SBIR-STTR Award

Traditional RF (Radio Frequency) communications are increasingly susceptible to jamming, interception, and even detection. Free space optics can mitigate these issues while adding benefits such as bandwidth and a highly directional nature. In order to make this happen, a highly developed system must be constructed consisting of exceedingly precise control systems and novel beam steering techniques. Adding to the complexity is the operating scenario which includes dynamic RAS (Robotic Autonomous Systems) assets with multiple continuous connections, operating in RF and GPS-denied environments that include variable atmospheric penetration. The proposed solution will leverage work done in existing connectivity solutions, with solid-state techniques, and expert control system designs.

Benefit:
The proposed solution will provide the commercial sector with a new ability to facilitate network traffic on the move at high bandwidth without introducing any RF, and can be used for point-to-point communications for traffic, industrial processes, even ISP distribution level communications. As the technology is developed for moving assets, it can also be repurposed to become an optical switch and rapidly cycle between different physical endpoints in network switch or router fashion with the beam tracking and acquisition technology developed.

Keywords:
fso, fso, Optical Communications, Secure Airborne Network, high bandwidth, UAS, Secure Communications Link, RF-denied

Radio frequency (RF) communications are susceptible to detection, interception and jamming. New technologies able to maintain continuous secure communication links in contested RF environments including low probability of intercept/low probability of detection (LPI/LPD) are needed. FSO provides communications with no RF emissions. Acquiring, tracking, and maintaining a tight beam, broadband, secure communications link between multiple rapidly moving vehicles (manned and unmanned) require many technologies to work in harmony. There is a need for new technical approaches to enable emerging advancement in computing and data fusion to be effectively realized as applied to new RAS combat applications. Emerging RAS applications include cognitive operations with other autonomous systems for armed combat, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR), casualty extraction and field communications. Each of these applications have different objectives but all require uninterrupted, high bandwidth, and secure communications. During all operations, the ability to transmit megabits of data per second is becoming a necessity. Triton Systems will further develop its FSO concept using geometric structures with transceivers to send and receive optical signals. These structures will also contain signal processing equipment (hardware and software) to process signals for minimum bit error rate (BER).

Benefit:
Tritons first product will be a free-space optical (FSO) system for uninterrupted, long range, high bandwidth secure communications between multiple rapidly moving air vehicles (manned and unmanned). The system will be based on an omni-directional regular icosahedron-shaped optical antenna and beam control methodology. The system will use solid state transceivers with no moving part, acquire signal within seconds, provide continuous paired tracking of paired units and are small in size, weight and power consistent with Group 2 UAS (Scan Eagle, MQ-27A). The system will include a 360 transmit and receive pair built on standard fiber optic wavelengths to provide a bandwidth of 100MHz and consistently low bit-error rates to insure continuous communication. Jitter mitigation and the ability to track at 1 nautical mile will be managed using adaptive control and beam steering. Free space optical communication technology is increasingly implemented in the defense sector for communications. In addition to high broadband secure communications in a denied environment between Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) and manned platforms, military applications being considered include military bases, in between bases where bases are co-located within 2-4 km of one another, ship to shore communications, and ship to ship communications. Similar applications exist with the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Patrol, and law enforcement. We anticipate future applications could include secure delivery of critical packages using UAS.

Keywords:
Secure Communications Link, Secure Airborne Network, RF-denied, fso, Optical Communications, high bandwidth, UAS