Automated Terrestrial EMI Emitter Detection, Classification, and Localization

Clear operating spectrum at ground station antenna locations is critically important for communicating with, commanding, controlling, and maintaining the health of satellites. Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) can interfere with these communications so tracking down the source of EMI is extremely important to prevent it from occurring in the future. The Terrestrial RFI-locating Automation with CasE based Reasoning (TRACER) system is designed to automate terrestrial EMI emitter localization and identification, providing improved space situational awareness, realizing significant manpower savings, dramatically shortening EMI response time, providing capabilities for the system to evolve without programmer involvement, and offering increased support for adversarial scenarios (e.g. jamming). TRACER has been prototyped and tested with real data (amplitudes versus frequency over time) for both satellite communication antennas and sweeping Direction Finding (DF) antennas located near them.

TRACER monitors the satellite communication and DF antenna signals to detect and classify EMI using neural network technology trained on past cases of both normal communications and EMI events. Based on details of the signal (its classification, its direction and strength, etc.) one or more cases of EMI investigation methodologies are retrieved, represented as graphical behavior transition networks (BTNs), which very naturally represent the flowchart-like process often followed by experts in time pressured situations, are intuitive to SMEs, and easily edited by them. The appropriate actions, as determined by the BTN are executed and the resulting data processed by Bayesian Networks to update the probabilities of the various possible platforms and source types of the EMI. Bearing sweep of the EMI is used to determine if the EMI's platform is aerial, a ground vehicle or ship, or stationary. If moving, the Friis transmission equation is used to plot the emitter's location and compare it to current flights or moving vehicles. This paper describes the TRACER technologies and results of prototype testing.