International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 17-20, 1988 / Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada / The explosive use and extensive development of software and hardware for the IBM PC and PC Clones over the past few years has positioned the PC as one of many viable alternatives to system designers configuring systems for both data acquisition and data analysis. Hardware abounds for capturing signals to be digitized and analyzed by software developed for the PC. Communication software has improved to where system developers can easily link instrumentation devices together to form integrated test environments for analyzing and displaying data. Telemetry systems, notable those developed for lab calibration and ground station environments, are one of many applications which can profit from the rapid development of data acquisition techniques for the PC. Recently developed for the ADS100A telemetry processor is a data acquisition module which allows the system to be linked into the PC world. The MUX-I/O module was designed to allow the PC access to telemetry data acquired through the ADS 100A, as well as provide a method by which data can be input into the telemetry environment from a host PC or equivalent RS-232 or GPIB interface. Signals captured and digitized by the ADS100A can be passed on to the PC for further processing and/or report generation. Providing interfaces of this form to the PC greatly enhances the functionality and scope of the abilities already provided by the ADS100A as one of the major front-end processors used in telemetry processing today. The MUX-I/O module helps "bridge the gap" between telemetry and the PC in an ever increasing demand for improving the quantity and quality of processing power required by today's telemetry environment. This paper focuses on two distinct topics, how to transfer data to and from the PC and what off-the-shelf software is available to provide communication links and analysis of incoming data. Major areas of discussion will include software protocols, pre vs post processing, static vs dynamic processing environments, and discussion of the major data analysis and acquisition packages available for the PC today, such as DaDisp and Lotus Measure, which aid the system designer in analyzing and displaying telemetry data. Novel applications of the telemetry to PC link will be discussed.

High availability of a system can be achieved by performing timely replacement of degraded or failed components. To this end, spare parts are expected to be available and reordered when needed. It is not uncommon that spare parts may deteriorate on the shelf because of their physical characteristics and/or the imperfect storage and transportation conditions. Such phenomena will affect the reliability of spare parts and the availability of the system. In this dissertation, we first focus on a system with single critical operating component and one unit of deteriorating spare part. For such a system, to ensure the system availability and cost efficiency, making a joint decision on component replacement and reordering time is of vital importance. In particular, we study both failure-switching and preventive-switching strategies, where cumulative damage is considered for the spare part switching from its in-stock to operating conditions. To determine the corresponding optimal component replacement and reordering policies, the long-run average costs are minimized under a fixed lead time. It is expected that the work will benefit quite a few industry sectors, such as mining, oil and gas, and defense, where the operation of systems heavily relies on capital-intensive components. To advance the research a step further, we have relaxed the system with only a single operating component to a more complex system with multiple components. In addition, we have eliminated the limitations on the order quantity and inventory capacity. To capture the on-shelf part deterioration, a two-phase deteriorating process is adopted, for which the first phase is from the spare's new arrival to the identification of its degradation, and the second phase is the period thereafter but before the unit fails. Based on the parts' degradation states, we introduce two different replacement strategies for the spare consumption, i.e., the Degraded-First strategy and the New-First strategy. Because of the random nature of component failures and on-shelf deterioration, stochastic cost models for both DF and NF strategies are derived. With the objective of cost reduction through coordinating the inventory and maintenance policies, an enumeration algorithm with stochastic dynamic programming is employed for finding the joint optimal solution over a finite time horizon. Numerical experiments are conducted to study the impacts of these two strategies on the operation costs, and the analysis of key parameters that affect the optimal solutions is also carried out in the numerical study. The joint policies of our interest focus on both replacement and reordering of spare parts, which are more realistic and complex than those policies handling maintenance and spare parts inventory control separately. In particular: When the maintenance planning and inventory control strategy are jointly optimized, we consider the spare parts inventory experiencing on-shelf deterioration, which has not been well studied in the related literature. When dealing with a system carrying only one spare part, the impact of on-shelf deterioration of the spare part on its remaining operational lifetime is explicitly dealt with and described by the Cumulative Exposure (CE) model. For the extended model for a multi-component system, we make an early attempt to adopt a two-phase process to take into account on-shelf degradation of parts. The issues in the degradation-level-based ordering of spare parts in the multi-component system are also discussed. Several integrated cost models are developed in both systems and are used to determine the optimal replacement and reordering decisions with the objective of minimizing the expected long-run cost rate over an infinite/finite horizon.

The rising cost of military aircraft has driven the DoD to increase the utilization of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components in new acquisitions. Despite several demonstrated advantages of COTS-based systems, challenges relating to obsolescence arise when attempting to design and sustain such systems using traditional acquisition processes. This research addresses these challenges through the creation of an Agile Systems Engineering framework that is specifically aimed at COTS-based systems. This framework, known as the Cyber-physical Acquisition Strategy for COTS-based Agility-Driven Engineering (CASCADE), amends the traditional systems engineering process through the addition of an "identification phase" during which requirements are balanced against the capabilities of commercially-available components. The CASCADE framework motivates the creation of a new Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) formulation which enables the creation of optimum obsolescence mitigation plans. Using this CASCADE MILP formulation, two sets of experiments are carried out: First, verification experiments demonstrate that the CASCADE MILP conforms to expected trends and agrees with existing results. Next, the CASCADE MILP is applied to a representative set of COTS-based systems in order to determine the appropriate level of obsolescence forecast accuracy, and to uncover new system-level cost-vs-reliability trends associated with COTS component modification.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 23-26, 2000 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / TSI TelSys, Inc. is in the process of developing a production level, continuously tunable satellite receiver designed to support multiple high data rate, low earth and geostationary orbit missions in the 20 Mbps to 800 Mbps composite QPSK data rate range. This paper will evaluate market demands on satellite receivers and outline receiver design technique as a solution to high rate, multi-mission support.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 30-November 02, 1995 / Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite was designed to operate with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) and Deep Space Network (DSN). NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Center for EUV Astrophysics have been evaluating a commercially available ground station already used for NASA's Low Earth Orbit (LEO) weather satellites. This ground station will be used in a network of unattended, autonomous ground stations for telemetry reception, processing, and routing of data over a commercial, secure data line. Plans call for EUVE to be the initial network user. This network will be designed to support many TDRSS/DSN compatible missions. It will open an era of commercial, low-cost, autonomous ground station networks. The network will be capable of supporting current and future NASA scientific missions, and NASA's LEO and geostationary weather satellites. Additionally, it could support future, commercial communication satellites in low, and possibly medium, Earth orbit. The combination of an autonomous ground station and an autonomous telemetry monitoring system will allow reduction in personnel. The EUVE Science Operations Center has already reduced console work from three shifts to one by use of autonomous telemetry monitoring software.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 17-20, 1994 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / The Advanced Telemetry Processing System (ATPS) is the result of a joint development project between Harris Corporation and Veda Systems, Incorporated. The mission of the development team was to produce a high-performance, cost-effective, supportable telemetry system; one that would utilize commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software, thereby eliminating costly customization typically required for range and telemetry applications. A critical element in the 'cost-effective, supportable' equation was the ability to easily incorporate system performance upgrades as well as future hardware and software technology advancements. The ATPS combines advanced hardware and software technology that includes a high-speed, top-down data management environment; a mature man-machine interface; a B1-level Trusted operating system and network; and stringent real-time multiprocessing capabilities into a single, fully integrated, 'open' platform. In addition, the system incorporates a unique direct memory transfer feature that allows incoming data to pass directly into local memory space where it can be displayed and analyzed, thereby reducing I/O bottleneck and freeing processors for other specialized tasks.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Within the industry, telemetry receivers are used in ground-based telemetry receiving stations to receive telemetry data from air or space-based sources. Equipment for the typical telemetry application is widely available. But when requirements create the need for a space-based telemetry receiver to uplink data from the ground, what are the choices for equipment? In such situations, adapting COTS equipment may present the only solution to meet delivery and budgetary constraints. The first part of this paper provides technical and contractual points a COTS supplier needs to consider when bidding on a COTS contract. The second part of this paper covers a project concerned with modification of a general-purpose ground telemetry receiver for use on the International Space Station. The information within the paper is useful to other engineers and companies considering contracts to modify COTS equipment for use on Shuttle or other space-based projects.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 26-29, 1998 / Town & Country Resort Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / Three-channel monopulse tracking receiver systems are commonly used for high performance tracking of satellites, missiles, or aircraft to maximize the reception of data. Typically, the receiver in such systems are custom designed for their end purpose. This results in a high cost to cover the development, service, and support of a highly specialized piece of equipment. This paper covers the requirements and performance of a 3-channel monopulse tracking receiver assembled from commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment. Such a system provides an option for designing or upgrading tracking stations with the lower cost, larger support base, and greater system configuration choices that are available with COTS equipment.

Sediment delivery to a basin exerts a first-order control over sedimentation, and therefore study of sedimentary rocks can reveal information about the nature of sediment delivery in the past. This dissertation examines several aspects of this problem using experimental, outcrop, and subsurface data. Flume experiments were undertaken to test the combined effects of autogenic alluvial aggradation and forced regression on the development of fluviodeltaic stratigraphy. Alluvial aggradation occurred in response to steady relative sea-level fall, and eventually consumed the entire sediment budget as the river lengthened in response to forced regression. The Campanian Lower Castlegate Sandstone (Utah) was studied as a potential ancient analog resulting from similar autogenic behaviors as observed in the experiments. Extensive measurement of grain-size distributions and paleo-flow depths from outcrop were utilized to explore downstream changes in paleo-hydraulics of the ancient fluvial systems in the Lower Castlegate in response to extensive alluvial aggradation and consequent loss of sediment from transport. An interesting finding was the stratigraphic signature of backwater hydraulic conditions in the distal reaches of the Lower Castlegate paleo-rivers. Finally, a simple and novel inversion scheme was developed for estimating paleo-sediment flux from ancient shelf-margin successions. An advantage of the methodology is that it allows for both spatial and temporal reconstruction of paleo-sediment flux patterns. The inversion scheme was applied to shelf-margin successions in the Washakie-Sand Wash Basin of Wyoming, the New Jersey Atlantic margin, the North Slope of Alaska, and the Zambezi margin of East Africa using published subsurface datasets. The Neogene passive margins within the studied datasets were found to consistently deposit around one-third of their total sediment budget on the shelf-margin topset, and bypass two-thirds of their budget beyond the shelf edge. The implications of this finding on the flux of terrestrial-derived particulate organic carbon (POC) from rivers to the ocean were explored, and a long-term average flux of POC to deepwater storage was estimated. The sediment-flux inversion scheme was also applied to derive input parameters for stratigraphic modeling of the Ebro margin. The modeling results indicate that the autostratigraphic behavior of the margin may have been previously underestimated. / text

Subsidence is one of the main factors controlling the stratigraphy and overall stratal architecture in tectonically active basins. This was particularly important in the Western US Cordilleran foreland and Laramide basins when some other controls were minor, e.g. reduced eustatic fluctuations in the late Cretaceous greenhouse period. The first part of the dissertation examines the upper Campanian Williams Fork Clastic Wedge (WFCW) in southern Wyoming and northern Colorado, through an outcrop and subsurface database. The WFCW built out from the Sevier orogenic belt like earlier clastic wedges, but its large-scale geometry changed as basement involved Laramide structures partitioned it. At the center of the WFCW there is an extensive fluvial sandstone sheet, the Canyon Creek Member of the Ericson Formation. From its proximal to distal reaches (~200 km) there is a first order trend of stratigraphic thickening and net-to-gross reduction, and a change from braided to meandering depositional style. These trends are caused by isostatic rebound of the foreland basin during periods of relative quiescence in the Sevier orogenic belt and by the eastward migration of dynamic subsidence. However, this long spatial trend was markedly modified by differential subsidence across Laramide-style structures. The Campanian age initiation of the Laramide structures appears to be earlier than the Maastrichtian to Paleogene age commonly attributed to the initiation of this orogeny. The second part of this research focuses on the transgressive limb of the WFCW, particularly on two sandstone bodies isolated in marine mudstones in the uppermost Almond Formation. The sandstone bodies previously interpreted as lowstand shoreline deposits are re-interpreted as transgressive shelf ridges generated by tidal currents and storm waves. There are limited examples of ancient tidal shelf ridges published and no facies model was described. Using Almond Fm. outcrops and examples from the literature, the diagnostic characteristics of storm and tidal shelf ridges are presented. The third part of the dissertation investigates the effects of differential subsidence on the large scale stratigraphic infill of a foreland basin through a geometric model and a series of flume experiments. The mathematical model and flume experiments show that despite constant allogenic forcing, three distinct autogenic responses in stratal architecture, associated with the imposed tectonic and sediment supply conditions are possible. The first response was “autoretreat”, where shoreline migration switched from initial progradation to retrogradation. The second response was progradation followed by constant aggradation. The third response was maintained progradation with a markedly accelerating rate, a new autogenic behavior termed “shoreline autoacceleration”. / text