Frequency Hopping Optimization (FHO) for Tactical Data Links

The performance of Advanced Tactical Networking Waveforms (ATNW) is interference-limited, not noise-limited. ATNW network capacity can therefore be improved by increasing the amount of like-signal, co-channel interference than can be tolerated at the receivers. In this SBIR, Caliola Engineering is developing technology that will do precisely that. Our technical approach builds on powerful, trellis-based joint detection techniques that were initially developed to increase the capacity of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) cellular networks. In Phase I, we adapted those techniques to ATNWs. Our modeling and simulation (M&S) results indicate that a joint detection receiver can tolerate 4 – 5 dB more total like-signal interference than the baseline. Information theoretic tools suggest that this translates to ATNW network capacity gains as large as 150 – 200%, which far exceeds the 25% increase targeted by the Navy for this program. In the proposed Phase II effort, we will develop, integrate, and test our joint detection (JD) receiver architecture in a series of increasingly sophisticated and operationally-relevant environments.