EW_Test_Set_Requirements.docx

Electronic Warfare (EW) Test Set Requirements

1.0 Background

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) researches and develops EW technology including advanced digital receivers and jammers. Hardware prototypes are built and tested in the laboratory and the field. In order to trouble shoot and verify designs, AFRL requires a laboratory test capability that can stimulate the prototypes under test with realistic emitter waveforms, record their response and analyze the performance.

2.0 Key Performance Parameters

2.1 RF Coverage. 50 MHz to 18 GHz

2.2 Instantaneous Bandwidth. 400 MHz minimum

2.3 Signal Environment Generation and Record Time. 20 Second minimum

2.4 System Size. The EW test set shall fit within a standard 24U 19” rack.

3.0 Functional Requirements.

3.1 Simultaneous Signal Generation and Response Signal Capture. The test set shall have the capability to generate the types of waveforms described in section 3.2 below while simultaneously recording the response from a jammer under test. The stimulus and response waveforms shall be time synchronized and stored for future analysis.

3.2 Signal Environment Generation. The test set shall include an automated software tool to create a wide range of realistic radar and background emitters. The ability to vary emitter parameters and behaviors over a wide range of values is required. Typical radar parameters include pulse width (PW), pulse repetition interval (PRI), phase and frequency modulations and center frequency. The test set shall be able to generate phase and frequency modulations with instantaneous bandwidths up to 400 MHz. Common behaviors include scan patterns/revisit times, beam dwell lengths, coherent processing interval (CPI) lengths, PRI patterns and frequency agility behavior. The test shall be able to generate an emitter with frequency agility over a 400 MHz bandwidth. In addition to pulsed radar waveforms, the test set shall have the capability to generate continuous wave (CW) emitters and other commercial background emitters with amplitude, frequency and/or advanced digital phase modulations. The system shall generate a minimum of 8 simultaneous signals.

3.3 Signal Analysis. The test set shall have the capability to analyze the raw digitized data captured from both the stimulus and the response individually and simultaneously. The signal analysis tool shall allow the user to examine both spectral and temporal behavior. It shall have the capability to generate the signal’s amplitude envelope and phase and frequency responses as a function of time. In addition, the test set shall be able to generate and display standard pulse measurements such as amplitude, time of arrival, pulse width and center frequency. The test set shall have an open data format to transfer both the stimulus and response waveforms to other tools such as MATLAB for analysis.