Granted Patent B1

US 9,693,250 · App. 15/211,869 · Granted Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

Claims (46)

1. A method of operating a Link 16 terminal comprising:

operating the Link 16 terminal in a receive mode, including:

receiving a receive signal at an antenna;

providing the receive signal to a direct conversion receiver circuit;

performing direct conversion of the receive signal in the direct conversion receiver circuit to produce a first signal; and

performing first processing of the first signal, including synchronizing a timing in the Link 16 terminal to the receive signal; and

operating the Link 16 terminal in a transmit mode, including:

generating a transmit signal in a direct conversion transmitter circuit;

providing the transmit signal to the antenna for transmission; and

monitoring operation of the Link 16 terminal in transmit mode for compliance with requirements for Link 16 transmissions, including:

coupling to the transmit signal to produce a coupled transmit signal;

providing the coupled transmit signal to the direct conversion receiver circuit;

performing direct conversion of the coupled transmit signal in the direct conversion receiver circuit to produce a second signal; and

performing second processing of the second signal to determine compliance of the transmit signal with at least some of the requirements for Link 16 transmissions.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in receive mode, retrieving Link 16 messages contained in the receive signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising inhibiting transmission of the transmit signal in response to determining that the transmit signal is non-compliant with at least one requirement for Link 16 transmissions.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating one or more fault codes in response to determining that the transmit signal is non-compliant with at least one requirement for Link 16 transmissions.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising electrically connecting the receiver circuit to the antenna when operating in receive mode and disconnecting the receiver circuit from the antenna when operating in transmit mode.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second processing of the second signal includes determining frequency and amplitude characteristics of the transmit signal.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising digitizing the coupled transmit signal to produce the second signal, including:

in a first signal path of the receiver circuit, generating an in-phase component of the coupled transmit signal and producing a digitized I signal using the in-phase component; and

in a second signal path of the receiver circuit, generating a quadrature phase component of the coupled transmit signal and producing a digitized Q signal using the quadrature phase component,

wherein the second signal comprises the digitized I and Q signals.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the second processing includes delaying the digitized I signal to compensate for a phase imbalance between the digitized I and Q signals that results from independently processing the in-phase and quadrature phase components in the first and second signal paths, respectively.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second processing includes processing the second signal to determine pulse width and pulse power in the transmit signal, or detect an out of band condition in the transmit signal, or detect a Uniform Use of Authorized Carriers (UUAC) fault in the transmit signal.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second processing includes processing the second signal to measure energy in the transmit signal within ±7 MHz of 1030 MHz and within ±7 MHz of 1090 MHz.

11. A Link 16 terminal device comprising:

a direct conversion transmitter circuit having an output for a transmit signal;

a coupler having an input coupled to the output of the direct conversion transmitter circuit, and further having an output and a coupled port;

a first switch having a first terminal coupled to the coupled port of the coupler, and further having a second terminal and a common terminal;

a direct conversion receiver circuit having an input coupled to the common terminal of the first switch, and further having an output;

a second switch having a first terminal coupled to the output of the coupler, a second terminal coupled to the second terminal of the first switch, and further having a common terminal;

an antenna coupled to the common terminal of the second switch;

a signal processor coupled to the output of the direct conversion receiver circuit and configured to process a signal provided to the direct conversion receiver circuit, the signal processor having a first output for Link 16 messages and a second output for fault codes representative of non-compliance of the Link 16 terminal device with one or more requirements for Link 16 transmissions; and

a controller configured to set the first switch and the second switch in a first switched configuration when operating the Link 16 terminal device in a receive mode and to set the first switch and the second switch in a second switched configuration when operating the Link 16 terminal device in a transmit mode,

the first switched configuration establishing a signal path, comprising the first switch and the second switch, between the antenna and the direct conversion receiver circuit to provide a signal received by the antenna to the direct conversion receiver circuit,

the second switched configuration establishing a signal path, comprising the coupler and the first switch, between the direct conversion transmitter circuit and the antenna to provide the transmit signal to the antenna for transmission, and further establishing a signal path, comprising the coupler and the second switch, between the direct conversion transmitter circuit and the direct conversion receiver circuit to provide a signal that is coupled to the transmit signal by the coupler to the direct conversion receiver circuit.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein in the second switched configuration, the direct conversion receiver circuit is decoupled from the antenna.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor inhibits transmission of the transmit signal when the signal coupled to the transmit signal and provided to the direct transmission receiver indicates that the transmit signal is non-compliant with at least one requirement for Link 16 transmissions.

14. The device of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor generates one or more fault codes when the signal coupled to the transmit signal and provided to the direct transmission receiver indicates that the transmit signal is non-compliant with at least one requirement for Link 16 transmissions.

15. The device of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor performs synchronization with the signal provided to the direct conversion receiver circuit when the signal is received by the antenna.

16. The device of claim 11 , wherein the signal processor produces Link 16 messages when the signal provided to the direct conversion receiver circuit is the signal received by the antenna.

17. The device of claim 11 , wherein the direct conversion receiver circuit includes a first circuit to produce a digitized in-phase signal from a signal provided to the direct conversion receiver circuit and a second circuit to produce a digitized quadrature-phase signal from the signal provided to the direct conversion receiver circuit, wherein the digitized in-phase signal and the digitized quadrature-phase signal are provided to the signal processor.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein, when the signal provided to the direct conversion receiver circuit is the signal coupled to the transmit signal, the signal processor delays the digitized in-phase signal to compensate for a phase imbalance between the digitized in-phase signal and the digitized quadrature-phase signal.

19. The device of claim 11 , wherein the Link 16 terminal device is a hand-held device.

20. The device of claim 11 , further comprising a housing to house components that comprise the Link 16 terminal device, the housing having a form factor adapted for being carried by hand.

Assignments (7)