SBIR-STTR Award

The Personal Communications Systems (PCS) Base-station Transceiver Systems (BTS) area of coverage is physically near (within a few km) of the BTS. It is desirable to provide range extension for the BTS, perhaps to 10 km or more. It is also desirable to quickly deploy range extension of the BTS, thereby filling gaps in mobile communications around the Tactical Operations Center (TOC). A solution is proposed for evaluation, comprised of Hub (or TOC) BTS and Data Link equipment, and remote station data link and PCS CDMA equipment. The enabling technology is a Hub and Remote Data Link unit developed by Anntron for rapidly deployed data communications networks. At the Hub, a multi-beam antenna, also developed by Anntron for rapidly deployed data links, is the only means to provide versatile, highly directive links to remote stations. The BTS PCS Converter Unit and Remote PCS Converter Unit may be comprised of commercially available PCS market components. Analysis of existing approaches, repeater design trade-offs, simulation of coverage, interference to/from the BTS, terrain profiling, data link frequency, software control, laboratory demonstration, and ultimately field demonstrations using existing Anntron outdoor facilities shall be performed to determine the optimum solution. CDMA PCS provides mobile communications, but only to the extent that the BTS infrastructure is "built out". Total coverage, using a complete BTS, is highly unlikely in a tactical environment. The repeater proposed permits rapidly deployed coverage where required in the mobile tactical environment, expanding the network infrastructure dynamically. Other applications include coverage of "dead spots" and customized cell shaping along highways and other high use areas.

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) cellular and PCS mobile systems present remarkable opportunities for mobile voice and data communications capacity and utility, and thus are broadly deployed commercially. The Army is working to extend the capabilities of these tools into the tactical arena to provide mobile, reliable, secure, ubiquitous information superiority to the soldier in the field. The Army has worked with the Base-station equipment manufactures to acquire the equipment that is suitable for tactical deployment. The tactical Base-station equipment is compact and easily configured, but one base-station may not provide the desired range or configuration. Critical portions of the battlefield may be beyond the service range of the base-station. A solution is proposed to provide rapidly deployed, enhanced CDMA cellular/PCS base-station coverage, using "remoted" antennas. A local Base-station Converter Unit (BCU) converts the CDMA waveform to a microwave carrier. A multiplicity of microwave point-to-point links feed Remote Converter Units (RCU), which convert the waveform back to the original cellular/ PCS frequency at the "remoted" antenna. The BCU and RCU will be comprised of commercially available cellular/PCS market components, and the system cost will be appealing to commercial carriers interested in enhancing their range. CDMA cellular and PCS base-stations provide mobile communications, but only to the extent that the infrastructure is "built out". Achieving total coverage is an expensive and time consuming process, requiring new base-stations to be deployed and wired back to the telephone system. This is an unacceptable proposition in the tactical arena. The solution proposed herein is a rapidly deployed repeater-like system which can significantly improve base-station radio coverage. Commercially, the cellular operators will find this a cost-effective solution for filling in dead spots and improving their coverage along highways and other high use corridors

Keywords:
personal communications systems, code division multiple access -cdma, unii, cellular networks, rapidly deployed, range extension