An

 Introduc+on  to    
Frequency-­‐Hopping  
Spread-­‐Spectrum  (FHSS)  
Data  Communica+on  Techniques  
Jason  S.  Skinner  
 Outline  
I.  Introduc4on  to  spread-­‐spectrum  
communica4ons  
II.  Introduc4on  to  frequency  hopping  and  
terminology  
III.  Par4al-­‐band  interference  
IV.  Techniques  to  overcome  par4al-­‐band  
interference  
V.  Summary  of  current  technology  using  
frequency-­‐hop  spread  spectrum  
2  
 What  is  Spread  Spectrum?  
•  Given  an  electrical  signal  to  be  transmiFed  
–  Fourier  analysis:  
•  “Any  signal  can  represented  as  a  linear  combina4on  of  many  
sinusoidal  signals  at  different  frequencies.”  
•  Range  of  frequencies  =  Spectrum  
–  Width  of  spectrum    =  Bandwidth  
•  Apply  techniques  to  deliberately  spread  the  
spectrum  of  the  original  signal  
–  New  signal  with  wider  bandwidth  
•  Two  main  techniques:  
–  Direct-­‐Sequence  Spread  Spectrum  (DSSS)    
–  Frequency-­‐Hopping  Spread  Spectrum  (FHSS)  
3  
 What  is  Frequency  Hopping?  
•  Early/simple  wireless  communica4on  systems:  
–  Converted  an  analog  voice/data  message  into  an  
electrical  signal  
–  Electrical  signal  was  placed  onto  a  carrier  signal  
•  Frequency  of  carrier  signal  much  larger  than  bandwidth  of  
electrical  signal  
•  Process  called  MODULATION  
–  Receiver  extracted  electrical  signal  from  received  
signal  
•  Process  called  DEMODULATION  
–  Electrical  signal  converted  back  into  analog  voice/data  
message  
4  
 Early/Simple  Wireless  
Communica4on  Systems  

Data
Modulator
Source
Transmitter
Channel

Destination Demodulator

Receiver
5  
 Problems  in  Military/Tac4cal  
Environment:    Eavesdropping  
•  Enemy  forces:  
–  Scan  frequency  spectrum  
–  Look  for  “spikes”  in  the  spectrum  
•  “Spike”  indicates  presence  of  carrier  signal  
–  Determine  carrier  signal  frequency  
–  Set  receiver  to  same  carrier  frequency  
–  Can  listen  in  on  communica4ons  
–  Can  intercept  
–  Can  pretend  to  be  part  of  friendly  forces  
6  
Eavesdropping  

7  
 Problems  in  Military/Tac4cal  
Environment:    Jamming  
•  Enemy  forces:  
–  Scan  frequency  spectrum  
–  Look  for  “spikes”  in  the  spectrum  
•  “Spike”  indicates  presence  of  carrier  signal  
–  Determine  carrier  signal  frequency  
–  Set  transmiFer  to  same  carrier  frequency  
–  Can  disrupt  communica4ons  
–  Can  block  communica4ons  

8  
Jamming  

9  
 Communica4on  Systems  
with  Frequency  Hopping  

Data Frequency
Source Modulator Hopper
Transmitter
Channel

Destination Frequency
Demodulator
Dehopper
Receiver

10  
 What  is  Frequency  Hopping?  
•  Carrier  signal  frequency  changed  (hopped)  
–  Predetermined  sequence  (hopping  paGern)  
•  Pseudorandom  sequence  known  to  both  transmiFer  
and  receiver  
•  Times  at  which  the  carrier  frequency  is  changed  are  
hop  epochs  
•  Time  interval  between  consecu4ve  hop  epochs  is  
hop  interval  
•  Data  transmission  4me  interval  (dwell  interval)  
–  Dwell  interval  ≤  Hop  interval      
•  Available  radio  frequency  spectrum  (band)  
–  Divided  into  q  sub-­‐bands  (frequency  slots)  
11  
 Slow  Frequency  Hop  vs.  
Fast  Frequency  Hop  
•  Fast  Frequency  Hop  (FFH)  
–  Data  symbol  transmission  requires  at  least  2  dwell  
intervals  
•  Digital:    Carrier  frequency  changes  in  middle  of  bit  period  
–  Hopping  rate  >  Data  rate  

•  Slow  Frequency  Hop  (SFH)  

12  
 Slow  Frequency  Hop  Signal  

13    14    15  
4        5        6  
Frequency

Eavesdropping   7  Jamming  
     8        9  

10    11    12  
1        2        3  

13  
Time

 Good  vs.  Bad  for  FHSS  
•  Provides  NO  protec4on  for  individual  symbols  
if  frequency  slot  contains  interference  
•  Provides  frequency  diversity  
–  Data  symbols  transmiFed  at  different  carrier  
frequencies  experience  different  channel  effects  
–  Taking  advantage  of  frequency  diversity  effec4vely  
can  overcome  interference  

14  
 Par4al-­‐Band  Interference  

13    14    15  
4        5        6  
Frequency

7        8        9  

10    11    12  
1        2        3  

15  
Time

 Par4al-­‐Band  Interference  (PBI)  
•  Sources  
–  Hos4le  jamming,    
–  Mul4ple-­‐access  interference  
–  Other  radio  frequency  interference  
•  ρ  =  frac4on  of  RF  band  that  contains  PBI  
•  Typically  modeled  as  white  Gaussian  noise  
–  Stronger  than  thermal  noise  
•  Frequency  occupancy  may  change  
–  Typically  much  slower  than  hopping  rate  
•  Symbols  in  dwell  with  PBI  are  hit  
16  
 Technique  1:  
Error-­‐Control  Coding  (ECC)  
•  Include  addi4onal  symbols  
–  Redundancy  
–  Parity  symbols  
–  Complex  code  symbols  
•  Input:    informa4on  block  has  size  k  
•  Output:    encoded  block  has  size  n  
•  Labeled  (n,k)  code  
–  Rate  of  code  is  r  =  k/n  
•  If  energy  per  symbol  is  Es,  the  energy  per  informa4on  
bit  is  Eb  =  Es/r  =  nEs/k  
17  
 FHSS  with  ECC  

Data Frequency
Encoder Modulator
Source Hopper
Transmitter
Channel

Destination Frequency
Decoder Demodulator
Dehopper
Receiver

18  
 Error-­‐Control  Coding  (ECC)  
Examples  
•  Hamming  Codes  
•  Reed-­‐Solomon  Codes  
–  Used  in  CDs  and  DVDs  
•  Convolu4onal  Codes  
–  Used  for  NASA  deep-­‐space  communica4ons  
–  Used  in  IEEE  802.11  (Wi-­‐fi)  devices  
–  Used  in  cellular  phones  
•  Turbo  Codes  and  Turbo  Product  Codes  
–  Used  in  satellite  communica4ons  
•  Low-­‐Density  Parity-­‐Check  Codes   19  
 Hamming  Codes  
•  Discovered  in  late  1940’s  
•  Codes:    (2m-­‐1,  2m-­‐1-­‐m),  for  some  m≥3  
–  Examples:    (7,4),    (15,11),    (31,26),    (63,57)  
–  Rates:              0.571,      0.733,          0.838,        0.905  

•  Can  correct  ONE  error  in  each  received  

20  
 Par4al-­‐Band  Interference  
Frequency

21  
Time

 Interleaving  
•  Reordering  of  symbols  in  block  of  data  
•  Provides  protec4on  against  bursts  of  errors  in  a  
symbol  stream  
•  Example  techniques:  
–  Block  interleaving    
•  (used  in  some  cellular  standards)  
–  Helical  interleaving    
•  (typically  used  with  turbo  product  codes)  
–  S-­‐random  interleaving    
•  (complex,  typically  used  with  other  turbo  codes)  

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 Interleaving  Example  
Before  Interleaving:  
1  2  3  4  5  6  7,  8  9  10  11  12  13  14,  
15  16  17  18  19  20  21,  22  23  24  25  26  27  28,  
29  30  31  32  33  34  35,  36  37  38  39  40  41  42,  
43  44  45  46  47  48  49  
ALer  Interleaving:  
1  8  15  22  29  36  43,  2  9  16  23  30  37  44,  
3  10  17  24  31  38  45,  4  11  18  25  32  39  46,  
5  12  19  26  33  40  47,  6  13  20  27  34  41  48,  
7  14  21  28  35  42  49   23  
 Standard  FHSS  Block  Diagram    

Data Interleaver Modulator Frequency

Frequency
Destination Decoder Deinterleaver Demodulator
Dehopper
Receiver

24  
 Par4al-­‐Band  Interference  
Frequency

25  
Time

•  Used  in:  
–  Headphones/Microphones/Headsets  
–  Mobile  phones/Telephones  
–  Laptops/PCs  
–  Printers  
–  GPS  receivers  
–  Digital  cameras  
–  Video  game  consoles  
26  
•  Uses  frequency  hopping  
•  Uses  up  to  79  different  frequencies  
–  From  unlicensed  Industrial,  Scien4fic,  and  Medical  
(ISM)  2.4  GHz  short-­‐range  frequency  spectrum  
•  Low  power  consump4on  
•  Short  ranges  
–  1  m,  10  m,  100m  opera4ons  
•  Gross  data  rate  of  1Mbps  
27  
HAVE  
QUICK  

28  
 HAVE  QUICK  I  
•  HAVE  QUICK  I  
–  Combat-­‐net  radio  
–  Uses  frequency  hopping  
–  Used  by  U.S.  and  allied  military  forces  
–  Nearly  all  U.S.  military  aircrap  use  it  
–  Protects  communica4ons  in  the  UHF  band  
•  From  225  MHz  to  400  MHz  
–  Replaced  Vietnam-­‐era  single-­‐frequency  radios  

29  
 HAVE  QUICK  II  
•  Second  genera4on  of  HAVE  QUICK  
–  Used  more  complex  frequency  hopping  
–  Used  by  U.S.  and  allied  military  forces  
•  Army  Avia4on,  Air  Traffic  Services,  Rangers  
•  Air  Force,  Navy,  and  NATO  forces  
•  Radios  being  phased  out  
–  HAVE  QUICK  waveforms  included  in  Joint  Tac4cal  
Radio  System  (JTRS)  

30  
SINCGARS  

31  
 SINCGARS  
•  Combat-­‐Net  Radio  
–  Used  by  U.S.  military  forces  
–  ITT  received  contract  in  1983  
–  First  equipped  in  1990  
–  Replaced  Vietnam-­‐era  single-­‐frequency  radios  
•  Voice  and  data  communica4ons  
•  Form  factors  
–  Vehicle-­‐mount  
–  Backpack  
–  Airborne  
–  Handheld  
32  
 SINCGARS  
•  Two  modes:  
–  Single  frequency  
–  Frequency  hopping  
•  Slow  frequency  hopping  
•  Uses  25  kHz  channels  in  the  VHF  FM  band  
–  From  30  MHz  to  88  MHz  
•  SINCGARS  radios  being  phased  out  
–  SINCGARS  waveform  included  in  Joint  Tac4cal  
Radio  System  (JTRS),  along  with  HAVE  QUICK  
waveforms  
33  
Ques+ons?  

Jason  S.  Skinner