Radio Frequency Collaborative Unmanned Distributed System (RF CLOUDS)
Abstract
The Radio Frequency Collaborative Unmanned Distributed System (RF CLOUDS) program aims to significantly reduce the size, weight and power (SWaP) of RF components to enable electronic warfare (EW), communications, and radar for next-generation unmanned autonomous systems (UAS). High-performance RF components enable the DoD to deploy sophisticated payloads on high-value platforms. However, new DoD concepts of operation require a significant reduction in RF hardware power consumption and size. RF CLOUDS will develop the components required for swarms of small autonomous systems. These RF components would work together across a swarm of nodes, sharing measurements of the electromagnetic spectrum, combining radiated energy to transmit signals, and managing unwanted energy emissions to avoid detection. This node-based, collaborative approach is expected to allow for enhanced RF system performance while lowering the performance requirement and cost for each individual node. These improvements would allow DoD to transition from placing high-performance RF hardware on a few high-value platforms to deploying a large number of low-cost autonomous nodes for pervasive stand-in electromagnetic access of denied areas.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2018
- Source ID
- fa7516251151988770c8867381b8cd0a