Silvus Technologies has developed a cognitive radio capability that enables StreamCaster Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) to operate in the presence of jammers and other sources of electromagnetic interference.
The groundbreaking feature, called "MANET Interference Avoidance" (MAN-IA), senses interference within the network footprint and automatically switches the network to a better channel. MAN-IA constantly monitors a number of frequencies/channels (Figure shows 2 channels in S-band and 2 channels in C band) at all radios within the network. MAN-IA uses that information to assess the network quality on each channel. If MAN-IA detects the onset electromagnetic interference in the current channel anywhere in the network, MAN-IA will rapidly switch all radios in the network to a more suitable band/channel. This feature was designed to allow tactical users to operate through intentional or unintentional interference at operational tempo. For example, in a video surveillance application, MAN-IA can react sufficiently fast to the onset of a jammer so that the network maintains a glitch-free video stream.
The MAN-IA user interface within the StreamScape GUI allows great flexibility in configuring MAN-IA for specific applications. Channels can be defined within the band(s) that the radio supports, providing autonomous frequency agility over several GHz of frequency. MAN-IA has no practical limitation in terms of the size of the network. Size here can refer to the number of nodes or the physical distance covered by the network. The efficient implementation of the cognitive features of MAN-IA (e.g., sensing and sharing the channel states) does not significantly impact the supported network throughput. In addition, the MAN-IA radio interface can provide a graphical representation of the system's assessment of the current performance of the network at each radio and on each channel. This assessment allows the operator to visualize the state of the network and provides the ability to localize the sources of interference.
MAN-IA is immediately available as a software upgrade to any SC4200 or SC4400 radio, including those already deployed in the field.
