Space Station Freedom data management system growth and evolution report

The Information Sciences Division at the NASA Ames Research Center has completed a 6-month study of portions of the Space Station Freedom Data Management System (DMS). This study looked at the present capabilities and future growth potential of the DMS, and the results are documented in this report. Issues have been raised that were discussed with the appropriate Johnson Space Center (JSC) management and Work Package-2 contractor organizations. Areas requiring additional study have been identified and suggestions for long-term upgrades have been proposed. This activity has allowed the Ames personnel to develop a rapport with the JSC civil service and contractor teams that does permit an independent check and balance technique for the DMS

ACUTA Journal of Telecommunications in Higher Education

In This Issue To VolP or Not to VolP Preparing Your Campus for a VolP Conversion Strategic Planning in the College and University Ecosystem: The Common Denominators Advertorial: Going Wireless at Fiber Speeds Open-Source VolP for Colleges and Universities Institutional Excellence Award Honorable Mention The Naval Postgraduate School Interview President\u27s Message From the Executive Director Here\u27s My Advic

A critical analysis of research potential, challenges and future directives in industrial wireless sensor networks

In recent years, Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSNs) have emerged as an important research theme with applications spanning a wide range of industries including automation, monitoring, process control, feedback systems and automotive. Wide scope of IWSNs applications ranging from small production units, large oil and gas industries to nuclear fission control, enables a fast-paced research in this field. Though IWSNs offer advantages of low cost, flexibility, scalability, self-healing, easy deployment and reformation, yet they pose certain limitations on available potential and introduce challenges on multiple fronts due to their susceptibility to highly complex and uncertain industrial environments. In this paper a detailed discussion on design objectives, challenges and solutions, for IWSNs, are presented. A careful evaluation of industrial systems, deadlines and possible hazards in industrial atmosphere are discussed. The paper also presents a thorough review of the existing standards and industrial protocols and gives a critical evaluation of potential of these standards and protocols along with a detailed discussion on available hardware platforms, specific industrial energy harvesting techniques and their capabilities. The paper lists main service providers for IWSNs solutions and gives insight of future trends and research gaps in the field of IWSNs

Automated Transit Networks (ATN): A Review of the State of the Industry and Prospects for the Future, MTI Report 12-31

The concept of Automated Transit Networks (ATN) - in which fully automated vehicles on exclusive, grade-separated guideways provide on-demand, primarily non-stop, origin-to-destination service over an area network – has been around since the 1950s. However, only a few systems are in current operation around the world. ATN does not appear “on the radar” of urban planners, transit professionals, or policy makers when it comes to designing solutions for current transit problems in urban areas. This study explains ATN technology, setting it in the larger context of Automated Guideway Transit (AGT); looks at the current status of ATN suppliers, the status of the ATN industry, and the prospects of a U.S.-based ATN industry; summarizes and organizes proceedings from the seven Podcar City conferences that have been held since 2006; documents the U.S./Sweden Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Transport; discusses how ATN could expand the coverage of existing transit systems; explains the opportunities and challenges in planning and funding ATN systems and approaches for procuring ATN systems; and concludes with a summary of the existing challenges and opportunities for ATN technology. The study is intended to be an informative tool for planners, urban designers, and those involved in public policy, especially for urban transit, to provide a reference for history and background on ATN, and to use for policy development and research

Automotive Intelligence Embedded in Electric Connected Autonomous and Shared Vehicles Technology for Sustainable Green Mobility

The automotive sector digitalization accelerates the technology convergence of perception, computing processing, connectivity, propulsion, and data fusion for electric connected autonomous and shared (ECAS) vehicles. This brings cutting-edge computing paradigms with embedded cognitive capabilities into vehicle domains and data infrastructure to provide holistic intrinsic and extrinsic intelligence for new mobility applications. Digital technologies are a significant enabler in achieving the sustainability goals of the green transformation of the mobility and transportation sectors. Innovation occurs predominantly in ECAS vehicles’ architecture, operations, intelligent functions, and automotive digital infrastructure. The traditional ownership model is moving toward multimodal and shared mobility services. The ECAS vehicle’s technology allows for the development of virtual automotive functions that run on shared hardware platforms with data unlocking value, and for introducing new, shared computing-based automotive features. Facilitating vehicle automation, vehicle electrification, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication is accomplished by the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), cellular/wireless connectivity, edge computing, the Internet of things (IoT), the Internet of intelligent things (IoIT), digital twins (DTs), virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) and distributed ledger technologies (DLTs). Vehicles become more intelligent, connected, functioning as edge micro servers on wheels, powered by sensors/actuators, hardware (HW), software (SW) and smart virtual functions that are integrated into the digital infrastructure. Electrification, automation, connectivity, digitalization, decarbonization, decentralization, and standardization are the main drivers that unlock intelligent vehicles' potential for sustainable green mobility applications. ECAS vehicles act as autonomous agents using swarm intelligence to communicate and exchange information, either directly or indirectly, with each other and the infrastructure, accessing independent services such as energy, high-definition maps, routes, infrastructure information, traffic lights, tolls, parking (micropayments), and finding emergent/intelligent solutions. The article gives an overview of the advances in AI technologies and applications to realize intelligent functions and optimize vehicle performance, control, and decision-making for future ECAS vehicles to support the acceleration of deployment in various mobility scenarios. ECAS vehicles, systems, sub-systems, and components are subjected to stringent regulatory frameworks, which set rigorous requirements for autonomous vehicles. An in-depth assessment of existing standards, regulations, and laws, including a thorough gap analysis, is required. Global guidelines must be provided on how to fulfill the requirements. ECAS vehicle technology trustworthiness, including AI-based HW/SW and algorithms, is necessary for developing ECAS systems across the entire automotive ecosystem. The safety and transparency of AI-based technology and the explainability of the purpose, use, benefits, and limitations of AI systems are critical for fulfilling trustworthiness requirements. The article presents ECAS vehicles’ evolution toward domain controller, zonal vehicle, and federated vehicle/edge/cloud-centric based on distributed intelligence in the vehicle and infrastructure level architectures and the role of AI techniques and methods to implement the different autonomous driving and optimization functions for sustainable green mobility.publishedVersio

A framework for the dynamic management of Peer-to-Peer overlays

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) applications have been associated with inefficient operation, interference with other network services and large operational costs for network providers. This thesis presents a framework which can help ISPs address these issues by means of intelligent management of peer behaviour. The proposed approach involves limited control of P2P overlays without interfering with the fundamental characteristics of peer autonomy and decentralised operation. At the core of the management framework lays the Active Virtual Peer (AVP). Essentially intelligent peers operated by the network providers, the AVPs interact with the overlay from within, minimising redundant or inefficient traffic, enhancing overlay stability and facilitating the efficient and balanced use of available peer and network resources. They offer an “insider‟s” view of the overlay and permit the management of P2P functions in a compatible and non-intrusive manner. AVPs can support multiple P2P protocols and coordinate to perform functions collectively. To account for the multi-faceted nature of P2P applications and allow the incorporation of modern techniques and protocols as they appear, the framework is based on a modular architecture. Core modules for overlay control and transit traffic minimisation are presented. Towards the latter, a number of suitable P2P content caching strategies are proposed. Using a purpose-built P2P network simulator and small-scale experiments, it is demonstrated that the introduction of AVPs inside the network can significantly reduce inter-AS traffic, minimise costly multi-hop flows, increase overlay stability and load-balancing and offer improved peer transfer performance

Space station data system analysis/architecture study. Task 2: Options development, DR-5. Volume 2: Design options

The primary objective of Task 2 is the development of an information base that will support the conduct of trade studies and provide sufficient data to make key design/programmatic decisions. This includes: (1) the establishment of option categories that are most likely to influence Space Station Data System (SSDS) definition; (2) the identification of preferred options in each category; and (3) the characterization of these options with respect to performance attributes, constraints, cost and risk. This volume contains the options development for the design category. This category comprises alternative structures, configurations and techniques that can be used to develop designs that are responsive to the SSDS requirements. The specific areas discussed are software, including data base management and distributed operating systems; system architecture, including fault tolerance and system growth/automation/autonomy and system interfaces; time management; and system security/privacy. Also discussed are space communications and local area networking

Data Center Server Virtualization Solution Using Microsoft Hyper-V

Cloud Computing has helped businesses scale within minutes and take their services to their customers much faster. Virtualization is considered the core-computing layer of a cloud setup. All the problems a traditional data center environment like space, power, resilience, centralized data management, and rapid deployment of servers as per business need have been solved with the introduction of Hyper-V (a server virtualization solution from Microsoft). Now companies can deploy multiple servers and applications with just a click and they can also centrally manage the data storage. This paper focuses on the difference between VMware and Hyper virtualization platforms and building a virtualized infrastructure solution using Hyper

Low-Carbon City Policy Databook: 72 Policy Recommendations for Chinese Cities from the Benchmarking and Energy Savings Tool for Low Carbon Cities

This report is designed to help city authorities evaluate and prioritize more than 70 different policy strategies that can reduce their city’s energy use and carbon-based greenhouse gas emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Local government officials, researchers, and planners can utilize the report to identify policies most relevant to local circumstances and to develop a low carbon city action plan that can be implemented in phases, over a multi-year timeframe. The policies cover nine city sectors: industry, public and commercial buildings, residential buildings, transportation, power and heat, street lighting, water & wastewater, solid waste, and urban green space. See Table 1 for a listing of the policies. Recognizing the prominence of urban industry in the energy and carbon inventories of Chinese cities, this report includes low carbon city policies for the industrial sector. The policies gathered here have proven effective in multiple locations around the world and have the potential to achieve future energy and carbon savings in Chinese cities