In a proposed communication scheme, quantum entanglement and quantum nonlocality would be utilized to effect instantaneous transmission of randomly chosen messages to remote locations. Although the messages would not convey any information, they might nevertheless be of some value under...

A report discusses the concept of goal-based fault tolerance as implemented in NASA’s Mission Data System (MDS), which is a developmental architecture for unified flight, test, and ground software that is intended to be adaptable to a variety of next-generation deep-space missions. In goal-based...

A report presents updated information about the Remote Agent — a reusable artificial-intelligence software system that was described in “A Remote Agent Prototype for Spacecraft Autonomy” (NPO-19992), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 21, No. 3 (March 1997), page 106. This system was conceived to...

Root Cause Analysis (RoCA) is a computer program that assists analysts in understanding the root causes of process anomalies. As used here, “process anomalies” includes incidents that have caused, or that can potentially cause, injuries to personnel, damage to facilities, abnormal costs,...

“Ex” is the name of a library of software modules from which one can rapidly develop prototype or production versions of efficient numerical-computation application programs in the Native Oberon programming environment. Mathematical constructs that can be represented and processed by...

A computer program coordinates operations of multiple cooperating rovers (small exploratory robotic vehicles deployed from a lander spacecraft), each of which is equipped with computer hardware and software that schedule the tasks assigned to it. The program implements a contract net protocol...

Compressed symbology is a product-identification method that was pioneered by NASA for tracking space-shuttle parts and is now being used to mark everything from groceries to automobile parts. Based on a system of two-dimensional marks applied to parts, compressed symbology was developed at NASA's...

External Data and Attribute Hyperlink are computer programs that can be added to Promis•e®, which is a commercial software system that automates routine tasks in the design (including drawing schematic diagrams) of electrical control systems. The programs were developed under the...

A report discusses the potential application of artificial intelligence (AI) to planning, scheduling, and control of the optical configuration and other aspects of the operations of a large astronomical interferometer. Scientific demand and technical requirements necessitate...

A report presents a theoretical study of communication among intelligent agents in the presence of quantum entanglement and the absence of classical (in the sense of non-quantum) communication channels. Several paradigms of self-organization based on quantum entanglement are introduced and...

A query timeout detection algorithm has been proposed to support a protocol for reliable communications over links that are characterized by long delays because of (1) propagation of signals over interplanetary distances and/or (2) intermittency. The protocol could be an interplanetary analogue...

A report discusses the use of the Web Interface for Telescience (WITS) for visualization and command sequence generation in the Mars Polar Lander (MPL) mission. WITS, which has been described in prior articles in NASA Tech Briefs, is an Internet-based software system that enables...

Five papers address interrelated topics in parallel computing and the use of adaptive, unstructured computational grids. The titles of the papers and their general subject matters are the following:

The term "coherent phase line enhancer" (CPLE) refers to a dual-transform method of spectral analysis that enhances the detection of periodic and quasi-periodic signals buried in wide-band noise. The CPLE is particularly useful for increasing the signal-to-noise ratios of spectral peaks...

MECS is a computer program for the automated, secure, rapid, and efficient transfer of data between a central source and users at multiple distant locations. "MECS" signifies "Multi-mission Encrypted Communication System." MECS enables many users to collaborate securely on a shared plan or set of data.

The Common Database Interface and Report Generator is a computer program that serves as both (1) a single common interface for data-base application programs to gain access to local or remote data bases by use of Structured Query Language (SQL) operators and (2) a report generator.

A document describes a system for the automated generation of reports of operations of a robotic exploratory vehicle (rover) on Mars. The automated report-generation system supplants a predominantly manual system, thereby making more information available in less time and reducing the...

"S+Wavelets" is the name of a computer program that implements a suite of mathematical "tools" for wavelet analysis of signals (including two-dimensional signals that represent images.) Wavelets, being localized in both time and frequency (or space and wave number), serve as means for transforming and extracting...

The SAR Processing System Raw Data Processor (SPS RDS) computer program is used in the Alaska SAR Facility (ASF) to scan and decode raw data that have been downlinked from the European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS), the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS), and the RADARSAT (a Canadian...

The Object Oriented Data Technology group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing software for locating data — especially scientific data — stored in various formats on heterogeneous computer systems at different locations. The software is intended to exploit and extend...