PROJECT GOALS

BACKGROUND

Nonsinusoidal radiation has unique advantages when used, at many orders of magnitude less power than radar, for communication and cooperative ranging:

• Transceivers can be made very small (i.e. coin size), low power, and low cost because the electronics can be completely integrated in CMOS without any inductive components.
• The antennas can be equally small, and can be driven directly by CMOS, because they are non-resonant and current-mode.
• Ultra-wideband / nonsinusoidal signals form a shadow spectrum which can coexist and does not interfere with the sinewave spectrum. The transmitted power is spread over such a large bandwidth that the amount of power in any narrow frequency band is very small.
• The good features of spread spectrum are shared, including multipath immunity, tolerance of interference from other radio sources, and inherent privacy from eavesdropping (low probability of intercept).
• Ultra-wideband / nonsinusoidal signals have very good penetrating capabilities, probably due to their relatively large bandwidth. Localizers can operate within buildings, urban areas, or forests.
• Centimeter-level accuracy in determining range is possible without using expensive microwave (GaAs MMIC) technology because nonsinusoidal signals have very large relative bandwidth, and the circuits can be clocked at much lower frequencies.
• The cooperative nature of this technology allows for accurate ranging without the need for extremely accurate and stable (and expensive) master clocks to synchronize the system.

FIGURE 1. This diagram illustrates an AWL Localizer-based volumetric inventory system using a large network of Localizers attached to inventory items, where each Localizer determines the range to every other Localizer and then shares the information with members of the network. To allow many localizers to operate in a given area, the system architecture is set up with many branches and nodes. The portable command unit can access the network from anywhere and send queries for any item on the network from anywhere within or around the network. Once the user enters the identifier for the inventory item desired, the command unit queries the network and gives the user azimuth, elevation and distance to the item from its current position.
 

MILITARY APPLICATIONS

The Gulf War demonstrated the power and value of satellite-based remote sensing technology as a tool to help commanders see through the fog of war, but it also showed its limitations. The coalition forces still required dangerous low-altitude air reconnaissance and ground reconnaissance missions. In addition, satellite remote sensing technology was still centralized and had to be distributed from a centralized command authority like the mainframe computers found in large corporations during the 1960's. In the future battlefield, information technology needs to be distributed with all soldiers networked with their units, their weapons systems and each other, so that information flows laterally through the network and up the chain of command as well as down. This "mesh" of information will allow the entire army to get through the OODA cycle faster.

The Gulf War also highlighted the need for effective IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) technology, and the ability to locate and identify friendly units. Three quarters of the coalition force vehicles that were damaged or destroyed were hit by "friendly fire".

Logistics management was another weakness highlighted in the Gulf War. Combat trains and logistics have historically been a vulnerability of fighting forces a vulnerability that has multiplied as the daily logistics consumption of a combat division has increased from 100 tons per day in W.W.I to 300 tons per day in W.W.II to over 1000 tons per day today. The Geopolitical climate that the U.S. operates in almost guarantees that the future battlefield will be characterized by very long combat trains, and the specialized nature of modern weapon systems will preclude local sources of munitions and supplies more and more. This means that modern armies will increasingly need effective means of tracking and identifying critical supplies.

The increase in information technology on the battlefield will also hasten the trend to more decentralization of command and control structures and lessened reliance on large combat platforms. Much as networking in the corporate environment has lessened the power of centralized, mainframe information systems and increased the ability of unit managers to make timely business decisions, the increased networking of the battlefield will allow small unit leaders to make faster, more effective decisions with local information rather than waiting for information and direction from higher command. This mesh architecture for C3I (Command Control Communications and Information) makes the future army more survivable and less vulnerable to "decapitation".

The small size, low power consumption, range, accuracy, encryption and anti-jam features of the Localizer make it an ideal platform for a variety of future battlefield applications:

• IFF: Localizers are an ideal means of providing individual soldiers with IFF capability. In addition, the ability to group sets of Localizers into "families" associated with a squad, fighting vehicle or team makes it harder for enemy units to infiltrate using captured Localizers. Furthermore, Localizers can be integrated with other sensors for monitoring the soldier's state (e.g. blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, etc.), and can signal distress if any of these factors go outside of safe limits. Localizers would also enhance C3I for the unit commanders and the theater commander.
• Logistics Control: Localizers act as bar code identification tags that not only can be read from a kilometer away, but can give the precise location of the logistics item. As Localizers get small and inexpensive enough, they can be placed on individual weapons and even individual munitions items. These could also be linked with the C3I system to give commanders real-time information on logistics usage and proximity to battlefield units.
• Ground Surveillance: Localizers combined with microsensors (e.g. gas sensors, vibration sensors, etc.) can be the heart of a field-scatterable sensor array. Such an array could identify the size and composition of an enemy ground force (e.g. number of vehicles, weight of vehicles, gas or diesel, etc.). The precise knowledge of time and location within a network of Localizers allows a synthetic phased array antenna to be formed; one of its uses could be to uplink sensor information to satellites. The transmission could be nonsinusoidal, or small satellite transceivers could be combined with Localizers for sinusoidal transmission.
• Mine Clearing: Localizers combined with microsensors and small AGV's (autonomous ground vehicles) could be used as a mine clearing force. Small, inexpensive, robotic vehicles, such as those proposed by Rodney Brooks,, combined with Localizers to ensure full geographic coverage, could clear an area of mines and unexpended munitions. The low cost of the Localizers and the robots would make any loss of units in the mesh inconsequential in terms of systems operating cost.
• Smart Minefields: Field scatterable minefields have the advantage of rapidly mining a large area. They have the disadvantage of being difficult to clear once hostilities have ended. Combining mines with Localizers would allow a friendly force to easily locate the small, non-metallic scatterable mines, and effectively clear the minefield.

COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS

In consumer applications, consumers are increasingly relying on embedded information technology in the products they buy everything from watches to kitchen appliances to automobiles.

The small size, low power consumption, range, and potential of low-cost mass-manufacture of the Localizer make it an ideal platform for a variety of consumer and commercial applications:

• Personal Location: Personal Localizers can be used for a variety of applications, from safety devices used by Police and Fire personnel, to recreational safety units (hunters, hikers and skiers), to consumer units (child locators, car locators, purse locators, etc.).
• Inventory Control: Localizers act as bar code identification tags that not only can be read from a kilometer away, but can give the precise location of the inventory item. As Localizers get small and inexpensive enough, they can be placed on even relatively low cost retail items. These could also be linked with the MIS system to give real-time information on purchase patterns and stocking levels.
• Smart Highways: Localizers can be used as the heart of an IVHS (intelligent vehicle highway system). Localizers placed along side of a road can be used as guideposts for vehicles being autonomously guided along a highway. These Localizers can also communicate with Localizers in other vehicles to provide local intelligence rather than trying to manage an IVHS centrally (much as individual birds in a flock avoid collisions on a local basis without centralized direction).
• Machine Control: Localizers combined with earthmoving vehicles could be used to automate construction operations. Localizers combined with small, inexpensive, robotic vehicles, such as those proposed by Rodney Brooks, could be used for infrastructure inspection (nuclear plants, bridges, sewers, etc.). Localizers would also make possible small, robotic house cleaning robots that could live under a couch and reliably clean the full carpet area.

Smart Homes: Combining Localizers with home appliances such as TVs, ovens, lamps, etc. could make possible smart homes that turn on and off the correct appliances by knowing both the location of the various residents and the location of various home items with respect to those residents.