HFXL SALAMANDRE NATO trials Oct 2018 : on the interest of a Cognitive Engine Catherine LAMY-BERGOT Jean-Luc ROGIER Philippe CRAMBERT Jean-Yves BERNIER Yassin AZIZ Mehdi DHAKOUANI Gilles VENUTI www.thalesgroup.com
SALAMANDRE: demonstration to NATO representatives, October 2018 Introduction Following successful terrestrial ionospheric trials in December 2016 and sea trials in June 2017, the French MOD has invited NATO representatives to witness a demonstration of SALAMANDRE HF XL technologies, with THALES support. Conditions: - 730 km - Tactical OTH antennas, 400W tactical PA - Legacy & IP applications, with QoS (incl. priority management) 2 CORMEILLES DOURBES TOULON
Reminder: the SALAMANDRE demonstrator SALAMANDRE proves the validity of HF XL solution Physical layer with non-contiguous carriers Adaptive and dynamic link management - ALE/ALM, DRC - Cognitive engine A single radio can support the others HF waveforms Demonstrated with: Modem MIL STD 188-110C (2 modes) Modem ST4539 : legacy narrowband waveform Interoperability capability with 3kHz radio and medium band (3-24kHz) ones 3
Transmissions conditions (Oct. 12th 2017) Magnetic solar activity: level 4 (active) according to Dourbes ionosonde D-DAY SSN very low (since peak in early 2015) 4
Transmissions conditions (Oct. 12th 2017) Still, we had: Fully ok live demo (~45 min, stopped for facilities visit) Mean rates: - 52,4kb/s (T->C) - 35,7kb/s (C->T) with almost no packet losses 5 The question we will explore today: how was this efficient frequency band selected?
Link establishment procedure and its results Principle of 4G ALE (as proposed in ST5070 draft under discussion): Step 1 (optional) : use of Cognitive Engine for LQA Step 2 : connection, 2G compatible Step 3 : Wide band link Motto: connect quick but also in a compatible manner, and if you need high data rate, take time to check your band Figures from Oct. 12th demonstration : Step 1 : immediate Step 2 : connect on Fe=7.6MHz (10.6s) Step 3 : band selection [7.5-7.7MHz] (30s) => Traffic established at high data rate 41s after ALE call initiation 6
Focus on step 1 : use of Cognitive Engine Analysis: the selection of frequency is made by Cognitive Engine based on Embedded Prediction software (SATIS) relying on mean monthly values Previous measurements (when available) Service Level Request (expressed as a data rate) Experience shows that mean monthly values are generally insufficient Lesson #1: MUF To have a good SNR, being closer to the MUF is key but above one loses all But MUF varies a lot day to day, example of daily recordings from Dourbes ionosonde D-DAY 7
Focus on step 1 : use of Cognitive Engine Lesson #2: requested SNR Request of high data rate results in request for a higher SNR, which does impact the reliability obtained from the prediction software D-DAY L-LOCATION 8
Focus on step 1 : use of Cognitive Engine Lesson #3: noise level Prediction software (SATIS) gives a distribution But measures will give you your current conditions! - Takes into account local noise sources - Less incertitude 9 D-DAY L-LOCATION
Focus on the Link establishment procedure and its results Solution proposed: Merge the different information to obtain the best reliability achievable D-DAY L-LOCATION => Frequency recommended : 7.6MHz 10
Luck only? No! Analysis from another example: June 12th 2017 11 Another example of better performance through Cognitive Engine from the sea trials between Barcelona and Toulon made on June 12th, 2017. Focussing on a moment close to 100NM of distance : station re-launched by the operator, hence also relaunchedthe Cognitive Engine NB : at 100NM, still a strong seawave propagation French MOD test facility (shore station) 10 m whip antenna at beach level Par Simon Ghesquiere/Marine Nationale Travail personnel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25428936 THALES / template : 87211168-GRP-EN-003 Image source: O H 237/Wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/file:carte_mediterranee_02.jpg
Analysis from another example: June 12 th 2017 (cont.) Link established with high SNR Key elements from June 12 th 5pm connexion phase : Step 1 => scanset ordering proposed Step 2 => link made at 9.6MHz (10s) Step 3 => band tests at 9.6MHz (ko), 7.6MHz, 7.4MHz (insufficient), 6.3MHz (ok) (total : 141s) => Traffic re-established at high data rate 2min34s after ALE call initiation with still possible Improvement with better with iono/seawave/es prediction discriminations 12
Focus on step 1 : use of Cognitive Engine further lessons Lesson #4: taking into account seawave propagation (when possible) Information of distance and location helps to determine possibility of seawave propagation, and changes the frequency probabilities 13
Focus on step 1 : use of Cognitive Engine further lessons Lesson #5: taking into account key antenna properties At 2.5MHz, antenna does not provide sufficient band, hence it is considered non valid [more work to fully model antenna performance would even enhance this] Antenna performance Unsufficient band quality from previous call (ALE ok) 14
Conclusions HF XL SALAMANDRE demonstrator was proven to NATO representatives in Oct. 12 th 2017 Analysis of the logs made during the demonstration, as well as of other trials show the importance of a good Link Establishment procedure, that can be Compatible with 2G existing protocol Efficient in the selection of the frequencies to use (incl. for high SNR) Quick (to connect and ensure that you have found good band) Thanks to the help of Cognitive Engine Taking into account information on MUF, requested SNR, noise level, propagation modes, antenna performances HF XL : HF will still be there for you tomorrow 15
Thanks for your attention catherine. lamy-bergot AT thalesgroup.com With grateful thanks to the complete SALAMANDRE team, in particular to Roland Fleury from IMT Atlantique. www.thalesgroup.com
Possible improvements Integration of improvements in prediction engine Interest of automatic exploitation of sporadic Es layer : very frequent in June every year 17
Luck? Not! Cognitive Engine allows better performance. Another example of analysis from sea trials between Toulon and Barcelone made in June 2017. Analysis of seawave/ ionospherical propagation transition 18 Key elements from June 8 th sea trials : Freq. quality insufficient => ALE launched Step 1 => scanset ordering proposed Step 2 => 2 frequencies above MUF (seawave/iono issue), 7.6 MHz ok link (14s) Step 3 => 7.6 MHz and 7.4 MHz bands insufficient quality, ok band 5.1 MHz (104s) => Traffic re-established at high data rate 1min58s after ALE call initiation Improvement to be gained with position update + iono/seawave/es prediction discriminations