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Keysight Technologies
Solutions for Using a Model-Based
Platform to Quickly and Effectively Test
Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems
Application Brief
Modern Radar and electronic warfare (EW) systems operate in a variety of
frequency bands with multi-emitter wideband signals and complex modulation
schemes. They also use advanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) techniques to
attack or avoid being attacked by enemy's EW systems. Because EW specifications
are always adjusted based on the environment, today's designers require a
solution for designing, verifying and testing their EW systems in an effective way.
Problem EW systems operate in complex environments with multi-emitter input signals
from radar, military and commercial communication systems, as well as different
interferences, noise and clutter. EW receivers must monitor the multi-emitter
signals over a wide frequency range. When clutter or interference is significant,
received signals become even more complex. This complexity poses a number of
challenges when designing and testing Radar and EW systems, especially when
coupled with new signal generation and processing requirements, and the need to
analyze different test cases.
Other challenging tasks that engineers may encounter when developing Radar and
EW systems include: reducing the time and cost to develop new systems, reducing
the expense of testing and validation, and getting all legacy Intellectual Property
(IP) point tools to work together with RF. Validating the performance of complex
Radar and EW systems earlier/continuously, instead of waiting until final integration
and test, can also be difficult. Addressing these challenges is critical ensuring the
success of any Radar or EW system.
Solution Dealing with these challenges at all stages of development requires a flexible
wideband, model-based platform for designing, verifying and testing Radar and
EW systems. The platform must be able to effectively model and simulate Radar
and EW components and systems, and generate highly realistic scenarios for
verification of transmitter and receiver performance. It must also be flexible enough
to support interaction with a range of measurement instruments for hardware test
and verification.
One such platform that meets this criteria is Keysight Technologies' Radar
and EW simulation and test platform (Figure 1). At the core of the platform is
the SystemVue Electronic System Level (ESL) design software, which enables
modeling and simulation of Radar and EW systems throughout the development
process using pre-created templates. Multi-emitter signals can be created using
SystemVue's Signal Composer. To simplify these tasks, SystemVue features a
Radar and EW library. Each functional block within a given Radar and EW system
is supported by a model set within the library. For example, the Signal Generation
block is supported by the Transmit (Tx) Waveform model set, which in turn supports
LFM-, NLFM-, Baker-, and Frank-coded formats. When constructing a custom
system, engineers simply pick one of these coding formats.
Existing DSP and algorithm models can also be imported to the library for use
with library models. Custom models based on MathLang, C++, MATLAB, and HDL
code, as well as subnet structures, can be created using SystemVue's easy-to-use
User Interface (UI). Once created the custom models become SystemVue library
models. This model flexibility enables components created by different people to be
integrated together and tested at the system level for the purposes of performance
evaluation and continuous validation throughout the development process.
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Figure 1. Keysight's Radar and EW
simulation platform models and simulates
Radar and EW systems at all stages of
development.
The Radar and EW simulation platform can also be used as a test platform (Figure
2). In this case, SystemVue instrument links control and integrate multiple mea-
surements instruments into the platform, automating system-level test (Figure 3).
The software surrounds the raw Radar or EW design and test equipment with the
environmental, baseband and RF modeling required to close a round-trip signal
processing loop in order to perform early simulation-based verification. As hard-
ware becomes available, SystemVue continues to connect directly into the physical
hardware measurement.
Figure 2. SystemVue's Radar and EW test
platform can be used to test and verify
hardware. In this diagram, a transmitted
Radar signal with interference from
SystemVue is shown being downloaded to
an AWG to test EW RF receiver hardware.
03
Figure 3. SystemVue integrates all test
instruments together as a test system to
provide complex Radar and EW test signals
with environment scenarios to the Device
under Test (DUT) to capture DUT outputs
and then synchronized signals. It then post
processes the signals to extract more infor-
mation and make advanced measurements
(e.g., detection rate, false alarm rate and
imaging analysis). Without the integration
and synchronization, each instrument would
function on its own, making it impossible to
perform complex tests.
During hardware testing, simulation data is downloaded to a wideband arbitrary
waveform generator (AWG), such as the M9330A/M8190A. The AWG drives the I/Q
inputs of a vector signal generator (e.g., the MXG, PSG or ESG) to render simulated
RF test signals, including realistic threats and jamming scenarios, for testing Radar
and EW receivers. Integration of a signal analyzer or wideband oscilloscope run-
ning vector signal analysis software provides measurement and analysis capabili-
ties that are useful when developing transmitters, receivers, amplifiers, and other
subsystems. For further analysis and signal processing, measured signals can be
brought back to SystemVue with the help of vector signal analysis software. This
combination of hardware and software enables both component testing (e.g., an RF
receiver, detector, signal processor, or waveform generator) and scenario simula-
tion for system test.
Another use for the test platform is to test whether jamming and deception signals
generated by an EW system can effectively attack a Radar receiver. In this case,
the signal downloading link must be moved to the radar receiver input so that the
signal at the output of the Radar RF receiver can be acquired.
Addressing EW Design Challenges:
EW is defined as a military action that uses electromagnetic and directed energy
to control the electromagnetic spectrum or attack an enemy. It includes Electronic
Warfare Support (ES), Electronic Attack (EA) and Electronic Protection (EP). Each
area of EW faces its own unique set of design challenges.
In EA applications, for example, responsive and non-responsive jammers are always
used. To simplify development, SystemVue provides application templates that can
be used to generate jammers. In EP, engineers must detect the Direction of Arrival
(DOA) for an enemy's Radar signals. In this case, SystemVue's MUSIC and ESPRIT
algorithms may be employed to estimate the DOA.
04
Finally, in ES, a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) is required in one-on-one engage-
ments to detect the radio emissions of Radar systems. Testing a RWR from an EW
system requires the generation and analysis of an appropriate test signal. Many
factors must be considered when modeling a RWR (e.g., frequency band, direc-
tion finding methods and emitter identification). Also, once the receiver algorithm
design is done it must be verified under realistic scenarios.
SystemVue has the ability to generate complex multi-emitter waveforms efficiently
with its user-friendly user interface. Also, the RWR signal can be modeled and
simulated in SystemVue. As an example, a template of a type of RWR test platform
that can be constructed to test an EW system receiver is shown in Figure 4. By
modifying the platform's source input and reset parameters, different RWR test
signals can be generated. The RWR signal can even be modified to implement the
engineer's own EW algorithm, which can then be tested in the platform. In Figure 4,
an emitter signal is generated in SystemVue, downloaded to the M1890A AWG and
then modulated by the E8267D vector signal generator.
Figure 4. Shown here is a multi-
emitter signal with different Radar and
communication components generated in
Keysight's SystemVue-based Radar and EW
test platform.
Figure 5. This RWR test platform template
utilizes the Frequency Bands Recognition
technique. The RWR is based on Frequency
Division Signal processing with eight inputs,
each of which may be set to a different
frequency range.
In the example in Figure 5, a received multi-emitter signal waveform (denoted in
green) arrives at the input of the RWR. The spectrum is shown in yellow. The goal
is to find the components for the arrived multi-emitter signal. The main task of the
RWR is to process received signals to determine components in both the time and
frequency domain. Within the RWR, channelization is performed. The output of
each channel is the recovered signal-of-interest, indicating that the RWR has suc-
cessfully recognized LFM1, LFM2 and LFM3, the original signal components from
either a Radar or communication system.
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Summary of results With modern Radar and EW systems operating in increasingly complex environ-
ments, effectively designing, verifying and testing Radar and EW systems has be-
come all the more critical. A Radar and EW simulation and test platform based on
SystemVue offers the ideal solution to this dilemma. The platform can be used for
modeling and simulation of Radar and EW systems. When linked to other Keysight
measurement instruments via SystemVue, the platform can also be used for test
and verification of Radar and EW components and systems.
Using the platform, engineers gain access to a myriad of benefits. It provides a
true design-oriented value proposition to shorten the development cycle and al-
lows users to save time and money by minimizing field tests. Moreover, its multiple
environment scenarios enable engineers to create real-world test environments for
high-quality products. Such capabilities and benefits are critical to ensuring suc-
cessful development of modern Radar and EW systems.
Related information SystemVue Radar application notes