Roke Manor Research Sensor Technology

Sensor Technology

Since 1956, we have been Innovative Solutions

developing cost-effective and
When thinking about launching a
innovative sensor solutions for
new product in today’s competitive
both the commercial and defence
marketplace, it is vital to know what
sectors. By drawing on a unique
technology is already available, who
mix of skills that includes image
the main players are and how that
processing, optics, radar and
particular market is evolving.
acoustics we constantly push the
boundaries of technology to At Roke Manor Research, we offer a
develop ‘world first’ solutions that product design consultancy service,
find applications from the depths which provides our customers with
of the ocean to outer space. valuable market intelligence. Using this
information, we work closely with our
We listen, anticipate and respond to
clients to develop new products to meet
our customers’ demands and blend
market needs and help them achieve
commercial and technical excellence
competitive advantage in their field. We
to serve a diverse client base, from
are in a unique position of being able to
small commercial companies to
draw on a range of technologies across
government agencies.
the business. Our involvement in new
product development can begin at any
With expertise ranging from
stage - from initial concept studies
conceptual electronic, software, and
through to production. We specialise in
mechanical design through to final
developing innovative solutions for
product development, we can also
consumer electronics and the broadcast,
offer our customers a ‘one stop shop’
entertainment and defence sectors.
capability in many areas of our work.
We also undertake system concept
Our mission is to delight our customers
studies, including vulnerability
and we guarantee to provide:
assessment and obsolescence
■ Competitive advantage re-engineering.
■ Short development times
Our technical expertise includes:
■ Minimal programme risk
■ Wireless local area networks (WLANs)
■ Cost effectiveness
■ RF Tagging
■ Complete confidentiality
■ Biometrics
We look forward to working with you ■ Magnetic sensors
to exploit our capabilities - whatever
■ Acoustics
the size or nature of your business.
■ Optics and fibre optics

■ TEMPEST

■ EM Compatibility

■ RF Design

■ Analogue Design

■ Digital Design
Roke Manor Research at a glance

History
Founded in 1956. Wholly owned by Siemens since 1991

Headquarters
22-acre grounds at Roke Manor, Romsey, Hampshire, UK

Website
www.roke.co.uk

Business
Contract research and development of communication and electronic sensing
technologies, including radio devices, radio systems, internet systems and applications
and sensors.

Employees
470

Patents
Over 430

General and Marketing Enquiries

Sam Smith / Tanya Wild
Roke Manor Research
Tel: +44 (0) 1794 833000
Fax: +44 (0) 1794 833433
Email: [email protected]

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 Acoustics

Roke Manor Research’s expertise in

acoustics covers a broad area; from
microphone sensors, analogue and
digital electronics and digital signal
processing, to communications, the
human-machine interface and system
modelling and prediction. We have an
in-depth understanding of acoustic
and seismic noise, processing,
measurement and analysis techniques,
and noise control algorithms.

We produce a constant stream of

innovative ideas to meet market needs.
Recent examples include deep-sea cable
Below are some examples of how our
finding, underground asset tagging and
specialist skills have been applied:
railway track monitoring. Our multi-
disciplinary project teams are brought Acoustic techniques for
together to address individual medical equipment
requirements and take initial concepts
- Noise reduction for MRI equipment
through to full development, using a
variety of different business models to - Hearing aid noise reduction
meet our customers’ exact needs. - Techniques for catheter location
Some of our innovative concepts include:
Monitoring and measuring
■ Wind noise reduction techniques
- Airport noise monitoring
■ Inexpensive leak and flow detection
- Railway crack monitoring and
■ Acoustic control in vehicles prediction
■ Underground and sea location - Water pipe leak detection
techniques
- Buried object detection, for example
■ Sports applications undersea cables
A high degree of synergy exists between
our established track record in military and Noise control and processing for
security work, and the more recent industrial and commercial applications
application of skills and technology to the - Sound stage control - arrays of
commercial and industrial sectors. One of microphones to give full control
our most notable achievements in in the studio
acoustics is the HALO® weapon location
- Sound reduction in domestic and
system, which was developed initially for
commercial properties and hotels
the UK Ministry of Defence and is now
being deployed overseas. - Noise profiling and control of car
engine noise

- Voice activated controls

We have equipment to measure sound

levels and wind noise and regularly design
our own purpose-built test equipment.

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 SENSOR TECHNOLOGY
Antennas and Electromagnetic Solutions

Founded in 1986 to provide EpsilonTM Antennas

computational electromagnetic (CEM)
EpsilonTM is our radar cross-section We are particularly skilled at
support to the business, we now apply
prediction code. It is available under developing ultra wide band antennas,
CEM solutions to solve complex
licence (subject to export control), or on a antennas for wireless local area
antenna and propagation problems for
consultancy basis, for stealth and counter networks (WLANS) and low observable
a diverse client base covering both the
stealth studies or any aspect of low antennas.
defence and commercial sectors.
observable technology and radar imaging.
EpsilonTM can also embed solutions from In recent years we have run an
Highly skilled in stealth and covert antenna
rigorous solvers, facilitating the interactive workshop at SMi’s
design, microwave engineering,
development of hybrid solutions. EpsilonTM Signature Management conference in
propagation and software engineering, we
has an international reputation and is London. Visit
provide the cost-effective and integrated
used by numerous defence agencies and www.smiconferences.co.uk for more
solutions that our customers need to be
industrial organisations throughout details.
world leaders in their field.
the world.
The tools we offer fit broadly into three
categories; EpsilonTM for radar, EpsilonTM for EpsilonTM Channel Modelling
channel modelling, and antennas. This is a software package designed for
multi-path channel characterisation in
urban and suburban environments. This
system combines the high frequency
modelling abilities of EpsilonTM with a
comprehensive 3D CAD environment
modelling capability to produce a tool for
simulating the multipath channel.

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 Avionics

All rights reserved Beagle2.

The avionics team at Roke Manor innovative and cost effective solutions, on
Research has significant experience time and within budget to customers’
in the field of electronics design, from exacting requirements.
writing object-oriented software
applications using modern languages Miniature Radar Altimeter (MRA)
and the implementation of code in
Our low-cost, yet lightweight and highly
FPGAs, to hardware design and build.
accurate altimeter provides accurate low
Some of our latest work ranges from the level height positioning, from 1.5 metres to
design, prototyping and flight trials of a 700 metres. Although specifically designed
radar altimeter for the Beagle 2 Mars lander, for the unmanned air vehicle market, it has
through to the writing and validation of many other applications, including:
complex software for predicting the ■ Low flying target drones
accuracy of guided weapons. For the
■ Geophysical surveying
Beagle 2 Mars lander project, our Miniature
Radar Altimeter (MRA) has been redesigned ■ Wave height monitoring
as a proximity sensor and will be used to
■ Airborne filming
ensure that airbags on the Beagle 2 lander
are deployed at the correct altitude, thereby ■ Parachute activation
guaranteeing its safe arrival on the surface
■ Traffic monitoring
of the planet.
■ Crop spraying
Our experience of working within both the
commercial and military markets means that
we can apply the most appropriate
technologies, thereby providing our
customers with the optimum solution for
their needs. With a growing emphasis being
placed on high reliability, high performance
and low cost, we are ideally placed to offer
solutions that effectively
address these
sometimes conflicting The Miniature Radar Altimeter (MRA).
requirements.

The avionics group

therefore has the knowledge
and experience to provide
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 SENSOR TECHNOLOGY
Imaging Systems

entry lane car park through to a three- DROID

lane motorway, using a single computer. Today, automated systems and robots
Together, standard CCTV-type camera touch virtually every aspect of our lives,
equipment and Iris create a very cost- from vehicle manufacture, automated pick
effective and high performing solution. and place machines, through to vacuum
cleaning robots.
Hawk-Eye
Using sophisticated image processing In order to be able to achieve these tasks,
techniques, Hawk-Eye has already helped today’s automation systems are packed
to revolutionise Channel 4’s coverage of with leading edge technology,
test cricket and the BBC’s coverage of combining the best sensor
tennis, thanks to its ability to track the technology with artificial
flight and predict the future path of a ball. intelligence and adaptive
By applying extensive knowledge in virtual control algorithms.
reality, graphics, vision processing and
Roke Manor Research has been Roke Manor Research is
camera technology, we are now
developing world-class imaging leading the way in deploying these new
developing new systems that will help
technology; from simple image capture systems through our DROID technology.
bring enormous added-value to the
and retrieval systems, through to By analysing the view from a camera
traditional television broadcasting of
sophisticated image processing using advanced image processing
sporting events, and Hawk-Eye has
solutions, for over 25 years. techniques, DROID extracts complex 3D
already been successfully applied to other
data from the scene, which can then be
We are particularly skilled at sequence and sports, such as snooker. Fans can also
used in a variety of tasks, including:
model-based processing techniques and use the Internet to further analyse
combine this with software, hardware, sporting events and use Hawk-Eye data ■ Identification and characterisation of
radio and fixed networks expertise in other to recreate scenes on demand. By hazards
areas of the business to design unique bringing together our expertise in other
■ Planning a path around a hazard
solutions for large or small companies areas of the business, such as WLAN and
across a range of market sectors, technology for handheld devices, ■ Complex scene understanding
including transport, security, defence, information from Hawk-Eye can be
■ Picking up particular objects from a
broadcast, leisure and medical. beamed around a stadium, enabling
random orientation and selection of
crowds to enjoy the same features as
rogue objects
television vi`ewers and web surfers.
Following are just a few examples from
■ Complex navigation tasks
our imaging systems portfolio:
■ Vehicle control
Iris
Roke Manor Research can use this data
Iris was created to meet the need for a in a variety of ways, in neural networks,
system which could automatically detect adaptive control algorithms, and artificial
the presence of a particular object, for intelligence systems to perform these, or
example, a vehicle, container or other complex tasks. As DROID is a
aeroplane, by recognising its unique generic video-based technology its use in
serial number. robotic systems is only the beginning.

Iris is particularly suited to number plate

recognition, which finds applications in
road tolling, access control, customer
care and speed enforcement or deterrent
systems, amongst others. As a state-of-
the-art software product, Iris is flexible
enough to monitor anything from a ten-

7
 Navigation and Location
Aware Systems

Our navigation specialists combine

world-class skill in system design,
algorithm development and
mathematical modelling to develop the
technologies our customers need to be
leaders in their field. These skills are
matched by the high level of project
and risk management expertise
required to keep to specification, time
and budget, guaranteeing unrivalled
GPS-GSM
service for all our customers, whatever
the size or nature of their business. Our GPS-GSM work is a prime example of
how we combine diverse technologies to
Examples of our technology are provide communication solutions. GPS-
shown below. GSM represents the combination of the
Global Position System (GPS) and a GSM
Personal Location Technology mobile phone within a single handset. It
allows the handset to determine its own
We are developing a range of location
position to within a few metres, anywhere in
technologies, including Cell of Origin, Time
the world. Using this technology, future
of Arrival, Enhanced Observed Time
phones will be able to utilise fully the
Difference and Satellite Navigation, that will
location-based services provided by the
allow an individual to determine their
latest IP and WAP systems. As well as
position anywhere in the world - through
GPS, we are well placed to integrate other
their mobile handset.
low-cost location technologies into mobile
Positioning can already be achieved by phones or PDAs.
using dedicated satellite navigation
receivers, but our technology is small
enough to be integrated into a mobile
phone. By knowing its location, a mobile
phone will soon have access to numerous
location dependent services which, when
combined with mobile Internet access, will
make it a very powerful tool.

3D Multilateration
The fixing of a position by reference to the
time difference of arrival of a signal at a
collection of sensors, is a well established
technology at Roke Manor Research.

The key to the success of this technology is

the ability to synchronise sensors located
hundreds of kilometres apart to sub-
nanosecond accuracy using our advanced

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 SENSOR TECHNOLOGY
Electro-optics

GPS time transfer system. Accurately This work includes military as well as civil
detecting timing differences between radio applications, where the performance of
signals travelling at the speed of light is a optical and infrared systems and
complex problem and the technology we components can be assessed or predicted,
have developed for our customers is the and techniques evaluated through
most advanced in the world. theoretical and experimental analysis.

Our multilateration technology can be used Some of the skills applied by our optics
for a range of civil and military applications team include:
requiring 3D position fixing and object
■ System design
tracking. One example is our Height
Measuring Element (HME) sub-system. ■ System modelling and simulation
Height monitoring systems are deployed at
■ Component modelling and lens design
strategic locations in Europe and North
America to provide our customers with Roke Manor Research has a well- ■ Opto-mechanical engineering
accurate height monitoring to support their established electro-optics team
■ Optical system manufacture, integration
Reduced Vertical Separation Minima which designs and makes electro-
and testing
(RVSM) programmes. optical systems, conducts analysis
and carries out study work. A range
Applications include:
of high-performance sensors using
coherent optics is now being ■ Laser Doppler techniques for fluid flow
designed and made for use in a metering. This can be used for tracing
variety of commercial applications. out flow profiles to obtain reliable data in
difficult measurement situations, and
We are taking advantage of the results of calibrating in-situ flow meters. These
optical fibre telecommunications allows insertion from one side only and
research to achieve higher sensitivity and are compact and accurate
smaller size, largely through advances in
optical sources and detectors. Our ■ Precision level metering
experience in the field of fibre optic ■ Proprietary surface profiling techniques,
networking - using proprietary optical enabling the measurement of aspheric
switching - has honed the team’s skills in surfaces, which is not possible with
high-speed devices (to 40 Gb/s) and alternative, remote-optical techniques.
opto-electronics, and these are now The equipment can measure a variety of
Time Synchronisation being applied to a further range of components, from contact lenses to
optical sensors. astronomical lenses and mirrors
Our state-of-the-art GPS time transfer
system was designed as part of the HME
system. Sub-nanosecond differential
performance allows precise differential
timing measurements to be made
between signals received at locations
hundreds of kilometres apart. The system
uses GPS timing information and high
stability clocks. It has many applications
and we can provide both product
solutions and consultancy for all high
precision time synchronisation
requirements.

9
 Radar Systems

Roke Manor Research boasts over

30 years of radar expertise.

As well as maintaining a diverse

customer base across the defence
sector, our team of radar experts are
ideally placed to provide commercial
clients with a competitive edge by
applying tried and tested techniques
and a unique blend of skills to meet Courtesy of BAE SYSTEMS
their particular need. For example,
many of our low-cost remote sensors Our radar systems experts have a wealth of
are being implemented into knowledge, from system design, RF
commercial applications across the design, and field programmable gate arrays
land, sea and air market sectors. (FPGAs), through to custom ASICs.

We have developed a radar system As a result we can design lower cost and
network as an anti-collision device with an higher complexity software in shorter
all round sensing capability. The network is development times.
able to detect objects regardless of
CELLDARTM
the weather.
We have combined our expertise in radar
technology and cellular radio to develop
CELLDARTM, a ground breaking, low-cost
technique that uses the Doppler frequency
changes of digital telephone signals to track
movement. The technology employs
existing hardware infrastructure and signals
to deliver radar information. As well as
having the ability to safeguard homeland
defence, CELLDARTM has many
commercial applications, including road
traffic monitoring, intruder detection and
low-cost harbour surveillance.

A key technology for the future will be using

networks of low-cost sensors to replace
large aperture antennas, particularly in
commercial applications where cost is a
major constraint. We have a number of
demonstrator projects in this area. Some of
our latest work includes the development of
remote sensors, which can be used to
monitor fluid levels and accurately provide
measurements of objects.

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 SENSOR TECHNOLOGY
Ultra Wideband Technologies

Since regulatory approval for the We can undertake work for customers
development of Ultra Wideband across a range of industry sectors and
(UWB) communications was granted can design and supply complete UWB
in February 2002, we have systems, design the subsystem or
established ourselves as a world provide one or more of the ASICs. The
leading developer of UWB features of UWB make it suitable for a
technologies and have received great range of applications, including:
interest from organisations around
the world, including Siemens. Stealth
The UWB signal appears to be very low
UWB technology allows systems to
level background noise to an
operate across a range of frequency
unauthorised receiver station.
bands, without interfering with existing
systems. This is because UWB uses very
Radar Imaging
low powers, whilst maintaining a high
data rate. As well as the ability to transfer The UWB systems can be used as an
high-speed data, UWB can also provide open-air, through wall or ground
reliable location information and high penetrating radar imager.
resolution imaging, and operates well in a
cluttered environment. Position Location
UWB is capable of determining the 3D
Roke Manor Research finds itself leading
location of any of its transponders to
the way in the development of UWB
within a few centimetres.
technologies, thanks to a unique ability to
draw on a range of skills across the
Local Area Network
business, including multilateration
Tagging location technology, radar signal UWB can be used as the basis for a
processing and radio systems expertise. wireless local area network.
The modern development of electronic
tagging has been adopted as a way of
coping with the expense of keeping
prisoners behind bars. As an alternative to
prison, electronic monitoring or ‘tagging’
restricts the freedom of the offender and
protects the public by sending a signal to a
monitoring centre if the tagged person
moves out of a designated boundary.

Roke Manor Research has drawn upon 10

years of expertise in developing tagging
technology for a range of military and
commercial customers to produce a variety
of long-range tags. The design shown here
can identify an individual and their location.
As well as being highly reliable, our tagging
devices are tamper-proof and secure.

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© Roke Manor Research Limited 2002. All rights reserved.

Designed and produced by

Dene Bank Design, Havant

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trademarks referred to in this brochure are the property
of their respective owners.

This publication is issued to provide outline information

only, which (unless agreed by the company in writing)
may not be used, applied or reproduced for any
purpose or form part of any order or contract or to be
regarded as representation relating to the products or
services concerned. The company reserves the right to
alter without notice the specification, design, or
conditions of supply of any product or service.

Roke Manor Research Limited

Roke Manor, Romsey

Hampshire SO51 0ZN, UK
Telephone: +44 (0)1794 833000
BSI Fax: +44 (0)1794 833433
e-mail: [email protected]
REG

RM

ST
FI
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ERED http://www.roke.co.uk