Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture

Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs

Anh-Quang Nguyen, Alireza Avakh Kisomi, Abdessamad Amrhar

and René Jr. Landry

DASC 2017
September 20, 2017
Session IMA-4:
Interpartition Communication

1
Outline

1. Introduction

2. DRFS Transceiver Architecture Overview

a. Reception
b. Transmission
c. ELT Detectors

3. Result analysis

4. Conclusion and Future work

5. Appendix: Reveal future results

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 2
 1. Introduction

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 3
1. Introduction
Today’s Avionic Systems
• Multiple dedicated antenna
• Multiple rack mount avionics
• Kilometers of cables and connectors

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 4
1. Introduction
Proposed Avionic Systems

AVIO-505 Vision
Multi-Standard Antenna

Short Cables
Software
Defined
Reconfigurable Software Defined Radio Avionic
SDAR Radio

Fiber Optic Network

SDAR SDAR SDAR SDAR SDAR

SDAR
SDAR SDAR SDAR

Advantages :

 Less equipment and cables

 Hardware to software redundancy
 Software function reallocation
 Easier maintenance
 Lower cost

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 5
1. Introduction
Context of the AVIO-505 Project
• Objectives:
– Integration of navigation, communication and surveillance systems under a
single universal reconfigurable platform
– Demonstrate the capabilities and performance of SDR in aerospace
– Address new regulatory initiatives (NextGen)

ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct RF Sampling
Tracking Transceiver
System for Direct
Architecture
RF Sampling
AppliedArchitecture
to VHF Radio,
Applied
ACARS,
to VHF
andAvionic
ELTs Radios 6
1. Introduction
AVIO-505: MM-SDAR Architecture

Ant.1 App. 1

App. 2
Ant.2
Antenna
RF front
switch Tranceiver FPGA GPP
end
matrix App. n
Avionics
interface
Ant.m
Cockpit
interface
Antennas RF conversion Rate Applications
Function RF filtering &
switching & & conversion & execution &
amplification
duplexing ADC/DAC BB DSP interfacing

Source: Multi-mode reconfigurable software

defined radio (SDR) architecture for avionic
radios
- 2017 Integrated Communications, Navigation and
Surveillance Conference (ICNS)
PicoSDR2x2E

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 7
1. Introduction
AVIO-505: Direct RF Sampling
• Direct RF Sampling (DRFS) Architecture
Conventional architecture
LO IF
Mixer Filters
ADC DDC

ADC DDC

Antenna + Pre-Processing General Purpose

IF Stages
Filters Unit Processing Unit
VOR LOC G/S
DRFS architecture

ADC Mixer DDC

SDAR Others
(DRFS)
FPGA
Antenna + General Purpose
Filters + Pre-Processing Unit Processing Unit VHF
Combiner (GNU Radio) ACARS ELT
Radio
ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct Tracking Transceiver
RF Sampling System for Direct RF Sampling
Architecture AppliedArchitecture Applied
to VHF Radio, ACARS,to VHF
andAvionic
ELTs Radios 8
1. Introduction
Direct RF Sampling basics (RX)
• Sampling GHz signal with MHz sampling rate
• Processing multiple signals with one ADC
ADC ADS62P49
Sampling Rate 140 MHz
Resolution 14 bits
VHF Avionics
(VOR, Localizer
(ILS), VHF
Radio, ACARS,
Analog ELT)
108 – 140 MHz

Digital ELT Glide Slope

406.025 329.15 –
MHz 335 MHz

ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct Tracking Transceiver
RF Sampling System for Direct RF Sampling
Architecture AppliedArchitecture Applied
to VHF Radio, ACARS,to VHF
andAvionic
ELTs Radios 9
1. Introduction
Direct RF Sampling basics (TX)
• Use Digital Mixer/Interpolation Filter to Up-Convert the signal
before a high sampling rate DAC.
Reception Flow
ACARS
I&Q
ACARS
Frequency FIR Converter RTDEx 1
DAGC CIC
(B=10 kHz)
Digital
ADC Mixer
FIR
DAGC CIC Converter RTDEx 2
VHF (B=5 kHz)
Antenna and Frequency
VHF I&Q

Analog 140 Msps 200 ksps General

Transmission Flow
Components Purpose
DAC 1
Digital CIC Converter RTDEx 1
Processor
Mixer
Application
Selector
`
Digital
DAC 2 CIC Converter RTDEx 2
Mixer

140 Msps 200 ksps

ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct Tracking Transceiver
RF Sampling System for Direct RF Sampling
Architecture AppliedArchitecture Applied
to VHF Radio, ACARS,to VHF
andAvionic
ELTs Radios 10
1. Introduction
Challenges and Objectives (1/2)
• The variety of Signal of • Direct RF Sampling Approach
Interest and Bidirectional  Alias in transmission 
application High Q Analog Filter
ACARS Digital ELT
- Bidirectional - FSK
Application Modulation
- MSK - GPS Data
Modulation - Message
- Message
Analog ELT VHF Radio
- Amplitude - Bidirectional
Modulation Application
- Frequency - AM
Sweeping
technique
DASC 2017
ICNS 2017 Direct RF Sampling
Frequency Tracking Transceiver Architecture
System for Direct AppliedArchitecture
RF Sampling to VHF Radio, ACARS,
Applied andAvionic
to VHF ELTs Radios 11
1. Introduction
Challenges and Objectives (2/2)
• GPP resource

ACARS Performance

VHF Radio Performance GPP Resource

Other Systems

• Analog ELT Detection with FFT

Performance FPGA Resource

DASC 2017
ICNS 2017 Direct RF Sampling
Frequency Tracking Transceiver Architecture
System for Direct AppliedArchitecture
RF Sampling to VHF Radio, ACARS,
Applied andAvionic
to VHF ELTs Radios 12
 2. Architecture Overview

DASC 2017
ICNS 2017 Direct RF Sampling
Frequency Tracking Transceiver Architecture
System for Direct AppliedArchitecture
RF Sampling to VHF Radio, ACARS,
Applied andAvionic
to VHF ELTs Radios 13
2. Architecture Overview (1/3)
GPP – GNU Radio
Transmission (For example: Digital ELT, ACARS branch)
Up
GPS data Encoder FSK Mod
Sampling

To
Selector
FPGA
Up
Message Encoder MSK Mod
Sampling

Reception (ACARS and VHF Radios)

CRC and
Resampler MSK Message
Decoder Parity Bit
+ Filter Demod Handler
Check

From Resampler AM
FPGA + Filter Demod
Audio
Selector
Handler
Resampler AM
+ Filter Demod

ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct Tracking Transceiver
RF Sampling System for Direct RF Sampling
Architecture AppliedArchitecture Applied
to VHF Radio, ACARS,to VHF
andAvionic
ELTs Radios 14
2. Architecture Overview (2/3)
FPGA – System Generator

Digital
ADC AGC CIC/FIR
Mixer

Digital
AGC CIC/FIR
Mixer
GPP
Digital Interpolation
DAC Mixer Filter

Digital Interpolation
DAC
Mixer Filter

Frequency Selector
ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct Tracking Transceiver
RF Sampling System for Direct RF Sampling
Architecture AppliedArchitecture Applied
to VHF Radio, ACARS,to VHF
andAvionic
ELTs Radios 15
2. Architecture Overview (3/3)
ELT Detector Implementation
Digital
Algorithm in Detector
FFT
ADC Down
Converter
Core • Look for ELT signals in a specific
range of FFT pins
Detector
Carrier position
Digital
FFT
Down
Core
Low Sweep High Sweep
Converter Range Range
FFT pin
• ADC rate: 140 Msps 101- 153 range

• DDC decimation rate: 700

• Detect sweep tone  Counter
• Low IF offset: 3 kHz and
10 kHz • Compare count value with a
threshold  Trigger
• 16384 FFT points
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct Tracking Transceiver
RF Sampling System for Direct RF Sampling
Architecture AppliedArchitecture Applied
to VHF Radio, ACARS,to VHF
andAvionic
ELTs Radios 16
 3. Performance Analysis

DASC 2017
ICNS 2017 Direct RF Sampling
Frequency Tracking Transceiver Architecture
System for Direct AppliedArchitecture
RF Sampling to VHF Radio, ACARS,
Applied andAvionic
to VHF ELTs Radios 17
4. Performance analysis (1/6)
Equipment and Testbench

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 18
3. Performance analysis (2/6)
VHF Radio (TX/RX)
System
Standard (Class 4)
Performance
Output Power ≈ 36 dBm - 6 dBm
Offset ≤ 4 kHz ≤ 1.5 kHz
SINAD 6 dB 21.22 dB
S/N in Carrier ≥ 35 dB ≥ 70 dB
Baseband 350 – 3200 Hz 300 – 3200 Hz

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 19
3. Performance analysis (3/6)
ACARS (TX/RX)

TX one tone
(2400 Hz)
Output Power ≈ -6.35 dBm
Offset 580 .97 Hz
Gain Imbalance 0 dB
SNR 9.5 dB
Decode Result All “1”

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 20
3. Performance analysis (4/6)
ELT 406.025 MHz

System
Standard
Performance
Offset ≤ 2 kHz ≤ 500 Hz
47.5 – 52.5 49 – 51
Rate
seconds seconds
Length 520 ms ± 1% 517 ms
Delay From
≤ 5 minutes ≤ 1 minute
Trigger
Resolution 4 seconds ≤ 3 seconds

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 21
3. Performance analysis (5/6)
ELT 121.5 MHz

System
Standard
Performance
Offset ≤ 607 Hz ≤ 10 Hz
Sweep
1600 – 300 Hz 1444 – 706 Hz
Frequency
Sweep
≥ 700 Hz 734 Hz
Range
Duty Cycle 0.33 – 0.55 0.5
Modulation
≥ 0.85 ≥ 0.99
Factor

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 22
3. Performance analysis (6/6)
ELT 121.5 Detector in DRFS

Average Detection
Level
Detection Time Rate
USRP
−20 dBm 1.53 s 100 %
(Transmitter) −35 dBm 13.82 s 100 %
−65 dBm 20.57 s 100 %
−80 dBm 22.32 s 100 %
−100 dBm 13.62 s 100 %

PicoDigitizer

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 23
 4. Conclusion and Future
work
DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 24
4. Conclusion and Future work (1/2)

• DRFS Architecture for aviation is a promising

approach
– Offers a major simplicity to the current RF Avionics
– Increases the integration level of avionic modules
– Increases the efficiency of Size, Weight, Power and Cost.
– Has a performance similar or even higher than the current
RF architecture.
– Can contain various background applications (for example,
ELT Detector), without the need of extra analog
components.
• DRFS Architecture offers the advantages in both
Transmission and Reception

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 25
4. Conclusion and Future work (2/2)

• Verify the functionality of ACARS using verified equipment

• Continue testing and further improve the ELT Detector.
• Study the possibility of integrating more applications

ADS-B In at −60 dBm

(IFR 6000)

ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct RF Sampling
Tracking System
Transceiver
for Direct
Architecture
RF Sampling
Applied
Architecture
to VHFApplied
Radio, to
ACARS,
VHF Avionic
and ELTs
Radios 26
 5. Appendix: DRFS Flight
Tests
DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 27
5. Appendix (1/3)

Flight Tests
12/2015 Spectrum Validation

3/2016 VOR

10/2016 VOR, VHF Radio RX

4/2017 2 VOR, 2 VHF Radios RX, VHF Radio TX, ELT 121.5

5/2017 2 VOR, LOC, GS, 2 VHF Radios RX

Next Step ??
DASC 2017
ICNS 2017 Direct RF Sampling
Frequency Transceiver
Tracking System Architecture
for Direct Applied
RF Sampling to VHFApplied
Architecture Radio, to
ACARS, and ELTs
VHF Avionic Radios 28
5. Appendix (2/3)

ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct RF Sampling
Tracking System
Transceiver
for Direct
Architecture
RF Sampling
Applied
Architecture
to VHFApplied
Radio, to
ACARS,
VHF Avionic
and ELTs
Radios 29
5. Appendix (3/3)

1
3

2
ICNS 2017
DASC 2017 Frequency
Direct RF Sampling
Tracking System
Transceiver
for Direct
Architecture
RF Sampling
Applied
Architecture
to VHFApplied
Radio, to
ACARS,
VHF Avionic
and ELTs
Radios 30
Questions?

Contact us at LASSENA:
Anh-Quang NGUYEN
Anh-Quang.Nguyen@lassena.etsmtl.ca

Thank you

DASC 2017 Direct RF Sampling Transceiver Architecture Applied to VHF Radio, ACARS, and ELTs 31