Wireless Fidelity from the Sea (WFFTS)

The Navy requires development of enabling technologies that can significantly extend the range of 802.11 Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) for the maritime environment. By adapting high sensitivity cryogenically cooled electronics, the superior interference rejection of high temperature superconducting (HTS) band-pass and notch filters, along with the significant gain of standard ship-fit INMARSAT parabolic dish antennas, a very significant signal detection and data communication range improvement can be achieved. OSEC proposes to develop Wi-Fi from the Sea (WFFTS) using these technologies to provide ship to ship and ship to shore Wi-Fi operation at ranges that could exceed 25 nm. WFFTS will support data rates of 1 - 11 Mbps using IEEE commercial standards in the 802.11 family for wireless data transmission/reception. With WFFTS, the fleet will be able to detect Wi-Fi activity from long range, locate the source of transmission through triangulation of directive antenna bearings for activity mapping, and ultimately join available cooperative networks to provide the ship with broadband connectivity. WFFTS is but a first step in adapting innovative cryogenic technology to the shipboard UHF/microwave spectrum. These techniques can be adapted to new and existing standards such as Wi-Max, Bluetooth, and Wireless Universal Serial Bus (WUSB). With WFFTS, the fleet will be taking a significant step towards the goal of network centric operations.BENEFITS: Adoption of cryogenic high temperature superconducting and cooled conventional electronics within the naval maritime environment offers a unique opportunity to significantly decrease interference, while boosting sensitivity. This technology has outstanding potential for large pay-offs benefiting all users of the radio frequency spectrum including communications, electronic warfare, surveillance, radar, telemetry, and meteorology. These will directly benefit system implementations onboard new concept ships such as LCS, DDX, CVX, and LHX. Cryogenic electronic technology has applicability beyond the naval environment with parallel implementations possible on a wide variety of military and commercial platforms.