Battery-aware contact plan design for LEO satellite constellations: The ulloriaq case study

Power demands of communication technologies between LEO small-satellites are difficult to counterbalance by solar infeed and on-board battery storage, due to size and weight limitations. This makes the problem of battery-powered intersatellite communication a very difficult one. Its management requires a profound understanding as well as techniques for a proper extrapolation of the electric power budget as part of the inter-satellite and satellite-to-ground communication design. We discuss how the construction of contact plans in delay tolerant networking can profit from a sophisticated model of the on-board battery behavior. This model accounts for both nonlinearities in battery behavior as well as stochastic fluctuations in charge, so as to control the risk of battery depletion. We take an hypothetical Ulloriaq constellation based on the GOMX–4 satellites from GomSpace as a reference for our studies.Fil: Fraire, Juan Andres. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; Argentina. Universitat Saarland; AlemaniaFil: Nies, Gilles. Universitat Saarland; AlemaniaFil: Gerstacker, Carsten. Universitat Saarland; AlemaniaFil: Hermanns, Holger. Universitat Saarland; Alemania. Institute of Intelligent Software; ChinaFil: Bay, Kristian. GomSpace A/S; DinamarcaFil: Bisgaard, Morten. GomSpace A/S; Dinamarc

Science and Technology Issues in the 115th Congress

Science and technology (S&T) have a pervasive influence over a wide range of issues confronting the nation. Public and private research and development spur scientific and technological advancement. Such advances can drive economic growth, help address national priorities, and improve health and quality of life. The constantly changing nature and ubiquity of science and technology frequently create public policy issues of congressional interest. The federal government supports scientific and technological advancement directly by funding and performing research and development and indirectly by creating and maintaining policies that encourage private sector efforts. Additionally, the federal government establishes and enforces regulatory frameworks governing many aspects of S&T activities. This report briefly outlines an array of science and technology policy issues that may come before the 115th Congress. Given the rapid pace of S&T advancement and its importance in many diverse public policy issues, S&T-related issues not discussed in this report may come before the 115th Congress. The selected issues are grouped into 9 categories: - Overarching S&T Policy Issues, - Agriculture, - Biomedical Research and Development, - Defense, - Energy, - Environment and Natural Resources, - Homeland Security, - Information Technology, - Physical and Material Sciences, and - Space. Each of these categories includes concise analysis of multiple policy issues. The material presented in this report should be viewed as illustrative rather than comprehensive. Each section identifies CRS reports, when available, and the appropriate CRS experts to contact for further information and analysis

The Experience Condition: Experiencing Alternate Futures

A B S T R A C T I n t r o In The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt states that the human capacity for new beginnings is marked by the launch of the first satellite into space in 1957. Arendt recognizes this as an ‘event, second in importance to no other, not even to the splitting of the atom’. The minatory threat of technological enterprises, the advent of automation, virtual and cosmic colonization, climatic changes, and todestrieb or ‘death drive,’ belong to a scope of events that impel new forms of experiences. (1)(2)(3) Narrative Architecture will be used as the framework for the representation of the project. As proven in history, by generating a critique through multimedia exploration, Narrative Architecture has the capacity to generate significant contributions to the field of architecture by means of alternative scenarios and architectural visions of the future. In this way, this thesis develops narratives exploring the ‘alternate experiences’ and the parallel between historic experiences and newest experiences that offers different scenarios for living, translated as architectural elements and spatial constructs.(4)(5) Following this dialectic between historic and newest experiences, Architecture becomes a result of visions of alternate futures as a reflection of the human condition and de-construction of myth. M e t h o d o l o g y Divided in two parts; this thesis will start with the research of our ‘historic and newest experiences’ and what they may offer in propositions that render architectural elements and space. By studying archival material, I will observe and analyze seminal ideal projects and dissect works inhabiting the perceptional threshold between physical and virtual domains. The second part of this thesis will evaluate how, shaped by the spectrum of ‘experience types,’ architecture may propose scenarios for living as avatars of space and virtual existence. In its final form, the project will be presented as a multi-media installation of texts, images, objects and moving images, articulating alternate environments of The Experience Condition. F o o t n o t e s (1) Hannah Arendt, Human Condition. 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998). (2) ‘Minatory threats,’ to include technological enterprises, the advent of automation, virtual and cosmic colonization, climatic changes, and todestrieb or “death drive,” as a scope of events that impel new forms of experiences. (3) ‘Todestreib,’ or ‘death drive’ is a concept discussed by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek. Originally proposed by Sabina Spielrein in her paper “Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being,” is a psychoanalytical theory suggest that humans drive toward death and self-destruction. (4) Narrative Architecture is a form of architecture that makes a critique of ideology, rooted in existing research. Through a repertoire of narrative texts, images, moving images and sculpture, it can be used as a tool to critically think about topics affecting our built and natural environments, political and social structures, pasts and futures. Previous examples of these projects are The Post Colonial Room, Exodus or the Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture, Twelve Ideal Cities by Superstudio. (5)WAI Think Tank, Narrative Architecture Manifesto. www.waithinktank.com/Narrative-Architecture-Manifesto

The Boston University Photonics Center annual report 2012-2013

This repository item contains an annual report that summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center in the 2012-2013 academic year. The report provides quantitative and descriptive information regarding photonics programs in education, interdisciplinary research, business innovation, and technology development. The Boston University Photonics Center (BUPC) is an interdisciplinary hub for education, research, scholarship, innovation, and technology development associated with practical uses of light.This report summarizes activities of the Boston University Photonics Center during the period July 2012 through June 2013. These activities span the Center’s complementary missions in education, research, technology development, and commercialization. The Photonics Center continues to grow as an international leader in photonics research, while executing the Center’s strategic plan and serving as a university-wide resource for several affiliate Centers. For more information about the strategic plan, read the Photonics Center Strategic Plan section on page 10. In research, Photonics Center faculty published nearly 150 journal papers spanning the field of photonics. A number of awards for outstanding achievement in education and research were presented to Photonics Center faculty members, including a Peter Paul Professorship for Professor Xue Han, an NSF Career Award for Professor Ajay Joshi, and the 2012 Innovator of the Year Award from Boston University for Professor Theodore Moustakas. New external grant funding for the 2012- 2013 fiscal year totaled over $21.8M. For more information on our research activities, read the Research section on page 24. In technology development, the Photonics Center has turned a chapter, by completing the transition from a focus on Defense/ Security applications to a focus on the healthcare market sector. The commercial sector is expected to energize the technology development efforts for the foreseeable future, but the roots in defense/security are still important and the Center will continue to pursue new research grants in this area. For more information on our technology development program and on specific projects, read the Technology Development section on page 45. In education, 20 Photonics Center graduate students received Ph.D. diplomas. Photonics Center faculty taught 32 photonics courses. The Center supported a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) site in Biophotonic Sensors and Systems for 10 middle school and high school teachers. The Photonics Center sponsored the Herbert J. Berman “Future of Light” Prize at the University’s Scholars Day. For more on our education programs, read the Education section on page 54. In commercialization, Boston University’s Business Innovation Center (BIC) currently hosts seven technology start-up companies. There is a healthy turnover in the Innovation Center space with a total of 19 companies residing at BIC over the past year. The mix of companies includes: life sciences, biotechnology, medical devices, photonics, and clean energy; and nine of the 19 companies originated from within BU. All the BIC tenants are engaged in the commercialization of new technologies of importance to society and all are active in the BU community in terms of offering internships, employment opportunities or research collaborations. For more information about Business Innovation Center activities, read the Business Innovation Center chapter in the Facilities and Equipment section on page 66

Survey on encode biometric data for transmission in wireless communication networks

The aim of this research survey is to review an enhanced model supported by artificial intelligence to encode biometric data for transmission in wireless communication networks can be tricky as performance decreases with increasing size due to interference, especially if channels and network topology are not selected carefully beforehand. Additionally, network dissociations may occur easily if crucial links fail as redundancy is neglected for signal transmission. Therefore, we present several algorithms and its implementation which addresses this problem by finding a network topology and channel assignment that minimizes interference and thus allows a deployment to increase its throughput performance by utilizing more bandwidth in the local spectrum by reducing coverage as well as connectivity issues in multiple AI-based techniques. Our evaluation survey shows an increase in throughput performance of up to multiple times or more compared to a baseline scenario where an optimization has not taken place and only one channel for the whole network is used with AI-based techniques. Furthermore, our solution also provides a robust signal transmission which tackles the issue of network partition for coverage and for single link failures by using airborne wireless network. The highest end-to-end connectivity stands at 10 Mbps data rate with a maximum propagation distance of several kilometers. The transmission in wireless network coverage depicted with several signal transmission data rate with 10 Mbps as it has lowest coverage issue with moderate range of propagation distance using enhanced model to encode biometric data for transmission in wireless communication