Abstract: The invention described here is a circuit protection device based on the principle of a plasma limiter. A plasma limiter uses an electrode such as a very sharp tungsten needle in an easily ionized gas to perform field enhancement using the interference voltage to initiate avalanche breakdown of the plasma. The gas becomes conductive, causing the interference voltage to short-circuit to ground thereby protecting the transceiver Integrated Circuit (IC). This device protects IC's that can be damaged by voltages greater than about 15 volts when damaging voltages have occurred on the wire(s) for a brief time. The damaging voltage creates an electromagnetic field that is enhanced by the sharp electrode thereby causing the easily ionized gas to become plasma and conduct between the wire and grounded electrode. This conduction prevents the damaging voltage on the wire from becoming so great that IC's become damaged. A protection module consists of devices to protect one or many signals in a single module.

Abstract: A plasma limiter is a transient suppression device that combines fast rise time response similar to that of a solid state diode and the high power handling capability similar to that of a traditional gas discharge tube. The limiter is ideally suited to provide front-end protection of radar equipment from electronic warfare systems such as High Power Ultra Wideband (HPUWB) and High Power Microwaves (HPM) as well as protection from lightning and static discharges. It achieves this high order of protection by having a turn-on time of less than 1 nanosecond, a power handling capability of greater than 10 kW, and an insertion loss of less than 0.1 dB.

Abstract: A control surface for an air vehicle (e.g., an aircraft, rocket, or missile) is useful for flight control at both subsonic and supersonic speeds. The control surface defines the outboardmost tip of a flight structure (e.g., a wing, tail or other stabilizer) of the air vehicle. Hence, the control surface is referred to as a ‘tiperon’. The tiperon has an approximately L-shaped configuration, and can be rotated relative to a fixed portion of the flight structure about a control axis. The respective surface areas of the tiperon sections forward and aft of the control axis are proportioned to place the subsonic center of pressure aft of the control axis to enhance aircraft control, and preferably also forward of the centroid of tiperon surface area. Also, the control surface sections forward and aft of the control axis are preferably mass-balanced, or at least nearly so, to enhance aircraft control at supersonic speeds.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to record and process operations information from aircraft for the purpose of improving maintenance processes, improving security, and accident investigation is described. Information recorded from aircraft operations includes equipment operational data, images of people and equipment, and sound information. This digital information that is recorded is a result of, in some cases, sampling an analog signal. In other cases, the digital information is a result of many information processing steps to improve the usefulness of the information while using a minimum quantity of data. This invention includes steps to compress the quantity of data while producing the most useful information. The digital information may be recorded aboard the aircraft in any of several data storage media, or the information may be transmitted from the aircraft, or a combination of storage aboard the aircraft and transmission may be used.

Abstract: A method and apparatus to verify the authenticity of the recording is provided. An authentication code is calculated based on the contents of the recording and information describing the context of the recording. The authentication code provides assurance to a user of the recording that no elements of the recording have been altered. Recordings that are made for legal evidence purposes may include, but are not limited to audio and visual (image) information including motion pictures. Context information includes, but is not limited to date, time, longitude, latitude, camera or recorder serial number, camera orientation, camera optical parameters, and information about the recorder operator. When using such recordings for legal evidence, the authenticity of the recorded information is crucial, and also the authenticity of the parameters surrounding the recording is crucial.

Abstract: A vehicle imaging surveillance and recording system adapted to monitor conditions prevailing during the course of a trip and provided for this purpose cameras are placed in the control station of the vehicle and about the vehicle. At least two recording devices record the output of the cameras. One device records a thirty minute high resolution image. The second device records a two hour lower resolution image. Both devices compress the data that is to be recorded in storage. The output signals yielded from storage are fed into an on-board transmitter to modulate a carrier that is radiated from the vehicle and intercepted by an active communications satellite. These output signals are being transmitted only under certain conditions. One condition is to provide a switch under the control of a crew member in the control station of the vehicle. The other condition provides for automatically switching on the transmission to the satellite when certain parameters occur.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for impingement on the sonic wave produced by a supersonic gas flow and the gas flow in a boundary layer of a gas that interfaces with a solid substrate comprising providing a source of a mixture of ions and electrons, introducing said ions and electrons into the region behind the sonic wave and ahead of the boundary layer, separating said ions and said electrons in said region maintaining a substantial portion of said ions proximate said region and maintaining a substantial portion of said electrons remote from said region.

Abstract: The apparatus of this invention includes a pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) detector, a PIO compensator and a pilot input modifier. The PIO detector is coupled to receive aircraft state signal including the aircraft's pitch, roll and yaw attitudes. The PIO detector is also coupled to receive pilot control signal generated by the aircraft's pilot by manipulation of flight control instruments. Preferably, the PIO detector includes a feature calculator and a discriminator. Based on the aircraft state signal and the pilot control signal, the feature calculator generates at least one feature signal indicative of whether a PIO or non-PIO condition exists in the aircraft. The feature calculator supplies the feature signal to the discriminator, that uses the feature signal to determine whether or not a PIO condition exists.

Abstract: The invented apparatus fuses two or more sensor signals to generate a fused signal with an improved confidence of target existence and position. The invented apparatus includes gain, control and fusion units, and can also include an integration unit. The integration unit receives signals generated by two or more sensors, and generates integrated signals based on the sensor signals. The integration unit performs temporal and weighted spatial integration of the sensor signals, to generate respective sets of integrated signals supplied to the gain control and fusion units. The gain control unit uses a preprogrammed function to map the integrated signals to an output signal that is scaled to generate a gain signal supplied to the fusion unit. The fusion unit uses a preprogrammed function to map its received integrated signals and the gain signal, to a fused signal that is the output of the invented apparatus.