This article presents the hardware implementation and a behavioral model-based RF system modeling and simulation (M&S) study of compressive sensing (CS) based 2D angle-of-arrival (AoA) measurement system for 2-18 GHz radar electronic support measures (RESM). A 6-channel ultra-wideband RF digital receiver was first developed using a PXIe-based multi-channel digital receiver paired with a 6-element random-spaced 2D cavity-backed-spiral-antenna array. Then the system was tested in an open lab environment. The measurement results showed that the system can measure AoA of impinging signals from 2-18 (GHz) with overall RMSE of estimation at 3.60, 2.74, 1.16, 0.67 and 0.56 (deg) in L, S, C, X and Ku bands, respectively. After that, using the RF high-fidelity M&S (RF HF-M&S) approach, a 6-channel AoA measurement system behavioral model was also developed and studied using a radar electronic warfare (REW) engagement scenario. The simulation result showed that the airborne AoA measurement system could successfully measure an S-band ground-based target acquisition radar signal in the dynamic REW environment. Using the RF HF-M&S model, the applicability of the system in other frequencies within 2-18 (GHz) was also studied. The simulation results demonstrated that the airborne AoA measurement system can be used for 2-18 GHz RESM applications.
Keywords: RF high-fidelity modeling and simulation; angle of arrival; compressive sensing; radar electronic support measures; radar electronic warfare; random spaced array; ultra-wideband digital receiver.