Understanding digital radio frequency memory performance in countermeasure design

Abstract

This paper describes the design, implementation, and testing of a novel multi-function software defined Radio Frequency (RF) system designed for small airborne drone applications. The system was created using an inexpensive Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to combine a coherent linear frequency modulated radar transmitter and receiver, with a Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) jammer for use with a common RF aperture in simultaneous operation. The system was implemented on a Xilinx Kintex-7 FPGA with a wideband analogue-to-digital/digital-to-analogue (ADC/DAC) converter mezzanine board and tested using hardware-in-the-loop mode to validate its performance. This is the first known account of an integrated multifunction electronic attack and radar system on a single chip, capable of performing a simultaneous, not time shared, operation.