Enhanced Security 5G for LEO CJADC2 Networks

This proposed effort will develop, integrate, and demonstrate a novel Military 5G Waveform (M5GW) exhibiting enhanced security and covertness for the warfighter characterized by improved LPI/LPD with increased resistance to jamming and interference relative to commercial 3GPP 5G. The M5GW will be demonstrated operating in a simulated, end-to-end, direct-to-device PLEO satellite system in partnership with AST SpaceMobile.  Relative to commercial 3GPP 5G, the M5GW we will develop, integrate, and demonstrate will have a modified physical layer (RF) that has added sub-carrier level frequency hopping and direct sequence spreading to achieve enhanced levels of security, resilience, and covertness associated with LPI/LPD, anti-jam, and interference resistance. To maintain the performance benefits of 5G/FutureG and maximize interoperability with commercial 5G, our M5GW maintains full compatibility with the commercial 3GPP 5G protocol stack at OSI layers 2 and above. A key innovation of this solution is its ability to significantly reduce the traditional 5G OFDM waveform’s LPI and LPD by signal spreading. The proposed approach will further enhance anti-jamming capabilities and overall resilience with sub-carrier level frequency hopping. Signal spreading techniques will lower detectability, while chip-level coding will make interception and decoding by adversaries extremely difficult. This coding approach enhances the security and robustness of the physical layer (Layer 1). Intelligent algorithms, orchestrated by the Radio Access Network Intelligent Controller (RIC), will dynamically allocate resource blocks across subcarrier frequencies. This dynamic allocation is particularly advantageous under jamming conditions. When the system detects a jammer, the resource blocks are shifted to other frequences at the sub-carrier level. Additionally, the periodic rotation of subcarrier frequencies using these algorithms further increases transmission security and resilience.