HAUL HF COMMAND/DATA LINK FOR BUOYS

PRESENT DATA RECOVERY FROM ASW BUOYS REQUIRES THE PRESENCE OF P-3 AIRCRAFT. ALTERNATIVELY, SOME SATELLITE DATA READOUT CAPABILITY EXISTS, BUT TIDBIT RATE PER SATELLITE PASS IS TOOLOW, AND IT IS NOT REAL TIME. WE PROPOSETHE DEVELOPMENT OF A REAL TIME 2000 MILE HF DATA LINK FOR REMOTE BUOYS. A PRACTICAL HF BUOY LINK MUST USE SHORT NARROWBAND ATENNAS THAT CAN BE TUNED ACROSS THE BAND TO THE OPTIMUM FREQUENCY. THAT CAN BE TUNED ACROSS THE BAND TO THE OPTIMUM FREQUENCY. WE PROPOSE A UNIQUE NARROWBAND MULTITONE M-ARY FSK WAVE - FORM TO MINIMIZE PEAK TRANSIT POWER AND MINIMIZE FADING EFFECTS. THROUGH PROPER BUOY FIELD MANAGEMENT AND FREQUENCY CONTROL FROM SHORE, A LARGE FIELD OF BUOYS CAN BE SERVICED BY A SINGLE SHORE WITH VERY MODES SPECTRUM OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENTS WHILE MINIMIZING JAMMING AND INTERFERENCE EFFECTS. IN PHASE I WE WILL DESIGN THIS NOVEL BUOY COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, CONSTRUCT BREADBOARD HARDWARE AND LABORATORY TEST THE HF LINK. IN PHASE II WE WILL FIELD TEST AND PACKAGE THE SYSTEM IN A BUOY AND WILL TEST IT AT SEA.