difficult for students to achieve their career goals.

Kennedy, John M.↗

NASA NTRS1993

NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. XXXIII - Technical communications practices and the use of information technologies as reported by Dutch and U.S. aerospace engineers

As part of Phase 4 of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project, two studies were conducted that investigated the technical communications practices of Dutch and U.S. aerospace engineers and scientists. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to aerospace engineers and scientists at the National Aerospace Laboratory (The Netherlands), and NASA Ames Research Center (U.S.), and the NASA Langley Research Center (U.S.). This paper presents responses of the Dutch and U.S. participants to selected questions about four of the seven project objectives: determining the importance of technical communications to aerospace engineering professionals, investigating the production of technical communications, examining the use and importance of computer and information technology, and exploring the use of electronic networks.

Barclay, Rebecca O.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Use of Advanced Solar Cells for Commercial Communication Satellites

The current generation of communications satellites are located primarily in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Over the next decade, however, a new generation of communications satellites will be built and launched, designed to provide a world-wide interconnection of portable telephones. For this mission, the satellites must be positioned in lower polar and near-polar orbits. To provide complete coverage, large numbers of satellites will be required. Because the required number of satellites decreases as the orbital altitude is increased, fewer satellites would be required if the orbit chosen were raised from low to intermediate orbit. However, in intermediate orbits, satellites encounter significant radiation due to trapped electrons and protons. Radiation tolerant solar cells may be necessary to make such satellites feasible. We analyze the amount of radiation encountered in low and intermediate polar orbits at altitudes of interest to next-generation communication satellites, calculate the expected degradation for silicon, GaAs, and InP solar cells, and show that the lifetimes can be significantly increased by use of advanced solar cells.

Bailey, Sheila G.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Facility for the evaluation of space communications and related systems

NASA Lewis Research Center's Communications Projects Branch has developed a facility for the evaluation of space communications systems and related types of systems, called the Advanced Space Communications (ASC) Laboratory. The ASC Lab includes instrumentation, testbed hardware, and experiment control and monitor software for the evaluation of components, subsystems, systems, and networks. The ASC lab has capabilities to perform radiofrequency (RF), microwave, and millimeter-wave characterizations as well as measurements using low, medium, or high data rate digital signals. In addition to laboratory measurements, the ASC Lab also includes integrated satellite ground terminals allowing experimentation and measurements accessing operational satellites through real space links.

Kerczewski, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Ku-Band Data-Communication Adapter

Data-communication adapter circuit on single printed-circuit board serves as general-purpose interface between personal computer and satellite communication system. Designed as direct interface with Ku-band data-communication system for payloads on space shuttle, also used with any radio-frequency transmission systems. Readily installed in almost any personal computer via widely used Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus.

Schadelbauer, Steve↗

NASA NTRS1995

Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS): Design and on-orbit performance measurements

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), developed and built by Lockheed Martin Astro space for the NASA Lewis Research Center, was launched in September 1993 on the shuttle STS 51 mission. ACTS is a digital experimental communications test bed that incorporates gigahertz bandwidth transponders operating at Ka band, hopping spot beams, on-board storage and switching, and dynamic rain fade compensation. This paper describes the ACTS enabling technologies, the design of the communications payload, the constraints imposed on the spacecraft bus, and the measurements conducted to verify the performance of the system in orbit.

Gargione, F.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Communications satellites in the national and global health care information infrastructure: their role, impact, and issues

Health care services delivered from a distance, known collectively as telemedicine, are being increasingly demonstrated on various transmission media. Telemedicine activities have included diagnosis by a doctor at a remote location, emergency and disaster medical assistance, medical education, and medical informatics. The ability of communications satellites to offer communication channels and bandwidth on demand, connectivity to mobile, remote and under served regions, and global access will afford them a critical role for telemedicine applications within the National and Global Information Infrastructure (NII/GII). The importance that communications satellites will have in telemedicine applications within the NII/GII the differences in requirements for NII vs. GII, the major issues such as interoperability, confidentiality, quality, availability, and costs, and preliminary conclusions for future usability based on the review of several recent trails at national and global levels are presented.

Zuzek, J. E.↗

NASA NTRS1996

The Implications of ACTS Technology on the Requirements of Rain Attenuation Modeling for Communication System Specification and Analysis at 30/20 GHz and Beyond

The advent of the use of the Ka-Band for space communications, coupled with the introduction of digital modulation techniques as well as multiple-beam methodology for satellites, has deemed it necessary to reassess the plethora of rain attenuation prediction models in use. The Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS) Project, undertaken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1983, offered such challenges to rain attenuation prediction modeling. Up to 1983, no such single modeling formalism existed that could fill such requirements. Not even the work done by the NASA Propagation Experimenters (NAPEX) Group had envisioned such requirements, so no dynamic Ka-Band data existed from which one could draw conclusions. In this paper, the basic rudiments of what has become to be known as the 'ACTS Rain Attenuation Prediction Model' will be presented. The concept of rain fade mitigation control availability will be introduced. A new evaluation is then presented for the performance of satellite communication systems, in particular, those to be operating within the Ka-Band and above, that will necessarily employ some type of dynamic rain fade mitigation procedure.

Manning, Robert M.↗

NASA NTRS1995

MEMS-Based Communications Systems for Space-Based Applications

As user demand for higher capacity and flexibility in communications satellites increases, new ways to cope with the inherent limitations posed by the prohibitive mass and power consumption, needed to satisfy those requirements, are under investigation. Recent studies suggest that while new satellite architectures are necessary to enable multi-user, multi-data rate, multi-location satellite links, these new architectures will inevitably increase power consumption, and in turn, spacecraft mass, to such an extent that their successful implementation will demand novel lightweight/low power hardware approaches. In this paper, following a brief introduction to the fundamentals of communications satellites, we address the impact of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology, in particular micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) switches to mitigate the above mentioned problems and show that low-loss/wide bandwidth MEM switches will go a long way towards enabling higher capacity and flexibility space-based communications systems.

DeLosSantos, Hector J.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Electro-Optical Design for Efficient Visual Communication

Visual communication, in the form of telephotography and television, for example, can be regarded as efficient only if the amount of information that it conveys about the scene to the observer approaches the maximum possible and the associated cost approaches the minimum possible. Elsewhere we have addressed the problem of assessing the end to end performance of visual communication systems in terms of their efficiency in this sense by integrating the critical limiting factors that constrain image gathering into classical communications theory. We use this approach to assess the electro-optical design of image gathering devices as a function of the f number and apodization of the objective lens and the aperture size and sampling geometry of the phot-detection mechanism. Results show that an image gathering device that is designed to optimize information capacity performs similarly to the human eye. For both, the performance approaches the maximum possible, in terms of the efficiency with which the acquired information can be transmitted as decorrelated data, and the fidelity, sharpness, and clearity with which fine detail can be restored.

Huck, Friedrich O.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Beyond the Ionosphere: Fifty Years of Satellite Communication

The three overlapping stages of satellite communications development outlined provide the three-part framework for the organization of the papers contained in this book. Part 1, 'Passive Origins,' treats the first stage of satellite communications development, extending from the 1940s into the early 1960s, when passive artificial and natural satellites funded by the military and private enterprise established the field. Part 2, 'Creating the Global, Regional, and National Systems,' addresses events that constituted the second stage of development. Early in this stage, which stretched from the 1960s into the 1970s, satellite systems began to make their appearance in the United States, while domestic and international efforts sought to bring order to this new but chaotic, field in the form of Comsat and Intelsat. Part 3, 'The Unfolding of the World System,' explores the development of satellite communications in the remainder of the world, with a strong emphasis on Asia.

Butrica, Andrew J.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Extended Horizon Liftings for Periodic Gain Adjustments in Control Systems, and for Equalization of Communication Channels

Periodic gain adjustment in plants of irreducible order, n, or for equalization of communications channels is effected in such a way that the plant (system) appears to be minimum phase by choosing a horizon time N greater then n of liftings in periodic input and output windows Pu and Py, respectively, where N is an integer chosen to define the extent (length) of each of the windows Pu and Py, and n is the order of an irreducible input/output plant. The plant may be an electrical, mechanical or chemical system, in which case output tracking (OT) is carried out for feedback control or a communication channel, in which case input tracking (IT) is carried out. Conditions for OT are distinct from IT in terms of zero annihilation, namely for OT and of IT, where the OT conditions are intended for gain adjustments in the control system, and IT conditions are intended for equalization for communication channels.

Bayard, David S.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Asynchronous Communication of TLNS3DMB Boundary Exchange

This paper describes the recognition of implicit serialization due to coarse-grain, synchronous communication and demonstrates the conversion to asynchronous communication for the exchange of boundary condition information in the Thin-Layer Navier Stokes 3-Dimensional Multi Block (TLNS3DMB) code. The implementation details of using asynchronous communication is provided including buffer allocation, message identification, and barrier control. The IBM SP2 was used for the tests presented.

Hammond, Dana P.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Proceedings of the Twenty-First NASA Propagation Experiments Meeting (NAPEX XXI) and the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) Propagation Studies Miniworkshop

The NASA Propagation Experimenters (NAPEX) meeting is convened each year to discuss studies supported by the NASA Propagation Program. Representatives from the satellite communications industry, academia and government who have an interest in space-ground radio wave propagation are invited to NAPEX meetings for discussions and exchange of information. The reports delivered at this meeting by program managers and investigators present recent activities and future plans. This forum provides an opportunity for peer discussion of work in progress, timely dissemination of propagation results, and close interaction with the satellite communications industry. NAPEX XXI took place in El Segundo, California on June 11-12, 1997 and consisted of three sessions. Session 1, entitled "ACTS Propagation Study Results & Outcome " covered the results of 20 station-years of Ka-band radio-wave propagation experiments. Session 11, 'Ka-band Propagation Studies and Models,' provided the latest developments in modeling, and analysis of experimental results about radio wave propagation phenomena for design of Ka-band satellite communications systems. Session 111, 'Propagation Research Topics,' covered a diverse range of propagation topics of interest to the space community, including overviews of handbooks and databases on radio wave propagation. The ACTS Propagation Studies miniworkshop was held on June 13, 1997 and consisted of a technical session in the morning and a plenary session in the afternoon. The morning session covered updates on the status of the ACTS Project & Propagation Program, engineering support for ACTS Propagation Terminals, and the Data Center. The plenary session made specific recommendations for the future direction of the program.

Golshan, Nasser↗

NASA NTRS1997

Presentations of the Ninth Advanced Communications Technology Satellite Propagation Studies Workshop (APSW IX)

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite Propagation Studies Workshop (APSW) is convened each year to present the results of the ACTS Propagation Campaign. Representatives from the satellite communications (satcom) industry, academia, and government are invited to APSW for discussions and exchange of information. The ACTS Propagation campaign is completing three years of Ka-Band data collection at seven sites in North America. Through this effort, NASA is making a major contribution to growth of satcom services by providing timely propagation data and models for predicting the performance of Ka-Band satellite communications systems.

Golshan, Nasser↗

NASA NTRS1999

Communications, Signal Processing, and Telemetering Research Program Review

A Communications, Signal Processing, and Telemetering Research Program Review was held on February 23, 1999. Research conducted under the grant was presented and reviewed, for progress, and for possible technology transfers. The research reviewed was in the following areas: (1) Bandwidth-efficient Modulation and nonlinear equalization; (2) Investigation of an architecture for parallel signal processing applicable to communications problems; (3)Coded partial response over satellites; (4) synchronization at Low SNR; (5) Serial concatenated convolutional codes and some implementation issues on high rate turbo codes; (6) Flight experiments; (7) Real time doppler tracking; (8) Space protocol testing; (9) Lightweight optical communications without carrying a laser in space. The presentations are given by the graduate students who performed the research.

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NASA NTRS1999

Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS): Four-Year System Performance

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) was conceived at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the late 1970's as a follow-on program to ATS and CTS to continue NASA's long history of satellite communications projects. The ACTS project set the stage for the C-band satellites that started the industry, and later the ACTS project established the use of Ku-band for video distribution and direct-to-home broadcasting. ACTS, launched in September 1993 from the space shuttle, created a revolution in satellite system architecture by using digital communications techniques employing key technologies such as a fast hopping multibeam antenna, an on-board baseband processor, a wide-band microwave switch matrix, adaptive rain fade compensation, and the use of 900 MHz transponders operating at Ka-band frequencies. This paper describes the lessons learned in each of the key ACTS technology areas, as well as in the propagation investigations.

Acosta, Roberto J.↗