TRANSPORTABLE RF SIMULATOR FOR ELECTRONIC SUPPORT MEASURE (ESM)

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A TRANSPORTABLE, PROGRAMMABLE DEVICE CAPABLE OF SIMULATING A REALISTIC ELECTROMAGNETIC SIGNAL ENVIRONMENT AT RF IN THE 2-18 GHZ BAND HAS LONG BEEN NEEDED FOR NAVY ESM SYSTEM TRAINING AND TESTING APPLICATIONS. RECENT BREAKTHROUGHS IN SYNTHESIZER TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE THE POSSIBILITIES FOR HIGH SPEED, RELIABLE, LOW-MAINTENANCE RF GENERATION LIMITLESS. THE USE OF NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR RF GENERATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN EXISTING ENVIRONMENT SIMULATOR (THE TRAMS) YIELDS A LOW-COST SOLUTION TO THE NAVY'S REQUIREMENTS. THIS EFFORT WILL DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF ADDING A 2-18 GHZ CAPABILITY TO THE EXISTING TRAMS HARDWARE. THE PHASE I ASSESSMENT WILL RESULT IN A DETAILED HARDWARE SYSTEMS DESIGN AND A PLAN FOR DEVELOPING A PROTOTYPE OF THE RESULTING SIMULATOR IN A SUBSEQUENT PHASE II PROGRAM. THE SYSTEM WILL USE A HIGH-SPEED SYNTHESIZER TO MAXIMIZE SYSTEM CAPABILITY WITH A SINGLE RF SOURCE, AND DIGITALLY CONTROLLED MODULATORS AND ATTENUATORS TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY DYNAMIC RANGE FOR RECEIVER SENSITIVITY TESTING. A CUSTOM RF INTERFACE SUBSYSTEM WILL PROVIDE THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE EXISTING TRAMS HARDWARE AND THE RF GENERATION HARDWARE, AS WELL AS PULSE WIDTH TIMING CONTROL.