Hello community,

I am working on demodulating 1030 MHz Mode S traffic. As this signal uses DBPSK 
demodulation I'm using the deprecated GNU radio block 'DPSK Demod'. However, 
there are a few parameters within this block that I can't figure out how to set:

  *   Excess bandwidth: I've read that in general the more excess bandwidth 
supplied the better you can expect your synchronization algorithm to perform. 
This is [0,1], and when I set it to 1 it's noise resilience appreciably 
increases.
  *   FLL Bandwidth (assuming this is the same as filter lock-in bandwidth): 
This and the two subsequent values default to 6.28/100. I believe the higher 
this bandwidth is the faster the phase locked loop can adjust the output of the 
frequency. This leads me to believe I want this as high as possible, however I 
don't know where 6.28 and 100 come from.
  *   Phase Loop Bandwidth: I know that lower values lead to reduced levels of 
phase noise and refence spurs at the expense of longer lock times and less 
phase margin. I'm assuming I want the least phase noise possible, however I 
don't know where 6.28 and 100 come from.
  *   Timing Bandwidth: A dsp exchange question mentions that optimum loop 
bandwidth is usually somewhere between R/100 and R/20, where R is the symbol 
clock rate being recovered. My symbol rate is 2 due to it being BPSK, is this 
the same as symbol clock rate? Where do the 100 or 20 denominators come from? 
Should this value mirror the values of FLL and Phase Loop bandwidths?

My end goal is being able to identify the Mode S message preambles within the 
demodulated bitstream. Any help is appreciated, thank you!

Adam Gorski
Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC)
Lead Communications Engineer
410-818-3188

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