A coherent sequence of computer architecture laboratory assignments

The Computer Architecture course at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is taken by undergraduate students in their fourth year of study, after they have had an Introduction to Digital Systems, to Programming in C, and to Microprocessor Programming. The course gives students the computer hardware designer’s perspective, with an emphasis on complete logic design. The objective of the laboratory is the design, simulation and implementation of a processor in a reconfigurable hardware device. Each weekly laboratory assignment builds upon the previous one. The bottom-top design process starts with the design of a combinational logic Arithmetic and Logic Unit, of a Register File and Memory Blocks. The design of the Central Processing Unit is divided into the design of the Data Path and Control Unit. The Instruction Set Architecture is enforced, i.e. the students do not have to come up with their own instruction set. All students must follow general and individual design specifications. The latter are selected using a binary code assigned to each student. The value of each bit chooses between design alternatives such as: Von-Neumann versus Harvard, I/O Mapped versus Memory Mapped Peripherals, 3-bus versus 2-bus architecture, tri-state versus multiplexer data transfer, hardwired versus microprogrammed control unit etc. Each final processor implementation is different from any other, but can run the same machine code. The paper presents the organization of the laboratory sequence, describes each weekly assignment and the lesson

Development of Integrated Project Tracks for a College-Wide Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Program at RIT

Since 2002, the Kate Gleason College of Engineering (KGCOE) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) has seen its Multidisciplinary Senior Design (MSD) program grow from a small pilot project into a college-wide initiative involving four departments and almost 400 students annually. While subtle adjustments have been made each year, a major redesign effort was undertaken prior to the 2006 academic year to improve program alignment with departmental objectives, to improve delivery efficiency and effectiveness, and to improve student and faculty satisfaction. Coordination of related projects and sharing of information between approximately 60 design teams in a given year, and preserving continuity of information from one year to the next has proven to be a challenging hurdle. This paper addresses the project definition process, which was overhauled to focus on the definition of related projects within a set of disciplinary “tracks,” consistent with academic programs and faculty interests. Emphasis was placed on the development of reusable and scalable platforms to lay the foundation for future project extensions, and to encourage cross-project and cross-department collaboration. The process by which project tracks, project families and individual projects were identified, screened, modified and ultimately selected will be discussed. The integral relationship between the Design Project Management course, which trains the future project managers and technical leaders of the multidisciplinary project teams, and the project definition process will be illustrated. The development of the Aerospace Systems and Technology Track, with particular emphasis on the Microsystems Engineering (KGCOE) and Technology for the Future Exploration of Outer Space Regions (METEOR) family of projects will be used as a case example to illustrate the process

Environmental Testing of Tritium-Phosphor Glass Vials for Use in Long-Life Radioisotope Power Conversion Units

Power generation in extreme environments, such as the outer solar system, the night side of planets, or other low-illumination environments, currently presents a technology gap that challenges NASA's ambitious scientific goals. We are developing a radioisotope power cell (RPC) that utilizes commercially available tritium light sources and standard 1.85 eV InGaP2 photovoltaic cells to convert beta particle energy to electric energy. In the test program described here, we perform environmental tests on commercially available borosilicate glass vials internally coated with a ZnS luminescent phosphor that are designed to contain gaseous tritium in our proposed power source. Such testing is necessary to ensure that the glass containing the radioactive tritium is capable of withstanding the extreme environments of launch and space for extended periods of time

Pre-flight optical test and calibration for the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment 2 (CIBER-2)

The total integrated emission from galaxies, known as the Extragalactic Background Light (EBL), is an important observable for understanding the history of star formation over the history of the universe. Spatial fluctuations in the infrared EBL as measured by the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER), Spitzer and AKARI exceed the predicted signal from galaxy clustering alone. The CIBER-2 project seeks to extend CIBER observa- tions of the EBL throughout the near infrared into the optical, through measurements above Earth's atmosphere during a suborbital sounding rocket flight. The experiment has a LN2-cooled 28.5 cm Cassegrain telescope along with three optical paths and dichroic beamsplitters, which are used to obtain three wide-field images in six broad spectral bands between 0.5-2.0 μm. The three focal planes also contain linear variable filters (LVFs) which simultaneously take spectra with resolution R=20 across the same range. CIBER-2 is scheduled to y multiple times on a Black Brant IX sounding rocket from White Sands Missile Range in the New Mexico desert. For the first flight, scheduled for early 2021, we have completed a variety of pre-flight optical tests, which we use to make focus adjustments, spectral response measurements, and absolute photometric calibrations. In this paper, we describe the methods behind these tests and present their results for pre-flight performance evaluation. In particular, we present measurements of the PSF for each broad spectral band, along with absolute calibration factors for each band and the LVF. Through monochromator scans, we also measure the spectral responsivity of each LVF as a function of position

Development of data storage system and GSE for cosmic infrared background experiment 2 (CIBER-2)

Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment-2 (CIBER-2) is an international project to make a rocket-borne measurement of the Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) using three HAWAII-2RG image sensors. Since the rocket telemetry is unable to downlink all the image data in real time, we adopt an onboard data storage board for each sensor electronics. In this presentation, the development of the data storage board and the Ground Station Electronics (GSE) system for CIBER2 are described. We have fabricated, integrated, and tested all systems and confirmed that all work as expected, and are ready for flight

A Custom Launch System for Satellites Smaller than 1 kg

This paper presents the concept and design of a custom launch system for satellites with a mass equal or less than 1 kg. Current launch opportunities carry these satellites as secondary payloads to orbit. To date, no launch system has targeted a satellite of less than 1 kg as a primary payload. The case is made for an airborne, balloon based rocket launch. A four stage rocket using a hybrid propellant combination is proposed. With an assumed specific impulse of 235 seconds, four stages and a redundant structure to propellant mass ratio of 1/10, a burnout velocity of 9,200 m/sec can be achieved. Subtracting the velocity losses due to drag in the upper atmosphere, gravitation and earth rotation, a real burnout velocity of more than 7,600 m/sec can be achieved, which is sufficient to achieve Low Earth Orbit. The initial mass of the rocket and payload would be below 200 kg. For currently available zero-pressure balloons, this is an average payload which can be lifted up to 30 km in about an hour