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At least 145 records · Page 8

Evolution of the large Deep Space Network antennas

The evolution of the largest antenna of the US NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) is described. The design, performance analysis, and measurement techniques, beginning with its initial 64-m operation at S-band (2295 MHz) in 1966 and continuing through the present ka-band (32-GHz) operation at 70 m, is described. Although their diameters and mountings differ, these parabolic antennas all employ a Cassegrainian feed system, and each antenna dish surface is constructed of precision-shaped perforated-aluminum panels that are secured to an open steel framework

Imbriale, William A.↗

Personnel Data Analysis and Retrieval of Phase 1 Move To LC-39 Area

As a technology major from Jackson State University (JSU) I was called in as a summer intern at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to work in the NASA Engineering, Control and Data Systems (NE-C) Division supporting the Spaceport Command and Control System (SCCS) at the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF). I was given a two-part project; the first consisted of lending support relocating SCCS Computer Equipment and Project Personnel to the Launch Control Center (LCC). This task involved me using a Microsoft Office data processing tool to assist with the analysis and information management of logistics worth millions of dollars. With the assistance of two other interns, I was responsible for collecting data on equipment used, on a daily basis, by over 200 KSC employees. The many network servers, enterprise switches, desktop computers, and fiber optics had to be handled in an equally prompt and precise manner in order to ensure a minimal amount of equipment down time; which is critical in ensuring a properly secured networking environment. The second part of my project was to assist KSC in developing a more cost effective way of maintaining and taking full advantage of the functionality of some new kiosk units. Since KSC currently has no expert on the servicing and maintenance of the units, I, as a computer technology major, was given the opportunity to assess the hardware and software of the machines. The goal was to learn to establish a secure and remote environment for the kiosks; a goal highly valuing convenience by preserving valuable man-hours saved by not having to travel to each individual kiosk location. In addition, I was to leave a clear and precise plan for future users and administrators of the devices to follow.

Davis, Derrick D.↗

The Lithuania 100% Renewable Energy Study - Interim Results: Electricity System Scenarios for 2030 [Slides]

Lithuania's Energy Vision aims to achieve self-sufficiency in electricity generation by 2035 and transition to 100% renewable energy as soon as possible while maintaining affordability, reliability, and energy security. The Lithuania Energy Agency (LEA) is partnering with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to conduct the Lithuania 100% Renewable Energy Study (Lithuania 100) to provide evidence-based analysis for development of Lithuania's National Energy Independence Strategy. The Lithuania 100 Study leverages unique tools and capabilities of NREL to provide rigorous technical analysis of clean energy policies to achieve 100% renewable energy, and assess impacts on electricity grid operations, hydrogen system development, electricity distribution networks, air quality, and human health outcomes. The study is supported by a stakeholder committee chaired by the Ministry of Energy of Lithuania and implemented by four technical working groups. This report provides highlights of key interim results from modeling of Lithuania's near-term electricity grid through the year 2030. Results show that Lithuania has sufficient renewable energy potential, flexible generation capacity, and interconnection with neighboring European Union countries to reliably meet projected 2030 electricity demand with 100% renewable energy. A range of scenarios were modeled, each of which achieves at least 100% renewable energy in electricity, on average over the year, by 2030. Potential demands for hydrogen across industrial and transportation sectors were also evaluated, as well as the cost of hydrogen produced in Lithuania by 2030.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Seamless Wireless Communication Platform for Internet of Things Applications

The rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices resulted in the proliferation of wireless technologies to cater to their increasing data rate requirements and support multiple applications. However, such ever-increasing wireless technologies present numerous challenges such as incompatible wireless standards, increased energy consumption, and insecure communication. The traditional gateways proposed in the literature suffers from limitations such as computational complexity, resource requirements, increased cost, and device size. We vision an era of seamless wireless communication to alleviate the aforementioned challenges in IoT applications. through three inter-dependent functionalities namely detection and identification of wireless technologies, energy-efficient transmit power control, and secure end-to-end communication. To prove the concept, a new gateway is proposed to achieve these three functionalities with only physical layer measurements so that the different communication protocols in the higher layers can be avoided. Novel schemes are conceptualized for resource-limited seamless IoT applications. Moreover, the conceptual seamless IoT platform is validated through software-based computer simulation and software-defined radio-based testbed implementation. Finally, the preliminary analysis demonstrates that the proposed platform has great potential in advancing seamless IoT applications.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Distributed Software-Defined Network Architecture for Smart Grid Resilience to Denial-of-Service Attacks

An important challenge for smart grid security is designing a secure and robust smart grid communications architecture to protect against cyber-threats, such as Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks, that can adversely impact the operation of the power grid. Researchers have proposed using Software Defined Network frameworks to enhance cybersecurity of the smart grid, but there is a lack of benchmarking and comparative analyses among the many techniques. In this work, a distributed three-controller software-defined networking (D3-SDN) architecture, benchmarking, and comparative analysis with other techniques is presented. The selected distributed flat SDN architecture divides the network horizontally into multiple areas or clusters, where each cluster is handled by a single Open Network Operating System (ONOS) controller. A case study using the IEEE 118-bus system is provided to compare the performance of the presented ONOS-managed D3-SDN, against the POX controller. In addition, the proposed architecture outperforms a single SDN controller framework by a tenfold increase in throughput; a reduction in latency of > 20%; and an increase in throughput of approximately 11% during the DoS attack scenarios.

Agnew Jr., Dennis↗

WEC as a multiport

SAND2025-00555O WEC as a multiport is a software tool that simplifies the modeling and design of ocean wave energy converters (WECs) using a multi-port network framework in the frequency domain. Users can simulate the dynamic interactions between WECs and ocean waves, optimizing energy extraction and system performance. This tool supports the analysis of complex wave energy systems, aiding in the development of efficient and effective WEC designs. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Coe, Ryan↗

Rapid Monitoring and Defense Approach for Resilience Improvement of Grid Cyber Security

Cyber-physical systems and electric utilities significantly depend on the reliability and efficiency of information and operational technology. However, false data injection attacks based on synchrophasor measurement data pose a serious threat to the safe and reliable operation of modern power systems. Here, to mitigate this problem, a rapid monitoring and defense approach is proposed to defend against cyber attacks. Initially, the Time and Frequency based Convolutional neural Network (TFCN) is proposed to detect different types of attacks. Within the TFCN, the advances are that both time and frequency domain information can be fused without extra spectrum analysis methods, and can save detection time to speed the calculation efficiency using the developed time-frequency block. Next, a comprehensive defense strategy is developed for multiple cyber attacks to ensure the stability and resilience of the power system according to the feedback detection results. The advances of this strategy are that different control strategies can be automatically selected to recover the stability to the greatest extent according to the detected attacks. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach, the high-speed frequency measurements collected from the wide-area monitoring system are used. The results demonstrate that the cyber attack detection performance can reach 95.57% accuracy, outperforming both traditional and some advanced neural networks. Importantly, the defense strategy is conducted and verified in a modified IEEE 39 bus system as well, which illustrates profound performance in faster stability restoration.

Comprehensive defense strategy↗

Conin

SAND2025-07645O Conin is a Python library that supports constrained analysis of probabilistic graphical models (PGMs). It enables constrained inference and learning for hidden Markov models, Bayesian networks, dynamic Bayesian networks, and Markov networks. Conin interfaces with the pgmpy library to specify general probabilistic graphical models with a variety of optimization solvers to support learning and inference. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Hart, William [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Live↗

Transportation Network Topologies

The existing U.S. hub-and-spoke air transportation system is reaching saturation. Major aspects of the current system, such as capacity, safety, mobility, customer satisfaction, security, communications, and ecological effects, require improvements. The changing dynamics - increased presence of general aviation, unmanned autonomous vehicles, military aircraft in civil airspace as part of homeland defense - contributes to growing complexity of airspace. The system has proven remarkably resistant to change. NASA Langley Research Center and the National Institute of Aerospace conducted a workshop on Transportation Network Topologies on 9-10 December 2003 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The workshop aimed to examine the feasibility of traditional methods for complex system analysis and design as well as potential novel alternatives in application to transportation systems, identify state-of-the-art models and methods, conduct gap analysis, and thus to lay a foundation for establishing a focused research program in complex systems applied to air transportation.

Alexandrov, Natalia↗

GSAS Tools

SAND2023-06684O GSAS Tools is a web application that manages user access to modeling and simulation tools and promotional material. This software, which is a spiking neural network (SNN) simulator, represents an SNN as a graph of stochastic differential equations and simulates the time-evolution of these equations. It has the capability of reading inputs from file and writing outputs to file, and generally supports experimentation, analysis, and algorithm development using SNNs. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525.

Noel, Todd↗

Reserves and Trade Jointly Determine Exposure to Food Supply Shocks

While a growing proportion of global food consumption is obtained through international trade, there is an ongoing debate on whether this increased reliance on trade benefits or hinders food security, and specifically, the ability of global food systems to absorb shocks due to local or regional losses of production. This paper introduces a model that simulates the short-term response to a food supply shock originating in a single country, which is partly absorbed through decreases in domestic reserves and consumption, and partly transmitted through the adjustment of trade flows. By applying the model to publicly-available data for the cereals commodity group over a 17 year period, we find that differential outcomes of supply shocks simulated through this time period are driven not only by the intensification of trade, but as importantly by changes in the distribution of reserves. Our analysis also identifies countries where trade dependency may accentuate the risk of food shortages from foreign production shocks; such risk could be reduced by increasing domestic reserves or importing food from a diversity of suppliers that possess their own reserves. This simulation-based model provides a framework to study the short-term, nonlinear and out-of-equilibrium response of trade networks to supply shocks, and could be applied to specific scenarios of environmental or economic perturbations.

supply↗

Thermal Reservoir Networks for Modularly Expandable Thermal Microgrids

The Department of Defense (DoD) faces the substantial challenge of cost-effectively retrofitting one to two installations per month, each comprising approximately 1,000 buildings, to improve resilience, reduce energy consumption, and enhance energy supply security. Achieving these objectives requires optimal system selection and effective risk mitigation during system integration. To address this need, we introduce Platform-Based Design (PBD), a structured, hierarchical methodology adapted from other industrial sectors to the domain of energy system retrofits. We demonstrate the effectiveness of PBD through a techno-economic feasibility study comparing geothermal-coupled thermal energy networks (TENs) with conventional energy systems for heating, cooling, and powering 17 buildings at Joint Base Andrews (JBA) in Maryland. Our analysis illustrates that the PBD approach enables rigorous, data-driven, sequential decision making, resulting in a family of Pareto-optimal systems, among which the TEN emerged as the most promising solution. The selected TEN design integrates geothermal borefields, heat recovery heat pumps, photovoltaic (PV) arrays, and battery storage. Compared to the baseline system – gas heating combined with air-source chillers – the proposed TEN reduces annual imported energy by 74% and peak electricity demand by 45%, achieves a levelized cost of energy of $\$0.210$/kWh, and substantially enhances resilience. Life-cycle costs increase by approximately 6%, and initial investment costs are about 2.5 times higher than the baseline. However, if central plant infrastructure, district loops, and utility-scale PV and battery systems are privately funded and operated, the initial investment would fall below the baseline system cost. Critical to achieving these significant performance improvements were detailed nonlinear dynamic simulations coupling geothermal heat transfer, energy system operation, and realistic feedback control logic. These simulations identified essential design modifications and control strategy refinements that substantially reduced energy use, peak demand, and compressor shortcycling, thereby improving durability and reliability—issues that would have been significantly more expensive to resolve during operation. Additionally, the verification step highlighted sensitivities to key design parameters that could reduce initial investment by approximately $\$2$ million and reduce annual life-cycle costs more than $\$300,000$. We recommend adopting the PBD methodology for future feasibility studies and TEN pilot projects to gain valuable operational experience. Furthermore, we recommend that DoD invest in transferring and scaling the PBD methodology to other installations. This entails developing standardized computational frameworks and component libraries as well as training industry in conducting PBD. Such investments would enable rapid, robust, reliable, and cost-effective retrofits, supporting DoD’s ambitious energy system modernization goals.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Advanced Data Science Model for Detecting Intelligent Malware

This study focused on developing a robust artificial intelligence (AI) model capable of detecting and characterizing advanced malware in Internet of Things (IoT) devices using network data. By analyzing network traffic with various machine learning (ML) models, our AI model can identify and characterize malicious activities to significantly improve malware detection accuracy and reliability as compared to traditional methods. The developed AI/ML model was trained using network data from IoT devices, leveraging classifiers such as Random Forest, Gradient Boosting, AdaBoost, and others to optimize detection performance. This project demonstrates a scalable framework for real-time malware detection and characterization in IoT networks, capable of identifying infected devices and facilitating the necessary steps to remove or isolate them, thereby preventing further infections. Although digital twin (DT) integration is not yet implemented in the current model, it represents a promising future enhancement. By creating a virtual replica of physical IoT devices, DT technology would allow for real-time monitoring and analysis without directly accessing operational technology, thus reducing the risk of compromising or reducing the performance of actual devices. This integration would further enhance the security of IoT ecosystems, combining AI technology to better flag and detect indications of malware-infected devices within a nuclear system environment.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Securing Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEB) through Cyber Defense and Resilient System (CYDRES)

The DOE CYDRES project is driven by the urgent need to address critical research gaps in the domain of cyber-physical security of smart buildings, including Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs). CYDRES, a real-time advanced building resilient platform, aims to enhance the cyber-attack-immune capabilities of buildings through multi-layered prevention, detection, and adaptation mechanisms. CYDRES consists of five key modules: a multi-layer network analyzer, an Automatic Fault Detection, Diagnosis, and Prognosis (AFDDP) framework, an intelligent mode selector, a cyber-resilient control framework, and a situation awareness platform. The Network Analyzer employs a data-driven framework that includes a protocol state learning tool and a CRF (Conditional Random Field) command validator. In Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) testbeds, it achieved 100% detection accuracy with a false alarm rate of 3%, validating its efficacy in identifying selected cyber-attacks. The AFDDP framework leverages pattern matching, PCA (Principal Component Analysis)-based strategies, and a DBN (Dynamic Bayesian Network)-based fault diagnosis approach to pinpoint the causes of physical system abnormalities using Building Automation System (BAS) data. In HIL experiments, the AFDDP module attained a detection accuracy of over 95% with a false alarm rate below 7%. Additionally, the fault detector utilized machine learning (Random Forest) and deep learning (Multi-Layer Perceptron) methods with acoustic sensor data to achieve a 100% fault detection accuracy in Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) equipment. The Mode Selector offered real-time impact analysis, allowing immediate actions to protect BASs in the face of emerging threats. The cyber-resilient control framework included an adaptive Model Predictive Control (MPC) and a measurement compensator, reducing temperature violations by up to 94% and improving the total demand flexibility by up to 70% in HIL experiments. Such HIL experiments covered a cyber-attack case and a physical fault case, showcasing CYDRES’ efficiency in maintaining operational continuity during threats. The situation awareness platform in Grafana enhanced real-time threat detection and response visualization, augmenting the operational awareness for building operators. CYDRES demonstrated high technical effectiveness in various test scenarios, particularly in HIL environments. The project's phased development approach ensured efficient use of resources, highlighting its practical feasibility and readiness for commercialization. By enhancing the security and resilience of building operations, CYDRES represents a significant advance in mitigating risks associated with cyber-physical systems, thereby enhancing public confidence in the safety of modern building infrastructure. Future directions for the project include expanding testing protocols, refining AFDDP methodologies, exploring more comprehensive resilient control strategies, and testing in real commercial buildings.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The Urban Deployment Model: A Toolset for the Simulation and Performance Characterization of Radiation Detector Deployments in Urban Environments

Static and mobile radiation detectors can be deployed in urban environments for a range of nuclear security applications, including radiological source search-and-tracking scenarios. Modeling detector performance for such applications is challenging, as it does not depend solely on the detector capabilities themselves. Many factors must be taken into consideration, including specific source and background signatures, the topology and constraints of the deployment environment, the presence of nuisance sources, and whether detectors are mobile or static. When considering the simultaneous deployment of multiple, heterogeneous detectors, assessment of the system-wide performance requires the simulation of the individual detectors, and a system-level analysis of the detection performance. In radiological source search-and-tracking scenarios, performance is mostly dominated by the probability of encounter, which depends on the specifics of a given deployment, e.g., static vs. mobile detectors or a combination of both modalities, the number of detectors deployed, the dynamic vs. static setting of false alarm rates, and individual vs. networked operation. The Urban Deployment Model (UDM) toolset was specifically developed to cover the gap in the available generic frameworks for the simulation of radiation detector deployments at city scales. UDM provides a unified and modular framework to support the simulation and performance characterization of heterogeneous detector deployments in urban environments. This paper presents the key components along the UDM workflow.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Residential Vehicle-to-Home Backup Power Capabilities: Key Findings from a ComEd Beneficial Electrification R&D Pilot

This report summarizes key findings from a collaborative technical study of residential, non-grid-tied vehicle-to-home (V2H) backup power systems in Commonwealth Edison’s (ComEd’s) service territory. The work integrates (1) a feeder-level technoeconomic analysis (TEA) using historical outage-event data and simulated electric-vehicle (EV) driving/charging profiles to estimate potential reliability and customer interruption-cost impacts under V2H and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) adoption scenarios; (2) controlled laboratory performance testing of a representative V2H backup ecosystem to characterize transfer-to-backup behavior, sustained power delivery, efficiency trends, and repeatable reliability limitations; and (3) a cybersecurity assessment aligned with NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 and ISO/SAE 21434 to evaluate interface-level risk drivers and identify program-relevant mitigations. Results indicate that V2H can provide measurable resilience value, but outcomes are strongly context dependent on outage patterns and the share of events that are “V2H-applicable.” Typical transfer-to-backup behavior clustered on the order of minutes, but rare long-delay edge cases were observed (including an event approaching 30 minutes) and should be treated as a reliability risk. High-power testing showed that peak-rated output is not necessarily continuously deliverable; stable operation may require operation below nameplate ratings and attention to thermal and installation constraints. The cybersecurity assessment highlights a broad attack surface spanning commissioning, home networks, embedded services, and cloud/OTA pathways, motivating minimum controls for secure onboarding, signed updates, patch cadence, and coordinated vulnerability response for any scaled deployment.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Microgrid Modeling for Stability Analysis

Here this document is a summary of a report prepared by the IEEE PES Task Force (TF) on Microgrid (MG) Dynamic Modeling, IEEE Power and Energy Society, Tech. Rep. PES-TR106, 2023. In this paper, the major issues and challenges in microgrid modeling for stability analysis are discussed, and a review of state-of-the-art modeling approaches and trends is presented. In the context of the IEEE 1547 standard, the document covers issues associated with component models for MG dynamic studies and simulations, including generator and grid modeling, full and average converter models, unbalanced and balanced system conditions, dynamic and static loads, protection requirements, and detailed and simplified controls considering communications delays, packet losses, and security issues. Considering the future integration of grids and MGs to form broad integrated networks, a discussion is presented of the use of phasor vis-à-vis electromagnetic transient simulation tools for MG dynamic stability studies, as well as modeling scale-up issues and MG equivalent models. Specifically white-, grey-, and black-box models, are presented. This TF paper and companion report constitute a modeling guide for R&D groups working on developments and standards of MGs with a focus on stability issues.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Wireless Channel Characterization in the Airport Surface Environment

Given the anticipated increase in air traffic in the coming years, modernization of the National Airspace System (NAS) is a necessity. Part of this modernization effort will include updating current communication, navigation, and surveillance (CNS) systems to deal with the increased traffic as well as developing advanced CNS technologies for the systems. An example of such technology is the integrated CNS (ICNS) network being developed by the Advanced CNS Architecture and Systems Technology (ACAST) group for use in the airport surface environment. The ICNS network would be used to convey voice/data between users in a secure and reliable manner. The current surface system only supports voice and does so through an obsolete physical infrastructure. The old system is vulnerable to outages and costly to maintain. The proposed ICNS network will include a wireless radio link. To ensure optimal performance, a thorough and accurate characterization of the channel across which the link would operate is necessary. The channel is the path the signal takes from the transmitter to the receiver and is prone to various forms of interference. Channel characterization involves a combination of analysis, simulation, and measurement. My work this summer was divided into four tasks. The first task required compiling and reviewing reference material that dealt with the characterization and modeling of aeronautical channels. The second task involved developing a systematic approach that could be used to group airports into classes, e.g. small airfields, medium airports, large open airports, large cluttered airports, etc. The third task consisted of implementing computer simulations of existing channel models. The fourth task entailed measuring possible interference sources in the airport surface environment via a spectrum analyzer.

Neville, Joshua T.↗