MIMO Applique for Radios without Modifying Legacy Waveforms (MARWL)

ABSTRACT:Wireless connectivity and situational awareness of warfighters are critical in current and future warfare. Maintaining network connectivity and achieving situational awareness require continuous exchange of information across the network, which eventually drives the need for reliable, high data rate communication links. Multiple antenna technology - commonly referred to as multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) - promises high data rate by multiplexing several data streams, and improves reliability using spatial diversity (each antenna experiences a different wireless channel, and the chances that all the wireless links are poor are small). One way to achieve MIMO capabilities on legacy radios is by transforming/redesigning the waveform and the radio hardware .Replacing these with new MIMO radios will have a huge economic impact. Therefore, at least in the short term, it makes economic and practical sense to make these radios MIMO-capable without modifying the waveform or the radios. We propose to develop a MIMO Applique for Radios without Modifying Legacy Waveforms (MARWL). BENEFIT:The proposed technology and program will provide multiple-antenna capability to existing radios using different types of waveforms, and therefore the applications span the entire military communication space. Test and Evaluation (T&E) is a non-operational domain, wherein different waveforms are used for T&E operations (e.g., telemetry).