Experimental results of FB-MC-SS on a wideband HF NVIS propagation channel

Recently, we have proposed filter bank multicarrier spread spectrum (FB-MC-SS) as a robust and stealthy HF communication waveform. In this paper, we present our initial over the air test results of FB-MC-SS for a testing campaign that began in Spring 2016. These tests are performed for a 190 mile near vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) link from Idaho Falls, Idaho to Salt Lake City, Utah. Two waveform bandwidths are examined; a 24 kHz and a 200 kHz bandwidth. The test results demonstrate that FB-MC-SS is robust and well-suited for HF communications. Reliable data recovery is demonstrated at signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values of as low as -20 dB. In addition, the results show the improvements in performance and stealthiness of communications as transmit signal bandwidth increases, while the bit rate and transmit power are kept fixed.