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The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) volume 1: principles of operation

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-87,I

Summary

The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) makes possible the performance assessment of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor under its specified maximum aircraft load. To do this ARIES operates upon a taped traffic model to generate simulated aircraft replies and fruit, feeding them to the sensor at RF. Support documentation for ARIES, of which this is the first volume, consists of: Volume 1: Principles of Operation Volume 2: Appendices to the Principles of Operation Volume 3: Programmer's Manual The Principles of Operation details the operation of ARIES hardware and software. Descriptive information, supported by block diagrams, simplified schematic diagrams and flow diagrams, is provided sufficient to permit a thorough understanding of ARIES operation.
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Summary

The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) makes possible the performance assessment of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor under its specified maximum aircraft load. To do this ARIES operates upon a taped traffic model to generate simulated aircraft replies and fruit, feeding them to the sensor at...

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The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) volume 3: programmer's manual

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-87,III

Summary

The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) makes possible the performance assessment of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor under its specified maximum aircraft load. To do this ARIES operates upon a taped traffic model to generate simulated aircraft replies and fruit, feeding them to the sensor at RF. Support documentation for ARIES, of which this is the second volume, consists of: Volume 1: Principles of Operation Volume 2: Appendices to the Principles of Operation Volume 3: Programmer's Manual The ARIES Programmer's Manual describes the operation, signal formats and protocols of the Lincoln Laboratory built input/output devices controlled by the Eclipse computer. The descriptions are primarily concerned with the logic of the interface boards that reside in the computer chassis and the formats of the words transferred to and from the computer. The logic of the devices themselves is described only to the extent necessary to understand the interface protocols and data formats.
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Summary

The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) makes possible the performance assessment of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor under its specified maximum aircraft load. To do this ARIES operates upon a taped traffic model to generate simulated aircraft replies and fruit, feeding them to the sensor at...

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The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES), volume 2: appendices to the principles of operation

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-87,II

Summary

The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) makes possible the performance assessment of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor under its specified maximum aircraft load. To do this ARIES operates upon a taped traffic model to generate simulated aircraft replies and fruit, feeding them to the sensor at RF. Support documentation for ARIES, of which this is the second volume, consists of: Volume 1: Principles of Operation Volume 2: Appendices to the Principles of Operation Volume 3: Programmer's Manual The Appendices to the Principles of Operation is comprised of a set of technical articles providing (a) explanations of design and programming aspects of the ARIES system not covered in the main volume, (b) detailed data format and data structure definitions, (c) detailed explanations of the meaning of ARIES error messages, and (d) an analysis of certain effects to be expected when more than one ARIES simulator are interconnected.
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Summary

The Aircraft Reply and Interference Environment Simulator (ARIES) makes possible the performance assessment of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor under its specified maximum aircraft load. To do this ARIES operates upon a taped traffic model to generate simulated aircraft replies and fruit, feeding them to the sensor at...

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Uplink ATCRBS environment measurements along the Boston-Washington corridor, volume 2: interrogator characteristics

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-83,II

Summary

Airborne measurements of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) 1030 MHz uplink environment due to ATC ground interrogators are described. The measurements were made using a special purpose airborne sensor-recorder during a flight from Boston to Washington (at 8500 feet) and back (at 17,500 feet) on 16 December 1977. Data were recorded at 24 locations between Boston and Washington. Volume 1 of this report summarized the measured distributions of pulse, interrogation, and suppression rates with received power. This volume presents specific characteristics of the sources of the interrogations observed from the air dUring this flight. These characteristics include the identities of 46 of the interrogators, the approximate locations of 22 unidentified interrogators, the interrogation repetition interval (PRI), scan period, and mode interlace of all interrogators, and the radiated P1, P2, and P3 levels in the form of antenna patterns for six selected interrogators. It was found that approximately 40% of the interrogators employ the standard AAC or 2ACA mode interlaces while 20% transmit no Mode C interrogations. The distributions of PRI's and scan periods were found to be relatively free of bunching which would cause undesired synchronization effects. The antenna plots measured from the air show relatively large scan to scan variations due to aircraft motion. In addition, some of the interrogator sites were found to suffer from reflections and sidelobe punch-through effects.
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Summary

Airborne measurements of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) 1030 MHz uplink environment due to ATC ground interrogators are described. The measurements were made using a special purpose airborne sensor-recorder during a flight from Boston to Washington (at 8500 feet) and back (at 17,500 feet) on 16 December...

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Uplink ATCRBS environment measurements along the Boston-Washington Corridor, volume 1: the RF environment

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-83,I

Summary

Airborne measurements of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) 1030 MHz uplink environment due to ATC ground interrogators are described. The measurements were made using a special purpose airborne sensor-recorder during a flight from Boston to Washington (at 8500 feet) and back (at 17,500 feet) on 16 December 1977. Data were recorded at 24 locations between Boston and Washington and processed to obtain distributions of pulse, interrogation, and suppression rates with received power. The most numerous contributors to the uplink pulse environment are omnidirectionally radiated suppression pulses. The overall average suppression rate is approximately 600 per second. The suppression rate is relatively independent of altitude but there are wide variations in the suppression rate from one location to another. Interrogation rates increase with altitude but do not vary significantly from location to location except near interrogators without sidelobe suppression. The overall average rate of receipt of Mode A plus Mode C interrogations is approximately 75 per second at an altiude of 8500 feet and 100 per second at an altitude of 17,500 feet.
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Summary

Airborne measurements of the Air Traffic Control Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS) 1030 MHz uplink environment due to ATC ground interrogators are described. The measurements were made using a special purpose airborne sensor-recorder during a flight from Boston to Washington (at 8500 feet) and back (at 17,500 feet) on 16 December...

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Variance and spectra of angle-of-arrival and Doppler fluctuations caused by ionospheric scintillation

Author:
Published in:
J. of Geophysical Research, May 1, 1978, Vol. 83, No. A5, pp. 2091-2102.

Summary

The variance and spectra of angle-of-arrival and Doppler fluctuations were estimated by using 150- and 400-MHz transmissions from the low-orbiting U.S. Navy navigation satellites observed at the Millstone Hill radar facility. A theoretical model for the variance and spectra was also constructed by using the Rytov approximation and a power law power spectrum model for the electron density fluctuations. The model provided a means for the estimation of both the axial ratio and the location of the lower edge of the irregularity region, using only angle-of-arrival and Doppler observations made at a single location. Good agreement was obtained between the model estimates and observations. Analysis of data from two magnetic storms revealed simultaneous occurrences of E region and F region irregularities at invariant latitudes north of 56°.
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Summary

The variance and spectra of angle-of-arrival and Doppler fluctuations were estimated by using 150- and 400-MHz transmissions from the low-orbiting U.S. Navy navigation satellites observed at the Millstone Hill radar facility. A theoretical model for the variance and spectra was also constructed by using the Rytov approximation and a power...

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Verification of DABS sensor surveillance performance (ATCRBS Mode) at typical ASR sites throughout CONUS

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-79

Summary

A Transportable Measurement Facility (TMF) incorporating antenna, r-f, and reply processing elements of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor has been sited at, and in the vicinity of, several FAA terminal ASR's throughout the United States. Data collected at these sites have been thoroughly analyzed to verify the design of the DABS sensor and to establish the need for design refinements. This report presents the results that pertain to DABS and ATCRBS Mode range and azimuth accuracy and to the total ATCRBS Mode reply processing performance, It is shown that both range and azimuth accuracies for the DABS sensor are a factor of four to five better than those provided by existing ARTS (BI-4) interrogators, and that the average blip/scan ratio is 98% or better, dropping only a few percentage points in crossing track situations.
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Summary

A Transportable Measurement Facility (TMF) incorporating antenna, r-f, and reply processing elements of a Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) sensor has been sited at, and in the vicinity of, several FAA terminal ASR's throughout the United States. Data collected at these sites have been thoroughly analyzed to verify the design...

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Uplink coverage measurements in the Los Angeles Area for passive BCAS

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-81

Summary

Uplink (1030 MHz) measurement results are presented, based on data recorded by the Airborne Measurement Facility of the M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory during normal landings and take-offs at the LAX, Van Nuys, and San Diego airports. The data presented are relevant to current investigations of passive beacon-based collision avoidance systems and include: (1) the interrogator environment as received; (2) its division between FAA and other interrogators; (3) its dependence on aircraft height during landings and take-offs; and (4) the availability of P2 pulses of sufficient strength for PRF (pulse repetition frequency) tracking. The number of interrogators was found to increase with the aircraft height at the rate of 2.5 to 3 interrogators per 1000 ft. P2 pulse tracking appears to be feasible down to 2000 ft. at LAX, and lower at San Diego.
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Summary

Uplink (1030 MHz) measurement results are presented, based on data recorded by the Airborne Measurement Facility of the M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory during normal landings and take-offs at the LAX, Van Nuys, and San Diego airports. The data presented are relevant to current investigations of passive beacon-based collision avoidance systems and...

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Proposed technical characteristics for the Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS)

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-71

Summary

This report parallels the Proposed U. S. National Aviation Standard for the Discrete Address Beacon System. However, in addition to the material contained in the Proposed Standard this document provides a more detailed performance specification for the DABS transponder including specifications on transponder receiver sensitivity and performance in interference. It includes specifications for a proposed digital datalink interface and defines message and control fields associated with experimental transponder data applications. It also includes guidance material on the performance of an optional transponder antenna diversity scheme.
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Summary

This report parallels the Proposed U. S. National Aviation Standard for the Discrete Address Beacon System. However, in addition to the material contained in the Proposed Standard this document provides a more detailed performance specification for the DABS transponder including specifications on transponder receiver sensitivity and performance in interference. It...

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A hardware implementation of the ATCRBS reply processor used in DABS

Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-78

Summary

A special-purpose digital hardware processor, which implements the ATCRBS Reply Processing algorithms designed for use in the Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) has been developed and used in two DABS-related programs. This report gives a detailed functional description of this processor as implemented by Lincoln Laboratory. With minor modifications it could serve as the ATCRBS Reply Processor for a Beacon Collision Avoidance System.
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Summary

A special-purpose digital hardware processor, which implements the ATCRBS Reply Processing algorithms designed for use in the Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) has been developed and used in two DABS-related programs. This report gives a detailed functional description of this processor as implemented by Lincoln Laboratory. With minor modifications it...

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