SHIELDED CABLE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

SHIELDED CABLES USED WITHIN ARMY SYSTEMS PROVIDE PROTECTION TO ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT AGAINST ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (EMP) RADIATION, ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE EMI), AND OTHER EXTERNAL ELECTRIC OVER STRESS (EOS). HARSH OPERATING ENVIRONMENTS AND ABUSE DEGRADE THE SHIELDED CABLES WITH TIME. MAINTENANCE TESTING OF SINGLE CABLE LENGTHS AS A TWO PORT DISTRIBUTED PARAMETER NETWORK WILL PROVIDE THE IMPEDANCE TRANSFER FUNCTION WHICH IS THEN EASILY USED FOR FREQUENCY ANOMALY ANALYSIS. MULTI-BRANCHED, MULTI-WIRE SHIELDED CABLES INTRODUCE AN ORDER OF COMPLEXITY SINCE THE PROBLEM BECOMES ONE OF MULTI-PORT NETWORK ANALYSIS WITH TERMINATION INTO MISMATCHED LOADS. THE INTRODUCTION OF MULTI-TWISTED WIRE LENGTHS. BOTH SHIELDED AND/OR INSULATED, FURTHER COMPOUNDS THE PROBLEM. WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP AN ELECTRICAL SENSOR/NEURAL NETWORK BASED SYSTEM TO IDENTIFY AND ISOLATE FAULTS IN MULTI-BRANCHED, MULTI-WIRE CABLES.