Noise factor and antenna gains in the signal/noise equation for over-the-horizon radar

A recommended form of the signal-to-noise equation that includes both internal and external system noise and signal/noise processing losses is discussed. The recommended form conforms to the internationally accepted definition of system operating noise factor but is extended to include signal/noise processing. The predetection signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a radar or communication system is proportional to the power gain of the transmit antenna and the directive gain of the receive antenna, and is inversely proportional to the operating noise factor of the receiving system. The operating noise factor is approximately equal to the product of the external noise factor and the signal/noise processing factor when the system is external noise limited, as is usually the case for over-the-horizon (OTH) radar.<>     

基于噪声匹配的有源接收天线设计

为了提高接收天线的增益和灵敏度,采用将天线与低噪声放大器集成到一起设计的方案,将天线的输出阻抗作为放大器的源阻抗,省略了天线与放大器之间的阻抗匹配网络。通过调节天线馈电系统的尺寸调节天线阻抗,使其等于放大器的最佳源阻抗。利用HFSS仿真软件计算天线的辐射特性及阻抗,用ADS Designer软件对低噪声放大器进行优化设计。利用2SC5507晶体管设计了一个工作于2．0GHz的与低噪声放大器集成在一起的缝隙耦合微带天线,所设计的噪声系数为1．664dB,放大器增益为16．75dB。     

An Application of Radiometric Techniques to Precision Angle Tracking Radar Systems

A new technique is described which provides for precision angle tracking of celestial radio sources with a conventional monopulse antenna receiving system. It is shown that this technique is readily adapted to angle tracking radars. The features of conventional monopulse operation are preserved while permitting precise angle tracking of noise sources when signal to noise ratios are much less than unity. Measurements, using a four-horn monopulse feed with a 28-foot parabolic reflector and a "monopulse radiometer" produced the characteristic monopulse angle detection functions when using the sun, the moon, and Cassiopeia A as boresight reference sources. Precision measurements were made to 8 arc second under varying weather conditions using 28-foot radio astronomy antennas. The accuracy of the measurements were limited by the antenna angle encoders, consequently no conclusions are drawn with regard to the absolute accuracy of the measurements. The celestial coordinates of four discrete radio sources and the equations for coordinate transformation to local elevation and azimuth are contained in the Appendixes.     

基于角度分集的机载超宽带MIMO天线设计

为了提高机载通信设备信道容量和进一步减小天线安装空间，提出一种采用角度分集技术的超宽带（UWB）多输入多输出（MIMO）天线。该天线将Vivaldi天线和超宽带槽天线进行了集成设计，无需采用解耦结构便可获得较高的端口隔离度，大大提高了数据传输率。通过在Vivaldi天线辐射臂上开一对方形缝隙和在介质板背面增加长方形辐射贴片，可以有效减小天线的尺寸，设计的UWB-MIMO天线尺寸为36 mm×36 mm×0.8 mm。给出了天线的设计流程，加工了天线实物，并对其进行了测量。仿真和实测结果表明MIMO天线具有超宽的阻抗带宽，可以覆盖整个3.1~10.6 GHz超宽带频段。Vivaldi天线阻抗带宽为2.8~15.9 GHz，UWB槽天线阻抗带宽为1.8~12.7 GHz，天线端口隔离度均在-10 dB以下。测量了天线的辐射性能和增益特性，实测结果与仿真结果吻合较好，证明了该天线的有效性。该天线可以应用于超宽带无线通信系统和机载阵列天线系统中。     

Limitations of Series-Fed Arrays in Broadband Communications

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the signal distortion which results when long, series-fed arrays are used for communication. It is shown that under certain conditions the antenna array can be considered a linear filter, the response of which is a function of frequency as well as spatial coordinates. The distortion accompanying the transmission as measured by the least mean-square difference between the transmitted and the received signals is derived. This expression is evaluated for the case of a uniformly excited array and a rectangular band-pass signal spectrum. In the absence of noise the transmitted signal can be completely recovered in the receiver by employing the proper linear filter. In the presence of noise the signal cannot, of course, be completely recovered. However, a technique for minimizing the distortion, in this case using a pre-filter and a post-filter, is investigated.     

Analysis of a Signal Processor for an Antenna Array

A signal processor that provides ratio-squared predetection combining, has been investigated for application in an adaptive antenna array. The analysis and experimental data presented here pertain to the signal processing gain when the antenna array is illuminated by a coherent signal source and a partially coherent noise source. For a noise source which is coherent, the processing gain depends on relative strength of the signal and noise, relative directions of arrival, and the usual "array factor." The array exhibits capturing effects much as in an FM receiver. The effective antenna pattern is a superposition of two beams of different magnitudes, one directed to the signal source and the other to the noise source. When the noise is partially coherent, the behavior of the signal processor is quite complex. Analytical prediction and experimental simulation measurement on a four-channel system indicate that the partially coherent noise may be regarded as the source of an incoherent noise component plus a coherent noise component with the magnitude of the latter determined by the coherence coefficient for the noise source.     

Electronically Tracking Antenna System for Satellite Reception

This correspondence describes a novel electronically tracking antenna system for satellite reception in the VHF range. The "hedgehog" antenna consists of several antennas directed in different directions to cover the whole sky. An electronic switch, controlled by the satellite receiver, connects the receiver to the antenna from which the desired satellite signal is obtained. This system is especially suitable for unmanned reliable receiving stations if an antenna gain of the order of 10 dB is enough.     

UV 波段的宽带可重构收发机的实现

设计了一种宽带可重构收发机,主要由三部分组成：发射机、接收机和频率源。发射机完成从中频 70 MHz 到100~550 MHz 的射频发射,为了减小发射信号对相邻信道的干扰,发射信号的杂散抑制要高。接收 机从众多的电波中选出有用信号,并将该信号搬移到中频信号,然后放大到解调器所要求的电平值,将射频信 号变为中频信号,由于传输路径上的损耗和多径效应,接收机接收的信号是微弱且有变化的,并伴随着许多干 扰,这些干扰信号强度往往远大于有用信号,因此接收机的主要指标是灵敏度和选择性。频率源提供精确和低 噪声的本振信号,为射频变频系统核心部分之一,频率源的主要指标是相位噪声。     

Transient Response of an Asymmetric Cylindrical Antenna

The time-domain transient response of a thin dipole antenna is discussed in terms of element lengths and the surge impedances of the transmission line and element terminals. Theory and measurements show that, unlike symmetric configurations, asymmetry in the element lengths, together with appropriate mismatch of the transmission line, produces radiation proportional to the first time derivative of the signal voltage, and replica reception proportional to the incoming field.     

Application of the Concept of Referenced Radio Navigation

This paper discusses referenced radio navigation, the concept whereby monitoring stations at known locations are used to calibrate out systematic errors in a navigation system. This concept is implemented by broadcasting calibration data to the navigating user for application as real-time corrections to the position fixes made by the user's basic navigation equipment. A method is suggested for the automatic transmission and receiver processing of the correction data. Referenced radio navigation overcomes many of the shortcomings generally associated with long-distance navigation systems, and can increase accuracy and repeatability significantly. The concept is particularly applicable to global navigation systems such as OMEGA, in which propagation or synchronization errors can contribute substantially to the system error budget.     

Polarization Mismatch Errors in Radio Phase Interferometers

An analysis is presented which deals with the effects of polarization mismatch errors on the accuracy of a phase interferometer used for position location of unknown emitters relative to known calibration emitters. Closed-form expressions for the induced phase difference between interferometer antennas are derived for several combinations of receiving and transmitting antenna polarizations. Errors contributed by mechanical misalignment between antennas, as well as effects of power loss attributable to polarization mismatch, are also considered. The analysis leads to the conclusion that circularly polarized interferometer and transmitter antennas are best suited for the position location application, if it is assumed that polarization tracking of the interferometer antennas is not available. It is shown that a reasonable amount of ellipticity can be tolerated before the phase error becomes significant.     

Monopulse-radar angle tracking in noise or noise jamming

In many monopulse radars, feedback in the angle-tracking servo system is taken to be directly proportional to the monopulse ratio. In those radars, monopulse measurements are conditioned on simultaneous occurrences of receiver sum-channel video exceeding a detection threshold: if a detection fails to occur, the measurement is ignored, and the angle-tracking servo is made to coast. Such conditioning is shown to be necessary in order that the noise power be finite in the servo feedback. The conditional mean value and conditional variance of the monopulse ratio are derived and quantified in terms of threshold level as well as signal-to-noise ratio. The formulation permits the noise covariance between receiver difference and sum channels to be complex rather than only real-valued, so that the sources of noise jamming are not required to be positioned in the receiving-antenna mainlobe and to be copolarized with the antenna response there. Nonfluctuating and Rayleigh-fluctuating target cases are considered and compared, and fluctuation loss is quantified     

非线性突发模式光接收机的性能分析

分析了航空光纤数据总线及其它多用户光纤接入网中采用非线性互阻前置放大器的突发模式光接收机的特性。建立了光接收机非线性前放的模型,在给定等效输入噪声的条件下,计算并比较了接收机采用线性前放与非线性前放的误码性能。进一步指出了改进非线性突发模式光接收机的 BER性能以及网络传输能力的方法     

Multicomponent receiver architectures for GPS interference suppression

The global positioning system (GPS) is a one-way satellite-based navigation system employing spread-spectrum techniques that is widely used for commercial and military applications. Although the very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is handled by the large spreading gain, GPS is susceptible to high-power interference signals and various types of jammers. We propose multicomponent receiver architectures for GPS interference suppression. A conventional antenna system is first considered which utilizes a minimum-variance distortionless-response (MVDR) beam former and assumes that the GPS signal angle of arrival (AOA) and the antenna model are known at the receiver. However, this receiver is sensitive to AOA estimation errors and can have a high computational complexity. This sensitivity problem is eliminated by a multicomponent system based on a multistage matched filter (MF). Since this MF receiver also has a high computational complexity because the jammer AOAs must be estimated, we introduce a blind interference canceler based on the constant modulus (CM) array that is insensitive to AOA estimation errors and has a low computational complexity. Computer simulations are provided to illustrate the performance of the various systems for interference suppression in example signal scenarios.     

Receiver antenna scan rate requirements needed to implement pulsechasing in a bistatic radar receiver

Pulse chasing is a technique implemented by a bistatic or multistatic radar system that allows rapid and efficient search of a desired volume of space whereby the receiving antenna is made to follow or “chase” the transmitted pulse as it travels radially outward from the transmitter antenna. An expression for receiver antenna scan rate requirements is derived that corrects an error in the prior literature. The results give significantly reduced scan rates in the forward scatter region near the baseline showing that pulse chasing is more easily implemented using conventional analog beamformer phased array technology than was suggested by prior work     

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Laser Ranging Investigation

The objective of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Laser Ranging (LR) system is to collect precise measurements of range that allow the spacecraft to achieve its requirement for precision orbit determination. The LR will make one-way range measurements via laser pulse time-of-flight from Earth to LRO, and will determine the position of the spacecraft at a sub-meter level with respect to ground stations on Earth and the center of mass of the Moon. Ranging will occur whenever LRO is visible in the line of sight from participating Earth ground tracking stations. The LR consists of two primary components, a flight system and ground system. The flight system consists of a small receiver telescope mounted on the LRO high-gain antenna that captures the uplinked laser signal, and a fiber optic cable that routes the signal to the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument on LRO. The LOLA instrument receiver records the time of the laser signal based on an ultrastable crystal oscillator, and provides the information to the onboard LRO data system for storage and/or transmittal to the ground through the spacecraft radio frequency link. The LR ground system consists of a network of satellite laser ranging stations, a data reception and distribution facility, and the LOLA Science Operations Center. LR measurements will enable the determination of a three-dimensional geodetic grid for the Moon based on the precise seleno-location of ground spots from LOLA.     

Effects of finite weight resolution and calibration errors on theperformance of adaptive array antennas

Adaptive antennas are now used to increase the spectral efficiency in mobile telecommunication systems. A model of the received carrier-to-interference plus noise ratio (CINR) in the adaptive antenna beamformer output is derived, assuming that the weighting units are implemented in hardware, The finite resolution of weights and calibration is shown to reduce the CINR. When hardware weights are used, the phase or amplitude step size in the weights can be so large that it affects the maximum achievable CINR. It is shown how these errors makes the interfering signals “leak” through the beamformer and we show how the output CINR is dependent on power of the input signals. The derived model is extended to include the limited dynamic range of the receivers, by using a simulation model. The theoretical and simulated results are compared with measurements on an adaptive array antenna testbed receiver, designed for the GSM-1800 system. The theoretical model was used to find the performance limiting part in the testbed as the 1 dB resolution in the weight magnitude. Furthermore, the derived models are used in illustrative examples and can be used for system designers to balance the phase and magnitude resolution and the calibration requirements of future adaptive array antennas     

基于相控阵雷达天线俯仰多波位相扫的设计与应用

分析研究了如何设计平面相控阵雷达天线多波位相扫的基本原理,提出了36行平面相控阵雷达天线在俯仰上实现多波位发射波束、接收波束形成与展宽方法.通过微波暗室的测试,天线技术指标完全达到了平面相控阵雷达天线多波位相扫的技术要求,实现了一维相控阵面高增益、高灵敏度、低噪声、大动态范围技术指标.     

Volterra Series Synthesis of Nonlinear Stochastic Tracking Systems

One of the most important objectives of a radar angle-tracking loop is to keep the target within the beamwidth of the radar antenna. Thus, the behavior of the antenna pointing error is of vital interest in determination of tracking performance. For a tracker with a general polynomial linearity (representing nonlinear receiver characteristics), subjected to constant line-of-sight rate inputs, random initial antenna pointing errors, and white Gaussian receiver noise, a method to obtain approximations to the transient mean and variance of the antenna pointing error as explicit functions of time is presented.     

叶片前缘仿形涡流检测仿真与试验设计

仿形涡流检测技术因其耦合性好可有效抑制检测过程晃动而特别适合对大曲率叶片前缘快速检测。针对涡轮叶片前缘仿形涡流检测建立前缘及仿形线圈有限元模型,运用有限元方法分析叶片前缘凹坑、长裂纹、边沿凹坑3种典型缺陷在内外两种激励、不同内径线圈、不同频率等模式下的检测信号特征。仿真结果表明：大曲率前缘实施仿形涡流检测,检测区域可有效覆盖整个前缘区域,检测频率越高,检测灵敏度越高。双线圈检测模式下,外激励内接收比内激励外接收灵敏高,当内检测线圈尺寸大于缺陷的尺度时,内接收线圈内径越小,其相对灵敏度越高。结合仿真结论,制作前缘缺陷试块,采用锁相放大及图形化编程技术,设计前缘仿形涡流检测系统,试验结果表明,仿形线圈可有效检出前缘典型缺陷,检测幅值相位输出结果与仿真结论相似。研究成果可用于指导大曲率叶片前缘的工程实践检测。