Design, implementation and preliminary testing of an automated system for the evaluation of ionospheric channels

Abstract

Radio communications in the High Frequency (HF) range are used to transmit information over long distances between one or more correspondents. Techniques and methodsto improve the capacity and reliability of HF communications become key objectives as they are generally limited to narrow bandwidths and low transfer rates. This work aims to implement an automated system for real-time measurement of ionospheric radio channel parameters under Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) propagation conditions using Software Define Radio (SDR) platforms. Preliminary testing of the system was carried out both under laboratory conditions using signal generators and high-performance spectral vector analyzers and under real propagation conditions by installation at the established sites. The results showed that the system is capable of performing real-time measurements of signal power, noise power and calculating signal-to-noise ratio for bandwidths up to 24 kHz.