A low cost microwave data link utilizing spread spectrum and DSP techniques

In this paper we present a low-cost direct-sequence spread-spectrum scheme for data communication over the 2.4 GHz ISM band. A prototype peer to peer system has been developed for evaluation, which includes complete short range microwave transceivers. Data rate up to 1 Mbit/s has been achieved. The RF front end is developed with commercially available MMIC chip set. The data-link MAC controller is realized with a commercial DSP chip, which highly improves the system versatility in various applications. The prototype system has the potential to support point-to-multi-point connections, it can be easily expanded to a compact low cost data exchange network without any modification in system hardware.