Performance testing of MIL-STD-188-110B high data rate HF waveforms

The high frequency (HF) band is used primarily for maritime, military and aeronautical systems and long distance AM broadcasting. It is typically allocated to users in 1.24 kHz and 3 kHz channels. Over the last twenty years, several NATO standards and US military standards have been developed which can provide reliable communications over HF. The highest data rate currently available, with forward error correction, is 2400 bits per second (bps) and without, 4800 bps. There has been a growing need by the user community for higher data rates and this has led to the revision of MIL-STD-188-11OA. Appendix C of the revised standard, MIL-STD-188-110B (110B), defines a new family of high data rate waveforms offering from 3200 bps up to 12800 bps. This paper begins with an explanation of the design goals used for developing the new waveforms. Then, an overview of the waveforms is presented. This is followed by a variety of performance tests to determine their usefulness over HF. The paper concludes with a summary of the results.