International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / November 04-07, 1991 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Gulf Range Drone Control Upgrade System (GRDCUS) Mobile Control System (GMCS) is an integral part of the test ranges located on the Gulf of Mexico. This paper begins with a brief overview of the current Gulf Range systems. These systems consist of five major components: ground stations, ground computer systems, data link/transponders, consoles, and software. The GMCS van contains many of these components to provide a stand-alone range capability for remote operations. This paper describes the development and assembly of the GMCS van and focuses on the on-board computer systems, consoles, and data link technology. An overall system engineering approach was used during GMCS development and is highlighted through the use of rapid prototyping. This methodology and the lessons learned are presented in the paper. Suggestions for future applications are considered.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 26-29, 1992 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / New tracking/control system requirements demand that the present DFCS/GRDCUS/MTACS data link bit rate be increased. A possible method for achieving this increase is to select two additional 31-bit chip code patterns that are orthogonal to the present chip codes, and to each other. This method will not require any more bandwidth than the present 10 MHZ used. This method suggest that each of the four chip code patterns are assigned a two bit value ie: 00, 01, 10, 11. At present, the two correlated chip codes represent data in a pulse position method. No data is contained in which of the two chip codes actually correlated. This new method suggest each of the four chip code patterns will still perform the pulse position modulation and provide two additional bits of data. These additional two bits of data will up the data rate of the link by 100 percent.