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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 OSTI2025

Filter-Banks for Ultra-Wideband Communications, Sensing, and Localization

Recently, filterbank multi-carrier spread spectrum (FBMC-SS) has been proposed as a candidate waveform for ultrawideband (UWB) communications. It has been noted that FBMCSS is a perfect match to this application, leading to a trivial method of matching to the required spectral mask at different regions of the world. FBMC-SS also allows easy rejection of high-power interfering signals that may appear over different parts of the UWB spectral band. In this paper, we concentrate on the use of staggered multitone spread spectrum (SMT-SS) for UWB communications. SMT makes use of offset QAM modulation to transmit data symbols over narrowband, overlapping subcarrier bands. This form of FBMC-SS is well-suited to UWB communications because it has good spectral efficiency and a flat power spectral density (PSD), resulting in good utilization of the UWB spectral mask. Additionally, we explore new methods for multi-coding that result in higher bit rates than previous FBMCSS systems. Moreover, we study methods for equalizing the UWB multipath channel and cancelling narrowband interference. Excellent performance of the proposed methods are substantiated by presenting simulation results.

99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

An on-chip phased array for non-classical light

Abstract Quantum science and technology can offer fundamental enhancements in sensing, communications and computing. The expansion from wired to wireless links is an exciting prospect for quantum technologies. For classical technologies, the advent of phased arrays enabled directional and adaptive wireless links by manipulating electromagnetic waves over free space. Here we demonstrate a phased array system on a chip that can receive, image and manipulate non-classical light over free space. We use an integrated photonic-electronic system with more than 1000 functional components on-chip to detect squeezed light. By integrating an array of 32 sub-wavelength engineered metamaterial antennas, we demonstrate a direct free-space-to-chip interface for reconfigurable quantum links. On the same chip, we implement a large-scale array of quantum-limited coherent receivers that can resolve non-classical signals simultaneously across 32 channels. With coherent readout and manipulation of these signals, we demonstrate 32-pixel imaging and spatially configurable reception of squeezed light over free space. Our work advances wireless quantum technologies that could enable practical applications in quantum communications and sensing.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2022

TCF-20-20213: Advanced Power Distribution Sensing and Communications through the Cable TV Broadband Network (Final Report. Period of Performance: June 2020 to June 2022)

To enable the rapid, widespread commercial availability of secondary distribution grid voltage and phase angle data, the DOE OE Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) project: 1) created a new American National Standard for next-generation grid power quality sensing and communications, 2) created a new prototype broadband-based standard-compliant grid power sensing system for use by utilities and others, and 3) improved by several orders of magnitude the spatiotemporal scale of the in-progress DOE CESER project: Situational Awareness of Grid Anomalies (SAGA) for Visual Analytics.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Wireless Sensing and Communication Capability from In-Core to a Monitoring Center

Significant cost savings can be made if electrical cables can be replaced by wireless technology in current Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) and in advance reactor designs. Wireless technology can also provide in-core opportunities by significantly reducing the number of penetrations in the pressure vessel, cost and complexity of sensor installation and by increasing the efficiency of current and advanced reactors. Unlike other deployment scenarios for an industrial environment, operators need to have centralized control over all the networks. Centralized control will reduce implementation costs, provide single point control and enable monitoring of network devices, improve security, and enhance connectivity. Micro-sensors that can simultaneously monitor temperature and pressure within a fuel rod inside nuclear reactors will enable preventative actions during abnormal operating conditions. This ability could avert accidents and enable the expedient development of accident tolerant fuels. A novel micro-sensor suite (~ mm) to simultaneously measure multiple parameters such as temperature, strain, pressure, and neutron/gamma flux inside a fuel rod is being developed for use in reactors. The necessary communication architecture is also being developed to transmit measurement signals from the core to the plant's data cloud or control room. A three three-tier strategy has been developed to support wireless transmission of in-core measurements to the control room or to a secure cloud platform for control, analytics, and decision-making purposes. 1. In-core: data signal from in-core to outside of the pressure vessel within the containment building 2. Containment building: data signal from inside to the outside of the containment building and into the balance of the plant network 3. Balance of the plant network: information transmitted to the data cloud and control room This plan presents a wireless sensing and communication system for use within a reactor core and elsewhere. The communication technology is advantageous to compensate for network equipment failures and adverse data transmission conditions. Wireless technology will significantly increase the resiliency of the plants network system. The wireless system naturally provides multiple transmission path capability and data redundancy.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

A 100-Mrad (Si) JFET-based Sensing and Communications System for Extreme Nuclear Instrumentation Environments

Dry cask storage is one of two storage methods approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for spent fuel after removal from reactor cores. Dry casks consist of a stainless steel canister enclosed in a concrete overpack to contain the hazardous radioactive spent fuel rods and provide radiation shielding. Monitoring spent fuel storage casks is desired to ensure the safe containment of the enclosed spent fuel, but is very difficult due to the related harsh temperature and radiation environment. The sensors and associated electronics to monitor temperature, pressure, and/or radiation need to survive high temperatures and radiation doses for extended time periods. For this reason, there is a severe need for radiation-hardened electrical systems that survive well beyond the existing capabilities of commercially available radiation-rated electronic components, which have primarily been developed for space applications. Junction-gate field-effect transistor (JFET) devices are inherently radiation hardened [exceeding 100 Mrad (Si)]. Additionally, when JFETs are used as building blocks for sensing and communication electronics (i.e., oscillators, amplifiers, filters, and mixers), inherently radiation-hardened circuits can be achieved. To this end, JFET-based radiation-hardened electronics interfacing with cask-embedded sensors capable of driving modulated sensor signals through a stainless steel barrier were designed and tested at a dose rate of approximately 500 krad/h (Si) to beyond a 200-Mrad (Si) total ionizing dose. After 200 Mrad (Si), the sensor and communication circuit signals were correctly decoded at the receiver despite oscillator drift. The results from this experiment demonstrate the potential for creating more complex radiation-hardened JFET-based electrical systems for nuclear environments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cybersecurity Attacks in Vehicular Sensors

Today's modern vehicles contain anywhere from sixty to one-hundred sensors and exhibit the characteristics of Cyber-Physical-Systems (CPS). There is a high degree of coupling, cohesiveness, and interactions among vehicle's CPS components (e.g., sensors, devices, systems, systems-of-systems) across sensing, communication, and control layers. Cyber-attacks in the sensing or communication layers can compromise the security of the control layer. This paper provides a detailed review of potential cyber threats related to the sensing layer. Notably, the focus is mainly towards two categories of sensors: vehicle dynamics sensors (e.g., Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS), magnetic encoders, and inertial sensors) and environment sensors (e.g., Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), ultrasonic, camera, Radio Detection and Ranging (Radar) systems, and Global Positioning System (GPS) units). Furthermore, the paper also offers perspectives through existing countermeasures from literature and stresses the need for data-driven cybersecurity solutions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

GaN HEMT Fabrication for Radiation-Hardened Sensing and Communications Electronics

Gallium nitride (GaN), a wide bandgap semiconductor, has vast potential to address two environment conditions associated with the application of electronics to nuclear power: elevated temperatures, and high levels of radiation. A process was developed at The Ohio State University (OSU) to enable fabrication of complex digital and analog electronics circuits for application to nuclear power environments such as locations near or in the reactor core or in spent nuclear fuel casks. Radio frequency (RF)-grade GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) devices were fabricated as part of this process. These were fabricated as depletion mode and enhancement mode devices. They have been electrically characterized and have demonstrated the expected performance. Behavioral models (Verilog-A) were developed from these device measurements to enable electrical simulation of GaN HEMT devices and circuits using common electronics simulation tools based on Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis (SPICE). A similar set of GaN HEMT devices is being developed to provide lower speed devices for logic and analog functions. These accomplishments position this technology for effective application to sensor interfacing, signal processing, and data communications in nuclear power plants, including operation in or near the reactor core.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Gradient sensing via cell communication

Experimental evidence lends support to the conjecture that cell-to-cell communication plays a role in the gradient sensing of chemical species by certain chains of cells. Models have been formulated to explore this idea. For cells with no identifiable sensing structure, Mugler et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (U.S.A.) 113, E689 (2016)] have defined a particular local excitation, global inhibition (LEGI) model that pits nearest-neighbor communication against local reactions in a noisy environment to suggest how this sensing capability might arise in a physical system. In this study, we generalize the nearest-neighbor communication mechanism in the aforementioned LEGI model in order to explore the extent to which the gradient sensing characteristics depend on the parametrization of the communication itself, as well as on the cell size, the radius of influence of neighboring cells, and the influence of the background noise. Using our generalization and a collection of particular candidate communication models, we find that the precision of gradient sensing is indeed sensitive to the particular communication model, and we derive physical and analytic explanations for these results. The framework established and the associated results should prove useful in understanding the appropriateness of particular cell-to-cell communication models in gradient sensing studies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cyber Infrastructure for the Smart Electric Grid

As electric power systems undergo a transformative upgrade with the integration of advanced technologies to enable the smarter electric grid, professionals who work in the area require a new understanding of the evolving complexity of the grid. Cyber Infrastructure for the Smart Electric Grid delivers a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles of smart grid operation and control, smart grid technologies, including sensors, communication networks, computation, data management, and cyber security, and the interdependencies between the component technologies on which a smart grid's security depends. The book offers readers the opportunity to critically analyze the smart grid infrastructure needed to sense, communicate, compute, and control in a secure way.

communication networks↗
DOE OSTI2022

Technical Characterization and Benefit Evaluation of 5G-Enabled Grid Data Transport and Applications

This report summarizes the Year 1 work of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL’s) 5G Fabricated Resource and Asset Management Encompassment for energy infrastructure (Energy FRAME) project funded by the Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research Program. 5G is a breakthrough technology that enables a fully mobile and connected society, and a 5G-enabled digital continuum will be one of the critical foundations for a clean energy economy and grid modernization. In collaboration with PNNL’s Advanced Wireless Communication team and Center for Advanced Technology Evaluation team, the project team has been evaluating the system performance of 5G testbeds in the PNNL 5G Innovation Studio, and has formulated a co-simulation test case of power system transmission, distribution, and communication (T&D&C) networks considering 5G technology and high penetration of distributed energy resources. The methodology developed in the 5G Energy FRAME project can be customized to fit different future grid scenarios to evaluate multiple (dynamic) configurations (computing, sensing, communication, environment) for different stakeholders. In summary, our main technical highlights in project Year 1 are as follows: 1) Technical characterization of 5G standalone architectures, 2) Formulation of co-simulation test case of T&D&C networks embedded with 5G, 3) Initial benefit evaluation of 5G communication platform for grid use cases, and 4) Additional extended discussions on edge computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and high-performance computing and cloud computing adoptions. In addition, a collection of system performance data is shared through the publicly available weblink, https://www.pnnl.gov/projects/5g-energy-frame/publications

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2026

Point defects in semiconductors: Friends and foes for quantum technologies

Point defects in semiconductors are both a curse and a blessing in microelectronics: they enable the control of electrical conductivity through doping, yet can also act as trapping and recombination centers that degrade device performance. In quantum information science, defects play a similarly dual role. They can be harnessed as spin–photon interfaces enabling the coupling of electronic and nuclear spins to light and the creation of distributed entanglement for quantum networks or used as atomistic scale sensors for quantum sensing. At the same time, defects are a major source of decoherence for superconducting qubits, one of the leading quantum computing platforms. This article discusses how a deeper materials-level understanding of defects can guide the design of improved quantum devices for communication, sensing, and computation.

Zhu, Yizhi [Rice University, Houston, TX (United S↗
DOE OSTI2023

Voltage regulation in distribution grids: A survey

Environmental and sustainability concerns have caused a recent surge in the penetration of distributed energy resources into the power grid. This may lead to voltage violations in the distribution systems making voltage regulation more relevant than ever. Owing to this and rapid advancements in sensing, communication, and computation technologies, the literature on voltage control techniques is growing at a rapid pace in distribution networks. In particular, there is a paradigm shift from traditional offline centralized approaches to distributed ones leveraging increased and varied types of actuators, real-time sensing, fast and efficient computations, and an overall distributed situational awareness. This paper reviews state-of-the-art voltage control algorithms, summarizes the underlying methods, and classifies their coordination mechanisms into local, centralized, distributed, and decentralized. The underlying solution methodologies are further classified into two categories, open-loop and feedback-based. Two specific example workflows are provided to illustrate these solutions for voltage regulation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Redox-enabled electronic interrogation and feedback control of hierarchical and networked biological systems

Abstract Microelectronic devices can directly communicate with biology, as electronic information can be transmitted via redox reactions within biological systems. By engineering biology’s native redox networks, we enable electronic interrogation and control of biological systems at several hierarchical levels: proteins, cells, and cell consortia. First, electro-biofabrication facilitates on-device biological component assembly. Then, electrode-actuated redox data transmission and redox-linked synthetic biology allows programming of enzyme activity and closed-loop electrogenetic control of cellular function. Specifically, horseradish peroxidase is assembled onto interdigitated electrodes where electrode-generated hydrogen peroxide controls its activity. E. coli ’s stress response regulon, oxyRS , is rewired to enable algorithm-based feedback control of gene expression, including an eCRISPR module that switches cell-cell quorum sensing communication from one autoinducer to another—creating an electronically controlled ‘bilingual’ cell. Then, these disparate redox-guided devices are wirelessly connected, enabling real-time communication and user-based control. We suggest these methodologies will help us to better understand and develop sophisticated control for biology.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hybrid Modeling in the Era of Smart Manufacturing

Smart manufacturing (SM) is a new paradigm that allows manufacturing to enter its fourth revolution by exploiting state-of-the art sensing, communication and computation as the Industrial Internet of Things (IioT). Via the use of high-performance computing and advanced modeling, SM aims to improve the flexibility and adaptability of manufacturing. This paper addresses this trend by reviewing the combined use of data-driven and knowledge-enabled hybrid models (HM), and discusses how such techniques seamlessly fit in the SM platform. Furthermore, a discussion of the new paradigms of HM enabled by the SM platform is given, highlighting their importance in future large-scale applications of the SM platform.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Accelerating Quantum Materials Development with Advances in Transmission Electron Microscopy

Quantum materials are driving a technology revolution in sensing, communication, and computing, while simultaneously testing many core theories of the past century. Materials such as topological insulators, complex oxides, superconductors, quantum dots, color center-hosting semiconductors, and other types of strongly correlated materials can exhibit exotic properties such as edge conductivity, multiferroicity, magnetoresistance, superconductivity, single photon emission, and optical-spin locking. These emergent properties arise and depend strongly on the material’s detailed atomic-scale structure, including atomic defects, dopants, and lattice stacking. In this review, we describe how progress in the field of electron microscopy (EM), including in situ and in operando EM, can accelerate advances in quantum materials and quantum excitations. We begin by describing fundamental EM principles and operation modes. We then discuss various EM methods such as (i) EM spectroscopies, including electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), cathodoluminescence (CL), and electron energy gain spectroscopy (EEGS); (ii) four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM); (iii) dynamic and ultrafast EM (UEM); (iv) complementary ultrafast spectroscopies (UED, XFEL); and (v) atomic electron tomography (AET). We describe how these methods could inform structure–function relations in quantum materials down to the picometer scale and femtosecond time resolution, and how they enable precision positioning of atomic defects and high-resolution manipulation of quantum materials. For each method, we also describe existing limitations to solve open quantum mechanical questions, and how they might be addressed to accelerate progress. Among numerous notable results, our review highlights how EM is enabling identification of the 3D structure of quantum defects; measuring reversible and metastable dynamics of quantum excitations; mapping exciton states and single photon emission; measuring nanoscale thermal transport and coupled excitation dynamics; and measuring the internal electric field and charge density distribution of quantum heterointerfaces- all at the quantum materials’ intrinsic atomic and near atomic-length scale. Finally, we conclude by describing open challenges for the future, including achieving stable sample holders for ultralow temperature (below 10K) atomic-scale spatial resolution, stable spectrometers that enable meV energy resolution, and high-resolution, dynamic mapping of magnetic and spin fields. With atomic manipulation and ultrafast characterization enabled by EM, quantum materials will be poised to integrate into many of the sustainable and energy-efficient technologies needed for the 21st century.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Exciton dressing by extreme nonlinear magnons in a layered semiconductor

Collective excitations presenting nonlinear dynamics are fundamental phenomena with broad applications. A prime example is nonlinear optics, where diverse frequency mixing processes are central to communication, sensing, wavelength conversion, and attosecond physics. Leveraging recent progress in van der Waals magnetic semiconductors, we demonstrate nonlinear opto-magnonic coupling by presenting exciton states dressed by up to 20 harmonics of magnons, resulting from their nonlinearities, in the layered antiferromagnetic semiconductor CrSBr. We also create tunable optical side bands from sum- and difference-frequency generation between two optically bright magnon modes under symmetry breaking magnetic fields. Moreover, the observed difference-frequency generation mode can be continuously tuned into resonance with one of the fundamental magnons, resulting in parametric amplification of magnons. These findings realize the modulation of the optical frequency exciton with the extreme nonlinearity of magnons at microwave frequencies, which could find applications in magnonics and hybrid quantum systems, and provide new avenues for implementing opto-magnonic devices.

Diederich, Geoffrey M.↗