Digital Programmable Gaussian Noise Generator

Electronic countermeasures are critical to air vehicle survivability. Noise jamming is a technique that takes advantage of a radar’s sensitivity to noise to prevent target tracking. Random Gaussian noise is preferred over structured noise for this purpose. This project produced a digital Gaussian noise generator based around an FPGA with programmable bandwidth, center frequency, and amplitude to be used by Group 108 within MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Noise produced by the generator is band limited white in frequency with a Gaussian probability density function, as verified both visually and via statistical tests. The device is a strong improvement over existing technology used by Group 108 and it will be used for researching the effects of Gaussian noise on various radar systems