THE SPECTRAL CORRELATION DISCRIMINATOR: A TECHNIQUE FOR DETECTING IDENTIFYING AND SORTING SPREAD SPECTRUM SIGNALS

THE PROPOSED SPREAD-SPECTRUM DETECTION AND PARAMETER ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE, THE SPECTRAL CORRELATION DISCRIMINATOR (SCD), PROVIDES A MEANS OF PROCESSING WIDE-BAND SPREAD-SPECTRUM SIGNALS CORRUPTED BY COCHANNEL INTERFERENCE. THE SCD DISCRIMINATES AGAINST INTERFERING SIGNALS THAT DO NOT EXHIBIT CERTAIN SPECTRAL CORRELATION PROPERTIES. THE SPECTRAL CORRELATION OF A SIGNAL DEPENDS ON ITS SIGNAL PARAMETERS: MODULATION TYPE, CHIP RATE, BAUD RATE, CARRIER FREQUENCY, HOP RATE, PULSE SHAPING, AND BANDLIMITING. THE SCD CAN ELIMINATE ALL SIGNALS THAT DO NOT HAVE A PARTICULAR SIGNAL PARAMETER. DETECTING THE SIGNAL IS SIMPLY A MATTER OF EXAMINING THE PROCESSED SIGNAL SPECTRUM AFTER NOISE AND INTERFERENCE HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED BY THE SCD. ONCE THE SCD HAS DETERMINED THE EXISTENCE OF A TARGET SIGNAL, APPROPRIATE COUNTERMEASURES CAN BE APPLIED TO THE TARGET SIGNAL. ONE COUNTERMEASURE WOULD BE TO PLACE A REPEATER JAMMER AT THE OUTPUT OF THE CSD. THE ADVANTAGE HERE IS THAT THE JAMMER POWER WOULD ONLY BE APPLIED TO THE TARGET SIGNAL AND NOT TO EXTRANEOUS SIGNALS IN THE BAND.