HWIL Fading Channel Simulator for Testing Kill Vehicle & IFICS Modems for Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)

Welkin Sciences (WS) proposes to develop the Configurable Link Test Set (CoLTS), an affordable hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) channel simulator design specifically for MDA test programs. Like the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s test sets, CoLTS can distort real RF signals using the same disturbed propagation channel models found in COMLNK (a widely used software package for evaluating and testing modem designs hardened for HANE-disturbed channels). IFICS, being a missile communication link, must accommodate the rapid path length variability arising from the high acceleration of the missile-borne transceivers. CoLTS can also offset RF signals in delay and frequency to accurately emulate the IFICS-specific platform dynamics. New test functions can readily be integrated into the CoLTS system architecture to support custom test requirements. The CoLTS design supports a wide range of signal bandwidths and channel conditions by allowing the user to choose from the following six baseband sample rates: 40 Msps, 20 Msps, 10 Msps, 5 Msps, 2.5 Msps and 1.25 Msps. The 48-tap convolver in each CoLTS channel respectively supports frequency-selective bandwidths down to 468 KHz, 234 KHz, 117 KHz, 59 KHz, 29 KHz, and 15 KHz.