Using LabVIEW to Rewrite the Software of an Electronic Warfare Simulator

Author(s):
Stephen Abbott - U.S. Army

Industry:
Government/Defense

Products:
RF, PXI/CompactPCI, LabVIEW

The Challenge:
Upgrading software of an electronic warfare simulator used by the U.S. Army to test electronic warfare systems against radar threats.

The Solution:
Using the graphical programming environment and instrumentation capabilities of NI LabVIEW to quickly rewrite the system’s controlling software.

Testing Against Radar Threats
We at the Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate of the U.S. Army Communications Command in Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, provide a facility to test electronic warfare systems against radar threats. We perform these tests either by radiating the threat signals inside an anechoic chamber or directly injecting them into the electronic warfare systems themselves.

To aid in testing, we designed and developed the Electronic Warfare Simulator (EWSIM), which consists of integrated software and hardware that provide a realistic simulation of radar signal characteristics to simulate radar environments relative to the receiving antenna of the system under test. Using multiple RF sources, we can generate both pulse and continuous wave simulation. A programmable signal simulator provides simulation of the emitter pulse, antenna scan, and pattern characteristics. The RF Distribution Matrix controls four emitter signals and outputs eight quadrature ports (two per emitter) providing angle of arrival and range characteristics. Using EWSIM, we can create threat scenarios and process them through integrated aircraft survivability equipment and other electronic survivability platforms.

Short Development Time
We originally wrote EWSIM in C and operated it in DOS. We needed to upgrade the software to work in a modern Windows operating system environment while using the existing RF and NI hardware. We chose NI LabVIEW because of its graphical programming environment and instrumentation capabilities, and we gained a shorter development time rewriting the controlling software in LabVIEW than we would if we had modified the existing software.

Multifunction Software
The controlling software of EWSIM consists of a multiscreen program that creates and executes emitter simulations determined by user-generated parameters. We programmed the software to construct and store a database of these user-defined parameters, which are sent to the hardware during simulation that we run using a National Instruments PCI GPIB card.

Additionally, the software simulates a real-life scenario that involves entering the path of motion of the system under test, along with the location of multiple emitters to act as threats. As the system under test moves through the scenario, the software calculates the angle of arrival and range of the incoming threat signals. The software then takes this data and programs the RF Matrix to the appropriate values, and also programs the emitters to simulate the correct radar mode.

Ability to Upgrade Quickly
In addition to its instrumentation capabilities, the flexibility of LabVIEW and its ability to reprogram also made it an attractive option for us because we plan to eventually upgrade the system’s hardware with a new synthesizer. At that time, we can access the new LabVIEW hardware driver either from the vendor or the NI Web site, ni.com, and quickly swap it into the software for the old driver. Because of the modular nature of LabVIEW, when we reconfigure EWSIM, we can easily reuse code during the software upgrade.

Most recently, EWSIM has proven instrumental in testing of the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC) system – an RF electronic countermeasures and situational awareness used on Army helicopters. Using National Instruments software and hardware, we could quickly upgrade the EWSIM hardware in time to help us with this project.

For more information, contact:
Stephen Abbott
U.S. Army
Bld. 600 Ft. Monmouth, NJ 07703
Tel: 732-427-3671
Fax: 732-532-5570

Browse All Case Studies »