Radar testing is essential to ensure accuracy, compliance, and resilience in various environments. With new types of radar and EW technology on the horizon, you need to address new test challenges earlier in the test design process to find the right flexible test system that can meet new requirements and your application-specific needs. Modeling and simulation also reduce expensive full-system testing and help you identify and solve problems earlier in the testing process to reduce schedule risk. With modular instruments and more modeling and simulation during different test phases, you can address these radar and EW system trends. Software-driven and multipurpose platforms, low-latency requirements, a connected world, big data processing and information exposure, and machine learning and artificial intelligence are inspiring test innovation at both the component and system levels.
Early, comprehensive digital testing is crucial for faster market delivery and a competitive edge, minimising surprises in expensive field trials.
Note that the Analysis Length and Offset (the 2 blue buttons) will apply to all displays on the instrument except the Spectrum Display. The blue bar on the top of the Time Overview measurement indicates the Analysis Time. Here the Time Overview window shows the pulses and their amplitude changes as the antenna sweeps across Ringospin the monitor antenna. For a ground-based monitoring position, the measured power of the pulses will vary as the transmit antenna swings across the monitor receiver antenna. This example is a set of observations of a weather radar at 9.6 GHz.
It can cost over $3M a year to flight-test radar systems
This is a real off-the-air radar measurement, so the antenna used and some local objects may have an impact on pulse the distortions seen here. Which pulses out of the total acquisition record contribute to each of these sets of measurements can be separately selected. Monitoring the intended signals emanating from a radar system may be necessary to assure compliance with regulations as well as to confirm interoperability when multiple systems are installed in close proximity to each other. The amplitude vs. time display is one of the analyses which use the “analysis” subset of the acquisition record. The time-domain displays (Frequency, Phase, and Amplitude versus Time) have an additional measurementilter whose bandwidth can be adjusted.
Applications of Radar Simulators
This gives a linear display and now the pulse lines and cardinal points are displayed. Since this particular acquisition is long enough to assure capturing the full antenna rotation across our position, there is quite a lot of data. This display is the equivalent of the zero-span mode in swept spectrum analyzers. Which the pulse Analysis and the Spectrum analysis will be respectively performed. The marker has been placed on the highest amplitude pulse which corresponds to the time when the transmit antenna was pointing directly at the monitor antenna.
ARES
Due to the nature of frequency conversion schemes that are this wide, the filter used must have relatively sharp frequency response roll-off at the filter edges. Figure 10 shows a span of 1.25 GHz, and a chirped pulse that is 1 GHz wide. It can also use the oscilloscope’s “math trace” capability to combine data from multiple channels and use math functions on the data. And lastly, these trends can be input to an FFT to determine if the errors have a coherent frequency of error variation, possibly leading to discovery of the cause of the variation.
This allows measurements of different parameters to correlate all at exactly the same time. The markers and other measurements operate on the full “trace resolution.” The full-resolution traces can also be exported for further analysis or record keeping. But to see just one pulse in the amplitude vs. time display in the upper right of the screen, the display has been zoomed to 10.36 µs wide to see just one pulse. But in the case of a radar pulse with very small duty cycle, there may be a need to zoom in on the display much more than normal. Particularly for the “parameter vs. time” displays, the acquisition record being analyzed can be very large. For the SignalVu vector signal analysis software, some of the oscilloscope controls may interact with the software controls or settings.
- However, our problem is unique; in that we have time domain behaviors we want to observe, but they are exhibited in the frequency domain.
- Figure 30 shows the spectrum as measured by an ordinary spectrum analyzer or VSA.
- It provides interfaces for scenario creation, signal management, and data collection.
- For wideband measurements using an oscilloscope, FastAcq can be used to see even momentary transient events using the voltage vs. time display.
- The amplitude vs. time trace window can be set to analyze any part or all of the acquired record.
- This usually happens when the digitizing rate is very high at the same time as the acquisition record length is set very long.
Antenna Characterization
The industry trends affecting new radar and EW technology are also driving new test instrumentation trends like industry convergence, software-defined platforms, test system maintainability, and test system architectures. But turnkey test and measurement solutions are limited to vendor-defined functionality and are difficult to configure for unique system needs. However, COTS radar target generators typically cost more, require support to upgrade and maintain, and lack flexibility because a larger part of their functionality is already defined. They don’t offer electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM) techniques and simulations of real-world environments or scenarios that modern radars experience like clutter and interference. For these systems, component and subsystem test program sets involve a wider range of frequencies and bandwidths than other systems. As more data is generated at a higher rate, you need systems that are faster than humans at making decisions and organizing the data.
In radar and EW specifically, the operating environment and requirements for military radars are changing rapidly, and radar trends like the following are increasing the complexity of these systems to new extremes. Adaptable to the dynamic nature of radar development, ARES boasts a scalable and modular design and an intuitive software interface that decreases overall sustainment costs and evolves seamlessly with your radar needs. This not only streamlines data analysis, but also reduces file sizes for more efficient storage and sharing. This advanced system enables developers to isolate radar issues efficiently, saving valuable time and resources. Note how the stepping LO harmonic is easily visible even inside the spectrum lobes of the pulse transmitter.
The portion of the acquisition that is used to create the Spectrum Display is also shown, and can be separately adjusted. It is here that the subset of the full acquisition intended to be analyzed can be seen and adjusted. At first glance, it would appear that these two displays might well be the same thing. This will cause the software to change span, RBW, and Reference Level to accommodate the manual oscilloscope settings. This Gaussian filter can be added to flatten pulse response at the expense of bandwidth.
But some signals may be more subtle such that the radar simply gets the wrong result. The frequency vs. time display now shows the nature of the transient. This one is drawn so that in between two of the legitimate signals there is a trigger area drawn.
This is key when dealing with a transient/pulse-based time domain system with transmission frequencies in the giga-hertz ranges such as a radar or ECM. Time domain measurements are traditionally performed with oscilloscopes while spectrum analyzers are best suited for frequency domain measurements. Real-time visibility of advanced pulse compression systems and the generation and analysis of all digital dynamic signal types help you create highly reliable, cost-effective system designs for defense and commercial electronic systems. It allows you to test and develop radar display systems, configure sophisticated trackers, and even train operators without needing actual radar data. Simulation software, paired with hardware to generate realistic radar outputs, can provide radar systems with a consistent, controlled, and repeatable test environment.
Tektronix designs and manufactures test and measurement solutions to break through the walls of complexity, and accelerate global innovation. We are the measurement insight company committed to performance, and compelled by possibilities. Unsure which radar test equipment is right for your unique challenge? Figure 30 shows the spectrum as measured by an ordinary spectrum analyzer or VSA.
- There may be many signals external to radar or other electronic systems which will cause problems.
- Manufacturers must consider not only regulatory requirements but also the real-world conditions in which their radar systems will operate.
- Figure 4 shows just one single pulse that has a narrower pulse width than even hundreds of thousands of correct pulses.
- Mercury has built the most trusted, contemporary portfolio of proven subsystems, components and solutions within aerospace and defense.
- Over 1,400 possible trigger combinations can be qualified with Pinpoint triggering.
They mimic the complexities of actual radar signals and behavior. Users can train, test, and validate radar systems in a controlled setting. They replicate the behavior of actual radar systems without needing expensive hardware.