Digital Direction Finding

The Digital Direction Finding (DDF) Project will specify, design, and demonstrate a high throughput digital DF processor. We will implement a digital receiver integrated with each antenna element. The task of maintaining synchronization of all A/Ds acrossthe antenna array is accomplished by a novel method proposed herein. Direct RF sampling is specified and will provide the requisite signals for broadband instantaneous DF processing, which can either implement a set of fixed beams or implement a digitaladaptive beamformer. Since digital technology relies on a reconfigurable digital implementation, it is very flexible. The resulting digital DF system will be more reliable for the harsh military environment, more flexible for use in different RF channels,and easier to set up and maintain compared to the analog DF systems.A digital direction finding system will provide more reliable performance when compared to their analog RF counterparts. The DDF project relies on a reconfigurable logic implementationrealized on a combination of DSPs and FPGA and is thus very flexible. Government programs that will benefit from this technology are Prophet for target development and the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program. Commercial applications include HomelandSecurity, Coast Guard, Search and Rescue, and Emergency Services.