AFRL's Covert Wireless Networking Technology Showcased at USSOCOM

  • Published
  • By Plans and Programs Directorate
  • HQ AFRL
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  AFRL showcased its covert wireless networking technology to representatives from US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Air Force Special Operations Command, and the US Navy and Army. As part of the lab's USSOCOM-sponsored program, Scientific Research Corporation (SRC) integrated its MobileRoute® mobile ad hoc networking software into Thales Communications' Joint Tactical Radio System Enhanced Multiband Inter-Intra Team Radio (JEM) product. SRC also enhanced its Wavelet Packet Modulation (WPM) covert waveform radio hardware to include half-duplex operation and integration with MobileRoute to provide networking capabilities. The overall success of this technology demonstration is largely attributable to a very effective collaboration between SRC and Thales Communications.
AFRL's demonstration of MobileRoute on the JEM involved six radios in clustered and multihop configurations. This network arrangement demonstrated range extension over a distance of approximately 1,600 ft in an outdoor/urban environment (greater distances are possible through the incorporation of more hops and/or the use of higher JEM power settings). These demonstration results are of particular significance because they verify the addition of a meaningful network capability to the JEM radio--a network capability that provides range extension, blue force tracking, and instant messaging to dismounted forces and requires zero additional hardware (no infrastructure and nothing to carry).
SRC's covert waveform radio network--MobileRoute on WPM--consisted of five WPM radios in point-to-point and multihop configurations. Demonstration results showed successful data dissemination, including blue force tracking, chat, and whiteboard capabilities, via networked WPM nodes in an ad hoc multihop network. In addition, the use of voice-over Internet protocol and video applications for the point-to-point WPM demonstration revealed the capacity for higher throughput support. AFRL continues to refine and enhance the implementation of MobileRoute on the JEM.