SBIR-STTR Award

Building on its innovation, ALOHA, a connection-free wireless communications technology, this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project from ALOHA Networks, Inc. will investigate the technical feasibility of chip slotting in a general Spread ALOHA Multiple Access (SAMA) data network. ALOHA Networks plans to (a) determine the practicality of transmitting chip clock phase information for the hub receiver in broadcast mode; (b) formulate algorithms for the use of this information by the remote terminal transmitters; and (c) provide a preliminary design of a SAMA hub receiver which can resolve overlapping chip slotted SAMA packets from multiple transmitters. The benefits of a chip slotted SAMA network will be simplifying in a major way the implementation of wideband connection-free multiple access channels while at the same time increasing the multiple access throughput of these channels. The potential commercial applications of the improved performance characteristics of the ALOHA connection-free wireless data network which the project has as its objective will include wireless Internet access, wireless local loops, video answerback, and large scale wideband Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSAT) networks.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will upgrade an experimental laboratory Spread ALOHA Multiple Access (SAMA) data network by adding the capability of chip slotted operation. Slotting is a general technique used in conventional ALOHA channels with the capability of doubling the packet throughput of these channels. Slotting has a similar capability in Spread ALOHA channels; however, slotting has two additional advantages in Spread ALOHA channels. First, slotting can greatly reduce the latency of the channel by decreasing the retransmission delay of the channel. Second, slotting permits the introduction of more flexible embedded reservation protocols in the SAMA channel. The benefits of a chip slotted SAMA network will be a major simplification in the implementation of wideband connection-free multiple access channels, while at the same time increasing the throughput and performance of these channels. Research will lead to enhancements and upgrades for the Spread ALOHA-based SkyDSL (where DSL essentially stands for Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Loop) satellite internet access system. It will also lead to a broadening of commercial markets to include cellular and Personal Communication System (PCS) and Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS).