ITL RESEARCH
ADVANCES TECHNOLOGY FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
Over the past several months, ITL has been working on novel communications and networking technologies for first responders at disaster sites. The ITL effort is part of a NIST-wide project, the NIST Distributed Testbed for First Responders, to which NIST’s Building and Fire Research Laboratory and Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory are also contributing. The goal of the project is to save lives at times of natural or man-made emergencies by equipping first responders with highly capable systems and gear based on the latest technological advances. Research in our Advanced Network Technologies Division contributes to the proposed NIST Distributed Testbed for First Responders in the following ways:
· ITL researchers built a wireless ad hoc network (WANET) consisting of Compaq iPAQ Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) running on the Linux operating system and equipped with IEEE 802.11b wireless local area network (WLAN) cards. The network demonstrates how first responders could communicate with each other at an emergency site as well as with those outside of their WANET. Requiring no prior infrastructure, the network self-organizes once the first responders converge on a disaster site. It reorganizes automatically every time a node leaves the network (perhaps due to destruction or to the physical departure of the person carrying the associated radio / handheld terminal). As such, the network is resilient to node and link failures, and its performance degrades gracefully in the face of such events.
The network uses multihop communications to carry all sorts of traffic, such as full-duplex voice, video, text, and sensor data. Any message to be transmitted from node A to node B may go through several intermediary nodes. This helps greatly with conserving the battery power at each node, reducing interference for other communications taking place throughout the network and increasing the traffic-carrying capacity of the network. ITL’s use of the IEEE 802.11b technology in the testbed is for proof-of-concept purposes. Future standards for first responder communications and networking will be based on other varieties of wireless technology.
· ITL developed a method by which the above network could determine at any given time the locations of all assets of interest, such as the first responders themselves and any civilians trapped at the disaster site. While the Global Positioning System (GPS) provides that functionality in an outdoor environment where one has line-of-sight (LOS) communication with GPS satellites, other solutions are needed for the much harder indoor localization problem. ITL’s system relies on a number of stationary IEEE 802.11b WLAN nodes with known locations to determine the locations of the mobile nodes. This allows tracking of the first responders and knowing their location during an emergency, facilitating the management of the disaster.
· ITL researchers carried out some experimentation with smart sensor networks based on WANET concepts. This includes work on collaborative signal processing algorithms that combine data from sensors of different types (heat, smoke, chemical, etc.) to arrive at more detailed information about the disaster and its evolution than can be obtained from single sensors, such as today’s smoke detectors.
All of these components, as well as the work ongoing
in other NIST laboratories, will be integrated in the NIST Distributed Testbed
for First Responders in the next several months. The ITL website is http://w3.antd.nist.gov/.
OMB Cites ASSET as an Achievement in Improving
Federal IT Security
In testimony before the Congressional Committee
on Government Reform, the Associate Director for Information Technology and
Electronic Government, Office of Management and Budget, described eight
achievements that have been made toward improving the federal government's IT
security. One of the achievements was the development of the Automated Security
Self-Evaluation Tool (ASSET), the NIST government-wide assessment tool. ASSET
automates the ITL Computer Security Division security questionnaire, which was
developed in 2001 (NIST SP 800-26, Security Self-Assessment Guide for
Information Technology Systems). OMB guidance directs federal agencies to
use this document as the basis for conducting their annual reviews under the
Government Information Security Reform Act (GISRA). Agencies now have the free
Automated Security Self-Evaluation Tool (ASSET) to assist them in conducting
their annual reviews. The tool can be obtained from http://csrc.nist.gov/asset.
ITL-Developed OOMMF Software Helps to Enable One
of the Top Ten Physics Advances in 2002
Object-Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework (OOMMF)
software, developed by Michael Donahue and Donald Porter, Mathematical and
Computational Sciences Division, helped to enable one of the top advances in
physics last year. The Institute of Physics recently reported their top ten
stories in physics for 2002 at the website http://physicsweb.org/article/news/6/12/14.
Number 7 on the list is the development of a nanoscale magnetic logic gate and
shift register by Russell Cowburn's team at the University of Durham. As reported
in their article in Science last June (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/5575/2003),
Cowburn's team used OOMMF to determine the appropriate device widths for
containing and controlling the magnetic domain walls. The controlled motion of
the walls between magnetic domains is what enables fully magnetic logic
operations.
Digital rights management, sometimes called intellectual property management and protection, is today a
chaotic, noisy mix of technology, policy, law, and business practice. Experts at a NIST cross-industry DRM
workshop recommended that ITL take first steps toward a guide of standards
organizations active in the field. Assisted by numerous industry participants,
ITL’s Convergent Information Systems Division is now distributing a
15-page guide, NIST Special Publication 500-241, A Quick-Reference List of
Organizations and Standards for Digital Rights Management, by Gordon E.
Lyon (October 2002). The guide is available electronically at http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/pubs.html#ecommerce
under the heading Digital Rights
Management/Efficient Electronic Commerce.
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The 2002 ITL Technical Accomplishments report is now
available at
http://www.itl.nist.gov.
For a complimentary hardcopy of the report, e-mail
elizabeth.lennon@nist.gov.
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UPDATE
ON NEW PUBLICATIONS
ITL publishes the results of research, investigations, and conferences. The reports listed below may be available online or ordered from:
National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone (703) 605-6000
Rush Service (800) 553-6847
Fax (703) 321-8547 or (703) 321-9038
Home Page: http://www.ntis.gov/onow
By C. Michael Chernick
NIST Special Publication 800-49
November 2002
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/index.html
This Secure / Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) client profile provides guidance in the development and procurement of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) S/MIME-compliant products. This profile identifies requirements for a secure and interoperable S/MIME V3 client implementation. (S/MIME Version 3 is the latest version of S/MIME.) Conformance to this profile helps to assure that S/MIME implementations will be able to interoperate and provide reasonable assurance to users.
NIST Special Publication 800-48
November 2002
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/index.html
This document provides federal agencies with guidance for establishing secure wireless networks. The document addresses two wireless technologies that government agencies are most likely to employ: wireless local area networks (WLAN) and ad hoc or, more specifically, Bluetooth networks. Also addressed is the use of wireless handheld devices. Agencies are encouraged to tailor the recommended guidelines and solutions to meet their specific security or business requirements.
Systems Administration Guidance for Windows 2000 Professional
By Murugiah Souppaya and Tony Harris
NIST Special Publication 800-43
November 2002
http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/index.html
This document assists the users and system administrators of Windows 2000 Professional systems in configuring their hosts by providing configuration templates and security checklists. The guide provides detailed information about the security features of Win2K Pro, security configuration guidelines for popular applications, and security configuration guidelines for the Win2K Pro operating system. This guidance document also includes recommendations for testing and configuring common Windows applications.
By J. Sims, W. George, S. Satterfield, H. Hung, J. Hagedorn, P. Ketcham, T. Griffin, S. Hagstrom, J. Franiatte, G. Bryant, W. Jaskolski, N. Martys, C. Bouldin, V. Simmons, O. Nicolas, J. Warren, B. am Ende, J. Koontz, B. Filla, V. Pourprix, S. Copley, R. Bohn, A. Peskin, Y. Parker, and J. Devaney
NISTIR 6877
May 2002
PB2003-100701 $33.00 CD
Available from NTIS
This document describes, through examples, how the Scientific Applications and Visualization Group, Information Technology Laboratory, has utilized high performance parallel computing, visualization, and machine learning to accelerate research at NIST. The examples include scientific collaborations in the following areas: (1) High Precision Energies for few electron atomic systems, (2) Flows of suspensions, (3) X-ray absorption, (4) Molecular dynamics of fluids, (5) Nanostructures, (6) Dendritic growth in alloys, (7) Screen saver science, and (8) genetic programming.
By J. Dray, A. Goldfine, M. Iorga, T. Schwarzhoff, and J. Wack
NIST 6887-2
July 2002
PB2002-107668
Order from NTIS
The Government Smart Card Interoperability Specification (GSC-IS) defines a comprehensive architectural framework for smart card interoperability. The framework establishes a common smart card service provider model that allows applications programmers to access smart card services without regard for the underlying implementation details. The Government Smart Card Interagency Advisory Board, a joint committee of federal agencies and industry partners in conjunction with the General Service Administration’s Smart Access Common ID Card contract, developed the GSC-IS.
By K. Gurski and G. McFadden
NISTIR 6892
November 2002
PB2002-107933
Order from NTIS
This report describes the determination of the linear stability of a rod or wire subject to capillary forces arising from an anisotropic surface energy. The stability analysis is based on computing the sign of the second variation of the surface energy, which is examined by solving an associated eigenvalue problem. We apply the analysis to examples with uniaxial or cubic anisotropy, which illustrate that anisotropic surface energy plays a significant role in establishing the stability of the rod. Both the magnitude and sign of the anisotropy determine whether the contribution stabilizes or destabilizes the system relative to the case of isotropic surface energy, which reproduces the classical Rayleigh instability.
By H.W. Bullen IV, J.S. Chang, A.V. Harn, S.P. Kelly, S.G. Satterfield, P.M. Ketcham and J. E. Devaney
NISTIR 6924
October 2002
PB2003-100877
Order from NTIS
This document describes a set of software, the Glyph ToolBox (GTB), for creating three-dimensional (3D) glyphs. The software defines a single, general format for describing glyphs; it includes color and opacity parameters as well as location information. Four applications of the glyph toolbox are presented: a visualization of the Monk's problem, a relationship highlighter, a smiley emoticon, and a display algorithm for concave surfaces.
UPCOMING TECHNICAL CONFERENCES
16th
Annual FISSEA Conference
With a theme of “FISSEA: Securing Your Cyber Frontier Through Awareness, Training, and Education,” this conference will focus on how federal agencies are empowering their workforce through IT security awareness, training, and education. Topics include preparation for the Government Information Security Reform Act (GISRA), awareness, training, and education resources, and OPM and DoD scholarships.
Co-Sponsors: NIST and the Federal Information Systems Security Educators’
Association (FISSEA)
Dates: March 4-6, 2003
Place: Hilton Hotel, Silver Spring, Maryland
Cost: $275.00
http://csrc.nist.gov/organizations/fissea/index.html
2nd
Annual PKI Research Workshop
The goals of the workshop are to cross-pollinate existing research efforts, to identify the key remaining challenges in deploying public key authentication and authorization, and to develop a research agenda addressing these outstanding issues: What are the key areas in current PKI approaches that need further work?
For each area, what approaches appear most promising? How do the approaches in one area affect the methodologies in other areas?
Co-Sponsors: NIST, NIH, and Internet2 in cooperation with USENIX, the PKI Forum,
and IFIP TC8
Dates: April 28-29, 2003
Place: NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Cost: $105.00
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/new030428.htm
Disclaimer: Any mention of commercial products or reference to commercial organizations is for information only; it does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology nor does it imply that the products mentioned are necessarily the best available for the purpose.