February 29, 2012
Expertise in cognitive radio, radio environment mapping and radio device software development to play key role
Today’s interconnected wireless world has led to congested airwaves, making Radio Frequency (RF) management a hot topic. For warfighters overseas, efficiently managing the congested RF spectrum is critical to ensure effective communications and intelligence gathering.
DARPA’s Advanced RF Mapping (RadioMap) program seeks to provide real-time awareness of radio spectrum use across frequency, geography and time. With this information, spectrum managers and automatic spectrum allocation systems can operate much more efficiently, reducing the problems caused by spectrum congestion. With better understanding of spectrum use, unexpected transmissions can be detected locally, enabling better mitigation of interference problems. The program plans to provide this information in part by using radios deployed for other purposes, like data and voice communications systems. The program aims to develop ways to use the capabilities of modern radios to sense the spectrum when they are not communicating.
DARPA is seeking proposers with expertise in cognitive radio, radio environment mapping and radio device software development for a Proposers’ Day on March 14. Interested proposers may view the Broad Agency Announcement here
“Our goal is to support both spectrum managers and automatic systems” said John Chapin, DARPA program manager. “With RadioMap, these users will for the first time get an accurate picture of spectrum use in a complex deployed environment like a city.”
Another goal of the RadioMap program is to assist small tactical units such as platoons or companies that rarely carry equipment for monitoring radio emissions. With RadioMap, the radios already carried by these units would do double duty to inform the troops about nearby threats and opportunities that are visible in the RF spectrum.