Operational Concept Research Articles

Analysis of smooth and enhanced smooth quadrature-inspired generalized Choquet integral

Enhancing the ability to make informed decisions stands as a significant challenge in modern IT. Specifically, there is a growing need to improve the efficiency of classification algorithms. When faced with multiple results derived from various methods, one can select the most probable decision using a robust aggregation operator. A common class of algorithms employed for this purpose is based on extensions of the Choquet integral (CI). In this study, we introduce and extensively analyze a novel aggregation operator concept founded on the generalization of the CI. This approach leverages quadrature formulae to calculate Choquet integral values, but with a unique modification involving a smoothing operation. This refinement results in more precise values, preserving the essential characteristics of the Choquet integral. These refined values can be effectively applied in the aggregation of classifiers and, more broadly, in information fusion processes. A series of numerical experiments demonstrates the efficiency of our approach. Furthermore, we thoroughly discuss and provide mathematical proofs for the properties of the newly constructed operators.

Balancing the necessary and the possible

The US Navy should hedge by retaining conventional warships and concepts of operations while at the same time developing next-generation formations.

A System of Systems Framework for Strategic Cargo Airlift Using Agent-Based Modelling

The effective transport of cargo across the globe by aircraft, termed strategic airlift, is foundational to the success of humanitarian aid/disaster relief (HA/DR) missions and even military operations. Due to the variable extremity of these events, it is essential for aircraft and operations to be designed with a high resilience, factoring in performance in a plethora is scenarios. This work aims to provide a framework that enables the coupling of aircraft, fleet and concepts of operations (CONOPS) design to a mission effectiveness in a strategic cargo airlift. Through agent-based modelling, the complex interaction and emergent behaviors of the different systems in the dynamic airlift environment is better captured and evaluated. Unexpected events, such as cargo requirement reformulation, aircraft servicing and changing airbase accessibility, are employed to emulate the dynamic and spontaneous nature of rapid cargo airlift missions. The impact of these events is stochastically modelled, promoting an analysis of a variety of scenarios. By creating a theoretical disaster relief mission, a trade-space exploration is conducted so that aircraft designs and operational objectives can be evaluated for their mission effect. The framework demonstrates the ability to evaluate aircraft and operational performance holistically, enabling a more robust design procedure for a variety of potential design scenarios and metrics.

Preliminary design of an ATC support tool for the implementation of the Ad Hoc Separation Minima concept in an en-route sector.

The current aim in response to the anticipated growth in air traffic demand is to expand airspace capacity. However, this poses a challenge, as many airspace volumes are nearing saturation. An influential factor in determining airspace capacity is separation minima, which have remained unchanged for more than two decades. It seems that technological developments in recent years, such as new aircraft capabilities and ATC (Air Traffic Control) support tools, may eventually enhance current separation minima standards. Consequently, there is a push to improve separation management by introducing new operational concepts. Ad Hoc separation minima are one such concept, allowing different separation values to be applied within the same airspace volume based on factors such as aircraft models, weights, and wind conditions, among others. These values are computed individually for each aircraft pair in each situation. Implementing different separation minima values within the same airspace volume requires a significant change in certain ATC activities. In addition, new functionalities or ATC support tools are essential, as Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCO) cannot mentally determine the appropriate separation value for each situation. To address this, a new tool, the Ad Hoc Separation Minima Tool (ASMT), is proposed. It aims to integrate this concept seamlessly into an en-route (ENR) sector without increasing ATCOs workload and altering ATC responsibilities. This study provides a high-level overview of the ASMT architecture, and its functional system has been evaluated in a simulated ENR sector using MATLAB®.

An overview of the possibilities, current status, and limitations of battery technologies to electrify aviation

One of the main concerns of the aviation industry is the reduction of dependence on fossil fuels, the reduction of emissions, and, ultimately, the development of a more sustainable air transport system. Emerging technologies, new operational concepts, and research will be essential to achieve this. Batteries are one of the emerging technologies that will play a key role in the electrification of aviation in the coming years. To ensure the scalability of this technology, an analysis of its possibilities, current status, and limitations is essential. The aim of this study is to carry out such an analysis, answering five key questions related to this technology: i) what is a battery?, ii) what are the key parameters of batteries?, iii) what are the possibilities of battery technology to electrify aviation?, iv) what are the main challenges to overcome?, and finally, v) how can batteries be classified? The answers to these questions will make it possible to present the state of the art of this technology, and to identify the main challenges to be addressed in its future development.

Context-Based e2e Autonomous Operation in B5G Networks.

The research and innovation related to fifth-generation (5G) networks that has been carried out in recent years has decided on the fundamentals of the smart slice in radio access networks (RANs), as well as the autonomous fixed network operation. One of the most challenging objectives of beyond 5G (B5G) and sixth-generation (6G) networks is the deployment of mechanisms that enable smart end-to-end (e2e) network operation, which is required for the achievement of the stringent service requirements of the envisioned use cases to be supported in the short term. Therefore, smart actions, such as dynamic capacity allocation, flexible functional split, and dynamic slice management need to be performed in tight coordination with the autonomous capacity management of the fixed transport network infrastructure. Otherwise, the benefits of smart slice operation (i.e., cost and energy savings while ensuring per-slice service requirements) might be cancelled due to uncoordinated autonomous fixed network operation. Notably, the transport network in charge of supporting slices from the user equipment (UE) to the core expands across access and metro fixed networks. The required coordination needs to be performed while keeping the privacy of the radio and fixed network domains, which is important in multi-tenant scenarios where both network segments are managed by different operators. In this paper, we propose a novel approach that explores the concept of context-aware network operation, where the slice control anticipates the aggregated and anonymized information of the expected slice operation that is sent to the fixed network orchestrator in an asynchronous way. The context is then used as the input for the artificial intelligence (AI)-based models used by the fixed network control for the predictive capacity management of optical connections in support of RAN slices. This context-aware network operation aims at enabling accurate and reliable autonomous fixed network operation under extremely dynamic traffic originated by smart RAN operation. The exhaustive numerical results show that slice context availability improves the benchmarking fixed network predictive methods (90% reduction in prediction maximum error) remarkably in the foreseen B5G scenarios, for both access and metro segments and in heterogeneous service demand scenarios. Moreover, context-aware network operation enables robust and efficient operation of optical networks in support of dense RAN cells (>32 base stations per cell), while the benchmarking methods fail to guarantee different operational objectives.

Drone intrusion management systems in airports: assessment of ASPRID solution

Drone intrusions pose a growing threat for the airports as their expansion is sponsored by the widespread availability of their technology and by the ongoing U-space implementation. Counter-drone systems traditionally employ a reactive policy, which implies the closure of the overall airport following an intrusion, penalizing the continuity and the resilience of airport operations. Instead, a drone intrusion management system shall ensure a resilient behaviour against drone intrusions with a proactive policy, supported by specific procedures to mitigate the impacts of intrusions. ASPRID (Airport System PRotection from Intruding Drones) is an exploratory research project to develop an innovative operational concept for managing both careless and malicious drone intrusions in airports. This work demonstrates the positive impact of the ASPRID solution for the resilient protection of airport operations against drone intrusions. Such impact is assessed by means of real-time simulations, including a gaming exercise with experts representing aerodrome stakeholders and Law Enforcement Agencies. We present here the main results of the quantitative assessment and the main feedbacks received by the experts.

Pemetaan Ilmiah Topik Penelitian Perluasan Layanan Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Trans Jateng

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is one of the types of bus-based public transportation that provides fast, convenient, and affordable urban transportation. The BRT service in Central Java is called Trans Jateng and is managed by the Transportation Agency of Central Java Province. The operational concept of Trans Jateng is to serve routes that connect urban agglomeration areas in the province of Central Java. Trans Jateng plans to develop future services grouped into service corridors based on the existing development areas in Central Java, including the Kedungsepur, Wanarakuti, Banglor, Bregasmalang, Petanglong, Subosukowonosraten, Barlingmascakeb, and Purwomanggung agglomerations. In addition to opening new corridors, the development of Trans Jateng BRT services can also be carried out by expanding existing services; therefore, a comprehensive study is essential to monitor and track the progress of the research. This paper will map the literature on service expansion, BRT, and Trans Jateng. The literature database was taken from Google Scholar and analyzed using the VOSviewer tool with a mapping of previous research. The results of this research are highly useful for understanding the current development of research on the expansion of Trans Jateng BRT services in the future.

On lower density operators

Abstract The classical density topology is an extension of the natural topology on the real line, as the interior of arbitrary Lebesgue measurable set A is contained in the set of density points of A. Also each density point of A belongs to the closure of A for arbitrary measurable set A. In this paper, we concentrate on lower density operators for which the inclusions mentioned above are not fulfilled. In the first part, examples of such lower density operators generated by measure-preserving bijections are given. There are introduced three conditions to investigate lower density operators for which only the second inclusion holds. In the second part, the concept of operator D introduced by K. Kuratowski is applied to the characterization of such operators.

Military Decision Support with Actor and Critic Reinforcement Learning Agents

While the recent advanced military operational concept requires an intelligent support of command and control, Reinforcement Learning (RL) has not been actively studied in the military domain. This study points out the limitations of RL for military applications from literature review and aims at improving the understanding of RL for military decision support under the limitations. Most of all, the black box characteristic of Deep RL makes the internal process difficult to understand in addition to complex simulation tools. A scalable weapon selection RL framework is built which can be solved either by a tabular form or a neural network form. The transition of the Deep Q-Network (DQN) solution to the tabular form makes it easier to compare the result to the Q-learning solution. Furthermore, rather than using one or two RL models selectively as before, RL models are divided as an actor and a critic, and systematically compared. A random agent, Q-learning and DQN agents as a critic, a Policy Gradient (PG) agent as an actor, Trust Region Policy Optimization (TRPO) and Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) agents as an actor-critic approach are designed, trained, and tested. The performance results show that the trained DQN and PPO agents are the best decision supporter candidates for the weapon selection RL framework.

Human-autonomy collaboration in supervisory risk control of autonomous ships

This paper presents a method for developing and testing a risk-based control system, as a first step towards including the human supervisor explicitly in the design of the system. The result is a control system with improved decision-making capabilities compared to existing control systems. The methodology presented in the paper uses the Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) to analyse the risks of an autonomous ship within its concept of operations (CONOPS), and a Human-STPA (H-STPA) is used to analyse human responsibilities and involvement. The STPA results are then used to construct a Bayesian belief network (BBN)-based risk model to assess the operational risk of the ship. This is represented as a risk cost, describing the expected cost of consequences caused by potential hazardous events. This cost is combined with fuel costs, operations costs, and the potential loss of income if new missions are not undertaken using a supervisory risk controller (SRC). The SRC is capable of making decisions about how the ship should be safely operated and notifies the human supervisor in due time when it is necessary for them to take control. The last part of the methodology presented in this paper is testing the control system using a set of verification objectives based on results from the STPA and H-STPA. A case study involving an autonomous cargo ship with a human supervisor located in a remote operation center (ROC) is included; it shows that the proposed control system can operate the ship safely in different conditions and situations. By designing the SRC to notify the human supervisor before it reaches its operational limit, the ship is able to operate in a wider range of conditions compared to when just the autonomous control system is in charge. Hence, the proposed methodology shows promising results and provides useful insights related to shared control for autonomous ships.

Implementing and Testing a U-Space System: Lessons Learnt

Within the framework of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, one of the main goals of the Labyrinth project was to develop and test the Conflict Management services of a U-space-based Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) system. The U-space concept of operations (ConOps) provides a high-level description of the architecture, requirements and functionalities of these systems, but the implementer has a certain degree of freedom in aspects like the techniques used or some policies and procedures. The current document describes some of those implementation decisions. The prototype included part of the services defined by the ConOps, namely e-identification, Tracking, Geo-awareness, Drone Aeronautical Information Management, Geo-fence Provision, Operation Plan Preparation/Optimization, Operation Plan Processing, Strategic Conflict Resolution, Tactical Conflict Resolution, Emergency Management, Monitoring, Traffic Information and Legal Recording. Moreover, a Web app interface was developed for the operator/pilot. The system was tested in simulations and real visual line of sight (VLOS) and beyond VLOS (BVLOS) flights, with both vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and fixed-wing platforms, while assisting final users interested in incorporating drones to support their tasks. The development and testing of the environment provided lessons at different levels: functionalities, compatibility, procedures, information, usability, ground control station (GCS) integration and aircrew roles.

Sustainability and the new genesis of constitutionalism in the 21st century

Despite the advances that constitutionalism and humanism have made, the 20th century also saw an increase in individualism and anthropocentrism, resulting in a potentially irreversible global environmental crisis. It is in this context and in order to tackle these issues that the ethical and legal-political paradigm of sustainability has emerged. The general aim of this paper is therefore to characterize it as the structuring principle of the new genesis of constitutionalism. The specific objectives are to demonstrate its influence on the entire legal-political system, the overcoming of its anthropocentric concept, the re-reading of dignity and the new ownership of rights and the emergence of the Sustainable State. The new constitutional pact must go beyond the limitation of state power that benefits only the human person, conferring dignity on the entire ecosystem. The methodology used was the inductive method, with the techniques of reference, categories, operational concepts, fiching and bibliographical research.

On Equivalence Operators Derived from Overlap and Grouping Functions

This paper introduces the concept of equivalence operators based on overlap and grouping functions where the associativity property is not strongly required. Overlap functions and grouping functions are weaker than positive and continuous t-norms and t-conorms, respectively. Therefore, these equivalence operators do not necessarily satisfy certain properties, such as associativity and the neutrality principle. In this paper, two models of fuzzy equivalence operators are obtained by the composition of overlap functions, grouping functions and fuzzy negations. Their main properties are also studied.

Pendidikan Koperasi dalam Memahami Konsep Dasar Operasional Koperasi Syariah pada Koperasi Simpan Pinjam dan Pembiayaan Syariah Baitul Maal Wattamwil Forsitama Kabupaten Sleman Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

Sharia cooperatives in carrying out operations must be in accordance with sharia principles, this is the basic operational concept for Sharia cooperatives so that every business carried out does not conflict with Sharia principles so that it brings blessings to cooperative managers, members, and the community. This is what administrators and managers of Sharia cooperatives need to understand, namely through cooperative education, one of which is organized by the Sharia Savings and Loans and Financing Cooperative (KSPPS) Baitul Maal Wattamwil (BMT) Forsitama, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region. The aim of implementing this cooperative education is to provide an understanding of the basic operational concepts of sharia cooperatives for administrators and managers of KSPPS BMT Forsitama, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta so that they are able to increase knowledge for managing sharia cooperatives. The method used in cooperative education is the lecture method which is assisted by showing visual material, followed by questions and answers and discussions to solve problems that arise, accompanied by solutions. Through this cooperative education, the administrators and managers of KSPPS BMT Forsitama, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region have been able to understand the basic operational concepts of sharia cooperatives, namely using contracts. musyarak muwafadhah with the principle of ta'awun or mutual cooperation which refers to the sources of Islamic Law (the Al-Qur'an and Hadith), the Fatwa of the National Sharia Council of the Indonesian Ulema Council and the laws and regulations in force in Indonesia.

Fuzzy counterparts of partial hull operators in the theory of L-convex systems

In this paper, we provide some new characterizations of L-convex systems. For this purpose, we first introduce the concept of partial hull operators and establish the categorical relationship between partial hull operators and convex systems. Then we abstract the relationship between a subset and its partially convex hull in convex system to a binary relation, called enclosed relation. Moreover, we prove that the enclosed relations are equivalent to convex systems. Subsequently, we generalize the concept of partial hull operators and enclosed relations to the fuzzy case, which will be called L-partial hull operators and L-enclosed relations respectively. Finally we explore the categorical isomorphisms between them.

After truth, after shame … after information politics? Rethinking the epistemologies of human rights in the digital-authoritarian conjuncture

ABSTRACT Since the contemporary, mainstream human rights movement rose to prominence in the late-1970s, both knowing about and doing human rights has been marked by a very particular mode of activism, information politics, which mobilises ‘brute' facts with the aim of shaming governments into reform. However, this article suggests that the global rise of the far-right has intertwined with reactionary forms of digital culture, engendering both the retreat of shame as an operative concept in global affairs and nourished a growing ‘post-truth' suspicion of facts. The article theorises this problem as a conjunctural shift that represents both a political and epistemological crisis for human rights. Following the lead of debates within Science and Technology Studies (STS) and media studies, I contend that the present conjuncture requires us to consider what comes after information politics by re-imagining its epistemological basis. The article brings together Donna Haraway's theoretical work on ‘Situated Knowledges', with Maurizio Lazzarato’s political epistemology to develop a more perspectival, combative approach to human rights knowledge-making. I argue this epistemic framework is able not only to navigate key problems posed by the digital-authoritarian present but also to address many issues with information politics identified by earlier critics.

A hybrid mixed‐cells DC‐DC modular multilevel converter with balanced arm energy and DC fault blocking capability for high voltage direct current systems

SummaryDC‐DC converters play a vital role in the integration of renewable energy sources. Modular multilevel converter (MMC) has emerged as a highly promising option for high‐voltage high‐power applications, for DC‐AC and DC‐DC conversion, thanks to its distinctive characteristics. An inherent limitation of using traditional MMC in DC‐DC conversion is the occurrence of arm energy drift, leading to imbalanced voltages across capacitors of submodules (SMs). Many approaches have been presented in the literature to address the energy drift issue during DC‐DC conversion process. In this paper, a novel bidirectional hybrid modular multilevel DC‐DC converter with balanced arm energy has been proposed. The proposed converter consists of one high‐voltage valve and two legs. Each leg is equipped with half‐bridge submodules (HB‐SMs) in the upper arm and full‐bridge submodules (FB‐SMs) in the lower arm. The proposed architecture enables the parallel connection between series‐connected capacitors of the upper arm and series‐connected capacitors of the lower arm during the equalization period. The parallel connectivity enables the energy transfer between the upper and lower arms in the same leg, hence preventing energy drift issues. A detailed illustration of converter operational concept, mathematical analysis, design, and efficiency estimation are presented. The presented simulation and experimental results show the bidirectional power flow ability and the promising behavior of the proposed converter during normal operating conditions with balanced arm energy. Finally, a comparison between the proposed converter and other existing topologies has been made to show the superiority of the proposed converter over the other alternatives. The proposed converter has a lower count of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and eliminates the usage of isolating transformers when compared to the energy equalization modules approach. In addition, unlike the other alternatives, the proposed converter has a DC fault blocking capability.

Application of Linear Mixed-Effect Modeling for the Analysis of Human-in-the-Loop Simulation Experiments

A real-time human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation is a crucial validation activity in the life cycle of air traffic management operational concept development. When planning HITL simulations, however, researchers face a series of experimental design constraints that often limit the application of advanced statistical data analyses. Linear mixed-effects modeling (LMEM) is a multiple regression analysis technique that is comparatively flexible in considering the covariance present in repeated measures data. This paper aims to make LMEM better known to applied researchers in the field of aviation research, particularly those applying HITL. For this purpose, the building steps of LMEM, the output, and model-fit tests are explained based on data obtained from an Airbus 320 flight simulation study that examined the impact of two different wake separation schemes on either a final approach or a departure path on the pilots’ perceived severity of a wake-vortex impact. The experimental setup involved six experimental factors that were not fully crossed, had an unbalanced number of repeats per pilot, and contained missing data. This prevented the use of the more traditional repeated measures analysis of variance. The LMEM was able to handle this and could explicitly test the study hypotheses with statistical confidence.

METHODOLOGY FOR ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM

This academic article introduces a pioneering methodology for the comprehensive assessment of air defense systems, addressing existing shortcomings in evaluation approaches. The subject of this study revolves around the development and implementation of an advanced methodology for assessing air defense systems. еThe primary aim is to rectify existing evaluation shortcomings by introducing a holistic model that significantly enhances both efficiency and effectiveness in the evaluation of air defense systems. This methodology incorporates critical elements such as system description, mission, objectives, combat environment, threat, and concept. By explicitly considering factors like system flexibility, survivability, and operational concepts, the study surpasses traditional evaluations, providing a nuanced understanding of the capabilities inherent in air defense systems. The methodology places particular emphasis on the importance of threat analysis, addressing uncertainties related to enemy forces and tactics. Additionally, the study introduces an innovative evaluation model employing tactical scenarios to assess system reliability, availability, and durability, integrating combat environment factors and potential adversary combat options. The research contributes to the academic discourse by providing a systematic and thorough approach to air defense system evaluation, tailored to the complexities of modern warfare and in alignment with the evolving military and technological landscapes. The article suggests avenues for future research to delve into nuanced criteria selection and aggregation methods, aiming to further refine the proposed evaluation methodology.