model 902 H-SLIC HF Wideband Signal Location Intercept and Collection System 902 H-SLIC
Complete COMINT platform that incorporates TCI direction finding and Agilent signal collection expertise and capabilities in a single, integrated solution for HF applications Wideband signal detection, location, collection, analysis, and archiving in manual and automatic mode of operation TCI DF First signal acquisition technology combines fast signal search with exceptional N-Channel DF accuracy and speed Agilent modular signal intercept and collection architecture with automated signal classification 0.5-30 MHz frequency range with 10/30 MHz real-time bandwidth High dynamic range and excellent co-channel frequency resolution Field-proven direction finding, signal collection, and analysis algorithms Storage of measurement results, including signal spectral activity (time and frequency domain), direction, modulation, and location data in raw data database Tools for analysis of raw data results and creation of signal activity reports Local and remote control, including full network operation Open architecture with all signal data available in realtime on the network, including optional narrowband sampled data Modular and scalable architecture for multi-user and/or multi-site applications operating under 24/7 schedule High speed signal search and filtering (alarming) by signal frequency, direction/location, duration, bandwidth, and modulation
902710 H-SLIC System Overview The Model 902 H-SLIC System combines field-proven DF and signal acquisition processors into an integrated system solution for COMINT applications. The H-SLIC is based on an open and flexible client/server architecture that combines fast wideband signal search and direction finding with a complete set of signal analysis tools, including classification, decoding, demodulation, and recording. This functionality can be used to simultaneously support both automatic and manual signal intercept missions. The H-SLIC is used to describe and capture any signal activity characteristics, including traditional and modern signals, and to subsequently perform detailed analysis of specific signals of interest. The system completes this analysis in either real-time or in delayed (post-facto) mode. The analysis function includes detection, location, collection, classification, recording, and archiving of signal activities. In typical automatic operation mode, the H-SLIC rapidly searches the spectrum for RF energy using fine frequency resolution parameters. When new energy is detected, the system automatically determines the direction of the energy source and simultaneously classifies all detected signals. This information is then automatically archived for future analysis and passed in real-time for further processing to automatic and manual intercept processing. The Signal of Interest (SOI) parameters available for future processing include frequency, bandwidth, signal direction and signal modulation type and modulation characteristics. Signal acquisition and DF controller Signal activity database Workstations for system tasking and manual real-time and post-facto signal analysis Automated real-time signal analysis Optional multi-site and external system interface DF/Monitoring Antenna Array RF Switch/Distribution N-channel 2 MHz Wideband DF Processor (Opt. 10 MHz) 30 MHz Collection and Drop Receiver Processor Signal Acquisition and DF Controller Database Server The DF RF chain consists of N 2 MHz wide channels connected to the DF antenna array. The signal collection, decoding, and recording RF channel has a single 30 MHz wide channel, connected to the omnidirectional monitor output of the DF antenna. The wideband collection channel is accompanied with 32 digital drop receiver channels, optionally expandable to 96 channels. With automatic noise and co-channel interference suppression, the system is capable of performing automatic DF and modulation analysis on any type of signal. The analysis function provides transmitter parameters, including frequency, direction and/or location, modulation type, modulation parameters, bandwidth, and time of transmission. Workstations for system tasking, realtime and post-facto signal analysis Automated real-time and post-facto signal analysis Gigabit Ethernet The system consists of the following subsystems: DF/Monitoring antenna array and RF distribution Wideband N-channel signal search and DF processor with 2 MHz instantaneous bandwidth (expandable in 2 MHz increments) Wideband signal search, acquisition, and classification with 30 MHz instantaneous bandwidth, and 32 channel digital drop receiver with signal demodulation, decoding and recording Optional Multi-site and external system interface
DF/Monitoring Antenna Array and RF Distribution For direction finding and signal acquisition, the system can be configured to use different antennas that support a variety of operational scenarios: 632-12 circularly disposed 12 element antenna array (individual element is TCI Model 632 monopole antenna) Varieties of other antenna arrays are supported, including FRD-13, FRD-10, TCI 625, and TCI 620. All antennas provide necessary RF inputs for both DF and acquisition processors. Optional six-way antenna multicouplers (one per antenna element) support instantaneous bandwidth expansion up to 10 MHz. Wideband N-Channel DF Processor Imbedded within the H-SLIC is the TCI Model 9091 N-channel wideband DF processor. The N-channel architecture, with 2 MHz instantaneous bandwidth, provides for high-speed simultaneous new-signal search for increased probability of intercept (POI), detection and direction finding. This field proven DF First TM technology results in optimum signal processing performance, regardless of signal types or signal propagation conditions. This architecture is complemented by both high instantaneous dynamic range and frequency selectivity (adjacent channel rejection). provides exceptional dynamic range performance with high input and output IMD intercepts and a low noise figure. The outputs from the high-speed digitizers are fed to an FPGA processing module, and PowerPC processors for final DF processing. The 9091 processor analyzes all channels within selected frequency ranges to a programmable frequency resolution of 100, 125, 250, 500, 1000, 2500, 5000, and 10000 Hz. It simultaneously and automatically detects signal activity in each channel and automatically performs DF processing for channels that have activity. These Raw measurement results, including spectral, signal activity and DF data, are sent to the controller for further processing, including automatic archiving. Wideband Signal Acquisition Processor The H-SLIC utilizes an Agilent E3238S Signal Intercept and Collection processor to quickly recognize and demodulate signals of interest that have been identified by the TCI Model 9091 N-channel wideband DF processor. The wideband-stepped FFT architecture increases POI, while automatically classifying signals based on modulation characteristics. A high-speed search function is further augmented with 32 collection receiver channels (expandable to 96 channels) that support demodulation, decoding, and recording of signals of interest. Within the TCI Model 9091 reside up to 12 TCI Model 8084 wideband HF receiver converters, driven by a common 8084 synthesizer. Twelve channel high-speed digitizer and dedicated digital signal processor support signal acquisition and DF processing. All components are contained within a single VMEbased, 19-inch rack mount unit, and are controlled by a common controller. The 8084 converts a 2 MHz wide portion of the HF band to a lowband IF frequency that is fed to one of the digitizers. The 8084 synthesizer tunes to any frequency within the 1.5-30 MHz band with 200 khz resolution. The 8084 synthesizer generates low-phase noise L.O.s specifically tailored for high-performance wideband receiving applications. Similarly, the 8084 converter With digitized I&Q data recording, it is possible to perform postfacto signal processing by retrieving the data from the digitized data storage server. The E3238S automates tasks so that the system can automatically filter signal activity using signal modulation and bearing information for the mission at hand and quickly accomplish mission goals. The system is designed to operate in remote locations unattended.
902 H-SLIC Signal Acquisition and DF Controller The Signal Acquisition and DF Controller control the operation of Signal Acquisition and DF Processor. The controller is comprised of a collection of software tools running on a separate workstation. This workstation communicates with both the Signal Acquisition and DF processors and clients over a Gigabit Ethernet interface. The controller software has several functions: Acquisition and DF Processor Setup During mission setup, the controller translates mission parameters into setup parameters for 9091 and E3238S processors. Client Access The controller manages client access to the acquisition and DF processors. Available management functions include consolidation of client tasking requests consisting of frequency ranges, signal detection, DF setup parameters and signal acquisition parameters. Data Archiving The controller forwards all of the raw measurement results, consisting of spectral, signal activity and DF data, to the raw database server. Data Distribution The controller manages real-time distribution of raw and digitized data among the requesting clients. Based on client requests, relevant data is sent via a Gigabit Ethernet network interface. Signal Analysis The controller maintains a comprehensive signal activity list, based on the raw data information. This activity list is updated in real-time and it is available to any client on the network. Raw and Emitter Database Server An SQL database archives raw data collected by the acquisition and DF processors. The raw database is sized to hold at least 3 days of raw data collected at the highest DF throughput rate. While raw data is archived, multiple clients can simultaneously retrieve already-saved raw data. Raw data query results, filtered according to the client-specified criteria, are returned to client for emitter analysis. The results of emitter analysis are saved in the emitter (processed raw data) database. Workstations for system tasking and manual real-time and post-facto signal analysis A Master Client running on a workstation sets up initial tasking in terms of signal search criteria and frequency ranges of interest. Additional clients can set up their own frequency ranges according to their mission requirements. Once the signal search criteria and frequency ranges are set, the system automatically produces raw data results (spectral, activity, DF data and signal classification data). Clients can analyze raw data either in real-time or post-facto mode. In real-time mode data is processed as it is created, whereas in post-facto mode raw data is available for retrieval from the raw database up to three days after it is initially processed. In both modes, the client has a large number of tools at its disposal, including spectrograms, azimuthalgram, azimuth vs. frequency displays, azimuth and elevation histograms, map displays, timeline and azimuth/elevation versus frequency displays. The emitter database serves as storage for newly created emitter reports, and it also supports emitter reports analysis. Automated real-time and post-facto signal analysis (processing applets) Raw data created by the acquisition and DF processor(s) can be analyzed using automated processing. These automatic analysis methods include: Creation of emitter reports Emitter classification based on the signal s technical parameters Multi-parameter signal filtering by direction, location, frequency, bandwidth, signal duration and type Signal alerts and hand-offs I&Q Signal recording, demodulation, and analysis The automated analysis can use either real-time or recorded data as the input. The Raw and Emitter Database Server is hosted on a separate workstation that is specifically configured for database operation, including disk arrays and multiprocessing. In a typical configuration, the Raw and Emitter Database Server shares a host computer with the Signal Acquisition and DF Controller application.
Optional multi-site and external system interface The volume of data produced by a single H-SLIC can exceed 400 Mb/s when both raw and digitized data archiving is active. Recognizing it would be very difficult to deploy a network needed to support these data rates in a multi-site environment, the system architecture has been designed with options for data retrieval and transfer in mind. In the Model 902 H-SLIC system, automatic processing of the raw data dramatically reduces data flow requirements between the sites. For example, by using automatically generated summaries rather than the raw data for the real-time multi-site triangulation processing, the data traffic is effectively reduced by a factor of 100. Recognizing it is occasionally necessary to transfer raw or digitized data across a network that has limited bandwidth, the system has the ability to dynamically adjust the data transfer rate to accommodate the available network bandwidth at the expense of data transfer time. The system can interface with external systems by inclusion of interface clients that translate messages between the Model 902 format and external system formats. Again, based on the data rates these interfaces require, interface clients can reside on the high-speed network, or they can operate over a multi-site network. System Operation Model 902 H-SLIC system operation is initiated from the master client workstation that configures signal search criteria. The criteria include required signal-to-noise ratio for the detection, frequency resolution, type of DF processing and signal modulation parameters. Once the search parameters are set, all client workstations can set up frequency ranges of interest. Frequency ranges from multiple workstations are consolidated by the Acquisition and DF controller which then tasks the acquisition and DF processors. With its signal search criteria and frequency range set, the acquisition and DF processor(s) continuously perform signal detection and DF. The raw measurement results are sent to the acquisition and DF controller, where the data is automatically sent to the raw database. Raw data is also sent to those workstations and automated processing as required by those applications. This real-time raw data is automatically processed including everything from displaying a real-time spectrogram to generating an alert when a specific type of a signal is detected. The results of raw data processing are stored in the emitter database. The emitter results can also be retrieved using multiparameter query criteria in order to review and analyze emitter results.
902 H-SLIC Summary Specifications Antenna TCI 632-12 Antenna 0.5 30 MHz DF and monitor antenna TCI DF antennas or customer supplied 9091 DF Processor N-channel Processor Frequency range 0.5-30 MHz Instantaneous bandwidth 2 or 0.5 MHz Number of channels Up to 12 100, 125, 250, 500, 100, 2500, 5000, Analysis channel bandwidth 10000 Hz Signal Modulation Any DF search speed 60 MHz per second DF instrument accuracy 0.1 RMS DF Accuracy 2 RMS DF bearing resolution 0.1 DF azimuth coverage 0-360 DF elevation coverage 0-90 (antenna dependent) DF Sensitivity Antenna dependent Receiver in-band dynamic range >85 db in 2 MHz bandwidth Receiver 3 rd order intercept +32 dbm, input Receiver 2 nd order intercept +85 dbm, input Receiver preselector filters 8-band, sub-octave 2 MHz Receiver IF bandwidths 0.5 MHz Receiver frequency accuracy 1 Hz A/D SFDR 90 db A/D resolution 14 bits Up to 1000 km range with optional TCI Single Site Location Model 820B NVIS sounder processor 3238S Collection Processor Frequency range 0-30 MHz Instantaneous bandwidth >30 MHz Number of digital drop receivers 32, optionally expendable to 96 Analysis bandwidth Variable, 136 to 139160 Hz FSK 3 level FSK 4 level FSK 8 level FSK Analog FM (including other multi-level FSK, not in above list) MSK (includes GMSK and offset or staggered QPSK) BPSK QPSK (includes DQPSK) Pi/4 QPSK (including Pi/4 DQPSK) 8 PSK 16 PSK 16 QAM Signal Modulation 32 QAM Recognition 64 QAM 128 QAM 256 QAM AM AM DSBSC SSB LSB SSB USB OOK (aka ASK) 4 PAM (aka 4-level ASK) Manual Morse Machine Morse Unknown Digital Unknown Pure carrier Noise V29 Modem Signal Search Speed From 47 to 10166 MHz/sec Receiver Noise Figure 16 db typical ADC spurious response -90 dbfs Acquisition and DF Controller (typical configuration, shared with the Database Server) Processor Dual Core Intel processor Memory 4 GBytes Storage 160 GBytes Operating System Windows Server 2003 Network Gigabit Ethernet Raw and Emitter Database Server (typical configuration) Processor Dual Core Intel Processor Memory 4 GBytes Storage 160 GBytes Operating System Windows Server 2003 Database Server SQL Server 2005 Network Gigabit Ethernet Raw Data Storage Capacity >72 hours of raw data results Emitter Report Storage Capacity >1,000,000 Workstations (typical configuration) Processor Dual Core Intel Processor Memory 2 GByte Storage 160 GBytes Network Gigabit Ethernet Automatic processing Automatic signal filtering with alarms Automatic filtering by DF and signal parameters with alarms Automatic signal hand-off Automatic hand-off of signals of interest to external system
Why Choose TCI? TCI International, Inc., is a leading supplier of COMINT, ISR, and DF solutions for Military, National Security and Intelligence agencies, as well as ITU-compliant RF Spectrum Monitoring and Management solutions for civilian spectrum regulatory agencies. TCI has provided more than 350 fixed, mobile, and transportable RF monitoring systems around the globe, and these systems have been in continuous operation at customer sites for more than a decade. TCI maintains a complete in-house hardware and software engineering capability for the development of end-to-end RF signal processing solutions. Our key engineering capabilities include: RF/analog equipment design and system integration Digital Signal Processing (DSP) design and implementation Expert client-server software design and development TCI has complete in-house manufacturing capabilities providing a high degree of quality control and rapid delivery of standard and custom products. TCI has been actively involved with US and foreign military agencies for the past 40 years. A high percentage of TCI s management, engineering, contracts, support and sales staff maintain active security clearances. TCI s expertise and experience make us uniquely qualified as a global provider of integrated COMINT, ISR, and Range Communications Management solutions. TCI International, Inc. 47300 Kato Road Fremont, CA 94538-7334 USA Specifications and data are subject to change without notification. 902 H-SLIC-11-09-09 2004-2009 TCI All Rights Reserved TEL: 1-510-687-6100 USA: 1-800-824-8074 FAX: 1-510-687-6101 www.tcibr.com