Analog Logic
Program Manager: Mr. Preston Marshall
The Analog Logic program will develop and demonstrate architectures, designs, and development tools for implementing computational functions in analog circuitry to overcome performance limitations inherent in digital designs. This program will apply the technologies to signal processing functions typically performed in digital form, which experience design complexity, high power consumption, thermal loads, limits to computational speeds, loss in dynamic range, and susceptibility to manufacturing variances. The Analog Logic program will build and demonstrate an analog-only signal processing capability with no local oscillator, down conversion, or analog-to-digital conversion.
Signal processing in wireless military communications are critical components in determining system performance. The Analog Logic program has the potential to reduce complexity and power requirements for signal processing functions while improving performance relative to digital implementations in field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), digital signal processors (DSP), and general purpose processors (GPP). The result is a significant reduction in system cost, increase in battery life, and higher system reliability. Furthermore, the fault tolerance of the technology will enable computational scaling to extend beyond the anticipated limitations. The Analog Logic program will also develop the algorithm libraries and an automated development tools needed for developing algorithms in a low-cost fashion similar to Very High level Design Language (VHDL). As a result of this effort, there will be a great saving in cost, power, and volume to many modern military systems.
This includes improvements in wideband signal spreading, spectrum utilization, multiple input multiple output channels and radar applications.
