Radar Systems Design & EngineeringRadar Performance Calculations Course # D231SummaryThis four-day course covers radar functionality, architecture, andperformance. Fundamental radar issues such as transmitter stability,antenna pattern, clutter, jamming, propagation, target cross section,dynamic range, receiver noise, receiver architecture, waveforms,processing, and target detection are treated in detail within the unifyingcontext of the radar range equation, and examined within the contextsof surface and airborne radar platforms and their respectiveapplications. Advanced topics such as pulse compression,electronically steered arrays, and active phased arrays are covered,together with the related issues of failure compensation and autocalibration.The fundamentals of multi-target tracking principles arecovered, and detailed examples of surface and airborne radars arepresented. This course is designed for engineers and engineeringmanagers who wish to understand how surface and airborne radarsystems work, and to familiarize themselves with pertinent designissues and the current technological frontiers.What You Will Learn• What are radar subsystems.• How to calculate radar performance.• Key functions, issues, and requirements.• HHow different requirements make radars different.• Operating in different modes & environments.• ESA and AESA radars: what are these technologies, how they work,what drives them, and what new issues they bring.• Issues unique to multifunction, phased array, radars.• State-of-the-art waveforms and waveform processing.• How airborne radars differ from surface radars.• Today's requirements, technologies & designs.February 23-26, 2015 • Columbia, Maryland$1990 (8:30am - 4:00pm)Register 3 or More & Receive $100 00 EachOff The Course Tuition.InstructorsDr. Menachem Levitas received his BS, maxima cum laude, fromthe University of Portland and his Ph.D. from theUniversity of Virginia in 1975, both in physics. Hehas forty three years experience in science andengineering, thirty five of which in radar systemsanalysis, design, development, and testing for theNavy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and FAA. Hisexperience encompasses many ground based,shipboard, and airborne radar systems. He hasbeen technical lead on many radar efforts includingGovernment source selection teams. He is theauthor of multiple radar based innovations and is a recipient of theAegis Excellence Award for his contribution toward the AN/SPY-1 highrange resolution (HRR) development. For many years, prior to hisretirement in 2011, he had been the chief scientist of <strong>Technology</strong>Service Corporation / Washington. He continues to provide radartechnical support under consulting agreements.Stan Silberman is a member of the Senior Technical Staff of the<strong>Applied</strong> Physics Laboratory. He has over 30 years of experience intracking, sensor fusion, and radar systems analysis and design for theNavy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and FAA. Recent work has included theintegration of a new radar into an existing multisensor system and inthe integration, using a multiple hypothesis approach, of shipboardradar and ESM sensors. Previous experience has included analysisand design of multiradar fusion systems, integration of shipboardsensors including radar, IR and ESM, integration of radar, IFF, andtime-difference-of-arrival sensors with GPS data sources, andintegration of multiple sonar systems on underwater platforms.Course OutlineDay 1 - Part I: Radar and Phenomenology Fundamentals1. Introduction. Radar systems examples. Radar ranging principles,frequencies, architecture, measurements, displays, and parameters. Radarrange equation; radar waveforms; antenna patterns, types, andparameters.2. Noise in Receiving Systems and Detection Principles. Noisesources; statistical properties. Radar range equation; false alarm anddetection probability; and pulse integration schemes. Radar cross section;stealth; fluctuating targets; stochastic models; detection of fluctuatingtargets.3. CW Radar, Doppler, and Receiver Architecture. Basicproperties; CW and high PRF relationships; dynamic range, stability;isolation requirements, techniques, and devices; superheterodynereceivers; in-phase and quadrature receivers; signal spectrum; spectralbroadening; matched filtering; Doppler filtering; Spectral modulation; CWranging; and measurement accuracy.4. Radio Waves Propagation. The pattern propagation factor;interference (multipath,) and diffraction; refraction; standard refractivity; the4/3 Earth approximation; sub-refractivity; super refractivity; trapping;propagation ducts; littoral propagation; propagation modeling; attenuation.5. Radar Clutter and Detection in Clutter. Volume, surface, anddiscrete clutter, deleterious clutter effects on radar performance, cluttercharacteristics, effects of platform velocity, distributed sea clutter and seaspikes, terrain clutter, grazing angle vs. depression angle characterization,volume clutter, birds, Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) thresholding,editing CFAR, and Clutter Maps.Day 2 - Part II: Clutter Processing, Waveform, and Waveform Processing6. Clutter Filtering Principles. Signal-to-clutter ratio; signal andclutter separation techniques; range and Doppler techniques; principles offiltering; transmitter stability and filtering; pulse Doppler and MTI; MTD;blind speeds and blind ranges; staggered MTI; analog and digital filtering;notch shaping; gains and losses. Performance measures: clutterattenuation, improvement factor, subclutter visibility, and cancellation ratio.Improvement factor limitation sources; stability noise sources; compositeerrors; types of MTI.7. Radar Waveforms. The time-bandwidth concept. Pulsecompression; Performance measures; Code families; Matched andmismatched filters. Optimal codes and code families: multiple constraints.Performance in the time and frequency domains; Mismatched filters andtheir applications; Orthogonal and quasi-orthogonal codes; Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) radar; MIMO waveforms and MIMO antennapatterns.Part 3: ESA, AESA, and Related Topics8. Electronically Scanned Radar Systems. Fundamental concepts,directivity and gain, elements and arrays, near and far field radiation,element factor and array factor, illumination function and Fourier transformrelations, beamwidth approximations, array tapers and sidelobes, electricaldimension and errors, array bandwidth, steering mechanisms, gratinglobes, phase monopulse, beam broadening, examples.9. Active Phased Array Radar Systems. What are solid state activearrays (SSAA), what advantages do they provide, emerging requirementsthat call for SSAA (or AESA), SSAA issues at T/R module, array, andsystem levels, digital arrays, future direction.10. Multiple Simultaneous Beams. Why multiple beams,independently steered beams vs. clustered beams, alternative organizationof clustered beams and their implications, quantization lobes in clusteredbeams arrangements and design options to mitigate them.Day 311. Auto-Calibration Techniques in Active Phased Array Radars:Motivation; the mutual coupling in a phased array radar; externalcalibration reference approach; the mutual coupling approach;architectural.12. Module Failure and Array Auto-compensation: The ‘bathtub’profile of module failure rates and its three regions, burn-in and acceleratedstress tests, module packaging and periodic replacements, coolingalternatives, effects of module failure on array pattern, array autocompensationtechniques to extend time between replacements, need forrecalibration after module replacement.Part 4: Applications13. Surface Radar. Principal functions and characteristics, nearnessand extent of clutter, effects of anomalous propagation, the stressingfactors of dynamic range, signal stability, time, and coverage requirements,transportation requirements and their implications, sensitivity time controlin classical radar, the increasing role of bird/angel clutter and its effects onradar design, firm track initiation and the scan-back mechanism, antennapattern techniques used to obtain partial relief.14. Airborne Radar. Frequency selection; Platform motion effects;iso-ranges and iso-Dopplers; antenna pattern effects; clutter; reflectionpoint; altitude line. The role of medium and high PRF's in lookdown modes;the three PRF regimes; range and Doppler ambiguities; velocity searchmodes, TACCAR and DPCA.)15. Synthetic Aperture Radar. Principles of high resolution, radar vs.optical imaging, real vs. synthetic aperture, real beam limitations,simultaneous vs. sequential operation, derivations of focused arrayresolution, unfocused arrays, motion compensation, range-gate drifting,synthetic aperture modes: real-beam mapping, strip mapping, andspotlighting, waveform restrictions, processing throughputs, syntheticaperture 'monopulse' concepts.Day 416. Multiple Target Tracking. Definition of Basic terms. TrackInitiation: Methodology for initiating new tracks; Recursive and batchalgorithms; Sizing of gates for track initiation. M out of N processing. StateEstimation & Filtering: Basic filtering theory. Least-squares filter andKalman filter. Adaptive filtering and multiple model methods. Use ofsuboptimal filters such as table look-up and constant gain. Correlation &Association: Correlation tests and gates; Association algorithms;Probabilistic data association and multiple hypothesis algorithms.24 – Vol. 119 Register online at www.ATIcourses.com or call ATI at 888.501.2100 or 410.956.8805
REVISED!Software Defined Radio EngineeringComprehensive Study of State of the Art TechniquesJanuary 26-29, 2015Columbia, Maryland$1940 (8:30am - 4:00pm)Register 3 or More & Receive $100 00 EachOff The Course Tuition.SummaryThis 4-day course is designed for digital signal processingengineers, RF system engineers, and managers who wish toenhance their understanding of this rapidly emergingtechnology. On day one we present an extensive overview ofSDR definitions, applications, development tools and exampleproducts. On day two we cover basic digital radio concepts,with emphasis on SDR applications. On day three we tackle acomplete SDR design, from antenna to decoded bits.Throughout the course, mostly intuitive explanations take theplace of detailed mathematical developments. On day four wetackle digital modem processing circuits. Day four includesextensive study of Matlab and Simulink DSP simulations.Modeling code is explained in detail and provided to thestudents on the class CD. Throughout the course, mostlyintuitive explanations take the place of detailed mathematicaldevelopments.The emphasis is on practical “take-away” highlevel knowledge. Most topics include carefully describeddesign examples, alternative approaches, performanceanalysis, and references to published research results.Extensive guidance is provided to help you get started onpractical design and simulation efforts.. An extensivebibliography is included.InstructorsDr. John M Reyland has 20 years of experience indigital communications design for bothcommercial and military applications.Dr. Reyland holds the degree of Ph.D.in electrical engineering from theUniversity of Iowa. He has presentednumerous seminars on digitalcommunications in both academic andindustrial settings.What You Will Learn• New digital communications requirements that drive the SDRapproach.• SDR standardization attempts, both military and civilian.• SDR complexity vs. granularity tradeoffs.• Current digital radio hardware limitations on SDR.• SDR advantages and disadvantages.• Many aspects of physical layer digital communicationsdesign and how they relate to SDR.• The latest software development tools for SDR.• Practical DSP design techniques for SDR transceivers.• Possible SDR future directions.From this course you will understand the SDR approachto digital radio design and become familiar with currentstandards and trends. You will gain extensive insight intothe differences between traditional digital radio design andthe SDR approach. You will be able to evaluate designapproaches for SDR suitability and lead SDR discussionswith colleagues.Course # D241Course Outline1. SDR Introduction. SDR definitions, motivation,history and evolution. SDR cost vs. benefits and othertradeoffs. SDR impact on various communicationsystem components.2. SDR Major Standards. SoftwareCommunications Architecture (SCA) and SpaceTelecommunications Radio System (STRS).We look atthe differences as well as the motivation, operationaloverview and details. Hardware abstraction conceptsand structural components such as domain manager,core framework, application factory and otherreconfigurability mechanisms are discussed. TheCommunications, Navigation, and NetworkingreConfigurable Testbed (CoNNeCT) is discussed as apractical NASA SDR example. Applications of SCA arealso discussed.3. SDR Architectures. We discuss changes thatthe SDR approach has brought about in radio andcomputer architecture, interface design, componentselection and other aspects.4. SDR Enablers. How do block diagram orientedsimulation environments such as Simulink and GNURadio facilitate SDR development? We look at howthese tools speed up development and how theycontribute to radio research and manufacturing.5. SDR Advantages/Disadvantages. What is themotivation for SDR additional overhead? How has theSDR approach enabled new technologies such ascognitive radio?.6. Digital Modulation. Linear and non-linearmultilevel modulations. Analysis of advancedtechniques such as OFDM and its application to LTE,DSL and 802.11a. System design implications ofbandwidth and power efficiency, peak to averagepower, error vector magnitude, error probability, etc.7. RF Channels. Doppler, thermal noise,interference, slow and fast fading, time and frequencydispersion, RF spectrum usage, bandwidthmeasurement and link budget examples. Multipleinput, multiple output (MIMO) channels.8. Receiver Channel Equalization. Inter-symbolinterference, group delay, linear and nonlinearequalization, time and frequency domain equalizers,Viterbi equalizers.9. Multiple Access Techniques. Frequency, timeand code division techniques. Carrier sensing, wirelesssensor networks, throughput calculations.10. Source and Channel Coding. Shannon’stheorem, sampling, entropy, data compression, voicecoding, block and convolution coding, turbo coding.11. Receiver Analog Signal Processing. RFconversion structures for SDR, frequency planning,automatic gain control, high speed analog to digitalconversion techniques and bandpass sampling. Anexample is presented of an SDR radio front end thatsupports rapid reconfiguration for multiple signalformats.12. Receiver Digital Signal Processing.Quadrature downconversion, processing gain, packetsynchronization, Doppler estimation, automatic gaincontrol, carrier and symbol estimation and tracking,coherent vs. noncoherent demodulation. An example ispresented of SDR digital control over an FPGAimplementation.Register online at www.ATIcourses.com or call ATI at 888.501.2100 or 410.956.8805 Vol. 119 – 25
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