Analysis

These overviews introduce the analysis capabilities of DME Component Libraries. Some of these capabilities require a specific license. See the individual topics for more details about required licenses.

Topic	Description
Platforms	The Platform type can be used to model satellites, facilities, aircraft and other "real-world" objects.
Access	Access refers to intervisibility between objects, e.g. when can my facility see my satellite? Among other things, you will probably want to know when the surface of the Earth lies between the facility and the satellite. Potential limitations such as the latter are expressed in terms of Access Constraints: when is my facility's view of my satellite not obstructed by the Earth? This topic also covers how to create logical queries combining multiple constraints.
Propagation	Propagation, in the context of DME Component Libraries, is the process of taking a set of initial conditions at a particular time and using them to determine the conditions at a later (or sometimes earlier) time. Usually we propagate the position and velocity of an orbiting satellite, but aircraft and other types of vehicles can be propagated as well using specialized propagators. Also, some propagators can propagate more than just position and velocity.
Coverage	Coverage refers to the process of analyzing the ability of a number of resources (e.g. Spacecraft, Aircraft, etc) called "Assets" to observe or interact with a set of objects or locations on the surface of a central body. Numerically, this usually entails a gridding scheme to create a large number of parallel access calculations. Then, "Figures of Merit" are used to provide a way of representing the fitness of a particular configuration based on statistics from the coverage results.
Sensor Field of View Volumes	Field of view volumes define the region of space that a sensor is able to detect. They play an important role in computing access by limiting the "visibility" of an object to the time periods when it is within the detectable region of space defined by the volume.
Terrain	Terrain data can be used within DME Component Libraries to find the height of the terrain at a given location, take terrain obscuration into account when computing Access, or compute an Azimuth-Elevation Mask and use it to quickly compute terrain-obscured Access. In addition, the library has a sophisticated caching mechanism for terrain data.
Navigation Accuracy	Navigation accuracy is a measure of how accurately a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver can determine its position by receiving signals from GPS satellites. DME Component Libraries allows you to configure GPS satellites and a GPS receiver and determine the accuracy with which the receiver should be able to determine its position.
Communications	Communication analysis deals with determining the fidelity of communication signals as they propagate through space as well as various electronic and human processes. The fidelity of a signal may be affected by the geometry between antennas, thermal noise in electronics, the presence of interfering signals, or conditions in the propagation environment.
Radar	Radar analysis deals with modeling the system performance of a radar system.
Route Design	Route Design Library provides a simple way to define and propagate ground, sea, and air vehicle reference trajectories based on a series of procedures and their associated profiles. The user specifies the geometry they wish to see at points of interest and the library helps to connect those procedures with a smooth route.
Orbit Propagation	Orbit Propagation Library contains a variety of Environment and Force Models, as well as other types necessary to calculate the acceleration of a satellite or other object in orbit. These forces can be used to propagate the position, mass, or other attributes of the satellite over time.
Numerical Propagation	Numerical propagation is the process of taking a state containing positions, masses, and other quantities for which there are differential equations defined and integrating their values forward or backward in time. With a NumericalPropagator, complex force models which have no direct analytical solution can be used to predict the trajectory of a dynamical body.
Segment Propagation	The Segmented Propagator Library allows you to break up your crafts trajectory into segments. Within this system, you can propagate until some event is reached, perform a maneuver, and refine your trajectory to meet certain constraints.
Aircraft Propagation	The Aircraft Propagation Library provides the capability to model an aircraft's motion through different maneuvers. The motion is governed by performance models corresponding to the various phases of flight of the aircraft. Additionally, aerodynamic and propulsion models which define the flight characteristics of the aircraft may be used to define the orientation and fuel flow of the aircraft under certain flight conditions.