LOW POWER HF SURFACE WAVE COMMUNICATIONS

DATA RECOVERY FROM OPERATIONAL ASW BUOYS NOW REQUIRES THE PRESENCE OF A P-3 OR S-3 AIRCRAFT. SATELLITE RELAY CAPABILITY EXISTS, BUT THE AVERAGE BIT RATE IS TOO LOW, AND IT IS NOT REAL TIME. WE PROPOSE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REAL TIME ONE WATT KILOBIT PER SECOND HF SUR FACE WAVE SYSTEM FOR BUOYS WITH A UNIQUE MODULATION FORMAT THAT WILL GIVE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION RANGES OF OVER 500 NAUTICAL MILES. THROUGH PROPER BUOY FIELD MANAGEMENT AND FREQUENCY CONTROL, A LARGE FIELD OF BUOYS CAN BE SERVICED BY A SINGLE SHIP OR SHORE BASED RECEIVER/CONTROLLER. THE BUOY COMMAND LINK IS A COVERT LINK WITH A UNIQUE NARROWBAND FREQUENCY HOPPED M-ARY FSK MODULATION THAT EMPLOYS HARDWARE ALREADY DEVELOPED BY DSI FOR AN IN BUOY ASW SIGNAL PROCESSOR.THROUGH QUIET CHANNEL SELECTION AND POWER CONTROL, REQUIRED TRANSMIT POWER CAN BE REDUCED BY TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. IN PHASE I, WE WILL DESIGN THIS NOVEL BUOY-SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, CONSTRUCT A BREADBOARD VERSION OF THE BUOY TRANSCEIVER/MODEM AND CONDUCT LABORATORY TESTING. IN PHASE II, WE WILL REPACKAGE THE DESIGN INTO AN A-SIZE BUOY AND FIELD TEST IT AT SEA.