Thermal Noise Errors in DF Monopulse Systems Having Log Amplifiers

An analysis of the effects of thermal noise on the accuracy of direction finding (DF) monopulse systems which employ logarithmic amplifiers is presented. Numerical results are presented which indicate that a simple model may be used to compute rms thermal errors for a wide range of signal levels. Analytical results obtained in the limit of large signal-to-noise ratios are compared with standard results used to analyze monopulse systems employing automatic gain control (AGC) circuitry instead of log amplifiers.