ARobustWirelessCommunicationSystemforHarshEnvironments IncludingNuclearFacilities

Faranak Nekoogar,Ph.D.

DiracSolutions Inc.

Faranak@DiracSolutions.com

10/19/2017

Outline

q Project Overview

q Background

q Summary of Phase I accomplishments

q SBIR Phase II tasks

q Current SBIR Phase II progress

q Conclusion and path forward

ProjectOverview

• Goal:Developandevaluate asecureandreliablewireless sensorcommunications

systemtoaddresstheuniquechallenges ofRFcommunications nuclearfacilities

• Participant:DiracSolutions Inc.

• Project:Phase IISBIR

• Schedule: 2years(2018-2020)

Background-WirelesssensorcommunicationsimprovesI&Creliabilityandprocessefficiencyinnextgenerationreactors

• Cable integrityandmaintenance is

amajorchallenge inreliable

sensordatareporting incurrent

NPPs

• Nuclearreactorsposeahostile

environmentforRFsignals

•Lotsofmetal

•Thickconcretewalls

•Liquids

•Clutter

•EMIfrom/ortootherwireless

systems

•Conventionalwireless

communications facesignificant

limitations inreportingsensordata

inNPPs

• BasedontheresultsfromourPhaseIsoftwaresimulations,design

considerations,andfieldexperiments,inPhaseIIweplantodevelop,

fieldevaluate,andmanufacturereliablewirelesssensor

communicationssystembasedonultra-wideband(UWB)technology

toaddresstheconcernsassociatedwiththeperformanceof

conventionalwirelesstechnologyinnuclearreactors.

Objectives

BW= GHz

Power

Frequency

Noise floor

Key advantages of UWB signaling are:

Ø Resistant to signal jamming and tampering

Ø Good penetration properties of signal in harsh environments

Ø Secure transmission by pulse coding

ØHigh channel capacity (data rate)

Ø Accurate ranging and geolocation

Ø Inherently encrypted by pulse coding

Ø Simple architecture – small formfactor, low cost

Ø Unlicensed spectrum– Global operations

TraditionalRFsystemsuseNarrowbandsignaling

(Continuouswaveforms,withhighpowerand

narrowfrequencyband)totransmit/receive

information.

Ultra-wideband systemsusenarrowpulses(sub-nano

secondduration,withlowpower,ultra-widefrequencyband

)totransmitandreceiveinformation

Keydisadvantagesofnarrowbandsignaling:

Ø Vulnerabletosignaljammingandspoofing

Ø Limitedpenetrabilityinharshenvironments

Ø Easytodetect

ØLowchannelcapacity(datarate)

Ø LowPrecision

Ø Needssophisticatedencryptiontechniques

Ø Complexhardwarearchitecture

ØLimitationsinworldwideoperation

NarrowRFpulsesasbuildingblocksforcommunicationsinUWBtechnologysignificantlydifferentiatetheirperformanceoverconventionalnarrowbandsystems

UWBRFsignalsofferuniqueadvantages insensordatareportingatNPPs

• UWB pulses offer physical layer encryption and look like noise to other receivers

• UWBPulsesarelesssensitivetomultipath

phenomenon

PhaseIgoal:Uniquely designedUWBpulsesallowsensorcommunications inextremelyharsh

environments(i.e.behindclosedmetallicdoors,orthroughtickwalls)andofferdatasecurity

• Developed auniqueUWBmodulation

technique ”EncryptedTransmitted-Reference

(ETR)”withthefollowingfeatures:

• Robustperformanceinreflectiveenvironments

• Physicallayersecurity

• Asynchronous transmission

• Communications systemanalysis -

InvestigatedtheeffectsofEMIandinterfering

RFsignalbasedonthefollowingparameters:

- Frequencies

- Modulation

- Bandwidth,pulseduration

• Conducted fieldexperiments tocharacterize

UWBsignal transmission atMITresearch

reactor(MITR)

SummaryofPhaseISBIRAccomplishments

SBIRPhaseIAccomplishments– SoftwaresimulationsforUWBpulsedesign

PulseRepetitionFrequencyStudy PulseIntegrationPeriodStudy

NPPChannelModeling

SBIRPhase IAccomplishments – UWBsignalcharacterization inMITResearchReactor

PhaseIOutcomesforwirelesscommunicationsdesignparameters

CommunicationsParameterFrequency(MHz) 400 700 900

PulseDuration(ns) 30 20 10

Pulse RepetitionFrequency Adjustablefrom10KHz to100KHz

Delaybetweenpulses Adjustablefro5nsto30ns

DevelopasecureandreliableUWBcommunications systembased onPhase Isimulation

studies andfieldexperiments inasoftware-defined- radio(SDR)thatcanadapt it’s

communications parameterstothedynamicenvironment ofvariousnuclearreactor

facilities

PhaseIISBIRPlan

(Master) SDR Unit senses the RF channel, sends commands to UWB Slave receiver for frequency selection

UWB transmitter sends sensor data at multiple frequencies / Channels

ControlRoom InstrumentRoom,nearreactor

UWB receiver adjusts to the optimal frequency command by the master SDR unit

q DevelophardwareforSDRmasterunittosense theRFchannel forbestcommunication

frequencyselection

q Develophardwareformultiple UWBpulsers atvariousfrequencies (400MHz,700MHz,

900MHz)

q DevelopUWBtransmitters andreceiverswithselfadaptingfrequencyadjustment

capability

q Integratesensors(temperature,humidity,radiation)withtheadaptivetransmitter unit

q Laboratoryandfieldtesting ofthehardware

q MITresearchreactor

q Testbed atORNLTechnical Testing andAnalysis Center (DSIinternallyfunded

CRADA)

q Fullyfunctional integratedhardwaresoftwareforaUWBSDRcommunications system

thatcanadapt it’scommunications parameterstotheoperatingenvironments

q Lowvolumemanufacturing

PhaseIISBIRTasks(Twoyears)

PhaseIISBIRCurrentaccomplishments

q Currentlyworkingonsoftwaredevelopment forSDRmasterunittosense the

channelusingcommercially availableUSRPSDRplatform

q Inprocessofdeveloping pulser circtuit

boardswithmultiple frequencies

including 400MHz,700MHz,900MHz

q Designofswitchcircuitryforadaptive

frequencyselection

q Thesecure UWBsensorcommunications allowsfor:

§ Eliminating cables,reducingtheriskofunpredictable cablehealthandtime

consumingmaintenance, lowercost,improvedreliability,

§ Modernization ofnextgenerationnuclearreactors,allowingmodularreactorsto

benefit fromreliablewireless technology

§ Published aconferencepaperandajournalpaper

q Pathforwardincludes:

§ Fullydeveloptherequiredhardwareandsoftwareforfielddeployments

§ Extensive laboratoryandfieldtests forperformanceevaluations andrefinements

§ MITR,ORNL,andmore

§ Smallscalemanufacturing

§ LargescalemanufacturingandintroducingtheUWBwireless communications

systemstonuclearreactoroperationfacilities (PhaseIII)

ConclusionsandPathForward

AboutDiracSolutionsInc.(DSI)

q Dirac Solutions Inc. is a small business located in Pleasanton, CA with core expertise in Ultra-wideband Communications/RADAR, as well as Active and Passive RF tagging/tracking.

q A spin-off from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

q Extensive R&D program (DOE, NSF, DOD, DHS)

q Growing products lines for national security applications in collaborations with national laboratories and industry

q DSI was the recipient of the “2016 DOE Small Business of the Year award”