Real-time radar signal simulation for the ground based radar for national missile defense

This paper describes a digital radar signal simulation which operates in real-time to provide full closed-loop operation of the tactical signal processing and data processing hardware and software components of the ground based radar-prototype (GBR-P) in support of national missile defense (NMD). This real-time simulation provides the capability to evaluate the radar software performance, flight test pre-mission analysis, and radar key algorithms verification and validation. The simulation is called "Real-Time Target Complex Generator (RT-TCG)". It currently generates in-phase and quadrature (I and Q) digital data, at the base-band center frequency in three monopulse channels (sum, alpha, beta). These digital signals duplicate the output of the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter of the receiver/exciter (REX) component of the radar. The unique aspect of this simulation is that it operates in full communication with the signal processing and data processing components of an actual tactical radar system. All of the real-time messaging of the tactical system is preserved, so the software controlling the radar, performing functions such as scheduling and tracking, operates as though it is in communication with the actual antenna and REX hardware.