Wideband 16x12 Non-Blocking Radio Frequency Switch

Today’s electronic support measures (ESM) missions require an increasingly wide radio frequency (RF) bandwidth to intercept, process, and analyze a myriad of threat signals including communications, data links, surveillance radars, and targeting radars. These emitter waveforms often employ sophisticated modulation techniques including phase modulation, spread spectrum, linear frequency modulation, and frequency agility that further emphasizes the need for wide bandwidth coverage.  The proliferation of commercial communications systems (5G and point-to-point microwave back hauls) adds to the complexity and density of the contested RF spectrum further emphasizing the need for wide bandwidth, multi-channel ESM systems to establish and maintain dominance in the signals intelligence (SIGINT) and ESM domains.  Legacy ESM systems that routinely covered up to 6 GHz must now be expanded to include X-band (8-12 GHz) and Ku-band (12-18 GHz) to address emerging threats in that portion of the RF spectrum.  A critical component of an enhanced wide bandwidth ESM system is the RF front end.  Given the importance of the wider frequency coverage, multiple antenna apertures may be used to intercept and collect signals of interest, especially on airborne platforms.  The use of a non-blocking multi-input to multi-output RF switch matrix is an essential element for directing the RF signals from each aperture to a tuner for detailed signal analysis.  To optimize mission performance, the ideal RF switch matrix would minimally degrade the RF signal in terms of amplitude and phase distortion, preserve a large dynamic range, minimize noise figure (NF), minimize latency on selecting/reconfiguring an aperture selection, and provide high isolation to mitigate channel-to-channel interference.  Careful consideration must be given to the implementation of the RF switch matrix especially for use on size, weight, and power (SWaP) constrained platforms like airborne platforms at or near maximum payload weight.  The use of a recognized, open standard like 6U VPX, SOSA aligned provides an effective transition path into legacy systems.  Fabrication of a printed circuit board (PCB) with this number of wide bandwidth RF traces requires multiple layers for RF, control, and power distribution separated by ground planes and meticulous planning for trace widths and vias to ensure impedance match is maintained for all RF paths on the PCB. BANC3 specializes in the design, development, integration, and test of extremely wide instantaneous bandwidth RF spectrum monitoring systems.  We have successfully deployed wide bandwidth systems covering 10 MHz to 18 GHz using multiple apertures with 20+ parallel channels.  We will leverage this extensive experience to design a fully programmable 6U VPX board for use in SOSA aligned open architecture systems that optimizes RF performance, minimizes latency, and complies with the customer’s API to accelerate integration into the ESM system.