Eliminate Guesswork in RF Interference Analysis with the Automated Radio Measurement System (ARMS)
Topic:
Eliminate Guesswork in RF Interference Analysis with the Automated Radio Measurement System (ARMS)
Presenter:
Matt Miller, EMA Principal RF Engineer II
Abstract:
EMA is excited to announce a new capability that will eliminate the guesswork in RFI analysis. The Automated Radio Measurement System (ARMS) is a combination of off-the-shelf test equipment, custom filter banks, and LabVIEW software that is used to measure the broadband performance of both transmitters and receivers. Virtually every modern platform or system includes multiple radio frequency (RF) systems for navigation, communication, entertainment, sensing, and other applications. The criticality of the interference between these RF systems varies from nuisance problems to total loss of the platform. When the platform can be anything from a launch vehicle carrying a billion dollar payload to a passenger vehicle, there is no room for error.
The broadband transmitter emission and receiver susceptibility data necessary for accurate RFI simulations was previously unavailable. Analysts would gather as much information as they could from specification sheets and other sources. However, there were major shortcomings with this approach. In particular, specific frequencies and amplitudes for out-of-band performance was generally missing. These holes in the data resulted in either over-predicting interference problems due to conservative models or completely missing real interference problems. Both outcomes cost organizations money with inefficient testing and costly interference problems not found until the final stages of the design. With the ARMS capability, high-fidelity measured data can be used in RF system simulation tools to predict RFI with accuracy previously not possible. The ARMS capability saves organizations time and money. In this webinar, interference and mitigation of the interference will be demonstrated using data collected from the ARMS for commercial transmitters and receivers.
