A high resolution, near real-time frequency estimator for sub-microsecond pulses

Based on analysis and simulation, a 7-bit, six-stage pipeline realization of an all-digital EW receiver is presented. The tentative design estimates frequencies of up to four radar pulses by means of the covariance algorithm. The covariance method generates the frequency estimate as roots of a polynomial equation whose coefficients are defined by a system of linear normal equations given in terms of the covariance/autocorrelation matrices. Each highly concurrent stage is designed for a nominal 300 ns computation time using hardware performance figures projected for the year 2000.<>