FREQUENCY TRANSLATOR GPS SIGNAL RECEIVER

THE USE OF TRANSLATED OR TRANSDIGITIZED GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) SIGNALS IS A PROMISING METHOD FOR DETERMINING THE PRECISE FLIGHT PATH OF AN ARTILLERY SPOTTER ROUND. THE PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF THE GPS ARTILLERY SPOTTER ROUND SYSTEM ARE A GPS TRANSLATOR OR TRANSDIGITIZER IN THE PROJECTILE FUSE AND A TRANSLATED/TRANSDIGITIZED GPS RECEIVER LOCATED AT THE FIRING PLATFORM. THIS SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE EACH FIRING PLATFORM WITH AN AUTONOMOUS MEANS OF PERFORMING REGISTRATION AND TRANSFER WITHOUT THE AID OF EITHER A FORWARD OBSERVER OR RADAR. ANOTHER IMPORTANT APPLICATION OF TRANSLATED/ TRANSDIGITIZED GPS IS IN THE TRACKING OF WEATHER RADIOSONDES. A TRANSDIGITIZED GPS RECEIVER WOULD USE THE TRANSDIGITIZED GPS SIGNAL TO COMPUTE THE POSITION OF THE RADIOSONDE. THE SPECIFIC TECHNICAL PROBLEM TO BE ADDRESSED DURING THE PROPOSED PHASE I CONTRACT IS TO DESIGN A TRANSLATED/TRANSDIGITZED GPS RECEIVER TO HANDLE BOTH THE ARTILLERY SPOTTER ROUND AND THE WEATHER RADIOSONDE APPLICATIONS. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT POSSIBLE, THIS TRANSLATED/TRANSDIGITIZED GPS RECEIVER WILL BE BASED ON EXISTING, FIELD-QUALIFIED MILITARY HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.