SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE USE OF PSEUDO-RANDOM SEQUENCES FOR TESTING THE EOS AM-1 RECEIVER

Abstract

There are well-known advantages in using pseudo-random sequences for testing of data communication links. The sequences, also called pseudo-noise (PN) sequences, approximate random data very well, especially for sequences thousands of bits long. They are easy to generate and are widely used for bit error rate testing because it is easy to synchronize a slave pattern generator to a received PN stream for bit-by-bit comparison. There are other aspects of PN sequences, however, that are not as widely known or applied. This paper points out how some of the less familiar characteristics of PN sequences can be put to practical use in the design of a Digital Test Set and other specialbuilt test equipment used for checkout of the EOS AM-1 Space Data Receiver. The paper also shows how knowledge of these PN sequence characteristics can simplify troubleshooting the digital sections in the Space Data Receiver. Finally, the paper addresses the sufficiency of PN data testing in characterizing the performance of a receiver/data recovery system.