Tech Briefs

Electronics & Software

Access our comprehensive library of technical briefs on electronics and software, from engineering experts at NASA and major government, university, and commercial laboratories.

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Tunable microwave devices based on metal terminals connected by thin ferroelectric films (see Figure 1) can be made to perform better by patterning the films to include suitably...
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Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
A total of 81 optimal logic circuits based on four-gate field-effect transistors (G4FETs) have been designed to implement all Boolean functions of up to three variables. The purpose of this development was...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A four-port magic-T hybrid waveguide junction serves as the central component of a high-efficiency two-way power combiner circuit for transmitting a high-rate...
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Briefs: Information Technology
A framework for high-level specification of data distributions in data-parallel application programs has been conceived. [As used here, "distributions" signifies means to express...
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Briefs: Information Technology
The inductive monitoring system (IMS) is a system of computer hardware and software for automated monitoring of the performance, operational condition, physical integrity, and other aspects...
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Briefs: Information Technology
Processing Satellite Imagery To Detect Waste Tire Piles
A methodology for processing commercially available satellite spectral imagery has been developed to enable identification and mapping of waste tire piles in California. The California Integrated Waste Management Board initiated the project and provided funding for the method's development....
Briefs: Semiconductors & ICs
A circuit and method for transmitting and receiving on-off-keyed (OOK) signals with fractional signal-to-noise ratios uses available high-temperature silicon-on-insulator (SOI) components...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Switched Band-Pass Filters for Adaptive Transceivers
Switched band-pass filters are key components of proposed adaptive, software- defined radio transceivers that would be parts of envisioned digital-data- communication networks that would enable real-time acquisition and monitoring of data from geographically distributed sensors. Examples of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Systems to provide improved tactile feedback to aircraft pilots are being developed to help the pilots maintain harmony between their control actions and the positions of aircraft control surfaces,...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A waveguide structure for combining the outputs of four amplifiers operating at 35 GHz (Ka band) is based on a similar prior structure used in the X band. The structure is designed to function with low...
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Waveguide Calibrator for Multi-Element Probe Calibration
A calibrator, referred to as the "spider" design, can be used to calibrate probes incorporating multiple acoustic sensing elements. The application is an acoustic energy density probe, although the calibrator can be used for other types of acoustic probes. The calibrator relies on the use of...
Briefs: Electronics & Computers
A special-purpose high-voltage power supply can be electronically switched on and off with fast rise and fall times, respectively. The output potential is programmable from 20 to 1,250 V....
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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Noncoherent DTTLs for Symbol Synchronization
Noncoherent data-transition tracking loops (DTTLs) have been proposed for use as symbol synchronizers in digital communication receivers. [Communication- receiver subsystems that can perform their assigned functions in the absence of synchronization with the phases of their carrier signals ("carrier...
Briefs: Materials
CHEM-Based Self-Deploying Planetary Storage Tanks
A document proposes self-deploying storage tanks, based on the cold elastic hibernated memory (CHEM) concept, to be used on remote planets. The CHEM concept, described in previous NASA Tech Briefs articles, involves the use of open-cell shape-memory-polymer (SMP) foam sandwich structures to make...
Briefs: Information Technology
PPC750 Performance Monitor
The PPC750 Performance Monitor (Perfmon) is a computer program that helps the user to assess the performance characteristics of application programs running under the Wind River VxWorks real-time operating system on a PPC750 computer. Perfmon generates a user-friendly interface and collects performance data by use of...
Briefs: Information Technology
Application-Program-Installer Builder
A computer program builds application programming interfaces (APIs) and related software components for installing and uninstalling application programs in any of a variety of computers and operating systems that support the Java programming language in its binary form. This program is partly similar in...
Briefs: Information Technology
Using Visual Odometry to Estimate Position and Attitude
A computer program in the guidance system of a mobile robot generates estimates of the position and attitude of the robot, using features of the terrain on which the robot is moving, by processing digitized images acquired by a stereoscopic pair of electronic cameras mounted rigidly on the...
Briefs: Information Technology
Design and Data Management System
The Design and Data Management System (DDMS) was developed to automate the NASA Engineering Order (EO) and Engineering Change Request (ECR) processes at the Propulsion Test Facilities at Stennis Space Center for efficient and effective Configuration Management (CM). Prior to the development of DDMS, the CM system...
Briefs: Information Technology
Simple, Script-Based Science Processing Archive
The Simple, Scalable, Script-based Science Processing (S4P) Archive (S4PA) is a disk-based archival system for remote-sensing data. It is based on the data-driven framework of S4P and is used for data transfer, data preprocessing, metadata generation, data archive, and data distribution. New data are...
Briefs: Information Technology
Automated Rocket Propulsion Test Management
The Rocket Propulsion Test-Automated Management System provides a central location for managing activities associated with Rocket Propulsion Test Management Board, National Rocket Propulsion Test Alliance, and the Senior Steering Group business management activities. A set of authorized users, both...
Briefs: Information Technology
Online Remote Sensing Interface
BasinTools Module 1 processes remotely sensed raster data, including multi- and hyper-spectral data products, via a Web site with no downloads and no plug-ins required. The interface provides standardized algorithms designed so that a user with little or no remote-sensing experience can use the site. This Web-based...
Briefs: Information Technology
Implementation of a Point Algorithm for Real-Time Convex Optimization
The primal-dual interior-point algorithm implemented in G-OPT is a relatively new and efficient way of solving convex optimization problems. Given a prescribed level of accuracy, the convergence to the optimal solution is guaranteed in a predetermined, finite number of...
Briefs: Information Technology
Handling Input and Output for COAMPS
Two suites of software have been developed to handle the input and output of the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Prediction System (COAMPS), which is a regional atmospheric model developed by the Navy for simulating and predicting weather. Typically, the initial and boundary conditions for COAMPS are provided by a...
Briefs: Information Technology
Modeling and Grid Generation of Iced Airfoils
SmaggIce Version 2.0 is a software toolkit for geometric modeling and grid generation for two-dimensional, singleand multi-element, clean and iced airfoils. A previous version of SmaggIce was described in “Preparing and Analyzing Iced Airfoils,” NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 28, No. 8 (August 2004), page...
Briefs: Information Technology
Rocket Science 101 Interactive Educational Program
To better educate the public on the basic design of NASA's current mission rockets, Rocket Science 101 software has been developed as an interactive program designed to retain a user's attention and to teach about basic rocket parts. This program also has helped to expand NASA's presence on the Web...
Briefs: Information Technology
Automated Identification of Nucleotide Sequences
STITCH is a computer program that processes raw nucleotide-sequence data to automatically remove unwanted vector information, perform reverse-complement comparison, stitch shorter sequences together to make longer ones to which the shorter ones presumably belong, and search against the user's choice...
Briefs: Information Technology
Balloon Design Software
PlanetaryBalloon Version 5.0 is a software package for the design of meridionally lobed planetary balloons. It operates in a Windows environment, and programming was done in Visual Basic 6. By including the effects of circular lobes with load tapes, skin mass, hoop and meridional stress, and elasticity in the structural...
Briefs: Information Technology
Fusing Image Data for Calculating Position of an Object
A computer program has been written for use in maintaining the calibration, with respect to the positions of imaged objects, of a stereoscopic pair of cameras on each of the Mars Explorer Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The program identifies and locates a known object in the images. The object...
Briefs: Information Technology
Analysis Method for Quantifying Vehicle Design Goals
A document discusses a method for using Design Structure Matrices (DSM), coupled with high-level tools representing important life-cycle parameters, to comprehensively conceptualize a flight/ground space transportation system design by dealing with such variables as performance, up-front costs,...

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