Joint frequency hopping and adaptive spectrum exploitation

Frequency hopping (FH) and adaptive spectrum exploitation (ASE) complement each other to achieve spectrum efficiency and high performance in a wireless battlefield environment. While the research to date has mostly pursued these two areas separately, this paper addresses the various factors associated with the integration of the two technologies. These factors include US and international frequency allocations, signal propagation, real time signal environment data measurements, and robust control channels for a new hopset distribution. Our main focus is placed on the central issue of the need and a design concept for a robust control channel. Alternatives for a robust control channel are investigated. An example design considering incorporation of an M-ary frequency and amplitude modulation (mFAM) with ASE is provided. This research demonstrates the practicality of integrating FH systems and the ASE.