Energy efficiency parametric design tool in the framework of holistic ship design optimization

Recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) decisions with respect to measures to reduce the emissions from maritime greenhouse gases (GHGs) suggest that the collaboration of all major stakeholders of shipbuilding and ship operations is required to address this complex techno-economical and highly political problem efficiently. This calls eventually for the development of proper design, operational knowledge, and assessment tools for the energy-efficient design and operation of ships, as suggested by the Second IMO GHG Study (2009). This type of coordination of the efforts of many maritime stakeholders, with often conflicting professional interests but ultimately commonly aiming at optimal ship design and operation solutions, has been addressed within a methodology developed in the EU-funded Logistics-Based (LOGBASED) Design Project (2004–2007). Based on the knowledge base developed within this project, a new parametric design software tool (PDT) has been developed by the National Technical University of Athens, Ship Design Laboratory (NTUA-SDL), for implementing an energy efficiency design and management procedure. The PDT is an integral part of an earlier developed holistic ship design optimization approach by NTUA-SDL that addresses the multi-objective ship design optimization problem. It provides Pareto-optimum solutions and a complete mapping of the design space in a comprehensive way for the final assessment and decision by all the involved stakeholders. The application of the tool to the design of a large oil tanker and alternatively to container ships is elaborated in the presented paper

Radiation Risks and Mitigation in Electronic Systems

Electrical and electronic systems can be disturbed by radiation-induced effects. In some cases, radiation-induced effects are of a low probability and can be ignored; however, radiation effects must be considered when designing systems that have a high mean time to failure requirement, an impact on protection, and/or higher exposure to radiation. High-energy physics power systems suffer from a combination of these effects: a high mean time to failure is required, failure can impact on protection, and the proximity of systems to accelerators increases the likelihood of radiation-induced events. This paper presents the principal radiation-induced effects, and radiation environments typical to high-energy physics. It outlines a procedure for designing and validating radiation-tolerant systems using commercial off-the-shelf components. The paper ends with a worked example of radiation-tolerant power converter controls that are being developed for the Large Hadron Collider and High Luminosity-Large Hadron Collider at CERN.Comment: 19 pages, contribution to the 2014 CAS - CERN Accelerator School: Power Converters, Baden, Switzerland, 7-14 May 201

Synthesis of Technical Requirements and Considerations for Automated Snowplow Route Optimization: Final Report

DOTs and other transportation agencies are increasingly using automated methods for snowplow route optimization, which have been demonstrated to produce significant savings when they result in the implementation of new routes. However, many route optimization projects have fallen short of implementation due to technical/operational issues with the routes produced or institutional barriers to change. These shortcomings can be substantially mitigated with improvements to the process of soliciting, selecting, and managing the route optimization software or service provider. This project’s objective was to provide DOTs with the tools needed to make these improvements. The key lessons from this project are provided in two complementary documents: a Decision Support Guidance document and a Contracting Language Template. The Decision Support Guidance provides DOT staff with an accessible and in-depth discussion of the technical requirements for route optimization and the key decisions DOTs should consider when developing the project scope and managing a provider. The Contracting Language Template provides DOTs with a flexible template to assist with the development of a scope of work for a Request for Proposals (RFP) for automated snowplow route optimization services. The language suggested in the Contracting document is intended to ensure that DOTs and service providers have a shared understanding of the scope of work that the DOT requires and to maximize the likelihood that the project will result in safe, feasible, implementation-ready routes

FISA Reform

Congress and the Executive Branch are poised to take up the issue of FISA reform in 2014. What has been missing from the discussion is a comprehensive view of ways in which reform could be given effect—i.e., a taxonomy of potential options. This article seeks to fill the gap. The aim is to deepen the conversation about abeyant approaches to foreign intelligence gathering, to allow fuller discussion of what a comprehensive package could contain, and to place initiatives that are currently under consideration within a broader, over-arching framework. The article begins by considering the legal underpinnings and challenges to the President\u27s Surveillance Program. It then examines how technology has altered the types of information available, as well as methods of transmission and storage. The article builds on this to develop a taxonomy for how a statutory approach to foreign intelligence gathering could be given force. It divides foreign intelligence gathering into two categories: front-end collection and back-end analysis and use. Each category contains a counterpoise structured to ensure the appropriate exercise of Congressionally-mandated authorities. For the front-end, this means balancing the manner of collection with requirements for approval. For the back-end, this means offsetting implementation with transparency and oversight. The article then considers the constituent parts of each category

Segment Routing: a Comprehensive Survey of Research Activities, Standardization Efforts and Implementation Results

Fixed and mobile telecom operators, enterprise network operators and cloud providers strive to face the challenging demands coming from the evolution of IP networks (e.g. huge bandwidth requirements, integration of billions of devices and millions of services in the cloud). Proposed in the early 2010s, Segment Routing (SR) architecture helps face these challenging demands, and it is currently being adopted and deployed. SR architecture is based on the concept of source routing and has interesting scalability properties, as it dramatically reduces the amount of state information to be configured in the core nodes to support complex services. SR architecture was first implemented with the MPLS dataplane and then, quite recently, with the IPv6 dataplane (SRv6). IPv6 SR architecture (SRv6) has been extended from the simple steering of packets across nodes to a general network programming approach, making it very suitable for use cases such as Service Function Chaining and Network Function Virtualization. In this paper we present a tutorial and a comprehensive survey on SR technology, analyzing standardization efforts, patents, research activities and implementation results. We start with an introduction on the motivations for Segment Routing and an overview of its evolution and standardization. Then, we provide a tutorial on Segment Routing technology, with a focus on the novel SRv6 solution. We discuss the standardization efforts and the patents providing details on the most important documents and mentioning other ongoing activities. We then thoroughly analyze research activities according to a taxonomy. We have identified 8 main categories during our analysis of the current state of play: Monitoring, Traffic Engineering, Failure Recovery, Centrally Controlled Architectures, Path Encoding, Network Programming, Performance Evaluation and Miscellaneous...Comment: SUBMITTED TO IEEE COMMUNICATIONS SURVEYS & TUTORIAL