Development of an automated unintended radiated emission (URE) radio frequency (RF) measurement system

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (NSWC IHEODTD) was tasked with the development of an Unintended Radiated Emission (URE) system (Figure 1) for the collection of wideband radio frequency (RF) data. Test facility sharing, large data file sizes (100 GBs), and ambitious production schedules added complexity to the data acquisition assignment. The solution would require clever and efficient automatic RF techniques in hardware selection, design, and also in software development. URE is used to identify electronic systems by their RF emissions. At the start of this project in 2012, there was little literature on URE, so the IHEODTD development team had to rely on innovation. Some similarity to the field of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) provided a starting point for the project. This paper will cover the evolution of the IHEODTD URE system hardware and algorithms, motivated by the need for greater system reliability and data throughput.