SBIR-STTR Award

Direct to Phase II

The US Army and Joint Services currently utilize tactical communication systems for critical mission infrastructure and protection of boots on the ground. In support of critical operational mission infrastructures, there exists a need for Army warfighters to be able to share mission critical information from the battlefield to operational units and base stations. These systems also typically operate in spectrum-limited environments overseas, requiring new uses of spectrum efficient designs to support mass data transfer. The next generation of Army and Joint Service tactical communication systems will be required to operate under more restricted, congested, contested, and denied environments in full duplex operations to support “data at speed” to the warfighter in the field. In the last decade there has been significant advancement in Same Frequency Simultaneous Transmit (Tx) and Receive (Rx) (SF-STAR) system designs. The SF-STAR approach allows for extremely efficient use of spectrum resources and allows for full duplex operation of communications systems, where radios are exposed to both untethered intended and unintended interferences. The key operating challenge for such a system is to minimize the amount of cross-channel interference between the high-powered transmitter and the highly sensitive receiver. Performance advancements in mixer, analog filter, and channel isolator (e.g., circulators) components have been a major enabler in the development and implementation of SF-STAR systems. In response to this topic, our experienced ASTRA team proposes to develop and demonstrate a next generation tactical communication SF-STAR system, capable of fulfilling current and future needs for the US Army. This Simultaneous Frequency TRansceiver (SiFTR) will focus on implementation of novel techniques for providing isolation and cancelling interference in an SF-STAR system.