Selection and investigation of a civil Wideband Waveform for potential military use

This contribution presents the results of an ongoing study1) evaluating civil wireless communication systems or Waveforms (WFs) for their potential military use. It is a continuation of the work presented in [1] where several civilian communication systems with their main strengths and weaknesses have been evaluated. The aim of the past and present activities is to examine which of these communication systems or WFs have valuable characteristics. In addition, it is analyzed which WFs can probably be modified and supplemented to fulfill military requirements. The focus is on Wide Band Waveforms (WBWFs) which could help to fill the capacity gap of the “last tactical mile”. The studies will contribute to the international activities of finding IP and network capable WBWFs for military Software Defined Radios. In this paper several fundamentals of tactical communications are sketched, followed by some remarks on modern civil WFs already in use or tested by military forces. After agreeing on several significant assessment criteria, three interesting civil systems are short listed before one of these systems is finally selected for further investigation. For the selected system, WLAN IEEE 802.11n, the first critical modules are identified and some ideas for their modification and/or enhancement are presented.