Power Combining of Tapered Lasers Using Arrayed Waveguide Grating

Not Available Problem Summary: There is a wide and varied range of students who participate in distributed Department of Defense (DoD) and commercial distance learning programs and training exercises. Verification of these student's participation, through biometric methods, such as finger print or retinal scans, is an important step in certification of the training. Verification of the student's identity is also an important requirement in situations where access to the training data must be controlled. The same identical problem exists commercially for off-campus , continuing education and other forms of distance learning programs. Verifying that the participant is in fact the student being certified and not a stand in , for whatever reason, and that this person is authorized to access the training data is important for many reasons. The use of Smart Cards, represents the latest technology to be used in the commercial world, for control and access to confidential data, such as for Internet commerce or retention of personal medical data. Smart Cards are credit card like devices, which utilize an embedded memory chip (rather than older technologies such as magnetic stripe cards). The chief advantage of the Smart Card is that it can support multiple functions and may even include Java Cardlets . The use of Smart Card technology is being adopted rapidly by the DoD in many areas. The Department of the Navy is one of the leaders in the adoption of Smart Cards for DoD use. Several initiatives have been launched to date, which potentially will put Smart Cards in the hands of all Navy personnel. These developments will include the use of Smart Dog Tags which allow the storage of a sailor's complete military record as well as emergency medical data, to be carried with them at all times, and potential inclusion into the Smart Ship program to support the overall reduction of crews. Adapting these cards, to be used as the access keys for distance learning and distributed training exercises is a natural addition of the use of Smart Cards to the Navy's Smart Card program and will help with the integration of training system technology into the smart base program and for shipboard training programs. The Smart Card verifi