Radar Warning Receiver Dynamic Situational Awareness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional radar warning receivers lack accurate range determination, geolocation of emitters, and precise incident power measurement, limiting dynamic situational awareness and effective threat minimization for aircraft against attack radar signals.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that receive and analyze attack radar transmission signals to calculate incident power and aircraft position changes, determining movement within the radar beamwidth, and communicate this information to pilots for maneuvering and countermeasure initiation, using antenna gain pattern compensation and geolocation techniques.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If traditional radar warning receivers use received power and emitter equivalent radiated power for range estimation, then a qualitative indication of threat lethality is provided, but accurate range determination cannot be achieved

Engineering Contradiction:
Improverange determination accuracyVSAvoidaccurate geolocation information
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses multiple sensors including radar warning receivers, radar sensors, missile approach warning receivers, forward-looking infrared detectors, and electro-optic sensors to continuously feedback information about the threat environment. This multi-sensor feedback loop enables accurate geolocation of emitters and precise range determination by cross-correlating data from different sensing modalities.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements a universal threat monitoring system where a single integrated system performs multiple functions: radar detection, geolocation, range determination, and threat assessment. The system uses a common processor to handle inputs from various sensor types and produces unified situational awareness output, eliminating the need for separate specialized systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Measurement precision

If accurate incident power determination is required, then precise threat assessment is enabled, but the complexity increases due to difficulty in obtaining accurate receive antenna gain pattern data

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveincident power measurement accuracyVSAvoidantenna gain pattern measurement complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs self-calibration by using the radar warning receiver's own received signals to determine antenna gain patterns. The processor analyzes the received power across different angles and uses this information to automatically characterize the antenna radiation pattern, eliminating the need for external calibration equipment or complex separate measurement procedures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Reliability

If dynamic situational awareness is achieved through multi-sensor integration, then threat minimization capability is enhanced, but the system complexity and processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvethreat minimization effectivenessVSAvoidsensor integration complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple independent sensor systems into a single integrated threat monitoring system. The radar warning receiver, radar sensor, missile approach warning receiver, forward-looking infrared detector, and electro-optic sensor are combined and processed by a common processor that fuses their outputs to produce unified situational awareness and threat assessment information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentEP3230761B1System and method to provide a dynamic situational awareness of attack radar threats
Publication Date: 2019.05.29 RAYTHEON CO
  • EP3230761B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3230761B1 patent drawingFigure 3~5
  • EP3230761B1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

A more dynamic situational awareness may be provided by processing received attack radar pulses in a radar warning receiver in such a way as to provide an indication of where the aircraft is within the transmit beamwidth of the attack radar.