The Marathon Transmitter: Dramatically Extending Air Time

The concerted effort to digitize the battlefield via digital wireless communications translates these data transfer requirements to the handset since transceivers can now serve as network nodes. Therefore a primary ingredient to satisfying the digital wireless network demand lies in securing dramatic improvements in transmitter efficiency. Many radios include the capability to dynamically adjust the RF level in order to improve low probability of intercept/Detection (LPI/LPD), but the battery is still exhausted at much the same rate regardless of the RF output setting. The Marathon Transmittor proposed by Nova scales baack the battery current in conjunction with the RF output power, more than doubling the time that a handset could transmit from the same set of batteries. The Phase I effort culminates in proof of concept transmitter hardware using commerical off the shelf (COTS) components based on a thorough evaluation of the digital battlefield operating requi rements. The Marathon Transmitter offers the following advantages to handset battlefield communications: Dramatically improves efficiency and LPI/LPD without affecting maximum range. More transmit time on the air or longer battery interval between recharging. Equivalent handset performance from smaller battery packs. Lower battery life cycle cost.