INTELLIGENT FUSION TECHNOLOGY, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: N202-104

Description

To obtain high-precision time and phase synchronization (phase coherency) of multiple distributed radio frequency (RF) sources located on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS’s) platforms, we propose a holistic approach, based on a wideband Radar-Common Data Link (R-CDL) technology enabler, with an incorporated Enhanced-Two-Way-Time Transfer (E-TWTT) method, for high-precision and accurate Frequency/Time/Phase (FTP) synchronizations. We will design and develop a Distributed Cooperative Beamforming (DCB) Vector Generation (DCB-VG) model and analyze its performance degradation in the presence of FTP errors and associated positions errors caused by platform dynamics and related disturbances due to (a) platform vibration , (b) Master-Slave local oscillator (MASLA-LO) frequency drift, (c) MASLA-LO phase noise, and (d) propagation conditions and receiver AWGN noises. E-TWTT will be incorporated into the wideband R-CDL for time transfer between the Master node and Slave nodes to relax the two constraints associated with fixed nodes (i.e., platform is not moving): (i) The time at which the time-based signal is transmitted is the same for both Transmit (TX) and Receive (RX) sides, and (ii) The propagation delay of the TX signal must be the same in RX direction. The E-TWTT will provide high-precision time synchronization moving platforms in the presence of related disturbances.