A new wideband HF technique for MHz-bandwidth spread-spectrum radio communications

The one-way results are seen as demonstrating that equalized MHz-bandwidth skywave HF channels can be achieved using long-range one-hop F-layer propagation paths. It has thus become possible to use direct-sequence pseudo-noise or coherent fast-frequency-hop signaling at HF with processing gains of several orders of magnitude for teletype data rates. Possibilities are seen for using the spread spectrum in covert and/or jam-resistant communications. What is more, the equalized wideband HF channel is not subject to the fading caused by multiple propagation modes; as a consequence, it is substantially more reliable than the traditional narrow-band HF channel. Conversely, reliability comparable to traditional HF can be attained at greatly reduced signal margins. Since the time stability of the wideband HF channel is of the order of 10 s, very little channel-transmission time is needed for initializing and maintaining the equalizer. It is noted that probe signals similar to the channel-measuring waveform described here or spread-spectrum training sequences at the beginning of each message are adequate. Results from the 1982 two-way experimentation show that N(omega) is not reciprocal between terminals 2000 km apart.