A COMPACT COMMUNICATIONS ENVIRONMENT SIMULATOR

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SIMULATING LARGE NUMBERS OF RF SIGNALS COVERING FREQUENCY BANDS RANGING FROM VLF TO MICROWAVE. THE SIMULATED RF ENVIRONMENT CONSISTS OF HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF INDEPENDENT USERS ENCOMPASSING A LARGE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT MODULATION TYPES (EG. AM OR FM VOICE, SECURE DIGITAL VOICE OR DATA). THE PROPOSED APPROACH IS BASED ON A DIGITAL PARALLEL PROGRAMMABLE MODULATOR (PPM) USED WITH RF SIGNAL GENERATION EQUIPMENT. THE PROPOSED SIMULATOR WOULD OCCUPY LESS THAN ONE STANDARD 19" EQUIPMENT RACK. THE SIMULATOR IS DIRECTLY APPLICABLE TO TESTING OF TACTICAL COMMUNICATIONS, EW, ESM, ECM OR ECCM EQUIPMENT. IT WOULD ALSO BE USEFUL IN TESTING MILITARY OR COMMERCIAL FDMA (FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS) SATELLITE SYSTEMS OR COMMERCIAL MOBILE OR CELLULAR RADIO NETWORKS OR IN FAST PROTOTYPING OF COMPLEX OR HIGH SPEED MODULATIONS. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM OBJECTIVES INCLUDE GENERATION OF A FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATION DEFINING PARAMETERS SUCH AS THE NUMBER AND TYPES OF SIMULATED USERS, INDIVIDUAL MODULATION SPECIFICATIONS, POWER LEVELS AND INTERFACES AND A STRAWMAN HARDWARE/SOFTWARE DESIGN USING THE PROPOSED CONCEPT. THE RESULTING FINAL REPORT WILL PROVIDE A BASIS FOR SPECIFICATION AND COST ESTIMATION FOR A PHASE II EDM PROGRAM.