SignalShark is ideal for applications where high sensitivity, high dynamic range, reliable detection of very short and infrequent signal events, and the localization of transmitters are required. All of these requirements are essential in the area of radio monitoring.
There are different kinds of radio monitoring applications depending on the reason for the monitoring. Regulators may monitor the spectrum to ensure that services, which are important for public safety and security, can run reliable and that licensed parts of the spectrum are used by license owners only. The military wants to be aware of the actual usage of the spectrum in order to gather tactical or strategic information about potential enemies. Police and intelligence agencies may be interested in the content or at least the meta-data of some signal transmissions. They also may be interested to find transmitters used for eavesdropping. Providers of cellular networks must find harmful interferes quickly.
The high sensitivity and high dynamic range of SignalShark ensures that the signals of interest are not hidden in the noise floor and that signal artifacts due to intermodulation will not be confused with real signals. The extraordinary high FFT overlap in real-time spectrum ensures the reliable detection of extremely short and/or infrequent signal events. The modulation analysis and occupied bandwidth measurements help the regulators to ensure the intended usage of the spectrum. The audio demodulator helps to classify analog modulated transmissions under investigation. The I/Q streaming allows third party software to classify and decode digital transmissions too. The automatic DF antennas from Narda and the integrated statistical localization algorithm allow the localization of transmitters based on AOA. SignalShark has already been integrated in th ird party TDOA systems. It proved its easiness of integration and superior synchronization properties, which are essential for reliable localizations based on TDOA.
Yes, SignalShark is a tool optimized for radio monitoring. Nevertheless, it can also be used for most of the applications where general purpose spectrum analyzers are normally used. SignalShark will often surprise with better RF performance, real-time measurements, higher speed, and the easiness of integration. Its open platform for third party software and scripts allows fully customized standalone solutions where big and complicated systems have been necessary in the past.
