The NASA SBIR product catalog

The purpose of this catalog is to assist small business firms in making the community aware of products emerging from their efforts in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. It contains descriptions of some products that have advanced into Phase 3 and others that are identified as prospective products. Both lists of products in this catalog are based on information supplied by NASA SBIR contractors in responding to an invitation to be represented in this document. Generally, all products suggested by the small firms were included in order to meet the goals of information exchange for SBIR results. Of the 444 SBIR contractors NASA queried, 137 provided information on 219 products. The catalog presents the product information in the technology areas listed in the table of contents. Within each area, the products are listed in alphabetical order by product name and are given identifying numbers. Also included is an alphabetical listing of the companies that have products described. This listing cross-references the product list and provides information on the business activity of each firm. In addition, there are three indexes: one a list of firms by states, one that lists the products according to NASA Centers that managed the SBIR projects, and one that lists the products by the relevant Technical Topics utilized in NASA's annual program solicitation under which each SBIR project was selected

Application of advanced technology to space automation

Automated operations in space provide the key to optimized mission design and data acquisition at minimum cost for the future. The results of this study strongly accentuate this statement and should provide further incentive for immediate development of specific automtion technology as defined herein. Essential automation technology requirements were identified for future programs. The study was undertaken to address the future role of automation in the space program, the potential benefits to be derived, and the technology efforts that should be directed toward obtaining these benefits

The Future of the Internet III

Presents survey results on technology experts' predictions on the Internet's social, political, and economic impact as of 2020, including its effects on integrity and tolerance, intellectual property law, and the division between personal and work lives

Workshop on Advanced Technologies for Planetary Instruments, part 1

This meeting was conceived in response to new challenges facing NASA's robotic solar system exploration program. This volume contains papers presented at the Workshop on Advanced Technologies for Planetary Instruments on 28-30 Apr. 1993. This meeting was conceived in response to new challenges facing NASA's robotic solar system exploration program. Over the past several years, SDIO has sponsored a significant technology development program aimed, in part, at the production of instruments with these characteristics. This workshop provided an opportunity for specialists from the planetary science and DoD communities to establish contacts, to explore common technical ground in an open forum, and more specifically, to discuss the applicability of SDIO's technology base to planetary science instruments

Time-Domain Simulation of Microstrip-Connected Solid-State Oscillators for Close-Range Noise Radar Applications

We develop time-domain approach for simulation of microstrip-connected extremely-high frequency (EHF) solid-state oscillators for close-range radars, including ultrashort-pulse, ultrawide-band (UWB), and noise radars. The circuits utilize high-speed GaN-based active devices such as Gunn diodes (GD) and resonant-tunneling diodes (RTD) capable of operating with enhanced power output. Microstrip interconnects produce time-delay coupling in the system that can create a complicated nonlinear dynamics of oscillations. The circuits can generate self-emerging trains of ultra-short EHF pulses emitted into an open microstrip section for further radiation. The arrays of active devices connected in either parallel (star-case) or series (ladder-case) type of circuits were simulated. Options for generation of chaotic signals in this kind of systems have been considered. An infrared-microwave (IR-EHF) oscillator linked to the resonant antenna was simulated. The oscillator consists of an RTD-driven laser diode (LD) joint to the EHF resonant antenna with a short piece of microstrip section. The oscillator can generate both the EHF pulse radiation and the EHF modulated IR pulses. Both kinds of radiation can be emitted in the free space as the trains of correlated IR-EHF radar pulses. Arrays of oscillators can be used for enhancing the power output of the system

An Historical Survey on Light Technologies

Following the celebration of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies in 2015, this paper presents a survey of the exploitation of light throughout our history. Human beings started using light far into the Stone Age, in order to meet immediate needs, and widened its used when ancient civilizations developed. Other practical uses were conceived during the Middle Ages, some of which had a deep impact on social life. Nevertheless, it was after the Scientific Revolution and, to a wider extent, with the Industrial Revolution, that more devices were developed. The advancement of chemistry and electricity provided the ground and the tools for inventing a number of light-related devices, from photography to chemical and electrical lighting technologies. The deeper and broader scientific advancements of the twentieth century, throughout wave and quanta paradigms and the research on the interactions with matter at the sub-atomic level, have provided the knowledge for a much broader exploitation of light in several different fields, leading to the present technological domains of optoelectronics and photoelectronics, including cinema, image processing, lasers, photovoltaic cells, and optical discs. The recent success of fiber optics, white LEDs, and holography, evidence how vastly and deeply the interaction between light and man is still growing

Wireless Communication in Data Centers: A Survey

Data centers (DCs) is becoming increasingly an integral part of the computing infrastructures of most enterprises. Therefore, the concept of DC networks (DCNs) is receiving an increased attention in the network research community. Most DCNs deployed today can be classified as wired DCNs as copper and optical fiber cables are used for intra- and inter-rack connections in the network. Despite recent advances, wired DCNs face two inevitable problems; cabling complexity and hotspots. To address these problems, recent research works suggest the incorporation of wireless communication technology into DCNs. Wireless links can be used to either augment conventional wired DCNs, or to realize a pure wireless DCN. As the design spectrum of DCs broadens, so does the need for a clear classification to differentiate various design options. In this paper, we analyze the free space optical (FSO) communication and the 60 GHz radio frequency (RF), the two key candidate technologies for implementing wireless links in DCNs. We present a generic classification scheme that can be used to classify current and future DCNs based on the communication technology used in the network. The proposed classification is then used to review and summarize major research in this area. We also discuss open questions and future research directions in the area of wireless DCs

Intelligent evacuation management systems: A review

Crowd and evacuation management have been active areas of research and study in the recent past. Various developments continue to take place in the process of efficient evacuation of crowds in mass gatherings. This article is intended to provide a review of intelligent evacuation management systems covering the aspects of crowd monitoring, crowd disaster prediction, evacuation modelling, and evacuation path guidelines. Soft computing approaches play a vital role in the design and deployment of intelligent evacuation applications pertaining to crowd control management. While the review deals with video and nonvideo based aspects of crowd monitoring and crowd disaster prediction, evacuation techniques are reviewed via the theme of soft computing, along with a brief review on the evacuation navigation path. We believe that this review will assist researchers in developing reliable automated evacuation systems that will help in ensuring the safety of the evacuees especially during emergency evacuation scenarios

Working Papers: Astronomy and Astrophysics Panel Reports

The papers of the panels appointed by the Astronomy and Astrophysics survey Committee are compiled. These papers were advisory to the survey committee and represent the opinions of the members of each panel in the context of their individual charges. The following subject areas are covered: radio astronomy, infrared astronomy, optical/IR from ground, UV-optical from space, interferometry, high energy from space, particle astrophysics, theory and laboratory astrophysics, solar astronomy, planetary astronomy, computing and data processing, policy opportunities, benefits to the nation from astronomy and astrophysics, status of the profession, and science opportunities