Optimization of a hybrid SFH/DS MFSK link in the presence of worst case multitone jamming

The performance of a hybrid slow frequency hopped direct sequence multiple frequency shift keyed (SFH/DS MFSK) communication link in the presence of partial band multitone jamming is considered. The communication signal is characterized by a DS-spread MFSK signal bandwidth that may exceed the FH slot spacing, and the signal consists of multiple M-ary symbols per DS code period. An equation for the bit error rate (BER) is developed for the signal in the presence of multitone jamming. The equation is flexible enough to allow examination of optimization of jamming strategy. It is shown that the jamming strategy may be optimized by varying the number of tones, their placement, or both. It is shown that in the presence of optimized jamming, overlapping systems are more resistant to jamming than nonoverlapping systems with equal parameters (except for the number of FH slots). It is also demonstrated that, in some cases, the addition of DS spreading to an FH system, without increasing the total system bandwidth, can significantly improve the system´s resistance to partial band multitone jamming