Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Onboard processing”

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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

A packet telemetry system employing ARQ error control

A proposed packet telemetry system employing automatic retransmission request (ARQ) mode of error control is characterized. Limitations of the present multiplexing/demultiplexing approach are considered, and the use of the proposed system in near-earth satellites in the 1980s is suggested. Onboard processing and an adaptive multiplexing technique are described, as is an elastic buffer, required because the instantaneous data rate will be different from the telemetry transmission rate. The telemetry packets would be encoded into a powerful error-detection block code. A mechanism involving temporary buffering in a long shift register will permit retransmission request from the ground station for packets received in error. The ARQ mode of operation should ensure essentially error-free transmission at lower signal-to-noise ratios and at considerably higher transmission rates than are usually used.

Greene, E. P.↗
NASA NTRS1978

System considerations for an earth radiation budget scanning radiometer

The objective of the scanning radiometer of the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite System is to measure the longwave and reflected shortwave radiation from the earth on a gridwork of approximately 250 km square regions in order to obtain one-month averages of flux with global coverage to an accuracy of 14 W/sq m. A number of considerations in the choice of some of the design parameters of the scanner are discussed. The error sources which must be considered in the design of a scanning radiometer designed to measure regional radiation budget are examined. An analysis of the system performance through spatial averaging is presented. The analysis provides insight into the effects of field of view, time response, onboard processing and spatial averaging.

Smith, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

System considerations for an earth radiation budget scanning radiometer

Error sources that might affect the earth radiation budget (ERBSI) scanner radiometer are discussed. Effects of sensor time response, spatial averaging by the field of view, onboard processing, and level III averaging are examined, coverage of grid regions is considered, and an analysis procedure for a scanning radiometer is derived. ERBSI consists of a scanning radiometer, sensors, and a solar radiometer, and it is suggested that ERBSI be included in the instrument complement of NOAA operational spacecraft.

Smith, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Earth radiation budget experiment and smart sensors

This paper presents the data analysis requirements for the Earth Radiation Budget Experiment and potential needs for a follow-on radiation budget system. The present requirements for determining the earth's radiation budget on scales from 250 by 250-km regions to global require two broadband measurements on each of three satellites. The instrument system is composed of wide- and medium-field-of-view radiometers and a narrow-field-of-view scanning radiometer. Modeled directional functions are required to interpret the data in terms of earth radiation fluxes. Meeting more stringent science requirements for a follow-on mission will require nine broadband channels with increased spatial and temporal sampling, resulting in six satellites and a fourfold increase in data transmission rates and ground-based data storage. Smart sensors can reduce the data and ground storage requirements by orders of magnitude with onboard processing, calibration, and attitude and ephemeris determination.

Young, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Technique to determine location of radio sources from measurements taken on spinning spacecraft

The procedure developed to extract average source direction and average source size from spin-modulated radio astronomy data measured on the IMP-6 spacecraft is described. Because all measurements are used, rather than just finding maxima or minima in the data, the method is very sensitive, even in the presence of large amounts of noise. The technique is applicable to all experiments with directivity characteristics. It is suitable for onboard processing on satellites to reduce the data flow to Earth. The application to spin-modulated nonpolarized radio astronomy data is made and includes the effects of noise, background, and second source interference. The analysis was tested with computer simulated data and the results agree with analytic predictions. Applications of this method with IMP-6 radio data have led to: (1) determination of source positions of traveling solar radio bursts at large distances from the Sun; (2) mapping of magnetospheric radio emissions by radio triangulation; and (3) detection of low frequency radio emissions from Jupiter and Saturn.

Fainberg, J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The NASA digital VGH program, early results

Data from airline digital flight data recorders provides relevant statistical data for estimating fatigue life consumption of the current airliner fleet and for design criteria updating for future designs. The data indicates real operating effects due to the autopilot, i.e., gust response frequency peak increase by 2 or 3 times, and the existence of the low frequency low amplitude limit cycle motion in altitude hold. The extension of more data types for ground operations is considered. Onboard processing of simple data types is also considered.

Crabill, N. L.↗
NASA NTRS1981

A design approach to real-time formatting of high speed multispectral image data

A design approach to formatting multispectral image data in real time at very high data rates is presented for future onboard processing applications. The approach employs a microprocessor-based alternating buffer memory configuration whose formatting function is completely programmable. Data are read from an output buffer in the desired format by applying the proper sequence of addresses to the buffer via a lookup table memory. Sensor data can be processed using this approach at rates limited by the buffer memory access time and the buffer switching process delay time. This design offers flexible high speed data processing and benefits from continuing increases in the performance of digital memories.

Meredith, B. D.↗
NASA NTRS1981

The 30/20 GHz demonstration system SSUS-D/BSE

The systems consisting of a 30/20 GHz communication satellite featuring a multiple fixed beam and scanning beam antenna, SS-TDMA, onboard processing and high power TWT's and IMPATT amplifiers, a trunking space-diversity Earth station, a customer premise system (CPS) portable Earth station and a Master Control Station. Hardware, software and personnel are included to build and launch one satellite and to carry on a two year experimentation and demonstration period of advanced Ka-band systems concepts and technology. Included are first level plans identifying all tasks, a schedule for system development and an assessment of critical technology and risk and a preliminary experiments plan.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1981

CCD sensors for interplanetary spacecraft navigation and pointing control

The applications of practical optical image sensing CCDs to interplanetary spacecraft precision science payload delivery are discussed. The increasing demand for precision and flexibility in spacecraft for proposed new missions is forcing a transition to autonomous onboard navigation and pointing control. Onboard processing of video data is a crucial element in this transition and is made possible by CCD imagers and microprocessors. The pending Halley's comet close flyby is used as an example to examine details of the sensor design and the data processing which will meet the requirements. Target body centerfinding for optical navigation, target body tracking signal processing, and CCD sensor heads are examined, and flow charts and block diagrams are given for each.

Eisenman, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1980

An information adaptive system study report and development plan

The purpose of the information adaptive system (IAS) study was to determine how some selected Earth resource applications may be processed onboard a spacecraft and to provide a detailed preliminary IAS design for these applications. Detailed investigations of a number of applications were conducted with regard to IAS and three were selected for further analysis. Areas of future research and development include algorithmic specifications, system design specifications, and IAS recommended time lines.

Ataras, W. S.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Open-loop nanosecond-synchronization for wideband satellite communications

A synchronization technique for use with an onboard processing satellite communication system is discussed. The satellite oscillator is used both as the system time reference and as the frequency source for all downlink carriers and data clocks. Downlink timing is established at each system earth terminal through a combination of carrier and data-clock tracking and a downlink timing epoch signal consisting of one bit per TDMA data burst. Uplink timing is established by an open-loop range prediction process using precision ephemerides calculated and distributed by the central control station. Overall timing accuracy of the uplink signal at the satellite receiver of + or - 7 nanoseconds permits unambiguous identification of each data bit position in a 128 Mbps TDMA burst. This is accomplished by means of simple, inexpensive terminal hardware using available crystal oscillators for time/frequency references and digital synthesis techniques that may be implemented in digital LSI chips.

Holmes, W. M., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Pairwise Comparison of Voltage Sets

Optical preprocessor compares 16 incoming signals with reference voltages. Integrated optical substraction to take "vector difference" of two sets of analog voltages. Applications include satellite onboard processing of pictorial data so data not useful discardes; device recognizes presence of accessive cloud cover and signals hault to data transmission.

Verber, C. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Next generation communications satellites: multiple access and network studies

Efficient resource allocation and network design for satellite systems serving heterogeneous user populations with large numbers of small direct-to-user Earth stations are discussed. Focus is on TDMA systems involving a high degree of frequency reuse by means of satellite-switched multiple beams (SSMB) with varying degrees of onboard processing. Algorithms for the efficient utilization of the satellite resources were developed. The effect of skewed traffic, overlapping beams and batched arrivals in packet-switched SSMB systems, integration of stream and bursty traffic, and optimal circuit scheduling in SSMB systems: performance bounds and computational complexity are discussed.

Meadows, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

The imaging spectrometer approach

Two important sensor design drivers are the requirement for spatial registration of the spectral components and the implementation of the advanced multispectral capability, including spectral band width, number of bands and programmability. The dispersive approach, fundamental to the imaging spectrometer concept, achieves these capabilities by utilizing a spectrometer to disperse the spectral content while preserving the spatial identity of the information in the cross-track direction. Area array detectors in the spectrometer focal plane detect and store the spatial and multispectral content for each line of the image. The choice of spectral bands, image IFOV and swath width is implemented by programmed readout of the focal plane. These choices in conjunction with data compression are used to match the output data rate with the telemetry link capability. Progress in the key technologies of optics, focal plane detector arrays, onboard processing, and focal plane cooling supports the viability of the imaging spectrometer approach.

Wellman, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Imaging spectrometer technologies for advanced Earth remote sensing

A major requirement of multispectral imaging systems for advanced Earth remote sensing is the provision for greater spectral resolution and more versatile spectral band selection. The imaging spectrometer instrument concept provides this versatility by the combination of pushbroom imaging and spectrally dispersing optics using area array detectors in the focal plane. The shuttle imaging spectrometer concept achieves 10- and 20-meter ground instantaneous fields of view with 20-nanometer spectral resolution from Earth Orbit. Onboard processing allows the selection of spectral bands during flight; this, in turn, permits the sensor parameters to be tailored to the experiment objectives. Advances in optical design, infrared detector arrays, and focal plane cooling indicate the feasibility of the instrument concept and support the practicability of a validation flight experiment for the shuttle in the late 1980s.

Wellman, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Imaging spectrometer - An advanced multispectral imaging concept

The concept of an imaging spectrometer, which is being studied as a potential Space Shuttle experiment, is evaluated as a 'push-broom' imager that includes a spectrometer to disperse each line of imaging information into its spectral components. Using this instrument, the dispersed energy falls upon a two-dimensional focal plane array that detects both spatial and spectral information. As the line field of view is advanced over the earth by the motion of the spacecraft, the focal plane is read out constantly, which produces 'push-broom' images at multiple wavelengths. Ground instantaneous fields of view of 10 m in the visual and 20 m in the infrared are provided by the system, at a spectral resolution of 20 nm over the range from 0.4-2.5 microns. The system utilizes a triple-pass Schmidt optical system with a mosaic focal plane. A subset of the data stream is selected and encoded for transmission by the use of onboard processing.

Wellman, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1983

A system for the simulation and evaluation of satellite communication networks

With the emergence of a new era in satellite communications brought about by NASA's thrust into the Ka band with multibeam and onboard processing technologies, new and innovative techniques for evaluating these concepts and systems are required. To this end, NASA, in conjunction with its extensive program for advanced communications technology development, has undertaken to develop a concept for the simulation and evaluation of a complete communications network. Incorporated in this network will be proof of concept models of the latest technologies proposed for future satellite communications systems. These include low noise receivers, matrix switches, baseband processors, and solid state and tube type high power amplifiers. To accomplish this, numerous supporting technologies must be added to those aforementioned proof of concept models. These include controllers for synchronization, order wire, and resource allocation, gain compensation, signal leveling, power augmentation, and rain fade and range delay simulation. Taken together, these will be assembled to comprise a system capable of addressing numerous design and performance questions. The simulation and evaluation system as planned will be modular in design and implementation, capable of modification and updating to track and evaluate a continuum emerging concepts and technologies.

Bagwell, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A system for the simulation and evaluation of satellite communication networks

With the emergence of a new era in satellite communications, brought about by NASA's thrust into the Ka band with multibeam and onboard processing technologies, new and innovative techniques for evaluating these concepts and systems are required. To this end, NASA, in conjunction with its extensive program for advanced communications technology development, has undertaken to develop a concept for the simulation and evaluation of a complete communications network. Incorporated in this network will be proof-of-concept models of the latest technologies proposed for future satellite communications systems. These include low noise receivers, matrix switches, baseband processors, and solid state and tube type high power amplifiers. To accomplish this, numerous supporting technologies must be added to those aforementioned proof-of-concept models. These include controllers for synchronization, order wire, resource allocation, gain compensation, signal leveling, power augmentation, and rain fade and range delay simulation. Taken together, these will be assembled to comprise a system capable of addressing numerous design and performance questions. The simulation and evaluation system, as planned, will be modular in design and implementation, capable of modification and updating to track and evaluate a continuum of emerging concepts and technologies. Previously announced in STAR as N84-13400

Bagwell, J. W.↗