Information Switching Processor (ISP) contention analysis and control

Future satellite communications, as a viable means of communications and an alternative to terrestrial networks, demand flexibility and low end-user cost. On-board switching/processing satellites potentially provide these features, allowing flexible interconnection among multiple spot beams, direct to the user communications services using very small aperture terminals (VSAT's), independent uplink and downlink access/transmission system designs optimized to user's traffic requirements, efficient TDM downlink transmission, and better link performance. A flexible switching system on the satellite in conjunction with low-cost user terminals will likely benefit future satellite network users

Satellite B-ISDN traffic analysis

The impact of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) traffic on the advanced satellite broadband integrated services digital network (B-ISDN) with onboard processing is reported. Simulation models were built to analyze the cell transfer performance through the statistical multiplexer at the earth station and the fast packet switch at the satellite. The effectiveness of ground ATM cell preprocessing was established, as well as the performance of several schemes for improving the down-link beam utilization when the space segment employs a fast packet switch

Planning assistance for the NASA 30/20 GHz program. Network control architecture study.

Network Control Architecture for a 30/20 GHz flight experiment system operating in the Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) was studied. Architecture development, identification of processing functions, and performance requirements for the Master Control Station (MCS), diversity trunking stations, and Customer Premises Service (CPS) stations are covered. Preliminary hardware and software processing requirements as well as budgetary cost estimates for the network control system are given. For the trunking system control, areas covered include on board SS-TDMA switch organization, frame structure, acquisition and synchronization, channel assignment, fade detection and adaptive power control, on board oscillator control, and terrestrial network timing. For the CPS control, they include on board processing and adaptive forward error correction control

On-board processing architectures for satellite B-ISDN services

Onboard baseband processing architectures for future satellite broadband integrated services digital networks (B-ISDN's) are addressed. To assess the feasibility of implementing satellite B-ISDN services, critical design issues, such as B-ISDN traffic characteristics, transmission link design, and a trade-off between onboard circuit and fast packet switching, are analyzed. Examples of the two types of switching mechanisms and potential onboard network control functions are presented. A sample network architecture is also included to illustrate a potential onboard processing system

The Being and Doing of a Good Teacher from a Soka Perspective

Under the current neoliberal educational reform movement in the U.S., qualified or “good” teachers are increasingly considered in narrow terms of efficiently delivering content to raise students’ test scores. The primary and secondary literature in the field of Ikeda/Soka Studies in Education, however, considers the notion of a “good teacher” much more holistically, addressing both the “being” (e.g., attitude, disposition, etc.) and the “doing” (e.g., instructional methods, assessment practices, etc.). The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the perspectives among faculty at Soka University of America (SUA) about what constitutes a “good teacher” and “good teaching.” This qualitative, single-site instrumental case study was guided by the following research questions: 1) How do SUA faculty perceive the aim of education and what constitutes a “good teacher,” specifically in relation to their role as teachers, their relationship to students, the purpose of their subject matter, and the influence of institutional culture, policies, and curriculum?, 2) How has their experience at SUA changed/shaped their perspectives?, 3) In what ways do their perspectives converge with or diverge from the primary and secondary, theoretical and empirical explanations of Soka approaches to education?, and 4) What are the implications for teacher education? Data include classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of ten faculty (including one administrator) at SUA. Based on data analysis, three main themes emerged: 1) educating human beings and building character, 2) guiding students to co-create knowledge and meaning, and 3) critical self-reflection and continuous improvement. The institutional factors, such as small class size, low teaching load relative to other institutions, and faculty resources, were important in enabling participants to practice what they believed to be “good teaching” from a Soka perspective. This research has both theoretical significance to derive a more articulate and comprehensive explanation of Soka approaches to education and practical significance to rethink how we educate pre-service teachers in teacher education programs. Specifically, the results of this study suggest that it is important for teachers to critically reflect on their attitude toward their students and their role in guiding students’ learning. The results also indicate the importance of the relational aspect of education, which is often underemphasized in pre- and in-service teacher assessments. We should also reconsider the current overemphasis on teaching instructional strategies to transmit knowledge and adopt methods to help students apply their learning in personally and socially meaningful ways

Re-Thinking the Teacher-Student Relationship from a Soka Perspective

Under the current neoliberal paradigm, the discussion of “good teachers” often centers on a very limited aspect of “best practices” used to effectively transmit pre-packaged knowledge to students. Soka, or value-creating education as expounded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda, is an Eastern philosophy that inherently challenges the neoliberal conception of the role of a teacher and the nature of teacher-student relationships. It not only re-conceptualizes “good teaching” as guiding students to apply learned knowledge to create meaning, or valuable outcomes, but also identifies a key characteristic of “good teachers” as the attitude of mutual growth between teachers and students. In this commentary, drawing on both the theoretical and empirical literature, I explicate how the Soka framework conceptualizes the teacher-student relationship: both the doing, the methods of teaching, and the being, the attitude of a teacher. This focus provides educators with a new framework to reflect on in order to re-think the teacher’s role in relation to students

Double-resonance magic angle coil spinning

We present an extension of magic angle coil spinning (MACS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy to double-resonance experiments, enabling implementation of powerful double-resonance solid-state NMR methodologies including cross polarization, proton decoupling, and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy etc., while still enjoying the merits that are intrinsic to MACS, such as high concentration sensitivity, eliminated magnetic susceptibility-induced field distortion, and an easy-to-use approach with the conventional and widespread hardware