SBIR-STTR Award

General Magnetic Sciences (GMS) proposes to develop a system that uses magnetic waves for communications from shore, ship, aircraft, or space to a submarine, or other sub-sea platform, operating at any speed and at significant depth. No longer would it be necessary for a submarine break off its mission to communicate. The submarine could continue on station while receiving communications that use transmissions that would be directional and extremely low-probability-of-interception. Such a communications system, employing GMS''''s patented magnetic wavelength compression antennas, could transmit an extremely low frequency directional signal that could be received by an antenna on a submarine at significant depth many hundreds of kilometers away. GMSs patented wavelength compression antennas are uniquely capable of efficient transmission of low-frequency signals by compressing 0x9D long wavelengths to match a short conductor. These antennas could be broadband, also, allowing for use of higher frequencies at lesser depths, depending on the data transmission rate required. Likewise, a system using these same antennas could be used to provide communications from the submarine operating at significant depths and any speed to a unit above the surface many hundreds of kilometers away. Such a system has been proposed elsewhere as a separate effort.

Benefit:
Current systems for communicating both to and from the submarine subject the submarine to risks of exposure while significantly restricting maneuverability and operational effectiveness due to some or all of the following limiting factors. The submarine must break off contact or leave its operational task and -- Must be near the surface Must operate at slow speeds and restrict maneuvering when towing the antenna cable Must remain in the vicinity of acoustic communications buoys Risks exposure of communications masts and buoys to visual or radar sighting Risks detection of radio, acoustic, or satellite communication signals Is dependent on off-board systems and/or intermediary relay systems Additionally, most current systems are very expensive and rely on even more expensive satellites. General Magnetic Sciences (GMS) proposes to develop a system that uses magnetic waves for communications from shore, ship, aircraft, or space to a submarine, or other sub-sea platform, operating at any speed and at significant depth. No longer would it be necessary for a submarine break off its mission to communicate. The submarine could continue on station while communicating using transmissions that would be directional and extremely low-probability-of-interception.

Keywords:
,, antenna-receiver array, through water communications, wavelength compression, magnetic compression antenna, Low probability of intercept

Currently, communicating to submarines at sea requires either large, low-frequency, land-based systems or for the submarine to be near the surface towing an antenna or loitering near a communications buoy. GMSs proprietary (US Patent Application 12/219,569 -24 July 2008) wavelength compression antenna (WCA) technology overcomes these limitations by efficiently transmitting a low frequency signal highly biased toward its magnetic component from a physically small but electromagnetically large antenna. These characteristics make possible systems capable of communicating from mobile platforms, including aircraft, to submarines at operational speeds and depths, regardless of sea ice, sea state, vegetation etc. In Phase I, GMS, working with Lockheed Martin, demonstrated a WCA that successfully showed: The ability to generate a propagating (launched 0x9D ) signal of a wavelength many times greater, in air, than the conductor in the antenna. The performance gains of a WCA vs. a loop antenna of the same dimensions. The feasibility of communications from a transmitter in air to a receiver in water. In Phase II, we will use WCAs of improved design and greater power to extend the range and depth at which signals can be transmitted from antennas in air to receivers submerged in sea water.

Benefit:
Man portable radios improved voice communications through urban terrain, soil, and earth Other radio upgrades e.g. HF antenna sizes reduced from many meters to a few inches improved communications in urban areas and through terrain; thousands of units Scuba Diver communications -- from dive boat to diver or diver to diver Public Safety Mine Communications - routine communications within mines and to/from controllers to remote-controlled mining equipment plus emergency communications from trapped miners to surface with no possibility of igniting mine dust/gases First Responder - reliable wireless communications from inside buildings and tunnels Cell Phone 0x9D Applications -- Greatly improved communications from within buildings and transit tunnels

Keywords:
Low-Frequency Communications, low probability of interception, Magnetic Communications, Communications, communications at speed and depth, submarine communications, Low Probability of Detection