SBIR-STTR Award

With the propagation disturbances for which HF is notorious, and the narrow bandwidths that are available, the effective use of HF networks for data communications requires efficient algorithms for network establishment and adaptive routing control after the network is operating. In military operations, the variabilities are further magnified by the mobility of the network nodes and the highly unpredictable, often bursty, nature of the traffic. The proposed protocols will consist of a hierarchial topology establishment/maintenance protocol and an adaptive routing control protocol. The topology protocol accommodates the slowly changing network propagation conditions, and the routing protocol accommodates the bursty, highly variable traffic from the network subscribers, as well as the effects of sudden propagation disturbances.

During Phase I, innovative network protocols and algorithms which maximize the throughputs of narrowband HF data networks were succesfully developed and analyzed. The Phase I results demonstrate that our "virtual wideband(tm)" protocols will enable a network comprised of multi-channel nodes in a mid-latitude region roughly the size of the United States to automatically support data throughputs exceeding 50 kbps - and possibly much higher. Our Phase II program will undertake the hardware and software implementation of the virtual wideband(tm) technology necessary to realize these capabilities. This will be followed by laboratory and field testing to accomplish automatic, seamless, and efficient HF data networking. The final deliverable product in Phase II is intended to be the complete hardware and software suite necessary to operate a virtual wideband(tm) node(s).

Benefits:
The virtual wideband(tm) technology will have direct Army, Navy, and Marine Corps applications, including applications in the Army's Force XXI initiative. The basic techniques are also transferable for significantly enhanced data services on commercial cellular and copper wire systems.