A theoretical bound for the processing of SARSAT signals

Author

Carter, C.R.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., McMaster Univ., Hamilton, Ont., Canada

Volume

11

Issue

1

fYear

1986

Firstpage

23

Lastpage

27

Abstract

Search and rescue satellite-aided tracking (SARSAT) has been responsible for saving the lives of many victims of airplane crashes and boating accidents. The system, in operation since 1982, employs satellites in low orbits which relay the emergency signals from distressed platforms to an Earth station where signal processing techniques are used to measure Doppler frequency shift. The author provides a theoretical bound which can be used to evaluate the performance of SARSAT signal processors. Results show that, for a processing duration of 125 ms, an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal can be detected within ±8 Hz when the carrier-to-noise density ratio is only 15 dB-Hz.

Keywords

satellite ground stations; satellite relay systems; signal processing; tracking; Doppler frequency shift; Earth station; SARSAT signals; airplane crashes; boating accidents; carrier-to-noise density ratio; distressed platforms; emergency locator transmitter; emergency signals; low orbits; search and rescue satellite-aided tracking; signal processing; theoretical bound; Amplitude modulation; Frequency modulation; Matched filters; Noise; Program processors; Receivers; Satellites;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Electrical Engineering Journal, Canadian

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0700-9216

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/CEEJ.1986.6593149

Filename

6593149