In This Issue:
Algorithms
Sought for Advanced Encryption Standard
FQA Status: Changes Proposed, More Labs Accredited
Room Temperature Methane Detector Developed
New Advisory Board to Guide MEP
Software Improves Processing of Near-Field Measurements
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Encryption
Algorithms Sought for Advanced Encryption Standard
NIST invites security product manufacturers, voluntary standards organizations, research organizations and others to submit candidate algorithms that could become the basis of an Advanced Encryption Standard, according to a notice in the Sept. 12, 1997, issue of the Federal Register.
"It is intended that the AES will specify an unclassified, publicly disclosed encryption algorithm available royalty-free worldwide that is capable of protecting sensitive government information well into the next century," the notice says.
Once the multiyear development effort is complete, the AES will be used by agencies of the federal government and will be available for voluntary use by companies, state and local governments, and others who wish to use a strong encryption standard that is backed by the federal government.
In addition to describing what makes a complete submission package, the notice lists the minimum acceptability requirements for a candidate algorithm as well as the evaluation criteria that will be used to assess and compare the submissions.
Candidate algorithm submission packages must be received by June 15, 1998. Any submission packages received before April 15, 1998, however, will be reviewed for completeness by NIST, and these early submitters will be notified of any specific deficiencies by May 15, 1998. This will allow time for deficient packages to be amended by the final submission deadline.
The Federal Register notice is available at http://csrc.nist.gov/encryption/aes/aes_9709.htm. Submission packages should be sent to the director of the Information Technology Laboratory, Attn: Advanced Encryption Standard Nominations, A231 Technology Bldg., NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001. For general information, contact Edward Roback at (301) 975-3696, fax: (301) 948-1233, aesquest@nist.gov
Media Contact:
Anne Enright Shepherd
(301) 975-4858
Standards
FQA Status: Changes Proposed, More Labs Accredited
The Fastener Quality Act--the national program to protect public health and safety by ensuring that certain nuts, bolts and other fasteners used in critical situations (such as attaching aircraft engines to fuselages) conform to specifications--recently reached two milestones toward its planned implementation in May 1998.
First, NIST is seeking public comment on a proposed major change to the regulations. Announced in the Federal Register of Sept. 8, 1997, the proposed change would allow accreditation of manufacturing facilities that utilize quality assurance systems, such as QS-9000 for statistical control during processing. The regulation previously required that testing and approval for each lot of fasteners be done at the end of the production line and only by an accredited testing laboratory.
The new language addresses the concerns of the automotive industry that on-line quality testing is much more effective than lot sampling and should be recognized under the FQA regulation. Since end-of-line testing is typically invoked to confirm the stability of the in-process statistical control system, an accredited testing laboratory still must conduct that testing.
Other proposed changes to the regulations address: (1) passing laboratory inspection and testing reports along the supply chain to the fastener manufacturer, (2) the issue of removing manufacturer or grade identification markings at the customer's request, (3)"grandfathering"; fasteners and (4) revised definitions, clearer text and corrections to editorial errors in certain sections.
NIST's Office of Standards Services, which manages the implementation of the FQA, also reports that by Aug. 31, 1997, nearly 400 U.S. testing laboratories had applied for accreditation in compliance with the act. It is expected that the majority will successfully complete the process, putting the number of accredited labs by May 1998 at the level needed to fully implement the FQA.
NIST urges all testing laboratories that want accreditation but have not begun the process to do so immediately. This will ensure that they achieve accreditation before the FQA implementation date of May 26, 1998.
For information, contact Subhas G. Malghan, Rm. 306,Bldg. 820, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-5102, fax: (301) 975-2183, or see the FQA page of NIST's Web site at http://www.nist.gov/.
Media Contact:
Michael Newman (301)
975-3025
Physics
Room Temperature Methane Detector Developed
A fast, accurate instrument for spectroscopically measuring the concentration of methane and other gases, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, in air has been developed by researchers from NIST, Rice University, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Stanford University.
The instrument is based on room-temperature solid-state lasers and has a resolution of one part per billion in measuring concentrations. The system is simpler, faster (one measurement per minute) and more portable than the chemical processing and gas chromatography methods currently used.
Methane and other organic gases absorb infrared light with wavelengths of 3 to 5 micro-meters, far outside the normal emission range of room temperature diode lasers. However, suitable probe light can be generated by combining the light from an 808-nanometer diode laser with the 1064-nanometer light from a compact diode-pumped, solid-state neodymium: yttrium-aluminum-garnet (known as Nd: YAG) laser. Combining the beams in a crystal of periodically poled lithium niobate creates a single beam with a wavelength of 3.4 micrometers. This light can be tuned over a range of wavelengths, so that it can be used to measure and differentiate between methane and water, and even between methanes containing different carbon isotopes (carbon-12 and carbon-13).
For a technical paper (no. 28-97) describing the instrument, contact Sarabeth Harris, MC 104, NIST, Boulder, Colo. 80303-3328, (303) 497-3237.
Media Contact:
Collier Smith (Boulder)
(303) 497-3198
MEP
New Advisory Board to Guide MEP
Eight prominent industry and economic development leaders have been appointed to serve on the newly created Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Advisory Board. The board members are:
- Jay Brandinger, executive director, New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology;
- Roxi Downing, chief executive officer, Qualis Inc.;
- Irwin Feller, director, Institute for Policy Research and Evaluation, and professor of economics, Pennsylvania State University;
- Maurice Lee, president, Smokaroma Inc.;
- Ed Noha, chairman of the board, CNA Financial Corp.;
- James Quillin, senior advisor, Economic Development, California Conference of Machinists;
- Lawrence Rhoades, president, Extrude Hone Corp.; and
- William Webber, interim director, PT CAM.
A ninth member of the board is expected to be confirmed soon.
Members were selected for their expertise in the area of manufacturing and industrial extension and for their work on behalf of small manufacturers. Meeting three times a year, the board will provide advice on MEP programs, plans and policies.
The NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership is a nationwide network of centers offering technical and business assistance to smaller manufacturers. Biographical sketches of the board members are available by contacting Jan Kosko at the phone number or e-mail address above.
Media Contact:
Jan Kosko (301) 975-2767
Antenna Metrology
Software Improves Processing of Near-Field Measurements
Microwave and millimeter-wave antenna measurements are often made by taking many readings (typically 10,000 to 1 million) close to the antenna and then mathematically processing the data to map the antenna's far-field pattern. Normally, accuracy depends on positioning the measurement probe precisely on a rectangular grid of points spaced across the antenna's aperture.
NIST has developed new software for processing planar near-field antenna measurements taken where probe positioning cannot be maintained, precisely such as at high frequencies or in field tests. The software implements a more efficient method for transforming measured data to obtain the antenna's far-field pattern. Other methods designed to handle non-ideal, but known, probe positions require time-consuming calculations. However, this method can efficiently remove probe position errors during processing if probe positions are known, for example, from independent laser interferometry measurements.
The software also can process near-field data measured in other scanning geometries such as plane-polar or plane-bipolar. By relaxing the mechanical tolerance requirements of positioning, the error correction capability can extend greatly the frequency range of existing microwave antenna measurement systems that use near-field scanning methods.
For more information regarding the theory behind the software and its availability for evaluation, contact Michael H. Francis (303) 497-5873, Bradley K. Alpert (303) 497-5920 , or Ronald C. Wittmann (303) 497-3326. A paper (no. 34-97) describing this work is available from Sarabeth Harris, MC 104, NIST, Boulder, Colo. 80303-3328, (303) 497-3237.
Media Contact:
Collier Smith (Boulder)
(303) 497-3198
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