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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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L-Band air-to-air multipath measurements

Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-77
Topic:

Summary

A series of air-to-air earth-scattered L-Band multipath measurements are described and experimental results presented. During these measurements RF pulses were transmitted between two instrumented general aviation aircraft flying coaltitude, diverging paths over a variety of terrain and water surfaces. Multipath data was collected over grazing angles ranging from ~5?? to ~75??. The objectives of these measurements were the: 1. Characterization of the multipath environment in which beacon based airborne collision avoidance (BCAS) equipment would operate. 2. Investigation of the merits and limitations of various degrees of antenna diversity in the rejection of multipath.
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Summary

A series of air-to-air earth-scattered L-Band multipath measurements are described and experimental results presented. During these measurements RF pulses were transmitted between two instrumented general aviation aircraft flying coaltitude, diverging paths over a variety of terrain and water surfaces. Multipath data was collected over grazing angles ranging from ~5?? to...

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Interferometer design for elevation angle estimation

Published in:
IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst., Vol. AES-13, No. 5, September 1977, pp. 486-503.

Summary

Radars that are developed for the purpose of monitoring aircraft landings in the terminal air traffic control system can be designed to exploit the relatively high signal-to-noise ratio that characterizes the power budgets calculated for such a link. An interferometer using a pair of low gain antennas can be used to obtain passive coverage over a target azimuth and elevation sector. A large baseline can be used to obtain the desired elevation angle estimation accuracy. In this paper an optimal tradeoff between the width of the subarray aperture and the width of the interferometer baseline is performed that achieves a specified elevation angle estimation error while minimizing the overall height of the interferometer configuration. The algorithm searches through the class of antenna patterns that can be synthesized from so-called finite impulse response, linear phase digital filters. For the specific problem of designing an elevation sensor for monitoring landing aircraft on final approach, the elevation angle can be estimated with no more than 1-mrad rms error when the aircraft is within 60 azimuth, 2.5 to 40 elevation, using two 7-wavelength subarray antennas spaced 8 wave-lengths apart. The design of a separate sensor for resolving the interferometer ambiguities is formulated as a hypothesis testing problem and solved using statistical decision theory. A bound on the probability of an ambiguity error is derived that accounts for the effects of ground reflection multipath and receiver noise.
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Summary

Radars that are developed for the purpose of monitoring aircraft landings in the terminal air traffic control system can be designed to exploit the relatively high signal-to-noise ratio that characterizes the power budgets calculated for such a link. An interferometer using a pair of low gain antennas can be used...

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DABS coverage

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-75

Summary

DABS sensors are to be installed at FAA ASR and ARSR sites throughout continental U.S. as a part of the evolutionary upgrading of the third generation ATC Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS). It is therefore important to establish: (1) the degree of 3D coverage which would be provided by such deployment; and (2) a reasonable balance between number of installations, sensor maximum range, and coverage. This paper reports on a coverage study in which DABS coverage within CONUS was projected on a statistical or "percent coverage" basis by purely geometrical considerations. Results are given for CONUS, the eastern half of the U.S., and for the Golden Triangle. Profile coverage ("line-of-sight coverage down to...") is given for the Boston-NYC-Washington corridor.
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Summary

DABS sensors are to be installed at FAA ASR and ARSR sites throughout continental U.S. as a part of the evolutionary upgrading of the third generation ATC Radar Beacon System (ATCRBS). It is therefore important to establish: (1) the degree of 3D coverage which would be provided by such deployment...

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Airborne radars for surveillance and weapon delivery

Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report TN-1977-23

Summary

Airborne radars such as AW ACS capable of large area surveillance of aircraft over both land and sea have become a reality in the past few years. Soon to follow are radars capable of large area surveillance of moving ground traffic. Through their ability to accurately report enemy movement and to target individual enemy ground vehicles, these radars will undoubtedly have a large impact on intelligence gathering, resource allocation, command, control and the damage assessment functions. This report describes relationships and trade-offs fundamental in the design of airborne surveillance radars in various operational roles. It describes radar capabilities which can be achieved using modern technology including array antennas, advanced waveforms and advanced signal processing techniques.
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Summary

Airborne radars such as AW ACS capable of large area surveillance of aircraft over both land and sea have become a reality in the past few years. Soon to follow are radars capable of large area surveillance of moving ground traffic. Through their ability to accurately report enemy movement and...

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Coaxial magnetron spectra and instabilities

Author:
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-74

Summary

Application of advanced radar clutter rejection techniques to FAA airport surveillance and enroute radars is constrained by inherent instabilities and spectral properties of the device used with the radar transmitter to generate high level RF pulse energy, and the degree to which its spectrum can be influenced by the circuit in which it operates. Coaxial magnetrons are believed to be spectrally pure, controllable and stable, and to embody other characteristics such as long life, which make them attractive replacements for the magnetrons presently employed. This report summarizes the results of extensive measurements made on a conventional S-band magnetron (presently employed in the ASR-7 radar) and a coaxial magnetron of equivalent pulse and power rating to compare their instabilities and spectral properties.
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Summary

Application of advanced radar clutter rejection techniques to FAA airport surveillance and enroute radars is constrained by inherent instabilities and spectral properties of the device used with the radar transmitter to generate high level RF pulse energy, and the degree to which its spectrum can be influenced by the circuit...

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Advanced signal processing for airport surveillance radars

Published in:
IEEE Electronics and Aerospace Systems Convention, EASCON, 7-9 October 1974.

Summary

The inclusion of airport surveillance radars (ASR) in an automated air traffic control system, such as the ARTS-III, has been limited by the present radar's capability to automatically reject ground clutter, weather clutter and angels while still maintaining good detectability on all aircraft within their coverage patterns. Analytical and experimental studies have been performed which indicate that new techniques can significantly enhance the automated capability of these radars. A special-purpose, hard-wired, digital signal processor has been designed, built and tested which provides near-optimum target detection over the entire ASR coverage out to 48 nmi. The processor which coherently integrates eight pulses has both a fine grained clutter map for optimal thresholding in high ground clutter environments and a mean-level thresholding scheme for filtering those Doppler cells which contain heavy precipitation. Because of the processor's ability to detect targets in a high ground clutter environment, the ASR's will be able to operate their antennas at lower elevation angles and, thus, have better coverage of low flying aircraft near the terminal. The processor is initially being tested on a highly modified, coherent S-band, FPR-18 radar. The stability of the klystron transmitter was improved so that it would not limit system performance and a new, wide dynamic range, linear receiver was provided.
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Summary

The inclusion of airport surveillance radars (ASR) in an automated air traffic control system, such as the ARTS-III, has been limited by the present radar's capability to automatically reject ground clutter, weather clutter and angels while still maintaining good detectability on all aircraft within their coverage patterns. Analytical and experimental...

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