Double seminar: "SPARTA - Advanced Test System for Electronic Warfare", and "A Systems Approach to AI for Signal Processing"
Co-sponsored by IEEE AESS, AOC Australia and QDSA, and open to all
Speaker: Nicole Perry, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
Title: SPARTA - Advanced Test System for Electronic Warfare
Abstract: Electromagnetic warfare (EW) systems require thorough and accurate test and evaluation (T&E) leading to complex, expensive, and timely test phases. As complexity of both the EW operation environment and EW capabilities grow, the need for improved test resources and better evaluation has increased. Electronic Attack (EA), one aspect of EW, requires evaluation at a high resolution and fidelity that is increasingly difficult with the use of conventional commercial off the shelf (COTS) test equipment. SPARTA, or System Performance and Real-time Analysis, is an advanced tool that provides post-processing analysis during testing of Electronic Attack (EA) techniques. It describes the behavior of the EW system under test (SUT) in both time-domain and frequency-domain. Recorded signal of interest (SOI) related to radar emitters and EW SUT can be analyzed at a high-level or as very detailed pulses and samples. Graphical video illustrating activity of SOI and EW SUT can be synchronized to range and velocity graphs, providing more in-depth visual data. For testing requiring a congested, noisy environment, this software can separate SOI and false target responses and analyze pulse-to-pulse and intrapulse characteristics. Designed to meet complex testing needs of EW, SPARTA can reduce lifecycle costs and improve testing accuracy during acquisition and sustainment phases.
Biography: Nicole Perry is a Senior Research Engineer with the Advanced Electronic Warfare group at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). With SwRI, she performs development of requirements, design, build, and testing of engineering hardware, software, and firmware for legacy Electronic Warfare weapon systems and advanced technology EW platforms. She has been heavily involved with testing Electronic Attack techniques using SwRI’s SPARTA software and with a SwRI-led project using open architecture technology in a scalable, platform agnostic EW system. In 2024, Ms. Perry was the recipient of the Association of Old Crows (AOC) Professional Outstanding Achievement Award and the AOC Dixie Crow chapter A.C. McMullin Electronic Attack (EA) Award.
Speaker: David Brown, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
Title: A Systems Approach to AI for Signal Processing
Abstract: Systems domain expertise has been found to be a critical factor successful machine learning applications. Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are highly dependent on the quality of data used in training. For AI algorithms used on non-cooperative emitters where only small amounts of observed data is available, synthetic data is used to develop sufficient number of training samples to AI training. Synthesized data has the advantage that large volumes of training data can be generated over many scenarios that would be problematic to replicate in operational scenarios (often simply due to time/cost limitations). However, synthesized signal data sets are generated with mathematical precision that is not found in observed signal data. Recent research that focused on applying AI to radar signal processing I/Q data highlighted the limitations of direct AI approaches: AI applied without incorporating system level considerations yielded high performance with synthetic training data but very poor performance when data reflective of a broader operational context was processed by the trained algorithm. This presentation will summarize recent research where system level domain expertise was applied both to the development of the synthetic training data and to the training methodology.
Biography: David Brown is a chief engineer at Southwest Research Institute where he leads cognitive EW research and development. His research interests are centered on applied cognitive EW, including methodologies to push AI/ML algorithms to the sensor edge. Prior to SwRI, he held a variety of EW related R&D positions and was an adjunct professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. In addition to engineering, David gained practical experience in EW in flight as a B-1B WSO. David is a Distinguished Graduate of the Joint Electronic Warfare Officer School and is the recipient of the AOC EW Pioneer Award and RF Award. He served as Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA) Low Latency Subcommittee co-chair, focusing on Open EW specific concerns. David is an IEEE Systems Council Distinguished Lecturer and active in the AOC.
Parking
Limited metered street parking nearby, alternatively we recommend public transport or paid parking available under Southbank Parklands. Alternatively, the venue is a short walk from South Bank Train Station or Mater Hill bus station.
Date and Time
Location
Hosts
Registration
- Date: 17 Mar 2025
- Time: 06:30 AM UTC to 07:30 AM UTC
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- The Ship Inn
- Sidon Street
- South Brisbane, Queensland
- Australia 4101
- Building: Access venue at rear of building, proceed to level 2 function room
- Room Number: Level 2 function room
- Click here for Map
- Contact Event Host
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For more information, contact Jason Williams, Vice Chair IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Queensland Chapter, jlw@ieee.org.
- Starts 27 February 2025 02:00 PM UTC
- Ends 17 March 2025 06:00 AM UTC
- No Admission Charge