STARLab Research Activities

Specific research activities within STARLab include:

• Planetary Exploration
  • Instrument development for Pluto Fast Flyby Mission
  • Rings of Saturn and Uranus and atmospheres of outer planets (Voyager data analysis)
  • Atmosphere and clouds of Venus
  • Venus radar mapper studies of surface geomorphology (Magellan Project)
  • Radar studies of icy targets (Jupiter's moons; polar caps on Mercury, Mars, and the Moon)
  • Galileo Radio Science Team leadership (Jupiter orbiter)
  • Mars Global Surveyor Radio Science Team leadership
  • Uplink radio science high efficiency signal processing computer
  • Supporting theoretical and modeling studies
• Ionospheric and Magnetospheric Physics
  • Very Low Frequency wave propagation and amplification
  • Controlled wave-injection experiments
  • Satellite observations of plasma waves
  • Computer simulation of wave-particle interactions
  • Precipitation and dynamics of the Radiation Belt particles
  • South Pole and Palmer, Antarctica, observations of wave and particle phenomena
  • Ionospheric modification by high-power radio waves
  • VLF/LF remote sensing of ionospheric disturbances
  • Lightning discharges and their coupling to the ionosphere
  • Computer vision techniques applied to analysis of auroral images
• Radar and Radio Remote Sensing of the Environment
  • Development of HF ocean sensing radar
  • Interpretation of radar observations of natural, rough surfaces
  • Numerical electromagnetics in remote sensing
  • Undersea communication at ultra-low frequency
  • Studies of the geophysical environment and telecommunication channels
  • Very low frequency remote sensing
  • Global radio noise survey at ELF and VLF
  • Remote sensing of auroras and other high magnetic latitude phenomena
  • Monitoring ULF magnetic field fluctuations along the San Andreas fault
• Telecommunications
  • Analog and digital voice processing
  • Image and speech compression
  • Digital telephone switch development
  • Subscriber line interface circuits
  • Custom VLSI circuits for communications
  • Satellite communications stations
  • Data networks
  • Antennas and transmitters
  • Cellular radio systems/networks
  • Low-power personal communications
  • Wireless local area data networks
  • Mobility issues in large networks
  • Multipath mitigation techniques
  • Multiple access techniques
  • Channel assignment/handoff
  • Frequency reuse in large wireless systems
  • Propagation in and around buildings
  • Protocols for wireless systems
  • Telephone and data network planning
  • Spectrum management research
  • Optical fiber communications
  • High-speed (multigigabit/second) Local Area Networks
  • Wavelength division multiplexing
  • Nonlinear effects in single-mode fibers
• Signal Processing
  • Signal processing hardware for spacecraft radio science instruments
  • High performance low power digital signal processor design
  • Custom VLSI for high performance signal processing
  • Energy-efficient FFT algorithms and architectures
  • Circuit architectures for low-power personal communications
  • Neural network algorithms and hardware design
  • Fast algorithms for matched filtering of wide band signals
  • Parallel architectures
  • Very low power memory and processors for spaceflight applications
  • Wavelet theory
  • Application of wavelet transformations to noise reduction and RFI excision
  • Radio Astronomy with Stanford field site antennas