Refractive Errors in Angle-of-Elevation Measurements

It is shown that the errors associated with radio elevation measurements may be investigated systematically using a variational technique. The error occurring when spaced antennas are used is compared with that for a single directional antenna. Integral expressions are obtained for the refractive errors.     

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.     

Angle measurement in the presence of mainbeam interference

The problem of reducing interference impinging on an antenna array when the sources lie in the main beam is addressed. Adaptive antenna arrays are incorporated to form adapted sum and difference beams in which the interference signals are suppressed. Monopulse error curves are then obtained, providing the necessary distortion correction curves across the entire mainbeam tracking angle region. New Cramer-Rao (C-R) bounds on the angle estimation error are derived with generalized assumptions on the signal amplitude and phase. The bounds previously derived by others are valid under different conditions. With these generalized assumptions on the signal characteristics, a Monte Carlo simulation is performed, based on the estimation procedure presented, to determine the angle estimation error. These errors are compared with the C-R bounds. Good performance is shown for sufficient S/N₀ and angular separation between the target and the interference sources     

Array antennas for DGPS

Multipath interference limits the speed and accuracy of determining position by “differential” GPS techniques. A geodetic surveyor, for example, requires multipath interference rejection of about 36+20 log₁₀ sin ϵ dB, where ϵ is the elevation angle of the satellite being observed. Signal processing in a GPS receiver cannot satisfy this requirement. A receiving antenna is required that can sufficiently reject signals arriving from below the horizon. Available antennas have inadequate rejection, and brute-force methods of improving them, by enlarging their ground-planes, are impractical. A compact, ground-planeless, dual-band, GPS antenna with improved multipath rejection has been designed and field-tested. This antenna resembles a vertical post rather than a horizontal platter; within its 0.1-m diameter, 0.4-m tall radome is a vertical array of turnstile elements. In field tests, a three-element array antenna rejected multipath better than a 0.5-m diameter ground-plane antenna by an average of 5 dB. A five-element array antenna appears superior to a 0.9-m diameter ground-plane antenna     

Transformation of the Spectrum of a Signal in Communication between Relativistically Moving Inertial Frames

Future space exploration may involve communications between spacecraft moving at relativistic velocities. One of the significant problems associated with such communication is spectral distortion of signals which are propagated between relativistic frames. This distortion is generated by both changing propagation distances and purely relativistic electromagnetic field transformations. In this paper a linear integral transformation is formulated for relating the Fourier spectra of the source antenna excitation current and the resulting incident electric field at the receiving antenna. The kernel of the transformation is evaluated for the case of a steerable source antenna tracking on the advanced receiver position. The transformation is then applied to the case of an ideal thin-wire half-wave dipole source antenna excited by a narrowband, double-sideband modulated current. The specific distortions of spectral spreading and translation are then related to increased bandwidth and upper cutoff frequency requirements of receiving systems in relativistic applications.     

Comments on “Effect of wet snow an the null-reference ILSsystem”

The subject paper (July 1993) has raised some issues regarding the probability of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) radiating out-of-tolerance vertical guidance signals. An independent study has substantiated the findings of that paper and adds further concern regarding some FAA ILS snow procedures. The principal conclusions of this paper are: 1) an analysis, based on Walton's discovery of rare snow conditions that cause the null-reference ILS antenna image to disappear, indicates that these conditions can cause out-of-tolerance guidance signals, 2) operation without a monitor of the image radiation can result in signal-in-space guidance signal errors that are significantly beyond the intended limit values, and 3) the integrity of image glide path equipment in snow environments does not satisfy the ILS integrity requirements     

机载卫星通信天线引导概率分析

针对某机载Ka频段卫星通信天线的使用环境,论述其天线角跟踪系统在捷联航姿设备引导下,天线主波束指向卫星目标位置的概率,分析影响天线角跟踪系统引导概率的主要因素,通过消减系统中大误差源保证了天线引导概率,通过扩展主波束指向空域提高了目标落入概率。计算数据和试验验证表明,给出的分析方法可行,设计策略有效。     

一种盲多波束形成GNSS天线阵抗干扰算法

天线阵抗干扰是现代卫星导航接收机抗干扰的重要手段。传统的天线阵波束形成类算法能够在抑制干扰的同时提升抗干扰后输出信噪比,但是在信号捕获阶段,由于缺少先验信息的支持,该类算法无法在信号方向形成增益。因此,提出了一种盲多波束形成的天线阵抗干扰算法,通过形成多个波束覆盖天线阵上半球面,可在无先验信息的条件下对卫星信号形成增益,从而提升信号捕获阶段信噪比,使得接收机在干扰环境中具备更强的信号捕获能力。仿真结果表明:与传统的天线阵抗干扰算法相比,提出的算法能够在有效抑制干扰的同时显著提升接收机信号捕获成功率。     

On the Design of a Large Aperture Radar for Target Imaging

This paper describes the design, construction, and performance of an experimental radar, in which an electronically scanned X-band array is employed as the receiving antenna. Backscatter from targets uniformly illuminated from a separate transmitting antenna is intercepted by 128 horn antennas, unequally spaced over a nine-foot circular aperture. The received signals are processed electronically to provide a complete scan of a 30X30 degree field every ten milliseconds. Resulting target images were displayed on a cathode ray tube and recorded on 16-mm motion picture film, for varying conditions of target motion using monochromatic and frequency-modulated X-band illumination. Sequences of motion picture frames obtained from a rotating copper cone are presented, which demonstrate significant changes in the image and side-lobe interference patterns for small changes in target aspect angle. Side-lobe interference effects were reduced by integrating many antenna scans as the target rotated; a clear image of a foil letter R is presented that demonstrated this result. The main objective of this work was to test this radar technique as an approach to target recognition.     

Anechoic chamber wideband antenna measurements

The method is considered which consists of measurements of output antenna signals on a number of frequencies and Fourier transformation of data into time domain for separation of own antenna field and interference fields. The results of testing at serial facility for antenna measurements in an anechoic chamber are presented as for diagnosis of scattered fields, as for improvement of accuracy of antenna characteristics evaluation.     

Linear filtering approaches for phase calibration of airborne arrays

Phase calibration of a large fluctuating millimeter-wave airborne antenna array is considered. The technique exploits properties of the correlation of the measured voltages arising from clutter returns at adjacent or nearby element pairs. The proposed calibration algorithm trades smoothing of the observations to reduce random errors with the ability to track the time-varying calibration phase. Algorithm performance is considered for an arbitrary linear filter, which generalizes previous work on analogous pulse-pair problems, and the results are used to choose optimal filter parameters. Numerical results are provided for a field experiment employing a 32-element Ku-band antenna array     

Performance of phased-array antennas with mechanical errors

The performance of planar phase-array antennas with mechanical errors is investigated. Errors in array element positions as a result of structural distortions are considered as deterministic and predictable. Detailed calculations for two assumed modes of distortion reveal that their effects on antenna performance are the loss of peak response in the scan direction and the broadening of the mainlobe, while the far-out sidelobe structure remains relatively intact. For large antennas, performance improvement can be expected by suitable phase compensation. Performance of antennas with random errors in their element positions must be treated statistically. Expressions of average directivity and sidelobe level corresponding to arbitrary error magnitudes in element position, amplitude and phase of excitation as well as finite rate of failure of element modules were derived and verified by direct numerical calculations from the antenna directivity patterns. For a planar phased-array antenna typical for space-based radars, the standard deviation of element position errors must not exceed 1% of the operating wavelength in order to maintain a -10 dBi sidelobe level     

Coordinated adaptive beamformer over distributed antenna network

The spatial diversity of distributed network demands the individual filter to accommodate the topology of interference environment. In this paper, a type of distributed adaptive beamformer is proposed to mitigate interference over coordinated antenna arrays network. The proposed approach is formulated as generalized sidelobe canceller (GSC) structure to facilitate the convex combination of neighboring nodes’ weights, and then it is solved by unconstrained least mean square (LMS) algorithm due to simplicity. Numerical results show that the robustness and convergence rate of antenna arrays network can be significantly improved in strong interference scenario. And they also clearly illustrate that mixing vector is optimized adaptively and adjusted according to the spatial diversity of the distributed nodes which are placed in different power of received signals to interference ratio (SIR) environments.     

助推器侧向卸压喷流对尾舵气动干扰的数值研究

采用燃气/空气双组元冻结流模型,基于任意多块对接结构网格求解三维N-S方程,数值分析了导弹助推器分离前侧向卸压喷流对尾舵气动力的干扰特性。得到了助推器推力终止侧向卸压过程中,喷流与外流干扰的非定常流场结构以及尾舵气动力的变化历程。分析结果表明,卸压开始后的一段时间内尾舵受到卸压喷流的屏蔽作用,尾舵气动力不能提供足够的分离冲量,此时对其进行舵偏控制将是无效的,尾舵控制时序应该自卸压开始延迟180 ms。     

有源相控阵中场测量中的空间误差研究

由于中场监测设备量少,且测量效率高,所以是有源相控阵雷达阵面测量的重要方法之一,在工程中得到了广泛应用。其系统误差包括监测方法误差和测量设备误差,其中测量方法误差非常关键,而测量设备误差与所采用的具体设备有关。在中场测量中,探头的位置偏移导致的空间误差是其特有的测量方法误差。本文对空间误差进行了理论分析,并以x波段有源相控阵的中场测量为例,给出了空间误差的计算结果和实验结果。计算结果表明,空间幅度误差很小;空间相位误差与被测阵面口径、测量距离和探头位置偏移有关。实验结果进一步验证了这种计算结果。分析结果为中场测量的实施提供了参考,具有一定的工程意义。     

Radio Interference in Helicopter-Borne Pulse Doppler Radars

Radio interference generated in a helicopter-borne pulse Doppler radar system due to rotating blades is analyzed for the case that blades are located in the far field region of the radar antenna. A first-order estimate of the blade interference power spectrum is obtained as a function of antenna depression angle and radar (helicopter) altitude and speed. Numerical calculations show that blade interference is very weak compared with the direct ground clutter. It extends, however, into the clutter-free region which causes false alarms and degrades the radar performance.     

Differential Lobing in Sidelobe Suppression Systems

The sidelobe suppression function in the secondary surveillance radar system is analyzed when separate main and control antenna are used. Their vertical lobing structures are not matched with each other, so a differential lobing pattern comes out whose maxima and minima are enveloped by smooth curves depending on vertical displacement of phase centers and horizon cutoff rates. The developed analysis provides a method for the evaluation of the system performance for any antenna configuration and for the determination of design guidelines.     

定向耦合器在天线隔离度测试中的应用

飞机机载天线之间可能会因电磁能量互相耦合而产生电磁干扰,天线隔离度测试是验证机载天线布局设计的重要手段之一。根据定向耦合器性能参数定义,通过测量定向耦合器耦合端口和隔离端口的功率值计算出发射天线的净输入功率和接收天线的净输出功率,从而得到天线隔离度。通过机上测试,这种隔离度测试方法简便快捷、稳定可靠,试验结果准确有效。     

Some properties of retrodirective beam of multiple sidelobecanceler

The retrodirective or perturbation beam concept is often used to aid in explaining the nulling of interference sources. The classical explanation for cancellation of a single-zero-bandwidth source is that of a perturbation beam steered to and peaking at that interferer angle. The subtraction of this perturbation beam from the main beam causes the nulling. It is shown that, for discrete point main and auxiliary antennas, this explanation can be generalized to non-zero bandwidth sources. It is demonstrated that if the main and auxiliary antennas are spatial points, then the retrodirective beam is nonuniformly weighted, steered to the interference source, and peaks at the interferer angle. For the more realistic assumption of a nonpoint main antenna, the retrodirective beam does not peak at the interferer angle for any bandwidth     

制导工具误差对导弹射击精度的影响分析

探讨了影响导弹射击精度的主要工具误差系数偏差,建立了导弹惯测组合输出仿真和误差补偿仿真的数学模型。在标准弹道基础上将建立的仿真模型加入导航计算过程,建立了惯测组合工具误差的干扰道模型,并计算分析了不同射向,射程下的工具差系数偏差对导弹薄点的影响,为进一步研究减小制导工具误差的途径打下了基础。