Bedford Signals Corporation Awarded Air Force SBIR Phase II Contract to Study an Open-Air Jamming Test System for GPS. |
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Bedford, MA - 12 August 2005 - Bedford Signals Corporation was awarded a contract by the Air Force to develop a Completely Integrated Jamming Test System (CIJTS). This Hardware in the Loop (HWIL) test system will be specifically designed for use in open-air jamming and interference testing of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, antennas, and amplifiers. The project was selected under the highly competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II solicitation by the United States Air Force. Current tests for GPS jamming are conducted in laboratory simulations, in the field through injection of a interference signal into the live antenna feed, or in the field through the use of live interference signals. While live field tests are the most realistic, the expanding use of GPS by both military and civilian communities results in scheduling and safety of flight problems. The objective of this Air Force/Bedford Signals SBIR program is to demonstrate the feasibility of an open-air jamming and interference test capability without affecting nearby military and civilian GPS receivers. Thus, it does not require jamming clearance from the FAA - but still provides a realistic system level test for GPS systems. Under this program, Bedford Signals will develop and prototype practical systems for a Digital Interference Generator to simulate the correct multi-jammer wavefronts and an Electromagnetic Wavefront Generator to couple the generated signals into multi-element antenna systems - such as a GAS-1 CRPA. This system design will be based on innovative techniques to improve the accuracy of jammer modeling, while reducing the implementation complexity to result in a practical digital GPS jammer simulator. These techniques were originally developed for computer simulation of jamming for GPS anti-jam systems, and this SBIR funding from the Air Force will facilitate the transition to HWIL test hardware. The resulting technology is intended for aircraft or missile mounted field tests, but could also be used in testing of both military and commercial GPS systems on rooftops and in anechoic chambers. Bedford Signals Corporation is a privately held company, established in May of 2003 to hurdle the challenges of high bandwidth Digital Signal Processing for Satellite and Terrestrial Communications Systems. Core competencies include communications systems, networks, and protocols - with a focus on sophisticated spatial and temporal array processing for wireless communications systems. Contact: |