DIRAC SOLUTIONS, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A17-144

Description

The objective of this SBIR is to develop the next generation hardware and associated RF waveform design and data/video communication links to address an important need for reliable wireless video links from a platform to a node. Specifically, the central technical objective is to develop a novel powerful physical layer design that has a range of 250 feet, with a bandwidth of 3 Mbps, and negligible latency. Analytical, simulation and measurement campaigns will derive a rigorous link budget verifiable with real measurements. Wideband microwave waveforms in the 2.4 GHz regime will be targeted due to their advantages for communications in harsh environments. The deficit in device level specifications at the transmitter (i.e., peak and average power levels) and receiver (i.e., receiver sensitivity, dynamic range, SNR, and link capacity) will be overcome using multiple wideband pulses in conjunction with MIMO antennas and multi-frequency multi-pulse transmitted-reference schemes, all implementable in the software defined radio (SDR) domain. The use of SDR techniques will be further used to implement advanced signal processing techniques for channel equalization, interference mitigation, and for meeting the required processing gain. The SDR implementation provides flexibility for changing critical communications parameters to adapt to the environment for optimal performance.