Southwest Research Institute 2001 Annual Report, Automation, Communications Systems, and Bioengineering

The Institute provides a wide range of automated systems and services for military applications and for the communications, bioengineering, manufacturing, and transportation industries. Multidisciplinary resources are applied to the design and implementation of software products, intelligent systems, communications electronics, machine vision systems, and industrial engineering problems.

SwRI is under contract with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) as the statewide Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) developer and integrator. During the past year, SwRI participated in more than 15 projects in the San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and El Paso districts. Activities include testing and deploying a dynamic message sign system (Austin, El Paso, Houston), deploying a Center-to-Center (C2C) communications infrastructure (Fort Worth, Dallas, San Antonio), fulfilling requirements for regional C2C deployment (North Central Texas and Austin regions), specifying the requirements for the next generation Advanced Traffic Management System (Dallas), designing the next-generation communications system (Houston), developing a regional ITS architecture (San Antonio), implementing data warehousing (Houston), and integrating a maintenance database management system (San Antonio and Houston).

Under two separate engineering contracts for TxDOT, SwRI is developing the next-generation multimedia communications system that uses asynchronous transfer mode and Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG-2) technologies. The new system design will use high-speed fiber optic network communications to transmit data and high-quality video over a single, highly integrated network. The network will also support automated backup and restoration capabilities to improve overall system reliability. The current design work is focused on infrastructure upgrades to the TxDOT Houston District TranStar and the San Antonio District TransGuide systems.

SwRI is working with the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT), the Michigan DOT, and the Federal Highway Administration to evaluate Advanced Traffic Management System software in use at traffic management centers (TMCs) in Florida and Michigan. The goal is to recommend a single software system for an integrated statewide TMC system to ensure that technologies can work together smoothly and effectively. The Florida DOT has determined that a single integrated TMC software, hardware, and communication system will reduce costs.

A successful internal research program led to the development of data mining techniques to evaluate data derived from an ITS. The program focused on how to extract data from multiple sources, such as the ITS in San Antonio and other Texas cities, and combine them in a single display to better understand the entire transportation network and the inter-relationships between the data.

Telecommunications equipment must be qualified in accordance with the Telcordia GR-1089 test standard before it can be marketed in the United States. SwRI has added electromagnetic compatibility test, analysis, and design services to assess these qualifications. Client equipment is tested for radiated immunity at 10 volts per meter from 10 kHz to 10 GHz, Federal Communications Commission regulations for radiated emissions, lightning transients, and alternating current power "cross surges."

For an internal research project, SwRI engineers are investigating a novel method of digital predistortion for multicarrier communication systems. The algorithm under investigation makes the group of signals transmitted more robust against distortion caused by nonlinear components in commercial transceivers, such as wireless modems or cellular phones. Greater robustness against such distortion can improve the reliability and capacity of multicarrier communication systems.

SwRI researchers developed an extensive inspection and preventive maintenance program for a snack food manufacturing line. The Institute team inspected and evaluated each piece of equipment, and the system as a whole, to develop a comprehensive maintenance plan. In the course of this project, SwRI identified potential production and process enhancements, as well as improvements in reliability, maintainability, and safety.

The Theater Medical Information Program (TMIP), developed at SwRI, has been distributed to the military community for evaluation and feedback. TMIP incorporates a multi-tier architecture of database technology and graphical user interfaces to automate the collection, aggregation, analysis, and query of medical encounters, medical facilities and supplies, and other data in areas where troops are deployed. In March 2001, members of the U.S. Army Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care organization participated in a limited user test of the latest software release. The test was preceded by training at SwRI to prepare military participants in the use of the system. The test was conducted in a simulated field hospital environment at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The results provided feedback for system enhancements for future TMIP software releases.

SwRI is participating in a multi-year Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program, Model-Based Integration of Embedded Software (MoBIES). The program goal is to create a framework that will allow automatic software composition while taking into account temporal, noise, synchronization, and dependability constraints. Core ideas include the use of integrated physical and information system modeling as well as automatic synthesis of model generators. The approach is being evaluated for potential applications in an airborne weapon system as well as a variety of automotive control problems. The Institute will provide an adaptive service coordination component, allowing various real-time multi-processor and network scheduling scenarios to be formally expressed and automatically composed within the overall MoBIES modeling environment.

SwRI software engineers are using the distributed interactive simulation (DIS) protocol to build software tools that capture the actions of specific weapon systems and communicate these actions in packets of data transmitted over wide area networks. The packets are then analyzed by other weapon systems on the network, which, in turn, generate responses that can indicate the overall effectiveness of the weapon systems involved. Weapon systems in a DIS environment can be computer models, manned simulators, or actual operational military systems. For a recent project, SwRI software developers captured operational messages from military platforms engaged in real-world actions. The messages were organized into packets and integrated into an ongoing DIS simulation that also contained SwRI-developed constructive models. The system provides military clients with more effective simulation analysis.

Institute modeling and simulation staff members are developing the next generation of distributed modeling and simulation systems. These systems use the high-level architecture (HLA) and its associated run-time infrastructure (RTI) to achieve interoperability between federated models within a simulation environment. The military's implementation of HLA is derived from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recently approved IEEE 1516 standard. Together, RTI and HLA will provide an environment for more participants in ever more realistic and cost-effective analysis scenarios.

SwRI software developers continue to support operations using the legacy Aggregate Level Simulation Protocol (ALSP) designed for large unit, multi-service operations in theater of war situations. The primary beneficiaries of this support are the United States Commanders in Chief of the theater forces, their staffs, task forces, and allies and coalition partners. The software provided by SwRI allows these groups to simulate large-scale combat operations and analyze war plan effectiveness in advance without incurring the significant expense of actually moving forces and equipment into the theater of operations.

Defibrillators have long been used by trained medical personnel to administer a strong electrical shock to start a heart in cardiac arrest. Each year, 225,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest, some because of delays in reaching a defibrillator. Recently, Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) have been installed in many public areas, including airplanes, airports, shopping malls, and sporting arenas, so that untrained personnel can quickly give a life-saving shock. To do this safely with untrained people, however, the AED briefly monitors the heart's electrical rhythm to determine if a shock is appropriate. To increase the safety of this approach, SwRI bioengineers are developing additional methods for the AED to determine if a heart is in cardiac arrest. These methods include an assessment of the heart's mechanical and electrical performance.

SwRI has developed the beta prototype unit of an innovative product capable of measuring multi-lead electrocardiograms, non-invasive blood pressure, percentage blood oxygenation saturation, and temperature from sensors mounted on a single glove. The product, trademarked "the Physician's Hand," will potentially revolutionize home health and emergency care by providing an affordable means to easily and quickly monitor critical vital sign information otherwise available only in a hospital setting. The Physician's Hand allows a patient to communicate with a physician over a two-way audio and video link. The goal is to provide quicker, efficient, basic vital sign information in emergency and day-to-day health care scenarios, with reduced health care costs.

SwRI engineers are progressing in the development of a noninvasive monitoring device to assess the success of spinal fusion surgery. A biocompatible prototype has been fabricated, and preliminary bench testing has shown that the device is not operator-dependent and can differentiate displacements as small as 0.5 mm. The device, which can be queried electronically from outside the body, has been implanted in animals, where it will be compared to current diagnostic techniques to monitor healing of the spine. A patent is pending on the design.

SwRI bioengineers worked jointly with a commercial sponsor on the design of cutting instruments for use in endodontic procedures. As part of this effort, SwRI created three-dimensional part and assembly models for cutting instruments. Model development was based on ISO 3630-2, the standard governing design of such instruments. SwRI and the client jointly evaluated fabrication techniques for manufacturing the instruments. Prototypes of the instruments have been fabricated for evaluation.

Institute engineers and scientists are contributing to a new design for a tissue oximeter that incorporates near-infrared spectroscopy to measure local tissue oxygenation such as in the muscle of an arm or leg. Near infrared spectroscopy uses specific wavelengths of light to noninvasively illuminate the tissue below the skin. The light scatters based on the amount of oxygen in the tissue. Light not absorbed by the tissue is returned to the oximeter and analyzed to determine percent oxygen saturation. The Institute is designing cost-effective optics and electronics for the new device that can be easily manufactured.

Copyright© 2002 by Southwest Research Institute. All rights reserved under U.S. Copyright Law and International Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510, phone (210) 522-2257, fax (210) 522-3547.