AN ACT-BASED RANGE EXTENT SIMULATOR

A NEW TYPE OF RANGE EXTENT SIMULATOR HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EMERGING MICROELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY OF ACOUSTIC CHARGE TRANSPORT (ACT). THIS TECHNOLOGY, DEVELOPED JOINTLY BY DARPA AND THE U.S. AIR FORCE, HAS ENABLED THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DIGITALLY PROGRAMMABLE ANALOG MULTITAP DELAY LINES. USED AS A PROGRAMMABLE RANGE EXTENT DEVICE, THE ACT DEVICE PROVIDES HUNDREDS OF USER-SELECTABLE DELAYS, EACH WITH VARIABLE AMPLITUDE, IN A SINGLE MICROELECTRONIC INTEGRATED CIRCUIT. THE CAPABILITIES OF THE ACT RANGE EXTENT SIMULATOR GO WELL BEYOND THE SIMPLE FIXED DELAYS OF CABLES; IN THIS SYSTEM, THE USER ACTUALLY SPECIFIES THE COMPLETE TRANSFER FUNCTION OF THE DEVICE. THUS, IN ADDITION TO SETTING THE DESIRED GROUP DELAY, THE TIME-AND FREQUENCY-DOMAIN RESPONSE OF THE SYSTEM MAY BE TAILORED TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE TEST. THE PROPOSED PROJECT SEEKS TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF APPLYING THIS REVOLUTIONARY NEW TECHNOLOGY TO RF SIMULATION APPLICATIONS BY COMPARING THE TECHNICAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND COST REQUIREMENTS OF THESE APPLICATIONS WITH THE CAPABILITIES OF EXISTING AND PLANNED ACT DEVICES. AN EXISTING ACT TAPPED DELAY LINE WILL BE USED TO SIMULATE A VARIETY OF EXTENDED-RANGE TARGETS OVER A WIDE TEMPERATURE RANGE, AND THE RESULTING FALSE TARGET RETURN WILL BE EXAMINED TO DETERMINE ITS UTILITY FOR RF SIMULATION APPLICATIONS. THE RESULTS OF THIS TESTING WILL BE USED IN A PRELIMINARY DESIGN STUDY WHICH WILL DESCRIBE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THIS APPROACH.