Automatic external RF gain calibration and continuous jamming measurement

1. A system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement, comprising:

a smart antenna assembly including a known noise source, a switch, a gain, a temperature sensor, and an interface cable;

the switch having 1) an operational position connecting an antenna signal to the interface cable or 2) a bypass position connecting the known noise source to the interface cable;

the antenna signal comprised of a desired signal and a jamming signal;

a Radio Frequency (RF) receiver operatively coupled with the smart antenna assembly via the interface cable, the interface cable having a cable loss; and

a jammer power estimator associated with, and operatively coupled with, the RF receiver, the jammer power estimator including a controller operatively coupled with a memory and a known strength test code source;

the memory including a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the controller, the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored therein that, in response to execution by the controller, cause the controller to:

sense one of: a power on of the RF receiver and a new antenna;

command an identification of the new antenna;

receive and store at least one antenna detail including a temperature gain delta (T) based on a signal from the temperature sensor, the gain (Y), and the cable loss (X);

determine a RF path gain calibration, the RF path gain calibration a sum of the gain (Y), the cable loss (X), and the temperature gain delta;

receive an indication prompting entry into a bypass mode;

command the switch to the bypass position;

measure and store a known strength test code signal (B) from the known strength test code source in a presence of a known noise power (No) from the known noise source;

determine a bypass noise floor based on the known strength test code signal divided by a sum of the known noise power signal and the RF path gain calibration;

command the switch to the operational position;

measure and store the known strength test code signal (B) from the known strength test code source in a presence of a jammer power (Jo) based on the jamming signal;

determine a jamming noise floor based on the known strength test code signal divided by a sum of the jammer power and the RF path gain calibration;

determine a difference between the jamming noise floor and the bypass noise floor;

determine a degradation of the desired signal based on the difference; and

display a jamming condition within a user display operatively coupled with the RF receiver.

2. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 1 , wherein the smart antenna assembly further comprises an antenna associated with one of: external to the smart antenna assembly or incorporated within the smart antenna assembly.

3. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 1 , wherein command the identification of the new antenna further comprises commanding a response of one of: an antenna part number, an antenna model, an antenna temperature, and a temperature versus a gain profile.

4. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 1 , wherein the RF receiver is specifically configured to receive a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal.

5. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 4 , wherein the desired signal is the GNSS signal.

6. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 1 , wherein the interface cable further comprises a coaxial cable configured with a center conductor.

7. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 6 , wherein the controller commands the switch to the bypass position via one of: a voltage increase, a voltage decrease, and a short pulse increase or decrease over the center conductor.

8. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 6 , wherein the controller commands the switch, the identification, and RF path gain calibration via a low data rate serial communication over the coaxial cable.

9. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 1 , wherein the controller commands the switch to revert to the operational position one of: after a time lapse, via transmission of a voltage signature, and wherein the switch reverts to the operational position absent a command from the controller.

10. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 1 , wherein the indication prompting entry into a bypass mode further comprises at least one of a controller sensed coupling of a new antenna and a manual calibration commanded by a user.

11. The system for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 1 , wherein display a jamming condition further comprises a display of a jamming level including one of: a benign jamming level, a moderated jamming level, an extreme jamming level, and a jamming scale of one to ten, and a transmission of the jamming condition to an additional processor configured for desired signal acquisition and signal tracking.

12. A method for automatic calibration and jamming measurement, comprising:

sensing one of: a power up of a RF receiver and a new antenna coupled to the RF receiver;

commanding an identification of the new antenna;

receiving and storing at least one antenna detail including a temperature gain delta (T) based on a signal from a temperature sensor, a gain (Y) associated with the new antenna, and a cable loss (X) between the new antenna and the RF receiver;

determining an RF path gain, the RF path gain a sum of the gain (Y), the cable loss (X), and the temperature gain delta (T);

receiving an indication prompting entry into a bypass mode of the new antenna;

commanding a switch associated with the new antenna to a bypass position;

measuring and storing a known strength test code signal (B) from a known strength test code source in a presence of a known noise power (No);

determining a bypass noise floor based on the known strength test code signal (B), the known noise power (No), and the RF path gain;

commanding the switch to an operational position;

measuring and storing the known strength test code signal (B) from the known strength test code source in a presence of a jammer power (Jo) based on a jamming signal;

determining a jamming noise floor based on the known strength test code signal (B), the jammer power (Jo), and the RF path gain;

determining a difference between the jamming noise floor and the bypass noise floor;

determining a degradation of a desired signal associated with the new antenna based on the difference; and

displaying the degradation on a user display operatively coupled with the RF receiver.

13. The method for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 12 , wherein commanding the identification of the new antenna further comprises commanding a response of one of: an antenna part number, an antenna model, an antenna temperature, and a temperature versus a gain profile.

14. The method for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 12 , wherein commanding the switch to the bypass position and operational position is commanded via a voltage increase over an interface cable coupling the new antenna and the RF receiver.

15. The method for automatic calibration and jamming measurement of claim 12 , wherein displaying the degradation on the user display further includes a warning of an availability of a desired signal due to jamming, and a modification to a response of the RF receiver to improve a system integrity.