Publications
Monolithic 3.3V CCD/SOI-CMOS Imager Technology
December 10, 2000
Conference Paper
Published in:
IEEE Int. Eelctron Devices Mtg., 10-13 December 2000, pp. 30.3.1-30.3.4.
Topic:
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Summary
We have developed a merged CCD/SOI-CMOS technology that enables the fabrication of monolithic, low-power imaging systems on a chip. The CCD's, fabricated in the bulk handle wafer, have charge-transfer inefficiencies of about 1x10(-5) and well capacities of more than 100,000 electrons with 3.3-V clocks and 8x8um pixels. Fully depleted 0.35pm SOI-CMOS ring oscillators have stage delay of 48ps at 3.3V. We demonstrate for the first time an integrated image sensor with charge-domain A/D conversion and on-chip clocking.
Summary
We have developed a merged CCD/SOI-CMOS technology that enables the fabrication of monolithic, low-power imaging systems on a chip. The CCD's, fabricated in the bulk handle wafer, have charge-transfer inefficiencies of about 1x10(-5) and well capacities of more than 100,000 electrons with 3.3-V clocks and 8x8um pixels. Fully depleted 0.35pm...
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A statistical analysis of approach winds at capacity-restricted airports
November 30, 2000
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-296
Summary
A study was conducted on six major U.S. airports with closely-spaced parallel (CSP) runways that become capacity-restricted during times of lowered cloud ceilings and visibilities. These airports were SFO, BOS, EWR, PHL, SEA, and STL. Efforts are underway to develop a feasible system for simultaneous CSP approaches, which would increase the capacity at these airports during restrictive weather conditions. When considering any new procedure, the wind conditions on approach are needed to understand the impact of wake turbulence transport. Wind observations from aircraft that are equipped with Meteorological Data Collection and Reporting System (MDCRS) capabilities were used to conduct a statistical analysis on wind characteristics at each airport. Data from January 1997 through December 1999 were used in each analysis. Data analysis techniques and the statistical results are presented in this report. This information is expected to support procedure and benefits assessment models.
Summary
A study was conducted on six major U.S. airports with closely-spaced parallel (CSP) runways that become capacity-restricted during times of lowered cloud ceilings and visibilities. These airports were SFO, BOS, EWR, PHL, SEA, and STL. Efforts are underway to develop a feasible system for simultaneous CSP approaches, which would increase...
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Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Program (LINEAR)
November 1, 2000
Journal Article
Published in:
Icarus J., Vol. 148, No. 1, November 2000, pp. 21-28.
Topic:
R&D area:
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Summary
The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program has applied electro-optical technology developed for Air Force Space Surveillance applications to the problem of discovering near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and comets. This application is natural due to the commonality between the surveillance of the sky for man-made satellites and the search for near-Earth objects (NEOs). Both require the efficient search of broad swaths of sky to detect faint, moving objects. Currently, the Air Force Ground-based Electro-Optic Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) systems, which operate as part of the worldwide U.S. space surveillance network, are being upgraded to state-of-the-art charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors. These detectors are based on recent advances made by MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the fabrication of large format, highly sensitive CCDs. In addition, state-of-the-art data processing algorithms have been developed to employ the new detectors for search operations. In order to address stressing space surveillance requirements, the Lincoln CCDs have a unique combination of features, including large format, high quantum efficiency, frame transfer, high readout rate, and low noise, not found on any commercially available CCD. Systems development for the GEODSS upgrades has been accomplished at the Lincoln Laboratory Experimental Test Site (ETS) located near Socorro, New Mexico, over the past several years. Starting in 1996, the Air Force funded a small effort to demonstrate the effectiveness of the CCD and broad area search technology when applied to the problem of finding asteroids and comets. This program evolved into the current LINEAR program, which is jointly funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and NASA. LINEAR, which started full operations in March of 1998, has discovered through September of 1999, 257 NEAs (of 797 known to date), 11 unusual objects (of 44 known), and 32 comets. Currently, LINEAR is contributing ~70% of the worldwide NEA discovery rate and has single-handedly increased the observations submitted to the Minor Planet Center by a factor of 10. This paper covers the technology used by the program, the operations, and the detailed results of the search efforts.
Summary
The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program has applied electro-optical technology developed for Air Force Space Surveillance applications to the problem of discovering near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and comets. This application is natural due to the commonality between the surveillance of the sky for man-made satellites and the search for near-Earth...
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WSP utility libraries
October 23, 2000
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-284
Summary
The ASR-9 Weather Systems Processor (WSP) augments the weather detection capability of existing ASR-9 radars to include low-level wind shear warnings, storm cell tracking and prediction, and improved immunity to false weather echoes due to anomalous propagation (AP). To economically develop and field an operational system at the 34 WSP sites, the FAA is pursuing a strategy that leverages the software written during the 10-year R&D phase of the project. To that end, the software developed at Lincoln Laboratory has been "hardened" to ensure reliable, continuous operation, and has been ported to a "Phase II" prototype built around the latest generation of COTS hardware. A significant number of the hardened software modules are being used in the production version of the WSP with only minor modifications. Included as part of the software are a number of lower-level utility libraries to provide basic services such as memory management and network communication. This document provides a detailed description of these common utility libraries.
Summary
The ASR-9 Weather Systems Processor (WSP) augments the weather detection capability of existing ASR-9 radars to include low-level wind shear warnings, storm cell tracking and prediction, and improved immunity to false weather echoes due to anomalous propagation (AP). To economically develop and field an operational system at the 34 WSP...
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Common CHI for en route ATC automation in FFP1 and beyond
October 22, 2000
Conference Paper
Published in:
45th Annual Air Traffic Control Association Conf. Proc., 22-26 October 2000, pp. 237-241.
Summary
Unique computer-human interface (CHI) challenges are arising with the pending deployment of automation developed to assist air traffic controllers and managers. In the US, a set of Free Flight Phase 1 (FFPl) decision-support tools will provide computer generated scheduling and sequencing advice from Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) and conflict probing advice from User Request Evaluation Tool (URET). These tools were originally developed independently using their own CHIs. Recently, the air traffic community requested that future tools be implemented as an integrated functionality with a consistent look and feel modeled on Eurocontrol's innovative Operational Display and Input Development (ODID) IV. M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory presented an initial comparative study of FAA and Eurocontrol tools that identified several key inconsistencies between the newly deployed Display System Replacement (DSR), the upcoming FFPl and the future ODID-like CHIs at ATCA 1999. This paper expands the survey to add the ETMS Traffic Situation Display (TSD) and to include a comparison of all look and feel aspects of each tool ranging from the purpose and system requirements to the display and coordination features. Excerpts from the completed survey are presented in Table 1, accompanied by preliminary descriptions of resulting human factors issues that need resolution to achieve a common CHI for future air traffic control and management. In support of the FAA, the Laboratory is now applying the findings from this effort and previous controller testing in collaboration with MITRE CAASD to identify and assess CHI features to be used for a demonstration of integrated operational concepts. This effort, along with continued CHI requirements testing, communication with FAA vendors and concept demonstrations conducted in coordination with the air traffic community will lead to a comprehensive list of prioritized issues regarding a common CHI.
Summary
Unique computer-human interface (CHI) challenges are arising with the pending deployment of automation developed to assist air traffic controllers and managers. In the US, a set of Free Flight Phase 1 (FFPl) decision-support tools will provide computer generated scheduling and sequencing advice from Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) and conflict probing...
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ASR-9 weather systems processor software overview
October 20, 2000
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-264
Summary
The ASR-9 Weather Systems Processor (WSP) augments the weather detection capability of existing ASR-9 radars to include low-level wind shear warnings, storm cell tracking and prediction, and improved immunity to false weather echoes due to anomalous propagation (AP). To economically develop and field an operational system at the 34 WSP sites, the FAA is pursuing a strategy that leverages the software written during the 10-year R&D phase of the project. To that end, the software developed at Lincoln Laboratory has been "hardened" to ensure reliable, continuous operation, and has been ported to a "Phase II" prototype built around the latest generation of COTS hardware. A significant number of the hardened software modules are being used in the production version of the WSP with only minor modifications. This document provides a high-level description of these software modules, with an emphasis on how the modules fit together in the WSP system. Descriptions of the hardware environment in which the software executes are also provided.
Summary
The ASR-9 Weather Systems Processor (WSP) augments the weather detection capability of existing ASR-9 radars to include low-level wind shear warnings, storm cell tracking and prediction, and improved immunity to false weather echoes due to anomalous propagation (AP). To economically develop and field an operational system at the 34 WSP...
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Comparison of active TCAS slant range measurements with interpolated passive position reports for use in hybrid surveillance applications - measurements from the June 1999 Los Angeles Basin flight tests
October 17, 2000
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-294
Summary
Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) hybrid surveillance is a technique that makes use of both active surveillance data from the interrogation reply sequence and passive position estimates received from Mode S extended squitters. This technique allows TCAS to use passive surveillance once the data have been validated by comparison with active data. The maximum allowable range difference for validation specified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is 200 meters. Data from twenty encounters recorded during flight tests conducted in the Los Angeles Basin in June 1999 were analyzed. The results show that the ICAO specified limits were never exceeded and serve to validate the 200 meter limit.
Summary
Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) hybrid surveillance is a technique that makes use of both active surveillance data from the interrogation reply sequence and passive position estimates received from Mode S extended squitters. This technique allows TCAS to use passive surveillance once the data have been validated by...
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The Lincoln speaker recognition system: NIST EVAL2000
October 16, 2000
Conference Paper
Published in:
6th Int. Conf. on Spoken Language, ICSLP, 16-20 October 2000.
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Summary
This paper presents an overview of the Lincoln Laboratory systems fielded for the 2000 NIST speaker recognition evaluation (SRE00). In addition to the standard one-speaker detection tasks, this year's evaluation, as in 1999, included multi-speaker spokes dealing with detection, tracking and segmentation. The design approach for the Lincoln system in SRE00 was to develop a set of core one-speaker detection and multi-speaker clustering tools that could be applied to all the tasks. This paper will describe these core systems, how they are applied to the SRE00 tasks and the results they produce. Additionally, a new channel normalization technique known as handset-dependent test-score norm (HTnorm) is introduced.
Summary
This paper presents an overview of the Lincoln Laboratory systems fielded for the 2000 NIST speaker recognition evaluation (SRE00). In addition to the standard one-speaker detection tasks, this year's evaluation, as in 1999, included multi-speaker spokes dealing with detection, tracking and segmentation. The design approach for the Lincoln system in...
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A statistical analysis of approach winds at capacity-restricted airports
October 7, 2000
Conference Paper
Published in:
19th AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conf., Vol. 1, 7-13 October 2000, pp. 3.E.4-1 - 3.E.4-7.
Summary
Many major airports in the U.S. rely on simultaneous approaches to closely-spaced parallel (CSP) runways to maintain a high airport acceptance rate. During Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC), aircraft are able to utilize both runways by making side-by-side landings and are able to meet the demands of heavy volume. However, when conditions deteriorate to marginal-VMC or Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC), side-by-side approaches are not possible due to the inherent safety concerns associated with lowered ceilings and visibilities. This situation is severely limiting to an airport's capacity and can create large delays and increased costs. Various ideas have been suggested that would facilitate the simultaneous use of CSP runways during low ceiling and visibility (LCV) conditions at capacity-restricted airports. This report addresses the specific scenario of a pair of approaching aircraft being staggered by some longitudinal distance. This situation alleviates the collision hazard presented by LCV conditions, but also introduces the hazard of a wake vortex encounter, particularly if the following aircraft is downwind of the leading aircraft.
Summary
Many major airports in the U.S. rely on simultaneous approaches to closely-spaced parallel (CSP) runways to maintain a high airport acceptance rate. During Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC), aircraft are able to utilize both runways by making side-by-side landings and are able to meet the demands of heavy volume. However, when...
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Measurements of ADS-B extended squitter performance in the Los Angeles basin region
October 7, 2000
Conference Paper
Published in:
19th AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conf., Vol. 2, 7-13 October 2000, pp. 7.B.1-1 - 7.B.1-8.
Summary
The Los Angeles Basin ADS-B Measurement Trials provided a quantitative assessment of the existing interference environment at 1090 MHz and the surveillance performance of Mode S Extended Squitter in that environment. Redundancy in the measurement equipment and in the flight configurations chosen during the trials provided extensive cross checking capability, and greatly increased the integrity of the results. ATCRBS reply rates as high as 40,000/second above -90 dBm were measured. The corresponding aircraft distribution and 1030 MHz interrogation rates correlated well with these measurements. A wide range of scenarios were captured to measure the airborne and ground-based reception of ADS-B Extended Squitters emitted by airborne sources. Air-to-air ranges of greater than 100 nmi were routinely observed, and comparison with ADS-B MASPS requirements showed that all airborne requirements were met in the scenarios flown. Air-to-ground reception rates were routinely better than the update rates provided by either en route or terminal radars at ranges beyond 150 nmi. Ground-to-air (uplink) performance was adequate to support transmission of ADS-B or other information in broadcast formats within approximately 60 nmi of the ground station. Finally, these measurements are a valuable source of validation and refinement data for the various models used to predict Extended Squitter performance in current and future scenarios.
Summary
The Los Angeles Basin ADS-B Measurement Trials provided a quantitative assessment of the existing interference environment at 1090 MHz and the surveillance performance of Mode S Extended Squitter in that environment. Redundancy in the measurement equipment and in the flight configurations chosen during the trials provided extensive cross checking capability...
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