SBIR-STTR Award

Technological advances in both military and commercial communications have resulted in increasingly complex signal waveforms that cannot be processed using existing algorithms. As a result, cryptologic technicians and analysts often must manually derive a signal's features and match those features to an emitter class. Due to the large volumes of collected data that must be sorted through, it is challenging to find those signals that may be of tactical importance in a timely fashion. With the reduction in operational billets, the development of an automated, advanced feature measurement capability has become a necessity. KAB proposes the development of the Automated RF Measurement Module (ARMM), which supports advanced emitter identification capabilities by providing automated feature measurements for both traditional and modern communication technologies. ARMM will employ digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms to support advanced feature measurement, and an open architecture will facilitate the addition or modification of algorithms as new technologies emerge. ARMM will be a service-oriented capability, supported by an open application programming interface (API) to allow any number of client applications to utilize the service. ARMM will be highly portable, enabling it to run on a number of target platforms on both local and wide area networks.

Keywords:
Automate, Algorithms, Digital Signal Processing (Dsp), Feature Measurement, Homeland Security, Radio Frequency (Rf), Specific Emitter Identification (Sei), Specific Emitter Ve

The Automatic Radio Frequency (RF) Measurement Module (ARMM) supports Specific Emitter Identification/Specific Emitter Verification (SEI/SEV) by providing detailed measurements against collected communication signals. ARMM is an integrated set of digital signal processing (DSP) algorithms that extracts and reports key features against collected signals. A feature analysis capability can then determine if the measurements match the characteristics of a known emitter of interest. ARMM addresses a critical need of the Navy cryptologic community by automating measurement processes that have been traditionally handled by manual or semi-automatic means. This need becomes more critical as the number of communication devices escalates and the complexity of these devices increases. ARMM addresses current and emerging communications technologies as an open, portable, and scalable software system.

Benefit:
The resultant ARMM technology can be incorporated into existing Tactical Cryptologic Systems, providing immediate improvement to the reporting capabilities of these systems. Transmissions of tactical relevance will be reported more accurately, while those transmissions with similar characteristics, but not of interest, will be filtered out. The manning requirements for afloat cryptologic technicians may be reduced due to the elimination of complex, time-consuming manual analyses. It is believed that the ARMM technology can be applied to the commercial market in a wide range of applications, including law enforcement and telecommunications systems. Law enforcement agencies may employ the ARMM technology to facilitate the tracking and monitoring of potentially threatening mobile communication systems. Criminal and terror organizations increasingly rely on commercial equipment for their communication needs. The ARMM technology may be used to distinguish the communication equipment known to be used by these organizations from those used for lawful means. Telecommunication systems may employ the ARMM technology for "emitter verification" to ensure only valid terminals access its communication networks. Cellular networks, for example, may be susceptible to piracy and/or spoofing by rogue transmitters accessing the network. The ARMM technology may be used to reject those terminals not exhibiting specific characteristics, preventing fraudulent use of their communication networks.

Keywords:
Algorithms, Homeland Security, feature measurement, specific emitter verification (SEV), radio frequency (RF), automate, specific emitter identification (SEI), Digital Signal Processing (DSP)