The Role of Precise Time in IFF

Abstract

Precise knowledge of time of day can dramatically affect the design of military electronic systems. Small, inexpensive atomic clocks are becoming available that can provide free-running accuracies on the order of 10 to 100 microseconds for periods in excess of a month. Such clocks could revolutionize tactical communications, navigation, data links, IFF and ELINT systems. This paper discusses the application of precise time to the IFF problem. The simple concept of knowing when to expect each signal is exploited in a variety of ways to achieve an IFF system which is hard to detect, minimally exploitable and difficult to jam. Precise clocks are the backbone of the concept and the various candidates for this role are discussed. The compact rubidium-controlled oscillator is the only practical candidate.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1981
Accession Number
ADA497609

Entities

People

  • William M. Bridge

Organizations

  • MITRE Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Atomic Clocks
  • Clocks
  • Corporations
  • Data Links
  • Frequency
  • Iff Systems
  • Information Operations
  • Intervals
  • Rubidium
  • Security
  • Spread Spectrum
  • Tactical Communications
  • Time Intervals

Readers

  • Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Technology.
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics