ANTENNA PATTERN EVALUATION FOR LINK ANALYSIS

Abstract

The use of high bit rates in the missile testing environment requires that the receiving telemetry system(s) have the correct signal margin for no PCM bit errors. This requirement plus the fact that the use of “redundant systems” are no longer considered optimum support scenarios has made it necessary to select the minimum number of tracking sites that will gather the data with the required signal margin. A very basic link analysis can be made by using the maximum and minimum gain values from the transmitting antenna pattern. Another way of evaluating the transmitting antenna gain is to base the gain on the highest percentile appearance of the highest gain value. This paper discusses the mathematical analysis the WSMR Telemetry Branch uses to determine the signal margin resulting from a radiating source along a nominal trajectory. The mathematical analysis calculates the missile aspect angles (Theta, Phi, and Alpha) to the telemetry tracking system that yields the transmitting antenna gain. The gain is obtained from the Antenna Radiation Distribution Table (ARDT) that is stored in a computer file. An entire trajectory can be evaluated for signal margin before an actual flight. The expected signal strength level can be compared to the actual signal strength level from the flight. This information can be used to evaluate any plume effects.