Write Up

Acknowledgement
First I will like to thank God for giving me the grace to start and complete my MSc program without any problem. I am also thankful to Lagos State Government for giving me the opportunity to further my studies. This dissertation would not have been possible without the help from my supervisor Prof Bahram Honary, Dr Bamidele Adebisi and Dr. David Lund for their correspondence and assistance all through the dissertation. I am also grateful to HW Communication for giving me the opportunity to be involved in the project. Above all I will thank my Mother for her encourage and motherly advice she gave during my program. I dedicate this dissertation to all family for their love and support.
Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft
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Declaration
Name: Kassim Fatai Babatunde M.Sc. in Digital Signal Processing and Intelligent Systems
I, declare that the work contained in this document is my own, except where stated otherwise. It has been completed in the School of Computing and Communication Systems at Lancaster University and has not been submitted for the award of a higher degree at this or any other university.
Signed 19/08/2011
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Abstract
Electrical wiring has found it usage in different application, from communication network, homes, electrical wiring the aircraft. It is use has information or signal carrier from one location to another. However the due to long term environmental exposure, it reduces the life span of the wire which make important for time to time inspection for fault in the wire The dissertation is based on re-designing the existing the hardware implementation of wire integrity test system for real application onboard aircraft. The method of fault detection and location used in this dissertation is Intermodulation Product (IMP) where two tones are fed through a live wire and reflected tones are used in the fault detection and location. The type of tone fed into the implemented hardware is known as modulated Pseudorandom Sequence at two different frequencies, generated from a transmitter (DAC) and received through the ADC. It is assumed in this project that a clean wire has a linear characteristic while faulty wire has nonlinear characteristic. The fault detection is based on the intermodulation generated by the faulty wire received by the ADC. The location of fault is finding the different between the reference signal and the reflected signal by cross correlation of the two. The different in time lag is used in fault location.
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Contents
Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................................... i Declaration .................................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ iii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. viii Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2 DIFFERENT TYPE OF WIRING FAULT THAT CAN BE FIND ONBOARD AIRCRAFT .................................. 2 1.3 PROJECT AIM ....................................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 PROJECT STRUCTURE .......................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.0. BACKGROUND THEORY .................................................................................................................. 5 2.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2. SYSTEMS CLASSIFICATION .................................................................................................................. 5 2.3. LINEAR SYSTEMS ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.4. NON LINEAR SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................... 7 2.5. PSEUDORANDOM SEQUENCE (PRS)................................................................................................... 8 2.6. TYPES OF PSEUDORANDOM SEQUENCE (PRS)................................................................................... 9 2.7 INTERMODULATION PRODUCTS (IMP) ............................................................................................. 10 2.8. METHODS USED IN DETECTING AND LOCATION OF FAULT IN AIRCRAFT ....................................... 14 2.8.1 GENERAL VISUAL INSPECTION (GVI) .............................................................................. 14 2.8.2 DC OHMMETER ...................................................................................................................... 15 2.8.3 REFLECTROMETRY ............................................................................................................... 15 2.9. FILTERS ............................................................................................................................................. 17 2.10 COUPLERS ....................................................................................................................................... 22 2.11. RF MIXER ........................................................................................................................................ 24 2.12. RF COMBINER AND SPLLITER ......................................................................................................... 25 2.13. CROSS-CORRELATION .................................................................................................................... 26 2.14. MODULATION OF SIGNAL .............................................................................................................. 27 2.15 DEMODULATION OF SIGNAL ........................................................................................................... 28 Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft Page iv
2.16. SAMPLING ...................................................................................................................................... 29 2.17 CONLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 31 3.0. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTAION DESIGN ..................................................................................... 31 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 31 3.2 PREVIOUS SETUP-TEST DESIGN ......................................................................................................... 31 3.3 PRESENT DESIGN SETUP-TEST DESIGN ............................................................................................. 33 3.4 DESIGN COMPONENTS...................................................................................................................... 35 3.4.1 DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERTER (DA12000-2-4M-PCI) ............................................. 35 3.4.2 RF POWER SPLITTER............................................................................................................. 36 3.4.3 LOW PASS FILTER ................................................................................................................. 36 3.4.4 RF MIXER ................................................................................................................................. 37 3.4.5 VAUNIX LAB BRICK SIGNAL GENERATOR ..................................................................... 37 3.4.6 BAND PASS FILTER ............................................................................................................... 38 3.4.7 LOW PASS FILTER ................................................................................................................. 39 3.4.8 RF AMPLIFIER......................................................................................................................... 40 3.4.9 LOW PASS FILTER ................................................................................................................. 41 3.4.10 ATTENUATOR ....................................................................................................................... 41 3.4.11 DIRECTIONAL COUPLER.................................................................................................... 41 3.4.12 SPECTRUM ANALYZER E4411B ........................................................................................ 42 3.5 CONLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................................................. 44 4.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 44 4.2 ANAYLSIS OF RESULT......................................................................................................................... 44 4.3 RESULT FROM THE ADS5474 ADX EVM ............................................................................................ 45 4.4 IMPROVEMENT OF RESULT FROM DESIGN AND PREVIOUS DESIGN ................................................ 48 4.5 FAULT LOCATION IN A WIRE ............................................................................................................. 49 CHAPTER 5 .................................................................................................................................................. 50 5.0 DISSCUSION AND CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 50 5.1 FURTHER WORK ................................................................................................................................ 50 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 51
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Typical wiring from the back of the electronics rack of an in-service transport aircraft [2] ......... 1 Figure 2.1: Properties of a linear system (a) Scaling (b) Superposition (c) Time-Invariance ...................... 6 Figure 2.2: Linear feedback shift register ..................................................................................................... 8 Figure 2.3: 3-bit LFSR .................................................................................................................................. 8 Figure2.4 Spectrums of Intermodulation Components ............................................................................... 13 Figure2.5: (a) In-flight electric/hydraulic fire in an aircraft wing area [2] (b) Damage wire due to mechanical activities [2] ............................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 2.6: Time Domain Reflectometry. ................................................................................................... 16 Figure 2.7: Block representation of FIR filter............................................................................................. 19 Figure 2.8: Low Pass Filter (LPF) .............................................................................................................. 19 Figure 2.9: High Pass Filter ........................................................................................................................ 20 Figure 2.10: Band Pass Filter (BPF) ........................................................................................................... 20 Figure 2.11: Stop Band Filter (SBF) ........................................................................................................... 21 Figure 2.12: Block representation of IIR filter............................................................................................ 22 Figure 2.13: Directional coupler symbolic [16] ......................................................................................... 23 Figure 2.14: RF Directional Coupler .......................................................................................................... 23 Figure 2.15 Definition of Down conversions and Up conversion [17] ....................................................... 25 Figure 2.16: BASK Generation................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 2.18: BFSK Generation ................................................................................................................... 28 Figure 2.19: (a) spectrum of under-sample signal which leads to aliasing. (b) Spectrum of sampled signal separated by Ideal low-pass filter. (c) Spectrum of sampled signal which satisfy Nyquist theorem .......... 30 Figure3.2: Testing the linearity threshold of the RF Power Combiner ....................................................... 32 Figure 3.3: Set-up Design for Hardware Implementation ........................................................................... 33 Figure 3.3: DA12000-2-4M-PCI Digital to Analog Converter Board ........................................................ 35 Figure 3.4: Mini Circuit RF Power Splitter ................................................................................................ 36 Figure 3.5: Mini Circuit RF BLP 550+ Low Pass Filter ............................................................................. 36 Figure 3.6: Mini Circuit RF Mixer.............................................................................................................. 37 Figure 3.7: Vaunix Signal Generator .......................................................................................................... 37 Figure 3.8: Vaunix Signal Generator GUI .................................................................................................. 38 Figure 3.9: WainWright RF Band Pass filter .............................................................................................. 38 Figure 3.10: Mini Circuit RF Low Pass filter ............................................................................................. 39 Figure 3.11: Typical graph of both Bandpass filter-650+ to1000MHZ and SLP-850+.............................. 39 Figure 3.12: Graph frequency Sweep from 600MHz to 980MHz .............................................................. 40 Figure 3.13: Mini Circuit RF Amplifier...................................................................................................... 40 Figure 3.14: Mini Circuit RF Low Pass filter ............................................................................................. 41 Figure 3.15: Mini Circuit RF Attenuator .................................................................................................... 41 Figure 3.16: Mini Circuit RF Directional Coupler ..................................................................................... 42 Figure 3.17: Agilent Spectrum Analyzer E4411B ...................................................................................... 42 Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft Page vi
Figure 4.1: ADS 5474 ADX EVM BOARD............................................................................................... 44 Figure 4.3: The PRS at 500MHz................................................................................................................. 46 Figure 4.4: 720MHz and725MHz Two Tone PRS Modulated Signal pass through a 2meter by 3meter Clean Cable ................................................................................................................................................. 46 Figure 4.6: 720MHz and725MHz Two Tone PRS Modulated Signal pass through a 2meter by 3meter faulty Cable (f2) .......................................................................................................................................... 47
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List of Tables
Table 2.1: Intermodulation Products [4] ..................................................................................................... 12 Table 2.2: Odd Order Products [4].............................................................................................................. 13 Table 2.3: Coupler Description ................................................................................................................... 24 Table 2.4: Level of Power Loss in RF Combiner and Splitter .................................................................... 26 Table 3.1: Frequency sweep table ............................................................................................................... 39 Table 4.1: Comparison of Previous Result with New Result...................................................................... 48
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Acronyms
ADC BASK BFSK BSF DAC DSP FDR FIR GSPS GUI HPF IIR IMP LBSG LFSR LPF PC PRS RF STDR SSTDR SWR TDR USB
Analog-to-Digital Converter Binary Amplitude Shifting Keying Binary Frequency Shifting Keying Band Stop Filters Digital-to-Analog Converter Digital Signal Processing Frequency Domain Reflectometry Finite Impulse Response Giga Sample Per Second Graphical User Interface High Pass Filter Infinite Impulse Response Intermodulation Products Lab Brick Signal Generator Linear Feedback Shift Register Low Pass Filter Personal Computer Pseudorandom Sequence Radio Frequency Sequence Time Domain Reflectometry Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry Standing Wave Reflectometry Time Domain Reflectometry Universal Serial Bus
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CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION

A wire (wiring) system is defined as a hardware which provides power, control, and information distribution [1]. Wiring form the most important part of any electrical equipment in which without it the electrical equipment cannot function. Even in house hold, wires play a large role in power distribution from one room to another like example switches, circuit breaker, relays, and power distribution panel. Electrical wire distribution in aircraft has become a critical and vital system, as aircraft performance and actual flight stability are dependent upon avionics [2]. A modern transport aircraft contain over 200 miles of wires most of which is typically 20 gauges or smaller single conductor wire [2]. Figure 1 shows an example of wire systems used on commercial aircraft.
Figure 1: Typical wiring from the back of the electronics rack of an in-service transport aircraft [2]
However, wires are subjected to aging during their normal service life. Aging is the progressive deterioration of the physical properties and performances of wiring systems with the passage of time, as well as with handling and usage which induce stress into the wire, this stress are often induced by the operational environment, as well as installation and during maintenance practices.
Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft Page 1
Wiring failure often appear as broken conductors and damaged insulation, which can disrupt electrical signals or which may leads to arcing [1]. In a survey carried out by the U.S Air Force (USAF) in 2000, it was observed that some deterioration of wiring components (i.e. wire, wire bundles, connectors, grounds, clamps and shielding) occurs in aircraft. It was found that almost two third of the failure occur close to a connector or termination point. Many of the problem areas contained high wiring density and the limited space associated with these areas made them susceptible to chafing [1]. Research as shown that electrical wiring problems in the U.S. Navy cause an average of two in-flight fires every month, more than 1,077 mission aborts, and over 100 000 lost mission hours each year [6],[7]. Each year the Navy spends from one-to two million man hours finding and fixing the wiring problem [6]. Technique use by most technician and engineers is visual inspection which is not effective enough in locating and detecting fault. However, there is a need for more effective and enhance way of detecting fault in wires. The different methods of detecting fault will be treated chapter 2.
1.2 DIFFERENT TYPE OF WIRING FAULT THAT CAN BE FIND ONBOARD AIRCRAFT 1. Arcing is a form of short-circuit that arises when wiring with ruptured insulation come in contact with metallic structures or other exposed wiring in moisture. When this occurs, there is usually a high energy flashover which could lead to fire even before the circuit breaker is triggered [3]. There are two major types of arcing common to the aircraft electrical circuits and wiring which are Series arcing and parallel arcing. I. Series arcing, this sometimes occurs when there is corrosion due to moisture intrusion in the pin socket connection or loose connections in the series with the electrical loads. Other possible sources of arcing are loose in the terminal lugs, misarranged or cross-threaded electrical plugs, and broken conductor strands inside a wire. There will be a voltage drop across the bad connected point at a few hundred millivolts which will slowly heats up and oxidized or pyrolizes the surrounding materials [8]. II. Parallel arcing occurs when there is an arc between two wires or wire-to-frame and the current is limited by the impedance of the voltage source, the wire and arc. The heat generated could lead to a spark and if such wires are located close to the fuel
tank which could lead to explosion in the aircraft [8]. This type of fault is generally more hazardous than series arcing. The series arcing is much more difficult to detect than parallel arcing, this is due to the fact that the amount of power generated by series arcing is less than parallel arcing [8]. 2. Short circuit fault occurs when there is a break or opening in the wire insulation which is due to mechanical activities in the aircraft like vibrations. 3. Open Circuit fault occurs when there is a break in wiring which leads to break in the flow of electrical signal in a circuit. Also, fluctuation in electric current in a wire, leads to thermal agitation of electron flow which consistently increases the temperature of the wire and causes the insulator to melt. The integrity of wire is necessary because most methods used in detecting fault in aircraft cannot be used when there is live signal present in the in the wire, therefore there is need for more effective and enhance way of detecting integrity of wire. 1.3 PROJECT AIM The aim of this project is to investigate wiring defects onboard aircraft using intermodulation product (IMP) by re-designing the existing hardware implementation test earlier designed for optimum performance and real life deployment of fault detection and location. 1.4 PROJECT STRUCTURE This project comprises of five chapters which explain how the dissertation is structure. Chapter 2 explains the theoretical background of the techniques and ideal used for the design and implementation of the dissertation. Chapter 3 explains the existing hardware implementation and some of it limitation and also explains the overview of the re-design hardware implementation for better performance. The description of each component and performance of the components are tested which is used in the design is also explained and the changes made.
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Chapter 4 explains the result obtained from the new design and compare some these result with previous design to see an improvement in the design. It also explained on how fault location can be carried out. Chapter 5 is the discussion and conclusion part of this dissertation.
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CHAPTER 2
2.0. BACKGROUND THEORY 2.1. INTRODUCTION This chapter is an overview study of system and its classification, explain pseudo random sequence PRS and how it is generated using linear feedback shift register (LFSR). The mathematical derivation of harmonics and intermodulation product IMP of single and two frequency tone into non-linear systems is shown and how third order intermods is important to fault location. This chapter also explains filters in detail, different types of filters, coupler, RF mixer, power combiner and splitters and amplifiers. The existing methods used in fault detection and location are discussed and the limitations back they have. Modulation, Demodulation and sampling where also explain. 2.2. SYSTEMS CLASSIFICATION A system is an entity that is excited upon by an input signals and a result of the excitation gives an output signal [9]. The definition can be represented mathematically as shown in equation 1 below ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Where ( ) is the input, ( ) is the output, and ( ) is the impulse response function of the system. A system in which the input and output signal are both in continuous domain is said to be continuous system, while the one in which the input signal and output signal are both in discrete domain is said to be a discrete system [10].System can be classified into two major type which are linear and non linear system. 2.3. LINEAR SYSTEMS A system is said to be linear if its response to the sum of any inputs is the sum of its response to each of the input alone [10]. Linear systems have some basic characteristic which are scaling, superposition, and Time-Invariance.
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1. Scaling: If the output and input will is same depending on the scaling factor, this is known as homogeneity which means the change in amplitude of the output is affected by the change in the amplitude of the input in a system [7]. 2. Superposition: If the output response of a system to a sum of any two input signals is the sum of its input alone, the systems is said to be superposition [7]. 3. Time Invariance: A systems is said to be linear if there is a time delay in the input, then the equivalent output will also be delay with the time [7]. That is if the input signal is delay by 10 milliseconds then the output of such signal will also be delay by 10 milliseconds. Figure 2.1 show properties of a linear system.
Linear System
(a)
x(t) Input
y(t) Output
(b)
x1(t)+x2(t) Input
Linear System
y1(t)+y2(t) Output
(c)
x(t)+n Input
Linear System
y(t)+n Output
Figure 2.1: Properties of a linear system (a) Scaling (b) Superposition (c) Time-Invariance
In a linear system the frequency remain unchanged if the response to the allowable linear operation of: 1. Addition 2. Subtraction 3. Differentiation 4. Integration
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The frequency components at the input are preserved at the output possibly with scaling and delay [21]. If Where ( ) is the angular frequency =2 ( ) ( ) [21].
, then the output will also have angular frequency
2.4. NON LINEAR SYSTEM A nonlinear system is system which does not obey the property of a linear system, i.e. the output of a nonlinear system is not directly proportional to its input [21]. In a linear system the frequency component of an input signal is preserved at the output, while in a nonlinear system the frequency component of an input signal is not preserved which generate harmonics and intermodulation products (IMPs) at the output [21]. The operation occurring within non-linear system models are: 1. Multiplication 2. Division 3. Raising to the 4. Taking the power (n 2) root (n )
(a) These operations have the effect of increasing the number of frequency components present at the output in comparison with the number at the input [21]. (b) The additional components are harmonics and intermodulation products (IMPs) of the input frequencies [21]. (c) As the order of the nonlinearity increase, so the number of output frequency components increases [21]. (d) An order nonlinearity can give rise to harmonics and intermodulation products (IMPs) order [21].
up to and including
(e) The additional components will produce signal distortion, but be different in nature from linear system distortion [21].
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2.5. PSEUDORANDOM SEQUENCE (PRS) A pseudorandom sequence (PRS) is a digital equivalent of white noise which is binary codes generated random from a linear feedback shift register (LFSR). These sequences are also called maximal length sequence (m-sequence) [11]. A linear feedback shift registers (LFSR) is a shift registers whose input bit is a linear function of two or more bits (taps sequence) [11]. The feedback function of a linear shift register is simply the XOR obtained by using modulo-2 addition of the output of the various taps. The shift register has maximum length of m, where m is number of stage in the register. Below is an example of how a simple register looks like [11].
Exclusive-OR
Feedback function Output

Figure 2.2: Linear feedback shift register
Figure 2.3 below show 3-bit LFSR which is tap at the first and the third bit. If it is initialized with the following value 101, this will produce the following sequence before repeating the value again.
1 0 1
Figure 2.3: 3-bit LFSR
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Number of Shift Register Initial Condition 1 XOR 1
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
2 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
3 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 Repeats Output sequence = 1010011
The output sequence of is the string of the least significant bits of all the value generated from the shift register which is 1010011. The pseudo random sequence has three major properties which are Balance, Run, and Correlation properties. Balance property requires that the number of ones in a period should greater than zeros by one digit [22]. Run property is a set of sequence of binary digits of single type. The number of digits in the run determined the length of the run [22]. Correlation property the number of agreement and disagreement of a periodic sequence should not be differs by just one count or digit in any cyclic shift term by term [22] 2.6. TYPES OF PSEUDORANDOM SEQUENCE (PRS) There are different types of Pseudorandom sequence (PRS) some of which are listed below: Barker Sequence is type of PRS which are represented by +1 & 1. Barker sequences are nonperiodic binary sequences autocorrelation with side lobe level no greater than 1/N times of the main lobe which has a maximum length of 13 [27]. Gold Sequence the m-sequence subset is referred to as the preferred pair. One such unique subset exits for each sequence length with preferred pair of m-sequence of n order, the periodic cross
correlation and autocorrelation side lobe level are restricted to the value given by ( ( ) ( ) )where: {
2.7 INTERMODULATION PRODUCTS (IMP) When a non-linear system is fed with a signal (f1), such system is said to produce an output that generate harmonics of the signal i.e. 2f1, 3f1, 4f1, etc due to the nature of the non linearity of the system.
x(t) Input
Non-Linear System
y(t) Output
And ( The corresponding output will be ( ( ) ) )
) ( )
) ( )
If we rearrange term
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[ * + (
] (
) )
) ( )
But when two signals is passed into the non-linear system, the output of such system will generate harmonics as seen in one signal above plus sum and different of the frequencies. It can be show mathematically to be the result of a multiplication process between the two original signals, and hence, the two new signals are called products. If the two original signals are f1, f2 and the highest signal is f2, then it is expected that two other components (or products) of (f1+f2) and (f2-f1) are produce or can be generally be represented by the expression below [4].
) Since there are harmonics of f1 and f2, then there will be sum and difference products between all of the harmonics and the fundamentals between each other. These are the intermodulation products (IMP) which are frequency components distinct from the harmonic components stated in the previous paragraph. Of course, if there are more than two fundamental frequencies, then the multitude of products is compounded further [4]. Using the same power series expansion used above for third order, the harmonics of the two frequencies increases upwardly as the frequency approaches infinity while the amplitude decreases.
And ( Therefore [ Expanding this

( ( [ ( ) ) ) ( ( ( ( ( ) )] )[ ) [ ( ( ( )] ) ) ( )] ( )[ ( )] ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
)]
( [ [ ([ ([ ] ) ] )
) ([ ([
( ] )] ] )]
the third order can also be represented as (2f1 f2), if for example two signals f1 and f2 has a frequency of 90kHz and 91kHz in that order, that is the gap between them is 1kHz,then this can be represented in the table below for the different order of intermodulation products.
Table 2.1: Intermodulation Products [4]
1st Order 2nd Order 3rd Order 4th Order 5 Order

th
f1 f1+f2 2f1-f2, 2f1+f2 2f1+2f2 3f1-2f2,
f2 f2-f1 2f2-f1, 2f2+f1 2f2-2f1 3f2-2f1,
90kHz 181kHz 89kHz 271kHz 362kHz 88kHz
91kHz 1kHz 92kHz 272kHz 2kHz 93kHz
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3f1+2f2
3f2+2f1
452kHz
453kHz
If the odd order of the intermodulation product is separated from the table above, then we will have what is in table below
Table 2.2: Odd Order Products [4]
1st Order 3nd Order 5 Order 7th Order 9th Order

rd
f1 2f1-f2, 3f1-2f2 4f1-3f2 5f1-4f2
f2 2f2-f1 3f2-2f1 4f2-3f1 5f2-4f1
90kHz 89kHz 88kHz 87kHz 86kHz
91kHz 92kHz 93kHz 94kHz 95kHz
It can be observed from the table of the odd order of product, that the odd order intermodulation product are closer to the two fundamental frequencies f1 and f2 compare to the even order of product. The third order (2f1-f2) is 1 kHz lower than the fundamental frequency f1 and the other one (2f2-f1) is 1 kHz above the fundamental frequency f2 respectively. And also the fifth order (3f1-2f2) is 2 kHz lower than f1 while (3f2-2f1) is 2 kHz higher than f2, this shows that the odd order are closer to the two fundamental frequencies and so on. The figure below shows the spectrum of the intermodulation components
f1
f2
3rd 5th 7th 9th 11th
Amplitude (dBm)
3rd 5th 7th 9th 11th
85 86
87
88
89
90 91 92 93 Frequency (kHz)
94
95
96
Figure2.4 Spectrums of Intermodulation Components
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The two frequencies of the third order components (2f2-f1 and 2f1-f2) are of most important because they are the closest and also have the highest amplitude from the fundamental frequencies while the remaining third order products 2f1+f2 and 2f2+f1, do not generally present a problem because they are widely spread [3]. 2.8. METHODS USED IN DETECTING AND LOCATION OF FAULT IN AIRCRAFT Since the inception of aircraft the number of wiring as increased and potential of accident occurring also as increase, this prompted action for maintenance of aircraft as to provide good performance. Different methods have been introduced for the location and detection of fault in an aircraft, these methods are discussed below. 2.8.1 GENERAL VISUAL INSPECTION (GVI): This method has been one of the most reliable and most popular methods used in the detection and location of faulty wiring in aircraft during the past year. The process involve the visual inspection by the team of engineers, technicians going round the aircraft carefully locating detecting faults in wire. This methods works effectively for detection of faulty wire which are physical damage, burnt, and cut wire in the aircraft. Some of the fault that are detect during the visual inspection are shown in figure 2.4
(a)
(b)
Figure2.5: (a) In-flight electric/hydraulic fire in an aircraft wing area [2] (b) Damage wire due to mechanical activities [2]
The major drawback faced by visual inspection is the high cost of human power and time used in location of fault in wires, there is also a high risk of introducing more damage to the wire during visual inspection which might not be noticed by the technician or engineer working at that point in time. In visual inspection, the engineers will find very difficult or not even possible to detect
some damages or degradation hidden inside wire bundles; high resistance connections (connectors, splices, terminal blocks, nicked conductors/broken strands, etc.), damages and degradation hidden under accumulated lint and other contaminants; damage inside protective wrap materials, conduit, or in inaccessible zones; small cracks and other insulation breaches. 2.8.2 DC OHMMETER: Another methods use in location and detection of fault is dc ohmmeter which involve the measuring the resistance or capacitance of the wire. When the measurement is taking and it is discovered that the resistance of the wire is low, it means that the wire is still a good condition but when the resistance is high it means there is a fault in the wire. The limitation of the dc ohmmeter is that the main bus has to be cut at several point to find faults which is time consuming and also increases the possibility of introducing new fault, it is also a difficult task getting access to close compartment in the aircraft.
2.8.3 REFLECTROMETRY
Reflectometry methods have been used to locate faults on wires for decades. The method send a high frequency signal down the line, which is reflected back at impedance discontinuities such as open or short circuit. The different types of reflectometry are in uses which are Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR), Standing Wave Reflectometry (SWR), Frequency Domain Reflectometry (FDR), Sequence Time Domain Reflectometry (STDR), Mixed Signal Reflectometry (MSR), and Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry (SSTDR). TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETRY (TDR): Time Domain Reflectometry is a common method use in fault location of wire, is the fastest and most accurate method. When a signal is transmitted down a wire depending on the type of wire, if the signal hits an obstacle or impedance shift in twisted pair some of the signal bounces back towards the source of the wire. The time it takes for the signal to bounced or reflected to the source of the wire is measured and divided by two to account for round trip. This is use in locating the distance of where the fault is located. Figure 2.4 shows the distance of where fault is located in a wire and the following equation expresses the TDRs basic principle of operation
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Distance of fault
Length of wire
Figure 2.6: Time Domain Reflectometry.
There are two different ways in which Time Domain Reflectometry can display the result received. The first method is to display the actual waveform or signature of the cable. The display, which is either a CRT or an LCD, will display the transmitted signal generated by TDR and any reflection which are caused by impedance discontinuities along the length of the cable. The second type of the display is simply a numeric readout which supplies the distance indication in feet or meters to the first major reflection caused by an impedance change or discontinuity [12]. While this technique has been very successful on controlled impedance wire such as coax and twisted pair it has limited use on single wire with uncontrolled impedance and ground plane proximities [12]. STANDING WAVE REFLECTOMETRY: is use to measure the magnitude of the standing wave created by the superposition of the incident and reflected signal on the wire. The sum of the two sine waves will have a series of peaks that are caused by their constructive interference [12]. FREQUENCY DOMAIN REFLECTOMETRY (FDR): This method uses set of steppedfrequency since waves which is send down along the wire to detect and located where the wire is damage. FDR varies the frequency sine wave and measure the frequency shift between the source signal and the reflected signal which is converted to time delay. This process of FDR is called FREQUEENCY MODULATED CARRIER WAVE [12]. SEQUENCE TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETRY AND SPREAD SPECTRUM TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETRY (STDR/SSTDR)
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These are both similar as they both make use of pseudo noise (PN) sequence for detection of fault in wire. The combination of reflected signal and incident signal are both correlated with a copy of pseudo noise (PN) code. When the codes are auto-correlated, a high value is obtained, and when the codes are cross- correlated, a low value is obtained. The difference in the value obtained is used to determine where the fault is located in the wire [12]. The problem associated with this method is that it only works well when the carrier signal is equal to the chip rate of the pseudo noise (PN) sequence [yak]. 2.9. FILTERS There are different forms of filter that can be found in different application. This filters perform majorly the same task an example of this can find in vacuum cleaner where filter is used to prevent dust from blocking the air vacuum, also in automobile engine oil filter is used to remove oil particle or dirty from the oil before it get into the main engine of the car. The same approached is used in digital signal processing most especially in digital communication A filter is a system that selectively changes the wave shape, amplitude-frequency or phase frequency characteristics of a signal in a desired manner [13]. Other objective of filter include 1. To improve the quality of a signal by removing /or reduce noise in a signal. 2. To separate two or more signals that is previously combined. 3. To extract information from signal There are two types of filter namely Analog filter and Digital filter Analog filter: are filter that are made up from electronic circuit component like resistor, capacitor to produce desired filtering [14]. It can also be seen as linear system which has an input and output with the purpose of changing the characteristic of the input as the signal move through the filter [14]. Digital filter: is mathematical algorithm implemented in hardware or software that operates on a digital input signal to produce a digital output signal [13].
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Advantage of Digital filters over Analog filter 1. Performance of digital filters is repeatable from unit to unit 2. The precision that is achievable by digital filter is limitless compare to analog filter which has a restriction in practice 3. Digital filters characteristics which are not possible with analog filters such as a truly linear phase response 4. Digital filter are not affected by environmental factor such as temperature which makes it more stable than analog filter because they are made up of resistor capacitor etc. which are easily affected by temperature 5. Digital filter can work at a very low frequency which make its suitable for biomedical, data compression, image processing application while analogue cannot Types of Digital filters Digital filter are divided into two main classes which are finite impulse response (FIR) and infinite impulse response filters (IIR).
Finite Impulse Response (FIR): An FIR digital filter is one whose impulse response is of finite duration and uses only the current and past input sample. FIR filters are called non-recursive because there is no feedbacks involve [15]. The input and output of the FIR filter is related by the equation below which is known as difference equation. Figure 2.1 shows the block diagram representation of the FIR filter ( ) ( ) ( )
Where ( )= the current output sample at a discrete time of n ( )=impulse response of the coefficient of the filter ( ) = input delay by sample k
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x(n)
Z-1
x(n-1)
Z-1
x(n-2)
Z-1
x(n-1(N-1))
h(0)
h(1)
h(2)
h(N-1)
y(n)
Figure 2.7: Block representation of FIR filter
General type of filters 1. Low pass filter: as the name implies, a low pass filter is a type filter that allow low frequency signal to pass through while rejecting high frequency signal. The aim of low pass filter is to recover the low frequency signal from interference. The figure below shows the tolerance scheme for a low pass filter. Passband edge frequency (this is the allowable frequency that pass through) Stopband edge frequency (this is the attenuated or the rejected frequency) Passband deviation Stopband deviation
1+p 1-p
0
Passband
fp
Transition band
fs
f
Stopband
Figure 2.8: Low Pass Filter (LPF)
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2. High Pass filter: A high pass filter allows only high frequency signal to pass through while rejecting or attenuate low frequency signal. Schematic diagram is show in figure below.
1+p 1 1-p
fs
band
fp
Passband
f(Hz)
Stopband Transition
Figure 2.9: High Pass Filter
3. Band Pass Filter (BPF): band pass filter allow section of the frequency in the middle to pass through the filter while rejecting the lower and upper part of the frequency. Figure 2.4 below show the spectrum view of a band pass filter.
1+p 1-p
Transition band
LSB
USB
0
Stopband
f(Hz)
Stopband
Passband
Figure 2.10: Band Pass Filter (BPF)
Lower Stop Band (LSB): this is the lower part region that is attenuated by the band pass filter. Upper Stop Band (UPS): this is the upper part region attenuated by the band pass filter.
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Is the frequency at the edge of the first stopband Is the frequency at the edge of the start of the second stopband Is the frequency at the edge of the start of the passband Is the frequency at the edge of the end of the passband 4. Stop Band Filter (SBF): this is also refer to as band rejected filter where the filter rejects middle section of frequency signal and allow the lower and the upper part of the frequency signal to pass through. Figure 2.5 show the diagram of a stop band filter. The transition band is located between the stop and pass band frequency edge.
1+p 1-p
LPB
UPB
Transition band
0
Passband
f(Hz)
Passband
Stopband
Figure 2.11: Stop Band Filter (SBF)
Lower Pass Band LPB this is the lower region where the frequency signal is allowed to pass through the filter. Upper Pass Band UPB this is the upper region where the frequency signal is allowed to pass through the filter Infinite Impulse Response Filter (IIR): the infinite impulse response filter is the type of filter that it impulse response has an infinite duration, it can be said that IIR filter is recursive because it has feedback from the past output. The difference equation for IIR filter is show below. Figure 2.6 shows block representation of the IIR filter
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( ) Which can also written as: ( )
( ) (
and
are the coefficient of the filter where
is the feedback coefficient and
is the feed
forward coefficient of the filter. ( )= output sample which is the function of the past output as well as present and past input sample
x(n) w(n) b0
Z-1
y(n)
-a1
Z-1
b1
-a2
b2
Figure 2.12: Block representation of IIR filter
2.10 COUPLERS Couplers are passive device which are use to separates signal based on the direction of signal flow [23]. Couplers are use to unequally split signal flowing in the mainline and to fully pass the signal flowing in the opposite direction [16]. There are device used to couple a specific proportion of the power travelling in one direction line out through another connection or ports [16].
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Port A
Port B
Couple Port Output Port C
Figure 2.13: Directional coupler symbolic [16]
When a signal is feed through port A, the signal will appear in port C. likewise any signal flowing into port C will be coupled fully to port A. however, port B and C are isolated in such a way that if signal flows through port B it will not appear in port C but will feed through to port A [16]. An RF directional coupler consist of four ports which are generally term as 1. Input (Port 1, Incident) 2. Transmitted (Port 2, Output) 3. Coupled (Port 3, forward coupled port) 4. Isolated (Port 4, Reverse coupled port) The term in the bracket refer to alternative name for the ports.
INPUT PORT
OUTPUT PORT
DIRECTIONAL COUPLER ISOLATED PORT COUPLED PORT
Figure 2.14: RF Directional Coupler
The main line is the port 1 and port 2. Normally this may be more suited to carry high power levels and it may have larger RF connectors, if it is a unit with RF connectors. The other ports are normally more suited for lower power as they are only intended to carry a small proportion of the main line power. Port 3 and 4 may even have smaller connectors to distinguish them from the main port of the RF coupler. The isolated port is terminated with an internal or external matched load which would typically be 50 ohms [16]. There is major specification that is associated with RF directional coupler which is shown in the table below
Table 2.3: Coupler Description
TERM Coupling Loss Mainline Loss Directivity
DESCRIPTION The power lost to the couple port and isolated port Resistive loss due to heating generated by the coupler The power level difference between couple port and the isolated port which is the measure of how independent they are.
Isolation Loss
The power level difference between input port and isolated port
2.11. RF MIXER RF mixer is three port electronic device which use two ports as an input and the other port as the output. An ideal mixer combines two input signal such that the output signal frequency is either the sum or difference frequency of the input [17].
The first main input port of a mixer is called local oscillator (LO) port, the second one is the Radio Frequency (RF) port and the last is called intermediate frequency (IF) port. The two main input to the LO is either a sinusoidal continuous wave signal or square wave signal, the choice depends on the application of the user. The local oscillator is use as gate of the mixer in such a way that when the voltage is large is considered as ON and when the voltage drop is consider as OFF. The two remaining port of the mixer can be interchange with each other either as the second input or output depending on the require output [17]. Down conversion: Down conversion is when require output is smaller than the second input frequency of the mixer. Up conversion: Up conversion is when require output is higher than the second input frequency of the mixer. Figure below show the illustration of both down conversion and up conversion.
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Figure 2.15 Definition of Down conversions and Up conversion [17]
It should be noted that in the up conversion of the mixer two outputs are present which is sum and difference of the frequencies , this are refer to as double sided up conversion. A
single side band up conversion is possible in which either sum or difference is cancel in the mixer. 2.12. RF COMBINER AND SPLLITER These devices are the same, the same circuit is used to combine and split RF signal. The different is that when RF signal is applied to one port, it is extracted from the remaining port in the case of RF splitter. While reverse is the case in RF combiner.
Types of RF Splitter and Combiner Resistive power splitter: the power splitter and combiner uses resistors which makes them able to maintain the property impedance of the system. The use of resistor introduces loss into the splitting action [18]. Hybrid power splitters: hybrid splitter and combiner uses transformer and are able to provide low level of loss. Though there are some physical losses in the transformer, the most major loss is during the splitting process [18].
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During the splitting of the signal, there are losses which reduce the output of the signal from several port of the splitter. The table below show rate of loss in the different number of port present in a splitter or combiner.
Table 2.4: Level of Power Loss in RF Combiner and Splitter
NUMBER PORTS OF OUTPUT THEORTICAL LEVEL OF REDUCTION (dB)
2 3 4 5 6 8 10
3.0 4.8 6.0 7.0 7.8 9.0 10.0
2.13. CROSS-CORRELATION This is the measure of similarity between one signal and the time delay of the second signal. This means that there is a shift in time between the first signal and multiplication of the second signal. If ( ) and ( ) are both energy signal, the cross correlation function of these two signal will be define by ( ) Where ( ( ) ( )
)is the delay signal version of ( ) is zero. ( ) (
( ) signal. The two signal are said to be
orthogonal if
Auto-correlation function provides the measure of similarity between a signal and its own time delayed version.
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2.14. MODULATION OF SIGNAL Modulation is the process changing signal property with respect to another signal. The signal being change is called the carrier signal while the signal changing the signal is called the modulating signal [20]. The change in property of the signal could be from amplitude, phase or frequency. The aim of modulation is to make efficient use of the frequency bandwidth for better performance. There are different types of modulation schemes that are available, but the common ones are: Binary Amplitude Shift Keying (BASK), Binary Frequency Shift Keying (BFSK), and Binary Phase Shift Keying BPSK. 1. Binary Amplitude Shift Keying: This is the simplest form of band pass modulation. It is easy to analyze and commonly occur in practice. There are two states in BASK 1s and 0s which represent the amplitude of the carrier signal while the frequency and phase remain constant. Below show how carrier signal and modulated signal generate BASK modulated signal using mixer to multiple them.
( ) 0
( )
for a digital 1 for a digital 0
cos(ct)
0 1 1 010
cos(mt)
Figure 2.16: BASK Generation
2. Binary Phase Shift Keying: This is one of the simplest forms of phase shift keying modulation. In binary phase shift keying the amplitude and the frequency of the signal will remain constant while there is a phase change between zero and 180 degree.
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( )
( ) ( ) ( )
for a digital 1 for a digital 0
cos(mt) cos(ct) Data input Data Output 1 1 1 0 1
Figure 2.17: BPSK Generation 3. Binary Frequency Shift Keying: This method transmits data using two distinct carrier frequencies to represent it symbol states where the amplitude and phase of the carrier frequency remain constant. ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) for a digital 1 for a digital 0
Data Output VCO Data input cos(mt) 1 1 1 cos(ct) 0 1
Figure 2.18: BFSK Generation
2.15 DEMODULATION OF SIGNAL Demodulation is defined as the process of converting of modulated signal back to its original signal. The process can also be referee to as detection of signal. The detection is of two type which are coherent and non-coherent detection.
Non-coherent detection does not require or need the knowledge of the carrier frequency from the transmitter to the receiver while coherent require the transmitter and receiver are carrier frequency are in phase lock to archive proper detection. The coherent detection of BASK can tolerate 3dB more noise than non-coherent BASK which is the same likelihood of error detection. 2.16. SAMPLING Sampling is the conversion of continuous analog signal to discrete digital signal. To archive the conversion of analog signal to digital signal, the sampling process must obey the Nyquist theorem which says that the sampling frequency or rate maximum frequency must be greater than twice the
For example if there is need to convert human speech which is analog of 3.4 kHz to digital signal the sampling frequency should be around 10 kHz the reason for this is to be able recover the signal back to analog which is also called reconstruction. If this equality is not satisfied that is
This might lead to under-sampling and aliasing will occur as shown in the figure below where the signal overlaps. When this happen the, it is possible that the original will be difficult or not able to be recovered.
Another condition is when
an ideal rectangular low pass filter is require to recover the
original signal back which is practical difficult to archive.
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Ideal low-pass filter
Aliasing Aliasing
-Fs
Fs
f
(b)
-Fs
Fs
(a)
-Fs
Fs
(c)
Figure 2.19: (a) spectrum of under-sample signal which leads to aliasing. (b) Spectrum of sampled signal separated by Ideal low-pass filter. (c) Spectrum of sampled signal which satisfy Nyquist theorem
2.17 CONLUSION This chapter has being able to explain the theoretical background of the system classification for both linear and non-linear systems. Also has explained the different form of fault detection and location onboard aircraft with the some of the step back in the method. Modulation and demodulation is also being explained in details. The theoretical background of different RF component that will be used in this dissertation as also being explained which will give an idea of how the next chapter will be.
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CHAPTER 3 3.0. HARDWARE IMPLEMENTAION DESIGN

3.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter gives full detail of how the hardware implementation design for wire integrity test is setup with the aim of archiving better optimum performance. It discusses the limitation of the previous set up and how the new setup is used to correct these limitations. A detailed explanation of the components used in the new set up is presented and the graphs obtained from the spectrum analyzer for the test carried out at various stages of the hardware design is shown. 3.2 PREVIOUS SETUP-TEST DESIGN The figure 3.1 below represents the previous hardware implementation design for wire integrity. This design being use to test for fault and location before, but the limitation of this set up is that the power that is being transmitted is low. If this low power is use to transmit the two tones into the cable, it will be difficult to detect fault in longer cable and a soft fault might not be detected too.
WI Low Pass Filter SLP 450+ DC 400MHz Mini Circuit Mixer ZAD 11H+ 10-3000MHz
CONNECTOR 4
CONNECTOR 6
Lab Brick LSG 152
CONNECTOR 2
CONNECTOR 8
CONNECTOR 12
12V
Mini Circuit Power Splitter ZAP-2-252-S+ 5-2500MHz

CONNECTOR 1
Mini Circuit Power Splitter ZAP-2-252-S+ 5-2500MHz Mini Circuit Amplifier ZKL 2R5+ 10-2500MHz
12V CONNECTOR 9
CONNECTOR 14
CONNECTOR 13
DAC Analog Device AD9957
WI Band Pass Filter 650+ 650-1000MHz

CONNECTOR 3
Mini Circuit Coupler ZFDC 20-5-S+
CONNECTOR 16
WI Low Pass Filter BLP 450+ DC 400MHz
CONNECTOR 5
Mini Circuit Mixer ZAD 11H+ 10-3000MHz
CONNECTOR 7
Lab Brick LSG 152
ADC SP Device ADS 5474

CONNECTOR 24
Lab Brick LSG 152
PC USB HUB
Figure3.1: Previous Hardware Implementation Design
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WIRE UNDER TEST
Mini Circuit Amplifier ZFL 2000 10-2000MHz
CONNECTOR 10 CONNECTOR 11
However, an attempt was made to increase the power level of the design. It was observed that the RF power combiner used in the design generate intermods when the two tone are combined even before it was transmitted into the wire. Since this was noticed, a test was carried out to find the linear threshold of the RF power combiner (i.e. the linearity level of the RF Combiner).
Figure3.2: Testing the linearity threshold of the RF Power Combiner
It was observed in figure 3.2 above that the power combiner can only take in 9dBm before it get to it threshold which makes it not suitable for the new design. In the previous design, the DAC use is AD9957 which has 1 Gigasample/second and the maximum frequency that can be drive is 400MHz in order to obey Nyquist theory, this does not give more flexibility in the frequency range that will be used. Another limitation of the previous design is that the DAC is powered from an external power source and there is a chance that wrong level of power input could be drive into it which could damage the board, for this and many more reason there is need for the setup to be redesign for optimum performance.
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3.3 PRESENT DESIGN SETUP-TEST DESIGN The figure3.3 below shows the block diagram representation of the new design for wire integrity testing. All the component of this set up shall be discuses in full detail and how important each of the components is, but first the whole functionality of the circuit will be explained.
SIGNAL GENERATOR LSG 222
LO 1 WI BPF 650-1000MHz Mini Circuit LPF 15542 SLP-850+ Mini Circuit LPF 15542 SLP-850+
MIXER ZFM--2000+ 100-2000 MHz
Mini Circuit AMPLIFIER ZHL 2500+
Mini Circuit LPF SLP-1000+
WI BPF 650-1000MHz
Mini Circuit Coupler ZFDC-10-5-S+ 1-2000 MHz
Mini Circuit LPF BLP-550+
Output port terminated with 50ohms resistor
POWER SPLITTER ZAPD-2-252-S+ 5-2500 MHz
IF IF
Mini Circuit Attenuator VAT-5+
OUT
Mini Circuit LPF BLP-550+
IN
MIXER ZFM--2000+ 100-2000 MHz DAC DA 12000
WI BPF 650-1000MHz
Mini Circuit LPF 15542 SLP-850+
Mini Circuit LPF SLP-1000+
WI BPF 650-1000MHz
Mini Circuit LPF 15542 SLP-850+
LO 2
CPL
OUT PCI interface on a PC Reference Signal Data Capture (Ch1) ADC Nallatech attched to PCI interface on same PC as DAC
PC USB HUB
CPL
SIGNAL GENERATOR LSG 152
IN OUT CPL Reflected Signal Data Capture (Ch2)

IN
PC
WIRE UNDER TEST
Figure 3.3: Set-up Design for Hardware Implementation
The digital to analog device board (DAC) has a PCI connector which is connected to a PC. When a digital pseudorandom sequence is generated from the PC, it is fed into the digital to analog converter which modulates the signal at 500 MHz The modulated signal is passed through connector into the splitter which split the signal into two signals, it should be noted that the function of a splitter is to just split one signal into two equal signals. When the signal is splintered is pass through a low pass filter of 550 MHz to remove the harmonics that might have being generated during the splitting process and the output is fed into the mixers. Two Lab Brick Signal generator LSG is used to generate two additional signals at 1217 MHz and 1200 MHz
which is also fed into the mixers to generate sum and difference of the two signals. When the mixer mix the signal, unwanted signal is generated with harmonics so a band pass filter of 6501000MHz is used to remove the lower frequency below 650MHz and above 1000MHz, also, a low pass filter of 850 MHz is used to remove a high frequency of above the 850 MHz and above. The band pass filter allows either the sum or the different of the mixer to pass through, in this case the type of band pass use only allow the difference is pass through which are 700MHz and 717MHz respectively. The two signals from each mixer are fed again into an amplifier which amplifies the signals; the essence of this is to archive a certain power level of the two signals. The power level when the signal is passing through the band pass and low pass filter is between -23dBm for a carrier wave (CW), so the first amplifier is used to archive about 0dBm gain, this signal is fed into a low pass filter of 1000MHz as to remove the harmonics that might be generated during the amplification. The signal is passed through another amplifier to increase the power level from -0.2dBm to about +20dBm for a carrier wave (CW) and close approximation of this value was archived. The signal is pass again into another band pass filter of 650 to 1000MHz with a low pass filter of 850MHz. the signal is finally fed into a coupler with coupling loss of 10dB which reduce the power level of the carrier wave to about +10dBm The two signals are fed into two different couplers and combined at one of the couplers end. The two signals are fed into third coupler. The coupled port of the coupler is to transmit the signal into the ADC which is used as the reference or transmitted signal. The IN port of the third coupler passes the signals into the OUT port of the fourth coupler which is fed into the wire under test. The signals are reflected back from the wire under test and it is received through the coupled port to the second channel on the analog to digital converter ADC. The reflected signal used to detect if there are fault in the wire which is expected to generate intermodulation product of the two signals as explained the section 2.7 of chapter 2 due to non-linearity of the fault. The list of the component used and the part number are listed below 1. Digital to Analog Converter (DA12000-2-4M-PCI) 2. Power Splitter (ZAPD-2-252-S+) 3. Low Pass Filter (BLP 550+, DC 520MHz)
4. Mixers (ZFM-2000+) 5. Vaunix Lab Brick Signal Generator (LSG 152) 6. Band Pass Filter (WI 650-1000MHz) 7. Low Pass Filter (SLP 850+) 8. Attenuator (VAT 10+) 9. Amplifier (ZFL-2000+) 10. Coupler (ZFDC-10-5-S+,ZFDC-15-5-S+) 11. Spectrum Analyzer E4411B 12. Analog to Digital Converter (ADS 5474 ADX EVM) 3.4 DESIGN COMPONENTS
3.4.1 DIGITAL TO ANALOG CONVERTER (DA12000-2-4M-PCI)
Digital to analog converter (DAC) is a type of device that is used to convert a digital signal into analog signal. The process of the conversion is called reconstruction. The DAC used in the hardware implementation is a PCI attached compare to DAC used in the previous implementation. The advantage of this is that it is less prone to excess current or voltage damage. It has a fixed internal clock of 2.0 Gigasample/second which make it possible to increase the frequency range above 400MHz compare to the previous design. The DAC is DA12000-2-4M-PCI and has the following features.
Figure 3.3: DA12000-2-4M-PCI Digital to Analog Converter Board
1. Standard Internal Fixed Clock at 2.0 GigaSample/second (GSPS) 2. External Clock input at 2.0GHz, 1.0GHz, 500MHz, 250MHz 3. (1) Channel Analog Output, 12-bit Vertical Resolution 4. (2) TTL Output Marker 5. Programmable Segment Size from 64 Data Word to full memory
6. Programmable Number of Segment up to 32K 7. External AC clock and External TTL/ECL trigger
3.4.2 RF POWER SPLITTER
Part Number: ZAPD-2-252+ Frequency Range: 5-2500MHz Maximum Power Input: 1W RF Power splitter is a passive device which split an input signal or energy into a multiple output depending on the number of output the RF power splitter is having with the same phase and amplitude characteristic. The signal that is generated through the ADC is fed into the power splitter which split it into two same values of 300 MHz have same phase and amplitude. The figure below show the RF power splitter used in carrying out the test.
Figure 3.4: Mini Circuit RF Power Splitter
3.4.3 LOW PASS FILTER
Part Number: BLP 550+ DC: 520 MHz RF Max Power: 0.5W As mentioned in section 2.9 of chapter 2, a low pass filter is used to remove a high frequency signal higher than the specify frequency of the filter. The low pass filter has a band pass of 550 MHz
Figure 3.5: Mini Circuit RF BLP 550+ Low Pass Filter
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3.4.4 RF MIXER
Part Number: ZFM-2000+ RF Power: 200mW IF Current: 40mA Frequency Range: 100-2000MHz LO Operational Level: +7dBm
Figure 3.6: Mini Circuit RF Mixer
The RF Mixer is a non linear device that is accept two input of different frequency from the low pass filter that is coming from the DDS and the vaunix lab brick signal generator and gives an output of the two signal of sum and different of the signals of different harmonics and intermodulation products.
3.4.5 VAUNIX LAB BRICK SIGNAL GENERATOR
Part Number: LSG 152 Serial Numbers: 764,763 Frequency Range: 500-2500MHz
Figure 3.7: Vaunix Signal Generator
There are different types of vaunix lab brick signal generator which is available, but the one that is use in this dissertation is LSG 152 with frequency range from 500-2500MHz. The lab brick signal generator is use to generate the signal that is fed into the mixer through the local oscillator LO and it is mixed with PRS generated by the DAC.
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The signal generator is connected to the PC through USB connector which provides the required power for the signal generator to come ON. The signal generator has compatibility with Window XP, window vista and window 7. Figure 3.8 below show the GUI of the lab brick for the two signal generator used to send signal in to the mixer. The frequency step size means that if there is need to increase or reduce the amount frequency that is generated by the signal generator, this button can be use to select the step. Five different step sizes are given. Also the power level of the signal can be set using power step size button that is available in the GUI. Caution is taking when choosing the output power of the signal generator as if there is a mistaking power output this could damage the all process of testing that is the output power could damage the other component. Once the signal generator is turn ON the RF signal 1200MHz and 1217 is transmitted to the two mixers.
Figure 3.8: Vaunix Signal Generator GUI
3.4.6 BAND PASS FILTER
Part Number: WHLKS650-5+1000-5SS Pass band: 650-1000 MHz RF Power Input: 0.5W
Figure 3.9: WainWright RF Band Pass filter
When the frequencies are have being mixed by the two mixer, they are fed into the band pass filter which rejects any frequency that falls below the 650MHz and allow frequency above 650+MHz up to 1000MHz to pass through.
Part Number: SLP-850+ DC: 780 RF Power Input: 0.5W
Figure 3.10: Mini Circuit RF Low Pass filter
The low pass filter of SLP 850+ is used to further reduce the band pass filter to a range of 650MHz to 850MHz.Figure 3.11 below shows a typical frequency signal that is allow to pass through the two filters. To test the linearity of the band pass filter a frequency sweep test was carried out using frequency values from 650 to 950MHz shown in the table 3.1 below and the graph obtained is show in figure 3.12 for L tone.
650MHz
850MHz
f( MHz)
Figure 3.11: Typical graph of both Bandpass filter-650+ to1000MHZ and SLP-850+
Table 3.1: Frequency sweep table IF LO1 LO2
Output From Power level From Spectrum Spectrum Analyzer Analyzer LTONE HTONE LTONE(dBm) HTONE(dBm)
600 620 640 660 680 700 720 740 760 605 625 645 665 685 705 725 745 765 -30.1 -12.8 -8.7 -9.5 -8.4 -9 -9.9 -9.1 -9.1 -23.9 -9.12 -8.9 -8.1 -7.9 -8.4 -8.7 -8.3 -7.65
500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500
1100 1120 1140 1160 1180 1200 1220 1240 1260
1105 1125 1145 1165 1185 1205 1225 1245 1265
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500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500
1280 1300 1320 1340 1360 1380 1400 1420 1440 1460 1480
1285 1305 1325 1345 1365 1385 1405 1425 1445 1465 1485
780 800 820 840 860 880 900 920 940 960 980
785 805 825 845 865 885 905 925 945 965 985
-8.74 -9.7 -11.62 -11.98 -12.9 -15.5 -20.7 -26.9 -30.1 -34 -42
-7.6 -9.8 -11.5 -11.9 -14.85 -23.19 -28.9 -32.9 -33.5 -45.7 -52.4
Figure 3.12: Graph frequency Sweep from 600MHz to 980MHz
The graph in figure3.12 declined at around 780MHz which is the DC of the low pass filter.
3.4.8 RF AMPLIFIER
Part Number: ZFL-2000+ Frequency Range: 10-2000MHz Input Power: 15volt Power Gain: 20dB
Figure 3.13: Mini Circuit RF Amplifier
The aim of the RF amplifier is to increase the power of the incoming frequency signal to a particular level depending on the gain of the amplifier. It is important to know the level of at which the incoming
signal is to increase and setting the right level before feeding the signal into the RF amplifier and also the amplifier must be powered ON, otherwise it might damage the device.
Part Number: SLP-1000+
Figure 3.14: Mini Circuit RF Low Pass filter
A low pass filter of 1000MHz is used between the two amplifiers. The reason for this is to remove the harmonics that might be generated by first amplifier during amplification of the signal, which the signal is feds into the second amplifier.
3.4.10 ATTENUATOR
Part Number: VAT-10+ Maximum Power Input: 1W DC: 6000MHz
Figure 3.15: Mini Circuit RF Attenuator
Attenuator is use to reduce the power level that is generated by the filter output. When measured the power output of the filter is higher than what the filter input can take which +13dBm, so attenuator of 6dB is used to reduce the power level by -6dBm when measured from a spectrum analyzer.
3.4.11 DIRECTIONAL COUPLER
Part Number: ZFDC-10-5-S+ Part Number: ZFDC-15-5-S+ Frequency Range: 0.1-2000 MHz Frequency Range: 50-2000 MHz
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Figure 3.16: Mini Circuit RF Directional Coupler
Directional coupler is used to split the RF signal into two part, one part of the signal is fed to the out which is passed into the wire under test while the other signal is used as the reference signal pass into the ADC. The reflected signal from the wire under test is send back to the coupler but only in one direction which is fed into the ADC. The two signal are correlated together to detect where fault is on the wire under test. This process was performed for different type wires in aircraft at different distance on the wire; also this process can be used for wires which are not use in the aircraft too.
3.4.12 SPECTRUM ANALYZER E4411B
Input Frequency Range: 9 KHz to 1.5GHz Max Power Output: +30dBm
Figure 3.17: Agilent Spectrum Analyzer E4411B
The spectrum analyzer is used to view both carrier wave (CW) and PRS signal that is being transmitted from one of the RF component to the other. The reason for this to see the power level of the transmitted
signal, if there is need to increase or to reduce it before the signal is transmitted to other component in other to damage it. Also the spectrum analyzer is used for testing the PRS that is being generated from the DAC to be sure the right PRS is transmitted. The outcome and result from the ADC is discussed in detail in the chapter 4. 3.5 CONLUSION This chapter discussed briefly the previous design of hardware implementation for wire integrity and some of it limiting factor. The new design was explain and all the components involved were explained one after the other and some the advantage the new step were mentioned.
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CHAPTER 4
4.1. INTRODUCTION The chapter will discuss the result that is received from ADC ADS 5474 ADX EVM capture lab which shows the different behave of the different cable used in the project using intermodulation product process discussed in chapter 2. The ADS 5474 ADX EVM capture lab shows the time domain and frequency domain of the reflected signal from the cables. The time domain data is saved and it is used for the location of the fault. 4.2 ANAYLSIS OF RESULT The Analog to Digital Converter ADS 5474 ADX EVM is used to capture the impulse response of the faulty and non faulty wire used in this project. The ADC covert the continuous PRS that is transmitted and reflected back from the wire to discrete signal and its captured by the ADS 5474 ADX EVM. The ADS 5474 ADX EVM comes with software drive which is install on the PC to able to capture the time domain and the FFT result from the reflected signal in the cable. The ADS 5474 ADX EVM has the following feature.
Figure 4.1: ADS 5474 ADX EVM BOARD
1. 400-MSPS SAMPLE RATE 2. 14-Bit Resolution, 11.2-bits ENOB

3. 1.4-GHz Input Bandwidth 4. SFDR = 80 dBc at 230MHz and 400 MSPS 5. SNR = 69.8 dBFS at 230MHz and 400 MSPS 6. 2.2-Vpp Differential Input Voltage 7. LVDS-Compatible Output 8. Total Power Dissipation of 2.5W 9. Power Down Mode of 50mW 10. Offset Binary Output Format When the ADS 5474 ADX EVM software is installed on the PC, the icon is created on the PC which can then clicked on to set the required parameter like the sampling frequency for the ADC, the Nyquist zone, FFT size as shown in figure 4.2 below which show the GUI of the ADS. The ADS 5474 ADX EVM has an external clock which set to 400MHz and the power level is set to 0dBm on the signal generator used as the external clocking. 4.3 RESULT FROM THE ADS5474 ADX EVM The first step is to validation that the output of the PRS that is generated from the new digital to analog converter (DAC) DA12000-12-14M-PCI used from spectrum analyzer and also checks the power level of the PRS. The output of the DAC is connected to spectrum analyzer to validate it output. Figure 4.3 below show the PRS. Figure 4.3 below shows that the right value of the PRS is being generated from the DAC board and the power level is at accurate point in dBm.
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Figure 4.3: The PRS at 500MHz
To validate the result, a non faulty wire is first tested using 2 meter by 3meter pass through clean cable (i.e. 5meter clean cable). Figure 4.4 below shows the FFT domain of the clean cable.
75MHz 80MHz
Figure 4.4: 720MHz and725MHz Two Tone PRS Modulated Signal pass through a 2meter by 3meter Clean Cable
The result presented in the figure4.4 above shows that there no fault in the wire. The two higher peaks represent the two fundamental frequencies of 75MHz and 80MHz. The distance between the two frequencies is 5MHz. The time domain data of the figure 4.4 above is capture and save
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which is used as the reference data. As shown the figure above it is clear that the cable is clean as no intermods generated. The test was carried out for four different types of fault and different behavior of intermods was observed. Figure 4.5 show the FFT output the first fault (F1) placed at 2meter on a 5meter cable.
80MHz 75MHz
70MHz 85MHz
Figure 4.5: 720MHz and725MHz Two Tone PRS Modulated Signal pass through a 2meter by 3meter faulty Cable (f1)
75MHz 80MHz 70MHz 85MHz
Figure 4.6: 720MHz and725MHz Two Tone PRS Modulated Signal pass through a 2meter by 3meter faulty Cable (f2)
Figure 4.6 shows another fault test which was carried out. The closest intermodulation product to the two fundamental tones that is 70MHz and 85MHz, are the third order intermodulation product as explained in chapter 2.
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4.4 IMPROVEMENT OF RESULT FROM DESIGN AND PREVIOUS DESIGN Looking at the table presented below show the previous output from the ADC capture lab and the present output for clean cable test carried out and faulty cable test.
Table 4.1: Comparison of Previous Result with New Result
PREVIOUS DESIGN
NEW DESIGN
75MHz 80MHz
Clean cable test from previous design
Clean cable test from New Design
80MHz 75MHz
200MHz 180MHz
160MHz
70MHz
220MHz
85MHz
Faulty cable test
Faulty cable test
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From the previous design used in carrying out the hardware implementation test for clean cable, a lot of harmonics are present in the result. This harmonics are generated when the two frequencies are combined at the RF power combiner, as no system is a perfect linear system. While the new design show more improvement over the previous design as shown in the table. A cleaner graph is capture form the ADC capture lab. 4.5 FAULT LOCATION IN A WIRE The new ADC Ben3G ADC is used to capture the time domain data for both the transmitted signal in channel two and received signal from the wire under test using channel one. This data is loaded and called from code writing in scilab. Each of the tests carried out has its own reference transmitted signal which is capture using channel two. The figure 4.7 shows the reference/transmitted signal for non faulty cable. To get the location of fault in the cable involved performing a proper signal processing from the data that is generated by the Ben3G ADC.
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CHAPTER 5 5.0 DISSCUSION AND CONCLUSION

Wiring failure as being identify as major concerns onboard aircraft as it causes the crash of many plane and loss of life in the process. The different method for detection and location of fault are already in used, but not good enough has most of them cannot be applied in wire with a live signal in it. The hardware implementation of wire integrity test system onboard aircraft is carried out capable of fault detection and location in a wire. The design was carried out by sending modulated PRS tones from the transmitter Digital to Analog converter (DAC) into the faulty and non- faulty wire back to the receiver Analog to digital converter (ADC). The power level of the transmitted PRS was successfully increased without corrupting the live signal in the wire. The intermodulation product shows the different level of degradation that occurs in the wire. The time domain data obtained from the process can be used to locate where there is fault in a wire
5.1 FURTHER WORK This dissertation has successfully re-design the existing hardware implementation design by achieving a high power level for transmission in the wire without generating intermods before transmitting into the wire. However for proper demodulation of reflected signal from the ADC, there is need for a proper synchronization of both the transmitter and the receiver as to capture the data at the same time. Locating fault in single wire to a branched network should also be investigated and the precision of the fault should be looked into.
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REFERENCES
[1]. J S.Kuznair G A.Slenski, Wire Integrity Field Survey of USAF Legacy Aircraft Oct 2001. [2]. G.A. Slenski M.F. Walz, Novel Technologies for Improving Wire System Integrity. [3]. B. Adebisi A. Sutherland B. Honary, Wire Integrity Testing Using Intermodulation Product Processing 2008. [4]. L. Butler, Intermodulation Performance and Measurement of Intermodulation Components May 2011. [5]. Aeroflex, An Insight Intermodulation Distortion Measurement Method Using the IFR 2026A/B MultiSource Generator Application Note May 2004. [6]. C. R. Sharma R.R. Harrison C. Furse Low-Power STDR CMOS Sensor for Locating Fault in Aging Wiring 2006 [7]. D. Gopakumar Hardware Implementation of Wire Integrity Test 2010. [8]. J. Brooks G. Scott Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupters for Aerospace Applications 1999 [9]. S.Haykin M.Moher Analog and Digital Communications 2nd Edition John Wiley & Sons Inc. 2007 [10]. http://cnx.org/content/m10084/latest/ cited 7th August 2011 [11]. B. Schneier Applied Cryptography 2nd Edition John Wiley & Sons Inc. 1996 [12]. C. Furse Y.C. Chung C Lo A Critical Comparison of Reflectometry Method for location of Wiring Faults Smart Structures and Systems, Vol. 2, No 1(2006) [13]. E. C. Ifeachor B.W. Jervis, Digital Signal Processing A practical Approach. 2nd Edition: Prentice Hall, 2002 Ch.6 page 318. [14]. http://dsp-book.narod.ru/PADFD.pdf page15 cited 14/June/2011 [15]. E. C. Ifeachor B.W. Jervis, Digital Signal Processing A practical Approach. 2nd Edition: Prentice Hall, 2002 Ch.6 page 320.
[16]. http://michaelgellis.tripod.com/direct.html sited June 15 2011 [17]. F. Marki C. Marki, Mixer Basics Primer A Tutorial for RF & Microwave Mixers. [18].http://www.radio-electronics.com/ [19]. P M. Grant I A. Glover, Digital Communications. 2nd Edition Prentice Hall, 1998, Ch. 11, p. 390 [20]. A. Bateman, Digital Communication Design for the Real World Addison Wesley 1999 [21]. Professor Darnel, Digital communication (lecture note Lancaster University), Oct 2010. [22]. B. Sklar Digital Communications Fundamentals and Applications 2nd Edition Prentice Hall PTR New Jersey 07458 [23].http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/rf-technology-design/coupler-combiner-splitter/rfdirectional-coupler-design-basics-tutorial.php [24]. C. Furse P. Smith M. Safavi C. Lo Feasibility of Spread Spectrum Sensors for Location of Arcs on Live Wires Vol. 5 No 6, Dec. 2005 [25].http://www.radiodetection.com/doclib/SPX_3_Cable_and_cable_fault_locating___part_3_e n.pdf(accessed July 13th 2011). [26]. K. Malmedal P.K.Sen Arcing Faults and Their Effect on the Setting of Ground Fault Relays in Solidly Grounded Low Voltage Systems Oct 1998 [27]. F.G. Stremler Introduction to Communication Systems 3rd Edition Addison-Wesley Publishing Company 1992
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Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

CHAPTER ONE 1.1 INTRODUCTION

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

, then the output will also have angular frequency

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Feedback function Output

Figure 2.3: 3-bit LFSR

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Number of Shift Register Initial Condition 1 XOR 1

3 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 Repeats Output sequence = 1010011

And ( The corresponding output will be ( ( ) ) )

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

And ( Therefore [ Expanding this

1st Order 2nd Order 3rd Order 4th Order 5 Order

f1 f1+f2 2f1-f2, 2f1+f2 2f1+2f2 3f1-2f2,

f2 f2-f1 2f2-f1, 2f2+f1 2f2-2f1 3f2-2f1,

90kHz 181kHz 89kHz 271kHz 362kHz 88kHz

91kHz 1kHz 92kHz 272kHz 2kHz 93kHz

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

1st Order 3nd Order 5 Order 7th Order 9th Order

f1 2f1-f2, 3f1-2f2 4f1-3f2 5f1-4f2

f2 2f2-f1 3f2-2f1 4f2-3f1 5f2-4f1

90kHz 89kHz 88kHz 87kHz 86kHz

91kHz 92kHz 93kHz 94kHz 95kHz

3rd 5th 7th 9th 11th

Figure2.4 Spectrums of Intermodulation Components

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Figure 2.6: Time Domain Reflectometry.

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Figure 2.7: Block representation of FIR filter

Figure 2.8: Low Pass Filter (LPF)

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Figure 2.9: High Pass Filter

Figure 2.10: Band Pass Filter (BPF)

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Figure 2.11: Stop Band Filter (SBF)

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

( ) Which can also written as: ( )

are the coefficient of the filter where

is the feedback coefficient and

Figure 2.12: Block representation of IIR filter

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft

Couple Port Output Port C

Figure 2.13: Directional coupler symbolic [16]

DIRECTIONAL COUPLER ISOLATED PORT COUPLED PORT

Figure 2.14: RF Directional Coupler

Table 2.3: Coupler Description

TERM Coupling Loss Mainline Loss Directivity

Hardware Implementation for Wiring Test System Onboard Aircraft