Long Range Inter-band Radio with the Processed Surrogate Satellite Waveform

The Processed Surrogate Satellite Waveform (PSSW) is a long range inter-band radio communications system for handheld, man-portable, and vehicular-mounted platforms operating in areas where conventional line-of-sight radio would be typically screened by the landscape. PSSW is a rapidly deployable system employing a surrogate satellite on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can connect units equipped with radios of different capabilities and bands over a large coverage area. PSSW is an extremely efficient MF-TDMA waveform that pools the available radio spectrum across the user base with automated bandwidth-on-demand resource allocation performed at the surrogate satellite payload (SSP). As opposed to a transparent relay, the SSP hosts the network´s controller and provides downlink signaling for ad-hoc network entry, network directory access, and broadband IP application service establishment. The SSP processes network communications as a regenerative repeater, reducing the power and antenna size requirements of the ground equipment and allowing both intra-band and inter-band communications. These features yield a uniquely scalable and bandwidth efficient waveform capable of unifying tactical communications across a wide range of frequency bands and radio platforms.