Application of BLAST to tactical communications

A breakthrough in wireless communications pioneered at Bell Labs, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radios, vastly expands the capacity and connectivity of communications in multipath propagation environments. MIMO offers a number of advantages for tactical communications including enhanced data rate, environmental adaptability, lowered probability of detection and interception. A number of experiments have verified the enhanced channel capacity offered by MIMO. DARPA's mobile networked MIMO program is currently working to demonstrate the benefits of MIMO in a mobile ad-hoc network of 20 nodes operating in realistic terrain.