Simulating reality in real-time with a massive radar test system.
Testing radar hardware in the real world is logistically punishing and sometimes impossible — especially for flight and defense systems. ICX AB asked Qamcom to build a kind of virtual reality for radars: a building-sized simulator that creates over-the-air echoes for any environment the customer wants to test against, in real time.
Challenge
ICX AB, a company with previous experience delivering defense and aerospace solutions, approached Qamcom to develop a real-time, hardware-in-the-loop radar environment simulation system for its customer. The requirements for this system were demanding, combining elements that needed multi-year research and development efforts with the design and delivery of a robust, production-ready test system.
In simple terms, this technology is like virtual reality for radars: mimicking the RF response of dynamic objects and environments based on where the radar is "looking" — for example planes, helicopters, trucks, and ships in different terrains and weather conditions. For teams developing radar sensing and guidance systems, this allows real hardware to be tested rapidly and repeatably from the safe, controlled conditions of a test chamber. This is especially valuable for flight systems, where real-world testing can be logistically and financially challenging, and sometimes impossible.
The scale of this system was huge, requiring the development of multiple products ranging from specialized signal processing and control, to servers for heavy real-time computations. It called for the coordination of hundreds of distributed devices, and the use of every discipline Qamcom offers, and building ways of working between vastly different cultures. We would act as researchers, system architects, hardware developers, software developers, system integrators, and installers.
Solution
Over several years, with a dedicated team reaching 40 people at its peak, Qamcom developed a new platform for real-time, over-the-air radar environment and target simulation. Work began with research to turn a concept into a practical design, and transitioned gradually to the engineering and production of a building-sized machine that includes:
- A multi-channel radar simulation appliance to produce echoes based on input radar signals
- A modular, sparse antenna array, enabling installations with large fields-of-view and high resolution
- A high-performance test radar to measure and validate the system during development and formal testing
- Many support devices, control systems and user interfaces to form a reliable test system that other R&D specialists can rely on.
- User-facing APIs to enable tight integration with a customer's software and allow extension of the system as their needs change.
Outcome
As a complete system, this forms a powerful tool for radar and guidance system developers. Simulations can involve multiple radar targets with dynamic and complex behavior, weather conditions, surface effects, and more – controlled in real-time by the customer's software in coordination with their hardware under test. The radar under test transmits to the simulator via a cable and receives over-the-air return signals from the simulated environment in real time with the correct delay, angle of arrival, and polarization.
A deep level of control is available to the customer through the system's software APIs.
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