RSS 1.0International Telemetering Conference Proceedings, Volume 56 (2021)
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-Sixth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition, October 25-28, 2021. The conference, sponsored by the International Foundation for Telemetering, was held at Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV.
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Recent Submissions
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International Telemetering Conference Proceedings, Volume 56 (2021)International Foundation for Telemetering, 2021-10
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Pseudo-Electrical Alternans: Beyond Pericardial EffusionElectrical alternans on ECG is reported in substantial pericardial effusion. Pseudo Electrical alternans (pseudoEA) is the alternation in the QRS amplitude in the absence of pericardial effusion. We reviewed 16 such cases of pseudoEA (26-72 years, 68.75% males, 31.25% females). Besides physiological causes, cardiac diagnosis included arrhythmia (31.25%), coronary artery disease (18.75%), congestive heart failure (12.5%) in our review. The most common non-cardiac diagnosis was bronchial asthma. PseudoEA in both chest and limb leads was seen in 42.8%, chest leads alone in 35.7%, and limb leads alone in 21.4%. Telemetry surveillance is useful in identifying pseudoEA and confirms it by its reversal after treating the main pathology or removing the causing agent. There should be a high index of suspicion amongst physicians when electrical alternans is present on telemetry to identify and treat the alternative conditions in the absence of pericardial effusion.
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Edge Machine Learning for Face DetectionThis paper describes an implementation of edge machine learning for vision-based classification and detection tasks. In edge machine learning, machine and deep learning algorithms are executed locally on embedded devices rather than on more powerful computers or the cloud. The main task explored is face detection using a low-power microcontroller. This device utilizes a convolutional neural network (CNN) accelerator that optimizes convolution and pooling operations for fast power-efficient inference. Development for this system requires building and training a hardwarelimited CNN rather than fine-tuning a pre-trained state-of-the-art model. The development process is discussed along with the constraints of this embedded device.
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An Experiment on Energy Harvesting for Aircraft InstrumentationSensor installation for flight test instrumentation is a difficult process because the sensors must be wired to a central power unit. A small power source for transducers would make the installation process more efficient. This paper investigates the power output of a piezoelectric energy harvester. An experiment was conducted using a piezoelectric diaphragm connected to a full-wave bridge rectifier. The circuit is analyzed and experimental results are presented. The results are analyzed to determine if the output power is sufficient to supply a small transducer.
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Design of a Low-Cost Handheld Wireless OscilloscopeMost of the available oscilloscopes are difficult to use, bulky, and expensive. Other challenges of using an oscilloscope include its long setup time, messy wired connections, and an unfriendly interface. To address those issues, in this paper, we propose an original solution, Scopen, a penshaped wireless oscilloscope that is accurate and affordable. By transmitting the captured signals wirelessly and displaying the waveform on the software side, Scopen eliminates cables’ requirements to achieve maximum flexibility. Furthermore, the wireless transmission feature allows us to display the waveform on multiple devices and platforms, increasing flexibility and ease of use. This paper presents Scopen's system target specifications, hardware design that includes a custom printed circuit board, and software architecture. Finally, we will discuss the features and performance of our wireless oscilloscope.
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IRIG106-Chapter 7 in Practice – A Real Use CaseChapter 7 methodology was introduced in IRIG106 in 2015 with the purpose of simplifying the on-board architecture while still using legacy Chapter 4 hardware on ground. On top of that, this new protocol benefits from the growing use of the more and more popular Chapter 10/11 processing softwares. The various on-board data sources are acquired and embedded in a standard Chapter 4 PCM data stream. Then, all the telemetry downlink chain can be reused up to the data processing system in charge of reconstructing the original data streams and dispatching them to the end users. This is where complexity reaches its climax, depending on the use-cases. The goal of this paper it to present a real-case architecture of a flight test bed whose telemetry system has evolved to IRIG106-15 Chapter 7, and the challenges faced by the ground processing system. It gives insights of return of experience of deployment, performances, benefits and drawbacks of such a system, as well as leads for improvements.
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Implementing TmNS Data On DemandThe Telemetry Network Standard (TmNS) was released as part of the 2017 version of the IRIG-106 standards. Traditionally, serial streaming telemetry data has been sent on a unidirectional link from the test article to the ground. The TmNS standard offers a new approach to acquiring flight test instrumentation (FTI) data that changes this paradigm by allowing the use of bi-directional data links. These bi-directional links allow for commands and requests to come from the ground back to the aircraft. This offers a new capability to the flight test community to request data on demand from the flight test recorder. One of the longest-standing problems with traditional telemetry has been data dropouts. These gaps in the flight test data can occur at any point in a test flight, and they can prevent the ground controllers from knowing if a test was successfully completed. TmNS offers a solution to this problem by allowing the ground to request a PCM backfill to re-send the section of the data that was lost. This paper explores a fully functional demonstration system that Curtiss-Wright has created to show an end-to-end PCM backfill operation using a TmNS compliant recorder, two TmNS radios, and the IADS real-time visualization and analysis software.
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A Review of Telemetric Subsystems Tracking Relevant Data in a Solar Powered CarThe design, manufacturing, and racing of a solar powered electric vehicle demands a large set of synchronized systems all working together. One such system within this set is that which is used to track, record, and interpret important data; primarily to inform the future operation of the vehicle in the pursuit of increased efficiency. Within this paper, The University of Kansas Solar Car Team presents its telemetry system used to actively track the state of Astra, the first generation of Solar Car coming from The University of Kansas. The system is based around a Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus connecting the driver display, Battery Protection System (BPS), Maximum Power Point Trackers (MPPT's), and motor controller. We use 4G LTE-M to transmit collected data from these nodes to Google’s Firebase platform, where we can retrieve and interpret data from a web dashboard outside the car.
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An Open-Source UHF Ground Station Design for NanosatsThe Missouri S&T Satellite Research Team’s (M-SAT) design entry into the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Nanosat-8 program has indicated that existing commercial ground station options have proven to be cost prohibitive for university missions demanding high downlink budgets. The development of an open sourced, ground station design that could be implemented across participating universities provides an alternative to existing commercial options. An automated ground station network provides a closed network capable of accommodating large downlink budgets commonly found program participants. Further, the development of a reference ground station design would increase design reliability and provide a foundational platform for students to introduce additional communication capabilities.
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Rocket Telemetry – Software and Function DesignThis paper presents a preliminary design for the telemetry package software for Morgan’s rocket project. This software will capture and transmit data from accelerometers and gyroscopes to track the trajectory of the rocket after launch. The paper will focus on the software in the design and a simulation of the module to track trajectory. This paper is in conjunction with the “Physical and Function Design” paper as our undergraduate students worked together on the telemetry package. Morgan State has received a $1.6 million aerospace grant that will allow the school to complete a liquid-fuel rocketry lab and to recruit and hire a faculty aerospace leader to create a world-class program in liquid fuel. The school is looking to build and launch a liquid fuel rocket than can reach 150,000 feet by 2022.
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Amateur Ground Station for CubeSatellite ProgramKubeSat is a student led satellite program at the University of Kansas (KU). KUbeSat-1 is intended to operate in a Sun-Synchronous orbit at 550 km, with an inclination between 85-95°. KUbeSat-1 is slated to be launched in April 2022 as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. It features two payloads: Primary Cosmic Ray Detector and High-Altitude Calibration KUbeSat. To support KUbeSat-1 and future missions, an amateur ground station is currently being built to operate in the UHF range of 435-438 MHz with half-duplex capability. This paper presents the mission concept, ground station architecture, testing outcomes, and future improvements.
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Multiple Uses for Multiple Telemetry AntennasAn increasing number of munition programs are integrating telemetry (TM) into their artillery rounds. Due to their small size and high speed, tracking munitions brings with it challenges typically not seen with aviation. Tracking with multiple TM antennas provides a more complete data collection event across the extended ranges, demonstrated in modern artillery, and provides advantages as a result of spatial diversity. Traditional munition testing usually incorporates radar and camera mounts that track the munition throughout its flight. TM has the benefit of the telemetered stream aiding in acquisition; however, given the size and speed of the munition, initial radar or camera acquisition can be very challenging without access to an external pointing source. The YPG conducted a series of flight tests using multiple TM antennas to explore the ways TM can help provide pointing as well as to further its integration of best source selection into its TM infrastructure.
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Commercial Encryption to Secure Your Telemetry DataIn the United States, the telemetry industry has traditionally relied on the National Security Agency (NSA) to provide leadership and/or solutions to encrypt telemetry data for streaming applications. However, with the current heightened concern to protect data for programs with short development cycles, encryption solutions based on the commercial Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms offer options that augment the NSA solutions. This paper describes the development of an encryption – decryption module, and the attendant trades in using (AES) block-cipher based encryption algorithm for streaming applications, resulting link performance, and the certification choices and requirements.
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WiFi Anomaly Behavior Analysis Based Intrusion Detection Using Online LearningWith the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless networks like WiFi are ubiquitous in today’s world. The widespread adoption of WiFi networks leads to correspondingly widespread attacks on these networks. WiFi attacks exploit vulnerabilities in the physical layer or the datalink layer specification of the protocol, making detecting and stopping these threats a challenging task as encryption based security solutions are harder to deploy. In this paper, we measure the performance of online learning classifiers, specifically Hoeffding Tree (HT), K-nearest neighbours (KNN), Accuracy Weighted Ensemble Classifier(AWEC),and Half-Spaced Treed(HST), to detect attacks on WiFi networks. The experimental evaluation is performed on Aegean WiFi Intrusion Dataset 2 (AWID 2) and Aegean WiFi Intrusion Dataset 3 (AWID 3). Experimental evaluations show that HT has the best accuracy of 98% for both the datasets, but takes training on 300,000 packets to reach this performance. While HST and KNN converged more quickly, they were never more accurate than HT after 70,000 iterations or AWEC after 140,000 iterations. For this reason HT and AWEC are the most highly rated out of the classifiers examined.
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Physical Layer Security of IRS Assisted Wireless Networks Using Directional ModulationPhysical layer security is becoming an emerging and vital feature in wireless communications. In contrast to cryptographic techniques employed in the application layer, physical layer security uses a different approach that exploits advanced signal processing techniques. One of the physical layer security techniques uses directional modulation, which distorts signal modulations along the directions of the eavesdroppers. The performance of directional modulation techniques can be improved further by using intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS). In the literature, IRS has been used to improve the signal quality at the desired user while simultaneously suppressing the signal strength at the undesired user. In this paper, we investigate the performance of directional modulation with artificial noise in the presence of an IRS. The bit error rate (BER) results show that the proposed method delivers data to a legitimate user with low error probability while it raises the error rates at the eavesdroppers located near the legitimate user.
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Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Implications for Aerospace Defense Contractor’s Telemetry OperationsIn response to repeated IT network compromise from its vast contractor base (Defense Industrial Base, DIB), the Department of Defense (DoD) will soon be mandating that its contractor’s IT environments satisfy requirements set out in their newly adopted Cybersecurity Maturity Model [1]. Failure to comply will result in companies not being allowed to bid on DoD contracts. While the scope of CMMC appears daunting, a closer inspection reveals reliance and reference to other well-established National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines for contractors, such as NIST SP 800-171 [2], as well as principles for a well layered IT security defense found in other standards. After reviewing the model and maturity compliance levels, areas of the model particularly germane to defense contractors involved in telemetry activities will be reviewed with emphasis on proposed strategies for both satisfying the mandate as well as successfully navigating impending CMMC audits.
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Diversity Combining of OFDM for Aeronautical ChannelsThis paper presents the design and performance of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) scheme with the incorporation of diversity combining. This work takes advantage of the unique properties of the two-ray channel that dominates aeronautical telemetry. Such channels are characterized by deep nulls in the channel which depends on the difference in the differential delay of the paths. The diversity scheme takes advantage of this property to combine multiple antenna channels which are offset in space such that the nulls appear at different frequencies. An optimum combining scheme is developed which enables enhanced performance on 3-dB SNR channels.
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Application of AOFDM on Simulated Test Flight ScenarioThis paper presents the test results of an Adaptive Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (AOFDM) modulation system on virtual flight path scenario of a Link Dependent Adaptive Radio system. This work also compares its results with fixed rate OFDM with the same Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). The AOFDM system identifies the distortion of the individual OFDM tones and adjusts the modulation to optimize the performance of each tone. Such a design demonstrates significant improvement of spectrum efficiency and error performance for different test flight scenarios.
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Low Density Parity Check Forward Error Correction For Your Telemetry LinkThe telemetry standard IRIG 106 includes Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) forward error correction with six combinations of code rate and information block size. This correction code can be added to airborne telemetry links to increase link margin and correct random errors due to transmission anomalies. Given these benefits, why has this technology not been wholeheartedly accepted within the aeronautical mobile telemetry community? This paper presents the trade-offs when considering implementing LDPC in a telemetry link. Real-world flight test results will be presented clearly illustrating the benefits of forward error correction. The data presented will make a strong case for considering IRIG 106 compliant forward error correction in new link designs or to complement existing links in operation today.
