What is claimed is:
1. A software-defined radio comprising:
a transceiver configured to transmit and receive a plurality of waveforms under a plurality of communications standards; and
a reconfigurable resource configured to execute a plurality of software programs, each of the plurality of software programs reconfiguring the reconfigurable resource to emulate one of a plurality of processors to process a portion of the plurality of waveforms under one of the plurality of communications standards,
wherein:
the reconfigurable resource is implemented on a single chip.
2. The software-defined radio of claim 1 wherein:
the reconfigurable resource comprises a field programmable gate array.
3. The software-defined radio of claim 1 wherein:
at least one of the plurality of processors is a digital signal processor.
4. The software-defined radio of claim 1 wherein:
at least one of the plurality of processors is adapted to implement an instruction set architecture;
the instruction set architecture defines a standard for performing sequencing of a plurality of instructions to implement at least one of the plurality of waveforms; and
the reconfigurable resource can switch context to match the instruction set architecture to at least one of the plurality of waveforms.
5. The software-defined radio of claim 4 wherein:
the reconfigurable resource further comprises an arithmetic logic unit.
6. The software-defined radio of claim 5 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit is configured to match signal processing requirements of at least one of the plurality of waveforms.
7. The software-defined radio of claim 5 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit and the at least one of the plurality of processors perform instructions in parallel with each other.
8. The software-defined radio of claim 7 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit is configured to be context switched.
9. The software-defined radio of claim 1 wherein:
the software-defined radio is implemented in a handheld form factor.
10. The software-defined radio of claim 1 wherein:
the software-defined radio is implemented in an embedded form factor.
11. A software-defined radio comprising:
a field programmable gate array capable of being configured as a plurality of software-based digital signal processing units; and
a transceiver,
wherein:
each of the plurality of software-based digital signal processing units are capable of being reconfigured to match signal processing requirements of one of the plurality of waveforms.
12. The software-defined radio of claim 11 wherein:
at least one of the plurality of software-based digital signal processing units is adapted to implement an instruction set architecture;
the instruction set architecture is selected from among one or more standard instruction set architecture standards for handling at least one of the plurality of waveforms; and
the field programmable gate array can switch context to perform a sequence of processes on multiple blocks of data.
13. The software-defined radio of claim 12 wherein:
the field programmable gate array further comprises an arithmetic logic unit.
14. The software-defined radio of claim 13 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit is configured to match signal processing requirements of at least one of the plurality of waveforms.
15. The software-defined radio of claim 13 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit and the at least one of the plurality of software-based digital signal processing units perform instructions in parallel with each other.
16. The software-defined radio of claim 15 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit is configured to be context switched.
17. The software-defined radio of claim 11 wherein:
the software-defined radio is implemented in a handheld form factor.
18. A handheld software-defined radio comprising:
a single-chip field programmable gate array; and
a transceiver adapted to transmit and receive a waveform,
wherein:
the waveform is processed by a plurality of signal processing functions; and
the plurality of signal processing functions are implemented on the single-chip field programmable gate array.
19. The handheld software-defined radio of claim 18 wherein:
at least one of the plurality of signal processing functions is implemented by a digital signal processor.
20. The handheld software-defined radio of claim 19 wherein:
at least one of the plurality of signal processing functions is adapted to implement an instruction set architecture;
the instruction set architecture implements a standard instruction set architecture for which software and waveform development tools and libraries are available; and
the single-chip field programmable gate array can switch context to match the instruction set architecture to the waveform.
21. The handheld software-defined radio of claim 20 wherein:
the single-chip field programmable gate array further comprises an arithmetic logic unit.
22. The handheld software-defined radio of claim 21 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit is configured to match signal processing requirements of the waveform.
23. The handheld software-defined radio of claim 21 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit and at least one of the plurality of signal processing functions perform instructions in parallel with each other.
24. The handheld software-defined radio of claim 21 wherein:
the arithmetic logic unit is configured to be context switched.
25. The handheld software-defined radio of claim 18 wherein:
the handheld software-defined radio is implemented in a handheld form factor.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A distributed heating system for a power train of a ram air turbine, which ram air turbine has a stowed position and a deployed position, comprising:
multiple electrical resistance heater elements, with each electrical resistance heater element mounted on lubrication surfaces for the power train; and
an electrical controller that directs power to energize each electrical resistance heater element to heat the lubricant to a temperature that reduces the viscosity of the lubricant in order to enhance lubrication of the power train;
the electrical resistance heater elements being energized when the ram air turbine is in the stowed position and ambient temperatures causes the viscosity of the lubricant to be above acceptable levels.
2. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein the power train comprises a gear box with bearings and a gear set.
3. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein the power train comprises a drive line.
4. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein the power train comprises an electrical generator.
5. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein the power train comprises a hydraulic pump.
6. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein each lubrication surface comprises a lubrication surface of bearings in the power train.
7. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein each lubrication surface comprises a lubrication surface of gears in the power train.
8. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein each electrical resistance heater element is of the flexible circuit type.
9. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein each electrical resistance heater element is of the resistance wire type.
10. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein each electrical resistance heater element mounts along a surface of the power train proximate at least one respective lubrication surface for the power train.
11. The distributed heating system of claim 1, wherein the electrical controller receives the electrical power from an electrical power supply line, couples the electrical power to each electrical resistance heater unit by means of an electrical wiring line, monitors an ambient temperature signal that it receives from an electrical temperature signal line and monitors a ram air turbine deployment signal that it receives from a deployment signal line.
12. A distributed heating system for a power train of a ram air turbine, which ram air turbine has a stowed position and a deployed position, comprising:
multiple electrical resistance heater elements, with each electrical resistance heater element mounted along a surface of the power train proximate at least a respective one of multiple lubrication surfaces for the power train;
an electrical wiring line to interconnect each electrical resistance heater element; and
an electrical controller that monitors an ambient temperature signal received from a temperature signal line and a ram air turbine deployment signal received from a deployment signal line for coupling electrical power received from an electrical power supply line to the electrical wiring line to feed the electrical power to each electrical resistance heater element to heat a section of the power train proximate at least the respective one of its lubrication surfaces to a temperature that reduces the viscosity of the lubricant in order to enhance lubrication of the power train when the ram air turbine is in the stowed position and ambient temperatures causes the viscosity of the lubricant to be above acceptable levels.
13. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein the power train comprises a gear box with bearings and a gear set.
14. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein the power train comprises a drive line.
15. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein the power train comprises an electrical generator.
16. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein the power train comprises a hydraulic pump.
17. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein each lubrication surface comprises a lubrication surface of bearings in the power train.
18. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein each lubrication surface comprises a lubrication surface of gears in the power train.
19. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein each electrical resistance heater element is of the flexible circuit type.
20. The distributed heating system of claim 12, wherein each electrical resistance heater element is of the resistance wire type.