High-accuracy distributed sensor time-space-position information system for captive-carry field experiments
By:  Andrew W. Rowe
Publisher: Naval Postgraduate School; Available from National Technical Information Service
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Monterey, Calif; Springfield, Va
Language: eng
Number of pages: 149
Description: Operational EW test and evaluation experiments require that the position of the aircraft and      other moving objects on the range be known precisely as a function of time. Terminal      Time-Space-Position Information (TSPI) systems involve the range platforms interacting at      close distances and therefore require precise trajectory information over a restricted volume      of space. Terminal TSPI systems are used for tactics evaluation and the evaluation of      simulated weapons firings (e.g., captive-carry hardware-in-the-loop missile simulators).      Distributed sensor TSPI systems consist of two or more measurement sensors located      some distance from each other. Each sensor makes a measurement of target angle and      range. Distributed sensor systems are more complex than single-point systems involving      multiple hardware installations, complex mathematical computations to extract coordinate      information, synchronization of multiple measurements and calibration of a number of      different stations. This paper presents a novel distributed sensor TSPI architecture that      provides precise positioning information of the target relative to a fixed inertial coordinate      system. The architecture efficiently integrates the information from an inertial navigation      system (INS), a global positioning system (GPS) and any number of distributed RF sensors      which may be located onboard a captive-carry aircraft. The significance of this work is that      by knowing the target's position in a fixed inertial frame of reference (derived from the      integration process) an evaluation can be made as to the effectiveness of any electronic      attack or off- board decoys that might have been launched during the field test scenario.      The induced INS, GPS and sensor noise and the corresponding errors due to the      integration process are evaluated numerically as a function of the weapon system being      used.
Notes: Thesis advisor(s): Phillip Pace.

"December 1996."

Thesis (M.S. in Applied Physics) Naval Postgraduate School, December 1996.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 133).

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Also available online.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader.

US Navy (USN) author.

dk/dk cc:9116 5/15/97