Reconfigurable User Research Articles

An Open and Reconfigurable User Interface to Manage Complex ROS-based Robotic Systems

An Open and Reconfigurable User Interface to Manage Complex ROS-based Robotic Systems

Graphene‐based multimode inspired frequency reconfigurable user terminal antenna for satellite communication

This study proposes a graphene conductive ink printed textile-based microstrip antenna capable of switching between S-band (3.03 GHz, TM 10 mode) and C-band (5.17 GHz, TM 02 mode and 6.13 GHz, TM 20 mode). The graphene conductive ink printed textile shows surface resistance of 2.7 Ω Sq. -1 , conductivity of 0.37 × 105 Sm -1 and excellent microstructural characteristics, which makes it suitable to be used as a metal sheet to fabricate the antenna structure. To overcome the low-conductivity issue of graphene conductive ink, a multilayered substrate approach is utilised to improve radiation performances of the antenna. A peak realised gain of 2.09 dBi and radiation efficiency of 74% is achieved at the dominant mode (3.03 GHz). The frequency reconfigurability is introduced by exciting the higher order modes, TM 02 and TM 20 through two different feeding locations. The excitation of ports is controlled through a radio frequency (RF) pin diode switch integrated microstrip transmission line. Subsequently, the proposed structure is further designed using copper foil of thickness (17 μm) and a comparative analysis of graphene-based and copper-based antennas is presented. The proposed antenna performs substantially well in terms of peak realised gain and radiation efficiency compared with that of the existing graphene-based antenna and the performance deviation with respect to the copper based antenna is lowered significantly.

A user configurable data acquisition and signal processing system for high-rate, high channel count applications

Real-time signal processing in plasma fusion experiments is required for control and for data reduction as plasma pulse times grow longer. The development time and cost for these high-rate, multichannel signal processing systems can be significant. This paper proposes a new digital signal processing (DSP) platform for the data acquisition system that will allow users to easily customize real-time signal processing systems to meet their individual requirements.The D-TACQ reconfigurable user in-line DSP (DRUID) system carries out the signal processing tasks in hardware co-processors (CPs) implemented in an FPGA, with an embedded microprocessor (μP) for control. In the fully developed platform, users will be able to choose co-processors from a library and configure programmable parameters through the μP to meet their requirements.The DRUID system is implemented on a Spartan 6 FPGA, on the new rear transition module (RTM-T), a field upgrade to existing D-TACQ digitizers.As proof of concept, a multiply-accumulate (MAC) co-processor has been developed, which can be configured as a digital chopper-integrator for long pulse magnetic fusion devices. The DRUID platform allows users to set options for the integrator, such as the number of masking samples. Results from the digital integrator are presented for a data acquisition system with 96 channels simultaneously acquiring data at 500kSamples/s per channel.

A radiation-hardened SOI-based FPGA

A radiation-hardened SRAM-based field programmable gate array VS1000 is designed and fabricated with a 0.5 μm partial-depletion silicon-on-insulator logic process at the CETC 58th Institute. The new logic cell (LC), with a multi-mode based on 3-input look-up-table (LUT), increases logic density about 12% compared to a traditional 4-input LUT The logic block (LB), consisting of 2 LCs, can be used in two functional modes: LUT mode and distributed read access memory mode. The hierarchical routing channel block and switch block can significantly improve the flexibility and routability of the routing resource. The VS1000 uses a CQFP208 package and contains 392 reconfigurable LCs, 112 reconfigurable user I/Os and IEEE 1149.1 compatible with boundary-scan logic for testing and programming. The function test results indicate that the hardware and software cooperate successfully and the VS1000 works correctly. Moreover, the radiation test results indicate that the VS1000 chip has total dose tolerance of 100 krad(Si), a dose rate survivability of 1.5 × 1011 rad(Si)/s and a neutron fluence immunity of 1 × 1014 n/cm2.

Architecture and enablers for optimized radio resource usage in heterogeneous wireless access networks: The IEEE 1900.4 Working Group

Over the past decade or so, the wireless industry has undergone many significant changes. Radio systems have moved toward forming heterogeneous wireless networks: collaborations of multiple radio access networks, which in some cases operate different radio access technologies, such as second- and third-generation cellular RATs, IEEE 802.x wireless standards, and so on. On the other hand, multimode reconfigurable user devices with the ability to choose among various supported RATs have become a reality, and devices and networks with dynamic spectrum access capabilities, allowing real-time sharing of spectrum resource usage among different systems, are expected to be a part of the future radio eco-space. As a result of these changes, there is a need to develop a standard that addresses the requirements and leverages the opportunities posed by such a versatile radio environment. To this end, IEEE 1900.4 aims to standardize the overall system architecture and information exchange between the network and mobile devices, which will allow these elements to optimally choose from available radio resources. In other words, the standard facilitates the distributed dynamic optimization of the usage of spectrum offered by the heterogeneous wireless network, relying on a collaborative information exchange between networks and mobile devices, thereby acting as a common means to improve overall composite capacity and quality of service for the served networks. This article provides a snapshot of IEEE P1900.4 in its current form, covering the scope and purpose of the standard, reference use cases for which the standard is applicable, its system and functional architectures, and finally, the information model for its main interfaces.

Benefits of a Reconfigurable Software GNSS Receiver in Multipath Environment

The increased interest for applications based on both navigation and communication systems, represents an important driver for the design and implementation of innovative receivers architectures. The realization of civil GPS applications, the advent of the European navigation system Galileo, and the integration of localization services in communication network make the reconfigurability an indispensable requirement for the development of innovative Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) platforms. In addition, it must be pointed out that several problem as indoor positioning and multipath recovery, are pushing the research activity in order to provide users of flexible devices able to adapt their functionalities according to the environment. Considering this complex scenario, the Software Defined Radio (SDR) approach constitutes an interesting perspective to develop modular architectures. In this paper, the implementation of a reconfigurable user terminal integrating both navigation and communication capabilities will be discussed. The work will be presented focusing the attention on software-designed functionalities and the Navigation Unit will be analyzed and tested. An example of adaptability of the receiver to the operating environment will be presented. The reconfigurable module for multipath mitigation in the tracking phase will be described with particular attention to the implementation aspect, and some simulation results will be presented.

Dynamically reconfigurable vision-based user interfaces

We describe a system that supports practical, vision-based user interfaces, addressing the issues of a usable interaction paradigm, support for application developers, and support for application deployment in real-world environments. Interfaces are defined as configurations of predefined interactive widgets that can be moved from one surface to another. Complex interfaces can be dynamically reconfigured, changing both form and location on the fly, because the functional definition of the interface is decoupled from the specification of its location in the environment. We illustrate the power of such an architecture in the context of projected interactive displays.

Evolution toward reconfigurable user equipment

To date, research into reconfigurable mobile communications has predominantly focused on the software radio concept, and specifically on the hardware technologies required to move physical layer processing into a programmable environment. Although an interesting and necessary challenge, this only represents a fraction of the overall support and technology required to realize the potential of the concept. Other necessary developments include network/terminal cooperation for seamless interstandard handoff, QoS management, a secure software download mechanism, terminal software architecture supporting reconfiguration, configuration management, capability negotiation, and so on. Summarizing results from early project deliverables from a European Research project, IST-TRUST (Transparently Reconfigurable Ubiquitous Terminal), this article describes the likely overall system environment and the key technical challenges to be researched for realizing a reconfigurable terminal to meet the needs of users within that environment.

Reconfigurable terminals: an overview of architectural solutions

Key technical aspects concerning the realization of a reconfigurable user terminal based on software-defined radio technology are discussed. These include functionalities such as mode monitoring, mode switching, adaptive baseband processing, and software download. The implications of these functionalities and the need for related entities within the network are also discussed. The concepts presented here form part of the 5th Framework IST European Research project Transparent Reconfigurable Ubiquitous Terminal (TRUST). It is the intention of this article to present the technical achievements of the TRUST project together with an overview of the potential complexity in the realization of a reconfigurable user terminal.

Mode switching and QoS issues in software radio

Software radio technology is expected to play a key role in the development of future (4G) wireless communication systems. Several third-generation wireless standards are emerging across the world as part of the ITU IMT-2000 family, as well as other broadband wireless networks such as HIPERLAN2. Mobile users face the prospect of all even greater service differentiation as multimedia services are added to the voice services already available. The failure to agree, worldwide, on a unique radio access mode, for economic and political reasons, is forcing the telecommunications community to develop a reconfigurable user terminal and a telecommunications infrastructure to support it. Such a concept will allow the user to roam across geographic areas offering radio access connections using differing standards. This article, based on the work of the European Union research project TRUST, presents novel ideas and solutions within the topic area of mode switching and QoS to realize such a universal, reconfigurable system.

Human-Integrated Supervisory Control of Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles

Uninhabited aerial vehicles are aircraft without the onboard presence of pilot or aircrew. Even though the human is removed from the direct control of the aircraft, the human is typically involved in the process as a supervisor in a multiple task telerobotics control system. The supervisor must receive the appropriate information for efficient decision making and input the information required to augment the autonomous control of the vehicle as necessary. This article presents an approach that applies human operator modeling methods to perform semiotic analysis and identifies the content and form of the information required for effective supervisory control. This paper also outlines a computational modeling and simulation architecture that supports concurrent multi-user connectivity and reconfigurable user interfaces. The potential utilization of this architecture to systematically evaluate interface concepts and the role of automation in these systems is also described. Finally, an empirical evaluation is described that benchmarks the effectiveness of the architecture.Human-Integrated Supervisory Control of Uninhabited Combat Aerial Vehicles.