Recent Research Summaries

Use of Small UAS for Electronic Attack

Phillip Pace, Professor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sponsor: CRUSER

OBJECTIVE:  To inform development of EW-capable SUAS against iADS/SAM radar systems

SUMMARY:  Air superiority is a prerequisite for successful MAGTF operations. Introduction of UAV swarm technology is explored as an opportunity to develop cost-effective, configurable EA/EP (electronic attack/electronic protection) packages to the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Modeling and simulation of a tip-and-tune architecture is investigated to eliminate the look-through that is typically required for follower jammer strategies. Flight testing is being planned to evaluate numerically the network latency that can be tolerated to prevent detection by the victim radar.

STUDENTS SUPPORTED:  Capt. Caroline Scudder, USMC;

DoD KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA: Electronic Warfare, Sensors, Electronics.

Navy Surface Anti-Ship Capable Missile Threat Simulator Validation Working Group

Phillip E. Pace, Professor

Center for Joint Services Electronic Warfare

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sponsor: Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work is to provide technical leadership (as Chairman) to the OPNAV N2/N6 Surface Anti-Ship Capable Missile Threat Simulator Validation Working Group (SVWG). Three types of simulations are currently being chartered for validation by the SVWG for use in test and evaluation. These include (a) radio frequency missile hardware simulators, (b) infrared missile hardware simulators and (c) computer models of missile seekers and related electronics.

Radar Technology Study

Phillip Pace and David C. Jenn, Professors

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sponsor: Naval Studies Program

OBJECTIVE:  This project involves the design and simulation of a low probability of intercept radar (LIPR) and its detectability by non-cooperative intercept receivers (NCIRs)

SUMMARY:  MATLAB simulation and modeling of a new Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) radar system design was performed.  Since this radar design is unique, development, testing and validation of the modeling software was required.  This task has been completed, and now tradeoff studies are being performed. The major design challenges are the digital antenna and receiver signal processor.  These components are providing the majority of the processing gain that allows this system to operate in the LPI mode. The details of this research are classified.

MIDSHIPMEN SUPPORTED:  Three Midshipman summer interns from the USNA

THESIS STUDENTS: LCDR C. Mason, USN; LT. O. Brooks, USN;

DoD KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA: Electronic Warfare, Sensors, Electronics

Wireless Power Transmission for UAV/UAS Battery Charging

David C. Jenn, Professor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sponsors: unfunded and CRUSER

OBJECTIVE:  The objective of this research was to determine the power transfer efficiency of  inductive and radiative power transfer (WPT) systems. Analysis, simulation, and measurement data were compared and the efficiency of a WPT system in various environmental scenarios was modeled. 

SUMMARY:       The inductive and radiative approaches WPT were simulated using commercial software.  For the inductive approach, working at 100 kHz, efficiencies over 90% were obtained at short ranges (less than 30 mm) utilizing ferrite plates.  For the radiative approach, the transmission loss between antennas was less than 1 dB at ranges less than 3 m when near field focusing was employed.  The results for the two approaches are important because they demonstrate that efficient transmission of energy for battery charging can take place between a WPT ground station and client. 

DoD KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA: Sensors, Electronics, UAV, Wireless Power Transfer

PUBLICATIONS: D. C. Jenn, “Short Range Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) for UAV/UAS Battery Charging – Phase I,” NPS-EC-14-004, December 2014.

PRESENTATIONS:  Wireless Power Transmission for Battery Charging Applications, NPS CRUSER Technical Continuum, 8-9 April 2014

PATENT:  “Dipole with an unbalanced microstrip feed,” Patent Number US 8,878,742 B1, Nov. 4, 2014.

Naval Studies: Radar technology study (2014)

Co-PIs: David Jenn, Phil Pace, and Ric Romero

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate a specific form of submarine radar.

SUMMARY:  Various subsystem designs such as antenna, waveform codes, and radar signal processing algorithms were investigated. A final report was submitted to the technical sponsor. Two MSEE students are still completing their thesis studies.

Wind Turbine Radar Cross Section

David C. Jenn, Professor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sponsor: Unfunded

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research is to study the radar cross section (RCS) of a wind turbine and assess its effect on the performance of radar and communication systems. 

SUMMARY: In this research, some basic scattering characteristics of wind turbines were investigated.  Several computational methods of RCS prediction were examined, citing their advantages and disadvantages.  Modeling and computational issues that affect the accuracy and convergence of the simulation results are discussed.  Configurations included a horizontal axis, three-blade design and a vertical axis helical design.  Several methods of mitigating wind turbine clutter are discussed.  Issues of RCS reduction and control for wind turbines are also addressed.  Several modeling and simulation techniques were evaluated.

PUBLICATIONS:  O. Grande, J. Cañizo, I. Angulo, D. Jenn, L. Danoon, D. Guerra, and D. de la Vega, “Simplified Formulae for the Estimation of Offshore Wind Turbines Clutter on Marine Radars,” The Scientific World Journal, vol. 2014, Article ID 982508, 11 pages, 2014.

DoD KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA: Electronic Warfare, Sensors, Electronics

Photonic Wideband Direction Finding Using a Robust Symmetrical Number System Encoding

Phillip Pace, Professor

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sponsor: CJSEW

OBJECTIVE:  Explore the bandwidth and dynamic range of a photonic direction finding antenna that uses a robust symmetrical number system encoding.  

SUMMARY:  Three Mach Zehnder interferometers are used as phase detectors for an incoming signal upon an array of four antennas. Experimental results are being collected to demonstrate the resolution, baseline length and bandwidth flexibility of the array.

STUDENTS SUPPORTED: Capt. R. Huemer, Swedish Army; Mr. Sasha Pauly, ESEP Germany.

DoD KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA: Electronic Warfare, Sensors, Electronics;

Multi-Resolution Detection

Phillip Pace and Roberto Cristi, Professors

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sponsor: L-3 Communications (CRADA)

OBJECTIVE:  Support data definitions for algorithm development and test. Support evaluation of algorithms by testing on real-world data. Collaborate on algorithm development and test. Develop NYFR receiver laboratory experiments. Investigate field testing of the NYFR receiver.

SUMMARY:  The use of quadrature mirrors for the determination of the intercepted signal information is being explored. New data is in the process of being collected and flight tests are planned using the CIRPAS Pelican aircraft.

MIDSHIPMEN SUPPORTED:  Kathleen Heinbach, USNA;

DoD KEY TECHNOLOGY AREA: Electronic Warfare, Sensors, Electronics.

A Comprehensive study of strength & Weakness of 4g cognitive radios to aid in designing signal localization & tracking methods (2014-2015)

PI: Weilian Su, Co-PI: Ric Romero

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate 4G cognitive radios in terms of waveform strength and weaknesses and how those aspects may help in localization and tracking.

SUMMARY:  The study is on-going with two MSEE students finishing their theses. 

Automatic Classification of Targets in the Maritime Domain

David A. Garren, Associate Professor

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Sponsor: Secretary of the Air Force

OBJECTIVE:  Conduct research in specific areas of interest for the sponsor.  Perform research advanced processing techniques for the classification of targets in the maritime domain.  A primary goal of this research is to determine the viability of classifying certain high-priority targets using electro-optical imagery.  It is planned that various features of maritime vessels will be estimated and compared in classifying maritime targets within a hierarchical taxonomy.  Such features can include vessel length, width, as well as other structures that can be evident in imagery.  It will be important to develop methods for discriminating military vessels from those that are commercial.  This work includes the application of analytic methods of advanced signal and image processing based upon realistic signal measurement models for sensors of interest.  The resulting analytic equations are transformed into prototype engineering code.  Various resulting algorithms are applied to relevant simulated and measured image data sets in order to determine reliable and robust methods for classifying challenging targets within the maritime domain.  This work effort offers to develop a capability for reliable and efficient classification of these challenging targets using available imagery.

Detection of Challenging Targets for Wide Area Surveillance

David A. Garren, Associate Professor

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Sponsor: Secretary of the Air Force

OBJECTIVE:  Conduct research in specific areas of interest for the sponsor. In particular, NPS will research advanced processing techniques for the detection of challenging targets for wide area surveillance.   The primary goal of this research is to determine the viability of detecting certain high-priority targets using certain wide area sensors.  A primary driver in the development of these advanced techniques is the detection of these challenging targets within vast volumes of input data.  Thus, it will be important for these algorithms to be optimized for efficiency as well as fidelity.  Such work includes the application of analytic methods of advanced signal and image processing based upon realistic signal measurement models for sensors of interest.  The resulting analytic equations are transformed into prototype engineering code.  Various resulting algorithms are applied to relevant simulated and measured image data sets in order to determine reliable and robust methods for detecting the challenging targets within the vast volumes of input data.  This work effort offers to develop a capability for reliable and efficient detection of these challenging targets using particular sensors for wide area surveillance.