Communications, Radar and Electronic Warfare

Adrian Graham

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780470688717
• eBook ISBN: 9780470977149
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications
• Index: Technology & Engineering

A practical guide to the principles of radio communications for both civilian and military applications

In this book, the author covers both the civilian and military uses of technology, focusing particularly on the applications of radio propagation and prediction. Divided into two parts, the author introduces the basic theory of radio prediction before providing a step-by-step explanation of how this theory can be translated into real-life applications. In addition, the book presents up-to-date systems and methods to illustrate how these applications work in practice. This includes systems working in the HF bands and SHF. Furthermore, the author examines the performance of these systems, and also the effects of noise, interference and deliberate jamming, as well as the performance of jamming, detection and intercept systems. Particular attention is paid to the problems caused by Radio Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RCIEDs).

Key Features:

• A practical handbook on the topic of radio communications and propagation
• Written by an expert in both the civilian and military applications of the technology
• Focuses on methods such as radio and radar jamming, and radio-controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
• Contains problems and solutions to clarify key topics

Part One

Basic Theory

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 The Aim of this Book

This book looks at the subjects of radio communications, radar and electronic warfare. The aim is to provide the reader with a mixture of theory and practical illustrations to explain the way in which these systems are used in practice. The book is aimed at operators, designers and managers operating in these areas. It is designed to provide a detailed overview at a level suitable for this audience. This means that the intention has been to provide explanation of complex theory in as simple manner as possible, and to link the theory to real life as far as possible. One of the main reasons for writing the book is that there is a large body of very in-depth, complex works that are beyond the grasp of the average reader. There are also works that provide simple overviews but without introducing the necessary background theory. Hopefully, this book provides a middle way between these two extremes.

The book has been split into two main sections; theory and practice. The idea is to lay the necessary theoretical groundwork, and then to spend more time in the main, practical part of the book identifying the operational effects of the theory when applied. In this way, the book is designed to bridge the gap of theory to application in a way that makes sense to communications and electronics operators, system designers and managers.

One aim in writing the book has been to provide as compact knowledge as possible in each section. Thus rather than having to find an earlier reference, in some cases the theory has been re-introduced, and some diagrams replicated, in some of the practical sections where they are explicitly required. The reader can therefore easily dip into to individual sections and get most of the information without having to go back to the theoretical sections. Thus, those whose interest is primarily for radar for example, the book has been split up in such a ways as to collate the relevant information into readily located sections. To make the book more readable, I have used the term ‘radio’ to mean any system that uses the RF spectrum, including radars and navigation system.

The main focus of this book is on the Radio Frequency (RF) part of the system. This is the part between two antennas in a link. However, in order to make practical use of this, it is necessary to examine the parts of the system that are essential to allow the construction of an accurate radio link budget. This means every step from the radio output from the transmitting radio to the output of the receiving radio. The focus will be on those aspects over which operators and developers have some control, such as selected frequency, antenna, location and system configuration.

To those new to the field, I would recommend reading all of the theory section and then the sections relevant to the reader's area of work. More experienced readers may choose to go to the sections that are relevant to their work, with the theoretical sections being available as an easy reference when required.

My hope is that this book finds resonance with those involved in this topical and important area and that it helps such people to improve the state of the art of mission planning and simulation of real-life scenarios.

1.2 Current Radio Technology

1.2.1 Introduction

No one can be unaware of the pervasive nature of radio systems in the modern world. The rise of mobile phone systems has been phenomenal, and this has been matched by other recent developments that have improved the links between mobile phone masts (normally called ‘backhaul’), provision of internet access via WiMax and other systems, improvements to broadcast systems brought about by new digital services, and worldwide navigation via GPS.

In the military sphere, similar new technologies have been used to extend system ranges, improve security and to provide information throughout the Battlespace. However, this description could equally be used to describe the developments of civilian systems as well. Increasingly, civilian equipment is becoming more frequently used by armed forces and particularly by insurgents. In some cases, the increasing capabilities of commercial systems are also being exploited by even the most well equipped armies because they are better than their own systems and they can be fielded very much more quickly than new military systems.

Because of these factors, this book includes analysis of modern civilian services as well as military ones. Such systems may be used to provide emergency or short-term communications for military operators, and are also increasingly of interest to electronic warfare operators as legitimate targets since they are used by the opposition. As we will see in the next few pages, the historically distinct fields of military and civilian use of the radio spectrum are in many ways merging into a single set of requirements, at least at outline level.

This section will look at military, civilian and joint technologies. It will look at the commonalities and contrasts and draw conclusions as to how they can be managed by military and other organisations for communications and electronic warfare purposes.

First, we will take an overview of the different types of radio system as they appear to their users.

The simplest configuration is that of a radio link between two defined locations as illustrated in Figure 1.1. In this case, there are two locations with radios, which act as terminals to the link. The arrows at both ends indicate that the link is bi-directional, sending voice or data from either terminal to the other. This type of link is known as a ‘point-to-point’ or abbreviated to ‘point-point’.

Figure 1.1 The basic radio link between two terminals. These can be fixed, static locations or can be dynamic links where the terminals move and the link is only present during short communications.

Links can be permanently established between two terminals, such as in fixed microwave links, or they may be temporary, such as between a mobile phone base station and a mobile subscriber or between two tactical groups. Single links can be combined into networks as shown in Figure 1.2. The structure shown is typical of the traditional military command and control model (this is a generic model, not built around any particular country's organisation). In this case, the view is in plan form (from above). Each terminal is a black dot and each link is a solid black line. Note that in this model, not all terminals are linked to each other. None of the individual echelon levels (battalion, regiment, brigade, division) talk directly to each other; instead they have to go to a higher level of command until direct links are provided. The network structure is therefore hierarchical.

Figure 1.2 A typical hierarchical military command and control radio network. The network design is deliberate so that it supports the way the command structure works.

Networks of point-point links can also take many other forms, ranging from the instantaneous configuration of Personal Role Radio (PRR) networks covering a few hundred metres to national microwave networks.

Apart from point-point radio systems, the other main type of communication system is the mobile network as shown in Figure 1.3. In this case, there is a single fixed base station and a number of mobiles moving through the coverage...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Preface
• Glossary
• Part One: Basic Theory
• Part Two: Practical
• Appendix A: Working with Decibels
• Appendix B: Common Conversion Formulae and Reference Tables
• Index