MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ARE SUBJECT TO TRAUMA.

MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS ARE SUBJECT TO TRAUMA. CERTAIN CHANNELS FAIL FOR PROTRACTED PERIODS OF TIME. THE RED NOISE PROBLEM ARISES WHEN SOME, BUT NOT ALL, OF THE CHANNELS LINKING A SENDER TO A RECEIVER BECOME INOPERATIVE. THE SOLUTIONS TO THIS PROBLEM ARE CALLED POOL/SPLIT/ RESTITUTE PROCESSES. P/S/R PROCESSES AMOUNT TO WAYS TO ENCODE DIGITAL MESSAGES AT A SENDING NODE SO AS TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL TRANSMITTED INFORMATION GETS THROUGH AND IS DECODED CORRECTLY AT THE RECEIVING NODE WHENEVER AT LEAST K OUT OF THE N CHANNELS LINKING THOSE TWO NODES REMAIN OPERATIVE. P/S/R PROCESSES ARE DESIGNED TO WORK EVEN THOUGH THE SENDING NODE HAS NO WAY TO TELL WHICH OF THE CHANNELS IT IS USING ARE INOPERATIVE. IT HAS BEEN KNOWN FORAT LEAST TWO YEARS THAT THE ENCODE AND THE DECODE OPERATIONSIN A P/S/R PROCESS ARE FASTER AND SIMPLER THAN THOSE IN ANY BUT THE WEAKEST AND MOST TRIVIAL ERROR CORRECTING CODES. MOREOVER THE BAND WIDTH EXPANSION IS TYPICALLY SMALLER IN A P/S/R PROCESS THAN IN AN ERROR CORRECTING CODE ADAPTED TO DOTHE SAME JOB. THIS PROJECT IS AIMED AT PRODUCING A FURTHER ORDERS-OF-MAGNITUDE IMPROVEMENT IN THE THEORY OF P/S/R PROCESSES. THIS CARRIES OVER INTO A COMPARABLE IMPROVEMENT IN IMPLEMENTING THEM.