Design and performance of wideband DRFM for radar test and evaluation

Abstract

The test and evaluation of modern radars using hardware in the loop simulators requires the use of wideband high-fidelity, digital radio frequency memories (DRFM) in order to generate realistic target returns. Important aspects of wideband DRFM design on a printed circuit board are highlighted and the architecture of the DRFM that was implemented using commercial-off-the-shelf components is presented. The spurious free dynamic range of the DRFM was characterised as 247 dBc worst case over an instantaneous bandwidth of 800 MHz. An experimental pulse-Doppler radar was used to compare the fidelity of the returns from the DRFM and an optical delay line.