Assignment title:

What is Telemetry? Briefly describe its applications.

Telemetry:
Telemetry, highly automated communications process by which
measurements are made and other data collected at remote or inaccessible
points and transmitted to receiving equipment for monitoring, display, and
recording. Originally, the information was sent over wires, but modern
telemetry more commonly uses radio transmission. Basically, the process is
the same in either case. Among the major applications are monitoring
electric-power plants, gathering meteorological data, and monitoring
manned and unmanned space flights.
The original telemetry systems were termed supervisory because they were
used to monitor electric power distribution. In the first such system, installed
in Chicago in 1912, telephone lines were used for transmitting data on the
operation of a number of electric-power plants to a central office. Such
systems spread to other fields besides power networks and underwent
extensive improvements, culminating in the introduction in 1960 of the socalled interrogation-reply principle, a highly automated arrangement in
which the transmitter-receiver facility at the measuring point automatically
transmits needed data only on being signaled to do so. The technique is
applied extensively throughout the world in such fields as oilpipeline monitor-control systems and oceanography, in which a network of
buoys transmits information on demand to a master station.
Aerospace telemetry dates from the 1930s, with the development of the
balloon-borne radiosonde, a device that automatically measures such
meteorological data as temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity and
that sends the information to an Earth station by radio. Aerospace telemetry
for rockets and satellites was inaugurated with the Soviet satellite Sputnik,
launched in 1957, and systems have grown in size and complexity since
then. Observatory satellites have performed as many as 50 different
experiments and observations, with all data telemetered back to a ground
station. The techniques developed in aerospace have been successfully
applied to many industrial operations, including the transmission of data
from inside internal-combustion engines during tests, from steam turbines in
operation, and from conveyor belts inside mass-production ovens.

Telemetering systems and components:

A typical telemetering system consists of an input device called a
transducer, a medium of transmission (usually radio waves), equipment for
receiving and processing the signal, and recording or display equipment.A
general electrical telemetry system is shown in fig. 1. It has three basic
components
(i) Transmitter
(ii) Receiver
(iii) The channel interconnecting the above two

The quantity to be measured called (measurand) is detected and the output

electrical signal is transmitted through the channel At receiving end the
electrical signal is received and converted back into usable form as
indicated, recorded or displayed by the end device

The transducer:
The transducer converts the physical stimulus to be measured, such as
temperature, vibration, or pressure, into an electrical signal and thus
operates as the actual measuring instrument. Transducers can take many
forms. They can be self-generating or externally energized. An example of

the self-generating type is a vibration sensor based on the use of

a piezoelectric materiali.e., one that produces an electrical signal when it
is mechanically deformed. Many externally energized transducers operate by
producing an electrical signal in response to mechanical deformation. Typical
physical inputs producing such deformations are pressure, mechanical
stress, and acceleration. A simple mechanical transducer-sensing device is
a strain gauge based on the change inelectrical resistance of a wire or a
semiconductor material under strain. Another externally energized
transducer, called the variable-reluctance type, is one in which the magnetic
circuit is broken by an air gap. The mechanical movement to be measured is
used to change this air gap, thus changing the reluctance, or opposition, to
the production of a magnetic field in the circuit. The change in reluctance is
then translated into an electrical signal.
Temperature sensors can be divided into two classifications: temperaturedependent resistance elements and selfgenerating thermocouples. Thermistors are of the first type; they have a
high negative temperature coefficienti.e., their resistance drops very
rapidly as the temperature increases. The thermistor is small and provides
rapid response to changes in temperature. Thermocouples are wire junctions
of dissimilar metals that produce an electrical current when heated; they
have a very low output, and each must be used with a second thermocouple
held at a constant cold temperature for a reference point.
There are many types of specialized sensors and transducer systems. One is
the previously mentioned radiosonde system, designed specifically to radio
weather data from a balloon to a ground station. Most weather-sensing and
transmitting elements measure temperature, pressure, and humidity. In
manned space probes, sensors for measuring such factors as the
astronauts blood pressure, heartbeat, and breathing rate are employed.
Sensors have also been developed to indicate the rate of flow of a fluid
through a pipe.

Communications links:
Communications facilities for telemetry consist primarily of radio or wire
links. Alternatives such as light beams or sonic signals are used in a few
cases, but environmental factors (e.g., atmospheric obstructions) and local
masking noises make them impractical for most applications.
Radio communication is used for aerospace work and for supervisory
systems in which it is impractical to provide wire line links. For public
utility installations in built-up areas, radio communication is usually ruled out
by the difficulty of finding antenna sites and unobstructed line-of-sight radio
paths. In such cases, cables and line links are used.
An important consideration in radio links is the choice of operating
frequency, a choice limited to bands allocated by international agreement.

Propagation varies enormously over the range of frequencies involved. For

aerospace applications in which transmissions must penetrate the
atmosphere, the frequency range is 100 megahertz (100,000,000 cycles
per second) to 10,000 megahertz. Line links for supervisory applications
usually employ a comparatively narrow band. They may utilize the whole or
only a section of a conventional voice channel with a bandwidth of 3,000
hertz (cycles per second). The link may be either a direct wire circuit or one
of the channels in a carrier communications system.
Multiplexing and Sampling:

A telemetry system ordinarily must handle more than one channel of

information (e.g., routine measurements from an orbiting satellite, or flow
rate and reservoir levels in a water-distribution network). These datameasurement channels are brought together by a process known as
multiplexing, which combines the channels into one composite signal for
transmission over the communications link. Multiplexing may be based on
either a time division or a frequency division. In time division, channels are
combined one after another in time sequence; in frequency division, each
channel is assigned on an individually allocated, discrete frequency band,
and these bands are then combined for simultaneous transmission. Finally,
data may be handled within the telemetry system in a continuous (analog)
or discrete (digital) way. The latter systems are relatively more complex
because it is necessary to convert analog signals to digital form, a process
known asencoding, for a purely digital arrangement. Time-division
multiplexing involves a sequential action in which samples are selected in
turn from a number of different measurement channels for transmission to
the receiving point. In fixed cycle selection, a switching device connects a
particular channel to the outgoing communications link in accordance with a
prearranged sequence. With a so-called address-reply system, data are sent
only as a result of a command signal: sampling is in accordance with a
predetermined scanning program. The program is flexible because it can be
arranged to meet priority requirements for information, as, for instance,
when an alarm condition develops.

Transmission:

A process called modulation is used to impress the information on the carrier

frequency. Of the many design choices that must be made, that of the
modulation method is among the most important. Not only does it have a
direct influence on system performance but it also tends to define areas of
design in both the sender and the receiver.
Modulation methods fall into two divisions. The first includes amplitude
and frequency modulation (as in commercial AM and FM broadcasting) and
related types. These related types include two pulse-based methods in which
several pulses are spaced out in time, each pulse representing one
information channel. The two types are pulse-width (or pulse-duration)
modulation and pulse-position modulation. In the first, the information
produces variations in the width (or duration) of the pulse; in the second, the
variation is in the position of the pulse with respect to time. In the second
main class, pulse-code modulation, the information is coded digitally into
groups of pulses and then transmitted.
In most telemetering systems, modulation is carried out in two stages. First,
the signal modulates a subcarrier (a radio-frequency wave the frequency of
which is below that of the final carrier), and then the modulated subcarrier in
turn modulates the output carrier. Frequency modulation is used in many of
these systems to impress the telemetry information on the subcarrier. If
frequency-division multiplexing is used to combine a group of these
frequency-modulated subcarrier channels, the system is known as an FM/FM
system.
Processing the received signal:

At the receiving end of the telemetry chain, two tasks must be performed:
the original measurement data must be extracted from the received signal,
and it must be presented or displayed in intelligible form. The extraction of
the data takes place in two stages and is the reverse of the steps taken in
producing the modulated composite transmitting signal. Initial demodulation
produces the modulated subcarrier; this subcarrier is then split up into its
original measurement channels by de-multiplexing (the reverse of
multiplexing). The separated signals are fed individually to their respective
points in the presentation system. Data is presented in real timethat is,
at the instant the variable is being measuredand in one or more recorded
forms. Magnetic tape is the most widely used recording medium.

The presentation of aerospace data differs from that of supervisory data. For
the routine requirements of the latter, formal diagram displays normally are
provided, together with printout of the data by electric typewriter. Aerospace
systems, on the other hand, being experimental in nature, generally display
a wide range of measurements. Almost without exception, data are recorded
in a form suitable for processing by computers.
Applications of Telemetry:

Meteorology: Telemetry has been used by weather balloons for transmitting

meteorological data since 1920.
Oil and Gas industry: Telemetry is used to transmit drilling mechanics and
formation evaluation information uphole, in real time, as a well is drilled.
These services are known as Measurement while drilling and Logging while
drilling. Schlumberger's Pulse technology is an example of this. Tools like
SlimPulse, PowerPulse, TeleScope, etc. use this methodology to send
information acquired thousands of feet below ground, while drilling, uphole
to the surface sensors and the demodulation software. The pressure wave
(signal) is translated into useful information after DSP and noise filters. This
information is used for Formation evaluation, Drilling Optimization, and
Geosteering.
Space science: Telemetry is used by manned or unmanned spacecraft for
data transmission. Distances of more than 10 billion kilometres have been
covered, e.g. by Voyager 1.
Motor racing:Telemetry is a key factor in modern motor racing, allowing race
engineers to interpret data collected during a test or race and use it to
properly tune the car for optimum performance. Systems used in series such
as Formula One have become advanced to the point where the potential lap
time of the car can be calculated, and this time is what the driver is
expected to meet. Examples of measurements on a race car include
accelerations (G forces) in 3 axes, temperature readings, wheel speed and
suspension displacement. In Formula One, driver input is also recorded so
the team can assess driver performance and (in case of an accident) the FIA
can determine or rule out driver error as a possible cause.
Later developments include two-way telemetry which allows engineers
to update calibrations on the car in real time (even while it is out on the
track). In Formula One, two-way telemetry surfaced in the early 1990s and
consisted of a message display on the dashboard which the team could
update. Its development continued until May 2001, when it was first allowed

on the cars. By 2002, teams were able to change engine mapping and
deactivate engine sensors from the pit while the car was on the track.
[citation needed] For the 2003 season, the FIA banned two-way telemetry
from Formula One;[citation needed] however, the technology may be used in
other types of racing or on road cars
Agriculture:Most activities related to healthy crops and good yields depend
on timely availability of weather and soil data. Therefore, wireless weather
stations play a major role in disease prevention and precision irrigation.
These stations transmit parameters necessary for decision-making to a base
station: air temperature and relative humidity, precipitation and leaf wetness
(for disease prediction models), solar radiation and wind speed (to calculate
evapotranspiration), water deficit stress (WDS) leaf sensors and soil moisture
(crucial to irrigation decisions).
Because local micro-climates can vary significantly, such data needs to come
from within the crop. Monitoring stations usually transmit data back by
terrestrial radio, although occasionally satellite systems are used. Solar
power is often employed to make the station independent of the power grid.
Water management:Telemetry is important in water management, including
water quality and stream gauging functions. Major applications include AMR
(automatic meter reading), groundwater monitoring, leak detection in
distribution pipelines and equipment surveillance. Having data available in
almost real time allows quick reactions to events in the field.
Defense, space and resource exploration:Telemetry is used in complex
systems such as missiles, RPVs, spacecraft, oil rigs and chemical plants since
it allows the automatic monitoring, alerting, and record-keeping necessary
for efficient and safe operation. Space agencies such as NASA, the European
Space Agency (ESA) and other agencies use telemetry and/or telecommand
systems to collect data from spacecraft and satellites.
Telemetry is vital in the development of missiles, satellites and aircraft
because the system might be destroyed during or after the test. Engineers
need critical system parameters to analyze (and improve) the performance
of the system. In the absence of telemetry, this data would often be
unavailable.
Rocketry: In rocketry, telemetry equipment forms an integral part of the
rocket range assets used to monitor the position and health of a launch
vehicle to determine range safety flight termination criteria (Range purpose
is for public safety). Problems include the extreme environment

(temperature, acceleration and vibration), the energy supply, antenna

alignment and (at long distances, e.g. in spaceflight) signal travel time.
Flight testing:Flight test programs typically monitor data collected from onboard flight test instrumentation over a PCM/RF link.[6] This data is analyzed
in real time for safety reasons and to provide feedback to the test pilot.
Challenges to telemetering this data include fading, multipath propagation
and the Doppler Effect. The bandwidth of the telemetry link is often
insufficient to transfer all data acquired; therefore, a limited set is sent to
earth for real-time processing while an on-board recorder ensures the full
data set is available for post-flight analysis.
Military intelligence:Telemetry was an important source of intelligence for
the US and UK when Soviet missiles were tested; for this purpose, the US
operated a listening post in Iran. Eventually, the Russians discovered the US
intelligence-gathering network and encrypted their missile-test telemetry
signals. Telemetry was also a source for the Soviets, who operated listening
ships in Cardigan Bay to eavesdrop on UK missile tests performed in the
area.
Energy monitoring: In factories, buildings and houses, energy consumption
of systems such as HVAC are monitored at multiple locations; related
parameters (e.g. temperature) are sent via wireless telemetry to a central
location. The information is collected and processed, enabling the most
efficient use of energy. Such systems also facilitate predictive maintenance.
Resource distribution: Many resources need to be distributed over wide
areas. Telemetry is useful in these cases, since it allows the system to
channel resources where they are needed; examples of this are tank farms
in gasoline refineries and chemical plants.
Medicine: Telemetry also is used for patients (biotelemetry) who are at risk
of abnormal heart activity, generally in a coronary care unit. Such patients
are outfitted with measuring, recording and transmitting devices. A data log
can be useful in diagnosis of the patient's condition by doctors. An alerting
function can alert nurses if the patient is suffering from an acute (or
dangerous) condition. Systems are available in medical-surgical nursing for
monitoring to rule out a heart condition, or to monitor a response to
antiarrhythmic medications such as digoxin.
Fishery and wildlife research and management:Telemetry is used to study
wildlife, and has been useful for monitoring threatened species at the
individual level. Animals under study can be outfitted with instrumentation

tags, which include sensors that measure temperature, diving depth and
duration (for marine animals), speed and location (using GPS or Argos
packages). Telemetry tags can give researchers information about animal
behavior, functions, and their environment. This information is then either
stored (with archival tags) or the tags can send (or transmit) their
information to a satellite or handheld receiving device.
Telemetry is used in hydro-acoustic assessments for fish (which had
previously employed mobile surveys from boats to evaluate fish biomass and
spatial distributions). Fixed-location techniques use stationary transducers to
monitor passing fish. While the first serious attempts to quantify fish
biomass were conducted in the 1960s, major advances in equipment and
techniques took place at hydropower dams during the 1980s. Some
evaluations monitored fish passage 24 hours a day for over a year,
producing estimates of fish entrainment rates, fish sizes, and spatial and
temporal distributions.
During the 1970s the dual-beam technique was invented, permitting
direct estimation of fish size in situ via its target strength. The first portable
split-beam, hydro-acoustic system was developed by HTI in 1991; it provided
more-accurate, less-variable estimates of fish strength than the dual-beam
method. It also permitted tracking of fish in 3D, giving each fishs swimming
path and absolute direction of movement. This feature proved important in
evaluations of entrained fish in water diversions and for studies of migratory
fish in rivers. During the last 35 years, tens of thousands of mobile and fixedlocation hydro-acoustic evaluations have been conducted worldwide.

Retail:At a 2005 workshop in Las Vegas, a seminar noted the introduction of

telemetry equipment which would allow vending machines to communicate
sales and inventory data to a route truck or to a headquarters.[citation
needed] This data could be used for a variety of purposes, such as
eliminating the need for drivers to make a first trip to see which items
needed to be restocked before delivering the inventory.
Retailers also use RFID tags to track inventory and prevent shoplifting.
Most of these tags passively respond to RFID readers (e.g. at the cashier),
but active RFID tags are available which periodically transmit location
information to a base station.

Law enforcement:Telemetry hardware is useful for tracking persons and

property in law enforcement. An ankle collar worn by convicts on probation
can warn authorities if a person violates the terms of his or her parole, such
as by straying from authorized boundaries or visiting an unauthorized
location. Telemetry has also enabled bait cars, where law enforcement can
rig a car with cameras and tracking equipment and leave it somewhere they
expect it to be stolen. When stolen the telemetry equipment reports the
location of the vehicle, enabling law enforcement to deactivate the engine
and lock the doors when it is stopped by responding officers.
Energy providers: In some countries, telemetry is used to measure the
amount of electrical energy consumed. The electricity meter communicates
with a concentrator and the latter sends the information through GPRS or
GSM to the energy provider's server. Telemetry is also used for the remote
monitoring of substations and their equipment. For data transmission, phase
line carrier systems operating on frequencies between 30 and 400 kHz are
sometimes used.
Falconry:In falconry, "telemetry" means a small radio transmitter carried by
a falcon to allow the bird's owner to track it when it is out of sight.
Testing:Telemetry is used in testing where close observation is needed, but
human presence in the vicinity of the test would be dangerous. Examples
include munitions-storage facilities, radioactive sites and volcanoes. It is
necessary to measure in places a human cannot access (for example, in
space or deep in the ocean).
Communications:Telemetry is used in many battery operated wireless
systems to inform monitoring personnel when the battery power is reaching
a low point and the end item needs fresh batteries.
International standards: As in other telecommunications fields, international
standards exist for telemetry equipment and software. CCSDS and IRIG are
such standards.

Special applications and techniques:

New applications of telemetry are constantly appearing, particularly in

the fields of research and scientific investigation. An important area

is biomedical research, in which biological information is telemetered from

inside patients by means of micro miniature transmitters that are either
swallowed or surgically implanted. External monitoring of body conditions
can be carried out with surface transducers.
Another scientific area in which telemetry is applied is oceanography.
In this case, unmanned instrumented buoys are interrogated by a central
master station at appropriate intervals. Both oceanographic data (e.g., water
temperature and salinity) and surface meteorological information are
recorded, ready to be transmitted to the master station in response to
interrogation.
In mechanical engineering, information is transmitted from inside
prime movers (e.g., electric, gas, steam, and diesel engines) over various
types of radio links to an external receiver. The information normally
includes temperature and pressure.
Telemetry is often provided by television-like facilities usually
employing a low-bandwidth communications link. This type of facility is
advantageous when a visual indication is desired of a process inaccessible to
humans. Applications include rocket-motor testing and remote observation
of operations with highly radioactive material.

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