Abstract: In some examples, an isolation transformer can include a first wire having a first insulation thickness and a second wire having a second insulation thickness that is different than the first insulation thickness. The isolation transformer can further include a plurality of magnetic cores of magnetic material that can be configured to surround portions of each of the first and second wires along respective circumferences of the first and second wires to provide the isolation transformer.

Abstract: An in-flight refueling assembly for an aircraft to be refueled by a fuel dispensing aircraft includes a refueling probe extending from the aircraft and having an electromagnet with an energized condition and a non-energized condition. A refueling probe receptacle is connected to the fuel dispensing aircraft. A superconductor is connected to the receptacle such that the refueling probe becomes aligned with the receptacle when the electromagnet is placed in the energized condition.

Abstract: An apparatus for particle collection is provided. The apparatus includes a magnetic element configured to generate a tapered magnetic ion transport tunnel that collects particles from a local environment, a detector configured to perform one or more measurements of the collected particles, and ion optics configured to transport the collected particles to the detector.

Abstract: A method, implemented by a computing system on-board a vehicle, differentiates whether an anomaly originating from a hardware component of the vehicle is caused by a cybersecurity threat, by a degradation of the performance of the hardware component, or by both. States of the respective nodes in a first group of nodes of the first hardware component are compared with a stored table of sets of states of nodes in the first group. A determination is made of whether the anomaly associated with the first hardware component is caused by a cybersecurity threat or by health degradation of the first hardware component based on the comparison of the states of the nodes of the first group with the sets of possible states of the respective nodes where each set is associated with one of a cybersecurity threat and health degradation.

Abstract: An aerial vehicle includes a body and an antenna assembly mounted to the body. The antenna assembly includes a fairing component comprising a hollow body, a conductive coating formed on at least an inner surface of the fairing component, a plurality of antenna elements formed in the conductive coating, each antenna element including a first slot line defining a first transmission line and a second slot line defining a second transmission line, an insulator sleeve disposed within the fairing component, wherein an outer surface of the insulator sleeve at least substantially matches an inner surface of the fairing component, and a plurality of cable assemblies operably coupled to the plurality of antenna elements, wherein each cable assembly is coupled to a respective antenna element.

Abstract: One example includes an optical element. The optical element includes a first optical material structure comprising a first index of refraction across a frequency spectrum. The optical element also includes a second optical material structure configured to exhibit an index anomaly corresponding to a change in index of refraction from the first index of refraction to a second index of refraction across a portion of the frequency spectrum and a change from the second index of refraction to the first index of refraction along the frequency spectrum. The optical element further includes a diffractive interface corresponding to a non-planar material contact junction between the first optical material structure and the second optical material structure. The diffractive interface can be configured to manipulate in a predetermined manner an optical beam having an optical path through the diffractive interface and having a frequency in the portion of the frequency spectrum.

Abstract: The disclosed invention provides system and method for providing autonomous actions that are consistently applied to evolving missions in physical and virtual domains. The system includes a autonomy engine that is implanted in computing devices. The autonomy engine includes a sense component including one or more sensor drivers that are coupled to the one or more sensors, a model component including a world model, a decide component reacting to changes in the world model and generating a task based on the changes in the world model, and an act component receiving the task from the decide component and invoking actions based on the task. The sense component acquires data from the sensors and extracts knowledge from the acquired data. The model component receives the knowledge from the sense component, and creates or updates the world model based on the knowledge received from the sense component.

Abstract: In an example, a method can include determining, at a first inter-partition messenger, a message type for a message generated by a first application. The first inter-partition messenger and the first application can reside on a first virtual machine. The method can include identifying, at the first inter-partition messenger, a second application that is to receive the message based on the message type and message subscription data, generating, at the first inter-partition messenger, message routing data for routing of the message from the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine, causing, at the first inter-partition messenger, the message to be routed from the first virtual machine to the second virtual machine based on the message routing data, and receiving, at the second inter-partition messenger, the message for use thereof by the second application. The second inter-partition messenger and the second application can reside on the second virtual machine.

Abstract: One example includes a superconducting circuit. The circuit includes superconducting circuitry fabricated in a circuit layer. The circuit layer includes a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The circuit also includes a flux moat comprising a dielectric material formed in the circuit layer. The flux moat can be configured to trap a magnetic flux as the superconducting circuit is cooled to below a superconducting critical temperature. The circuit further includes a magnetic film arranged proximal to the flux moat on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the circuit layer. The magnetic film can be configured to guide the magnetic flux to the flux moat as the superconducting circuit is cooled to below the superconducting critical temperature.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to an evaluation of system-of-systems (SoS) architectures for cyber vulnerabilities. In an example, architecture description data and component description data for an SoS can be received. Architecture definition file (ADF) data can be generated based on the architecture and component description data. A model of a target SoS architecture for the SoS can be generated based on the ADF data. The target SoS architecture for the SoS can be evaluated to identify potential cyber-attack vectors with respect to the target SoS architecture, and a probabilistic analysis of the potential cyber-attack vectors can be executed to compute a probability for each cyber-attack vector indicative of a likelihood that a respective cyber-attack results in a mission failure by the SoS based on the target SoS architecture. Display data can be generated for visualization on an output device that includes each identified potential cyber-attack vector and associated computed probability.

Abstract: In an example, a component analyzer can compute a respective part score for each part of the platform based on a part property table, and a respective connection score for each connection of the platform based on a connection property table. The component analyzer can provide the respective part and connection scores as score data to an architecture modeling engine to compute a probability model based on the score data and an architecture model. The probability model can include a part probability value and a connection probability value, and the architecture model can characterize a target architecture of the platform. A survivability analysis engine can evaluate the probability model and the architecture model to determine a likelihood that one or more potential cyber-attacks on the platform based on the target architecture are successful or unsuccessful in compromising at least one part of the platform.

Abstract: A system and method for calculating worst case execution times for actions in a process that is partitioned into a number of sub-processes that perform certain ones of the actions and operate on their own partition schedule independent of the other partitions. The method includes providing a unified modeling language (UML) activity diagram including the actions in the process, identifying each action in the diagram, determining each possible processing path for the actions in the process, assigning each action in each path to one of the sub-processes in the partitions, determining the time that each action will take through each path based on the partition schedule, and integrating the times for performing the actions in each of the paths. The method reports a longest time for performing the process along each path based on the integration of the times.

Abstract: Spacecraft servicing devices and related methods may include a propellant tank configured to store a propellant and to be placed into fluid communication with a portion of the target spacecraft.

Abstract: The disclosed invention provides system and method for multi-path mesh network communications. The network system utilizes multiple communication paths and linearly encoded and disassembled packets through mathematical coding techniques that respectively travel the communication paths. The system includes an encoder, a transmitter, a decoder and a receiver. The encoder receives data from an external source and linearly encodes and simultaneously disassembles the data to generate copackets. None of the individual copackets contain decodable information of the data. The transmitter is coupled to the multiple communication paths and respectively transmits the copackets through different communication paths. The receiver receives the copackets transmitted through the communication paths. The decoder decodes available copackets and reassembles the data from the available copackets if a number of the available copackets are no less than a mathematically calculated number.

Abstract: One embodiment includes an electrometer system. The system includes a sensor cell comprising alkali metal atoms within, and a probe laser configured to generate a probe beam, the probe beam being provided through the sensor cell. The system also includes a coupling laser configured to generate a coupling beam. The coupling beam can be provided through the sensor cell to combine with the probe beam provided through the sensor cell to provide a Rydberg energy state of the alkali metal atoms, the probe beam exiting the sensor cell as a detection beam. The system further includes a sensor control system configured to monitor the detection beam to detect an external signal based on monitoring a phase of the detection beam.

Abstract: A key updater for a first party operating on a network generates a mutually distilled key for communication between the first party and a second party. The key updater determines a set of verifying parties operating on the network needed to authenticate the mutually distilled key, wherein each verifying party of the set of verifying parties operates on the network. The key updater iteratively executes a key equivalency test for each verifying party in the set of verifying parties to determine a nonce sum until the key equivalency test has been executed for each of the verifying parties in the set of verifying parties or until it is determined that at least one node on the network has been compromised. The key updater generates a final key for communication between the first party and the second party based on the nonce sum and the mutually distilled key.

Abstract: A superconducting AC switch system includes a switch network configuration comprising a Josephson junction (JJ) coupled to a transmission line having a transmission line impedance, and a magnetic field generator that is configured to switch from inducing a magnetic field in a plane of the JJ, and providing no magnetic field in the plane of the JJ. An AC input signal applied at an input of the switch network configuration is passed through to an output of the switch network configuration in a first magnetic state, and substantially reflected back to the input of the switch network configuration in a second magnetic state. The first magnetic state is one of inducing and not inducing a magnetic field in a plane of the JJ, and the second magnetic state is the other of inducing and not inducing a magnetic field in a plane of the JJ.

Abstract: In some examples, an analyzer manager configured to select one of a program code analyzer, a static data analyzer, and an unused memory location analyzer for malware detection within memory of a system. The program code analyzer can be executed to evaluate instruction data for executing a computer program at a first set of memory locations within the memory for malware in response to being selected by the analyzer manager. The static data analyzer can be executed to evaluate static data for use by the computer program at a second set of memory locations within the memory for the malware in response to being selected by the analyzer manager. The unused memory location analyzer can be executed to evaluate null data indicative of unused memory locations at a third set of memory locations within the memory for the malware in response to being selected by the analyzer manager.

Abstract: An extremely quiet short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft includes: two wings, wherein each wing comprises an engine system; a fuselage structurally connected to each wing; and a ducted fan thruster positioned on the fuselage in an orientation that is rotated relative to the typical orientation on a helicopter. An extremely quiet STOL aircraft includes: two wings, wherein each wing comprises an engine system; a fuselage structurally connected to each wing; channel shrouds surrounding at least one of the engine systems; and a ducted fan thruster positioned on the fuselage. An extremely quiet STOL aircraft includes: two wings, wherein each wing comprises an engine system, the engine system comprising two engine dual packs; a fuselage structurally connected to each wing; and a ducted fan thruster positioned on the fuselage.

Abstract: An antenna structure may include a solid antenna structure and a mesh antenna structure. The mesh antenna structure may be coupled to an outer edge of the solid antenna structure through two or more ribs. The two or more ribs may be configured to extend away from the solid antenna structure to expand the mesh antenna structure and increase a surface area of the antenna structure.