COTS radar target generator systems have a lower nonrecurring engineering cost investment because of their higher-level software starting point and ability to be tailored to specific application needs. The increased complexity of radar systems makes flexible radar modeling and simulation during development critical to decreasing the cost of expensive full-system testing, finding and resolving design problems earlier in the process, and reducing schedule risk. The ARES line of radar environment simulators realistically replicate adversarial threats, targets,… Through the JETS software interface, developers can customize simulation options including Doppler, range delay, pulse modulations for moving targets, atmospheric loss, ground and sea clutter, turbulence, weather and target reflections, RCS, glint, scintillation, multipath, multiscatter, and ECM techniques. By accurately testing air-to-ground and air-to-air modes through emulation, ARES allows developers to preemptively address issues before actual flight tests, resulting in millions of dollars of cost savings, reduced risk of failure, and accelerated deployment of radar systems. The ARES line of radar environment simulators builds on more than 25 years of test and train technology from the Mercury Processing Platform to emerge as the modern solution.ARES products realistically replicate adversarial threats, targets, environments, and weather scenarios—all from a controlled environment.
The automated pulse measurements operate on a record of data captured in a bandwidth selectable up to a 800 MHz,which is tunable anywhere up to to the 26.5 GHz RF coverage for the RSA7100 Any or all of the measurements with numeric results can be included in the pulse table display as seen in Figure 9. This gives continuous real-time visibility of varying RF signals without interruption.
It can be as large as the entire acquisition memory, as compared to the “Pulse Trace” which can have only the samples for one pulse. This display has its own “Time Domain Bandwidth”filter which can be used to reduce the bandwidth of this measurement for noise reduction or glitch reduction. The Time Overview is a very simple magnitude display which has as its source all of the decimated I/Q sample pairs of the acquisition. While the default setting locks the oscilloscope controls to the analysis Ringospin software settings, it is possible to override this setting and manually set sample rate, input attenuation, etc. The frequency span capability is limited only by the bandwidth capability of the oscilloscope on which the software is installed.
This means that if either marker is moved, the other one will move to exactly the same time position. The marker seen here is time-correlated with the one in the Time Overview window. The amplitude vs. time trace window can be set to analyze any part or all of the acquired record. The minimum Spectrum Length setting will be automatically determined by the amount of samples necessary to realize the requested RBW setting when in Auto mode.
Radar Basics
Once the problem is discovered to exist, and the frequencies are known where it is doing its work, the FMT can be set up to capture a record only when the transient slips into the right part of the blue display components. This is why the spectrum trace in the upper window has only the intended carrier and not a clue that there is a problem. These points can then be manually modified around specific frequency events of interest.
Virtual Simulators
When installed on an oscilloscope, the internal software limits on setting frequency coverage, bandwidth, and record length automatically adjust to use the frequency and memory limits of the oscilloscope on which it is installed. This combines the extremely wide bandwidth available from, for example, the DPO70000 Series at 33 GHz, with the spectrum analysis and fully automated Pulse Measurement Suite from the RSA Series spectrum analyzers. Any of the parameters with a numeric result can also have these results plotted versus pulse number, giving visibility of time-trends of errors.
Observing Time Varying Behaviors in the Frequency Domain
Because the B-trigger offers the full range of triggering choices, the engineer can specify, for instance, the pulse width of the transient they want to find. Pattern recognition, both parallel and serial, triggering on “runt” or “glitch” signals and even triggering based on commercial digital communications standards are all available in oscilloscopes. Recent advances in oscilloscope trigger have enabled methods of triggering an acquisition or measurement based on the voltages and voltage changes in one or more channels. The FastAcq capability on the DPO, DSA, and MSO Series provides a time-domain display with a high waveform capture rate. Modern Oscilloscope triggering systems are very highly developed and can trigger on both analog and multiple channels of digital data. For example, an impulse radar may have a very short duration pulse therefore a very broadband oscilloscope may be the best tool to capture the pulse and characterize its parameters such as overshoot and rise and fall times.
Transforming Testing with Simulation and Analysis
- As discussed, two types of signals need to be characterized,CW and Puled, with each having its own mission advantages and disadvantages.
- The trace processor has a user-selected Trace Decimation that will set a limit on the number of resulting trace points allowed in these “parameter vs. time” displays, providing faster display results.
- This technology is implemented in the RSA hardware, so it can not be used by the SignalVu vector signal analysis software on stored acquisition records.
- Despite their utility, radar target simulators face several challenges and opportunities for improvement.
- Modern Oscilloscope triggering systems are very highly developed and can trigger on both analog and multiple channels of digital data.
- Monitoring the intended signals emanating from a radar system may be necessary to assure compliance with regulations as well as to confirm interoperability when multiple systems are installed in close proximity to each other.
Now the DPX spectrum display is used to “discover” some otherwise invisible artifacts. If the persistence is high, then the older data will slowly be divided out so that the effect from an old spectrum event will slowly fade away. One last step is for the DPX spectrum display processor to check the user entry for “persistence.” If the persistence is set to minimum, then the pixel memory will be zeroed out before the next set of spectra is entered. This creates a bitmap in which each pixel contains a single number representing the number of times that the spectrum trace “hit” that location on the virtual screen. The next step uses a small buffer memory (virtual screen) into which a bitmap of the spectrum display is placed. To discover signals such as these, a monitor is needed which is continuous and also one that can show a single signal deviation out of the continuous examination.
The baseband pulses were used to modulate the power output of the radar transmitter. The measurements available using this method were timing and voltage amplitude. If triggering based on events related to different frequencies is needed, then the RSA Series spectrum analyzer is required.
- Next-generation modular RFSiP radio frequency system-in-package designs will introduce a new…
- Due to the nature of frequency conversion schemes that are this wide, the filter used must have relatively sharp frequency response roll-off at the filter edges.
- As can be seen here, 55 points is not enough to clearly see the character of the pulse.
- In addition, several single-frequency pulsed carriers and two continuous wave (CW) interferers can be observed.
- These signal forms are provided on a line and can also be radiated into free space with an antenna.
The name DPX comes from the concept of a “Digital Phosphor Technology” display, which re-creates the slow-fade memory effect of a CRT phosphor. But with phosphor emulation, you can see a second lower power LFM overlapped in frequency. Without phosphor emulation, the screen in Figure 10 would just show the large LFM signal, with the CW signal “popping out” the top on the left.
