RECEIVER TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS

Besides the considerations of noise and noise figure, the capabilities of receivers are highly dependant on the type of receiver design. Most receiver designs are trade-offs of several conflicting requirements. This is especially true of the Electronic Support Measures (ESM) receivers used in Electronic Warfare. This section consists of a figure and tables that provide a brief comparison of various common ESM receiver types. Figure 1 shows block diagrams of four common ESM receivers. Table 1 is a comparison of major features of receivers. Table 2 shows the receiver types best suited for various types of signals and Tables 3 and 4 compare several direction of arrival (DOA) and emitter location techniques. Table 5 shows qualitative and quantitative comparisons of receiver characteristics.

CRYSTAL VIDEO RECEIVER

RF AMPLIFIER COMPRESSIVE VIDEO AMPLIFIER BAND 1 VIDEO BAND 2 VIDEO BAND 3 VIDEO

YIG TUNED NARROWBAND SUPERHET

IF AMP YIG FILTER TUNING IF FILTER LOG VIDEO AMP VIDEO

YIG OSCILLATOR

WIDEBAND SUPERHET

INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT

SIN WIDEBAND FILTER IF FILTER LIMITING AMPLIFIER DELAY LINE PHASE DETECTOR COS VIDEO CONVERSION FREQUENCY INFORMATION

FIXED FREQUENCY OSCILLATOR

Figure 1. Common ESM Receiver Block Diagrams

5-3.1

Table 1. Comparison of Major Features of Receivers Receiver

Wideband crystal video Turned RF Crystal Video IFM

Advantages
Simple, inexpensive, instantaneous, High POI in frequency range Simple, Frequency measurement Higher sensitivity than wideband Relatively simple Frequency resolution Instantaneous, high POI High sensitivity Good frequency resolution Simultaneous signals don't interfere Better response time and POI Wide bandwidth, Near instantaneous, Moderate frequency resolution Near instantaneous, Good resolution and dynamic range, Good simultaneous signal capability Near instantaneous, Good resolution, Good simultaneous signal capability Good POI

Disadvantages
No frequency resolution Poor sensitivity and Poor simultaneous signal performance Slow response time Poor POI Cannot sort simultaneous signals Relatively poor sensitivity Slow response time Poor POI Poor against frequency agility Spurious signals generated Poorer sensitivity High complexity, cost; Lower reliability; limited sensitivity High complexity, Limited bandwidth No pulse modulation information Critical alignment High complexity; new technology

Principal Applications
RWR

Option in RWR, Frequency measurement in hybrid Shipboard ESM, Jammer power management, SIGINT equipment SIGINT equipment Air and ship ESM Analysis part of hybrid Shipboard ESM Tactical air warning SIGINT equipment Jammer power management SIGINT equipment Applications for fine freq analysis over wide range

Narrow-band scanning Superhet Wide-band Superhet Channelized Microscan

Acousto-optic

Table 2. Receiver Types vs. Signal Types Receiver Type Signal Type
CW Wide-Band Crystal Video Special design for CW Yes No TRF Crystal Video Special design for CW Yes No IFM Yes, but interferes with pulsed reception Yes No Narrow-Band Superhet Yes Wide-Band Superhet Yes Channelized Yes Microscan Yes Acousto-optic Yes

Pulsed Multiple Frequency Frequency Agile PRI Agile Chirped

Yes Yes, but won't recognize as same source No

Yes No

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

Yes, doesn't measure frequency Yes

No

Yes

Yes (within passband) Yes

Yes

Yes

No/Yes, depending on readout time No/Yes, depending on readout time Yes (reduced sensitivity) Yes (reduced sensitivity)

Yes

Yes

No/Yes, depending on scan rate No/Yes, depending on BW No

Yes

No/Yes, imprecision in TOA No/Yes, depending on scan rate Yes (reduced sensitivity)

Yes, within acceptance BW Yes, within acceptance BW

No

Yes

Yes

Yes (reduced sensitivity) Yes (reduced sensitivity)

Spread Spectrum

No

Yes

No/Yes, depending on BW

5-3.2

Table 3. Direction of Arrival Measurement Techniques Amplitude Comparison

Sensor Configuration DF Accuracy Typically 4 to 6 Equal Spaced Antenna Elements for 360E Coverage

Phase Interferometer
2 or more RHC or LHC Spirals in Fixed Array

DFACC .

12 bW )C dB 24 S

DFACC .

8 )2 2 B d cos2

(Gaussian Antenna Shape) DF Accuracy Improvement Typical DF Accuracy Sensitivity to Multipath/Reflections Platform Constraints Applicable Receivers Decrease Antenna BW; Decrease Amplitude Mistrack; Increase Squint Angle 3E to 10E rms High Sensitivity; Mistrack of Several dB Can Cause Large DF Errors Locate in Reflection Free Area Crystal Video; Channelizer; Acousto-Optic; Compressive; Superheterodyne Increase Spacing of Outer Antennas; Decrease Phase Mistrack 0.1E to 3E rms Relatively Insensitive; Interferometer Can be Made to Tolerate Large Phase Errors Reflection Free Area; Real Estate for Array; Prefers Flat Radome Superheterodyne

)CdB= Amplitude Monopulse Ratio in dB S= Squint Angle in degrees 2BW= Antenna Beamwidth in degrees

Table 4. Emitter Location Techniques Measurement Technique Triangulation Advantages Single Aircraft Disadvantages Non-instantaneous location Inadequate accuracy for remote targeting Not forward looking Azimuth/elevation Single Aircraft Instantaneous location possible Time Difference of Arrival Very high precision (Pulsed signals) Can support weapon delivery position requirements Very rapid, can handle short on-time threat Accuracy degrades rapidly at low altitude Function of range Very complex, diverse systems required, at least 3 aircraft High quality receivers, DME (3 sites) very wideband data link Very high performance control processor; requires very high reliability subsystems

5-3.3

Table 5. Qualitative Comparison of Receivers

Receiver Type Feature
Instantaneous Analysis Bandwidth Frequency Resolution Sensitivity Dynamic Range Speed of Acquisition Short pulse Width Capability Retention of Signal Characteristics Applicability to Exotic Signals High signal Density Performance Simultaneous Signal Capability Processing Complexity Immunity to Jamming Power Requirements RF Range (GHz) Max Instantaneous Analysis Bandwidth Frequency Accuracy Wide-Band Crystal Video Very wide Very poor Poor (No preamp) Fair (preamp) Fair Very Fast Good TRF Crystal Video Narrow Fair Fair/ good Fair/ good Slow Good IFM Very wide Good Poor (No preamp) Fair (preamp) Good Very Fast Good Narrow-Band Superhet Narrow Very good Very good Very good Slow Good Wide-Band Superhet Moderate Poor Fair Fair Fast Very good Fair/ good Fair/ good Channelized

From NRL Report 8737

Microscan

Acousto-optic

Wide Fair Fair/ good Good Very Fast Good

Wide Good Very good Fair Very Fast Fair

Moderate Good Good Poor Fast Fair

Fair

Fair

Poor

Good

Good

Poor

Fair/ good Fair/ good

Poor/ fair Poor (high false alarm rate from background) Poor Moderate depending on application Poor Low Multioctave (0.5-40) Multioctave (to 17.5 GHz)

Poor

Good

Poor

Good

Fair/ good

Fair/ good Fair/ good Moderate depending on application Fair Low/ Moderate 0.15-18 separate As high as desired with equivalent reduction in resolution

Good

Poor

Fair/good, Fair depending on (depending on architecture BW) & processing Fair (depending on BW) Moderate Poor/ Fair Moderate Good Low-high depending on architecture Good High

Good

Poor

Poor

Good

Good

Good Simple signal processing complex data processing Good Moderate/ High 0.5-4 (0.5-18 channelized and down conversion)

Moderate Poor/ Fair Moderate

Moderate

Complex

Good Moderate

Good Moderate

>0.5 to 40

<0.01 to 40

0.5 to 18

0.5 to 60 ~2 GHz without degradation, 17.5 GHz with degradation 1 MHz

<0.5 to 8

Multioctave (1 octave per unit)

50 MHz

500 MHz

0.5 to 2 depending on PW limitation

1 GHz

Measurement Measurement accuracy no accuracy no better than better than analysis BW analysis BW

5-10 MHz

0.5% to 1%

0.5 to 3 MHz

10 KHz

1 MHz

5-3.4

Receiver Type Feature

Pulse Width Range Frequency Resolution Sensitivity (dBm) Maximum Dynamic Range (dB) Tuning Time Signal ID Time Minimum Weight (lb) Size / Minimum Volume (in) Minimum Power (W) Cost Wide-Band Crystal Video CW to 50 ns ~400 MHz (no better than BW) -40 to -50 (no preamp) -80 (with preamp) 70 TRF Crystal Video CW to 50 ns 25 MHz Better than -80 with preamp 70-80 IFM Narrow-Band Superhet Wide-Band Superhet Channelized Microscan CW to 250 ns 1 MHz Acousto-optic CW to 0.5 s 0.5 to 1 MHz

CW to ~20 ns CW to 100 ns CW to 4 ns CW to 30 ns (depending with 20 MHz with 500 MHz (depending on resolution) resolution resolution on resolution) 1 MHz -40 (no preamp) -75 (preamp) 4 GHz BW 80 (w/preamp) 100+ (saturated) 2-10 ms <20 (octave unit) 65-75 (full coverage) Sm/Moderate 600-1000 ~100 miniaturized ~50 (octave unit) Moderate <0.1 MHz 100-500 MHz -80, 500 MHz BW 10-125 MHz (less with freq vernier) -70, 10-50 MHz BW

-90, 1 MHz BW

-90, 5-10 MHz BW

-70 to -80

90 1.0 s (1 octave) ~0.1 s

60 .12 s (200 MHz band) 35 (tuner only) Moderate Several thousand 150 (tuner only) Moderate/ High

50-80

40-60 0.3 s LO scan time ~1 s

25-35 0.5 ms (integration time) -

100 ns 20 (with processor) Small 300 (w/processor) 100 (with processor) <10 without processor Low

50 ms 50 ms

2.10ms 1309-200 for 0.5 to 18 GHz coverage Large 4000-8000 (0.5-18 GHz coverage 350 to 1200 for 0.5 to 18 GHz coverage High

30

60-75

25

29-55

Small 375

Moderate 1500-3000

Moderate 1200-2000

Small 800-1900

60 (without processor) Low/ Moderate

150 Moderate/ High

70-80 Moderate/ High

200 Low/ Moderate

5-3.5