HF Channel Simulator Research Articles

HiCIRF: A high‐fidelity HF channel simulation

A high‐fidelity HF channel simulation has been developed that is suitable for Over‐the‐Horizon Radar (OTHR) and HF communication system design studies and test planning. The simulation capability is called HiCIRF, for High‐frequency Channel Impulse Response Function. HiCIRF provides simulated HF signals corresponding to transmissions from individual transmitter array elements to individual receiver array elements for propagation through the naturally disturbed or undisturbed ionospheric channel. Both one‐way link geometries and two‐way radar geometries can be simulated. HiCIRF incorporates numerical ray tracing and stochastic signal structure computations to realistically simulate signal scatter by small‐scale ionization structure. Stochastic signal generation is employed to generate signal realizations that can be used for OTHR array design and advanced signal processing studies.

Investigation into the problem of characterization of the HF ionospheric fluctuating channel of propagation: construction of a physically based HF channel simulator

)( ( A wideband HF simulator has been constructed that is based on a detailed physical model. It can generate an output giving a time realization of the HF wideband channel for any HF carrier frequency and bandwidth and for any given transmitter receiver path, time of day, month and year and for any solar activity/geomagnetic conditions. To accomplish this, a comprehensive solution has been obtained to the problem of HF wave propagation for the most general case of a 3D inhomogeneous ionosphere with time-varying electron density fluctuations. The solution is based on the complex phase method (Rytov’s method), which has been extended to the case of an inhomogeneous medium and a point source of the field. Results of simulation obtained according to the technique developed have been presented, calculated for a single-hop path 1000 km long oriented to the south from St. Petersburg and including a horizontal electron density gradient present in the IRI model used as the basis of the ionosphere model. The fluctuations of the ionospheric electron density were characterized by an inverse power law anisotropic spatial spectrum. For this model, the random walk of the phasor at the receiver is determined and shown both for paths reflected in the E- and Fregions, being significantly larger for the latter. The oblique sounding ionogram is constructed and reveals three propagation modes: the E-mode and low and high angle F-mode paths. The time-varying field due to each of these paths is then summed at the receiving location enabling the calculation of the scattering function and also the time realization of the received signal shown as a function of both fast and slow time. This is performed both with and without the presence of the geomagnetic field; in the former case the splitting of the F2-mode into both e- and o-modes is seen. It is also shown how the scattering function can be obtained from the time realization of the channel in a way akin to experimental determination of the scattering function from channel measurements. Results from the simulations show the very significant effect of irregularities of even modest magnitude and the comparative effects due to background ionosphere dispersion and the fluctuating irregularities as well as geomagnetic mode splitting. Since the simulator is based on a physical model, it should be possible by comparison of experimental results and simulation to identify the correspondence between physical parameters (e.g., the variance and anisotropy of the electron density fluctuations, orientation of the propagation path to the magnetic meridian, bulk ionosphere motions) with observed channel parameters (e.g., Doppler spread and shift, time delay spread).

Ionospheric effects on terrestrial communications :Working Group 3 overview

Telecommunications via ionospheric reflection of radio signals of ground-based transmitters are a traditional area. However, this technique is still in use in telecommunications, broadcasting, etc. Various problems have not yet been solved and some of them were studied in Working Group 3 (WG3). Structure of WG 3 and the terms of reference of its four working packages are described in the introductory paper by Zolesi and Cander (2004). Here we describe the main results achieved in COST 271 in the following areas: i) large-scale fluctuations of planetary and gravity waves; ii) development of a new type of HF channel simulator; iii) geomagnetic storm effects on the F1-region ionosphere; iv) the sporadic E-layer and spread-F phenomena; v) the HF radio wave propagation over northerly paths; vi) how to increase the bit rate in ionospheric radio links. In general, substantial progress was achieved but some problems remain open for future investigations.

Real-Time HF Channel Parameter Estimation

An efficient real-time realization for the estimation of the HF channel parameters is presented and the estimation errors are evaluated. The parameters that were chosen are the Doppler spread, multipath spread, Doppler shift and signal-to-noise ratio, which are the dominant ionospheric propagation parameters. The estimation procedures were real-time implemented on a digital signal processor and tested on a real-time HF channel simulator based on the so-called Watterson model. The estimated parameters can be used in numerous ways in adaptive HF communication setups, including real-time channel quality evaluation for link or equipment adaptation.