HF High Power Interference Canceller

The Navy’s electronic warfare, communications, and radar systems are presently vulnerable to loss of functionality in electromagnetic environments containing high-power interferer signals.  Photonic Systems, Inc. (PSI) proposes this subsequent Phase II SBIR program as a follow-on to our Phase II program for topic A12-033, “High-power Interference Canceller with Optional Self-generated Reference”.  In this subsequent Phase II program, PSI will provide the Navy with an HF co-site High Power Interference Canceller (HPIC) to enable the HF receiver connected to one shipboard antenna to operate in the presence of the HF signal transmitted from another shipboard antenna.  PSI will use an innovative new approach to achieve cancellation of high-power analog interference prior to the analog-to-digital converter in a sensitive receiver front-end while preserving low-power signals of interest even if they overlap spectrally with the interference.   In the Base portion of this Phase II program, PSI aims to: 1. Demonstrate that the proposed approach does not require that a physical reference copy of the interfering signal be supplied to the canceller hardware; 2. Design and fabricate a circuit that automatically stabilizes the performance of the HPIC in the face of varying signal conditions, and; 3. Assemble, test, and deliver an HPIC prototype capable of achieving > 40 dB of high-power interference suppression within 1 microsecond while preserving the RF performance (gain, noise figure, and spurious-free dynamic range) of lower-power signals of interest. In Option 1, PSI will make any necessary electrical and mechanical design modifications to improve RF performance and ensure a robust mechanical design. Two preproduction units will be assembled and tested in a laboratory environment.  In Option 2, PSI will conduct basic environmental testing of the preproduction HF (3 - 30 MHz) HPIC units assembled in Option 1 and make any necessary modifications required after basic environmental testing. PSI will also support the Navy during system prototype demonstration in an operational environment.