Ultra Wideband Radio for Secure Communications in a Noisy Environment

The innovation of this proposal involves ultra wideband (UWB) radios for secure communications between the inner element of a gimbaled system and an external computer. We propose to install one UWB radio on the inner components of the gimbaled system and another one on the inner surface of the aluminum sphere. The second radio is connected to the external computer through a wired connection depending on the data rate. Because UWB radios are wireless, they will not be affected by debris or moisture on the slip rings of the gimbaled system. Its interference to other narrowband communication systems is negligible so it can easily satisfy electromagnetic interference (EMI) standards. This is because the transmission power of UWB signals is distributed over a huge bandwidth and the power spectrum is usually below the environmental noise level. It is also very difficult to detect UWB radio signals due to their noise-like spectral characteristics. Another characteristic of UWB radio is that it is much simpler than conventional radio, which allows us to develop a miniaturized and light-weight UWB radio. All these features make UWB radios an ideal candidate for communications in Navy gimbaled systems.