Courses in 2012

Dates: 27 February – 2 March 2012

Course code: EEE5108F

Presenter: Dr Pieter Uys (UCT)

Course description: This course provides a useful mathematical toolkit for the Radar and Electronic Defence Engineer. Emphasis is on practical calculation and useful ‘tricks of the trade’ rather than mathematical rigour. The textbook, Advanced Engineering Mathematics, E. Kreyszig (Wiley) (with many editions available) is prescribed. Some notes are also made available to assist the student.

Specific course topics include (estimated number of lectures and acronyms shown in brackets):

• Ordinary differential equations (7) (ODE)
• Laplace transforms (2) (LT)
• Fourier analysis (3) (FA)
• Partial differential equations (2) (PDE)
• Complex analysis (8) (CA)
• Vector calculus (5) (VC)

Download Course Handout: Maths 2012

Dates: 19-23 March 2012

Course code: EEE5104F

Presenter: Prof Chris Baker and Prof Hugh Griffiths (University College London)

Course description: This course presents the principles and techniques fundamental to the operation of a radar system. Radar Engineering is very much a system level topic, as the field requires at least some knowledge of a wide range of other engineering specialties. The course follows the recommended text-book largely although there is additional material not covered.

Specific course topics include:

• Overview: Introduction, including course format, radar basics and the fundamental concepts of radar. The Radar Equation, which allows us to estimate the performance of a radar system and thus, to design radars for a specific purpose. Radar search and overview of detection and interference, which improves our models of performance, to be used in design.
• Subsystems: Radar Transmitters are examples of microwave power engineering, and are essential for creating suitable waveforms for the radar, at a level sufficient to allow for detection of targets. Radar Receivers are responsible for processing of received energy, without adding significant thermals noise and susceptibility to other EM signals. The energy is then presented for signal processing. Radar Exciters are specialised hardware for creating radar waveforms and synchronizing the radar circuitry. The Radar Signal Processor is responsible for taking the radar signals from the receiver and processing them further to extract target information. This topic is taken up in much more detail in another course in this series.
• Electronically scanned radar: This includes an understanding of basic antenna theory and operation, array antennas, phase shifting, hardware and radar resource management.
• Radar concepts and techniques: These include Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar, Tracking, Moving Target Indication (MTI), Space Time adaptive Processing (STAP), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Aviation radar and Bistatic radar.

Download Course Handout: Intro to Radar 2012

Dates: 16-20 April 2012

Course code: EEE5105F

Presenter: Dr Amit Mishra (UCT)

Course description: This course presents the principles and techniques fundamental to the operation of the signal processing found in a radar system. The course follows the recommended text book very closely. Specific course topics include:

• Fundamentals of radar signals and signal processing
• Threshold detection of radar targets
• Constant false alarm rate detectors
• Doppler processing
• Radar measurements
• Radar tracking algorithms
• Fundamentals of pulse compression waveforms
• Overview of radar imaging.

Textbook: Principles of Modern Radar, Scitech Publishers, or Fundamentals of Radar Signal Processing, Mark A. Richards, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2005.

Download Course Handout: Radar Signal Processing 2012

Dates: 23-27 April 2012

Course code: EEE5107F

Presenters: Prof Johann Cloete and Prof Keith Palmer (University of Stellenbosch)

Course overview: Basic concepts, Electromagnetic wave propagation and power flow, Linear dipole antennas, Antenna array techniques, Systems and characterisation considerations, Antenna matching techniques, Application to Radar and Electronic Defence.

Dates: 7-11 May 2012

Course code: EEE5106S

Presenters: Ferdie Potgieter and Jacobus Vlok (CSIR)

Course description: The course aims to introduce the student to Electronic Defence. A good prior knowledge on the topics of digital signal processing, electromagnetics, mathematics and statistics is highly recommended for this course. A relatively good knowledge of radar and a moderate knowledge of communications would be very beneficial to students. Students should be competent in using scientific programming languages such as Matlab or Octave. Students have to master fundamental concepts in Electronic Defence on a high-level (identification of tactics and applications) as well as on a detail level (the design of a suitable detector to required specifications). Students are required to link theoretical concepts in Electronic Defence to typical applications and to solve problems of an engineering nature.

Topics covered:

• The history of electronic defence
• Overview of electronic defence
• Electronic support
• Electronic attack
• Electronic protection

Download Course Handout: Electronic Defence 2012

Dates: 4-8 June 2012

Course code: EEE5112F

Presenter: Prof Mike Inggs (UCT)

Course description: A practical course, which requires a sound knowledge of Radar Systems and Signal Processing, and teaches you how to used that knowledge to synthesise the design of a system to a requirement. This skill is essential when involved with the design of a sensor, or evaluating the usefulness of a sensor for specific applications. The approach taken is in two parts: firstly, we analyse an existing system, to predict and compare performance against radar parameters, followed by the design of improvements to the system, based on practicals and project work by the student. The system considered is just one example of the broad field of radar, i.e. Air Traffic Control radar, but the systems thinking is widely applicable.

Download Course Handout: Radar System Modelling 2012

Dates: 25-29 June 2012

Course code: EEE5113F

Presenter: Prof Barry Downing (UCT)

Course description: This course presents the technology underlying the implementation of the RF and Microwave parts of Radar and Electronic Defence (ED) Systems. Although digital components and signal processing are very important for modern systems, high performance RF and Microwave devices and modules are key to overall system implementation. Specific course topics include:

• Overview of RF and microwaves in radar and ED
• Circuits and transmission lines
• Solid state oscillators
• Solid state amplifiers
• PIN diodes in switches and phase shifters
• Mixers and receivers
• Filters and multiplexing
• Ferrites in circulators and isolators
• Power tubes

Download Course Handout: MW Devices & Modules 2012

Dates: 13-17 August 2012

Course code: EEE5109F

Presenter: Dr Pieter de Villiers (University of Pretoria/CSIR) and Roaldje Nadjiasngar (UCT)

Course description: The course provides an overview of the most popular methods and techniques in the field of multiple target tracking and multi-sensor data fusion. It introduces engineers, scientists and military technicians to a toolbox of readily used key technologies that can be implemented with success in the field. The course is designed to cover fundamental topics in detail, whereas more advanced topics and extensions are dealt with in such a way that they remain easily accessible to attendees.

Course overview: Data fusion in a multiple sensor environment has become of paramount importance in a world where information from several sources are readily combined to make inferences and decisions. In the engineering and computing contexts, the application areas of mining, manufacturing, robotics and defence have become reliant on data fusion methods. This course on multiple target tracking and data fusion methods aims to provide a foundation for research into more advanced topics in the field and to provide the course attendee with practical knowledge on how understand and apply the basic methods to a variety of challenging problems. Data fusion methods combine the aspects of multi-target and multi-sensor detection, estimation, target tracking, target classification, situation assessment, impact assessment and resource management in order form a refined and coherent picture of the environment being sensed both in terms of object (target) states and their properties. The field of sensor fusion drawn from statistical and mathematical techniques such as detection, decision theory, association theory, sequential estimation and filtering, Bayesian inference, Dempster-Shafer evidential theory, machine learning, fuzzy logic, voting methods and random set theory to name but a few.

• Part 1: Multi-target tracking (selected topics from): Basics of target tracking, sensor and source characteristics, modelling and tracking dynamic targets, passive sensor tracking, attribute data fusion, multiple sensor tracking system implementation and applications, reasoning schemes for situation assessment and sensor management, tracking system performance prediction and evaluation,
• Part 2: Kinematic data fusion: Data/information fusion models, strategies and algorithms, performance evaluation of data fusion systems, software, and tracking, applications of multi-sensor systems and data fusion, sensor management in data fusion systems

Download Course Handout: Multi-Target Tracking 2012