Electronics & Software

This invention presents a nanoscale vacuum tube or vacuum transistor fabricated entirely using current silicon integrated circuit manufacturing techniques. Vacuum is better for electron transport than any semiconductor since there is no electron scattering. In addition, vacuum devices are immune to radiation....

NASA Flywheel is an augmented reality application intended to highlight NASA Glenn’s research efforts in the area of flywheel energy storage systems. The app utilizes a printed optical target, available on the GRC Flywheel Program brochure and through the NASA Glenn Web portal, to present users with 3D views of flywheel...

The current steady-state performance-based system studies are not adequate to evaluate certain advanced technologies for the challenges associated with meeting the transient performance requirements without better definition and control of component operating margins. Additional...

When a maneuverable spacecraft confronts a potentially unsafe conjunction with another space object, its operators must decide whether to maneuver to mitigate the risk of a collision. Such decisions may not be straightforward, since the operators must balance their...

The class of 3DGRAPE codes is designed to generate volume grids using iterative methods to solve the non-linear, nonhomogeneous, elliptic partial differential heat equation with heat sources. The solution to the heat equation develops...

This software models the Delay Tolerant Link State Routing protocol. It runs inside the QualNet network simulator, and allows injecting of external bundles when running in emulation mode. It leverages QualNet’s library of networking protocols and JPL’s CCSDS models.

The EUROPA planning system is a general-purpose, reusable, artificial intelligence software system for automatically generating plans for performing complex activities in parallel, in accordance with constraints on activities and their interactions. One part of the system input...

Vendor software supplied with commercial acoustic emission equipment is incapable of performing the analysis required to characterize damage and make decisions on remaining life for NASA composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs). The Acoustic Emission Analysis Applet (AEAA) software, currently...

The objective of this work was to develop a robust, cost-effective receiver with maximum dynamic range to track the frequency and power variation of a beacon signal. The result was the development of a frequency estimation algorithm that yields a more accurate...

The software for NASA’s Northstar Systems computed tomography (CT) and Picometrix Terahertz CT systems do not have the ability to unwrap and reslice cylindrical CT data to allow top-to-bottom, 2D sheet views of the data. Therefore, it is difficult to size flaws laterally...

The NASA Technology Transfer System (NTTS) is a NASA-created technology transfer workflow management system, a schema-less database management system used to track the life-cycle of NASA inventions. It is built on XDB, a NASA homegrown XML database. Because of its schema-less approach to store data, NTTS can host a cluster...

This week's Question: The Fujitsu Arrows NX F-04G, a new smartphone set for release in Japan, comes with a built-in retinal scanner that can be used for a variety of different functions, including unlocking the device, accessing apps, and making mobile payments. A front-facing infrared...

This week's Question: At this year's Mobile World Congress in Spain, Sierra Wireless and Philips CityTouch demonstrated "smart city" lighting capabilities. The companies' systems connect a city's individual street lights to the Internet via 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. The "smart" technology allows...

Optical communications in terrestrial and space environments require transmitted signals on the order of 40 GHz and higher, because of the uncertain and changing transmission environments. A robust communications system is needed that will provide these frequencies and substantial discrimination between...

An aircraft pilot would prefer to receive information on weather patterns, obstructions, and other conditions that may interfere with a flight plan, formal or informal, as the pilot’s flight proceeds, with a latency of no more than a few minutes. Learning of, and reacting to, a changing environment...

The TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) and Terra ESMO (Earth Science Mission Operations) Ground Systems needed a method of passing scheduling data through the Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) bus to other subsystems without modifying the Planning and...

The Integrated Trending and Plotting System (ITPS) is a comprehensive tool for storage, extraction, analysis, and plots of spacecraft housekeeping telemetry data (GMSEC R3.0 — Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center). ITPS reports information to...

Silicon avalanche photodiodes (Si APDs) have low dark current and low excess noise factor, and are currently used in many of NASA’s missions. Noise equivalent power (NEP) of 40 to 50 fW/(Hz)1/2 over 140-MHz bandwidth has been demonstrated for Si APDs. Si APDs have very...

The conventional methods of improving wireless system coverage performance are to increase the transmitter power and/or antenna gain. The high transmit power could lead to more power consumption and RF exposure issues. The use of a high-gain antenna could lead...