satrack

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION GPS SIGNALS SATRACK CONCET GPS TRANSLATOR FIELD SUPPORT EQUIPMENT PORTABLE GROUND EQUIPMENT DATA RECORDING AND POSTFLIGHT PROCESSING MAJOR BREAKTHROUGHS ADVANTANGES DISADVANTAGES FUTURE DIRECTIONS CONCLUSION REFERENCES

-21ABSTRACT
The origin of the missile can be traced back to the roman war machinethe catapult. The guided missile was born when Werner Von Siemens suggested aguide torpedo for submarines in the late 19 th century. From these beginnings the p r e s e n t d a y t r i d e n t a n d t o m a h a w k a r e g u i d e d f r o m t h e s k i e s u s i n g t h e G P S signals. This seminar deals with the measurement concept that tests the missilea c c u r a c y. S A T R A C K r e c e i v e s , r e b r o a d c a s t , r e c o r d s a n d t r a c k s t h e s a t e l l i t e signals sent by the GPS signals. The reception and rebroadcast of the signals isd o n e b y a m i s s i l e h a r d w a r e c a l l e d t h e G P S

translator. The ground telemetrys t a t i o n s c o n s i s t o f t h e R F a n t e n n a a n d r e c o r d e r s f o r t h e d a t a . P o s t - f l i g h t processing and modelling are d o n e l a t e r a t t h e S A T R A C K F a c i l i t y. A l s o t h e major error contributors to the missile flight are determined by the modellingdone. There is extensive use of simulated signals in this method. This seminar also throws light on the major breakthrough technologies that were develo pedduring the research leading up to the final form of this technology. The major a d v a n t a g e s , d i s a d v a n t a g e s a n d f u t u r e a p p l i c a t i o n s o f t h i s m e t h o d i s a l s o discussed. This guidance system evaluation concept is the best in the current testand evaluation technology for guided weapons systems.

INTRODUCTION
According to the dictionary guidance is the process of eg u i d i n g t h e path of an object towards a given point, which in general may b moving. The process of guidance is based on the position and velocity if the target relative tot h e guided object. The present day ballistic missiles are all guided using t h e global positioning system or GPS.GPS uses satellites as instruments for sendingsignals to the missile during flight and to guide it to the target. SATRACK is as y s t e m t h a t w a s d e v e l o p e d t o p r o v i d e a n e v a l u a t i o n m e t h o d o l o g y f o r t h e guidance system of the ballistic missiles. This was developed as a comprehensivetest and evaluation program to validate the integrated weapons system design for n u c l e a r p o w e r e d s u b m a r i n e s l a u n c h e d b a l l i s t i c m i s s i l e s . t h i s i s b a s e d o n t h e tracking signals received at the missile from the GPS satellites. SATRACK has t h e a b i l i t y t o receive record, rebroadcast and track the satellite s i g n a l s . SATRACK facility also has the great advantage that t he whole data obtainedfrom the test flights can be used to obtain a guidance error model. The recordedd a t a a l o n g w i t h t h e s i m u l a t i o n d a t a f r o m t h e m o d e l s c a n p r o d u c e a comprehensive guidance error model. This will result in the solution that is the best flight path for the missile.

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GPS SIGNALS

The signals for the GPS satellite navigation are two L-band frequencysignals. They can be called L1 and L2.L1 is at 1575.42 MHz and L2 at 1227.60 MHz.The modulations used for these GPS signals are1.Narrow band clear/acquisition code with 2MHz bandwidth.2.Wide band encrypted P code with 20MHz bandwidth.L1 is modulated using the narrow band C/A code only. This signal will give an accuracy of close to a 100m only. L2 is modulated using the P code.This code gives a higher accuracy close to 10m that is why they are encrypted.The parameters that a GPS signal carries are latitude, longitude, altitude and time.T h e m o d u l a t i o n s a p p l i e d t o e a c h f r e q u e n c y p r o v i d e t h e b a s i s f o r e p o c h measurements used to determine the distances

to each satellite. Tracking of thedual frequency GPS signals provides a way to correct measurements from thee f f e c t o f r e f r a c t i o n t h r o u g h t h e i o n o s p h e r e . A n a l t e r n a t e f r e q u e n c y L 3 a t 1381.05MHz was also used to compensate for the

SATRACK CONCEPT Guidance system evaluation concept of very early weapons systems depended on the impact scoring techniques. This means that the missile was shotand the accuracy was formulated on the scoring or the target destruction. This e v a l u a t i o n m e t h o d was unacceptable for evaluating the more p r e c i s e requirements of the latest systems. A new methodology was needed that providedinsights into the major error contributors within the flight-test environment. Thee x i s t i n g r a n g e i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n w a s l a r g e l y p r o v i d e d b y r a d a r s ys t e m s . t h e y however did not provide the needed accuracy or range in the broad ocean testr a n g e s . T h e a c c u r a c y projections needed to be based on the high c o n f i d e n c e understanding of the underlying system parameters. SATRACK was developedwith the necessary hardware and telemetry stations.T h e f i g u r e s h o w s t h e S A T R A C K m e a s u r e m e n t c o n c e p t . T h e m a i n parts are the GPS satellites, the missile translator and ground telemetry stations.The missile receives the signals from the GPS satellites. They are translated toanother frequency and relayed to the ground telemetry stations. The telemetrystation records the data for playback and for post processing.The satellite signals received at the missile are translated to S bandfrequencies for the telemetry station using the missile hardware called translators.The ground based telemetry station record the data after reception through theantenna after digitising the signals. Some ground sites uses L1 C/A signals to provide real time tracking solutions.

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-GPS

TRANSLATOR

This flight hardware is fixed in the missile. The translator receives theGPS signals and they are amplified, shifted to an intermediate frequency, filteredto cover the satellite signal modulation bandwidth, shifted to an output frequency.Then they are amplified for transmission to one or more ground stations.Fig. 2 GPS Translator

The translator does the following1 . R e c e i v e d t h e s a t e l l i t e s i g n a l 2.Translated it to a missile telemetry frequency (S-band)3 . R e b r o a d c a s t t h e r e c e i v e d s i g n a l G P S translator are of both Analog and digital types The A n a l o g translators heterodyne the L-band signal to S-band adds a pilot carrier to allowthe monitoring of the reference oscillator variations. Both wide and narrow bandtype of Analog translators are used. Digital translators down-convert the receivedL - b a n d G P S s i g n a l t o n e a r b a s e b a n d a n d d i g i t i s e s i t . T h i s d i g i t i s e d d a t a i s modulated into an S-band carrier and transmitted to the ground stations.

FIELD SUPPORT EQUIPMENT

SATRACK is the most useful tool because of its post flight processingfacility .The ground equipment consists of receiving antenna, data recorder andauxiliary reference timing systems. The equipment receives the translated GPSsignal along with other telemetry signals and distributes it to the data recorder. Most ground stations are capable of generating a precise atomic timing standard.The earlier equipments were narrowband recorders that relied on high-speed taper e c o r d e r s . T h e s e g a v e u p t o 1 4 tracks of recording channels with four megasamples per second. The t r a n s l a t o r p r o c e s s i n g s ys t e m w a s d e v e l o p e d f o r t h e national missile defence exoatmospheric re-entry intercept subsystem where itserved as a real -time GPS processor for range safety as well as data recorder.

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Some later versions were capable of processing data from both

a n a l o g u e a n d digital translators.

PORTABLE GROUND EQUIPMENT

This hardware is used for the post flight processing and tracking of thesatellite signals. The SATRACK facility processes the raw data into a time seriesof range and Doppler measurements for each satellite, and the Kalman filter, which incorporates various corrections and generates a navigation solution for them i s s i l e . T h e s ys t e m h a s undergone a lot of redesign and development as therequirements evolved w i t h n e w t yp e o f t r a n s l a t o r s a n d r e c e i v e r s . T h e l a t e s t system processes the wideband L1/L2 signals dual frequency P-code as required b y w i d e b a n d t r a n s l a t o r s . T h e s ys t e m h a r d w a r e i s b a s e d o n A n a l o g D e v i c e SHARC processor. Most of the custom GPS processing hardware is based on field programmable gate arrays [FPGA]. Each board has the ability to track up toeight channels. The user interface is done using windows based PC workstations.

-9-POST FLIGHT TRACKING AND DATA PROCESSING

For a number of days surrounding the missile flight, GPS signals arereceived, tracked, and recorded at the GPS tracking sites.

During the missile flight, GPS signals are received by missile, translated infrequency, and transmitted to the surface station(s). A tracking antenna at the station receives the missile signals, separates thevarious components and records the data. The post-flight process uses the recorded data to give satelliteephemeredes clock estimates tracked signal-data from the post-flightreceiver, and missile guidance sensor data. After the signal tracking data are corrected, all the data element and thesystem models are used by the missile processor to produce the flight testdata products.

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The figure shows how the post flight tracking facility accomplishes p r e c i s i o n t r a c k i n g o f t h e G P S s i g n a l s t h r o u g h t h e p l a yb a c k o f t h e r e c o r d e d translator signals. High accuracy satellite ephemeredes and the clock estimate covering their span of test flight is obtained. These data along with the o processedt e l e m e t r y d a t a h e l p provide the tracking aids for t h e p o s t f l i g h t r e c e i v e r a n d measurement estimates for the missile processor. The translator passes signal for all the satellite in view of the missile antenna and the post flight receiver providesall in view satellite signal tracking. During play back satellite signals are trackedthrough delay locked loopsFor range code modulation and phase locked loops for carrier phasetracking.T h e p o s t f l i g h t p r o c e s s i n g o f t h e r e c o r d e d d a t a i s u s e d t o t e s t t h e accuracy of the measurements t h a t i s t o e v a l u a t e t h e g u i d a n c e s ys t e m . T h e concept can be explained based on the block diagram given below.fig:4 strategic weapons systems accuracy evaluation concept -11The procedure was developed by whish the uncertainties with whish we observe a performance as well as the finitude of test programs was translatedi n t o s p e c i f i e d confidence in the accuracy parameters being e s t i m a t e d . Information theory provided the basis for developing the algorithms that couldq u a n t i f y t h e c o n f i d e n c e w i t h w h i c h a c c u r a c y c o u l d b e e s t i m a t e d . N e x t performance needed to be known, not just the system level but at the subsystemlevel also. The accuracy evaluation program had to be able to isolate faults ande s t i m a t e p e r f o r m a n c e o f t h e s u b s ys t e m s o r t h e v a r i o u s p h a s e s o f t h e s ys t e m . Since the allowable number of test used for the determination of estimates werelimited to 10to 20 the instrumentation had to be of high quality to provide theh i g h c o n f i d e n c e m e a s u r e m e n t s h e n c e t o g e t g o o d c o n f i d e n c e e s t i m a t e s . I n addition to this, we also needed to extrapolate the untested condition that is to predict tactical performance with high-quantified confidence from test data. Data from each accuracy test was analysed using some variant of theKalman filter. Within these filters are the detailed models of both the system andt h e i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n f o r e a c h s ys t e m . T h e f i g u r e d e p i c t s h o w t h i s a n a l ys i s i s accomplished. Given a particular test or scenario measurement, data are collectedon the various subsystems. Using rigorous methods, these data are collected with prior information generally developed and maintained by builders of the various parts of the system under test. This prior information is necessary for the single t e s t p r o c e s s i n g , g i v e n t h e incomplete observability of the error sources. T h e outputs of the filter provide the basis for understanding particular realizations of s ys t e m a n d s u b s ys t e m b e h a v i o u r . A n a l ys i s r e s u l t s p r o v i d e i n s i g h t i n t o t h e s o u r c e s a n d c a u s e s o f t h e i n a c c u r a c y. T h e r e s u l t s o f t h e m u l t i p l e t e s t s theoutputs of the Kalman filter serve as the inputs to the cumulative p a r a m e t e r estimation process. All prior information regarding the relative error models isremoved so that the estimate accuracy is derived solely from the test data.fig:5 reconstruction of sources of missile impact miss distance error The graph shows a hypothetical diagram used to allocate contributionsto the impact miss. This method is based on projecting each error contributor andits uncertainty into impact domain.1.first level allocation is at the subsystem level: initial conditions, guidance, and deployment and re-entry2 . s e c o n d -

l e v e l a l l o c a t i o n p r o v i d e s d a t a f o r m a j o r e r r o r g r o u p s w i t h i n e a c h subsystem eg: accelerometers3 . t h i r d - l e v e l a l l o c a t i o n ( n o t g i v e n i n f i g u r e ) p r o d u c e s e s t i m a t e s o f fundamental error terms of guidance model eg: an accelerometer scalefactor error. -13-

This process solves the highly non linear equations for the m e a n s , variances, and Markov parameters that characterize the overall system accuracy performance. In addition uncertainties in the parameter estimates are calculatedso that we have a quantitative measure of our confidence in the solution .Theultimate desired product is system performance under tactical not test conditions.Here we rely heavily on the tactical gravity and weather conditions developed f r o m d a t a and instrumentation. These models along with d e t e r m i n i s t i c simulations of the system are then used to propagate the fundamental model parameter estimates and the uncertainties to the d o m a i n o f i n t e r e s t - s ys t e m accuracy at the target.T h e c a r r i e r p h a s e t r a c k i n g o f t h e s i g n a l s p r o v i d e t h e c r i t i c a l measurements .The measurements of the GPS signal; phase sense range changesa l o n g t h e l i n e o f s i g h t f o r e a c h s i g n a l t o a s m a l l f r a c t i o n o f t h e w a v e l e n g t h usually a few millimetres. These measurements which when compared to their values computed from guidance sensor data and satellite position and velocitye s t i m a t e s , p r o v i d e m o s t o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n . N o i s e i n t h e m e a s u r e m e n t o f t h e recovered GPS range code signals is of secondary importance. In essence, the inertial sensors provide high frequency motion information better than the signal processes, the Doppler information senses the systematic errors associated witht h e i n e r t i a l s e n s o r s a n d t h e r a n g e d a t a provide an initial condition for all the d y n a m i c m e a s u r e m e n t s . T h e r a n g e n o i s e r e m a i n i n g a f t e r t h e p r o c e s s o f smoothing of the noise is smaller than the other bias like uncertainties that set thelimit on absolute position accuracy e.g.: the satellite position. -14- The missile and satellite trajectories including stimulated errors for satellite position and clocks were used dot drive the satellite signal generators to p r o d u c e t h e s i m u l a t e d G P S s i g n a l s . T h e s e a r e t h e n p a s s e d t h r o u g h d i g i t a l l y controlled phase shifters and time multiplexing switch to emulate the missile GPSantenna network. This is connected to a missile translator hardware simulator that p r o d u c e d t h e G P S s i g n a l s a t S - b a n d . A n S - b a n d a n t e n n a h a r d w a r e s i m u l a t o r produced the outputs, which were recorded by the prototype telemetry station r e c e i v e r , a n d t h e r e c o r d i n g equipment .The hardware simulator d rivers wereconditioned to encompass a l l a n t i c i p a t e d e f f e c t s i n c l u d i n g s i g n a l r e f r a c t i o n through the ionosphere and troposphere. The recorded data were equivalent to thedata that would be received from telemetry site.T h e p o s t f l i g h t p r o c e s s i n g f a c i l i t y n o w h a s a l l t h e i n p u t s , G P S ephemeredes, clock files, telemetry data and translated signal data tape. Thesed a t a a r e t h e n p r o c e s s e d a n d a n e s t i m a t e o f t h e u n d e r l y i n g m o d e l e r r o r s i s produced. In addition, the testing of the post processing system is done by thismethod.

15- MAJOR BREAKTHROUGHS

1.EVALUATION CAPABILITY FOR CUMULATIVE FLIGHT T E S T ACCURACY

The limitations of the test geometry prohibit observations of all the errors in any single flight test. Since each test flight provides observations of theunderlying system missile guidance error models, the data can be combined fromm a y f l i g h t t e s t s . T h e f i n a l c u m u l a t i v e a n a l ys i s o f f l i g h t t e s t d a t a p r o d u c e s a guidance error model of the weapons system. It combines observations from eachflight to derive a missile guidance model that is both tactically representative and b a s e d c o m p l e t e l y o n t h e f l i g h t t e s t d a t a . T h i s m o d e l c o m b i n e d w i t h o t h e r s i m i l a r l y d e r i v e d s u b s ys t e m m o d e l s h e l p s d e v e l o p p l a n n i n g f a c t o r s u s e d t o assign weapons system targets

2. FULL DIGITAL IMPLEMENTATION.

The full digital implementation is of the Portable ground equipmentand processing facility. So, the results are expected to be repeatable. This is avery big improvement over the Analog circuitry such as the Analog PLLs used for carrier- phase tracking loop. In addition, the digital implementation removesthe need for periodic hardware calibration that accompanies the analog circuits

3.BATCH MODE PROCESSING

This type of processing allows hardware to operate with software like f l e x i b i l i t y. A s t h e p u r e s o f t w a r e s ys t e m w a s t o o s l o w , h a r d w a r e t h a t i s f u l l y configurable under software control implemented the most computing intensive portions of the process such as signal correlation, generation of local code andc a r r i e r s i g n a l m i x i n g . I t i s p o s s i b l e t o a c q u i r e t h e s i g n a l w i t h v i r t u a l l y n o acquisition delay by conducting extensive searches with initial batch of data untilall the signals are found.

4. FLEXIBLE ARCHITECTURE RECEIVER

The batch mode processing has been applied to stand alone real timecapable receiver called FAR. It retains the essence of batch mode architecture. While maintaining the capability to process the data in real time. FAR is a singlechannel L1 C/A only receiver with a front-end data storage memory that buffersunto one s of data. It can track up to 16 satellites in real time without any loss from channel multiplexing

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