AN NWE PROPAGATION SIMULATOR FOR HF TRANSCEIVERS

MISSION RESEARCH CORPORATION (MRC) PROPOSES TO BUILD HF-NEPS, AN HF CHANNEL SIMULATOR FOR BENCH-TOP TESTING OF HF TRANSCEIVERS. THE SIMULATOR WOULD DISTORT AND DELAY ANALOG HF SIGNALS AS IF THESE HAD PASSED THROUGH IONOSPHERIC REGIONS DISTURBED BY HIGH ALTITUDE NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS. THE FREQUENCY SELECTIVE HF CHANNEL MODEL UNDERLYING THIS HARDWARE SIMULATOR WILL ACCOMMODATE THE HF CHANNEL SPECIFICATIONS CURRENTLY BEING DEFINED BY DNA/RAAE. THE SIMULATOR IS TO BE DEVELOPED IN TWO PHASES. UNDER PHASE I, TWO CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF THE SIMULATOR WILL BE BUILT AND TESTED IN PROTOTYPE FORM. PHASE I WILL ALSO ADDRESS THE FORMAL DOCUMENTATION OF THE SIMULATOR'S OVERALL DESIGN. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PHASE I WORK WILL EXPEDITE THE ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE SIMULATOR DURING PHASE II. HF-NEPS WILL PROVIDE A NEW AND IMPORTANT CAPABILITY TO THE MILITARY HF USER COMMUNITY.