5G++ - Adapting 5G for Tactical mmWave Networks

5G technology is targeting very high throughput, low power, and low latency, which are expected to benefit not only commercial but also tactical communications. Operating in millimeter wave (mmWave) bands provides high bandwidths to meet the ever-growing throughput demands of emerging tactical applications in shared spectrum environments. However, 5G waveform, as it is, does not satisfy Army’s requirements on jamming resistance, low probability of interception/low probability of detection (LPI/LPD), and security as well as support of device-to-device (D2D) ad-hoc networking mode without relying on cellular infrastructure. Novel sets of algorithms across physical, link/MAC and network layers need to be implemented on mmWave software-defined radio (SDR) platforms along with 5G protocol stack and extensively tested to accelerate the transfer of 5G benefits to the tactical domain. To address this critical need, we propose to develop 5G++ as a mmWave radio prototype that adapts 5G to tactical domain by incorporating jamming resistance, improved LPI/LPD, and secure network communications.