Automated Radio Frequency (RF) Spectrum Management for Wideband Electronic Warfare (EW) Systems

A holistic system approach is developed for wideband spectrum recognition and management for dynamically adapting the EW system to operate in the presence of large narrow- and wide-band interference. At RF, strong interference is suppressed below the LNA and AD saturation limits. Adaptive attenuation and bandwidth channelization for precision analysis maximize SNR and measurement quality. Post AD interference detection and characterization functions (previous NAVSEA SBIR), measure and report BOTH signal and interference, maintaining high POI in the presence of interference when time and frequency overlaps occur. Strong signal front end RF detectors monitor interference levels for indications and warnings and support emitter de-interleaving and ID. When available, knowledge of own-ship interferers (radar and SATCOM) is employed. The approach does not rely on a particular wideband technology, but rather on reconfigurable processing to enhance system performance. In Phase I, RAS modeled key ARFSM functions in the wideband EW system architecture. Processing functions were described, and end-to-end performance estimates provided showing the efficacy of the approach. On Phase II, RAS will develop and demonstrate an ARFSM EDM using RF, FPGA, CPU and/or GPGPU processing elements, interface protocols, framework and concepts in the Navy Next Generation EW System architecture planned for BLQ-10 (IV/V).