ADVANCEMENT IN FIELD OF HF COMMUNICATIONS

AND ITS MILITARY APPLICATIONS

Overview. Wireless Communication has been used for

decades for not only line of sight communication but also for over the horizon
communication. Despite the introduction of new services the use of wireless
medium especially HF has been undergoing a resurgence of interest over the
last few years. This has no doubt been because of the fast paced advancement
made in digital and software technology. HF radio in particular has some
enduring qualities that will ensure its attractiveness for some time. The most
dominant one, for users being no charge for using the ionosphere. In the
military context this translates to low cost potentially global communication
that has the important attributes of national ownership and military control. HF
radio is also sited as being harder to disrupt than alternatives such as satellite
communication

1. Introduction . HF has the ability to communicate across large

distances without the use of repeaters or satellites because of its various modes
of propagation. This ability has a large utility in the military arena where ad hoc
communications are required with minimal assets and planning. While HF has
some unique abilities, it also suffers from unpredictable performance (due to a
multitude of environmental factors such as the state of the ionosphere).Careful
engineering to overcome this unpredictability has been required, with tradeoffs
being made when designing systems. Tradeoffs such as error rates versus raw
throughput, frequency for best instantaneous throughput versus frequency for
best transmission reliability, and the minimum signal levels required for operation
versus data rates. 10 years ago there were myths that existed in the
communication industry that proclaimed 600 BPS as the only reliable data
speed achievable. Modulation / coding techniques had reached its end. Personal
computers could not be used for radio communication.
However, all these myths have been busted. The rapid development of
digital signal processing during the last decade made possible new efficient
modulations and modes which have improved the speed of data transfer.
Rapid development of digital signal processing has ensured reliability of
transreceivers. Development of software defined radios has increased
interoperability and integration at reduced costs. Efficient networking of any kind
of media, be it wireless / land lines / optical cables has been made possible.

2. High Frequency Radio Communications Primer . HF

communications propagate via three main methods: direct wave, sky wave and
ground wave. Sky wave communications can reach around the world. The HF
channel is hostile to communications, with effects such as noise, fading and
multi-path effects interfering with the signal. Various modulation schemes such
as Frequency Shift Keying, Phase Shift Keying and Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation are used to communicate in these noisy channels. On top of the
modulation and channel itself sits various other concepts such as Direct
Sequence Spread Spectrum, Automatic Repeat re-Quest and Forward Error
Correction that are layered together in a form similar to the Open Systems
Interconnect model Standards.
The most basic standard in HF communications is the allocation of
electromagnetic (radio) spectrum. These allocations are controlled by
international treaties and are complex, but the simple result derived from the
treaties is that in the HF region of the spectrum, assignment of frequencies to a
particular link occurs in only approximately 3 kHz wide bands. Modems and link
controllers usually try and conform to this requirement (to ease introduction of the
devices) so the small size of the frequency band limits what speeds and error
rates can be achieved. Both the US Military and NATO have enabled
interoperability of HF radios and modems by creating standards for
manufacturers to follow. Each standard can be characterised as loosely defining
a particular layer of the OSI model. The lower layers of standards will now be
discussed in detail, with a brief mention of higher-layer standards. There are
three major standards bodies for tactical HF communications. These are: -

(a) US Military with the MIL-STD series

(b) NATO with its STANAG (standardisation) documents

(c) US Federal Government with the FED-STD series.

3. Physical Layer. The physical layer represents the lowest level of the
OSI model. It is this layer that conveys the binary "bits" over a HF channel.
Standards for this layer define the way individual bits are represented in the
waveforms being sent over HF channels. There are four sets of standards
currently available for the physical layer. These are:-

(a) MIL-STD-188-110B and MIL-STD-188-141B from the US Military

(b) STANAGs 4285 and 4539 from NATO

(c) FED-STD-1052 from the US Federal Government. The standards

fully define the modulation schemes that may be used.

4. Data Link Layer. For HF communications the data link layer

performs more tasks than the standard OSI model describes. The OSI model
dictates that the data link layer essentially converts bits from the physical
interface into frames and then performs error detection so only valid bits are
passed up to the next layer. In HF communications standards targeted at this
layer also provide services such as station identification and link creation. This
layer currently has 3 major standards that define its behaviour. These are:-
 (a) MILSTD-188-141B. MIL-STD-188-141B is a large document that
consists of:-

(i) Second-Generation (2G) HF ALE

(ii) Linking Protection
(iii) Third-Generation (3G) HF ALE
(iv) HF Radio Networking
(v) Application Protocols for HF Radio Networks
(vi) Anti-Jam and Anti-Interference Techniques
(vii) HF Data Link Protocol

(b) STANAG 4538. STANAG 4538 contains a definition of 3G

ALE, 3G, ARQ and modem interfaces. It also defines two connection
modes, Robust Link Set Up (RLSU) and Fast Link Set Up

(c) FED-STD-1045A.

5. Higher Layers. These standards are targeted at overcoming

particular deficiencies or using attributes of the HF channel.

(a) MIL-STD-188-141B (change notice 1) defines a version of email

specially adapted to HF communications. Commands to and from the
server are aggregated into blocks to overcome the high latency introduced
by HF transmission methods. This greatly improves the efficiency of email
when carried over HF.

(b) MIL-STD-187-721 specifies the various aspects to creating a HF

Network Controller using ALE as the linking mechanism. This
specification is aimed at automating the interworking functions of a HF
network.

(c) STANAG 5066 defines a standard interface to a transport

mechanism for HF communications. It aims to provide a standard and
open HF radio transport mechanism for HF communications. STANAG
5066 contains many features; of particular interest are the use of existing
standard data modems and the Automatic Link Maintenance (ALM)
device. ALM offers intra-call management of HF channels, while ALE
offers inter-call management. There are also other standards such as
P_Mul that can make use of the broadcast nature of HF networks to
optimise its implementation of reliable multicasting of data.
6. Waveforms. There are many HF modems on the market currently
with dozens of different waveforms being implemented. Most HF modems
targeted at the military support three standard waveforms:-

(i) MIL-STD-188-110A series,

(ii) MIL-STD-188-110B for faster speeds.
(iii) STANAG 4285 waveforms. The remaining waveforms are
Predominantly designed for non-military customers.

7. MIL-STD-110A. This family of waveforms dates from 1991 and is

essentially the baseline for all other military standards. The main waveforms
used from this standard are a set of serial tone, 8-ary Phase Shift Keying
modulated waveforms designed for data rates up to 4800bps. Each data frame
contains a "known" portion (a constant pattern defined in the modem standard)
that is used to adapt the modem's parameters to the channel, and an "unknown"
portion containing the data payload. The data payload is Forward Error Corrected
(FEC) to produce error protection on the data stream. Lower data rates generally
have higher levels of FEC.

The details of each waveform rate can be seen in Table 2.

The 110A standard also has the concept of "auto-baud" for its waveforms. This
feature embeds information in the waveform about its data rate and interleaver
depth.

8. Modems can then automatically detect the characteristics of the incoming

waveform rather than having to be preset with the waveform type being used.
This makes it possible to be agile with the waveform in use, making it easier to
respond to changing environmental and operational conditions.

9. 110A also defines two parallel tone modems that offer data rates up to
2400bps. The parallel tone modems operate within the same 3kHz bandwidth of
serial tone modems but they can achieve high data rates without having to
perform equalisation on the channel, which results in a significant drop in
processing power needed for the modem. Current high speed/low power DSP
technology essentially removes this advantage however. The Advanced
Narrowband Digital Voice Terminal (ANDVT) specification uses a 39-tone
modem for its voice data transfer at 2400bps.

10. MIL-STD-110B. MIL-STD-110B contains the 110A standard and

adds higher speed data waveforms in. These waveforms use various modulation
methods to achieve their speeds. The standard uses FEC and interleavers to
achieve its error performance. The data is conveyed in a frame structure that
contains a similar known/unknown data sequences as seen in MIL-STD-188-
110A. Table 3 details the exact waveform for each speed.

11. These waveforms are defined for the various kinds of signaling required
in the Standard, so as to meet the distinctive requirements as to payload,
duration, time Synchronization, acquisition and demodulation performance in the
presence of noise, fading and multi -path. This standard has tailored a range of
waveforms for each use so that each waveform best matches what is required of
it. Note that these waveforms are used for burst (which equates to packet) types
of communication rather than synchronous (or circuit) connections. This has an
impact on the type of encryption that can be used on the connection, and also on
how various services could be supported. All of the burst waveforms use the
basic 8-ary PSK serial tone modulation of an 1800 Hz carrier at 2400 symbols
per second that is also used in the MIL-STD-188-110 serial tone modem
waveform.
The BW2 waveform has been designed to produce a burst data rate of
4800bps and the BW3 a rate of 540bps

STANAG 4285 .STANAG 4285 is very similar in performance to MIL-STD-

188-110A with the exception that it lacks the "auto-baud" features of the
waveforms, therefore making automatic operation of a 4285 network difficult.

12. Other Wave Forms PACTOR. The PACTOR modem is produced by

Special Communications Systems from Germany . This family of modems is
aimed at amateur radio users. The most recent waveform produced by this
company is PACTOR-II and it is basically a two-tone DPSK system with raised
cosine pulse shaping, which reduces the required bandwidth to less than 500 Hz.
The maximum absolute transfer rate is 800 bps. The protocol also uses FEC and
"memory" ARQ. Memory ARQ involves doing soft decisions on multiple packet
contents, thereby increasing the chance of retrieving data from error packets.
The various waveforms are:-

(a) Pactor For SELCAL

(b) PACTORII For Point to point communication
(c) PACTOR II FEC For Broadcast

13. CLOVER. The CLOVER waveforms are produced by HAL

Communications Corporation based in the USA . CLOVER-2000, the most recent
waveform, has the ability to adapt its data rate (and modulation method)
dynamically based on channel conditions. Each waveform is suited to a particular
environment. The 16P4A waveform has a data rate of 1600bps but requires a
relatively clean channel, while BPSM operates at 280bps but can operate with
very weak or badly distorted signals.The CLOVER-2000 protocol uses the
following waveforms:

(a) BPSM (Binary Phase Shift Modulation),

(b) QPSM (Quadrature PSM)
(c) 8PSM (8-level PSM),
(d) 8P2A (8PSM + 2-level Amplitude Shift Modulation)
(e) 16P4A (16 PSM plus 4 ASM).

Coachwhip Boeing US and SiCom are producing this technology that is

aimed at providing broadband communications over HF frequencies. It uses
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) to encode the data into a 6MHz band
that is then transmitted over HF frequencies. It is claimed that the DSSS
technology doesn't interfere with existing users of the HF band. Coachwhip offers
up to 937.5kbps over a HF channel. This amount of bandwidth is more than
enough to transmit live video images. The interesting technology in this device
is not the DSSS capability itself (CDMA mobile phones use the same scheme for
example). It is the research and development that has gone into being able to
send DSSS signals over the HF region of the spectrum. The strong multipath and
fading effects would have very detrimental effects to standard DSSS waveforms.
Coachwhip implements extensive signal processing in dedicated ASICS to
remove these channel effects. While Coachwhip offers large bandwidth for a
single link, it has some downfalls. The major issue would be other HF users.
International and government bodies that regulate the spectrum currently allocate
(approximately) 3kHz bands to users. DSSS works by all users sharing the same
(wide) band and using different "codes" to provide multiple access. Getting the
regulatory organizations to approve the use of a DSSS system may be difficult as
there is no way to guarantee non-interference with existing narrowband users.

14. Link Control. Link control is the functionality that creates links
between radios. It does not maintain these links however, that task is left to link
maintenance devices. In the past link control was performed by human operators
but this has changed with the introduction of standards that can automate the
linking of radios.

15. ALE and MIL-STD-188-141 . ALE was designed to automate the

process of connecting HF radios. Before ALE was developed experienced
operators were required to create and maintain HF radio links, mainly because of
the complexity involved in understanding and counteracting channel conditions.
ALE provides the ability to have automatic link establishment between
radios. It does not dictate the protocol or waveforms to use once that
connection has been established. With the introduction of MIL-STD-188-141B
some data link layer protocols have been defined that can carry user data (HDL
and LDL) but these are merely provided to reduce the number of waveforms that
a HF modem must produce rather than providing a true data carrying capability.
16. HF Networks. The standards discussed so far in this paper are
aimed at creating a link between two HF stations. With the advent of ALE and the
Internet, automatic and seamless networking for HF networks can become a
reality.MIL-STD-187-172C defines architecture for the implementation of a HF
Network Controller (HFNC). It consists of an ALE controller and a MIL-STD
modem coupled with a router function. MIL-STD-187-721C defines four
standards:-

(a) A Level 1 HFNC has no routing capability and can only

communicate with stations within direct broadcast range.
(b) A Level 2 HFNC contains a simple routing and store and forward
function, but it does not consider link qualities in routing decisions.
(c) A Level 3 HFNC adds link quality analysis and path quality
exchanges to improve the routing decisions of the network.
(d) A Level 4 HFNC adds an Internet layer, and can therefore act as a
gateway between HF and other sub-networks.
.

Each level defined is useful for certain parts of a HF network. For example, in
Figure 8 only the gateway machines need to be level 4 devices. The other
devices could be level 2 or 3, with the net controller distributing global routing
tables to the network

17. ALE has automated the process of creating links between stations, so the
topology used does not have to rely on humans constructing it beforehand. This
means it could dynamically adapt to the physical constraints placed upon it (user
demand, ionospheric conditions, etc). The positioning of gateways is also central
to the two topologies. A star network will centrally place the gateways, with each
station being one or two hops away from the gateway. In an ad hoc meshed
network arbitrary stations can be gateways (based on physical location to
hardline links perhaps). Some form of protocol could be used to automatically
detect gateways and route through them based on a distributed algorithm.
Topologies like this are already being proposed for the wireless LAN world but
the HF arena has special characteristics that should also be catered for (distance
of transmissions, low rate/high latency transmissions, high errors).Another area
of investigation for HF networking is that of network management. The
adaptation reduces the bandwidth required to exchange information and
optimises the message exchanges for the HF environment.

THIRD-GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR HF RADIO NETWORKING

18. Second-generation HF automation ( e.g., MIL-STD-188-141A) provided a
sufficiently robust, reliable, and interoperable link establishment technology to
produce a resurgence of interest in HF radio for long-haul and mobile voice
networks beginning in the 1980s. With the addition of a robust data link protocol,
the second generation technology was extended to support data applications
over HF. By the mid-1990's, however, the growth of HF networking revealed the
need for techniques that reduce overhead traffic so that the limited HF spectrum
could support larger networks and more data traffic. This paper describes a "third
generation" of HF radio automation technology that provides significant advances
in modem technology, link establishment, network management, and data
throughput. One goal of the third-generation technology development effort for
MIL-STD-188-141B was to efficiently support bursty data traffic in peer-to-peer
networks with hundreds of stations. The constraints that this imposes on linking,
message delivery, and routing table maintenance improve the performance of
star-topology and smaller peer-to-peer networks as well.

19. An overview of an integrated suite of advanced technology that

collectively provides an HF radio sub network. The major components are as
follows:

(a) Automatic link establishment (ALE)

( b) Data link protocol (DLP)
(c) Automatic link maintenance (ALM)

20. Several additional components or features are being standardized in MIL-

STD-188-141B or MIL-STD-187-72 lD, including linking protection, time-of-day
synchronization, ECCM operation, routing and related functions, and so on, but
these are not addressed here. This suite of HF automation technologies builds
upon the "second generation" technologies in MIL-STD-188-141A and FED-STD-
1052, and is backward compatible with the second generation. However, the new
system represents a significant improvement in technology and performance and
is consistently termed "third generation.' 3G ALE builds upon lessons learnt in
the creation of 2G ALE. Parts of the system have been fine tuned while others
totally re-engineered. The major parts of 3G ALE are:-

(a) Waveforms
(b) Calling Channel Management
(c) Scanning
(d) Addressing
(e) Synchronous Dwell Structure
(f) Synchronous Calling
(g) 3G PDUs

The system architecture for 3G ALE can be seen in Figure.

21. The 3G architecture is modeled after the OSI layered approach and
provides the physical layer, data link layer and sections of the network layer. 3G
ALE contains numerous additions and enhancements over 2G ALE but the
biggest changes are the creation of a synchronous dwell structure and the
inclusion of special purpose waveforms within the standard. The new waveforms
and data link layer protocols have been discussed in an earlier section. The
signaling between stations within a 3G ALE network is handled by a set of
predetermined control channels. Every station listens to the same control
channel at the same point in time, with each control channel having a special
structure that determines how stations can signal each other. This synchronous
structure provides a

(a) Faster link establishment

(b) Linking at lower SNR (estimated 8-10 dB improvement
in AWGN and fading channels)
(c) Improved channel efficiency: handles more stations
and heavier traffic
(d) ALE and DLP use same family of waveforms
(e) Higher DLP throughput for short and long messages
(f) Better support for Internet protocols and applications

22. System Architecture. Second-generation HF automation provided

a sufficiently robust, reliable, and interoperable ALE technology to produce a
resurgence of interest in HF radio for long-haul and mobile voice networks
beginning in the1980s. With the addition of a robust data link protocol, the
second generation technology was extended to support data applications over
HF. By the mid-1990's, however, the growth of HF networking revealed the need
f or techniques that reduce overhead traffic so that the limited HF spectrum could
support larger networks and more data traffic.

23. One goal of the third-generation technology development effort was to

efficiently support bursty data traffic in peer-to-peer networks with hundreds of
stations. The resulting constraints on linking, message delivery, and routing table
maintenance improve performance in star topology and smaller peer-to-peer
network as well.

24. The third-generation design supports separate calling and traffic

channels, although calling channels may be used for traffic when necessary.
(Traffic channels are normally assigned near calling frequencies so that their
propagation is correlated.) Likewise, when equipment permits half- or full-duplex
operation (distinct transmit and receive frequencies), third-generation ALE and
ALM can find and use good channels in each direction independently. Single-
channel operation is the default, however, because it uses channels more
efficiently.
 AUTOMATIC LINK ESTABLISHMENT (3GALE)

25. Third-generation ALE (3 G-ALE) is designed to quickly and efficiently

establish one-to-one and one-to-many (both broadcast and multicast) links. It
uses a specialized carrier-sense-multiple-access (CSMA) scheme to share
calling channels, and monitors traffic channels prior to using them to avoid
interference.

26. Scanning. As in second-generation ALE, 3G-ALE receivers scan an

assigned list of calling channels, listening for 2G or3G calls. However, 2G-ALE is
an synchronous system in the sense that a calling station makes no assumption
about when a destination station will be listening to any particular channel and
therefore uses long calls. 3G ALE includes an asynchronous mode, but it
achieves its highest performance under synchronous operation. When operating
in synchronous mode, all scanning receivers in a 3G-ALE network change
frequency at the same time (to within a relatively small timing uncertainty).It is not
necessary that all stations monitor the same calling channel at the same time,
however. By assigning groups of network members to monitor different channels
in each scanning dwell, calls directed to network member stations will be
distributed in time and/or frequency, which greatly reduce the probability of
collisions among 3G-ALE calls. This is especially important under high-traffic
conditions. The set of stations that monitor the same channels at the same time
is called a dwell group.

27. Calling Channel Management. Assignment of channels to 3G-ALE

scan lists may be static, or it may be managed dynamically via the network
management protocol (HNMP or SNMP). This provides a direct means for
propagation prediction programs or external sounders to optimize scan lists "on
the fly."

28. Channels will usually be assigned to scanning sequence in non-

monotonic frequency order. By alternating among frequency bands in adjacent
dwells (to the extent feasible for the receiving equipment) we usually increase the
probability of linking success in the next dwell when the frequency just tried did
not propagate.

29. Addressing . One of the functions of the sub network layer

is translation of upper-layer addresses (e.g., 1P addresses) into whatever
peculiar addressing scheme the local subnet uses. The addresses used in 3G-
ALE PDUS are 11-bit binary numbers. In a network operating in synchronous
mode, these addresses are partitioned into a 5-bit dwell group number and a 6-
bit member number within that dwell group. Up to 32 dwell groups of up to 60
members each are supported (1920 stations per net). Four additional addresses
in each group (member numbers111 lxx) are reserved for temporary use by
stations calling into the network.
30. When it is desired to be able to reach all network members with a single
call, and traffic on the network is expected to be light, up to 60 network member
stations may be assigned to the same dwell group. However, this arrangement
does not take full advantage of the 3G calling channel congestion avoidance
techniques. To support heavier call volume than the single-group scheme will
support, the network members should be distributed into multiple dwell groups.
This results in spreading simultaneous calls more evenly over the available
frequencies.

31. Synchronous Dwell Structure. The nominal duration of each

synchronous dwell is 4 seconds. The timing structure within each synchronous
dwell time is as follows (see Figure 1):-

(a) Listen Time. At the beginning of each dwell period, every

receiver samples a traffic frequency in the vicinity of the new calling
channel, attempting to detect traffic. This"listen time" has duration of 800
ms. It precedes the calling slots so that stations have recent traffic channel
status for use during a handshake.

(b) Calling Slots, The remainder of the dwell time is divided into
4 equal-length slots. These slots are used for the synchronous exchange
of PDUS on calling channels.800 ms per slot allows for a 600 ms PDU, 70
ms of propagation, 100 ms for synchronization uncertainty of+-50 ms, plus
transmitter attack and AGC settling time.

32. Synchronous Calling Overview. The 3G-ALE synchronous

calling protocol seeks to find suitable channel(s) for traffic and transition to them
as quickly as possible. This minimizes occupancy of the calling channels, which
is important in any CSMA system.3G-ALE calls indicate the type of traffic to be
carried(in general terms); the first traffic channel(s) that will support this grade of
service will be used. The system normally does not spend time seeking the best
traffic channel (although such operation is possible).

33. When a calling station is directed to establish a link to a prospective

called station, the calling station will compute the frequency to be scanned by the
called station during the next dwell and select a calling slot within that dwell time.
During Slot 0 of that dwell, the calling station will listen to a nearby traffic channel
that has recently been free of traffic to evaluate its current occupancy. If not
calling in Slot 1, the calling station will listen on the calling channel for other calls
during the slots that precede its call. If it detects a handshake, it will defer its call.
If no handshake is detected that will extend into its chosen slot, the calling station
will send a Call PDU (described later) in its slot and listen for a response in the
next slot.
34. When a station receives a Call PDU addressed to it, it will respond in the
next slot with a Handshake PDU. The Handshake PDU may designate a good
traffic channel for transmissions to that responding station. If it does, both
stations will tune to that traffic channel and commence the traffic protocol
described in the call.

35. If the call doesn't result in a link, the caller will try again during the next
dwell on the next calling channel in the responding station's scan list. The calling
station will again select a slot and start the handshake in this new dwell by
sending a Call PDU. If the calling station does not succeed in establishing a link
after calling on all calling channels, it will normally abort the linking attempt to
avoid further channel occupancy.

36. Listen-before-transmit . Every calling station that will send a PDU

during a dwell listens on its intended calling channel during the slots that precede
its transmission(except Slot 1). If it detects a handshake, it will defer its call until
an available slot or until the next dwell. Thus, early slots in a dwell may preempt
later slots; Prioritized Slot Selection. The probability of selecting a slot is
randomized over all usable slots, but the slot selection probabilities for higher-
priority calls are skewed toward the early slots while low-priority calls are skewed
toward the later slots. Such a scheme will operate reasonably well in all
situations, whereas hard partitioning of early slots for high and late slots for low
priorities would exhibit inordinate congestion in crisis and/or routine times. Any
number of priority levels can be accommodated in this way. Note that a
handshake that starts in Slot 4 will extend into Slot O of the following dwell, but
will not overlap any of the calling slots in that dwell.

37. Third-Generation ALE PDUS. The contents of the various

PDUS used by 3G-ALE are shown in Figure 2. The PDUS used in one-to-one
Call PDU calling are the Call and Handshake PDUs mentioned above. These two
key PDUS are discussed below. The more specialised PDUS are discussed
later, in conjunction with their respective protocols.

38. Call PDU . The Call PDU needs to convey sufficient information so that
the called station will know whether it wants to respond, and what to look for in its
traffic channel database. The Call PDU therefore reports

(a) The calling station identification

(b) What resources will be needed if the call is accepted.

(c) What traffic channel quality is required.

39. The Call Types in the Call PDU are listed below:-

Call Type Description

 Packet Data Traffic will use the 3G ARQ protocol.
Negative SNR OK.

HF Modem Traffic will use an HF data modem (e.g., for

Circuit 2G-ARQ or digital voice). Need positive SNR.

Voice Circuit Order wire voice traffic. Need SNR

210-15 dB.
High-Quality Traffic (voice or wire line modem)
needs higher

Circuit SNR than order wire.

Unicast One-to-one call, caller will designate the

traffic channel.

Multicast One-to-many call, caller will designate the

traffic channel.

Link Release Caller announces release of called station(s)

and the traffic channel.

Note: The full called station address is not needed in the Call PDU,
because the called station group number is implicit in the choice of the
channel that carries the call.

40. Handshake PDU . The Handshake PDU is used by both calling and
responding stations. It is sent only after a Call PDU has established the identities
of both stations in one-to-one link establishment, as well as the key
characteristics of the traffic that will use the link.

(a) The Link ID field contains a hash of the calling and called
addresses for use in collision resolution.
(b) Commands include Continue Handshake ("I don't have a good
traffic channel yet"), Abort Handshake, and Commence Traffic.
(c) The argument field carries either a channel number for traffic or a
reason for not linking.

41. One-to-One Link Establishment . The one-to-one linking protocol

identifies a frequency or pair of frequencies for traffic use relatively quickly (within
a few seconds), and minimizes channel occupancy during this link establishment
process. The synchronous mode ALE protocol is illustrated in Figure 3.
A station will normally commence the link establishment protocol immediately
upon receiving a request to establish a link with another station, although it may
defer the start of calling until the called station will be listening on a channel
believed to be propagating. The latter option serves to reduce channel
occupancy, and does not preclude calling on the bypassed channels later if the
link cannot be established on the favored channel.

42. Scanning Phase , Stations idle in the scanning phase, in which at least
one receiver per station synchronously scans its assigned channels, listening for
calls. When a station needs to establish a link with another station, it enters the
Probing Phase and sends Call PDUS on the frequencies monitored by the called
station until a link for traffic has been established or the attempt is aborted.

43. Probing Phase . Only the station that initiates link establishment
enters the Probing phase, and it does so when it is ready to begin sending Call
PDUS. Upon entry to the Probing phase, the caller calculates the frequency
being monitored by the station to be called and, if necessary, tunes to that
frequency. During each frame, it selects a slot for sending its Call PDU as
described above, sends the PDU, and listens for a response (a Handshake
PDU).On receipt of a Continue Handshake command, the calling station will
make no further transmissions during the current dwell frame, although it will
combine the received quality of the Handshake PDU with the traffic channel
occupancy measured earlier to decide whether that traffic channel is usable.
During the next dwell frame, the calling station will again listen to a traffic channel
in the vicinity of the new calling channel during Slot O, and send a Call PDU in a
slot chosen in accordance with the procedure described earlier. Receipt of an
Abort command will terminate the linking attempt and return the calling station to
the Scanning Phase. Receipt of Commence Traffic command prompts the calling
station to enter the Traffic Phase.

44. Responding Phase . When a station that is listening for calls

receives a Call PDU addressed to it, it briefly enters the Responding Phase. In
response to an error-free one -to-one Call PDU addressed to it, an available
station returns a Handshake PDU in the next slot:

(a) An Abort Handshake command is returned when the responding

station is not willing to accept the call.
(b) A Continue Handshake command is returned if it is willing to accept
the call, but has not yet found a suitable traffic channel.
(c) A Commence Traffic command, designating a traffic channel, is
returned when a suitable traffic channel is known.
45. A called station does not remain in the Responding Phase after sending
its response: it either returns to the Scanning Phase (Abort or Continue
Handshake), or proceeds to the Traffic Phase (Commence Traffic).

46. Traffic Phase . When the called station enters the Traffic Phase, it
sets a timeout that will cause a return to the Scanning Phase if the calling station
does not quickly initiate a traffic protocol. A longer timeout is used when voice
traffic was announced in the call than when packet traffic or a modem circuit was
indicated. When the caller receives a Handshake PDU containing a Commence
Traffic command from the called station, it also enters the Traffic Phase.
Normally, it will immediately commence traffic setup for an ARQ protocol or alert
the operator to commence voice traffic. However, If the traffic channel is either
occupied or noisy at the calling station, it may seek an alternate channel for
sending and/or receiving traffic using the ALM protocol. At the end of the Traffic
Phase, the called station simply returns to the Scanning Phase. The calling
station, however, may be programmed to return to the calling channel that
carried the successful handshake, wait for the called dwell group to scan to that
channel, and send a Link Release call that informs the group that the called
station and the traffic channel are again available.

47. Unicast Calling . In some situations it is desirable for the calling

station to designate the traffic channel for a point-to- point link. The Unicast call
type is used in these cases, and indicates that the called station should not
respond, but instead listen for a Handshake PDU Responder from the calling
station in the slot that follows the Call PDU. Both stations then proceed to the
Traffic Phase on the designated channel.

48. One-to-Many Calling. One-to-many calling includes both broadcast

and multicast protocols.

49. Multicast Calls . A multicast call employs a separate 6-bit multicast

address space. 3G-ALE controllers are programmed to recognize multicast
addresses to which they subscribe. The multicast protocol is similar to the uni
cast protocol: the caller sends a Call/Commence Traffic PDU sequence that
directs the called stations to a traffic channel where they are to set a timeout and
listen for the type of traffic associated with that multicast address.

50. Broadcast PDU and Protocol . The Broadcast PDU simply directs every
station that receives it to a particular traffic channel. A station may announce a
broadcast to multiple dwell groups by repeating the Broadcast PDU on multiple
channels during one or more dwells. The PDU contains a dwell countdown that
indicates when a broadcast will begin.

51. Notifications. The Notification PDU carries the address of the

sending station. The 3-bit Station Status field carries the current sending station
status (e.g., Nominal, Going silent, etc).Stations that are commencing radio
silence (or EMCON), or that are voluntarily departing from the network, may
notify other stations of this status change to reduce the effects of upper-layer
routing protocols having to discover this change in status. Notification PDUS are
sent in randomly selected slots using the same probability distributions as
broadcasts.

52. Sounding . Sounding will normally be unnecessary in 3G-ALE

systems. With synchronous scanning, knowledge of propagating channels will
have only slight effect on linking latency unless non-propagating channels are
removed from the scan list. In asynchronous 3G-ALE networks, however,
sounding may be desired if propagation data is unobtainable by other means. In
this case, periodic transmissions of are repeated. Notification PDU indicating
Nominal station status will serve the purpose.

53. Asynchronous Operation. The Scanning Call PDU is sent

repeatedly to capture scanning receivers when a network is operating in
asynchronous mode. The remainder of the asynchronous mode handshake is
similar to synchronous mode.

54. Waveforms. Both linking and data transfer PDUS are conveyed
over the channel by a family of PSK waveforms that are derived from the highly-
successful MIL-STD- 188-11 OA serial-tone modem. The new waveforms are
optimized for bursts rather than long transmissions, which give the system
improved agility (see MIL-STD- 188-14 lB.)

55. Technical Features of ALE standard. FED-STD-1045 specifies

the parameters involved in automatic link setup with HF transceivers. Besides
basic parameters like modulation type and transceiver bandwidth, signal type,
coding methods and protocol sequence for automatic link setup are also
specified. Standard 1045 is supplemented by standards 1046 to 1052. An 8FSK
signal with discrete frequencies from 750 Hz to 2500 Hz is used for link setup.

56. This signal type is suitable for transmission via HF transceivers as an

SSB (single-sideband) signal with bandwidth of 3 kHz. The tones are transmitted
at a symbol rate of 125 per second. An ALE word consists of 24 data bits (3 bits
for the preamble and 3 x 7 data bits). To enhance the transmission reliability of
ALE words on the HF channel, each one is extended by a 24-bit Golay FEC code
(forward error correction), then interleaved and emitted with threefold
redundancy. The entire ALE word including error correction consists of 49 tones
and is 392 ms long (FIG 2).

FIG 2: ALE word coding and interleaving

57. Each ALE network is assigned a number of frequencies for establishing
links. A station switched to receive mode scans all assigned frequencies at a rate
of two or five channels per second, waiting for calls to come in on any of those
frequencies. A calling station emits a call whose length is matched to the number
of channels available, so the call can be captured by the scanning receive
station. If a call is not successful, another call will be performed on the next
channel. Several such frequency lists (scan groups) may be stored in an ALE
station.

58. When a link is being set up, ALE words are combined to form an ALE
frame. This frame is divided into individual sections, the transitions between
which are indicated by preambles contained in the ALE words. A complete ALE
link setup is made up of three such frames. First the calling station emits a call
frame, which is answered by the called station (response frame). The calling
station acknowledges receipt of the response frame by transmitting an
appropriate frame to the called station. At this juncture the link setup is
completed.

59. An ALE station is identified by an address with a maximum length of 15

characters consisting of upper-case letters A to Z and numbers 0 to 9. Besides
this unequivocal addressing of an individual station (individual call, point-to-point
link), further addressing methods for contacting all stations or groups of stations
in a network are also possible. All Call serves for addressing all stations of a
network (broadcast) and is not acknowledged by the called stations (FIG 3).
Selective All Call is used to call stations with the same final character. With
Group Call, several stations of a network respond to a call according to a
predefined response protocol. Net Call addresses all stations of a network
assigned to a network address. Again the called stations respond according to a
predefined protocol. Further types of addresses are Any Call for emergencies,
which are responded to by all stations receiving this call, and Wild Card
addressing, in which case only certain characters of the address are to conform.

60. ALE allows the link quality of the transmission path to be checked in order
to minimize link establishment times. The sequence in which frequencies are
called will then be made dependent on actual link quality. This is possible by
storing and administering the link quality to each subscriber. The information on
link quality is provided by a sounding process that involves calls being emitted at
programmable intervals and determination of their receive quality (link quality
analysis,(LQA).

61. Brief messages may already be transmitted during link setup. AMD
(automatic message display) enables the calling station to transmit, while calling,
a predefined message up to 90 characters long, which is displayed at the called
receive station. This feature of the standard is utilized by HF Transceiver
XK2000, among other things for transmitting a phone number to the receive
station to allow a telephone network link to be set up via an APP ( automatic
phone patch). UUF (user-unique function) enables transmission of a
manufacturer-specific 14-bit value during link setup, which may for example be
used for controlling the subsequent data transmission protocol (in Data Link
Processor GS2200). With the aid of DTM (data text message) mode, brief
messages can be transmitted without requiring an additional data modem and
protocol.

62. Encryption of link setup. Linking protection (FED-STD-1049) is

one of the ALE functions. It serves to protect the information contained in the
protocol such as address and network relation against eavesdropping. This
method is also resistant to deception (spoofing) by the enemy through recording
and retransmitting the emitted information. This function protects the link setup
only. For the protection of subsequent speech and data messages, additional
cryptographic measures have to be taken at the transmit and receive ends.

63. The Rohde & Schwarz implementation supports three of five protection
levels defined in FED-STD-1049 (AL-0, AL-1 and AL-2). Level AL-2 offers the
greatest security (protection interval 2 s), but also means more stringent
requirements for network synchronization, while Level AL-1 offers somewhat less
security (protection interval 60 s), but network synchronization requirements are
not as high either. The protection interval is the time interval within which the
input variables of the encryption algorithm are constant.

64. The 24-bit ALE words for link setup are encrypted with the aid of the
Johnson algorithm. Input variables for this algorithm are the crypto key defined
by the user, frequency, date and time. The key may be a word up to 63 bits long,
which results in a maximum number of keys of 2 63 . Because this technique is
time-referenced, a time-synchronized network is required. Different procedures
are provided to first establish and then maintain synchronization. One station in
the network serves as the time master station, supplying the other stations with
the exact time via protocols. Time may also be manually entered at each station.
For maintaining synchronization, a time-acquisition protocol polling the exact time
from the time reference station is started whenever a certain degree of
inaccuracy is detected in the system. This protocol is also protected as long as
the time deviations are found to be within tolerance by the linking protection
process. For stations without any information on date and time or with insufficient
time accuracy, an acquisition protocol has been implemented, which however is
not protected because of the absence of time information. This option is primarily
intended for stations entering the network at a later date.

65. Third-Generation Data Link Protocol. The 3G ARQ protocol is

much more streamlined (and nimble) than the FED-STD- 1052 ARQ protocol. It
simply conveys data over a link, and leaves message-oriented functions to higher
layers. The caller initiates a 2-way handshake on a channel (after 3G ALE) that
synchronizes the time bases of the data link terminals, and determines the
direction and mode of data transfer. Following this handshake, the link runs in
either high-rate or robust mode; the former is used for long messages and the
latter for short messages or especially challenging channels. The high-rate mode
is a selective-repeat protocol. Series of fixed-size frames are sent at 4800 bps,
after which a robust burst from the responder acknowledges frames received
error-free. Retransmissions of naked frames carry FEC bits instead of data bits,
with code combining used at the receiver to attempt to reconstruct frames
received with errors. The code rate ranges from 1to 1/4 on a frame-by-frame
basis. The robust mode uses very robust waveforms and a stop-and-wait
protocol. It cycles the channel more quickly than the high-rate mode, which
makes it better suited for quickly transferring small messages over marginal
channels. This mode should be especially effective in supporting transport-layer
ARQ frames such as TCP acknowledgements. When the TCP maximum
transmission unit (MTU) is small, this mode will also be an efficient means for
reliably carrying user data over challenging links. For long messages in a CCIR
Poor channel, an implementation of the high-rate mode maintains a 7-8 dB
advantage over 1052 ARQ at a given throughput, and achieves roughly 50-
100% better throughput at a given SNR. The robust mode achieves a 10 dB
improvement over 1052 ARQ for short messages in Poor channels.

66. Recommended Standards . Currently the standards of choice for

the best performance and feature set are MILSTD-188-141B Change Notice 1 for
ALE and MIL-STD-188-110B for data transfer. NATO is currently revising its
STANAG documents relating to HF communications to align them with the
relevant MIL-STD documents to maximize interoperability . MIL-STD-188-141B
(3G ALE) offers efficient, scaleable and robust Automatic
LinkEstablishment of HF radio networks. This means less training for radio
operators and the data link layer protocols also open possibilities for easy, short
duration data transfers. However, the HF Modernisation Project (JP2043) has
adopted MIL-STD-188- 141A as its standard (2G ALE). It may be useful for

tactical radios to interoperate with JP2043 considering the long range that tactical
HF radios can reasonably achieve. Legacy issues with any other existing 2G
systems would also have to be understood before 3G ALE is considered.
MIL-STD-188-110B offers robust data waveforms up to a data rate of 4800bps.
With these data rates extend to 19200bps. Given the small amount of bandwidth
that is available in the HF spectrum 110B offers the best use for sustained data
transfers. MIL-STD-188-110A compatibility will be required if interoperability is
required with JP2043 devices.

67. Devices . Both Harris and Rockwell-Collins are actively developing

and extending their HF devices, more so than any other companies. The
AN/PRC-150(C) from Harris is currently the most feature rich tactical HF radio.
Harris has indicated that they plan to deploy STANAG 4538 with FLSU for the
AN/PRC-150(C) .As software defined radios are more fully realised it is expected
that they will start to dominate due to the ease of upgrade.Another device of
interest is the Coachwhip for Boeing. It is currently the only device than can offer
more than 19200bps over HF links. This is because it uses DSSS, which even
though it can offer these higher bandwidths it can also create more problems. So
while larger bandwidths may be made available the widespread use of this
system in the tactical environment may not be a suitable solution.

68. Features of Radio Linking (HF Interface to Internet ). One

inexpensive technique for connecting an HF sub-network to the Internet is shown
below. Here, a desktop computer (labeled Gateway) executes off-the-shelf
Internet Protocol software that routes packets among any connected data links.
The figure shows both an Ethernet board and an HFNC present in this computer,
so it serves as the gateway between all nodes reachable via the Ethernet
(probably the entire Internet) and all nodes reachable from the local HF station.
Although communications with the Mobile station could be direct from the
Gateway, a Relay station is shown as an intermediate node in the path to
illustrate the capabilities of the new generation of automated HF technology,

69. HF Network Management . Use of HF radio to extend Internet

services to the users identified in the Introduction will result in increasingly
complex HF networks, with equipment often placed at remote sites. This, along
with programs to consolidate high-power HF assets among military services into
unmanned "lights out" facilities, indicates the need for a standardized protocol for
remotely controlling HF stations and for remotely diagnosing problems in HF
networks. Similar needs in the existing Internet have led to the development of
the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). However, the hostility of the
HF medium presents clear challenges to the development of a mechanism for
reliably monitoring and controlling distant radio stations. MIL-STD-187-721C
describes a protocol that addresses these challenges, while maintaining
compatibility with the standard Internet SNMP network management architecture
.

Figure 4: HF Internet Gateway

CURRENT TRENDS IN RADIO TECHNOLOGY

70. Soft Ware Defined Radio (SDR) . There are numerous definitions
of Software Defined Radio in existence, all of which are not totally consistent with
each other. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defines SDR as a "
generation of radio equipment that can be reprogrammed quickly to transmit and
receive on any frequency within a wide range of frequencies, using virtually any
transmission format and any set of standards". The International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) has proposed a definition of SDR as a " radio in
which the operating parameters including inter alia frequency range,
modulation type, and/or output power limitations can be set or altered by
software". In contrary, the SDR Forum, as an international, non-profit
organization promoting the development of SDR, offers a broader definition: "
Software defined radio is a collection of hardware and software technologies that
enable reconfigurable systems architectures for wireless networks and user
terminals". One reason for the advent of several inconsistent definitions is
probably due to the broad and complex nature of technology itself, and the
variety of possible means for implementation of SDR systems. The SDR Forum
has established the five tiers encompassing different categories of software radio
systems.

(a) Tier 0 describes hardware based radios, and is actually not

considered to fall into the realm of SDR. The simplest SDR technology
begins with

(b) Tier 1, which describes software controlled radios (SCR) with only
the control functions being processed by software. The simplest example
to this is a dual mode cell phone, which consists of two hardware radios
for two different standards. The software simply controls which radio
should be utilized. Later upgrades to new evolving standards are not
possible. Reconfigurable software defined radios present Tier 2. As
implied by their name, these SDR systems include reconfiguration by
allowing control over modulation techniques, security functions (such as
frequency hopping) and waveform requirements over a broad frequency
range provided by software.

(c) Tier 2 SDRs ,include processing applications such as application-

specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA)
and digital signal processors (DSP).33 Although reconfigurable SDRs are
the most commonly used systems today, especially for military
applications, due to therapid sophistication of the general SDR technology
these systems become increasingly obsolete. One example for a Tier 2
system is the earlier discussed system.

(d) Tier 3 software defined radios, also called ideal software radios
(ISR), will eventually become the mostly implemented systems within the
near future. Based on the extended possibilities of programmability to the
entire system, analog conversion will be completely realized only by the
antenna, microphones and speakers. Heterodyne mixing components,
which serve the function to convert incoming radio frequency to a constant
frequency, are eliminated in ideal software radios, as well as components
for analog amplification.

(e) Tier 4 systems. In contrary, Tier 4 systems are currently not

more than merely a vision of SDRs. The SDR Forum declares that
ultimate software radios (USR) as Tier 4 technologies "are defined for
comparison purposes only".35 In theory, these USRs are supposed to be
 capable of supporting a broad frequency range, air-interfaces and
applications, allowing switching between air-interface formats and different
applications within only milliseconds.

71. Advantages of Software Defined Radios. The term software defined

radio was first coined in the year 1991.37 With radio functionality embedded and
processed within software modules, there are numerous advantages associated
with the SDR technology.38 The following passages will provide an overview
about these potentials. The greatest advantage of the implementation of SDR
systems is the introduction of new means of inherent dynamic flexibility and
upgradeability. SDR is based on open architecture and consists of a common,
generic hardware platform, which allows for flexible installment of different
software applications as required for signal transmission. These generic
hardware platforms might be used for support of different protocols, services and
products. The results are multiband, multimode radio systems able to conform to
various protocols such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA or GSM, which are the most
used air-interface standards currently. It is widely believed that TDMA and GSM
will eventually merge to one standard in the near future. Taking into
consideration that millions of subscriber handsets are currently in use that would
not conform to this standard, the instant mergence of both standards would be
nearly impossible. Through the coexistence of several software modules within
one system and their programmability, accommodation and dynamic support of
different standards becomes possible.

72. Military Applications. Its advantages are many: -

(a). SDR allows coexistence of multiple software modules implementing

different standards on the same system allowing reconfiguration of the
system by just selecting the appropriate software modules to run.

(b). Military communication networks are often considered " A system

of systems", with subscriber nodes entering and living a network in an ad-
hoc manner as shown on the screen. SDRs can be reconfigured on the
fly. It allows radios to interoperate in multiple networks simultaneously.
This includes providing support for switching between wide and narrow
band radio networks.

(c). Immunity to hostile jammers is a key requirement for tactical

communication systems. This immunity is typically achieved by utilizing a
spread spectrum technology such as frequency hopping. The combination
of DSP with SDR has improved immunity to jamming.

72. Efficient Use of Spectrum SDR also provides the advantage of

promoting a more efficient use of the spectrum, as described as an example in
the following scenario. The requirement to provide backhaul through leased lines
or fixed microwave facilities in traditional architectures presents a huge cost
factor for wireless service providers, as described earlier. Through SDR,
providers are not limited to physical backhaul links since parts of the radio
spectrum could be utilized for wireless backhaul to software based central base
station controllers. Single base stations are wirelessly connected to the
controller, with only one central physical link remaining which connects the
wireless infrastructure to the mobile telecommunications switching office. This
presents a much more cost effective solution, eliminating a huge part of recurring
operating costs and promoting an efficient way of allocating resources to meet
subscriber needs. Furthermore, base stations can be adjusted and relocated
easier as coverage and capacity demands change since a physical link is not
required. Software base stations will also allow for easier deployment because of
less hardware components that result in smaller system size.49 SDR integrated
base stations present great opportunities to providers of mobile and cellular
services. As for subscribers, the same advantages will be available in mobile
handsets,

73. The ultimate goal is the development of handsets which enable access to
a variety of different wireless services. Software defined radio has the ability to
support handhelds that could finally help this ever existent dream of convergence
to become reality. Numerous applications such as cellular phone services, web
browsing, email, global positioning or video conferencing could be integrated into
one system has become a reality . An example being introduction of I Phone
in the USA.

74. Overall, the FCC hopes that the implementation of SDR will promote a
more efficient use of the spectrum, expand access to wireless services and
encourage more competition among service providers. Table 2 concludes this
section with a comprehensive overview of the advantages as described.

75. Understanding SDR through Conventional Radio. In an effort to best

understand the processes behind software defined radio, an overview of a
conventional radio component strand can provide clarification. For a conventional
radio super-heterodyne radio system, the radio frequency (RF) enters through
the system antenna and travels through a band-pass filter, eliminating unwanted
frequencies. The permitted signal is then taken through a heterodyne procedure,
passing through a localized oscillator (OC) where a new signal is introduced and
mixed with the RF; the result of this analog down-conversion is known as the
intermediate frequency (IF). The IF may pass through additional OC stages
depending on the frequency required by the analog-to-digital converter (A/D), a
component which converts the signal to its digital equivalent. The signal is then
carried to the digital signal processor (DSP) orgeneric processor (GPP),
decoding and relaying data to the user interface
76. Current analog to digital converters cannot process high frequencies
without their implementation of filters and oscillating mixers which reduce the rate
of the frequency into a more manageable IF or baseband waveform. The down-
conversion process may occur as often as necessary to achieve an adequate
signal frequency.

77. Analog Limitations. For a conventional radio system to maintain

multimode, multiband compatibility, it must contain a unique component strand
for each mode of operation, a requirement which is simply impractical from a
cost, space, power, and efficiency standpoint. A software defined radio aims to
integrate multiple components of these stages into a single strand to create the
versatility required to make modifications on the fly. Although the ability does
exist to integrate all front-end analog components into a single chip with
Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) technology, analog components
are impractical for wide-band transmissions in a 3G environment, having inherent
performance limitations.

78. In addition to being traditionally narrowband in nature, analog

components suffer from the effects of aging, temperature variations, and lack the
linearity of their digital counterparts, resulting in several signal integrity issues,
including harmonic distortion that arise in the output signal of the analog
component. When a signal enters a nonlinear component, the output may
contain multiple instances of the original signal, located at spectral intervals near
the original frequency of the desired signal. In an ideal software defined radio,
the radio frequency would be converted to a digital format immediately upon
entering the system. The main constraint which prohibits this design is the
sampling rate required from an A/D to create a digital signal. ADC technology
continues to advance, but perhaps not at the same speed of SDR breakthroughs.
The Texas Instruments Digital RF Processing (DRP) technology has effectively
sampled an RF at a frequency of 2.45 GHz. However, the signal was only 1MHz
wide, a far cry from the 5 MHz channels found in a 3G environment.

79. The sampling rate for all signal converters is restricted by the Nyquist
Theorem which states, "When converting from an analog signal to digital (or
otherwise sampling a signal at discrete intervals), the sampling frequency must
be greater than twice the highest frequency of the input signal in order to be able
to reconstruct the original perfectly from the sampled version."59 In other words,
if a 50 MHz signal is to be sampled, it must be sampled at a minimum of 100
MHz to accurately re-create the signal.

80. The Nyquist Theorem expects relatively high amounts of processing

power, resulting in a rather tall order for A/D processors to fill. Consequently, for
SDR technology to realize compatibility with high-frequency waveforms, an
alternative process, known as under sampling, exists. Under sampling eliminates
multiple stages of signal down-conversion, and like most aspects of software
defined radios, it is a rather complicated process (a continuous theme), enabling
the analog-to-digital converter to sample at less than twice the frequency of the
signal. Though potentially beneficial for converting higher frequencies, obstacles
such as jitter and phase noise can corrupt the under sampling process. In
addition, the emergence of standards with very complex modulation schemes,
such as IEEE 802.16e and 802.20 will add even more complexity to the data
converter design, requiring developers to create design improvements for data
converters in the areas of calibration, higher sampling rates, and a higher speed
of signal processing.

81. SDR Possibilities. The ultimate goal of the SDR is complete

versatility and programmability. The only way to reach this level of performance
is through the continually mentioned elimination of fixed analog components
which hinder adaptability and are limited in function. There are countless
proposed SDR architectures currently in circulation, and the actual component
layout will vary by application. For example, a mobile phone configuration would
likely differ from that of a personal computer with SDR capabilities due to the
different operating modes of the two devices. Figure 2 is an example of a
possible SDR physical architecture, identifying the key components which
maximize flexibility and adaptability, while maintaining a compact and straight
forward architectural design.

82. In this hypothetical SDR architecture, the ideal software defined radio has
replaced analog components with digital equivalents, and simplified device
design through the compilation of several traditionally independent components
into single chips. The antenna represented in this figure is multimode in nature,
with the ability to receive a variety of signals. The process of RF down-
conversion and digitization occurs immediately upon entry of the signal into the
system, and both processes are contained on a single chip.The theoretical
baseband chipset contains both digital signal processing (DSP)and field
programmable gate array (FPGA) units. Due to the relative newness of the
technology, the actual number of DSP and FPGA components varies from
system to system, but the general consensus is that multiple microprocessors
must co-exist on the base and chipset for optimal functionality. The Control and
Maintenance bus uses the Portable Operating System Interface (POISX) and
Common Object Request Broke rArchitecture (CORBA) interfaces, and will be
discussed further. Though a security chipset is not required for all applications,
most mobile handsets and base stations will likely contain the necessary security
devices to ensure customer privacy and maintain system integrity.

83. The newest generation of radios are justly called software defined radio
(SDR), since the entire signal processing chain, from intermediate frequency (say
50-125MHz) down to baseband frequency (like a voice channel at 8kHz) is done
digitally using reconfigurable firmware and software, replacing analog and ASIC
digital processing. A typical SDR has these components:-

(a) Analog interface to the RF stage and antenna, via high-speed

converters (ADC andDACs) able to digitize a wide portion of the spectrum
(b) High-speed front-end signal processing including digital down- or
up-conversion,
(c) Protocol-specific processing such as CDMA, TDMA, and satellite
communications involve spreading/de-spreading, chip rate and frequency-
hop rate recovery- Code/decode functions, including
modulation/demodulation, carrier and symbol rate recovery, channel
interleaving/de-interleaving

84. Data Communications . Interfacing with carrier networks and

backbone for data I/O and command-and-control processing which is usually
handled by general purpose ARM or PowerPC processors and RTOS (Real Time
Operating System).
Recent trends in wireless communications boards implement the radio primarily
in software through the integration of high performance computing in
programmable logic and DSPs with the analog front-end. Designers are able to
partition the high speed front end signal processing from the lower speed
baseband and protocol functions for an optimal mix of performance and flexibility.

85. FPGA's for ultra high-speed processing. The front-end signal

processing is usually a very high speed process that is best suited for FPGA
processing. The front end signal processing, such as cascaded integrated comb
filters and decimators used in up-down-conversion, fit well within most FPGA
architectures and are rather simple arithmetic, but intensive in computation
cycles because they run at the digitizing rate. These functions are ideal for
FPGAs because they scale-up easily for parallel processing and usually do not
involve highly complex algorithms. Other functions that require high speed
processing in the FPGA typically include spreading/de-spreading, code
identification, and error correction. When there is tight integration of the analog
and signal processing functions, the designer has complete flexibility for
application-specific front-end signal processing for improved signal quality, code

identification and carrier acquisition Programmable logic density and speed are a
driving force behind new SDR architectures.

86. FPGA device sizes now approach the 10 million gate mark, offer speeds
200-400 MHz, and allow very complex interfaces to be mapped in logic. There
are huge offerings of IP cores that allow firmware engineers to rapidly integrate
interfaces such as PCI, Ethernet, T1/E1, Rapid IO and Hyper Transport as well
as communication-specific functions like Digital Down Conversion, FIR and CIC
filters, Viterbi and turbo decoder, FFT's, G.709- FEC and POS-PHY interface.
87. DSP's for smarter, complex processing. The more complex
algorithms found in the protocol-specific algorithms are more suited to
programmable digital signal processors (DSPs). The number-crunching capability
of DSPs, lend themselves perfectly to the baseband processing found in SDR.
Algorithms such as demodulation, error correction data packetizin and
radio control loops are well supported by DSP hardware and software.
Many DSPs incorporate hardware acceleration for common functions such as
Viterbi decoding, and a large body of software is available for most wireless
applications. DSP software development tools now feature high performance
RTOS that speed development with standardized plug-in software functions,
thereby greatly reducing software development time. DSP architectures and chip
speeds are not only delivering GIGAFLOPS of performance, but also include
built-in interfaces like PCI or Utopia (a flexible test and operations PHY interfaces
to telephony backbone). Most DSP architectures allow a "glueless" interface
between multiple DSPs for efficient clustering of DSPs, and efficient partitioning
of the SDR functions. Application specific DSPs are also emerging and offer the
optimum setof peripherals for very specific uses like direct audio I/O, video
compression ormultimedia for PDA's. Finally dual-core devices, combining a
traditional DSParchitecture with an ARM (or RISC) processor core with shared
resources continue to blur the lines between DSP and system-level functions.

88. Multi-boards for high-channel count and redundancy. At the

system level, SDR systems used for servicing high channel counts and requiring
redundancy for high system availability continue to compartmentalize the above
processing tasks on separate boards, usually hot-swappable 6U compact PCI.
New switched fabric architectures within Compact PCI systems provide an
efficient means for high bandwidth, low latency data transfer between boards.
Now, high performance serial data buses such as Rapid IO or channel Link are
beginning to replace PCI bus systems, reducing system complexity while
delivering data transfer rates 250MBytes/sec and 1+GByte/sec between boards.
Or integrated architecture for development and maximum bandwidth
Development and test platforms for SDR systems go as far as integrating all the
processing stages into a single compact PCI board: analog converters, FPGA
and DSP. The advantage of such integrated designs is that it provides radio
firmware and software engineers a complete hardware platform that they can be
used in the field to develop and test new IP algorithms (intellectual property) or
as a powerful, reconfigurable station to test hardware. The advantage here is that
all functions of the radio system, excluding network interfaces, can be fully
configured and controlled from within a single development environment. There
is no need to procure multiple boards and understand the intricacies of efficient
synchronization or to learn multiple tool sets.

89. Wireless board technology continues to be driven by the emergence

Wireless board technology continues to be driven by the emergence of newer,
more powerful logic and DSP devices, software standards and system
architectures. Tighter integration of analog with enormous signal processing
power seems to be the name of the game and is leading wireless
communications boards to new levels of performance.

90. Conclusion. The third generation of HF automation

technology was designed to efficiently support large, data-intensive networks as
well as the traditional voice and smaller network applications of second-
generation HF networks. It includes an integrated sub network layer, ALE, ALM,
and ARQ protocols, and a family of robust PSK modem waveforms. Simulations
and prototype measurements indicate that the new generation of technology will
support order-of-magnitude improvements in network size and traffic throughput,
while reaching perhaps 10 dB deeper into the noise to provide connectivity in
challenging environments.