Features and Advanced Capability
The Palantir TSCM Fast Acquisition Receiver (FAR) was designed with new advancements in technology resulting in an entirely new level of functionality. The Palantir FAR goes beyond the current conventional approach to wireless signal intelligence with advanced detection and analysis capabilities and an impressive list of powerful features to create a complete fully integrated signal intelligence solution unlike anything in the commercial marketplace.
After years of research and experience in developing and using computer based government SIGINT and spectrum monitoring programs that were integrated with high-end spectrum analyzer and government grade receivers, our receiver engineering team concluded that the TSCM receiver to defeat the persistent threat agent (high level threats against government and fortune 500 organizations) required the important characteristics of ultra high speed with sensitivity, excellent spurious free dynamic range and outstanding frequency accuracy and resolution.
Receiver Speed
Receiver speed or the rate at which a receiver scans the RF spectrum is an important performance characteristic because the faster the scan rate the less chance there is of missing signal activity. Receivers will only see activity limited to the specific area of the spectrum being scanned at any given moment, therefore the slower the scan rate the more activity that is being missed. Receivers that are extremely slow will miss far too much activity and are not suitable for high threat level TSCM or intelligence operations.
Slow scanning speed requires having to continually scan the spectrum many cycles over a period of time to develop a limited picture of the overall RF environment and attempt to increase the probability of detecting activity due to lack of receiver functionality. This can be described as a "hit and miss" type scenario, relying on probability, rather than capability, and becomes even more troublesome if the activity is intermittent.
This poses problems for high threat corporate, government or military applications as the technology being utilized to compromise and obtain information has become increasingly more sophisticated. High powered devices operating at low frequencies that transmit continuously are relatively easy to find even with a lower performance receiver and while the Palantir FAR picks these low level devices off at lightning speed, it was designed for the highest threat level environments and the most sophisticated devices of both current and developing technologies.
Aside from the recognized technical advantages of fast scanning, speed is also vitally important for times when a tactical type TSCM sweep is required and time is limited. In instances where real time monitoring of meetings or events is required, a device that becomes operational needs to be detected immediately. By the time a slow scanning receiver detects the activity it may well be too late, assuming it detects the activity at all. Government, military, law enforcement and corporations all experience these types of situations and they require a powerful professional tool that will fill the requirements quickly and accurately.
Palantir FAR represents a major technological breakthrough and scans the RF spectrum at an incredible 200 GHz per second. This ensures that if a signal is present it will be detected and analyzed immediately upon operation. In circumstances where time is not critical or spectrum monitoring is required, fast scanning speed will process far more information over the same period of time providing a more accurate detailed and complete mapping of the overall RF spectrum environment for logging and post analysis review.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is also a key component to performance. The greater the bandwidth the more signal information is seen and analyzed by the receiver at one time. Receivers with limited or very narrow 'Staring Bandwidth' specifications will miss signaling events that occur within a range of the spectrum that is outside of the analyzers current window. This can impact the ability to properly detect and analyze intermittent activity or signals with a wide bandwidth such as digital or video transmissions.
The Palantir FAR has an industry leading 100 MHz of 'Staring Bandwidth'. This is the amount of spectrum that is digitized in one 'hop' while scanning. Most receivers are limited to less than half of this amount and are therefore slower. Palantir FAR provides a very wide 'Staring Bandwidth' along with full digitization and recording of that bandwidth. Any event occurring within that bandwidth is seen and recorded in an industry standard format for playback and analysis while scanning. Because Palantir FAR is ultra fast (200 GHz per second) no events are missed and more importantly, we can see, capture and analyze the on-off trigger events of remote control and intermittent devices as they are powered on and off. This is something slower USB connected receivers are virtually incapable of.
Connectivity
Pipelining of receiver data via USB to processing software applications can have many adverse effects, but in particular, the slow throughput of USB connections as per the chart below can become seriously overloaded resulting in lost data.
Lost data is a serious issue, thus it is common practice for the TSCM receiver to slow to extremely low speeds, missing important threat activity within the RF spectrum such as burst and spread spectrum covert transmissions. Such poor designs and processing bottlenecks create performances issues.
While most TSCM receivers today support only USB connectivity, Ethernet is vastly more reliable. A receiver is less likely to experience dropped data and sluggish response times when using Ethernet over USB.
Ethernet cables can reach longer distances than USB cables. A single Ethernet cable can run most anywhere within a facility undergoing a TSCM inspection, meaning that a receiver can easily be operated remotely. USB with a 5m (16 feet) maximum length does not allow remote operation without additional hardware and software.
Ethernet does not require the installation of device driver software, while USB does. Modern operating systems like Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 7 are capable of automatically installing USB drivers for many industry standard broadband modems. However, unique non-standard USB interfaces to non-standard A/D cards can be a problem. In general, a device driver is an additional installation step and source of potential problems that do not exist with Ethernet connections.
Palantir FAR utilizes Gigabit-Ethernet connectivity for transmitting captured data at a rate of a gigabyte per second (1,000,000,000 bits per second) as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard and bypasses the performance and processing issues associated with data transfer via USB.
While speed and resolution are critical for the requirements of complex high threat environments, other advanced functionality is also required for such high performance operation. Key features of the Palantir FAR include:
- Configurable scan rate up to 200 GHz/s.
- Industry leading 100 MHz instantaneous Band Width.
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Full live audio / video demodulation.
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Large instantaneous BW, fast flexible scanning and lossless storage enables the monitoring of entire bands of communication without missing any critical data.
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Tuning range of 100 KHz to 11 GHz with 10 kHz step size. (Extended frequency ranges in development)
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Sophisticated triggering for real-time identification of signals of interest.
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Fast network interfaces combined with sophisticated triggering and signal processing means the Palantir FAR transfers only information of interest and is therefore network efficient.
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Lossless storage for post processing with local optional DSP or at a central location.
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Power density calculations based on amplitude measurements accurate to 0.5 mV.
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Accurate power density and accurate synchronized time-stamping ensures the best information available for geo-locating transmitters.
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GPS with 1 PPS and time-stamping accurate to 10 nsecs.
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Standard APIs including VITA VRT, SCPI and GNU Radio.
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Gigabit-Ethernet and USB connectivity.
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Programmable signal intelligence database for wireless signal identification.
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Fully integrated highly advanced TSCM specific operator software application.
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Robust, compact and portable, designed for fast deployment.
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Ease of use, streamlined operation.
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Complete advanced professional TSCM package.
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Palantir FAR Operator Kit Includes:
"Setting a New Standard in RF Detection, Analysis and Location Technology!"
"Specialized Intelligence and Privacy Protection"
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