Method and apparatus for enhanced multi-node utilization of an electromagnetic state space

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9377527-B2
Application number	US-201314078997-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 13, 2013
Priority date	Nov 13, 2013
Publication date	Jun 28, 2016
Grant date	Jun 28, 2016

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for efficiently packing nodes within an electromagnetic state space.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A machine-implemented method for operating a radar system within a multi-dimensional electromagnetic state space, comprising:
at least one processor to allow the radar system to operate within a multi-dimensional electromagnetic state space with a plurality of nodes without overlap between nodes, the at least one processor configured for:
identifying a plurality of nodes to operate within the electromagnetic state space, the plurality of nodes including a radar node and at least one other node;
estimating an electromagnetic volume of each node within the plurality of nodes;
attempting to fit the estimated electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes within the electromagnetic state space without overlap, wherein attempting to fit includes modifying transmit parameters associated with one or more nodes; and
if the electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes do not fit within the electromagnetic state space without overlap:
determining a reduced electromagnetic volume for the radar node that will allow the radar node to achieve at least a minimum effectiveness level; and
repeating attempting to it the estimated electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes within the electromagnetic state space without overlap.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
before repeating attempting to fit the estimated electromagnetic volumes within the electromagnetic state space, determining a reduced electromagnetic volume for each directly controllable node within the plurality of nodes, other than the radar node, that will allow the controllable node to achieve at least a minimum effectiveness level.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
if the electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes do not fit within the electromagnetic space without overlap after multiple iterations of determining reduced electromagnetic node volumes for the radar node and the directly controllable nodes, removing one or more of the plurality of nodes from the electromagnetic state space.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the electromagnetic state space is defined based upon the operational needs of the radar node.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
identifying a plurality of nodes includes identifying nodes currently transmitting within the electromagnetic state space.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
identifying a plurality of nodes includes analyzing signals received from the electromagnetic state space.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
identifying a plurality of nodes includes checking one or more databases where users register for use of electromagnetic resources.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining a reduced electromagnetic volume for the radar system includes using space-time adaptive processing (STAP) techniques.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the electromagnetic state space includes coordinates from at least 4 dimensions selected from the following; the three spatial dimensions (x, y, z), time, frequency, polarization direction, and orthogonal code.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the electromagnetic state space includes coordinates from the following six dimensions: the three spatial dimensions (x, y, z), time, frequency, and polarization direction.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the electromagnetic state space includes coordinates from the following seven dimensions: the three spatial dimensions (x, y, z), time, frequency, polarization direction, and orthogonal code.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
if all of the nodes within the plurality of nodes fit within the electromagnetic state space without overlap:
determining whether to squeeze the nodes tighter together within the electromagnetic state space; and
reducing a standoff range of the radar node if a determination is made to squeeze the nodes tighter together.

13. A radar system comprising:
a radio frequency (RF) transmitter;
an RF receiver; and
at least one processor to allow the radar system to operate within an electromagnetic state space with one or more other nodes without overlap between nodes, the at least one processor configured to:
identify a plurality of nodes to operate within the electromagnetic state space, the plurality of nodes including the radar system and at least one other node;
estimate an electromagnetic volume of each node within the plurality of nodes;
attempt to fit the estimated electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes within the electromagnetic state space without overlap, wherein the attempt to fit includes modification of transmit parameters associated with one or more nodes; and
if the electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes do not fit within the electromagnetic state space without overlap:
determine a reduced electromagnetic volume for the radar node that will allow the radar node to achieve at least a minimum effectiveness level; and
repeat the attempt to fit the estimated electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes within the electromagnetic state space without overlap.

14. The radar system of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
before repeating the attempt to fit the estimated electromagnetic volumes within the electromagnetic state space, determine a reduced electromagnetic volume for each directly controllable node within the plurality of nodes, other than the radar node, that will allow the controllable node to achieve at least a minimum effectiveness level.

15. The radar system of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
if the electromagnetic volumes of the plurality of nodes do not fit within the electromagnetic state space without overlap after multiple iterations of determining reduced electromagnetic node volumes, removing one or more of the plurality of nodes from the electromagnetic state space.

16. A machine-implemented method for operating a radar system within a multi-dimensional electromagnetic state space, comprising:
at least one processor to allow the radar system to operate within a multi-dimensional electromagnetic state space with a plurality of nodes without overlap between nodes, the at least one processor configured for;
identifying a plurality of nodes to operate within the electromagnetic state space, the plurality of nodes including a radar node and at least one other node;
determining a capacity of the electromagnetic state space;
assigning an importance value to each node in the plurality of nodes;
estimating an electromagnetic volume of each node within the plurality of nodes;
ranking the plurality of nodes based on value density;
identifying a minimum number of highest ranking nodes within the plurality of nodes that will exceed the capacity of the electromagnetic state space;
attempting to fit electromagnetic volumes associated with less than the minimum number of highest ranking nodes into the electromagnetic state space without overlap, wherein attempting to fit includes modifying transmit parameters associated with one or more nodes; and
if the electromagnetic volumes associated with the less than minimum number of highest ranking nodes do not fit within the electromagnetic state space without overlap:
removing at least one overlapping node from the electromagnetic state space and adding at least one other node to the electromagnetic state space to form a modified group of nodes; and
attempting to fit electromagnetic volumes associated with the modified group of nodes into the electromagnetic state space without overlap.

Assignees

• Raytheon Co

Inventors

• Marr Harry
• Hansen Charles T
• Pierce Brian

Classifications

• H04W16/14

  Spectrum sharing arrangements {between different networks} · CPC title

• G01S13/24

  using frequency agility of carrier wave · CPC title

• G01S7/023

  Interference mitigation, e.g. reducing or avoiding non-intentional interference with other HF-transmitters, base station transmitters for mobile communication or other radar systems, e.g. using electro-magnetic interference [EMI] reduction techniques (auxiliary means for detecting or identifying radar signals or the like G01S7/021; means for anti-jamming G01S7/36) · CPC title

• H04W16/00

  Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures · CPC title

• G01S13/006 Primary

  Theoretical aspects (G01S7/418, G01S13/9094, G01S13/958 take precedence) · CPC title