Increased demands for data capacity, combined with increasingly limited spectral resources, are rapidly exceeding the capabilities of current communications systems in the battlefield. As in the commercial sector, the nature of the data demand is increasingly multimedia, with a variety of quality-of-service (QoS) requirements imposed on a shared spectrum. The communications infrastructure for the modern battlefield is the tactical Internet, where data traffic is routed through a network of internet protocol (IP) based radios. Ultimate spectral efficiency is not determined on individual links, but by the spectral efficiency of the overall network. The objective of this proposal is to demonstrate the feasibility of an innovative spectrally efficient high data rate waveform for the 21st century digitized battlefield. Our multimedia waveform enhances total network spectral efficiency by comprehensively addressing all applicable protocol layers - physical, link and networking. The waveform is power efficient and adaptive at all protocol layers to respond to rapidly changing channel environments. Phase I feasibility is demonstrated by computer simulation, with a potential Phase II feasibility demonstration in a network of JTRS-compliant SUO/SAS radios. If successful, our proposed research and development will provide the Army with individual, innovative, spectrally efficient, high-data-rate waveform technologies that are multimedia, adaptive, robust, power-efficient and JTRS-compliant. But more importantly, this effort will provide the Army with a comprehensive multi-layer waveform, which coherently and synergistically combines these innovations to provide a total system performance not otherwise achievable. This waveform will also contribute directly to research and development for the military's future WNW for JTRS.
