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 Fifty-Second Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition, New Horizons in Telemetry, November 7-10, 2016. The conference, sponsored by the International Foundation for Telemetering, was held at the Renaissance Glendale Hotel & Spa, Glendale, AZ.


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Recent Submissions

  • International Telemetering Conference Proceedings, Volume 52 (2016)

    International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11
  • C-BAND TELEMETRY TRANSMITTER OUTPUT FILTER DEVELOPMENT

    DePardo, Dan; University of Kansas, Information and Telecommunication Technology Center (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    Telemetry frequency spectrum reductions and reallocations have prompted DoD test ranges to adapt to operation in less desirable frequency ranges, such as C-Band, posing significant challenges to operational capabilities that are vital to mission success. The design and development of new high performance components and systems is essential to the successful migration to C-Band spectrum allocations. This paper will detail the simulation and prototype test results of an RF output filter tailored for an advanced C-Band telemetry transmitter design.
  • TOWARDS A NEW TRACKING ARCHITECTURE

    Busson, Francois; Pierozak, Jean-Guy; Richard, Hugues; Kipfer, Gerard; ZODIAC AEROSPACE; ZODIAC DATA SYSTEMS (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    A telemetry facility may connect numerous telemetry receivers to a single tracking antenna depending on the number of TM channels involved in the test and on the required redundancy. The tracking data, i.e. AM normalized analog signals extracted by the receivers from the TM signal and the AGC analog signals, are sent to the Antenna Control Unit (ACU) for tracking error calculation. The number of cables between receivers and ACU becomes important in some telemetry facilities and the tracking signals being analog, the distance must be limited. This paper proposes a new tracking architecture that moves from analog to digital links between receivers and ACU with the following main benefits:  Keeping the capability to acquire tracking data (AM&AGC) from several telemetry receivers,  Having more flexibility for integration,  Improving interoperability,  Providing availability of simultaneous tracking errors for enhanced tracking algorithms, for C-band tracking improvement for example.
  • ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERN CONTROL BASED ON 3D PRINTED DESIGN

    Xin, Hao; Wu, Junqiang; Abdelrahman, Ahmed H.; Yu, Xiaoju; Liang, Min; Univ Arizona, Dept Elect & Comp Engn (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    Dielectric materials have been applied in modifying the antenna radiation pattern, but it is usually limited to single-beam applications. The goal of this paper is to present a novel methodology to control the antenna radiation pattern based on 3D printing technology. 3D printing enables arbitrary dielectric distribution at different locations. As a result, different radiation patterns can be realized by loading an optimized dielectric material with varied permittivity. In this work, we propose a design of a quarter-wavelength monopole antenna surrounded by a low-profile 3D-printed polymer structure with an optimized dielectric distribution. Unlike the conventional omnidirectional pattern of the monopole antenna, singlebeam and multiple-beam patterns are achieved using genetic algorithm (GA) optimization.
  • Low Cost Unmanned Aircraft System for Autonomous Flight and Computer Vision Tasks

    Marcellin, Michael W.; Hung, David; Allred, Coby; Univ Arizona, Dept Elect & Comp Engn (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    The Arizona Autonomous Vehicles Club is participating in the 2016 AUVSI Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition which offers various challenges to be completed by a fully autonomous aerial vehicle. To complete various mission objectives, a low cost, rotary-wing platform was developed and deployed. The vehicle was assembled and upgraded for autonomous capability using commercially available components and open sourced software.
  • TENA – ALLEVIATING MANPOWER AND OPERATIONAL COSTS WITHIN THE TELEMETRY COMMUNITY

    Hudgins, Gene; Poch, Keith; Secondine, Juana; TENA Software Development Activity (SDA) (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
  • Noise Predictive Information Rate Estimation for TDMR Channels

    Bahrami, Mohsen; Vasic, Bane; Univ Arizona, Dept Elect & Comp Engn (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    In this paper, we use the forward recursion BCJR algorithm to estimate the symmetric information rate for Two Dimensional Magnetic Recording (TDMR) channels. In particular, we consider a TDMR read/write channel whose all components, including recording medium, write and readback processes are modeled in software. Since the primary source of noise in TDMR arises from irregularities in the recording medium and leads to highly colored and data-dependent jitter, the pattern dependent noise predictive (PDNP) algorithm is implemented to improve the accuracy and performance of SIR estimation. Furthermore, we study the performance gain of using the PDNP algorithm in SIR estimation through simulations over the Voronoi based media model for different TDMR channel configurations.
  • CMA BLIND EQUALIZER FOR AERONAUTICAL TELEMETRY

    Xingwen, Ding; Wantao, Zhai; Hongyu, Chang; Ming, Chen; Beijing Research Institute of Telemetry (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    In aeronautical telemetry, the multipath interference usually causes significant performance degradation. As the bit rate of telemetry systems increases, the impairments of multipath interference are more serious. The constant modulus algorithm (CMA) blind equalizer is effective to mitigate the impairments of multipath interference. The CMA adapts the equalizer coefficients to minimize the deviation of the signal envelope from a constant level. This paper presents the performances of the CMA blind equalizer applied for PCM-FM, PCM-BPSK, SOQPSK-TG and ARTM CPM in aeronautical telemetry.
  • NEW APPROACHES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EMBEDDED TELEMETRY PROCESSING SYSTEMS

    Eckman, Bill; Irvin, Dana; Lokshin, Kirill; Puri, Amit; Ingenicomm Inc. (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    The conventional architecture of modern telemetry and signal processing systems typically relies on some combination of specialized hardware and firmware components integrated with commercial rackmount computer platforms running off-the-shelf operating systems. The evolution of the modern system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture, which tightly couples traditional field-programmable gate array (FPGA) elements with high-performance embedded microprocessor cores, offers an alternative to this conventional approach. When effectively utilized, the SoC approach can provide several advantages, including reduced system size and power, increased system security, and lower lifetime operating costs. This paper discusses the benefits offered by embedded SoC architectures for the implementation of satellite telemetry processing systems, and presents an example design that demonstrates advantages with respect to security, reliability, maintainability, footprint, and cost.
  • Towards Real-Time CMA Equalization by using FFT for Signal Blocks transmitted over an Aeronautical channel

    Cole-Rhodes, Arlene; Moazzami, Farzad; Taiwo, Peter; Dossongui, Itie Serge Kone; Morgan State University, Dept Elect and Comp Eng (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    We consider the problem of equalizing data blocks of signals, which have been transmitted over an aeronautical channel using two different modulation schemes. The equalization is performed using the block-processing constant modulus algorithm (CMA), and in order to achieve real-time processing a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used to compute the gradient of this cost function during equalization. The equalizer length is chosen to be five times of the channel length. For the first experiment, we present the result of equalizing a set of measured data, which was modulated and transmitted using the iNET packet structure with SOQPSK modulation. In this case, the CMA equalizer is first initialized using MMSE and the equalizer coefficients are then updated once, using each entire block (iNET packet). In the second experiment, we apply the FFT-based block processing equalizer to received data blocks of QPSK signals, which have been randomly generated and transmitted over an aeronautical channel. A modified constant modulus algorithm and alphabet matched algorithm (CMA + AMA) equalizer is used to recover these data blocks. For this case of QPSK signals, the equalizer performance is evaluated over 500 Monte Carlo runs, using the average symbol error rate (SER).
  • SIMPLIFYING FLIGHT TEST CONFIGURATION WITH CONSTRAINTS

    Noonan, Patrick J.; Ibaroudene, Hakima; Whittington, Austin J.; Moodie, Myron L.; Southwest Research Institute (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    Configuring flight test systems can be a complex process due to the large number of choices that must be made. Making these choices requires system knowledge to build a working configuration in an efficient and timely manner. Historically, flight test systems have embedded this system knowledge in code. The limitation with these approaches is that any change or addition to the system knowledge is costly due to the significant work required to update and maintain the software. We see the philosophy of constraints as a promising path toward addressing these issues. In the context of flight test configuration, a set of constraints defines the limits of how a system may be configured to perform specific tasks. This paper describes an approach for simplifying configuration by moving the system knowledge out of hardcoded business rules and into a flexible architecture that leverages constraints for validation of system configurations.
  • LOCATING AND REMOVING A PREAMBLE/ASM SEQUENCE IN AERONAUTICAL TELEMETRY

    Rice, Michael; Hogstrom, Christopher; Nash, Christopher; Brigham Young University (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    This paper describes how to locate and remove periodically inserted preamble and ASM bit fields in the presence of the phase ambiguity caused by decision-directed PLLs used in most telemetry demodulators. The phase ambiguity is resolved by correlating rotated or delayed versions of the data with a stored template of the preamble and ASM bits. A finite state machine in conjunction with a FIFO is used to remove the preamble and ASM bits from the output bit stream.
  • THE PERFORMANCE TEST OF AN INITIAL iNET-LIKE RF NETWORK USING A HELICOPTER

    Ito, Sei; Honda, Takeshi; Tanaka, Toshihisa; Aoyama, Daiki; Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    Through the use of early iNET-prototype IP Transceiver technology, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI) has been able to communicate with a flight test vehicle. This technology provides a two-way high-capacity communication that has not been achieved with conventional telemetry. KHI has been authorized to use S-band IP Transceivers since 2014 in Japan. Then various communication tests have been performed. Last year we presented the result of the performance test of initial iNET-like RF network using a tethered aerostat at ITC. As the next phase, we have a plan of the test using a helicopter. The test is going to be conducted in September. We will present the results at ITC. This paper describes plans of the test which includes improved data backfill techniques.
  • SELECTABLE TELEMETRY MODULE FOR INTERIOR BALLISTICS CHARACTERIZATION

    Granitzki, Richard F.; Sweeney, Patrick J.; Choi, Jin; Hoch, Daniel; Vega, Gilmer; US Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    The Telemetry Branch within the US Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) has developed a miniature telemetry device that supports: live data, on-board recording (OBR), and delay repeat OBR telemetry functions in order to capture valuable interior ballistics sensor measurements of developmental munitions and weapons systems. This paper discusses the measurement capability of the STEEL (Selectable Telemetry Enhanced ELectronics) architecture and its typical integrated characteristics. The STEEL architecture has been demonstrated to reliably perform during live fire 155mm artillery and 120mm mortar testing environments. Results will be presented highlighting the electronics’ performance during these extreme environmental conditions.
  • ANTENNA RADIATION PATTERN CONTROL BASED ON 3D PRINTED DESIGN

    Xin, Hao; Abdelrahman, Ahmed H.; Yu, Xiaoju; Liang, Min; Wu, Junqiang; Univ Arizona, Dept Elect & Comp Engn (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    Dielectric materials have been applied in modifying the antenna radiation pattern, but it is usually limited to single-beam applications. The goal of this paper is to present a novel methodology to control the antenna radiation pattern based on 3D printing technology. 3D printing enables arbitrary dielectric distribution at different locations. As a result, different radiation patterns can be realized by loading an optimized dielectric material with varied permittivity. In this work, we propose a design of a quarter-wavelength monopole antenna surrounded by a low-profile 3D-printed polymer structure with an optimized dielectric distribution. Unlike the conventional omnidirectional pattern of the monopole antenna, singlebeam and multiple-beam patterns are achieved using genetic algorithm (GA) optimization.
  • WAVEFIELD-BASED MOTION ESTIMATION FOR RADAR AND SONAR ARRAY SYSTEMS

    Lee, Hua; Radzicki, Vincent R.; University of California, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    This paper introduces a generalized and computationally efficient approach for the estimation of target motion parameters from received wavefield data collected from coherent sensing systems such as radar and sonar measurement arrays. The mathematical content of the algorithm is described, along with the general processing procedure to perform on recorded data. The algorithm presents a solution to the joint estimation of translational motion and periodic motion of targets, which has many practical applications for sensing and detection tasks. Experimental and simulation results are included supporting the effectiveness of the method.
  • The Killer App – Combining Embedded Processors, FPGAs and Smart Software

    Cooke, Alan; Curtiss-Wright (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    In this paper, the benefits and advantages of combining advanced embedded processing capabilities with an FPGA based approach within a Data Acquisition Unit (DAU) are discussed. The paper begins with a discussion of some of the services and functionality that such a system enables. Basic features such as system discovery, verification, configuration and upgrade are discussed in addition to other value added services such as continuous built in test (CBIT) and embedded real-time parameter quick-look. Finally, the paper discusses some advanced services that could be deployed to these systems such as emerging communication protocols, multimedia connectivity and discovery, and advanced Machine Learning based systems diagnostics.
  • SPARSE CHANNEL ESTIMATION FOR AERONAUTICAL TELEMETRY

    Rice, Michael; Hogstrom, Christopher; Brigham Young University (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    This paper applies a compressed sensing (CS) algorithm to SOQPSK-TG waveform samples to reconstruct a sparse channel. The mean squared error (MSE) is computed between the estimated channel and the true channel. The estimated channel is then used in an equalized system and a bit error rate (BER) curve is calculated. The results are then compared to a Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimator. The CS estimate does not produce significant gains but it doesn’t break anything either.
  • AUTOMATIC MODULATION RECOGNITION FOR CPM

    Rice, Michael; Nash, Christopher; Brigham Young University (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    This paper uses detection and estimation theory techniques for automatic modulation recognition of CPM signals. The CPM signals of interest are PCM/FM, SOQPSK-TG, and ARTM/CPM. The modulation recognition problem is formulated as a hypothesis test with the test statistic computed using samples of the observed signal. Using such techniques, simulation results show that correct modulation can be achieved error free at a carrier-to-noise ratio of 19 dB for PCM/FM, 50 dB for SOQPSK-TG, and 25 dB for ARTM CPM.
  • OFDM AND SOQPSK TRANSCEIVER HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION WITH PRELIMINARY RESULTS

    Wang, Enkuang D.; Brothers, Timothy J.; Georgia Tech Research Institute (International Foundation for Telemetering, 2016-11)
    This paper presents a hardware implementation of a transceiver capable of both orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and shaped-offset quadrature phase shift keying (SOQPSK) transmissions using a dataflow programming language. Based on the physical layer iNET standard, we introduce a transceiver implementation that utilizes both waveforms with low density parity check (LDPC) forward error correction (FEC) codes. This testbed is intended to test and enable an adaptive algorithm that uses both waveforms as its modulation schemes. As such, it has the ability to dynamically select various modulation parameters and coding rates. The hardware implementations are described and performance utilizations are presented.

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