METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING CONTINUOUS RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) ALIGNMENT IN ADVANCED ELECTRONIC WARFARE (EW) SIGNAL STIMULATION SYSTEMS

• US 20110183638A1
• Filed: 03/04/2011
• Published: 07/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AAL Corporation
• Original Assignee: AAL Corporation
• Inventors: JAKLITSCH, James, Markey, Jay, McGrath, Thomas P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,170,514 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/226.2
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2841 Signal generators
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 35/005 Calibrating; Standards or reference devices, e.g. voltage or resistance standards, "golden" references G01R33/0035, G01R35/002 take precedence

Abstract

A method for using a “B” channel of a dual channel measurement receiver as a transfer standard for power measurement, which may include, in an exemplary embodiment, correlating a measurement made with an “A” channel of the dual channel measurement receiver to a measurement made with an RF Power Meter on one RF signal source, so that readings from the “A” channel are aligned to the RF Power Meter; aligning the “B” Channel to the “A” Channel, once the “A” channel has been aligned to read the same as the RF Power Meter; and using the “B” Channel as a transfer standard to measure all remaining RF signal sources in the system.

Claims

1. A method for using a “

B”

channel of a dual channel measurement receiver as a transfer standard for power measurement, the method comprising;

correlating a measurement made with an “

A”

channel of the dual channel measurement receiver to a measurement made with an RF Power Meter on one RF signal source, so that readings from the “

A”

channel are aligned to the RF Power Meter;

aligning the “

B”

Channel to the “

A”

Channel, once the “

A”

channel has been aligned to read the same as the RF Power Meter; and

using the “

B”

Channel as a transfer standard to measure all remaining RF signal sources in the system.

2. A method, the method comprising:

calculating an amplitude correction factor by taking a difference in a measurement made with an “

A”

channel of a dual channel measurement receiver on a first RF signal source with a measurement made with an RF Power Meter on the first RF signal source; and

identifying an aligned measurement from the “

A”

channel by applying the amplitude correction factor to the measurement made with the “

A”

channel.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

comparing a measurement made with a “

B”

Channel of the dual channel measurement receiver with the aligned measurement from the “

A”

Channel;

aligning the “

B”

Channel based on the comparing step; and

using the “

B”

Channel as a transfer standard to align a second RF signal source.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the aligning step further comprises:

identifying an External Amplitude Correction Factor (EACF) by calculating a difference between the measurement made with the “

B”

Channel with the aligned measurement from the “

A”

Channel.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the using step further comprises:

identifying an Internal Alignment Amplitude Correction Factor (IAACF) by correlating the measurement made with the “

B”

Channel with the measurement made with the “

A”

Channel.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the “

A”

Channel and the “

B”

Channel time-share access to a synthetic stimulus instrument (SSI) serving as a tunable local oscillator (LO).

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement made with the “

A”

Channel is a measurement of an Internal Measurement Path (IMP) of an SSI.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the measurement made with the RF Power Meter is a measurement of a path external to the SSI.

9. A computer-readable medium comprising storing computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer system causes the computer system to perform:

calculating an amplitude correction factor by taking a difference in a measurement made with an “

A”

channel of a dual channel measurement receiver on a first RF signal source with a measurement made with an RF Power Meter on the first RF signal source; and

identifying an aligned measurement from the “

A”

channel by applying the amplitude correction factor to the measurement made with the “

A”

channel.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising code for:

comparing a measurement made with a “

B”

Channel of the dual channel measurement receiver with the aligned measurement from the “

A”

Channel;

aligning the “

B”

Channel based on the comparing step; and

using the “

B”

Channel as a transfer standard to align a second RF signal source.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the aligning step further comprises:

identifying an External Amplitude Correction Factor (EACF) by calculating the difference between the measurement made with the “

B”

Channel with the aligned measurement from the “

A”

Channel.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the using step further comprises:

identifying an Internal Alignment Amplitude Correction Factor (IAACF) by correlating the measurement made with the “

B”

Channel with the measurement made with the “

A”

Channel.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the “

A”

Channel and the “

B”

Channel time-share access to a synthetic stimulus instrument (SSI) serving as a tunable local oscillator (LO).

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the measurement made with the “

A”

Channel is a measurement of an Internal Measurement Path (IMP) of an SSI.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the measurement made with the RF Power Meter is a measurement of a path external to the SSI.

16. A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:

calculating, using at least one computing platform, an amplitude correction factor by taking a difference in a measurement made with an “

A”

channel of a dual channel measurement receiver on a first RF signal source with a measurement made with an RF Power Meter on the first RF signal source; and

identifying an aligned measurement from the “

A”

channel by applying the amplitude correction factor to the measurement made with the “

A”

channel.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising:

comparing a measurement made with the “

B”

Channel of the dual channel measurement receiver with the aligned measurement from the “

A”

Channel;

aligning the “

B”

Channel based on the comparing step; and

using the “

B”

Channel as a transfer standard to align a second RF signal source.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the aligning step further comprises:

identifying an External Amplitude Correction Factor (EACF) by calculating a difference between the measurement made with the “

B”

Channel with the aligned measurement from the “

A”

Channel.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the using step further comprises:

identifying an Internal Alignment Amplitude Correction Factor (IAACF) by correlating the measurement made with the “

B”

Channel with the measurement made with the “

A”

Channel.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein the “

A”

Channel and the “

B”

Channel time-share access to a synthetic stimulus instrument (SSI) serving as a tunable local oscillator (LO).

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the measurement made with the “

A”

Channel is a measurement of an Internal Measurement Path (IMP) of an SSI.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the measurement made with the RF Power Meter is a measurement of a path external to the SSI.