EW Publication – Technical Review - 3 December 2014
Technical Review of:
Electronic Warfare Receivers and Receiving Systems. - Author Richard A Poisel.
This Electronic Warfare book covers the areas of communication signal intelligence and
interception. Although aimed at system designers, it does offer a very good grounding in the area
of receivers, modulation and more complex techniques at a level that most RF engineers will
understand.
The book covers basic receiver principles, signal and modulation systems, the RF stages, small
signal amplifiers, mixing and mixers, IF amplification, IF filters, narrowband receivers, compression
receivers, digital receivers, sampling and ADCs, digital filters, digital demodulation, DACs, direct
digital converter, spread spectrum techniques, intercept receivers and direction finding receivers.
Although each chapter is not completely standalone, it is very easy to identify specific areas of
interest, and assuming the reader has a general understanding of RF theory, the content can be
used as both a general and an Electronic Warfare-specific reference. As would be expected, the
mathematics is complex but all the equations are built from basic principles and the terms are
clearly explained so that the derivations can be worked out. The coverage of a variety of filtering
and digital techniques is extremely useful in these days of Software Defined Radio systems and
digital signal conditioning.
Although classified as Electronic Warfare, this book would be a good addition to the library of any
RF engineer wanting to improve their understanding of current receiver techniques and
procedures. On the other hand, this book would not be suitable for complete RF novices as much
of the terminology is used with only a quick explanation or sometimes none at all. However, as a
presentation of receivers, the problems associated with signal and data capture and the problems
inherent to any RF system, I find this book outstanding. I have three types of books in my library:
‘look pretty but are never read’ to impress visitors, ‘useful but rarely looked at’ and ‘now onto the
third copy’ because I’ve worn out the previous two. This book, in my opinion, falls into the latter
category and I anticipate it being carried around for reference when running courses in case of
difficult questions. I understand at least one company is looking to use this book as part of the set
books on their ECM course.
Reviewed by Ian White, Director RF engineering, Gaddon Ltd
Further Information from: www.artechhouse.com
EW Publication – Technical Review - 3 December 2014