NASA patent abstracts bibliography: A continuing bibliography. Section 1: Abstracts (supplement 14)

Abstracts are cited for 213 patents and applications for patent introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system during the period of July 1978 through December 1978. Each entry consists of a citation, an abstract, and in most cases, a key illustration selected from the patent or application for patent

NASA Tech Briefs, February 2001

The topics include: 1) Application Briefs; 2) National Design Engineering Show Preview; 3) Marketing Inventions to Increase Income; 4) A Personal-Computer-Based Physiological Training System; 5) Reconfigurable Arrays of Transistors for Evolvable Hardware; 6) Active Tactile Display Device for Reading by a Blind Person; 7) Program Automates Management of IBM VM Computer Systems; 8) System for Monitoring the Environment of a Spacecraft Launch; 9) Measurement of Stresses and Strains in Muscles and Tendons; 10) Optical Measurement of Temperatures in Muscles and Tendons; 11) Small Low-Temperature Thermometer With Nanokelvin Resolution; 12) Heterodyne Interferometer With Phase-Modulated Carrier; 13) Rechargeable Batteries Based on Intercalation in Graphite; 14) Signal Processor for Doppler Measurements in Icing Research; 15) Model Optimizes Drying of Wet Sheets; 16) High-Performance POSS-Modified Polymeric Composites; 17) Model Simulates Semi-Solid Material Processing; 18) Modular Cryogenic Insulation; 19) Passive Venting for Alleviating Helicopter Tail-Boom Loads; 20) Computer Program Predicts Rocket Noise; 21) Process for Polishing Bare Aluminum to High Optical Quality; 22) External Adhesive Pressure-Wall Patch; 23) Java Implementation of Information-Sharing Protocol; 24) Electronic Bulletin Board Publishes Schedules in Real Time; 25) Apparatus Would Extract Water From the Martian Atmosphere; 26) Review of Research on Supercritical vs Subcritical Fluids; 27) Hybrid Regenerative Water-Recycling System; 28) Study of Fusion-Driven Plasma Thruster With Magnetic Nozzle; 29) Liquid/Vapor-Hydrazine Thruster Would Produce Small Impulses; and 30) Thruster Based on Sublimation of Solid Hydrazin

Technology 2001: The Second National Technology Transfer Conference and Exposition, volume 1

Papers from the technical sessions of the Technology 2001 Conference and Exposition are presented. The technical sessions featured discussions of advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, computer graphics and simulation, communications, data and information management, electronics, electro-optics, environmental technology, life sciences, materials science, medical advances, robotics, software engineering, and test and measurement

Investigating the build-up of precedence effect using reflection masking

The auditory processing level involved in the build‐up of precedence [Freyman et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 90, 874–884 (1991)] has been investigated here by employing reflection masked threshold (RMT) techniques. Given that RMT techniques are generally assumed to address lower levels of the auditory signal processing, such an approach represents a bottom‐up approach to the buildup of precedence. Three conditioner configurations measuring a possible buildup of reflection suppression were compared to the baseline RMT for four reflection delays ranging from 2.5–15 ms. No buildup of reflection suppression was observed for any of the conditioner configurations. Buildup of template (decrease in RMT for two of the conditioners), on the other hand, was found to be delay dependent. For five of six listeners, with reflection delay=2.5 and 15 ms, RMT decreased relative to the baseline. For 5‐ and 10‐ms delay, no change in threshold was observed. It is concluded that the low‐level auditory processing involved in RMT is not sufficient to realize a buildup of reflection suppression. This confirms suggestions that higher level processing is involved in PE buildup. The observed enhancement of reflection detection (RMT) may contribute to active suppression at higher processing levels

Μελέτη ασύρματων οπτικών συστημάτων για την υλοποίηση ευρυζωνικών δικτύων εσωτερικού χώρου

 Τα σύγχρονα οικιακά δίκτυα καλούνται να ικανοποιήσουν τις προσδοκίες των συνδρομητών για πρόσβαση σε ευρυζωνικές υπηρεσίες όπως Τηλεόραση και Βίντεο υψηλής ευκρίνειας (High Definition TV – Video), Τηλεπαρουσία (Telepresence), τρισδιάστατα παιχνίδια (3D Gaming), εφαρμογές Εικονικής Πραγματικότητας (Virtual Reality και Ηλεκτρονικής Υγείας (e-Health). Προς την κατεύθυνση αυτή εξετάζεται η χρήση ασύρματων οπτικών συστημάτων. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, αναπτύχθηκε ένα μοντέλο προσομοίωσης του οπτικού ασύρματου καναλιού ώστε να γίνουν κατανοητά τα χαρακτηριστικά και οι περιορισμοί που εισάγονται από κάθε πιθανή τοπολογία καναλιού. Στη συνέχεια μελετήθηκαν κατάλληλες διατάξεις ισοστάθμισης και μέθοδοι πολλαπλών εισόδων πολλαπλών εξόδων (ΜΙΜΟ – Multiple Input Multiple Output) με σκοπό τον περιορισμό της διασυμβολικής παρεμβολής και την αύξηση της περιοχής κάλυψης και του ρυθμού μετάδοσης. Επιπλέον, διερευνήθηκε η δυνατότητα ρύθμισης (dimming) της φωτεινότητας των διόδων φωτοεκπομπής LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) σε συστήματα επικοινωνιών ορατού φωτός (VLC – Visible Light Communications). Τέλος, σε μία προσπάθεια αντιμετώπισης του ισχυρού περιβαλλοντικού θορύβου που υποβαθμίζει την ποιότητα της ζεύξης στα ασύρματα οπτικά δίκτυα, εξετάζεται η χρήση σύμφωνων πηγών και φωρατών. Αποδεικνύεται ότι τα σύμφωνα ασύρματα οπτικά συστήματα σε συνδυασμό με κατάλληλες τεχνικές χωρο- χρονικού διαφορισμού (space-time diversity) καθιστούν δυνατή τη μετάδοση δεδομένων με ρυθμούς ~ Gb/s.Today’s home area networks (HANs) are designed to satisfy the expectations of subscribers for access in bandwidth hungry services, such as High Definition TV - Video, Telepresence, 3D Gaming, Virtual Reality and e-Health. To this direction the use of wireless optical systems is examined. A simulation model was developed in MATLAB to compute the impulse response of the optical wireless channel and determine the characteristics and the restrictions imposed by each channel topology. Appropriate equalization and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) techniques were investigated as a means of fighting intersymbol interference and increasing the coverage area and data rate. Moreover, the implications of the incorporation of a dimming functionality in the light emitting diodes (LEDs) of a visible light communication (VLC) system are investigated. Finally, in an effort to increase the receiver’s sensitivity under the intense ambient light noise the use of coherent sources and homodyne detection is proposed. It is shown that coherent optical wireless systems in combination with space-time diversity enable the transmission of data with rates in the order of ~Gb/s

Blind Decision Feedback Equalizer for Holographic Versatile Disc

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