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Receiver-System Design, Part 2- System Specifications (cont.)

Thursday, July 1, 2004 - Dave Adamy

Receiver-System Design, Part 2 System Specifications (cont.)

Dave Adamy
July 2004
This is a continuation of the general discussion of receiver specifications listed in the table last
month (see Receiver-System Design, Part 1 System Specifications, JED, June 2004, p. 60).
Sensitivity
Sensitivity can be defined in terms of the actual minimum signal strength that must be received
to allow the receiver system to perform the necessary processing to produce an output that meets
specifications. Sometimes this specification includes the gain of an antenna but requires significant
further definition because of the antennas gain pattern and any of the antennas scanning
characteristics. Also, the sensitivity, including antenna gain, should be correctly stated in terms of the
received field strength (in v/m) rather than the received signal strength (in dBm). Sometimes the
sensitivity of the receiving system is specified independent of the antenna gain. Then the required
receiver sensitivity is stated as a signal strength (in dBm). The antennas gain pattern will be specified
in terms of peak gain, width of the main beam, and sidelobe isolation. Another way to specify system
sensitivity is to define the range at which a specified emitter will produce a specified output from the
receiver system, as shown in Figure 1.
In every case, the sensitivity is specified as a function of frequency, modulation type,
modulation level, and receiver function. Receiver functions can include detection of signal presence,
identification of signal type and/or mode, recovery of modulation, or emitter location.
Dynamic Range and Instantaneous Dynamic Range
Dynamic range is defined as the difference in signal strength between the weakest signal a
receiver system can receive and the strongest signal present (usually within band). In communications
and radar receivers, where the concern is only the minimum and maximum signal strengths the receiver
could handle, automatic gain control (AGC) provides an elegant solution. As shown in Figure 2, AGC
reduces an early gain or introduces an early loss in the receiver system to prevent saturation by a strong
signal. This has the additional benefit of adjusting the level of the strongest signal present so that it is
optimally processed. By reducing the gain, AGC also reduces the level of weaker signals in band, so
that they are ignored by the processing circuitry.
In receiver systems for electronic warfare (EW) and reconnaissance, we often need to handle
signals over a very wide range of received-signal strengths from the threat with the highest effective
radiated power (ERP) at the minimum range to the minimum-ERP threat at the maximum range.
However, the important target signal is often not the strongest signal present. Therefore, AGC is
virtually never allowable, so the receiver must have a relatively wide instantaneous dynamic range.
Sometimes, when the range of received-signal strengths exceeds the achievable instantaneous dynamic
range, it is necessary to design a selectable attenuator into the front end of the receiver system. This
allows us to, in effect, move the whole instantaneous dynamic range up in amplitude. When performing
a search, the receiver would cover the search range with the attenuation deselected and then, if
necessary, repeat part of the search with the attenuation selected.
LO Radiation
The local oscillator (LO) generates a signal that is significantly stronger than received signals,
and it can pass back through the front end of the receiver. This can cause two kinds of difficulty. When
it is radiated from the antenna, it may be detected by a hostile receiver. This is exactly what is
happening when a car pulls up beside you at a stoplight and you find yourself suddenly enjoying a
teenagers favorite music. Since the radiated LO can also interfere with other receivers, either within
the receiver system or in other onboard systems, this specification often requires careful consideration
when designing the receivers front end.
Selectivity
Selectivity is a function of the types of receivers included in the receiving system and the design
of their front-end filtering. It is an important consideration relating to the signal environment in which
an EW/recon receiver system must operate. If there are relatively few signals present, little or no
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selectivity is required. On the other hand, in very dense signal environments, it may be
necessary to sacrifice sensitivity or probability-of-intercept performance in favor of selectivity. There
will be an article on signal-distribution-network design later in this series, following a detailed
discussion of dynamic range. This article will discuss filter characteristics, various power-dividing
schemes, and reverse path discrimination in various types of components. This will support a discussion
of the achievement of both selectivity and LO-radiation specifications.
DOA Accuracy and CEP
A receiver system which provides only direction-of-arrival information will be specified in
terms of its root-mean-square (RMS) accuracy. Where the system includes multiple receiving stations
or platforms operating cooperatively, the location accuracy is normally specified in terms of circularerror probable (CEP), as shown in Figure 3. [For discussions of the important emitter-location
approaches and the way that RMS accuracy and CEP are defined and predicted for each, see the EW
101 columns in the September 2002-May 2003 issues of JED.]
Probability of Intercept
This is the probability that a specific signal (typically a threat signal) will be successfully
received, given that it is present at the system antenna. The required probability of intercept (POI) is
often 90% or 100% and is associated with the detection time. This specification is related to types of
receivers in the system and its search features. [For a look at the important search approaches used in
EW and reconnaissance receiver systems, see the EW 101 columns in the January-May 1998 issues of
JED.]
Detection Time
Detection time is the elapsed time between the arrival of the signal at the antenna or antenna
array of the receiver system (whether or not any antenna is properly oriented to receive the signal) and
the output of the required signal information to a display or digital output. This will typically be a very
small number of seconds, and the threat signals to which it applies will be listed. There may be different
detection times specified for different classes of signals.
In receiver systems associated with jammers, there will typically be a specified look-through
percentage. That is, the jammer will be turned off for some (small) percentage of the time to allow the
receiver to monitor the signal being jammed and to search for other threat signals. This can make the
achievement of an aggressive detection-time specification extremely challenging.
Intercept-Throughput Rate
The intercept-throughput rate is the number of threat signals the receiver system can receive and
process during some specified period of time.
Radar-warning receivers will usually be required to accept several million pulses per second.
There may be separate pulse rates per quadrant and/or frequency band. There will also be specifications
for the number of continuous-wave (CW) or pulse-Doppler (PD) signals with high pulse-repetition
frequencies present at once. This is an important factor, because these types of signals can saturate
wideband receivers that are only able to see one pulse at a time.
Since tactical communications bands are characterized by high band occupancy (up to 10% of
all channels occupied at any instant), the intercept-throughput rate is very challenging for EW and
reconnaissance receivers in those bands. Receivers and emitter-location subsystems for these bands
have typically been narrowband, handling only one signal at a time. Therefore, the time required to
collect enough data to generate the necessary outputs can be the limiting factor in the ability of a system
to receive and report all of the signals present. This is one of the factors that make digital receivers (to
be discussed later in this series) so attractive.
Whats Next
Next month well review the types of receivers available for EW and recon systems and their
characteristic specifications. For your comments and suggestions, Dave Adamy can be reached at
dave@lynxpub.com.

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