Innnovative C4I Technologies: Wideband Communication Link for UAVs

Communication is a critical element of any C4I mission, and one of the leading technical challenges for modern C4I systems is devising the means to communicate information from state-of-the-art intelligence sources in a timely and secure way. In this proposal, we address an important challenge of this type - namely, a wideband, secure data link for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Recent advances in UAV technology opens up a new arsenal of intelligence-gathering tools for the modern warfighter. However, these tools can only achieve their full effectiveness through proper dissemination of their intelligence information. Our approach is directed toward creating communication links between UAVs and air-based or space-based relay nodes. The design takes advantage or existing component technology and supports the existing communication infrastructure while providing significantly higher throughput capacity.