R&D100 - IOT/Electrical

RAIBA, developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), is a world-leading technology using AI to control electric discharge load of battery modules and integrate the storage system of new and old modules. This allows different battery modules to complement each other in the most efficient way, reduce energy waste, and extend system cycle life. For example, a set of heterogeneous 25-battery module, with a capacity ranging from 20 to 30 Ah, can supply energy for an average small family for one day. RAIBA can reduce system-level decay by 64% and extend system cycle life by 223%. Furthermore, it can increase battery system stability and reduce the cost by 45%. Currently, the technology is adopted by Chroma ATE, Fortune Electric, and businesses that transform gas stations into recharging stations. The objective is to facilitate the sustainable development of energy storage infrastructure and electric vehicles and create new business opportunities for renewable energy.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory designed Grid Agents to conform to the principles of the Internet of Things (IoT), by which discrete devices and appliances are equipped with sensors and other hardware that enable them to interact with each other over the internet. IoT sensors have been used to measure and communicate data for parameters such as temperature, irradiance, chemicals, radiofrequency signals, and physical intrusion. The Grid Agents can be equipped with devices to measure and transmit data for electrical parameters such as current, voltage, and phase angle as well as other specific parameters associated with electric grid elements, devices, and systems. The stationary and mobile devices act as “hardware/software” (HW/SW) agents (i.e., cyber-physical devices that perceive and react to their environment in a timely manner). In this context, they communicate with utility operators and between devices to provide real-time surveillance of the grid.

High-performance computing (HPC) hardware and software is designed by institutions thousands of miles apart by researchers often unknown to each other. The massive undertaking of maximizing performance and compatibility between hardware and software tends to fall to individual HPC developers who have neither the time nor specialized skill to optimize every facet of a system. As machines march towards exascale computing power, every component needs the ability to seamlessly interface without compromising performance. To solve this problem, researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and several other companies and institutions have collaborated to create Unified Communication X (UCX), an HPC framework that is now deployed on a range of machines. UCX allows developers to bind together libraries, network architectures, programming models, and custom software and hardware interfaces into one package, channeling the diversity of the world’s HPC applications into one user-friendly research tool. UCX is essential for exascale computing and future generations of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Internet of Things applications.

The Dual-Mode Imaging Receiver (DMIR) integrates the previously disparate functions of high-frame-rate photon-counting imaging and singlephoton-sensitive communication into a single optical receiver, enabling the user to simultaneously view the source of transmission while receiving data. Digital logic behind each pixel can reliably detect the appearance of one or more optical communication signals in the field of view and simultaneously detect, track, and demodulate the signals from spatially diverse, nonsynchronized, transmitters. Because the angular motion of multiple independent communicators can be tracked on a focal plane, the DMIR eliminates the need for precise pointing and the associated SWaP burden imposed by the precision gimbals found in conventional optical receivers. Simultaneous with the detection and tracking of communication signals, the DMIR can form high-frame-rate images of the scene by counting individual photon arrivals. Multiple image frames can be added with no read-noise penalty to create high-dynamic images of the scene and thus provide context for the location and movement of the communicators.

DeltaFS is an open-source, supercomputing file system that was created by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University as a solution for efficient indexing and niche querying. DeltaFS elegantly leverages idle computing resources to generate a useful file system that is familiar in look and feel to its users. Without the need for special hardware, DeltaFS reduces the time to scientific discovery by increasing the performance of highly selective queries. DeltaFS is helping to answer the critical questions of our time in a breadth of fields spanning from astrophysics to biology, from cloud computing to petroleum exploration, and everything in between. With DeltaFS, scientists can manage and search ever-growing data streams tens of thousands of times faster and more efficiently than ever before, and the future of research during the exascale era depends on it.

Lightweight Deployable Array Panels for Space provide a cost-effective approach to space-based communications and remote sensing systems. Lincoln Laboratory’s patented weight-reduction technique for stacked patch antenna arrays along with an innovative packing system and an aggressive approach to weight reduction allow for the design to minimize weight and maximize stowed volume efficiency, which are both critical to keeping satellite launch costs to a minimum. The solution is greater than five times more compact and more than six times lighter than the competition. The lightweight deployable array panels are a vehicle for implementing active electronically steered antenna (AESA) technology for space-based applications, including satellite communication (SATCOM) links and remote sensing. Weight reduction and efficient use of stowed volume are very important when considering the high launch cost for a satellite into outer space.

Sharp AQUOS R2 and AQUOS R2 Compact are smartphones using an indium-gallium-zinc oxide liquid crystal display (IGZO LCD). The IGZO LCD adopts c-axis-aligned crystalline IGZO (CAAC-IGZO), an epoch-making novel material that will replace silicon. The material was discovered by Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co. (SEL) in 2009 and after that Sharp Corporation and SEL jointly developed the technology for mass production. Extremely low off-state current enables low-frequency driving of LCD displays, leading to low power consumption in smartphones. Furthermore, CAAC-IGZO based TFTs exhibit superior current drive capability and enable high-speed operation. The LCD displays used in the Sharp smartphones show images with a variable frame rate between 1 and 120 Hz and select a frequency suitable for an image to be displayed. For instance, a moving image is displayed with high frequency while a still image is displayed with low frequency, resulting in reduced power consumption.

Mitigating ongoing threats to national security requires timely intelligence data, including signal intelligence obtained through electronic surveillance. Modern signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems provide this information by monitoring electronic communications transmitted over the air. Direction finding (DF) is the measurement of the angle of arrival (AoA) of each of the observed communications signals, or a “bearing” to each of the transmitters. This AoA information provides critical spatial awareness to intelligence analysts when radios and their users move, or when unusual activity in a given geographic location may indicate an imminent threat. The AF-369 VHF/UHF Terrestrial Direction-Finding Antenna from Southwest Research Institute provides accurate DF capability across a wide bandwidth. Its novel sleeved electric dipoles boast 80% more useable bandwidth than conventional dipoles. The sleeved electric dipoles enable the product to have much greater sensitivity in a significant portion of its band. They also significantly reduce the overall cost and complexity of the antenna and the system that interoperates with the antenna.

Atomic Armor, from Los Alamos National Laboratory, is a new type of device shielding that frees product designers from the typical shielding trade-offs in ruggedizing devices. Atomic Armor is thin (a single-atom layer), flexible (fully foldable), durable (no cracking or peeling), and selectively permeable. It permits light and electrons through the shield, which is critical for technologies like night vision goggles, while keeping out gases that could damage the device. Atomic Armor is the solution for modern technologies that need “tunable” shielding. The Materials by Design approach allows it to fill the void in technology advancement for many applications: photocathodes, organic solar cells, fuel cells, electrocatalysts, LEDs, etc. It is the first and only customizable shielding that can be tuned to meet the application demands for the technology of tomorrow.

With more than 17 billion wireless devices in the world today, more bandwidth with higher data rates is critical. Lincoln Laboratory’s breakthrough IBFD technology for the first time operates on phased array antennas, resulting in directional radiation. Directional radiation allows for increased numbers of devices supported, improved data rates, and increased communication range. These improvements were accomplished by uniquely combining adaptive digital beamforming that reduces coupling between transmit and receive antenna beams. Additionally, the added adaptive digital cancelling further removes residual self-interference. These techniques have been demonstrated to support 100 times more devices with 10 times higher data rates at 7.5 times the range as compared to the current 4G LTE system, and also offer significant improvements over the newly proposed 5G NR network. This novel IBFD phased array antenna system can easily be incorporated into base stations and handheld devices to implement the next-generation cellular system that will address the growing demands of wireless users.

Idaho National Laboratory’s Wireless Radio Frequency signal Identification and protocol Reverse Engineering (WiFIRE) is based on the acknowledgement that you must know what is going on around you in order to protect your wireless communications activities. By performing signal classification and concurrent analysis of multiple signal types across different frequencies, WiFIRE gives users an unparalleled ability to monitor what is going on within their systems and the wireless environment beyond, allowing real-time detection and identification of wireless signals and the presence and location of rogue devices. The ability to monitor the wireless environment in real time for control system environments such as critical infrastructure (power plants, water treatment plants) and high-security environments such as military bases is crucial to safe, secure operation.

Lower leg injuries are common in the military and among athletes, especially with the heavy loads military personnel are required to carry. There is a need to collect lower leg biomechanics measurements in the field to measure gait changes and to warn of biomechanical limits and potential injury. MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s MoBILE system was built as a field measurement tool — essentially a biomechanics lab in a shoe. The inserts fit in any standard boot or running shoe and the ankle package is adjustable to any size leg. MoBILE uses a myriad of sensors to determine the user’s weight, gait pattern, and biomechanics information as they wear the system in real-world conditions. The data from the sensors can be combined to determine if the user’s gait is changing, if biomechanics measurements are above thresholds, and if the user has an increased potential for lower leg injury.

LCTWTA Model 2000HDA-A16 is a high-power RF amplifier designed specifically to exploit available Q-band frequency spectrum for satellite-to- Earth data transmission. Making use of available Q-band frequency spectrum for satellite-to-hub data links enhances the performance of next generation High Throughput Satellites (HTS) by freeing up Ka-band spectrum for satelliteto-user transmission. This makes more bandwidth available for user data and also reduces the number of hubs required thus lowering the cost per bit to the user. Ultimately, the use of Q-band for direct-to-user applications such as 5G, 6G, and 7G cellular is inevitable as spectrum at Ka-band and lower frequencies becomes increasingly congested. In a similar fashion, Q-band communications enables the transmission of vastly more science and video data from NASA Earth Observation Satellites (EOS), the International Space Station (ISS), Moon and Mars missions and beyond.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a new electrolyte system for rechargeable Liion batteries that resolves the safety issues that plague these batteries — the risk of fire and explosion — without compromising performance. Safe Power makes use of a water-based, UV-cured, hydrogel electrolyte that is inherently highly conductive, safe, and nonflammable. The lack of flammability reduces the bulk and packaging requirements of the battery, typically added to protect users from the electrolyte and the associated fire risks, thereby reducing battery weight. The free-standing gel nature of the electrolytes enables the batteries to be constructed in almost any form factor, including flexible, roll-up geometries, with minimal packaging. The safety and robustness allow them to continue to function during and after abuse that is inconceivable for conventional battery technology.

Utilities are receiving an ever-growing number of installation requests for solar photovoltaics from their residential customers, requiring a solution to intelligently manage these new renewable energy assets. With no better options, they’re managing their systems conservatively to protect from over-voltages or doing nothing. In either approach, billions of dollars per year in energy savings and network upgrades are at stake for utilities and customers. The PRECISE software tool, developed by experts at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), offers a solution. PRECISE is easily integrated, customizing solar photovoltaics inverter settings for utilities. PRECISE was developed by experts at the NREL to incorporate more PV on the grid while maximizing both grid stability and customer savings. It is a must-have grid management tool to sustain the growth of solar worldwide.

Ghidra

Ghidra is a software reverse engineering (SRE) framework developed by NSA’s Research Directorate. This framework includes a suite of full-featured, high-end software analysis tools that enable users to analyze compiled code on a variety of platforms including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Capabilities include disassembly, assembly, decompilation, graphing, and scripting, along with hundreds of other features. Ghidra supports a wide variety of processor instruction sets and executable formats and can be run in both user-interactive and automated modes. Users may also develop their own Ghidra plug-in components and/ or scripts using the exposed API. In support of NSA’s Cybersecurity and Foreign Intelligence missions, Ghidra was built to solve scaling and teaming problems on complex SRE efforts, and to provide a customizable and extensible SRE research platform. NSA has applied Ghidra SRE capabilities to a variety of problems including analyzing malicious code and generating deep insights for NSA analysts who seek a better understanding of potential vulnerabilities in networks and systems.