DISTANCE MEASURING EQUIPMENT ( D.M.E.

Introduction:

Distance measuring equipment (DME) is secondary radar pulsed ranging system

operating in the band 978-1213 MHZ. The system provides slant range to a beacon at a
fixed point on the ground. The difference between slant range and ground range, which is
needed for navigation purposes is small unless the aircraft is very high or close to the
beacon.

The D.M.E System

Transponder Interrogator

Rx Tx

Delay 50 Range Output

microsec CCt

Tx Rx

Basic principles:

The airborne interrogator radiates coded r.f pulse pairs at a frequency within the band
978-1213 MHz from an omni directional antenna. A ground transponder (the beacon),
within range of the aircraft and operating on the channel to which the interrogator is
selected, receives the interrogation and automatically triggers the beacon transmitter after
a fixed delay of 50 microseconds. The omni directional radiation from the beacon is
coded r.f pulse pairs at a frequency 63 MHz below or above the interrogation frequency.
The suitably tuned interrogator receiver receives this reply and after processing is fed to
the range circuits where the round trip travel time is computed. Both beacon and
transponder use a single omni directional antenna shared between transmitter and
receiver in each case. Once every 30 sec the beacon transmits its identity, which is
detected by the pilot as a Morse code burst of three letters at an audio tone of 1350 Hz.

Terminology:
 D.M.E. is a system combining ground - based and airborne equipment to
measure the distance of the aircraft from a ground facility.
 D.M.E. is used primarily for position fixing , enroute separation , approach to an
airport , avoiding protected airspace , holding at a given position , or figuring ground
speeds.
 The airborne D.M.E. consists of a receiver - transmitter (rt.), a control unit, a
distance indicator and an antenna.
 The ground based D.M.E. consists of a receiver - transmitter and an antenna but
operates only on a single frequency.

RECEIVER - TRANSMITTER :
The transmitter section of the rt unit contains all the necessary circuits to generate ,
amplify , and transmit the interrogating pulse pairs. The receiver section contains the
circuits required to receive, amplify, and decode the received reply pulses.

CONTROLS:
The control unit provides the necessary control and switching circuits for the airborne
D.M.E. rt. The control unit may also provide the frequency selection for a vhf
communication or navigation receiver.

INDICATORS:
The distance indicator displays the aircraft distance in nautical miles from the ground
station. The indicator will also display in the form of flag offer dashes, a warning that the
system is either malfunctioning or not locked on to a reply signal.

ANTENNA:
The antenna is a single L - a band transmits and receives antenna with an omnidirectional
radiation pattern.

OPERATION:

DME transmits coded integration signals (pulse - pairs) to the ground station. The ground station receives
the integration and returns a coded reply signal (pulse - pairs) for each interrogation. One antenna is used
for both transmission and reception.

DME computes the short range (LOS) distance to/from the ground station.

D= (T - 50μsec.)/ 12.359

D : short range distance in nautical miles to or from the ground station .

T : time in microseconds between transmission and integration pulse-pairs and reception

of the corresponding reply pulse-pairs .
50μsec.: delay in ground station between reception of DME interrogation and
transmission of reply (Omni delay )

12.359: time in μsec. For rf energy to travel one nautical miles and returns .

The VHF frequency range is converted into a BCD number representing 1 of 126 channels. Each of 126
channels may have X or Y spacing , thus producing 252 available DME channel .
For each channel, there are paired transmit and receive frequencies for the DME. The DME transmits
( air to ground) frequency range is 1025 to 1150MHz ,the receive ( ground to air ) frequency range is 962
to 1212 MHz.

The DME interrogation period begins with a pair of rf pulses being transmitted during the remaining time
of the interrogation period, the receiver portion o the DME listens for any ground station replies .

The time of interrogation period is dependent upon the DME mode of operation :

1) Search mode 90 pulse-pairs/second 13MHz .

2) Track mode 22.5 pulse-pairs/second

Another characteristics of the pulse-pairs is the spacing between pulses. This spacing is dependent upon
the type of DME channel selected; for X channel the spacing is 12μsec. , For Y channel the spacing is
36μsec.

The ground signal continuously transmits a 2700 pp/s squitter signal with 1350Hz identification code at
30sec. interval .

Jitter:

Deliberate random variation of the time interval between successive interrogations. Each interrogator
produces a “jittering pulse” (pair) repetition frequency (p.r.f)” which, over a period of several
interrogations, describes a unique pattern since the variations are random. The unique interrogation pattern
enables the DME to recognize replies to its own interrogation by stroboscopic techniques.

Modes of operation :

1) While the aircraft is on ground the DME may be in manual standby mode . in this mode , the
DME transmitter is inhibited and the receiver is operative. If the ground station signal is received
during standby mode, the identification code is AUDIBLE. Synchronous type indicators will be
parked at zero and have the distance valid flag down.
2) While the aircraft is airborne, the DME is turned ON, the DME starts in automatic standby or
signal controlled search( SCS ) mode. In this mode the transmitter is inhibited and the receiver is
operative. The DME will remain in SCS mode until the receiver determine that the antenna is
receiving more than 450 squitter pp/s from the ground station . when this occurs the DME switches to
search mode .
 3) In search mode the DME interrogates the ground station by transmitting pulse-pairs at a prf of 90
pp/s. After each interrogation, the DME receiver searches the ground station signals for reply pulse-
pairs that is synchronous to the interrogation pulse-pairs.
4) Once the DME has located the decoded reply pulses, it waits until the next interrogation pulse-pair
is transmitted. It then counts the time at which the last decoded reply pulse was received and develops
a range gate. Presence of decoded reply pulse in the range gate means that, twice in a row, the DME
has found a pulse located at the same time interval after second interrogation pulse. When this occurs,
the DME continues to develop a range gate at this same point in time for consecutive interrogation
periods. Location of 7 consecutive reply pulses in 15 consecutive interrogation periods is the criterion
necessary for the DME to switch to the pre-track mode.
Development of the range gate, at one point in time for 15 consecutive interrogation periods, or if it
loses the 7 out of 15 decision. When termination occurs the DME begins to search outbound from the
previous distance to 390nmi, then from 0 to 391nmi, until it finds another decoded reply pulse.
When another decoded reply pulse is found, the range gate is then developed at that period of time.
This process continues until the DME range finds a point in time at which seven decoded reply pulses
occur within 15 consecutive interrogation periods.
The DME then switches to PRE-TRACK mode.
5) In PRE-TRACK mode the DME determines the relative velocity of the aircraft with respect to the
ground station. This is accomplished during the 4-second pretrack mode, by a velocity accumulator,
which fine positions the range gate so that the reply pulses are entered within the range gate. During
this mode DME continues to interrogate the ground station at 90pp/s and valid data is displayed.
6) After 4-second pretrack mode the DME switches to the track mode. Digital type distance indicators
continue to display the valid slant distance to/ from the ground station. During this mode the
interrogation rate is 22.5pp/s and the velocity accumulator and error detector continue to keep the
reply pulses centered in the range gate.
The criterion for maintaining track is that the DME continues to find at least 7 synchronous decoded
replies for every 15-interrogation period. If this criterion is not satisfied, the DME will not go into the
memory mode.
The nominal 1.4 seconds memory mode is entered when a temporary or permanent loss of reply signal
occurs. During memory mode the DME continues interrogations at the 22.5pp/s rate, and the distance
is displayed as if the station was still being tracked. If signal is reacquired during mode, the DME
returns to track mode. If the signal is lost for a length of time greater than memory, the DME changes
back to search mode.
It should be noted that if the received squitter rate falls below 450pp/s when the DME is in search
mode, the DME would revert back to the SCS on automatic standby mode.