DME (Distance Measuring Equipment )

Frequency Band:
Airborne: 1025 MHz 1150 MHz
Ground : 63 MHz below Tx frequency 1025 1087 MHz
63 MHz above Tx frequency 1088 1150 MHz
This gives 126 channels but two codings are used (X and Y)
which doubles the capacity
DME
As the name implies , DME provides information on
the distance from the aircraft to the ground station
Used to establish position along an airway and also
to establish hold points
DME
Frequency Band:
Airborne: 1025 MHz 1150 MHz (L band)
Ground : 63 MHz below Tx frequency 1025 1087 MHz
63 MHz above Tx frequency 1088 1150 MHz
This gives 126 channels but two codings are used (X and Y)
which doubles the capacity
DME
General Principle:
Airborne transceiver transmits a pair of pulses
(spaced at 12s for mode X and 30s for mode Y)
Ground transmitter receives the pulses, waits 50s and then
transmits another pair of pulses back to the aircraft
Airborne transceiver measures the time between transmission and
reception, subtracts the 50s, multiplies by the speed of light and
divides by 2.
DME
This is very simple but gets more complicated when we
want to service more than one aircraft
We need a method of distinguishing among the signals from
up to 100 aircraft.
This is done essentially by generating a random set of
pulses and correlating with the replies to determine the
correct ones.
DME AIRBORNE TRANSPONDER
DME PULSES
DME OUTPUTS
Distance
Speed
Time to Station
Notes:
1. The last two are valid only if the aircraft is going
directly towards or away from the ground station.
2. The DME measures SLANT RANGE to the station.
SLANT RANGE
Ground Range
A
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t
i
t
u
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DME Ground Station
The ground station simply receives a pulse pair,
inserts the 50 s delay and retransmits it.
To reduce the effects of reflections it will not
reply to another interrogation for about 60 s
(dead time)
DME Ground Station
SQUITTER
The ground station transmits 2700 pulse pairs per second
regardless of the number of aircraft interrogating.
The extra pulse pairs are called squitter
If there are not enough interrogations to make up 2700 pulse
pairs, the ground receiver increases its sensitivity until noise
pulses trigger enough replies to make up the difference
If there are too many interrogations, the receiver decreases its
sensitivity so that the weakest interrogations get ignored
DME Ground Station
SQUITTER
Using squitter has the following advantages:
The transmitter average output power is constant
The receiver AGC has a constant average signal to
work with
The ground receiver sensitivity is maintained at
the optimum level
In the case of overload, the aircraft farthest from
the station are dropped off first.
DME
Using squitter has the following advantages:
The transmitter average output power is constant
The receiver AGC has a constant average signal to
work with
The ground receiver sensitivity is maintained at
the optimum level
In the case of overload, the aircraft farthest from
the station are dropped off first.
DME as a Navaid
Accuracy:
The ICAO specification for DME is 0.5NM or 3% of distance
Tests done on Canadian DMEs show that their errors are
less than 30m.
Integrity
DME ground stations are equipped with monitors which
can detect erroneous delays and out-of-tolerance power
output levels. These shut the system down if and error is
detected
DME as a Navaid
Availability:
As with most systems there is a standby transmitter which takes
over when the main one fails.
availability is well above 99.9%
DME as a Navaid
Availability:
As with most systems there is a standby transmitter which takes
over when the main one fails.
availability is well above 99.9%