A demonstrator for investigating candidate ARCS techniques

NATO STANAG 4538 will specify the interoperable parameters for an automated high frequency communications management (AHFCM) system, specifically known as the automatic radio control system (ARCS). The standard will describe automatic link establishment (ALE), automatic channel selection (ACS) and automatic link maintenance (ALM) processes that are able to provide fast and/or robust link set-up and link management functions for voice and data communications. The system will employ a synchronous network architecture and will be designed to operate over a wide variety of channel conditions. Flexibility will be incorporated to cater for a broad range of user requirements. The prototype system described in this paper implements a number of proposed ARCS functions in a flexible test-bed environment. The purpose is to provide a 'Techniques Demonstrator' with which to refine key areas of functionality for the standard through the exploration of candidate techniques. The Demonstrator allows on-air testing of various waveforms, protocols and link management algorithms. This paper presents a functional description of the demonstrator, highlighting the prototype implementation of various candidate ARCS techniques.