Techniques and Procedures to Improve Radar - Wireless Spectrum Sharing Efficiency

The objective of the Phase II study is to develop a demonstration model of low-cost, low-power, lightweight, multiple-function aperture (L3MFA) equipment for integration on a small UAV such as Silver Fox. The demonstration model will be based on (1) the Lightweight UAV SAR/MTI Radar (LUAVR) system being developed for CECOM under an SBIR II+ contract with an expected completion date of 1 Dec. 05, plus (2) MMCOMM’s millimeter-wave point-to-point (PtP) or point-to-multipoint (PMP) radio system. L3MFA will be a reduced weight version of LUAVR, whose target weight is seven (7) pounds, by increasing the operating frequency so that the mechanically scanned antenna will weigh less than 2 lbs. The complete equipment weight from the Phase II design will be less than 4 lbs. It will feature advanced and innovative millimeter-wave and MMIC technology. Advanced direct digital synthesis (DDS) waveform generation, advanced digital down conversion (DDC) using FPGA and advanced signal processing will be incorporated. The system will consume low power (less than 90 Watts) and aim for low production cost. In the radar mode of operation, the instrument will feature MTI and SAR modes and have a maximum range up to 3 Km. A combination of motion measurement sensor (MMS) and signal based mocomp will be incorporated to ensure high image quality. In the Comm mode of operation, the instrument can steer the antenna toward the base station to establish a high data rate of at least 100-Mbps for a range of 3 Km. As an option to the Phase II, we will consider inserting an EOIR sensor into the instrument to perform additional mode of operations.