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At least 217 records · Page 12

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NASA NTRS1989

A tone-aided dual vestigial sideband system for digital communications on fading channels

A spectrally efficient tone-aided dual vestigial sideband (TA/DVSB) system for digital data communications on fading channels is presented and described analytically. This PSK (phase-shift-keying) system incorporates a feed-forward, tone-aided demodulation technique to compensate for Doppler frequency shift and channel- induced, multipath fading. In contrast to other tone-in-band-type systems, receiver synchronization is derived from the complete data VSBs. Simulation results for the Rician fading channel are presented. These results demonstrate the receiver's ability to mitigate performance degradation due to fading and to obtain proper data carrier synchronization, suggesting that the proposed TA/DVSB system has promise for this application. Simulated BER (bit-error rate) data indicate that the TA/DVSB system effectively alleviates the channel distortions of the land mobile satellite application.

Hladik, Stephen M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Satellite sound broadcast propagation studies and measurements

Satellite Sound Broadcasting is an attractive satellite application. Before regulatory decisions can be made in 1992, the propagation effects encountered have to be characterized. The Electrical Engineering Research Laboratory has nearly completed a system which will allow amplitude measurements to be made over 10 MHz bandwidths in the 800 to 1800 MHz frequency range. The system uses transmission from a transportable tower, and reception inside buildings or in the shadow of trees or utility poles. The goal is to derive propagation models for use by systems engineers who are about to design satellite broadcast systems. The advance of fiber-optics technology has helped to focus future development of satellite services into areas where satellites are uniquely competitive. One of these preferred satellite applications is the broadcasting of high-quality sound for stationary or mobile reception by listeners using low-cost, consumer-grade receivers. Before such services can be provided, however, the political hurdles of spectrum allocation have to be surmounted and the technical questions of standardization for world-wide compatibility have to be resolved. In order to arrive at an optimal system design, efficient in the use of our scarce spectral resources, affordable both to the broadcaster and the listener, and providing predictable performance, the propagation effects to which the service is subjected have to be characterized. Consequently, the objective of the research project is to make basic propagation measurements for direct Satellite Sound Broadcasting Service (SSBS). The data obtained should allow the development of propagation models to be used by communications engineers designing the operational systems. Such models shall describe the effects of shadowing and multipath propagation on SSBS receivers operating in a specified environment, such as inside commercial or residential buildings of various construction and also in the shadow of trees or utility poles as might be encountered by transporting or mobile listeners.

Vogel, Wolfhard J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Microwave landing system modeling with application to air traffic control

Compared to the current instrument landing system, the microwave landing system (MLS), which is in the advanced stage of implementation, can potentially provide significant fuel and time savings as well as more flexibility in approach and landing functions. However, the expanded coverage and increased accuracy requirements of the MLS make it more susceptible to the features of the site in which it is located. An analytical approach is presented for evaluating the multipath effects of scatterers that are commonly found in airport environments. The approach combines a multiplane model with a ray-tracing technique and a formulation for estimating the electromagnetic fields caused by the antenna array in the presence of scatterers. The model is applied to several airport scenarios. The reduced computational burden enables the scattering effects on MLS position information to be evaluated in near real time. Evaluation in near real time would permit the incorporation of the modeling scheme into air traffic control automation; it would adaptively delineate zones of reduced accuracy within the MLS coverage volume, and help establish safe approach and takeoff trajectories in the presence of uneven terrain and other scatterers.

Poulose, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Sensitivity to the external temperature of some GPS time receivers

It has been assumed until recently that GPS time receiver units (recever+cables+antenna) have good stability and do not affect time transfer by more than 1 ns. Differences of a few nanoseconds sometimes observed during calibration campaigns have been attributed to external causes, such as multipath propagation, rather than to variations within the hardware. The characteristic feature of most comparisons of GPS time receivers is their short duration. Normally the comparison takes place, at most, over one week. To observe the behavior of GPS time receivers over a period of several months, an experiment has been organized involving three receivers of two types. All three were connected to the same atomic clock. An unexpected sensitivity to external temperature was found in one type of receiver. This effect proved to be a function of the length and type of the antenna cable. In the most unfavorable case the sensitivity was 1.8 ns/C.

Lewandowski, Wlodzimierz W.↗

NASA NTRS1991

An improved pi/4-QPSK with nonredundant error correction for satellite mobile broadcasting

An improved pi/4-quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) receiver that incorporates a simple nonredundant error correction (NEC) structure is proposed for satellite and land-mobile digital broadcasting. The bit-error-rate (BER) performance of the pi/4-QPSK with NEC is analyzed and evaluated in a fast Rician fading and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) environment using computer simulation. It is demonstrated that with simple electronics the performance of a noncoherently detected pi/4-QPSK signal in both AWGN and fast Rician fading can be improved. When the K-factor (a ratio of average power of multipath signal to direct path power) of the Rician channel decreases, the improvement increases. An improvement of 1.2 dB could be obtained at a BER of 0.0001 in the AWGN channel. This performance gain is achieved without requiring any signal redundancy and additional bandwidth. Three types of noncoherent detection schemes of pi/4-QPSK with NEC structure, such as IF band differential detection, baseband differential detection, and FM discriminator, are discussed. It is concluded that the pi/4-QPSK with NEC is an attractive scheme for power-limited satellite land-mobile broadcasting systems.

Feher, Kamilo↗

NASA NTRS1991

Spectral comparison of continuous Global Positioning System and strainmeter measurements of crustal deformation

Temporal power spectral density models of noise in continuous crustal deformation measurements obtained with the Global Positioning System (GPS) and high-quality strainmeters are compared. The crossover frequency at which GPS measurement noise is less than that of strainmeters is determined. Assuming GPS precision of 0.1 to 1 cm in horizontal components for baselines up to 100 km in length, local deformation monitoring with GPS may be preferable to strainmeters for observations of short-term deformation in under 6 months of continuous (at least daily) measurements. Short-period tropospheric path delays and multipath effects, which may obscure GPS-determined strain signals in local network measurements, also are discussed.

Tralli, David M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Study on the spectral efficiency of SFH-GMSK in land mobile telephone communication by direct simulation

A spread spectrum system, slow frequency hopping with GMSK (Gaussian minimum shift keying) modulation (SFH-GMSK), is proposed for mobile telephone communications. The system performance is evaluated using computer simulation and is compared with an unspread system. Results show that under multipath fading conditions, when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is greater than 15 dB, slow frequency hopping gives some bit error rate improvement over the unspread system. Theoretical predictions indicate that a system efficiency of 20-65 users per cell can be achieved in the cellular configuration. Joint use of SFH-GMSK and FM is also investigated. It is shown that FM interference can cause serious degradation to the SFH-GMSK performance.

Bao, H.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Multiple Access Trade Study

The Personal Access Satellite System (PASS) strawman design uses a hybrid Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)/Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) implementation. TDMA is used for the forward direction (from Suppliers to Users), and FDMA for the return direction (from Users to Suppliers). An alternative architecture is proposed that will require minimal real time coordination and yet provide a fast access method by using random access Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The CDMA system issues are addressed such as connecting suppliers and users, both of whom may be located anywhere in the CONUS, when the user terminals are constrained in size and weight; and providing efficient traffic routing under highly variable traffic requirements. It is assumed that bandwidth efficiency is not of paramount importance. CDMA or Spread Spectrum Multiple Access (SSMA) communication is a method in which a group of carriers operate at the same nominal center frequency but are separable from each other by the low cross correlation of the spreading codes used. Interference and multipath rejection capability, ease of selective addressing and message screening, low density power spectra for signal hiding and security, and high resolution ranging are among the benefits of spread spectrum communications.

Motamedi, Masoud↗

NASA NTRS1992

Modulation and coding technology for deep space and satellite applications

Modulation and coding research and development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) currently emphasize Deep Space Communications Systems and advanced near earth Commercial Satellite Communications Systems. The Deep Space Communication channel is extremely signal to noise ratio limited and has long transmission delay. The near earth satellite channel is bandwidth limited with fading and multipath. Recent code search efforts at JPL have found a long constraint, low rate convolutional code (15, 1/6) which, when concatenated with a ten bit Reed-Solomon (RS) code, provides a 2.1 dB gain over that of the Voyager spacecraft - the current standard. The new code is only 2 dB from the theoretical Shannon limit. A flight qualified version of the (15, 1/6) convolutional encoder was implemented on the Galileo Spacecraft to be launched later this year. An L-band mobile link, use of the Ka-band for personal communications, and the development of subsystem technology for the interconnection of satellite resources by using high rate optical inter-satellite links are noted.

Yuen, J. H.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Spread spectrum mobile communication experiment using ETS-V satellite

The spread spectrum technique is attractive for application to mobile satellite communications, because of its random access capability, immunity to inter-system interference, and robustness to overloading. A novel direct sequence spread spectrum communication equipment is developed for land mobile satellite applications. The equipment is developed based on a matched filter technique to improve the initial acquisition performance. The data rate is 2.4 kilobits per sec. and the PN clock rate is 2.4552 mega-Hz. This equipment also has a function of measuring the multipath delay profile of land mobile satellite channel, making use of a correlation property of a PN code. This paper gives an outline of the equipment and the field test results with ETS-V satellite.

Ikegami, Tetsushi↗

NASA NTRS1990

An ocean scatter propagation model for aeronautical satellite communication applications

In this paper an ocean scattering propagation model, developed for aircraft-to-satellite (aeronautical) applications, is described. The purpose of the propagation model is to characterize the behavior of sea reflected multipath as a function of physical propagation path parameters. An accurate validation against the theoretical far field solution for a perfectly conducting sinusoidal surface is provided. Simulation results for typical L band aeronautical applications with low complexity antennas are presented.

Moreland, K. W.↗

NASA NTRS1990

A Tone-Aided/Dual Vestigial Sideband (TA/DVSB) system for mobile satellite channels

Tone-aided modulation is one way of combatting the effects of multipath fading and Doppler frequency shifts. A new tone-aided modulation format for M-ary phase-shift keyed signals (MPSK) is discussed. A spectral null for the placement of the tone is created in the center of the MPSK signal by translating the upper sideband upwards in frequency by the same amount. The key element of the system is the algorithm for recombining the data sidebands in the receiver, a function that is performed by a specialized phase-locked loop (PLL). The system structure is discussed and simulation results showing the PLL acquisition performance are presented.

Saulnier, Gary J.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Comparison of FDMA and CDMA for second generation land-mobile satellite communications

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) (both analog and digital) systems capacities are compared on the basis of identical link availabilities and physical propagation models. Parameters are optimized for a bandwidth limited, multibeam environment. For CDMA, the benefits of voice activated carriers, antenna discrimination, polarization reuse, return link power control and multipath suppression are included in the analysis. For FDMA, the advantages of bandwidth efficient modulation/coding combinations, voice activated carriers, polarization reuse, beam placement, and frequency staggering were taken into account.

Yongacoglu, A.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Fade durations in satellite-path mobile radio propagation

Fades on satellite to land mobile radio links are caused by several factors, the most important of which are multipath propagation and vegetative shadowing. Designers of vehicular satellite communications systems require information about the statistics of fade durations in order to overcome or compensate for the fades. Except for a few limiting cases, only the mean fade duration can be determined analytically, and all other statistics must be obtained experimentally or via simulation. This report describes and presents results from a computer program developed at Virginia Tech to simulate satellite path propagation of a mobile station in a rural area. It generates rapidly-fading and slowly-fading signals by separate processes that yield correct cumulative signal distributions and then combines these to simulate the overall signal. This is then analyzed to yield the statistics of fade duration.

Schmier, Robert G.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Direct sequence spread spectrum CDMA in shared spectrum applications

Personal Communication Network (PCN) is an entirely wireless communication system with the capability of assessing the wired telephone system to reach anyone processing only a wired telephone. It is expected to compete with the existing mobile cellular system which connects directly to the wired telephone system. While many PCN systems employ TDMA technology, the PCN system described here uses Broadband CDMA (BCDMA(sup SM)) which is capable of sharing the spectrum with other users and which is extremely resistant to fading caused by multipath.

Schilling, Donald L.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Error analysis of image reconstruction by a synthetic aperture interferometric radiometer

An error analysis is presented for the image reconstruction algorithm currently employed by the electronically steered thinned array radiometer aircraft instrument. This instrument samples components of the Fourier transform of the brightness temperature distribution at 1.4 GHz. Sources of error are identified, including systematic offsets and stochastic noise in the measurements, errors in the interference pattern antenna calibration, multipath scattering from the antenna support structure, mutual coupling between nearby array elements, and variations in the antenna patterns of the array elements. These errors are shown to produce artifacts in the image which appear as 'streaks' running along the instrument flight line. Possible hardware corrections are discussed. These include a reduction in the profile of the antenna support structure and a decoupling of adjacent and other nearby array elements using corrugated 'skirts'. Also discussed are several image enhancement techniques which detect and correct for some of the streaking. These techniques include a renormalization of the interference patterns based on the measured element patterns, a perturbation based interpretation of image contrast, and a covariance analysis of noise present in the image.

Ruf, Christopher S.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Channel coding for digital HDTV terrestrial broadcasting

The Federal Communications Commission of the United States has ruled that high-definition television (HDTV) will occupy no more than 6 MHz of the VHF and UHF bands now used for conventional TV. In order to transmit the HDTV signal in 6 MHz, the four United States digital HDTV proponents, the DigiCipher, DSC-HDTV, ADTV, and ATVA-P systems, are reducing the video data rate of HDTV to 15-17 Mb/s, a compression ratio of approximately 60-70 times. The high compression dictates that channel coding be used to avoid block errors and multiframe error propagation. High efficiency in channel utilization required by the 6-MHz limitation means that the channel must be properly equalized and that the multipath and interfering signals must be severely limited. The channel coding techniques used for error reduction include data interleaving, error detection and replacement, and error correction at different levels of protection for bits and blocks of unequal importance.

Beakley, Guy W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Rapid resolution of crustal motion at short ranges with the global positioning system

An analysis of GPS alignment array data collected in November 1990 and February 1991 are used to assess the temporal resolution of crustal deformation for GPS receiver systems operating as strain meters, and guidelines for achieving millimeter-level precision with short-range, kinematic-type GPS measurements are provided. Baselines between the array endpoints computed from 24 min of static observations on three consecutive days show an rms scatter of about 0.1 nm in the horizontal components and of about 0.3 mm in the vertical. They agree to within 0.2 mm with a solution calculated from measurements collected 3 mo earlier, indicating that this segment of the San Andreas fault appears to be locked at the surface over this period of time. Epoch-by-epoch solutions of array baselines with a six-satellite constellation show a multipath signature with typical amplitudes of several millimeters and periods of a few minutes.

Genrich, Joachim F.↗