Publications
Provisional message formats for the DABS/NAS interface
April 25, 1974
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-33
Summary
This document defines formats for messages which are to be transmitted between DABS and NAS facilities (en route or terminal). These messages include one-way Surveillance Reports to NAS and two-way Communications Messages. The latter support data link functions between NAS and DABS equipped aircraft, as well as aiding in the monitoring and control of DABS sensors. These message formats will be used in the design and construction of interface equipment and ground data links for prototype system test and evaluation at NAFEC during Phase II of the DABS Development Program; and, with modifications resulting from this test and evaluation effort, will form the basis for the operational implementation of DABS.
Summary
This document defines formats for messages which are to be transmitted between DABS and NAS facilities (en route or terminal). These messages include one-way Surveillance Reports to NAS and two-way Communications Messages. The latter support data link functions between NAS and DABS equipped aircraft, as well as aiding in the...
READ MORE
False target elimination at Albuquerque using ARTS-III software
March 12, 1974
Technical Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report TN-1974-12
Summary
Lincoln Laboratory has been assisting the U.S. Air Force Weapons Laboratory in the study of ATCRBS false targets caused by reflections from buildings at Albuquerque International Airport/Kirtland AFB. This paper discusses the false target situation there and proposes two algorithms for correcting it in ARTS-III software. The simpler of the two appears applicable to the Albuquerque situation today, and is easily extendable to correct false targets caused by new buildings. Since the process appears directly applicable to many FAA Secondary Radar installations, a more complex algorithm is also presented, which is suitable for use in very high density terminal areas.
Summary
Lincoln Laboratory has been assisting the U.S. Air Force Weapons Laboratory in the study of ATCRBS false targets caused by reflections from buildings at Albuquerque International Airport/Kirtland AFB. This paper discusses the false target situation there and proposes two algorithms for correcting it in ARTS-III software. The simpler of the...
READ MORE
Bistatic scatter from rain
March 1, 1974
Journal Article
Published in:
IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., Vol. 22, No. 2, March 1974, pp. 312-320.
Summary
An experimental investigation of bistatic scatter from rain was conducted using a 143 km scatter path at frequencies of 4.5 and 7.7 GHz. The ratio of transmitted to received power (transmission loss) was measured for scattering angles ranging from6\degto130\deg. Simultaneous weather radar observations were made at a frequency of 1.3 GHz. Transmission loss estimates for the bistatic scatter path were computed using the weather radar data, the bistatic radar equation, and a model for the scattering cross section per unit volume of rain based upon Rayleigh scattering by an ensemble of water spheres. The measured and estimated transmission loss values were compared to test the use of the scattering model for the estimation of interference. The averaged ratio of measured-to-calculated transmission loss for the 4.5 GHz data is 1.2\pm 0.4dB. The averaged ratio for the 7.7 GHz data is -1.6\pm 0.5dB. Both these values are within the combined calibration uncertainties of each measurement system. The results show that the use of the simplified Rayleigh scattering cross section model for an ensemble of water spheres adequately describes bistatic scatter for a wide range of scattering angles and frequencies below 7.7 GHz for the hydrometeor types (rain, snow, and mixed rain and snow) encountered in New England.
Summary
An experimental investigation of bistatic scatter from rain was conducted using a 143 km scatter path at frequencies of 4.5 and 7.7 GHz. The ratio of transmitted to received power (transmission loss) was measured for scattering angles ranging from6\degto130\deg. Simultaneous weather radar observations were made at a frequency of 1.3...
READ MORE
The rain range experiment -- propagation through a simulated rain environment
March 1, 1974
Journal Article
Published in:
IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 22, No. 2, March 1974, pp. 321-328.
Summary
The rain range experiment was conducted to test the adequacy of the assumptions usually made in the analysis of attenuation or phase shift due to rain: spherical drop shape, Mie scattering for a single drop, and single scattering theory for the coherent summation of the effects of each drop. A sprayer system was built that provided a stable drop size distribution that was measured and used for the estimation of the attenuation and phase shift on a line-of-sight measurement path through the spray. Measurements of attenuation and phase shift were made using vertical and horizontal polarization at 7.9 GHz and vertical polarization at 33.9 GHz. The results of the experiment show agreement between measurements and the theoretical model. The 7.9 GHz data also showed the attenuation and phase shift for horizontal polarization to be higher than for vertical polarization.
Summary
The rain range experiment was conducted to test the adequacy of the assumptions usually made in the analysis of attenuation or phase shift due to rain: spherical drop shape, Mie scattering for a single drop, and single scattering theory for the coherent summation of the effects of each drop. A...
READ MORE
A summary of the DABS transponder design/cost studies
March 1, 1974
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-27
Summary
One of the major concerns in the DABS development program has been the cost of the DABS transponder. In order to realistically assess the impact on transponder cost of the many alternative techniques and design choices being considered for DABS, four study contracts were awarded to avionics manufacturers to design and estimate costs of special circuitry (in Phase I) and complete transponders (in Phase II). This report summarizes the major results of these design/cost studies, which cover general aviation, military, and air carrier transponder designs (including a retrofit kit for the military APX-72 transponder). The transponder design/cost studies have had a marked influence on the design of the DABS signal and message formats. Since the cost studies were basically intended for comparing link options for DADS, the transponder specifications used in these cost studies do not correspond in detail to current DABS transponder specifications. Therefore the cost data contained in this report cannot be taken to be completely representative of the cost of the finally specified DABS transponders.
Summary
One of the major concerns in the DABS development program has been the cost of the DABS transponder. In order to realistically assess the impact on transponder cost of the many alternative techniques and design choices being considered for DABS, four study contracts were awarded to avionics manufacturers to design...
READ MORE
Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume II - Random Access Aircraft-To-Satellite Techniques
February 28, 1974
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-26,II
Summary
A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST), and 3) Satellite-to-Aircraft Techniques (SAT). A technical assessment is made of the various techniques with no one particular technique emerging as superior; several feasible alternatives are identified. The assessment indicates that satellite bases techniques for CONUS ATC can be developed without relying on high risk technology. This volume deals with RAST, CAST and SAT are treated in companion volumes. A system employing RAST could operate by having each aircraft transmit a unique signature periodically, without any coordination of transmissions. The position of the aircraft is then obtained by multilateration using the arrival times of its signature at four or more satellites. Since aircraft transmissions are not coordinated, there is the possibility that different signatures may overlap at a satellite receiver. The resulting mutual interference is a factor in the performance of systems employing RAST. The critical technical aspects of RAST are explored with special emphasis on signaling formats, satellite coverage issues, degradation due to mutual interference and susceptibility to jamming.
Summary
A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST)...
READ MORE
Summary of results of antenna design cost studies
February 19, 1974
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-22
Summary
Design/cost studies on antenna systems for DABS have been carried out by Texas Instruments and Westinghouse under Lincoln Laboratory sponsorship. For independent, mechanically-rotating systems aperture widths between 10' and 35' and heights between 4' and 16' were considered, with estimated corresponding production costs ranging from $10K to more than $200K. No generally-recommended implementation emerged although the trend was to choose planar arrays for stringent performance requirements and to accept less expensive reflectors when requirements were sufficiently relaxed. Although the aperture size was found to have a significant cost impact on the remainder of the system (pedestal, drive, tower), the antenna usually accounted for less than half of the total antenna installation cost. With the use of off-boresight monopulse direction-finding, agile beam arrays require only slightly more than one beam position per beamwidth. Even with the resulting simplification in the beamforming circuitry, their cost is about twice that of comparable rotators and starts at about $200K. DABS systems which share the same pedestal as primary radars ("co-located") are inherently highly constrained and tend to lead to unique implementations. For an ASR installation, an integral monopulse beacon feed constitutes an economical (less than $5K) and expedient implementation with performance parameters which, though not optimum, are acceptable for DABS (4 degrees beamwidth and 2 dB/degree elevation cut-off rate). A back-mounted antenna of the same (or smaller) aperture size as the AST reflector can also be implemented as a retrofit for about $40K. For ARSR installations, integral monopulse beacon feeds are also feasible at a very nominal cost but some performance compromises have to be accepted. Back-mounted DABS antennas can be accommodated in a large range of aperture sizes.
Summary
Design/cost studies on antenna systems for DABS have been carried out by Texas Instruments and Westinghouse under Lincoln Laboratory sponsorship. For independent, mechanically-rotating systems aperture widths between 10' and 35' and heights between 4' and 16' were considered, with estimated corresponding production costs ranging from $10K to more than $200K...
READ MORE
Technical Assessment of Satellites for CONUS Air Traffic Control, Volume III - Satellite-To-Aircraft Techniques
February 19, 1974
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-26,III
Summary
A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST), and 3) Satellite-to-Aircraft Techniques (SAT). A technical assessment is made of the various techniques with no one particular technique emerging as superior; several feasible alternatives are identified. The assessment indicates that satellite bases techniques for CONUS ATC can be developed without relying on high risk technology. This three-volume report is a technical assessment of all three techniques. The present volume examines satellite-to-aircraft techniques (SAT). The remaining two volumes treat CAST and RAST. The assessment has shown that workable systems could be configured using any one of the three techniques without reliance on high risk technology. No one technique has emerged as superior. Rather several viable alternatives have been identified. All techniques appear to require more costly avionics than today's ground-based system.
Summary
A number of satellite system techniques have been suggested as candidates to provide ATC surveillance, communication, and/or navigation service over CONUS. All techniques perform postion determination by multilateration using a constellation of satellites. They can be categorized as follows: 1) Coordinated Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (CAST), 2) Random Access Aircraft-to-Satellite Techniques (RAST)...
READ MORE
A system for acoustic-phonetic analysis of continuous speech
February 15, 1974
Conference Paper
Published in:
Proc. IEEE Symp. on Speech Recognition, 15-19 April 1974, pp. 54-67.
Topic:
R&D area:
Summary
A system for acoustic-phonetic analysis of continuous speech is being developed to serve as part of an automatic speech understanding system. The acoustic system accepts the speech waveform as an input and produces as output a string of phoneme-like units referred to as acoustic phonetic elements (APEL'S). This paper should be considered as a progress report, since the system is still under active development. The initial phase of the acoustic analysis consists of signal processing and parameter extraction, and includes spectrum analysis via linear prediction, computation of a number of parameters of the spectrum, and fundamental frequency extraction. This is followed by a preliminary segmentation of the speech into a few broad acoustic categories and formant tracking during vowel-like segments. The next phase consists of more detailed segmentation and classification intended to meet the needs of subsequent linguistic analysis. The preliminary segmentation and segment classification yield the following categories: vowel-like sound; volume dip within vowel-like sound; fricative-like sound; stop consonants, including silence or voice bar, and associated burst. These categories are produced by a deviation tree based upon energy measurements in selected frequency bands, derivatives and ratios of these measurements, a voicing detector, and a few editing rules. The more detailed classification algorithms include: 1) detection and identification of some diphthongs, semivowels, and nasals, through analysis of formant motions, positions, and amplitudes; 2) a vowel identifier, which determines three ranked choices for each vowel based on a comparison of the formant positions in the detected vowel segment to stored formant positions in a speaker-normalized vowel table; 3) a fricative identifier, which employs measurement of relative spectral energies in several bands to group the fricative segments into phoneme-like categories; 4) stop consonant classification based on the properties of the plosive burst. The above algorithms have been tested on a substantial corpus of continuous speech data. Performance results, as well as detailed descriptions of the algorithms are given.
Summary
A system for acoustic-phonetic analysis of continuous speech is being developed to serve as part of an automatic speech understanding system. The acoustic system accepts the speech waveform as an input and produces as output a string of phoneme-like units referred to as acoustic phonetic elements (APEL'S). This paper should...
READ MORE
Report on DABS/ATCRBS Field Testing Program
February 13, 1974
Project Report
Published in:
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Report ATC-31
Summary
The purpose of this field test program was to verify laboratory measurements of the effect of DABS uplink signal formats on ATCRBS transponders. The DABS interrogations tested were: (i) a combined ATCRBS Mode A/DABS All-Call consisting of a standard Mode A interragation with an additional pulse following the P(3) pulse; (ii) a DABS uplink message transmission consisting of a P(1)-P(2) pulse pair followed by 25 microseconds of 4 megabit per second DPSK data modulation. The timing aspects of these waveforms were selected on the basis of a previous series of laboratory bench tests made in a small cross-section of the ATCRBS transponder population. The results of these field measurements performed on a larger cross-section of field operational ATCRBS transponders agree with the results of the bench testing program: The recommended DABS uplink transmissions result in an effective combined ATCRBS/DABS All-Call mode and minimum triggering of ATCRBS transponders by DABS message transmissions.
Summary
The purpose of this field test program was to verify laboratory measurements of the effect of DABS uplink signal formats on ATCRBS transponders. The DABS interrogations tested were: (i) a combined ATCRBS Mode A/DABS All-Call consisting of a standard Mode A interragation with an additional pulse following the P(3) pulse...
READ MORE