Time Discriminator for Satellite Radar Altimeter Tracker System

The article considers the design of optimum time discriminator for onboard delay-lock loop of a space-based radar altimeter. The basic signal model is simplified remaining however adequate enough to the task of keeping echo-signal within the tracking receiver window. Along with the optimal one the quasi-optimal maximum-point and maximal-steepness-point discriminators are proposed. The discriminator curves of all considered structures are calculated. It is shown that the quasi-optimal discrimination yield about 2.5 times to the optimal one in the equivalent time fluctuations. Such a loss can be considered a tolerable cost of achieved hardware simplicity.

Authors: D.S. Borovitsky, A.E. Zhesterev, V.P. Ipatov, R.M. Mamchur

Direction: Радиотехнические средства передачи, приема и обработки сигналов

Keywords: Satellite Altimeter, Time Discriminator, Delay-Lock Loop, Discriminator Curve

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