With New Software, Signal Generators Produce Radar Pulses
Thanks to the addition of new licensable software, Signal Hound’s VSG60 and VSG200 signal generators can now function as radar pulse generators. Available as a licensed upgrade to these two instruments, the company’s Radar Pulse Generator software enables engineers and technicians to create complex radar pulse trains with precise control over pulse shape, timing, coding, and antenna scan patterns.
The new software feature provides a dedicated sequence editor for assembling complete radar scenarios from individually shaped pulses, sub-sequences, and off-time segments. Users can arrange items in transmit order, save and recall entire scenarios, and play sequences back from a single trigger or continuously.
Such capabilites give users the flexibility to create realistic, repeatable pulse trains while maintaining precise control over timing, modulation, and antenna behavior. As a result, they can validate receiver performance, pulse-processing algorithms, and pulsed RF components with greater confidence.
Radar Pulse Generator software supports a broad range of applications, including stress-testing radar and electronic-warfare receivers with jittered, staggered, and wobulated pulse repetition intervals. Engineers can validate pulse-descriptor word extraction and pulse-sorting algorithms, test intra-pulse modulation recognition and pulse compression processing, and characterize receiver response to varying pulse widths.
The software includes a visual editor for creating sequences of pulses as well as sequences of sequences. It supports various pulse formats including CW, linear chirp, Barker, polyphase, Frank, and custom formats. Users can import and export individual pulses and pulse-width tables for ease of reuse and sharing.
Together, these features support testing of radar receivers, electronic-warfare systems, pulse-processing software, and pulsed transmitter components such as amplifiers, mixers, diplexers, circulators and filters.
The Radar Pulse Generator is available as a licensed software upgrade for the Signal Hound VSG60 and VSG200 signal generators. The software can be licensed for $500 annually or perpetually for $2,000.
Learn more about radar test technologies
About the Author
David MaliniakDavid Maliniak
Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF
I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.
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In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.