Universal Air-to-Ground Broadband Networking Communications Waveform Navy SBIR FY2008.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2008.1 Topic No.: N08-088 Topic Title: Universal Air-to-Ground Broadband Networking Communications Waveform Proposal No.: N081-088-0333 Firm: Toyon Research Corp. 6800 Cortona Drive Goleta, California 93117-3021 Contact: Brad Weals Phone: (805) 968-6787 Web Site: www.toyon.com Abstract: Modern military in-theater tactical and emergency communications would benefit greatly from an ability to communicate among all service platforms, but no common waveform standard currently exists to support this. Ideally, such as waveform would fully leverage the higher bandwidth connectivity capabilities inherent in aircraft-to-ground communications, while preserving the capabilities of current terrestrial waveform standards. These operational settings are very challenging for wireless communications because the waveform must simultaneously be robust to multipath and the associated signal fading and inter-symbol interference, and to Doppler shifts typically encountered with air platforms. In this effort Toyon proposes to develop a waveform standard capable of adequately meeting these divergent requirements, as well as developing the associated software and hardware to demonstrate these capabilities. For this purpose we pursue a technical path focusing on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), which combined with the spatial diversity benefits inherent in multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO). At the successful completion of this Phase I effort, Toyon will provide real-world demonstrations of the technology and work with the Navy to select a final system to which to target development in a potential Phase II. Benefits: The air-to-ground communications waveform to be developed through this effort will provide interoperability between multiple ground and air platforms while providing broadband IP connectivity with an anti-jam capability. In addition this waveform will comply with the existing commercial 802.16e standard, and will thus inherit all the benefits of this standard, including the ready availability of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment usable in non-tactical environments. Other benefits include high spectral efficiency, improved non-line-of-sight (NLOS) coverage, and many quality of service (QoS) classes. The proposed waveform will also be compliant with the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) and the software communications architecture (SCA). Return