Configuring Dual Frequency Systems
Dual-system RCP can operate two separate transmitter/receiver systems through the same antenna pedestal system, that is, a dual‑frequency system.
In this case, a radar can be thought of as the transmitter/receiver of each system and its associated RCP, RVP, and IRIS system. These 2 radars share the same antenna and pedestal. The constraint is that only one RCP can control the antenna/pedestal at a time.
There are 2 modes of operation possible in this case: Flip mode and Simultaneous Active/Passive mode.
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In principle it is possible to operate in using the “flip” mode (A or B) and the active/passive (A and B) mode simultaneously. In this case the radars would flip between active and passive. However, this is more complex to configure. For active/passive operation, it is simpler to select one radar to always be the active system and never “flip” the active system to the other radar. |
RVP setups do not require special consideration for dual-system operation.
A or B (“Flip”) mode: Selectable or Alternating Active Radar:
This case is identical to the operation in the case of a redundant system, that is, either radar A or radar B is used exclusively.
The switching menu or the hardware selector switch can be used to force the exclusive use of one “radar” or the other. In addition, the TASK Scheduler menu provides support to “flip” between the two radars so that IRIS can automatically run a task from on one radar and then relinquish control so that the other radar can run a task.
A and B mode: Simultaneous Active/Passive Radar
In this case, one “radar” system is used to actively control the antenna scanning while the other radar system acquires data passively. This allows both radars to operate simultaneously.
RVP of the passive systemstill generates pulse width change output and triggers and the associated passive RCP still has control to turn-on the radiate and T/R power.
The IRIS Status Product, sent from the active system, is used by the passive system to determine which task in the schedule should be run in passive mode.
Comaparison of Dual-redundant and Dual System Parallel Systems
A major difference between the dual-redundant case and the dual-system parallel operation is that RCP does not typically set the mode of operation, that is, it does not control IRIS mode selection in the Radar Status Menu.
In the redundant case, it is important that in the event of a failure, IRIS be told what to do after an automatic switch-over, that is, the RCP that takes control tells IRIS the operating mode.
For dual‑system parallel operation, IRIS tells the RCPs how to operate, that is, which is active and which is passive. This means that the RCP setup (on RCP and on IRIS) does not involve defining all the operating modes, mode reporting and mode switching strategies.
In most cases, RCP8 and IRIS setups for dual-system parallel operation are the same as for the dual redundant system.