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Receiver System Design – Part 11

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 - Dave Adamy

Receiver System Design – Part 11

Typical Receiver System Configurations (continued)
Dave Adamy
May 2007

This month, our focus is on multiple receiver reconnaissance systems. Remember that the
dominant difference between Electronic Support and Reconnaissance receiver systems can be
considered “attitude.” Both receiver systems are designed to receive the same types of signals, but do so
for different reasons. ES receivers are typically looking for threat signals of known types for immediate
tactical reasons. Required response times are usually measured in low single digit seconds, and data is
collected only to determine which of the known types of signal is present – in what mode and at what
location. Antennas tend to be wide (ideally 360 degrees total instantaneous coverage from the whole
array) to provide extremely high probability of intercept. Receiver bandwidths tend to be wide,
sacrificing sensitivity for fast response and high probability of interest.
Reconnaissance receiver systems, on the other hand, typically have the luxury of more time to
find enemy signals – but often must receive weaker signals and provide sufficient resolution and
analysis to characterize new types of enemy signals. Antennas can often be narrow, enhancing the
ability to intercept signals from distant transmitters.
Reconnaissance receiver systems are used in all frequency ranges, and have a wide range of
configurations. A few configurations are selected here to facilitate discussion of important issues.

Multiple receiver systems

Figure 1 is a typical
reconnaissance system with
multiple receivers, as is often
the case in systems in all
frequency ranges. Note that
the antenna output can be
distributed in a multiplexer if
the receivers cover different
frequency ranges. If all cover
the same frequency range, a
power divider is required.
Search and acquisition is
challenging, particularly if
ranges to target emitters are
near the detection limits.
Acquisition receivers can be
swept superheterodyne
receivers with bandwidths and
search rates optimized for the
maximization of probability
of intercept under the required
geometry and timing
constraints. Digital receivers,
compressive receivers, and
other broad coverage receiver
types can also be employed
for the acquisition function.
There are significant
issues associated with the
tasking of receivers. One
common approach is to have many monitor receivers, each assigned to an operator or to an automatic
data recording or processing channel. When the acquisition receiver detects a signal, it may either stop
its search for a short interval to perform an evaluation of the signal’s interest – or it may task a special
processing receiver to perform that task. Determination of interest and priority normally involves
analysis of modulation externals – without consideration of the information carried by the signal (i.e.
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the modulation internals).

Once a signal of interest is identified and prioritized, a monitor receiver will be assigned to that
signal for the duration of the signal or until a signal of higher priority must be monitored.

Local Oscillator Radiation

Because
reconnaissance systems often
use superheterodyne
receivers, Local Oscillator
(LO) radiation is an important
receiver specification. As
discussed in the September
2006 JED, the Superhet
receiver tunes to signals by
setting a local oscillator a
fixed frequency offset above
or below the frequency of
interest. It also typically has a
preselector bandpass filter at
the frequency of interest.
Figure 2 shows the
front ends of two superhet
receivers in a receiver system.
The LO signal is strong
compared with received
signals, and thus can be
expected to propagate back
through the preselector at
some level. It is important to
realize that the preselector is
usually a relatively simple
filter providing limited
isolation. Therefore, leaked
LO energy will follow the two
paths shown in the figure. If
significant LO energy escapes
from the antenna it can be
detected by a hostile receiver.
It can also be received by
other antennas in the same
system or nearby friendly
assets, degrading their
performance. It is interesting
to note that countries
requiring licenses for
television receivers use LO
radiation to detect non-
licensed TV sets.

Receiver Performance
Each signal path in a multiple receiver system is independently analyzed to determine its
performance. Figure 3 shows part of a multiple receiver system. Each signal path is from the antenna
through the preamplifier, one leg of the four-way power divider, and into one of the receivers. Let’s run
examples for these two receivers: The required RFSNR for each receiver is 15 dB, and bandwidths are
the effective bandwidth for the respective channels. To simplify the examples, we will ignore cable
losses.
Using the techniques explained in the January and February 2007 JEDs, the sensitivity for each
receiver channel is the sum of kTB, the noise figure, and the required RFSNR.

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For channel 1, kTB is -114 + 10 log (50 kHz/1 MHz) = -127 dBm. The system noise figure is 7
dB (including 3 dB degradation), and the required RFSNR = 15 dB. Therefore, the sensitivity is -105
dBm.
For channel 2, kTB is -114 + 10 log (250 kHz / 1 MHz) = -120 dBm. The system noise figure is
5 dB (including 1 dB degradation), and the required RFSNR = 15 dB. Therefore, the sensitivity is -100
dBm.
Using the technique explained in the March 2007 JED, the spurious free dynamic range for
receiver 1 (considering only third order spurs) is 68 dB [-17 – (-85)]. The spurious free dynamic range
for receiver 2 is 66 dB [-14 – (-80)]. (Remember that the fundamental level is at the output of the
preamplifier.)

Remote Receiving Systems

There are many ground-based, fixed-wing and helicopter reconnaissance systems that include
multiple remote, cooperative receiving platforms or installations. Not only do these systems provide
improved intercept geometry, but they also allow accurate location of hostile emitters through
triangulation. Some systems have all remote receiving systems connected to a signal control station by
control and data links as shown in Figure 4. In this type of system, several operators are located at the
control station along with recording and analysis equipment. Other systems operate with each receiving
system capable of being the master station – controlling the other receiver locations as subordinate
stations. In these systems there are typically one or more operators at each receiver location. The master
location can change as required during a single mission.

In general, control links are relatively narrowband, because the signals from the master (or
control) station pass digital tuning and configuration commands a few times per millisecond. However,
the data links carry intercepted signal data from the receivers to the control station. Depending on the
nature and number of signals received, data links can be very wide. There will be a future series of
EW101 columns discussing the various types of links and their detailed characteristics and
vulnerabilities.
Figure 5 shows a single remote receiving station, which is one of several receiving stations
linked to a single control station. There are several operator receivers, each linked to an operator in the
control station. The operator monitors received signals, and when he or she wants to determine the
location of the transmitter being monitored a location command from the operator station is sent to a
central control station computer. The computer sends simultaneous commands to the direction finding
(DF) receivers in all of the remote receiving systems. This causes them to measure the direction of
arrival of the signal from the target transmitter at the same instant. These direction-of-arrival
measurements are sent to the control station computer, which adds the instantaneous location of the
corresponding receiving platforms and calculates the location of the hostile emitter. If two operators
request emitter locations at once, one request is delayed (on the order of a second) until the DF receivers
in all receiving systems are available.

What’s Next
Next month, we’ll start a new series on communication signal propagation and jamming. For
your comments and suggestions, Dave Adamy can be reached at dave@lynxpub.com.

Naylor Publications
http://66.38.154.178/

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