Advanced HF digital networks

The author presents technology enhancements in HF communications for the 2-30 MHz band that have been developed by Rome Laboratory (RL). The scenario for this effort addresses networking for a large, 4000-mi-radius, mobile network of up to 100 users contained in 10 nets or less with a totally distributed architecture. The integration of several advanced HF communications techniques into an efficient network configuration is addressed. Consideration was given to: (1) a linked net topology with totally distributed management, (2) real time, noninterfering link quality analysis (LQA), and (3) packet data techniques to optimize network performance. Investigations for the RL effort focused upon the HF channel model, access methods, LQA measurements with the modem, and the INS (IHFD Network Simulator)