University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2001 An Externally-Synchronized Coherent Communication System Design Gary R. Ragsdale University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Ragsdale, Gary R., "An Externally-Synchronized Coherent Communication System Design. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2001. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2073 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Gary R. Ragsdale entitled "An Externally- Synchronized Coherent Communication System Design." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Electrical Engineering. Daniel B. Koch, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Michael J. Roberts, Paul B. Crilly, Balram S. Rajput Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: We are submitting herewith a dissertation written by Gary Ragsdale entitled “An Externally-Synchronized Coherent Communication System Design.” We have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Electrical Engineering. Daniel B. Koch, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Michael J. Roberts Paul B. Crilly Balram S. Rajput Accepted for the Council: Dr. Anne Mayhew Interim Vice Provost and Dean of The Graduate School (Original signatures are on file in the Graduate Admissions and Records Office.) An Externally-Synchronized Coherent Communication System Design A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Gary L. Ragsdale May 2001 Copyright Gary Lynn Ragsdale, 2001 All rights reserved ii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my creator, my savior, and my family. To God and his son Jesus Christ, I offer praise for giving me life and for giving my life direction according to His plan. (Psalm 118:8) To my wife Joyce, I give my deepest affection for filling my life with enduring love and happiness. We have traveled many roads together. She is my friend. To my daughters Holly and Shannon, I give a warm embrace that symbolizes the love and pride that I have for them. I pray for God’s blessings and guidance upon them. May they know happiness, fulfillment, and peace for all of their lives. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I extend my deepest appreciation to Dr. Daniel B. Koch for his trust, advice, and leadership during my graduate program and the preparation of my dissertation. Dr. Koch has been an outstanding instructor and advisor. My thanks also goes to Dr. Michael J. Roberts, Dr. Paul B. Crilly, and Dr. Belram S. Rajput for serving on my doctoral committee and for their guidance in the refinement of the research. I take pride in my association with the University of Tennessee, its faculty, and its administration. I gratefully acknowledge the contributions of my fellow research engineer Tom Warnagiris. His experience in radio frequency communications, suggestions, and insight was a frequent aid to me during the research. I offer my thanks to Southwest Research Institute and its management for their active support during my doctoral program. I often used Institute tools, laboratory equipment, the Library, and facilities provided during the research and compilation of this dissertation. The Institute Library staff provided valuable literature research assistance and acquired much of my reference materials. I wish to thank Dr. Walter L. Green for his counsel at a critical time in my life. His unselfish advice and words of encouragement brought me to the University of Tennessee. iv ABSTRACT The research described within this dissertation was initiated on October 1, 1997 to investigate communication link performance improvements made possible by using a frequency reference supplied by a residual carrier broadcast. The primary link types considered were radio frequency links, although prior research in externally-synchronized bistatic radar was also considered. Conventional radio frequency communications links transfer information from transmitter to receiver by modulating a carrier signal at the transmitter and demodulating the received signal at the receiver. Demodulation can be done coherently or noncoherently. That is, the information on the received signal can be recovered by comparison of the received signal with an exact replica of the transmitter carrier (coherent demodulation) or by other methods that do not require a replica of the transmitter carrier (noncoherent demodulation). Coherent demodulation provides superior link performance in the form of lower bit error rate (BER) for a received signal with a given signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). Unfortunately, it is not always possible to produce a reliable replica of the carrier signal from the information-bearing signal. The studied approach supplies a residual carrier reference signal as a synchronization reference common to both transmitter and receiver. Research shows that the common reference provides carrier synchronization and stabilizes the link carrier frequency. v The investigations performed under this research effort includes developing a model for a radio frequency (RF) link using an external reference signal, determining the effects of noise on the simulated reference signal, and comparing the simulated link performance with conventional links, which recover a carrier from the received signal. The model consists of three parts. The first part consists of a model using conventional synchronization in which the carrier is extracted from the information-bearing signal. The second part models the behavior of phase-locked loops (PLLs) when referenced to a residual carrier reference signal. The third part is a design tool for predicting the synchronization and bit error performance of a transmitter and a receiver synchronized to external residual carrier broadcast (a triad configuration). The models demonstrate that a transceiver referenced to a double-sideband residual carrier broadcast maintains synchronization at a very low received SNR. Results of this research could be used in the development of externally-referenced wireless links for commercial and military applications. The models could serve as design aids to determine the expected performance of such systems. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Synchronization in Communication Systems........................................................ 1 1.2 Problem Statement................................................................................................. 2 1.2.1 Externally-Synchronized Wireless Modems................................................... 5 1.2.2 Considered Questions ..................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2 Related Research ............................................................................................ 8 2.1 Related Patents and Experimentation.................................................................... 9 2.2 External Synchronization in Spread-Spectrum Radio......................................... 10 2.2.1 Amateur Radio Experimentation .................................................................. 11 2.2.2 Code Division Multiple Access Cellular Systems........................................ 14 2.3 Pilot Tone Synchronization to Combat Fading ................................................... 14 2.4 External Synchronization in Radar Systems ....................................................... 17 2.4.1 Bistatic Radar................................................................................................ 18 2.4.2 Passive Radar................................................................................................ 20 2.5 Externally-Referenced Timing ............................................................................ 21 2.6 Optical Frequency Stabilization .......................................................................... 22 2.7 Research Motivation............................................................................................ 23 2.8 Overview and Contributions of the Research...................................................... 23 2.9 Anticipated Benefits from External Synchronization.......................................... 24 Chapter 3 Theory of Operation..................................................................................... 30 vii 3.1 Modulation........................................................................................................... 30 3.2 Demodulation .....................................................................................................