Advanced Warfare Uplink

[Lahoma Jenkins]

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare," the latest in the blockbuster franchise, went on sale Monday and the first wave of feedback is in. Here are five things reviewers are excited (or a little annoyed) about:

The series started in World War II and advanced through the Cold War and into the "near future" of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" and "Black Ops II," released in 2011 and 2012, respectively. "Advanced Warfare" is set in the year 2054 and is the first to feel truly futuristic.

"When you first bear witness to a flying giant snake made up purely of small drones roaming the streets of Seoul, you know this is new science-fictional territory for Call of Duty," wrote Miguel Concepcion in his review on GameSpot.

In what Videogamer.com's Steven Burns calls a "game-changing" addition, exoskeletons give soldiers abilities like they've never had before. The tactical suits, also referred to as exos, enable players to "boost jump" higher than ever, instantly dodge left or right and use evasive maneuvers in midair, among other things. In Exo Survival multiplayer mode, exos can be enhanced with upgrades including a protective shield and an invisibility cloak.

The new abilities change gameplay; settings offer opportunities to put boost jumping and other features to work. Brian Albert, in his preliminary review on IGN, said, "The new collection of maps and modes make great use of the Exo suit by enabling vertical movement." GameSpot's Concepcion, however, was not impressed and thought that across the game's 15 chapters there are "too few sections in which using an exo ability is mandatory."

Many reviewers are excited about the new Uplink multiplayer mode, which several have compared to trying to dunk a basketball. But here, the ball is a satellite drone and the basket is the eponymous uplink. And you, your teammates and your opponents all have guns.

DigitalSpy called it "by far our favorite new addition," Polygon, the "coolest new addition," and GameSpot said it is "terribly absorbing." Reviewers on IGN commented how much they enjoy the way the mode takes advantage of exo abilities and necessitates teamwork.

No spoiler here. Fans of his acting won't find it surprising that Kevin Spacey is getting rave reviews for his role voicing the intense and power-hungry Jonathan Irons, head of the Atlas Corporation (founded in 2035) that developed the exoskeleton technology.

The renderings of Spacey's face are remarkable, even uncanny. The animation is superb, lifelike and true to the actor's unmistakable face. Even Spacey himself was amazed. "Now, the technology is so incredible that you look at it and it's like 'me,'" he told Jimmy Fallon on the "Tonight Show" Friday.

First there were rumors that "Advanced Warfare" would include a zombie-killing mode, which has been popular in past iterations of "Call of Duty." There were rumors Monday that zombies would only be available via the $50 Season Pass that gives players access to all extra downloadable content, much to the displeasure of reviewers and fans alike. Those rumors were quashed when Activision reportedly confirmed that game developer Sledgehammer is working on a Zombie Mode that will be downloadable as a one-off addition at some point in the future. The publisher did not specify a date.

Mission

The Advanced Extremely High Frequency System (AEHF) is a joint service satellite communications system that provides survivable, global, secure, protected, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military ground, sea and air assets. AEHF enables the Department of Defense to control tactical and strategic forces through all levels of conflict and supports the attainment of space superiority for the joint force.

Background

The AEHF System is the follow-on to the Milstar system, augmenting the capabilities of Milstar, and expanding the MILSATCOM architecture. AEHF provides connectivity across the spectrum of mission areas, including land, air and naval warfare; special operations; strategic nuclear operations; strategic defense; theater missile defense; and space operations and intelligence. Multiple international partners support the AEHF program.

Features

The AEHF system program of record consists of multiple satellites in geosynchronous earth orbit that provides 10 times the throughput of the 1990s-era satellites with a substantial increase in coverage for users. The first AEHF launched on Aug. 14, 2010, followed by launches on May 4, 2012, Sept. 18, 2013, Oct. 17, 2018, Aug. 8, 2019, and Mar. 26, 2020. AEHF provides continuous 24-hour coverage between north and south poles. The AEHF system is composed of three segments: space (the satellites), ground (mission control and associated communications links) and terminals (the users). The segments will provide communications in a specified set of data rates from 75 bps to approximately 8 Mbps. The space segment consists of the on-orbit satellite systems utilizing crosslink communications to allow for full AEHF and other satellites. The mission control segment controls satellites on orbit, monitors vehicle health and provides communication system planning and monitoring. This segment is highly survivable, with both fixed and mobile control stations. System uplinks and crosslinks will operate in the extremely high frequency range. The terminal segment includes fixed and ground mobile terminals, ship and submarine terminals, and airborne terminals used by all of the Services and international partners. MILSATCOM is responsible for acquisition of the space and ground segments as well as the Air Force terminal segments. Other services will acquire their own terminals.

General Characteristics

Primary Function: Worldwide, secure, survivable satellite communications

Payload: Onboard signal processing satellite cross-link

Antennas: 2 Downlink Phased Arrays, 2 Crosslinks, 2 Uplink/Downlink Antennas, 1 Uplink Phased Array, 6 Uplink/Downlink Dish Antenna, 1 Each Uplink/Downlink earth coverage horns

(Current as of July 2020)

SignalVu RF and vector signal analysis software combines analysis engine of the real time spectrum analyzer with that of the industry's leading digital oscilloscopes, making it possible for designers to evaluate complex signals without an external down converter. You get the functionality of a vector signal analyzer, a spectrum analyzer, and the powerful trigger capabilities of a digital oscilloscope - all in a single package. You can use SignalVu with a DPO/MSO70000 Series digital oscilloscope to easily validate wideband designs and characterize wideband spectral events. Whether your design validation needs include wideband radar, high data rate satellite links, and wireless LAN, WiGig IEEE 802.11ad/ay, or frequency-hopping communications, SignalVu can speed your time-to-insight by showing you the time-variant behavior of these wideband signals.

SignalVu helps you easily validate wideband designs and characterize wideband spectral events using DPO70000SX or MSO/DPO70000DX oscilloscopes. You can easily switch between the SignalVu application and the oscilloscope's user interface to optimize the collection of wideband signals.

SignalVu software works seamlessly with the oscilloscope allowing users to utilize all of its powerful triggering capabilities. The ability to trigger on time- and amplitude-varying events of interest is paramount in wideband system design, debug, and validation. The Tektronix oscilloscopes' trigger systems allow selection of virtually all trigger types on both A and B trigger events, whether they be transition, state, time, or logic qualified triggers. Fundamental triggers (such as Edge) can be configured from the SignalVu user interface directly. While a full assortment of triggers can be configured from the oscilloscope software application. Once triggered, SignalVu processes the acquisition for analysis in multiple domains.

Powerful oscilloscope triggers allow the user to capture only the relevant portion of wideband signals. Pinpoint trigger functions such as combining A and B events with Edge with Holdoff can capture a pulse train during a specific transmitter mode of operation.

Capture once - make multiple measurements without recapturing. All signals in an acquisition bandwidth are recorded into the oscilloscope's deep memory. Up to four channels can be captured and analyzed simultaneously by SignalVu software. Channels can be RF, I and Q, or differential inputs. Users can also apply math functions to the acquisition prior to analysis by SignalVu. Acquisition lengths vary depending upon the selected capture bandwidth and up to 2.5 ms can be captured on a single channel with the DPO/MSO70000 Series. Significantly longer capture times can be realized with lower oscilloscope sample rates.

Using the FastFrame segmented memory feature in SignalVu enables you to capture events of interest, such as low duty cycle pulsed signals, while conserving acquisition memory. Using multiple trigger events, FastFrame captures and stores short-duration, bursty signals and passes them to SignalVu vector signal analysis functions. Capturing thousands of frames is possible, so long-term trends and changes in the bursty signal can be analyzed.

Once captured into memory, SignalVu provides detailed analysis in multiple domains. The spectrogram display (left panel) shows the frequency of a 500 MHz wide LFM pulse changing over time. By selecting the point in time in the spectrogram during the On time of the pulse, the chirp behavior can be seen as it sweeps from low to high (upper right panel).

SignalVu RF and vector signal analysis software use the same analysis capabilities found in the real time spectrum analyzers. SignalVu advances productivity for engineers working on components or in wideband RF system design, integration, and performance verification, or operations engineers working in networks, or spectrum management. In addition to spectrum analysis, spectrograms display both frequency and amplitude changes over time. Time-correlated measurements can be made across the frequency, phase, amplitude, and modulation domains. This is ideal for signal analysis, that includes frequency hopping, pulse characteristics, modulation switching, settling time, bandwidth changes, and intermittent signals.

3a8082e126