Ultra Electronics Projects

Watchkeeper Data-Link Emulator (WDLE)

Watchkeeper is an Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) system with the primary task of addressing the need for Image Intelligence (IMINT) collection on the battlefield.

Igence were contracted by Ultra Electronics to develop an emulation of their radio-data-link equipment for communications between the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and ground-stations.

The primary purpose of our Watchkeeper Datalink Emulator (WDLE) was to allow integration and test of the Watchkeeper project components before scheduled availability of the operational radio-data-link.

The WDLE was designed to:

Simulate end-to-end data delivery and degradation due to atmospheric conditions
Simulate packet encryption and transmission delays to within a few milliseconds of the expected performance
Simulate data link control and configuration dialogues.

One of the key strengths of the WDLE design is the inclusion of a message definition parser. This will allow system integrators to modify the message data design without making changes to the data link emulator.