Design of a multitone firefly time synchronization scheme for responsive vehicle-protection jammers

We address the problem of time synchronization between responsive communications jammers employed for vehicle protection against radio-controlled improvised explosive devices. Unlike barrage jammers, which continuously transmit jamming signals on pre-defined frequency bands, responsive jammers periodically perform fast wideband scans of the radio spectrum and are thus able to react to observed threat signals. In order to avoid a ring-around effect when multiple responsive jammers are active during a common mission, we present a fully distributed time synchronization scheme, which is based on the `firefly´ synchronization mechanism known from the area of wireless communication networks. In particular, a rigorous design of the underlying phase response function is proposed along with a suitable fine-synchronization mechanism. Simulation results complement our analytical findings and illustrate the excellent performance of the proposed synchronization scheme.