SBIR-STTR Award

The development of an autonomous, distributed synchronization concept for future space-based military systems is proposed. The inability of conventional ground-based "centralized synchronization techniques to meet the survivability requirements of these systems is discussed and a specific autonomous-distributed synchronization (ads) approach is described. The proposed work will specify the ads algorithms required to calculate time of day and frequency standard adjustments, the frequency with which synchronization procedures are conducted and the types of clocks to be employed. The work proposed includes: determination of ads performance through the modeling of synchronization procedures, nodal clocks and the space communication network.

Further research to develop and establish the feasibility of Autonomous-Distributed Synchronization (ADS) concepts for future military space-based systems is proposed. Phase I research led to the development of a sophisticated modeling and simulation tool to support this work and initial outputs indicate that ads systems will be able to meet anticipated military synchronization requirements using inexpensive and reliable quartz clocks. Further research will concentrate on identifying performance drivers and on developing more sophisticated synchronization procedures and/or algorithms.