Phase Interferometry Direction

Finding
WPI MQP Group:
WPI Advisors:
Ted Clancy

Germano Iannacchione
George Heineman
This work is sponsored by the Department
of the Air Force under Air Force Contract
#FA8721-10-C-0007. Opinions,
interpretations, conclusions, and
recommendations are those of the authors
and not necessarily endorsed by the
United States Government.

Daniel Guerin - ECE

Shane Jackson - Physics

Jonathan Kelly - CS/ECE

Group 108 Staff:

Chris Strus

Lisa Basile
Kelly McPhail
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved
for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

Overview
Project Goal
Create a passive Direction Finding system for an airborne platform
capable of determining the Angle of Arrival (AoA) in the azimuth
plane.
Display results in a real-time graphical interface
Specifications
2.5 accuracy
40 dB dynamic range
90 field of view
1 Hz update rate
100 MHz bandwidth IF signal

X Band Frequency (8-12 GHz)

Secondary Objectives
Track 3 beacons
180 field of view

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Planned System

Provided by Lincoln Laboratory

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Project Scope

Contents
1. Phase Interferometry
2. MATLAB Model
3. Prototype System
4. Summary

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Passive Direction Finding

Method

Complexity Size

Accuracy

Time Difference of Arrival Medium

Amplitude Comparison

Low

Phase Interferometry

High

Scope of this project

Interferometer Geometry
(Massa, OConnor, Silva, 2011)
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Phase Interferometry

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Phase Ambiguities

Phase eclipsing causes ambiguous results due to antenna

spacing and wavelength
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Phase Ambiguities

+2
0
-2

Phase eclipsing causes ambiguous results due to antenna

spacing and wavelength
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Phase Ambiguities
+6
+4
+2
0
-2
-4
-6

Phase eclipsing causes ambiguous results due to antenna

spacing and wavelength
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Resolving Ambiguities
Utilize multiple antennas for disambiguation
Compute Phase difference from Antenna 1 to 2
Compute Phase difference from Antenna 1 to 3
Compare possible angle solutions for common angle value

=10cm
=21cm

Antenna Spacing selected based on RF input requirement to minimize ambiguities

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Resolving Ambiguities

Possible angles from

antennas 1 and 2
Possible angles from
antennas 1 and 3

Adding a third antenna provides unambiguous result

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Resolving Ambiguities

Possible angles from

antennas 1 and 2
Possible angles from
antennas 1 and 3

Adding a third antenna provides unambiguous result

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Contents
1. Phase Interferometry
2. MATLAB Model
3. Prototype System
4. Summary

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MATLAB Model
Used to develop and test the direction finding algorithm
Simulates every step of the physical system
Pulsed wave generation, frequency down-converting, sampling
waves
All processing steps in the final system tested in model first

Provided Hardware
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Project Scope

MATLAB Model

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MATLAB Results
Measured Angle vs. Actual Angle
Worst Case Scenario

Algorithm Performance
0.097

Mean Certainty

0.87

Ambiguity Error

1.08%

90

Calculated AoA (degrees)

Mean Error

P = -40dBfs F = 12GHz D = 1km

Absolute Angle Error

Error(degrees)
Angle
Error (degrees)
Angle

Incorrect Ambiguity
Angle

Incorrect Ambiguity
Angle

Primary AoA
Secondary AoA

2.5
-90

True AoA (degrees)

0
-90

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-45

45

True AoA (degrees)

90

Rare ambiguity errors can cause

erroneous calculations

90

MATLAB Results
Algorithm Performance
Mean Error

0.097

Mean Certainty

0.87

Ambiguity Error

1.08%

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Incorrect Ambiguity Angle

Contents
1. Phase Interferometry
2. MATLAB Model
3. Prototype System
4. Summary

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Prototype System

Provided by Lincoln Laboratory

Project Scope

Third input channel not implemented due to hardware issues

Three antenna mode tested with MATLAB inputs
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Prototype Results

Strong agreement between verified model and C algorithm

Processing time within specification
Data transfer accounts for 99.7% of latency
GUI demonstrated with simulated and captured data
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Real-Time Display GUI

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Real-Time Display GUI

Disambiguated Emitter Indication

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Real-Time Display GUI

Ambiguous Emitter Indication

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Real-Time Display GUI

Detailed Emitter Information

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Real-Time Display GUI

Angle Statistics

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Real-Time Display GUI

Frequency Statistics

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Real-Time Display GUI

Angle Certainty

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Real-Time Display Demo

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Contents
1. Phase Interferometry
2. MATLAB Model
3. Prototype System
4. Summary

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Future Work
Performance
Combine phase interferometry and amplitude comparison for two
antenna solution
Move real-time processing to FPGA
Enhance tracking algorithm to reduce probability of false ambiguity
selection

Testing
Test three channel operation with live data
Verify operation with antennas connected

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Conclusion
Successfully met all primary requirements with simulated
signals
Extended field of view to 85

Capable of identifying multiple emitters per batch

Three channel operation verified with simulated data
Two channel operation verified with live signal generator data

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Acknowledgements
Emily Anesta
Lisa Basile
Ted Clancy
Sarah Curry
George Heineman
Germano Iannacchione

Kelly McPhail
Christopher Strus

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Resolving Phase

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Finding Optimal Antenna Separation

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GUI Sample for Two Channel Inputs

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