Radio Aids Research Articles

Understanding the sound environments of young children: potential implications for radio aid use

ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to describe, analyse and compare the sound environments to which deaf and typically hearing children between 3 and 18 months are typically exposed, and identify issues to support the development of guidelines for the use of radio aids in this age group. Thirty parents of children aged 3–18 months (14 deaf children and 16 who were typically hearing) took part. An online survey was devised for this study and was intended to capture the “soundscape” (sounds in the environment) to which both deaf and typically hearing children between 3 and 18 months were usually exposed in their everyday lives at multiple points during the day. The purpose of the survey was to map everyday routine experiences and interactions with their families to assess auditory access and environmental awareness or unawareness. Conceptual content analysis was used to evaluate participant descriptions of sound environments. Differences in child awareness of sound and distances between children and their parents were also analysed. Results showed that both deaf and typically hearing children experience rich and complex soundscapes with plenty of opportunities for learning about the world. Parents of deaf children changed their child’s sound environment compared to parents of typically hearing children, particularly at home, in order to provide easier listening conditions. However, deaf children were often in noisy environments where hearing aids or cochlear implants alone were unlikely to be providing good access to speech and other salient sounds, and radio aids may be beneficial in these circumstances.

A DNN-orchestrated cognitive radio-based power control scheme for D2D communication

Device-to-device (D2D) communication demonstrates its efficacy across diverse domains, including military, surveillance, public safety, disaster management, content sharing, and local advertising, through its provision of proximity-based connections. Moreover, it elevates data rates, spectrum efficiency, and network throughput with efficient resource allocation while simultaneously reducing latency. However, it encounters challenges related to unregulated high-power consumption, leading to interference in D2D communication. Hence, in this paper, we proposed a deep neural network (DNN) and cognitive radio-driven efficient power control scheme for D2D communication. The proposed scheme operates in two distinct phases: the cognitive radio and the DNN-based phase. In this context, cognitive radio aids in selecting secondary users or cellular mobile equipment (CUE) through energy detection spectrum sensing. Subsequently, the DNN model is employed to optimize the transmission power of CUE in D2D communication. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme is assessed through various metrics, including loss, optimizers, learning rates, and sum rates.

Duration and extent of solar X-ray flares and shortwave fadeouts likely to impact high frequency radio wave propagation based on an evaluation of absorption at 30 MHz

High frequency (HF; 3–30 MHz) radio wave propagation can be impacted by absorption that results from enhanced photoionization in the dayside D-region following a solar X-ray flare. A database of >25,000 solar X-ray flares was evaluated to characterize the relationship between flare duration and the peak of the 0.1–0.8 nm solar X-ray flux. Expressions describing the mean and 90th percentile duration were developed. Based on these models, mean durations of 13, 18, 27, and 39 min and 90th percentile durations of 30, 48, 77, and 123 min are expected for C1, M1, X1 and X10 solar X-ray flares, respectively. A probability distribution of flare durations was developed to describe the probability of flare duration lasting 0–15, 15–30, 30–45, 45–60, 60–90, >90 min. In addition to flare duration, the duration of the expected impact to HF radio waves was evaluated. By considering examples where HF radio wave propagation in the 5–15 MHz range was impacted by space weather, a 0.5 dB threshold at 30 MHz was observed in samples of riometer data. Absorption modelled at 1-min increments from 1986 to 2017 was evaluated to create a probability distribution of impact duration, defined as the length of time the modelled 30 MHz absorption exceeded 0.5 dB during a single event. Modelled absorption was further evaluated to demonstrate the geographic extent of enhanced absorption, and to determine the minimum solar X-ray flux required to exceed the 0.5 dB impact threshold at a given latitude as a function of solar zenith angle and time of year. The results of this paper provide a better understanding of the impact of solar X-ray flares on high frequency radio wave propagation and aid in the development of tools and services for mitigating space weather impacts to systems that rely on HF radio wave propagation.

Software Safety Assurance in Non-airborne GPS-based Landing Aids

This paper investigates the software standard DO-278A from the RTCA according to assurance level 3 to provide a concept for approving software of ground-based navigation aids. For this purpose, related literature and standards were reviewed and evaluated for their applicability for proposing such a concept. The resulting approval concept shows our approach for conducting the development process according to DO-278A based on a traditional one and focusing on an activity schedule. Therefore, the paper offers preliminary considerations at first to show the relation between system and software development. In addition, corresponding standards that are related to the development are presented as well. The concept is segmented in three main phases for software planning, realization, and verification, which are subdivided and scheduled in specific activities. Each activity consists of an outline describing the contents expected by DO-278A and our approach to organizing them. This paper shows our conceptional approach to obtain an approval for software according to DO-278A. This concept is prepared to approve a radio navigation aid.

К ВОПРОСУ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ ЗАКОНА АБЕРРАЦИИ В РАДИОНАВИГАЦИИ И АВИАЦИОННОМ НАБЛЮДЕНИИ

The author analyzes the potential use of the aberration law which describes the deviation of measured parameters of an observed object as it changes its position relative to the observer. The law was studied in terms of its application in radio navigation and aircraft surveillance. During research the author obtained dependences of deviations of observable and real (true) characteristics of an observed object for such aids of radio-technical support of flights as a primary radar, distance measuring equipment (DME) and a ground station of automatic dependent surveillance. In doing so, the speed of the observed object was set equal to 250 m/s (typical for existing airplanes) and 600 m/s (specific for perspective supersonic airplanes). It follows from the calculations that the aberration effect cannot be detected for determining slant range or pulse duration tasks due to the imperfection of the existing measuring instruments. However, the aberration effect can be detected in the tasks of determining the time interval between probing pulses of the primary radar or automatic dependent surveillance messages, as well as in the determination of the frequency of the DME signal. This is achieved due to a sufficiently large dynamic range of the measured values. For the method of evaluating the aberration effect given in the paper the author performed estimation of the sensitivity to the errors of the measured value and the velocity of the observed object. The research confirmed possibility to apply the law of aberration in practice for radio navigation aids and aircraft surveillance, which can increase accuracy of position-fixing and determination of aircraft movement parameters as well as to expand capabilities of the available equipment.

A Review of Modern Thermal Imaging Sensor Technology and Applications for Autonomous Aerial Navigation.

Limited navigation capabilities of many current robots and UAVs restricts their applications in GPS denied areas. Large aircraft with complex navigation systems rely on a variety of sensors including radio frequency aids and high performance inertial systems rendering them somewhat resistant to GPS denial. The rapid development of computer vision has seen cameras incorporated into small drones. Vision-based systems, consisting of one or more cameras, could arguably satisfy both size and weight constraints faced by UAVs. A new generation of thermal sensors is available that are lighter, smaller and widely available. Thermal sensors are a solution to enable navigation in difficult environments, including in low-light, dust or smoke. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive literature review of thermal sensors integrated into navigation systems. Furthermore, the physics and characteristics of thermal sensors will also be presented to provide insight into challenges when integrating thermal sensors in place of conventional visual spectrum sensors.

Pilot-administered anaesthesia and the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia: An interview with Captain Keith Galloway.

The lack of radio navigational aids in early Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft in Australia occasionally resulted in aircraft being stranded at a remote site with a critically injured patient due to weather and other conditions. For a brief period in the 1950s, at least one Royal Flying Doctor Service pilot was trained to administer anaesthesia to critically ill patients who could not be immediately evacuated. The aim of this paper is to describe the circumstances in which this arose and how it worked in practice. This is based largely on the recollections of pilot anaesthetist Captain Keith Galloway, who shared his recollections during interviews with the authors.

МЕТОДИКА ОПРЕДЕЛЕНИЯ ЗОНЫ ЗАПРЕТА РАЗМЕЩЕНИЯ ОБЪЕКТОВ НА ПРИАЭРОДРОМНЫХ ТЕРРИТОРИЯХ ПО УРОВНЮ ЭЛЕКТРОМАГНИТНОГО ВОЗДЕЙСТВИЯ НА НАСЕЛЕНИЕ И ОПЫТ ЕЕ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ

The method of defining the object free zones on close-to-aerodrome territories is calculation based on the data of electromagnetic fields from radio landing aids and air-ground communication stations. The core of it is division of the antenna surface into Huygens wavelets with subsequent summing up the radiation field from all wavelets at a specified point. The method can be used to construct the lines of equal peak and equivalent EMF strength levels that do not exceed admissible values on their outer boundary and beyond, and to substantiate measures intended to assure sanitary-epidemiological wellbeing on close-to-aerodrome territory.

A comparative study between ILS and GBAS approaches: The case of Viseu airfield

Purpose: The article aims to show the viability of installing a precision-based approach system in Viseu airfield, in Portugal. This work looks to evidence to what extent the implementation of ILS (Instrument Landing System) or GBAS (Ground Based Augmentation System) in the airfield is viable, and which of the two would be the better option for this case, from a technical and economic view and as a way to increase safety levels.Design/methodology/approach: The article analyses the airfield’s evolution over time and forecasts its movements for the future, over a 10-year period, by utilising two different models: multiple linear regression and IATA traffic forecasts. The different types of airfield taxes were also reviewed and their values were estimated for the following years. The equipment’s technical aspects and individual prices were analysed to accurately determine the time needed for the airfield to recover the investment done, allied with an 80% funding European project.Findings: Approach systems are being modernized, and throughout the years more airports and airfields are starting to replace old approach systems for satellite-based new ones. When compared to ILS, GBAS offers more advantages at a technical and economic level, and even for smaller airfields with a low traffic volume, sometimes it can be technically and economically possible to have such systems implemented.Originality/value: Studies about the implementation of new radio aids are usually prepared for big airports by airport operators or ANSPs before major investment projects. However, for most small regional airports in the country, where traffic is not near as big, such studies don’t exist, and for that reason, investigating the possibility of installing such kind of equipment is very important, especially taking into consideration the safety they provide and other benefits that naturally come up with it.

Co-design Structure of Dual-Band LNA and Dual-Band BPF for Radio Navigation Aid Application

In this paper, a co-design of a dual-band low-noise amplifier (DB-LNA) with a dual-band band-pass filter (DB-BPF) for a radio navigation aid (RNA) application was proposed. The novel development was that the DB-LNA was directly integrated with the DB-BPF instead of connecting the output matching network (OMN) of the DB-LNA to the 50 Ω-port of the DB-BPF. Thus, this DB-BPF had a double function, serving as the DB-BPF and also as the OMN. This architecture was called the co-design structure. ZIN analysis was used to evaluate the co-design network structure. In general, the design procedure was divided into four sections, including (1) DB-BPF, (2) DB-LNA, (3) Cascade DB-LNA and DB-BPF, and (4) Co-design DB-LNA and DB-BPF. The co-design method was applied in an RNA implementation at dual-band frequencies of 113 MHz and 332 MHz. Validation of the proposed structure is confirmed for its accuracy by simulating the impedance characteristic ZIN, S parameter simulation, and measurement results. The key contributions of this paper were that: (1) The co-design structure could reduce the passive component by 31.5%, (2) the total size of the DB-LNA and DB-BPF using the co-design method was smaller than the cascaded method by 11.36%, (3) more light-weight in fabrication due to a smaller size, and (4) finally, the proposed LNA has a higher figure of merit than the other LNA.

Study on the Influence of Port Coastal Light Pollution on Visual Navigation

Shang, H.N., 2020. Study on the influence of port coastal light pollution on visual navigation. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 250-252. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Navigation aids are navigation aids for the safety of ships. They are divided into three categories: visual navigation aids, audio navigation aids and radio navigation aids. It provides reliable navigation safety guarantee for water transportation, fishery, marine development and national defense construction, and provides reliable navigation safety guarantee for the establishment of safe economic passage at sea and inside sea, which is an important part of the maritime Silk Road. Visual navigation aids are the most basic navigation aids, sound navigation aids only play a warning role, radio navigation aids have developed into a modern all-weather navigation aids system, especially the popularization of satellite navigation technology, put forward higher requirements for visual navigation aids.

Parents' awareness of disaster plans in children's early learning settings.

Children in early learning settings are vulnerable to site-specific emergencies because of physical and developmental limitations. We examined parents' knowledge of disaster plans in their child's early learning settings. In May 2015, we conducted a nationally representative online household survey, including parents of children ages 0-5 years in child care settings. Parents were asked about their center's disaster plans and key components: evacuation, special needs children, and disaster supplies. Bivariate analyses and logistic regression were conducted to identify factors associated with parental awareness of disaster plans. Overall, 1,413 of 2,550 parents responded (rate = 55 percent). Sample included 1,119 parents of children 0-5 years old, with 24 percent (n = 264) requiring child care. Parents' reported knowledge of five types of disaster plans: evacuation (66 percent), power outage (63 percent), severe weather (62 percent), lock-down (57 percent), and delayed parent pick-up (57 percent). Only 21 percent reported if plans included all four key components of evacuation (child identification, parent identification, rapid communication, and extra car seats). One-third (36 percent) reported plans accommodating special needs children. Parents' knowledge of disaster supplies varied: generator (31 percent), radio (42 percent), water (57 percent), food (60 percent), and first aid (82 percent). Parents attending any disaster training events (34 percent) were more likely to be aware of all five types of disaster plans compared with parents who had not attended. Many parents were unaware of disaster plans at their children's early learning settings. Although few parents attended training events, such participation was associated with higher levels of parental awareness.

SPECIFICS OF COMPLEXING OF NAVIGATION INFORMATION FROM SATELLITE AND ABOVE-WATER BENCHMARKS IN THE APPARATUS OF THE MARINE CONSUMER

The issue of ensuring the necessary stability and the required accuracy of positioning of the marine consumer is reviewed. To increase the stability of the navigation sighting process, it is proposed to combine high-precision navigation with the help of the space navigation system with above-water radio navigation aids (RNAs) placed on mobile carriers. The application of the latter will make it possible to compensate the degradation of the geometric factor in the problem of navigation sighting in an arbitrary point on the water surface. As a consumer, it is possible to consider a device towed by a cable rope and, designed to solve navigation-related problems with respect to a stand-alone submersible facility of the system for monitoring and managing engineering processes of exploration and production of minerals, maintenance of underwater pipelines and engineering facilities located in an arbitrary area. To ensure an acceptable range of navigation with the use of mobile above-water RNAs, it is proposed to use emission in medium-wave band. Specificity and techniques of implementation of navigation activities in the selected range have been analyzed in detail, which enabled the authors to develop specific technical recommendations and formulate accuracy estimates of the consumer positioning for multiple conditions for application of the proposed solutions.

Secure Energy Harvesting Relay Networks With Unreliable Backhaul Connections

Wireless backhaul is a cost-effective and flexible alternative to wired backhaul, yet it suffers from unreliability. This paper studies the secrecy performance of a relay network with such unreliable wireless backhaul. Bernoulli process is adopted to model the wireless backhaul reliability. In the network, a relay employing time-switching-based radio frequency harvesting technique aids in forwarding the signal from the best transmitter. An eavesdropper, which is able to wiretap signals from both the transmitter and the relay, uses selection combining to maximize its received signal-to-noise ratio. Analytical expressions for secrecy outage probability, ergodic secrecy rate and non-zero achievable secrecy rate are derived, which can reveal the effect of the number of transmitters and backhaul reliability on the system performance. Furthermore, for the first time the impact of energy harvesting time fraction upon secrecy performances under unreliable backhaul is presented.

Availability estimation of navigation aids

Ground network of waypoints has been commonly used for different navigation tasks. Detection and positioning of aircraft location line in 3D airspace are the most important of them. Aircraft location determination by signals from ground-based waypoints is a part of alternative positioning algorithms in flight management system. A new method of radio navigation aids availability in particular airspace volume has been represented in paper. It includes cylindrical model of NAVAIDS service volume according to three basic types: Terminal, Low altitude and High Altitude. Proposed method uses digital elevation model of terrain data for detection of radio sight line and availability estimation in 3D space of NAVAIDS. The simple model of diffraction process was considered to increase accuracy of the method. However, diffraction model has been used only for peaks of relief. Represented method has been used for availability areas estimation of VOR and DME waypoints network for Ukrainian airspace. Availability areas of waypoints were highlighted in contour lines according to data in Aeronautical Information Publication. Also, the total number of NAVAIDS combination was estimated and indicated in contour graph for region.

WAYS OF NAVIGATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CNS/ATM CONCEPT

The general development principles of the civil aviation air navigation systems for the next years according to the concept of International Civil Aviation Organization (IСAO) CNS/ATM are stated in the article. It was reflected in the Global air navigation plan of IСAO accepted in 2013. The author considered the structure of block modernization of aviation system directed to optimization according to four main characteristics, such as: operations at the airports; systems and data interoperable on a global scale; optimum capacity and flexible flight routes, and also effective trajectories of flight. At the same time the main attention in the plan is paid to questions of the performance based navigation (PBN), the basic theses of which lean on four main units that make the concept of PBN. The possible ways of the specified blocks implementation taking into account features of the Russian Federation airspace use are considered in this paper. On the basis of the carried-out analysis conclusions are drawn on gradual transition from the RNAV navigation specifications to the RNP specifications, on increase in accuracy of navigation by modernization of ground radio navigational aids, both on a flight route and airspace of airfield area, on need of continuing the development of inexact calling schemes, using GNSS, with the subsequent transition to schemes of exact landing approaches by means of functional additions to GLONASS – GBAS and SBAS, also on the need of opportunities research in the domestic system SBAS (SDKM) for the increase in accuracy of navigation at various stages of flight. At the same time, standard instrument routes of arrival and departure (SID/STAR) have to be carried out in the mode of constant climb or continuous descent.

Effects of Radio-Transmitters on Body Condition, Harvest Rate, and Survival of Bobwhites

Numerous studies of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) population and habitat ecology employ use of radio-telemetry techniques to relocate and monitor individuals. Radio-telemetry enables estimation of reproductive success, survival, movements, and home range at levels of resolution not otherwise possible. Unbiased estimation of these parameters via radio-telemetry assumes that survival, reproduction, and behavior of radio-marked individuals are not affected by carrying the radio-transmitter. These assumptions have not been rigorously tested for bobwhites. In 1993, we initiated a study at Divide Section Wildlife Management Area in Mississippi and at Tall Timbers Research Station to test the effects of radio-transmitters on survival, harvest rate, and body condition of bobwhites. From 1993 to 1996 we banded 221 and radio-marked 259 bobwhites on Tall Timbers Research Station. Harvest rate for radio-marked bobwhites was 18.5% and banded birds 12.7%. In 2 of 3 years, radio-marked birds experienced greater mean weight loss between capture and harvest than banded birds. From 1994 to 1995 we radio marked 188 and banded 210 birds on Divide Section Wildlife Management Area. Harvest rate for radio-marked birds was 40% and banded birds 30%. In the 1995-1996 hunting season radiomarked birds had lower mean weight gain from capture to harvest than banded birds. Based on our sample of marked birds, 34% of the fall population on this area was harvested. We have established a captive breeding colony of wild bobwhites at the Blackjack Captive Animal Research Facility at Mississippi State University. During the summer of 1996, genetically wild progeny are being produced to be used in a pen study to evaluate the effects of radio-transmitters on bobwhite body weight and lipid levels under abundant and scarce food resources. This study will provide the first harvest rate estimates for bobwhites on a public hunting area in Mississippi. Additionally, this study will evaluate the effects of radio-transmitters on bobwhite body condition, survival, and harvest rate. It will either validate the assumption of no radio effects and aid interpretation of previous and future radio studies or elucidate critical violations of fundamental assumptions of this methodology. If radio effects are detected, this study will identify the specific mechanisms creating bias in estimation of population parameters. This information will enable researchers to target radio design problems and develop new radio technology with reduced effects. Preliminary results suggest that radio-marking may marginally increase bobwhite vulnerability to harvest and potentially predation.

THE MODERNIZED METHOD OF A MIXED TECHNICAL STATE CONTROL SYSTEM FORMATION BASED ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF RADIO AIDS COMPLEXES

During the operation of the machinery, units and blocks are constantly affected by a number of characteristics which influence its technical condition (TС) in different ways. The choice of the radio engineering complexes of automation equipment technical state control method for air traffic control (ATC) is determined by a number of constructive, technological and operational characteristics. The effect of operational characteristics on objects TС is reflected in the form of deviations from the nominal values of their parameters. The stochastic nature and the variety of the operational characteristics impacts on the automation equipment complexes lead to the fact that for the same runtime or duration of operation the objects have different actual TC. The operational characteristics of the automation equipment complexes have a number of properties, which can significantly influence the choice of the TC control method. The technical operation of the automation equipment complexes is characterized by the presence of the changing objective process of the TC and the subjective technical maintenance process, which is a sequential in time change of various states in accordance with the transition scheme. The proposed modernized method of a mixed technical state control system formation is based on the decomposition of radio aids complexes and it provides the opportunity to take into account not only the rank (significance), which characterize the relative importance of the characteristics, but also the influence of the properties of these characteristics in the choice of the TC control methods.

Correlation of Virtual Aids to Navigation to the Physical Environment

Virtual electronic aids to navigation are being introduced into the present short range aids to navigation system in the form of Automated Information System radio-based aids. Research is also underway into the development of their equivalents for use in regions that feature hostile environments, are poorly charted and lack any infrastructure whatsoever to support traditional or radio navigation aids. Such aids are entirely virtual in nature and exist only as a digital data object that resides within an electronic navigation chart for display to mariners through an Electronic Chart Display and Information System. They are at present experimental in nature, and are not intended to replace existing physical or radio-based aids to navigation. Results of research are described in terms of fulfilling traditional navigation aid functions and the development of new functions that are only possible using virtual aids. Their advantages in design and implementation are highlighted, as are their limitations and shortcomings as compared to present methodologies. Notable, however, is the approach used to overcome limitations and shortcomings by considering attributes of the physical environment to ensure their proper location and display of correct characteristics. Such an approach is unique in the modern world, yet it emulates ancient methods of navigation using known landmarks and terrain features.

Low-Cost Measurement for a Secondary Mode S Radar Transmitter

A low-cost, multiple-purpose, and high-precision timing test setup for the measurements of secondary Mode S radar transmission signal was proposed. The goal was to fully guarantee compliance of the proposed transmitter under test with the really hard International Civil Aircraft Organization requirements using traditional measurement equipment, which was difficult or even impossible to ensure up to now. The low-cost structure proposed in this paper allows the user to perform measurements independently of the measurements performed by the pieces of test equipment shelled by the manufacturer of radar, which is a very important aspect since the independence of the verifications is a mandatory requirement established by the safety standards of civil aviation. The proposed setup has been used to verify several transmitters with some defects that are not detected by monopulse secondary surveillance radar specific pieces of test equipment that are focused on more high-level functionalities. It also is valid and it has been used, as a general-purpose setup, for testing other radio navigation aids.