||||||||||III US005 17360A United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 5,117,360 Hotz et al. (45) Date of Patent: May 26, 1992 (54) JOINTSURVELLANCE TARGET ATTACK Primary Examiner-Tod R. Swann RADAR SYSTEM (JSTARS) Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Richard G. Geib; Daniel J. Tick (75) Inventors: Charles R. Hotz, Satellite Beach; Gerald J. McNiff, Indian Harbor 57 ABSTRACT Beach; Dale Burton, Melbourne, all The central data processor of a radar system includes a of Fla. plurality of Raytheon Company militarized VAX com (73) Assignee: Grumman Aerospace Corporation, puter family model 860 super-minicomputers, each hav Bethpage, N.Y. ing a Raytheon Company MVCF-860 input/output expansion chassis and a Control Data corporation mili (21) Appl. No.: 500,182 tarized disk system unit. A high speed, asynchronous, Filed: Mar. 28, 1990 bidirectional communications channel provides a con 22 munications interface between a programmable signal (51) Int. C. .............................................. G06F 15/14 processor and the super-minicomputers. A joint tactical (52) U.S. C. .................................... 364/423; 342/195; information distibution system asynchronous, bidirec 364/922.5; 364/923.4 tional communications channel interfaces a joint tacti (58) Field of Search ..................... 342/195; 364/922.8, cal information distribution system to the super 364/922.5, 923.4, 423, 270.7 minicomputers. A plurality of militarized advanced disk References Cited system units and small computer systems interfaces of a 56 digital display processor are interposed between one of U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS the militarized advanced disk system units and the digi H,513 8/1988 Dunne et al. ... 364/900 X tal display processor. An operator work station local 4,244,018 1/1981 ... 364/200X area network interfaces the digital display processor 4,740,909 4/1988 Conklin et al. ....... ... 342/195X and the input/output expansion chassis of the central 4,816,993 3/1989 Takahashi et al. ... a a 364/200 4,825,213 4/1989 Smrek ............... ... 342/195 data processor. 4,858,110 8/1989. ... 364/200 4,943,978 7/1990 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets SUBSYSTEMCONTROL i MILITARIZED ADNANCED DISKSYSTEM UNIT SUPER NLCOMPUTER TAZED ADVANCE DIGITAL DISPLAY PROCESSOR PROGRADISPLAY LITARIZED UN ADVANCED ISK SYSTEM LEVEL2DS U.S. Patent May 26, 1992 Sheet 1 of 5 5,117,360 INTERFACE OVERHEAD EFFECTIVE POWER NUMBER OF LRUs A/6 / U.S. Patent May 26, 1992 Sheet 2 of 5 5,117,360 STT T. St.CONTROL p-to- JTDs MILITARIZED MTARIZED ADVANCED ADVANCED DISK SYSTEM DISKSYSTEM UNIT UNIT SUPER MINCOMPUTER SUPER MINICOMPUTER I/O EXPANSION 7 CHASSIS I/OEXPANSION 27 CHASSIS PROCESSORE" PRINTER PANEL 12 TO / - MILITARIZED PROGRAMMABLE 7 ADVANCE SIGNAL PROCESSOR 6 DISK SYSTEM) H- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - as - C 23 2 J Ef20 PROGRAMMABLE R -29 | | SGML GENERALDISPLAY - ------ - -l- - - - PROGRAM DISPLAY MILITARIZED A/62 UNIT ADVANCED DISK SYSTEM LEVEL-2 DISK U.S. Patent May 26, 1992 Sheet 3 of 5 5,117,360 e Ll as sts sa e ed s Lone to a de - to droco de a Ca dea MD - s U.S. Patent May 26, 1992 Sheet 4 of 5 5,117,360 FAMILY OF COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS m FOURTH DISK 5 55 /108 . , 56 67 O 63; ; IG-IO 68N6469 65 G-102. FAMILY OF ------------------ COMPATIBLE COMPUTERS s. Forg. (8076 E-104 COMPATIBLE 877 O5 ----- COMPUTERS IS 96 1 !----- '5 --- 106 -- T -- 99 72 82/ 78 97. 54 8 '53 FIRST DISK ------ (SECOND --------- - DISK 58---j 98 7 (FAMLYCOMPATIBLE OF COMPUTERS A/6 4 U.S. Patent May 26, 1992 Sheet 5 of 5 5,117,360 gç?.E!--~~~~ 5,117,360 1. 2 from MTI, he can activate SAR and confirm that they JOINT SURVELLANCE TARGET ATTACK have stopped. SAR can also be used for strike damage RADAR SYSTEM (JSTARS) assessment. Targets that do not move after an attack may have been hit. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 5 Although the operational implementation of Pave The present invention relates to a joint surveillance Mover technology was controversial from the start, target attack radar system, hereinafter referred to as unlike a system reliant on a large ground station, JSTARS. More particularly, the invention relates to an JSTARS can be operational anywhere in the world in a airborne segment of JSTARS and the computer proces matter of hours, playing the same non-threatening, cri sors thereof. 10 sis-management role as the E-3. JSTARS is designed to detect, track and classify There are 17 operation and control station consoles. formations of vehicles as they move through the "corps This reflects the ability of the system to supply data and area' towards the front line. The "corps area" is the the number of uses to which JSTARS information can area in which such forces are most vulnerable to attack be put. Each operator console has a screen, trackball by aircraft or missiles such as the Army Tactical Missile 15 and reconfigurable, touch-sensitive keypads. System (ATACMS), and is usually considered to ex Similar terminals are installed in mobile ground sta tend some 150-175 km behind the front line. In order to tions. All moving-target information is broadcast have a reasonable chance of survival, however, any through the surveillance and control data link and the airborne radar system has to remain well behind the operators can request other information, such as SAR friendly line. Thus, JSTARS must spot individual mov 20 imagery, which is compressed before transmission. ing vehicles at very long ranges. The 17 operators can each concentrate on a different This is done with the assistance of a large antenna, target area. Each can command a wide range of func with high average power and high peak power. The tions: wide area search, covering the entire area in view; size of the antenna is approximately 24 ft long by 2 ft sector search, in which the radar searches a particular deep. It is mechanically scanned in elevation, can swivel 25 area or a selected road; attack planning or control, in to look on either side of the aircraft and is scanned which a target area is viewed at higher resolution; tar electronically in azimuth. The system operates in X get classification; and SAR/fixed-target modes, in band, providing the necessary resolution and range. which the radar can be set to display only targets above The sheer size of the antenna is in itself significant in a given size. the detection of low-speed targets. Doppler shifts in the 30 ground clutter, due to the movement of the platform, As the operators command the radar to do different are inevitable and can blur the Doppler shifts from tasks, they share time on the radar. Each task is assigned slow-moving targets. The size of the antenna is impor a priority and a "revisit interval', as the radar com tant because, if the antenna is larger, the beam is nar pletes one task, the control software sorts through the rower. The Doppler shifts in the ground return are 35 tasks that are due to be revisited and instructs the radar spread over a smaller velocity range. to do the job that has the highest priority. With elec The basic moving target indication (MTI) mode used tronic scanning in azimuth and extremely rapid scan in JSTARS was developed in the late 1970s, and also ning in elevation, the radar is highly agile. takes advantage of the size of the antenna. In a simpli ACD-Aircraft Change Directive fied example of the process, two side-looking antennas ACP-Advanced Computer Program could be mounted on the same aircraft, separated longi ACSN-Advanced Change Study Notice tudinally. The second would pulse slightly later than ADT-Air Data Terminal (of the SCDL) the other, but at precisely the same point in space. Static APL-Acceptable Performance Level targets would give identical returns to each pulse, but a ATP-Acceptance Test Plan (or Procedure) moving target would be different. Subtracting the re 45 ATR-Air Transport Rack turns would reveal the "mover' through the main-lobe BIT-Built-in-Test clutter. CCC-Change Configuration Control This principle is used in JSTARS, but in a much CDC-Control Data Corporation refined manner. The process is carried out synthetically CDP-Central Data Processor by the programmable signal processor, and the antenna 50 CDR-Critical Design Review acts as three sub-arrays rather than two. The signal CDRL-Contracts Data Requirements List subtraction is done twice, once between the front and CFE-Contractor Furnished Equipment center sub-arrays and once between the center and rear CG-Center of Gravity sub-arrays, so there are two target signals. The differ CMOS-Cadmium Metal Oxide Semiconductor ence in phase of arrival between these signals provides 55 COTS-Commercial Off-the-Shelf a very accurate indication of the target's bearing in CPCI-Computer Program Configuration Item azimuth. The system's computers compare the result CPI-Computer Program Item with the on-board terrain database and the target's CPU-Central Processing Unit range, and calculate the target's exact three-dimensional CSE-Common Support Equipment position. 60 CWS-Communications Work Station JSTARS is not a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) as DARTS-Data Analysis and Reduction Test Software such. SAR relies on the movement of the platform to DBCP-Data Bus Control Processing provide a very large-aperture, very high-resolution DCAS-Defense Contracting Auditing Service image of static objects on the ground. SAR and MTI DCL-Digital Command Language are complementary: SAR cannot see targets that move DCP-Digital Control Program and MTI cannot see them when they stop. JSTARS DDB-Digital Data Bus (a MIL-STD-1553B bus) does have a SAR mode, which is used in precisely that DDED-Design Data Element Dictionary event.