ABOUT THE COLLECTION

The International Telemetering Conference/USA (ITC/USA) is dedicated to the promotion and stimulation of technical growth in telemetering and its allied arts and sciences. It is the premier annual forum and technical exhibition providing telemetry specific short courses, technical papers from professionals and students, and exhibits of the industry’s leading companies. ITC/USA is sponsored by the International Foundation for Telemetering (IFT), a non-profit corporation dedicated to serving the technical and professional interests of the telemetering community.

This collection contains the proceedings of the fortieth International Telemetering Conference, October 18-21, 2004. The conference, sponsored by the International Foundation for Telemetering, was held at the Town & Country Resort in San Diego, California.


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Recent Submissions

  • International Telemetering Conference Proceedings, Volume 40 (2004)

    International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10
  • ENERGY-AWARE SENSOR MAC PROTOCOLS

    Balakrishnan, Manikanden; Ramakrishnan, Subah; Huang, Hong; New Mexico State University (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Sensor network applications typically require continuous monitoring of physical phenomena for extended periods of time under severe energy resource constraints. Accordingly, design considerations for sensor Media Access Control (MAC) protocols depart significantly from those of traditional wireless MAC protocols that largely ignore the energy factor. In this paper, we reexamine the design space of wireless sensor MAC protocols and modify IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) to incorporate energy-adaptive contention mechanisms for prolonging sensor lifetime. Performance of the proposed schemes is evaluated with DCF as a baseline and results indicate the benefits of energy-aware mechanisms for sensor MAC protocols.
  • IEEE P1451.0 CORE TEDS AND COMMON COMMAND SET

    Eccles, Lee H.; Jones, Charles H.; Boeing Commercial Airplane Company; Edwards Air Force Base (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    The Technical Committee 9 (TC-9) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Instrument and Measurement Society wants to ensure that all members of the IEEE 1451 family of standards conform to a common set of basic functionality and have, at some level, a common interface. To this end, the IEEE p1451.0 working group has been chartered to prepare an overarching standard that will define the operation of the other members of the family while still leaving the physical interface up to the various other standards working groups. The IEEE p1451.0 will define the general functionality required of an IEEE 1451 transducer, a common command set that is appropriate to all family members, and the core set of transducer electronic data sheets (TEDS). This paper gives a brief overview of the overall functionality and follows that with a description of the commands and the TEDS.
  • LEGACY SENSORS GO WIRELESS WITH IEEE P1451.5

    Sinclair, Robert; Beech, Russell; Jones, Kevin; Jones, Charles H.; NVE Corporation; Edwards Air Force Base (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    The wireless sensor concept has been hindered in the past by the large number of components needed to add the wireless transceiver feature and the additional power consumption needed for that feature. This has been resolved by incorporating all the wireless components into a single, low power modular circuit. Intelligence is being added to legacy sensors to make them Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1451.4 compatible with an element called a Sensor Identification Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (SITEDS), which contains the Transducer Electronics Data Sheet (TEDS) for that sensor. All the sensor interface parameters are automatically configured by a module called the Universal Smart Transducer Interface Module (USTIM) using the TEDS input from the respective sensor’s SITEDS. An IEEE P1451.5 compatible wireless interface can be incorporated into the SITEDS with the transceiver module giving the legacy sensor full wireless capability.
  • FROM 0.5% TO 0.05%: ACHIEVING NEW LEVELS OF SENSOR ACCURACY IN AN AIRBORNE ENVIRONMENT

    Sweeney, Paul; ACRA CONTROL Inc. (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    With recent improvements in data acquisition technology, it is now possible to use an FTI data acquisition system to measure analog signals with a total error from all sources of less than 0.05% - over an extended temperature range - and at high sample rates. This accuracy is better than one count of an old 10-bit system and includes non-linearities, initial errors (in gain, offset and excitation) and drift errors, simplifying the task of interpreting data acquisition system performance specifications. This paper looks at some practical steps taken to achieve this accuracy, from a hardware design and signal processing perspective. This leads to a discussion of implications for the FTI system designer, including: sensor and wiring specifications, sample rate, filtering specifications, and a discussion of implications for the data processing engineers.
  • IEEE 1451 SMART TRANSDUCER STANDARDS: STATUS, GOING WIRELESS, AND PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER

    Jones, Charles H.; Edwards Air Force Base (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    There are seven parts of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1451 Smart Transducer family of standards either approved, in work, or in review. These documents are providing a nonproprietary set of standards for the implementation of smart transducers (i.e., sensors and actuators). This paper overviews these standards and their status. In particular, the IEEE P1451.5, which addresses wireless transducers, and the IEEE P1451.0, which will provide a common high level architecture for the entire family, will be discussed. A reference model, which is being used as a focus for the IEEE P1451.0, will be introduced to help show the relation between all the members of the family.
  • FIBRE CHANNEL TESTING FOR AVIONICS APPLICATIONS

    Warden, Gary; Fleissner, Bill; AIM-USA (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Fibre Channel is being implemented as an avionics communication architecture for a variety of new military aircraft and upgrades to existing aircraft. The Fibre Channel standard (see T11 web site www.t11.org) defines various network topologies and multiple data protocols. Some of the topologies and protocols (ASM, 1553, RDMA) are suited for Avionics applications, where the movement of data between devices must take place in a deterministic fashion and needs to be delivered very reliably. All aircraft flight hardware needs to be tested to be sure that it will communicate information properly in the Fibre Channel network. The airframe manufacture needs to test the integrated network to verify that all flight hardware is communicating properly. Continuous maintenance testing is required to insure that all communication is deterministic and reliable. This paper provides an overview of a Fibre Channel Avionics network and protocols being used for Avionics. The paper also discusses a practical implementation of avionics level testing and testing challenges associated with these applications.
  • An Architecture for Sensor Data Fusion to Reduce Data Transmission Bandwidth

    Lord, Dale; Kosbar, Kurt; University of Missouri – Rolla (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Sensor networks can demand large amounts of bandwidth if the raw sensor data is transferred to a central location. Feature recognition and sensor fusion algorithms can reduce this bandwidth. Unfortunately the designers of the system, having not yet seen the data which will be collected, may not know which algorithms should be used at the time the system is first installed. This paper describes a flexible architecture which allows the deployment of data reduction algorithms throughout the network while the system is in service. The network of sensors approach not only allows for signal processing to be pushed closer to the sensor, but helps accommodate extensions to the system in a very efficient and structured manner.
  • Adaptive Space-Time Waveform Design in Ad hoc Networks using the IMMSE Algorithm

    Iltis, Ronald A.; University of California, Santa Barbara (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    An Ad hoc network with unicasting is considered, in which each node has an M element antenna array. Transmission from node l(i) to i is quasi-synchronous, so that code acquisition is not required. Space-Time (S-T) waveforms are transmitted with temporal dimension Ns Nyquist samples. An adaptive, distributed S-T waveform design algorithm is developed, which maintains QoS while attempting to minimize transmit power. The resulting Iterative Minimum Mean-Square Error{Time Reversal algorithm (IMMSE-TR) sets the transmit S-T vector at node i to the conjugate time-reverse of the linear MMSE S-T detector. It is shown that IMMSE-TR corresponds to a noncooperative game which attempts to minimize transmit power while paying an interference tax. Simulation results are presented demonstrating high power efficiencies for heavily-loaded systems.
  • PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF ETHERNET LAN BASED DISTRIBUTED TELEMETRY DATA NETWORK AND ITS EXTENSION USING ROUTER AND BRIDGE

    Sadhukhan, Gautam; Vinodia, Deepak; Sandhu, Manmohan; Integrated Test Range (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    This paper evaluates the performance as well as effectiveness of the High Speed Ethernet LANBased Distributed Telemetry Data Network Architecture. It also attempts to obtain a feasible solution for the Extension of LAN over High Performance Digital Modem via Routers and Bridges. With the advent of highly efficient broadband TCP/IP network and rapid growth of data traffic demand in the area of Telemetry Data Acquisition and Processing, one has to adopt a high bit rate PCM Telemetry Data Stream with the strategy of distributed task scheduling in multiprocessor environment. The proposed Telemetry System Architecture is adopted as a milestone to Modern Telemetry system. It incorporates various value added services for the performance evaluation of various flight vehicles providing authenticated data. This paper shows that by configuring the IP addresses of various nodes and router / bridges with V.35 interfaces, it is possible to extend the Telemetry Data on a local LAN to the remote LAN for display and high speed processing in real time. Necessary comparisons of performance of the existing to the proposed systems are presented.
  • AN ALTERNATE PROPOSAL FOR ARTM CPM

    Rice, Michael; Perrins, Erik; Brigham Young University (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Since the Advanced Range Telemetry (ARTM) program first proposed the use of multi-h continuous phase modulation (ARTM CPM), there has been much work done to characterize the performance of this waveform. The ideal performance of ARTM CPM is well understood and has been shown to be close to that of PCM/FM and the Tier I modulations (FQPSK-B and SOQPSK). In practice, however, ARTM CPM is very sensitive to phase noise at the receiver and also requires very long synchronization times. These difficulties can be addressed with additional link margin. In this paper we propose an alternate set of modulation indexes which are approximately 2 dB superior in performance with respect to the original set (we use minimum distance concepts to characterize the performance of each set). Brief consideration is also given to frequency pulses other than the existing raised cosine (RC) pulse. We also characterize the effect these new parameters have on the signal spectrum. This 2 dB gain gives ARTM CPM some of the system flexibility currently enjoyed by PCM/FM and the Tier I modulations. One such option is to realize this 2 dB gain using low-complexity coherent detection schemes, which we demonstrate; we also show a noncoherent detection scheme that performs within 2 dB of optimum (or in other words, it has the same performance as the existing coherent detector for ARTM CPM). This is significant since noncoherent detection avoids some of the synchronization burdens that have plagued ARTM CPM thus far.
  • Performance Analysis of FQPSK and SOQPSK in Aeronautical Telemetry Frequency Selective Multipath Channel

    Rice, Michael; Dang, Xiaoyu; Brigham Young University (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    The impact of frequency selective multipath fading on the bit error rate performance of ARTM Tier-1 waveforms (FQPSK and SOQPSK) is derived and analyzed. In the presence of a strong specular reflection with relative magnitude |Γ1|, the ARTM Tier-1 waveforms suffer a loss in performance of (1 - |Γ1)^(-4√(|Γ1|)) for |Γ1| < 0:5 and a relatively high error floor at approximately 10^(-2) for |Γ1| ≥ 0.5. The ARTM Tier-1 waveforms possess twice the spectral efficiency of PCM/FM, but exhibit a greater loss and higher error floors than PCM/FM for the same multipath conditions and signal-to-noise ratio.
  • AVERAGE TYPICAL MISSION AVAILABILITY: A FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT METRIC

    Jones, Charles H.; Edwards Air Force Base (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    One approach to improving spectrum usage efficiency is to manage the scheduling of frequencies more effectively. The use of metrics to analyze frequency scheduling could aid frequency managers in a variety of ways. However, the basic question of what is a good metric for representing and analyzing spectral usage remains unanswered. Some metrics capture spectral occupancy. This paper introduces metrics that change the focus from occupancy to availability. Just because spectrum is not in use does not mean it is available for use. A significant factor in creating unused but unusable spectrum is fragmentation. A mission profile for spectrum usage can be considered a rectangle in a standard time versus frequency grid. Even intelligent placement of these rectangles (i.e., the scheduling of a missions spectrum usage) can not always utilize all portions of the spectrum. The average typical mission availability (ATMA) metric provides a way of numerically answering the question: Could we have scheduled another typical mission? This is a much more practical question than: Did we occupy the entire spectrum? If another mission couldn’t have been scheduled, then the entire spectrum was effectively used, even if the entire spectrum wasn’t occupied.
  • A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE MIMO CHANNEL SIMULATOR

    Panagos, Adam G.; Kosbar, Kurt; University of Missouri – Rolla (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems are attracting attention because their channel capacity can exceed single-input single-output systems, with no increase in bandwidth. While MIMO systems offer substantial capacity improvements, it can be challenging to characterize and verify their channel models. This paper describes a software MIMO channel simulator with a graphical user interface that allows the user to easily investigate a number of MIMO channel characteristics for a channel recently proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).
  • REACTIVE GRASP WITH PATH RELINKING FOR BROADCAST SCHEDULING

    Commander, Clayton W.; Butenko, Sergiy I.; Pardalos, Panos M.; Oliveira, Carlos A.S.; Eglin Air Force Base; Texas A&M University; University of Florida (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    The Broadcast Scheduling Problem (BSP) is a well known NP-complete problem that arises in the study of wireless networks. In the BSP, a finite set of stations are to be scheduled in a time division multiple access (TDMA) frame. The objective is a collision free transmission schedule with the minimum number of TDMA slots and maximal slot utilization. Such a schedule will minimize the total system delay. We present variations of a Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) for the BSP. Path-relinking, a post-optimization strategy is applied. Also, a reactivity method is used to balance GRASP parameters. Numerical results of our research are reported and compared with other heuristics from the literature.
  • HARDWARE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OFA MULTI-CHANNEL GPS SIMULATOR

    Yuhong, Zhu; Yanhong, Kou; Qing, Chang; Qishan, Zhang; BeiHang University (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Hardware architecture and design details of a multi-channel GPS signal simulator with highly flexibility is presented, while the dynamic performance objectives and the requirements on the hardware architecture are discussed. The IF part of the simulator is implemented almost entirely in the digital domain by use of a field programmable gate array (FPGA), which mainly include C/A code generators, carrier generators, spreaders, and BPSK modulators. The results of testing the proposed simulator hardware architecture at IF with the help of a GPS receiver are presented.
  • SIGNAL PROCESSING ALGORITHMS FOR HIGH-PRECISION NAVIGATION AND GUIDANCE FOR UNDERWATER AUTONOMOUS SENSING SYSTEMS

    Doonan, Daniel; Utley, Chris; Lee, Hua; University of California, Santa Barbara (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    This paper presents an alternative approach to high-precision bearing estimation for navigation and guidance in homing and docking of underwater vehicles. This new technique is significantly simpler than the conventional methods in terms of computation complexity and yet produces results of superior precision and consistency.
  • A STATUS REPORT OF THE JOINT ADVANCED MISSILE INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT JAMI SYSTEM INTEGRATION

    Powell, Dave; Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Joint Advanced Missile Instrumentation (JAMI), a Central Test and Evaluation Investment Program (CTEIP) initiative, is developing advanced telemetry system components that can be used in an integrated instrumentation package for tri-service small missile test and training applications. JAMI demonstrated significant improvement in the performance of low-cost Global Positioning System (GPS) based Time-Space-Position Information (TSPI) tracking hardware that can be used for world-wide test and training. Acquisition times of less than 3 seconds from a cold start and tracking dynamics to over 60 Gs were demonstrated. The design of a programmable Flight Termination Safe and Arm device has been completed. High dynamic testing results of GPS and Inertial measurement Unit (IMU) devices and problems encountered are discussed. Actual testing data will be compared with the original system design requirements. Integration of the JAMI components into weapon systems is now underway. This paper discusses the progress of the program during the past year and the efforts planned for the final year of 2005.
  • REAL-TIME GPS ATTITUDE DETERMINATION SYSTEM BASED ON EPOCH-BY-EPOCH™ TECHNOLOGY

    Bock, Yehuda; Macdonald, Thomas J.; Merts, John H.; Spires, William H., III; Bock, Lydia; Fayman, Jeffrey A.; Geodetics Inc.; MacroVision; Eglin Air Force Base (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    There are many civilian and military applications requiring precise attitude determination. Geodetics Inc. has demonstrated high-accuracy GPS attitude solutions using their Epoch-by- Epoch™ (EBE) technology. EBE technology provides computational algorithms for instantaneous differential GPS processing of raw GPS measurement data (pseudorange and carrier phase). One of the most significant advantages of EBE technology over conventional GPS Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) algorithms is in its instantaneous initialization and reinitialization capability. This capability eliminates re-initialization delays due to losses-oflock, such as occur during high-dynamic maneuvers. This paper provides empirical data that was gathered during a test program, sponsored by Eglin Air Force Base, to assess the performance in real time of EBE technology as it applies to attitude determination. Using simulated data from a high-dynamic (9’g) maneuver, EBE yielded real-time attitude with accuracy better than one tenth of a degree (0.038 - 0.083 degrees, one standard deviation), utilizing geodetic quality GPS receivers operating in dual- or single-frequency mode with antenna separation of 2 meters. GPS geodetic receivers with only single frequency capability yielded attitude with accuracy of between 0.044 - 0.176 degrees after 1.3% - 2.5% of the solutions were rejected as data outliers.
  • THE BATTLE OF THE BANDS

    Willis, Donald; Federal Aviation Administration (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2004-10)
    Exclusive and globally allocated radio spectrum is essential for safe and efficient air travel. This paper will focus on the impact of changes in both U.S. and international radio spectrum policy, describe the issues these changes have raised for the aeronautical community, and examine a few proposed solutions. First, the paper will put the Federal Aviation Administration in the context of the test and evaluation community. Common frequency usage will be examined and the major interactions between the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Defense, and commercial sector test and evaluation activities. The paper will provide a review of several U.S. spectrum policies from the early-to-mid 90’s which set the stage for the current domestic spectrum policy debates. For example, spectrum auctioning was formally established in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and further expanded in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Both of these Acts directed the transfer of radio spectrum that was allocated solely for Federal Government use to the private sector. These reallocations also set the stage for more recent domestic spectrum policy debates, such as that over ultrawideband devices, broadband service over powerline carrier, third generation wireless, and other new technologies that claim the ability to “share” radio spectrum with other existing users. The paper will also review international spectrum policy changes that were made within the International Telecommunication Union and their impact on aeronautical radio spectrum. These include reallocation of aeronautical radio spectrum for uses such as wireless local area networks and fixed satellite links. Yet another cause of reduction in the amount of aeronautical radio spectrum will be reviewed…that is, the increase in aeronautical requirements with no attendant increase in the overall aeronautical radio spectrum available. These increasing requirements include such critical spectrum needs as Global Navigation Satellite System modernization, growing applications which use very high frequency (VHF) air/ground radio spectrum, new automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast services, increased aeronautical telemetry needs, and use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the national airspace. This growth has resulted in increasing spectrum congestion in bands that support critical safety services for international civil aviation. Finally, the paper will consider potential solutions to the shortage of aeronautical radio spectrum. These solutions include use of new advanced technologies, “splitting” the current channelization, and changes in radio regulations and frequency engineering criteria. Examples of what the Federal Aviation Administration is doing to implement these solutions will also be briefly addressed.

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