RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSOR

MANY INSTRUMENTATION RADARS (SUCH AS THE MPS-36 AND FPS-16) USED AT WSMR AND OTHER RADAR INSTALLATIONS WORLDWIDE WERE DESIGNED 20-30 YEARS AGO. THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES ENHANCEMENTS TO THESE OLDER RADAR SYSTEMS TO INCORPORATE MODERN SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES USING A DIGITAL COMPUTER AND SOFTWARE TO PROVIDE IMPROVED TRACKING, TO PROVIDE COHERENT DATA FOR TMR AND OTHER USES, TO PROVIDE IMPROVED RELIABILITY BY REPLACING HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE, AND TO PROVIDE A FLEXIBLE, MODERN COMPUTER WITH THE CAPACITY FOR GROWTH. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARD COMPUTER SELECTION, ALGORITHM DEFINITION, AND SOFTWARE DESIGN. DURING PHASE II A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE DEVELOPED. THIS PROTOTYPE WILL INCLUDE THE COMPUTER WITH PERIPHERAL DEVICES, AN INTERFACE CONTROLLER FOR INPUT/OUTPUT WITH THE MPS-36 RADAR, AND REAL-TIME SOFTWARE OPERATING AT THE RADAR PRF FOR NORMALIZATION, AGC, ANGLE SERVO FILTERING WITH ADAPTIVE TRACKING, AND DATA RECORDING. THE PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE INTEGRATED AND TESTED AT WSMR USING AN MPS-36 RADAR.