Sweep jamming hit rate analysis for frequency agile communications

Abstract

Communication system performance under jamming can be analyzed in most cases if the jamming hit rate (the percentage of jammed bits) is known or could be estimated. Radar electronic warfare (EW) engineers have used the theory of coincidence of pulse trains for similar situations with success. However, the theory does not hold for communications in all scenarios, especially if a fast sweeping (or stepping) jamming signal disturbs a frequency agile signal. Herein, a modification to the theory is proposed. Furthermore, it is shown by simulations that the modified theory is able to predict the hit rate also in scenarios that are difficult to the original theory. The provided simple to use analysis method is usable not just for communications engineers afraid of jamming and detection but also for EW engineers working on the opposite side.