A methodology for interoperability analysis

A description is given of COEDS (Communication Engineering Design System), which was developed for interoperability analysis of colocated communications equipment. The principal function of the COEDS system is to determine the degree of interference at a receiver caused by transmitters at the same site. These data are then used to determine the frequency separation required for the system to be ambient noise limited rather than interference limited. If a frequency plan can be specified for equipments to achieve required performance criteria and be ambient noise limited rather than interference limited, they would be interoperable in the scope of the COEDS system. The authors provide an example that demonstrates the block diagram interface, automated program operation, generation of graphical output, and ease of use in changing the design to meet performance criteria. Key features of COEDS are the block diagram editor, configuration database, test plan generator, use of a mouse to point and select for all input and execution, and postprocessor for output displays