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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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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Software-defined Radio Based Wireless Tomography: Experimental Demonstration and Verification

This letter presents an experimental demonstration of software-defined-radio-based wireless tomography using computer-hosted radio devices called Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP). This experimental brief follows our vision and previous theoretical study of wireless tomography that combines wireless communication and RF tomography to provide a novel approach to remote sensing. Automatic data acquisition is performed inside an RF anechoic chamber. Semidefinite relaxation is used for phase retrieval, and the Born iterative method is utilized for imaging the target. Experimental results are presented, validating our vision of wireless tomography.

Bonior, Jason D↗
DOE OSTI2019

Photonic Software Defined Radio

Wireless links are the most popular form of communications with an ever-growing demand for speed. This has resulted in an overpopulated Radio Frequency (RF) spectrum with not enough bandwidth to meet demand. The two main tactics utilized by the wireless community to overcome this problem is to 1) put more data in a given bandwidth, i.e. higher spectral efficiency and 2) use the available bandwidth more efficiently by tuning the user’s channel (i.e. carrier frequency) to an unused part of spectrum. Higher spectral efficiency is achieved by using complex signals that carry information on both the in-phase (I) carrier and quadrature-phase (Q) carrier, known as Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM), and increasing the number of levels on each carrier, known as the constellation size (4QAM, 16QAM etc.). However higher constellation sizes and higher bandwidth require higher fidelity RF signals. This project looked at a photonic-based high-fidelity RF amplitude and phase modulator which modulates the amplitude and phase of femtosecond laser pulses to generate relatively high-power complex microwave waveforms at carrier frequencies up to 70GHz. The goal of the feasibility study was to build a proof-of-concept system in a laboratory setting that demonstrates the photonic generation of QAM signals at electronically tunable RF carrier frequencies. Our lab prototype achieved a signal-to-noise-and-distortion (SINAD) ratio of 39dB over a 500MHz bandwidth. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the system was measured at 42dB over a 500MHz bandwidth which is on par with state-of-the-art. The main limitation to the SINAD was the inadequate pre-compensation of the electronic Digital-to-Analog Converter (eDAC) and amplifier frequency response as well as the noise of the measurement equipment. This was backed up by simulations which showed that with perfect pre compensation and using ideal measurement equipment, a noise limited SINAD of 47dB could be achieved. We also showed, through simulations, that multiple DACs could be “optically stacked” to achieve 54dB SINAD.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Noise Radar Approach for Interrogating SAW Sensors Using Software Defined Radio

Passive, wireless surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor systems can be approached from a radar perspective, where the SAW device is thought of as a cooperative target. Here, this paper investigates the use of a commercial-off-the-shelf software defined radio to interrogate wireless SAW sensors with a randomly generated interrogation pulse. The USRP B200mini is utilized as the transceiver platform with custom field-programmable gate array (FPGA) modifications to generate the random interrogation waveform and provide synchronization and buffering to the received signal. Each transmit sample bit in the FPGA is fed by an independent linear-feedback shift register, which generates pseudo-random I and Q samples for the interrogation pulse. An RF daughterboard has also been developed and integrated with the B200mini to increase the transmit power, provide filtering of the RF signals, and switch a signal antenna between the transmit and receive channels. Radio control and matched filter correlator post-processing are accomplished using Python. Design and implementation details for the FPGA modifications, RF daughterboard, and post-processing are discussed. Lastly, the system is demonstrated by wirelessly interrogating SAW temperature sensors at 915 MHz.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Secure Software Defined Radio Project: Secure Wireless Systems for the Energy Sector (Briefing 6)

Strong industry interest in the SEL-FLT/FLR products has led to a large number of customers conducting various lab and field trial evaluations of the system. These trials are on-going but have allowed SEL to collect enough information about operation and deployment and security capabilities of the system to conclude the field demo phase of the project. The field-testing topical report has been completed and submitted. SEL has also prepared a SEL-FLT/FLR best practices guide based on learnings from the field demo phase of the project. This best practice guide has also been submitted. The final deliverable from this phase of the project is an economic and operational benefits white paper, which has also been written and submitted. The overall objective of the project, extending the cyber security capabilities of utility wired networks into last mile wireless networks has been successfully achieved. SEL chose to target a sensor network for implementation of this capability because it was one area of last mile networking where there was substantial need and opportunity. Based on customer interest in the product these efforts have been a success. Interest in, and support for many of the security features of the product has been expressed by customers trialing the product system. Key security features customers value are strong data encryption, sensor white listing, and use of secure account based log on for access to the system. These and other features of the product have gained strong acceptance from customers interested in purchasing these products. All project deliverables and tasks are now complete, and the project can be closed out.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Data Acquisition in Wireless Router Link Testbed using GNU Radio Companion

An IEEE80-2.11g WLAN wireless-router link test-bed is under development at the Idaho National Laboratory-Wireless Research Center. The project objective is to generate repeatable, high-quality, controlled-noise wireless transmissions for software-defined radio (SDR) analysis and research. Signal acquisition for the data link will include both and Ettus X310 (with GNU Radio Companion) in parallel with a Tektronix RSA 306a spectrum analyzer. The integration and validation of the SDR is described. Preliminary results indicate the router test-bed comprised of readily-available WiFi and RF hardware will provide low-noise and repeatable signal captures.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Data Acquisition in Wireless Router Link Testbed using GNU Radio Companion

An IEEE 802.11g WLAN wireless-router link test-bed is under development at the Idaho National Laboratory-Wireless Research Center. The project objective is to generate repeatable, high-quality, controlled-noise wireless transmission for software-defined radio (SDR) analysis and research. Signal acquisition for the data link will include both an Ettus X310 (with GNU Radio Companion) in parallel with a Tektronix RSA 306a spectrum analyzer. The integration and validation of the SDR is described. Preliminary results indicate the router test-bed comprised of readily-available WiFi and RF hardware will provide low-noise and repeatable signal captures.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Programmable Quantum Networked Microgrids

Quantum key distribution (QKD) provides a potent solution to securely distribute keys for two parties. However, QKD itself is vulnerable to denial of service (DoS) attacks. A flexible and resilient QKD-enabled networked microgrids (NMs) architecture is needed but does not yet exist. In this article, we present a programmable quantum NMs (PQNMs) architecture. It is a novel framework that integrates both QKD and software-defined networking (SDN) techniques capable of enabling scalable, programmable, quantum-engineered, and ultra-resilient NMs. Equipped with a software-defined adaptive post-processing approach, a two-level key pool sharing strategy and an SDN-enabled event-triggered communication scheme, these PQNMs mitigate the impact of DoS attacks through programmable post-processing and secure key sharing among QKD links, a capability unattainable using existing technologies. Through comprehensive evaluations, we validate the benefits of PQNMs and demonstrate the efficacy of the presented strategies under various circumstances. Extensive results provide insightful resources for building QKD-enabled NMs in practice.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Sub-nanosecond RF synchronization for MIMO software defined radio sensor networks

This disclosure presents distributed and decentralized synchronization for wireless transceivers. The disclosed system, device, and method achieve sub-nanosecond synchronization using low-cost commercial off the shelf software defined radios. By providing a decentralized mechanism that does not rely on a hierarchical master-slave structure, networks constructed as disclosed are robust to sensor drop-out in contested or harsh environments. Such networks may be used to create phased array radars and communication systems without requiring wired connections to distribute a common clock or local oscillator reference.

Moghaddam, Mahta↗
DOE OSTI2011

Communication devices for network-hopping communications and methods of network-hopping communications

Wireless communication devices include a software-defined radio coupled to processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to execute computer programming code. Storage media is coupled to the processing circuitry and includes computer programming code configured to cause the processing circuitry to configure and reconfigure the software-defined radio to operate on each of a plurality of communication networks according to a selected sequence. Methods for communicating with a wireless device and methods of wireless network-hopping are also disclosed.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Communication devices for network-hopping communications and methods of network-hopping communications

Wireless communication devices include a software-defined radio coupled to processing circuitry. The system controller is configured to execute computer programming code. Storage media is coupled to the system controller and includes computer programming code configured to cause the system controller to configure and reconfigure the software-defined radio to operate on each of a plurality of communication networks according to a selected sequence. Methods for communicating with a wireless device and methods of wireless network-hopping are also disclosed.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Accelerating Next-Generation Cybersecurity R&D Using AI Workflows: BADGER Project Development

The Broadband Automation for Distributed Grid Efficiency and Resilience (BADGER) project aligns with national strategic priorities for integrating emerging wireless technologies and advancing AI-driven security. As critical infrastructure modernizes toward increasingly software-defined and interconnected systems, the ability to leverage 5G/NextG networks and AI-enabled control becomes essential. This report outlines work at the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) to develop a NextG-native security architecture powered by AI-RAN concepts and evaluate workflows that enable efficient and reliable architectures. Together, these efforts position the laboratory to accelerate innovation while directly supporting national security and resilience objectives.

5G/6G↗
DOE OSTI2022

Autonomous Wireless Technology Detection in Seamless IoT Applications

The ever-increasing use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices results in the implementation of multiple wireless technologies that would not only cater their data rate requirements but also support various applications. To optimize the energy efficiency and security of the wireless transmission, it is imperative to identify the wireless technologies in various IoT implementations. Many of the existing approaches are based on measuring only the receiving signal strength indicator (RSSI). However, such approaches may not work well because of transmit power control and complex channel variations among different wireless technologies. In this article, we propose an autonomous wireless detection scheme that considers multiple distinguishable physical (PHY)-layer settings for real-time identification of wireless technologies for real-time applications. Specifically, the proposed scheme relies on the PHY-layer measurements of the targeted spectrum. Transmission settings, such as bandwidth, carrier frequency, and RSSI are estimated from the raw in-phase and quadrature-phase (I/Q) measurements. In addition, a symbol-level extraction scheme is implemented to extract unique features of modulation settings. These aforementioned features are applied to a machine learning process to identify the received wireless technologies. Compared with raw I/Q measurements, the extracted features are much simplified and, thus, the machine learning classifier can be designed with a simple structure for fast processing on IoT nodes. Finally, the proposed schemes are primarily evaluated theoretically, followed by implementing them on a USRP software-defined radio (SDR)-based hardware testbed. The evaluation results demonstrate high accuracy in the real-time detection of different wireless technologies for seamless IoT applications.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Radiation-Hardened GaN-Based Wireless Communications Architectures for Terrestrial Nuclear Reactor Sensing and Instrumentation

Wireless technologies have become increasingly common in applications, ranging from close proximity inductive communication links in medical devices to short-range Bluetooth and WiFi communications and longer-range cellular communications. Nonetheless, these technologies are unsuitable for use in or around nuclear reactors due to the extreme radiation and temperatures inherent in these environments and their associated significant degradative effects on electronics hardware. However, recent work in wide bandgap– based electronics has shown promise for gallium nitride (GaN) as an emerging technology for the realization of practical wireless communications systems for use in harsh environments. This report presents initial progress on the development of wireless communications architectures designed specifically for nuclear reactor application, based on inherently radiation-hardened (rad-hard) GaN technology. Prior work on rad-hard analog communications topologies is reviewed, and several digital modulation and encoding schemes that utilize GaN-based electronics devices are newly proposed for application in reactor environments. Continuous-time and discrete-time system simulations were performed, and results are presented for the preliminary transmitter and receiver designs, respectively. In addition, an overview of a software-defined radio testbed, designed for communications protocol development, is provided. Future work will focus on implementing candidate radiation-resistant wireless architectures using a research AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) integrated circuit process, which is available at the Ohio State University, and irradiation studies will be carried out to assess the true potential of this technology for reactor application.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Controller-Based Energy-Aware Wireless Sensor Network Routing Using Quantum Algorithms

Energy-efficient routing in wireless sensor networks has attracted attention from researchers in both academia and industry, most recently motivated by the opportunity to use software-defined network-inspired approaches. These problems are NP-hard, with algorithms needing computation time that scales faster than polynomials in the problem size. Consequently, heuristic algorithms are used in practice, which are unable to guarantee optimally. In this article, we show proof-of-principle for the use of a quantum annealing processor instead of a classical processor, to find optimal or nearly optimal solutions very quickly. Our preliminary results for small networks show that this approach using quantum computing has great promise and may open the door for other significant improvements in the efficacy of network algorithms.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

COSMIC DAWN: Distributed Analysis of Wireless at Nextscale

Distributed Analysis of Wireless at Nextscale (DAWN) is a novel simulation framework for large-scale design-space exploration (DSE) of unmodified software-defined radio (SDR) applications interacting in a scalable, high-fidelity, virtual physics environment. The software-defined nature of the coupled software-physics simulation leverages hardware emulation to permit in-depth examination and modification of not only the electromagnetic environment, including each signal in flight, but also the precise state of system software and components. DAWN supports modular, customizable physics environments allowing realistic propagation effects so that computationally efficient empirical models, reduced order/surrogate models, or large-scale, high-fidelity, site-specific simulations can be used as a propagation medium based on scenario requirements. This paper introduces DAWN’s design and initial implementation, detailing key architectural components, including the Physics Realization Engine (PhyRE), Runtime Infrastructure for Simulation Environments (RISE), and the design space exploration (DSE) suite. It concludes with demonstrations using unmodified 4G/LTE software available from srsRAN on computing resources ranging from a small cluster to ORNL’s Frontier Exascale system.

Wise, Mike [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000266120641)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Real-Time High-Accuracy Digital Wireless Time, Frequency, and Phase Calibration for Coherent Distributed Antenna Arrays

his work presents a fully-digital high-accuracy real-time calibration procedure for frequency and time alignment of open-loop wirelessly coordinated coherent distributed antenna array (CDA) modems, enabling radio frequency (RF) phase coherence of spatially separated commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software-defined radios (SDRs) without cables or external references such as the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Building on previous work using high-accuracy spectrally-sparse time of arrival (ToA) waveforms and a multistep ToA refinement process, a high-accuracy two-way time transfer (TWTT)-based time–frequency coordination approach is demonstrated. Due to the two-way nature of the high-accuracy TWTT approach, the time and frequency estimates are Doppler and multipath tolerant, so long as the channel is reciprocal over the synchronization epoch. This technique is experimentally verified using COTS SDRs in a lab environment in static and dynamic scenarios and with significant multipath scatterers. Time, frequency, and phase stability were evaluated by beamforming over coaxial cables to an oscilloscope which achieved time and phase precisions of ~60– 70 ps , with median coherent gains above 99% using optimized coordination parameters, and a beamforming frequency root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 3.73 ppb in a dynamic scenario. Finally, experiments were conducted to compare the performance of this technique with previous works using an analog continuous-wave two-tone (CWTT) frequency reference technique in both static and dynamic settings.

Clock synchronization↗