Noise performance of the complex monopulse ratio

Abstract

The paper provides a characterization of the complex monopulse ratio in terms of autocorrelation and power spectral density of its fluctuations during satellite tracking, taking into account the presence of additive noise on sum and difference channels. The considered spectral structure and statistical distribution of the incoming signal is of interest for satellite missions. In particular it is assumed that the signal available at the monopulse processor after frequency down conversion contains a Gaussian term produced by low pass filtering of a constant envelope modulation, plus a monochromatic component representative of a possible residual carrier. The results can be used for optimizing the design of a monopulse tracking system.