AFCCE News & Events
Jan 31

February 2016 Luncheon Meeting

Friday, February 19, 2016

High Data Rate, Reliable Wideband HF Communications Demonstration

Dr. Lucien Tieg and Dr. Kevin Cuomo
of The MITRE Corporation

Assured beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) communications is challenging yet essential for our warfighters. Military and civilian systems rely on a combination of high data rate satellite connectivity as well as low data rate High Frequency (HF) Skywave communications. While satellite communication provides high data rate connectivity, there are vulnerabilities that include degradation and disruption of service. To ensure critical communications are maintained, we are investigating the capability of higher bandwidth and higher data rate HF communications applying polarization diversity Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) concepts.

We have successfully demonstrated short-hop (<300 km) one-way HF Sky Wave communication by simultaneously transmitting independent messages on two orthogonal circular polarization channels (O- and X-modes) for increased capacity and reliability. The communication waveforms we developed include higher capacity and bandwidth alternatives to the MIL-STD-188-110C. In this presentation, we demonstrate the results of our over-the-air experiments and compare our performance against theoretically-predicted capacity.

About the presenters:
Dr. Lucien Tieg has been doing computational Electromagnetics (EM) and RADAR since coming to MITRE in 1985. His current projects involve wideband HF communications and HF direction finding. His computational EM projects include radar modeling, radar cross section, propagation, and patterns of antennas mounted on platforms, using various techniques, including full-wave solvers and ray tracing. Other projects of interest are radar-related, carbon nanotube, and virus detection and identification. He also helped design and made measurements with Phil, a liquid filled phantom used to determine radiation patterns of antennas mounted on people and the radiation absorbed by the people. Measurements on Phil agreed with measurements done on people and with simulations.

Dr. Kevin Cuomo is an expert in signal processing for radar and communication systems. He began working regularly as a consultant for several high tech companies in the Boston area in November 2011, and is currently supporting the MITRE Corporation. He previously worked with Photonic Systems Inc. (PSI) and as a senior staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Dr. Cuomo has extensive experience developing advanced signal processing algorithms and analysis techniques for radar and communications systems. He was the US technical team leader for the joint US/Australia over the horizon radar (OTHR) project where he developed and demonstrated super-orthogonal MIMO waveforms and corresponding beamspace signal processing techniques.

Other contributors to the High Data Rate, Reliable Wideband HF Communications Demonstration project include:
M. P. Scheible, J. D. Fite, B. W. Williams, I. Dekine, N. K. Humphrey, S. T. Bento (all of The MITRE Corporation); and
M. Southcott, T. Humiston, J. Matyjas (all of Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate AFRL/RI)

Reception 11:45 AM with Lunch beginning at 12:30 PM

Luncheon meetings are open to AFCCE members and their guests.
The cost of the luncheon is $45.00 per person or $55.00 for reservations not received prior to the deadline.

Please RSVP online below by 5 pm Friday, February 12th. To RSVP directly to John Reiser by phone at (703) 780-4824, or email [email protected].

All reservations requests and online payments will be confirmed by an email message or phone call.

Meeting Location
Holiday Inn at Key Bridge
1900 North Fort Myer Drive
Arlington, VA 22209
If you are driving, the Holiday Inn provides free parking.
The Holiday Inn is two blocks north of the Rosslyn Metro Station – Orange, Blue and Silver lines. Exit the station through the “back door” (up the stairs) and turn right onto North Fort Myer Drive.
Map & Directions

If you have special dietary requirements or allergies, please send a separate email to [email protected].