DATA ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR MEASUREMENTS USING BANDWIDTH LIMITED INSTRUMENTATION

GENERALLY, THE MEASUREMENT OF A FAST NON-REPETITIVE TRANSIENT THAT OCCURS WHEN AN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM IS EXPOSED TO AN ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (SUCH AS MIL-STD-2169) IS SEVERELY LIMITED BY THE BANDWIDTH AND THE DYNAMIC RANGE OF THE INSTRUMENTATION. MOREOVER, NOISE FROM VARIOUS SOURCES CAN CORRUPT THE MEASURED DATA TO THE POINT THAT IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO INTERPRET THE RESULTS. A SPECTACULAR GROWTH IN SIGNAL ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES HAS OCCURRED IN RECENT YEARS. MANY OF THESE TECHNIQUES CAN BE USED TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF DISCRETE-TIME DATA. IT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT TO IDENTIFY THOSE TECHNIQUES THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO THE MEASUREMENT OF ELECTRICAL TRANSIENTS AND TO DEVELOP NEW TECHNIQUES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF DATA QUALITY. THIS ENHANCEMENT NOT ONLY INCLUDES THE REDUCTION OF THE NOISE CONTENT, BUT IT ALSO INCLUDES THE REDUCTION OF DISTORTION RESULTING FROM BANDWIDTH LIMITATIONS OF THE INSTRUMENTATION AS WELL AS DISTORTION FROM NONLINEAR RESPONSES. SOFTWARE WILL BE DEVELOPED THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED ON AN ADVANCED MICROCOMPUTER. CONSEQUENTLY, IN ADDITION TO BEING EFFECTIVE, THE ANALYSIS ALGORITHMS WILL ALSO HAVE TO BE FAST IN TERMS OF EXECUTION TIME.