A decision support environment for behavioral synthesis

We present a specification of a general environment for behavioral synthesis centered around the user/designer as the primary motivator for decisions in design development. At each stage of the design process, the user can perform transformations on the design description through graphical user interfaces. Quality measures, physical estimates, and design hints are given to the user at each stage

Advanced manned space flight simulation and training: An investigation of simulation host computer system concepts

The findings of a preliminary investigation by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in simulation host computer concepts is presented. It is designed to aid NASA in evaluating simulation technologies for use in spaceflight training. The focus of the investigation is on the next generation of space simulation systems that will be utilized in training personnel for Space Station Freedom operations. SwRI concludes that NASA should pursue a distributed simulation host computer system architecture for the Space Station Training Facility (SSTF) rather than a centralized mainframe based arrangement. A distributed system offers many advantages and is seen by SwRI as the only architecture that will allow NASA to achieve established functional goals and operational objectives over the life of the Space Station Freedom program. Several distributed, parallel computing systems are available today that offer real-time capabilities for time critical, man-in-the-loop simulation. These systems are flexible in terms of connectivity and configurability, and are easily scaled to meet increasing demands for more computing power

Integrated testing and verification system for research flight software design document

The NASA Langley Research Center is developing the MUST (Multipurpose User-oriented Software Technology) program to cut the cost of producing research flight software through a system of software support tools. The HAL/S language is the primary subject of the design. Boeing Computer Services Company (BCS) has designed an integrated verification and testing capability as part of MUST. Documentation, verification and test options are provided with special attention on real time, multiprocessing issues. The needs of the entire software production cycle have been considered, with effective management and reduced lifecycle costs as foremost goals. Capabilities have been included in the design for static detection of data flow anomalies involving communicating concurrent processes. Some types of ill formed process synchronization and deadlock also are detected statically

HATSouth: a global network of fully automated identical wide-field telescopes

HATSouth is the world's first network of automated and homogeneous telescopes that is capable of year-round 24-hour monitoring of positions over an entire hemisphere of the sky. The primary scientific goal of the network is to discover and characterize a large number of transiting extrasolar planets, reaching out to long periods and down to small planetary radii. HATSouth achieves this by monitoring extended areas on the sky, deriving high precision light curves for a large number of stars, searching for the signature of planetary transits, and confirming planetary candidates with larger telescopes. HATSouth employs 6 telescope units spread over 3 locations with large longitude separation in the southern hemisphere (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile; HESS site, Namibia; Siding Spring Observatory, Australia). Each of the HATSouth units holds four 0.18m diameter f/2.8 focal ratio telescope tubes on a common mount producing an 8.2x8.2 arcdeg field, imaged using four 4Kx4K CCD cameras and Sloan r filters, to give a pixel scale of 3.7 arcsec/pixel. The HATSouth network is capable of continuously monitoring 128 square arc-degrees. We present the technical details of the network, summarize operations, and present weather statistics for the 3 sites. On average each of the 6 HATSouth units has conducted observations on ~500 nights over a 2-year time period, yielding a total of more than 1million science frames at 4 minute integration time, and observing ~10.65 hours per day on average. We describe the scheme of our data transfer and reduction from raw pixel images to trend-filtered light curves and transiting planet candidates. Photometric precision reaches ~6 mmag at 4-minute cadence for the brightest non-saturated stars at r~10.5. We present detailed transit recovery simulations to determine the expected yield of transiting planets from HATSouth. (abridged)Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, submitted to PAS

MODIS Information, Data, and Control System (MIDACS) system specifications and conceptual design

The MODIS Information, Data, and Control System (MIDACS) Specifications and Conceptual Design Document discusses system level requirements, the overall operating environment in which requirements must be met, and a breakdown of MIDACS into component subsystems, which include the Instrument Support Terminal, the Instrument Control Center, the Team Member Computing Facility, the Central Data Handling Facility, and the Data Archive and Distribution System. The specifications include sizing estimates for the processing and storage capacities of each data system element, as well as traffic analyses of data flows between the elements internally, and also externally across the data system interfaces. The specifications for the data system, as well as for the individual planning and scheduling, control and monitoring, data acquisition and processing, calibration and validation, and data archive and distribution components, do not yet fully specify the data system in the complete manner needed to achieve the scientific objectives of the MODIS instruments and science teams. The teams have not yet been formed; however, it was possible to develop the specifications and conceptual design based on the present concept of EosDIS, the Level-1 and Level-2 Functional Requirements Documents, the Operations Concept, and through interviews and meetings with key members of the scientific community

A Technology Proposal for a Management Information System for the Director’s Office, NAL.

This technology proposal attempts in giving a viable solution for a Management Information System (MIS) for the Director's Office. In today's IT scenario, an Organization's success greatly depends on its ability to get accurate and timely data on its operations of varied nature and to manage this data effectively to guide its activities and meet its goals. To cater to the information needs of an Organization or an Office like the Director's Office, information systems are developed and deployed to gather and process data in ways that produce a variety of information to the end-user. MIS can therefore can be defined as an integrated user-machine system for providing information to support operations, management and decision-making functions in an Organization. The system in a nutshell, utilizes computer hardware and software, manual procedures, models for analysis planning, control and decision-making and a database. Using state-of-the-art front-end and back-end web based tools, this technology proposal attempts to provide a single-point Information Management, Information Storage, Information Querying and Information Retrieval interface to the Director and his office for handling all information traffic flow in and out of the Director's Office

Regional Data Archiving and Management for Northeast Illinois

This project studies the feasibility and implementation options for establishing a regional data archiving system to help monitor and manage traffic operations and planning for the northeastern Illinois region. It aims to provide a clear guidance to the regional transportation agencies, from both technical and business perspectives, about building such a comprehensive transportation information system. Several implementation alternatives are identified and analyzed. This research is carried out in three phases. In the first phase, existing documents related to ITS deployments in the broader Chicago area are summarized, and a thorough review is conducted of similar systems across the country. Various stakeholders are interviewed to collect information on all data elements that they store, including the format, system, and granularity. Their perception of a data archive system, such as potential benefits and costs, is also surveyed. In the second phase, a conceptual design of the database is developed. This conceptual design includes system architecture, functional modules, user interfaces, and examples of usage. In the last phase, the possible business models for the archive system to sustain itself are reviewed. We estimate initial capital and recurring operational/maintenance costs for the system based on realistic information on the hardware, software, labor, and resource requirements. We also identify possible revenue opportunities. A few implementation options for the archive system are summarized in this report; namely: 1. System hosted by a partnering agency 2. System contracted to a university 3. System contracted to a national laboratory 4. System outsourced to a service provider The costs, advantages and disadvantages for each of these recommended options are also provided.ICT-R27-22published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe