Tactical radio with integrated satcom capability

• US 20080144815A1
• Filed: 12/15/2006
• Published: 06/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harris Global Communications, Inc. (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Harris Corporation (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Richards, Charles, Helm, George, Kenney, Tom, Klembczyk, Tim
• Granted Patent: US 7,873,165 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 1/00 Secret communication

Abstract

A multi-band radio having seamless satellite communication capability is provided. The radio includes: a user interface for controlling operations of the radio; an encryption module; a LOS wireless transceiver for transmitting encrypted data at a frequency in the radio frequency spectrum; a BLOS wireless transceiver for transmitting encrypted data at a frequency in the microwave frequency spectrum; and a router for routing the encrypted data to at least one of the LOS transceiver and the BLOS transceiver.

Claims

1. A multi-band radio, comprising:

a user interface for controlling operations of the radio;

an encryption module adapted to receive data and operable to encrypt the data;

a LOS wireless transceiver adapted to receive encrypted data and transmit the encrypted data at a frequency in the radio frequency spectrum;

a BLOS wireless transceiver adapted to receive encrypted data and transmit the encrypted data at a frequency in the microwave frequency spectrum; and

a router adapted to receive the encrypted data from the encryption module and operable to route the encrypted data to at least one of the LOS transceiver and the BLOS transceiver.

2. The multi-band radio of claim 1 wherein the user interface enables an operator to configure operating parameters of the LOS transceiver and the BLOS transceiver.

3. The multi-band radio of claim 1 wherein the user interface enables an operator to select which transceiver the encrypted data is routed to by the router.

4. The multi-band radio of claim 1 further comprises an audio interface for receiving voice data from an operator, where the voice data is input to the encryption module.

5. The multi-band radio of claim 1 further comprises a radio controller that generates tactical awareness data pertaining to the radio, where the tactical awareness data is input to the encryption module.

6. The multi-band radio of claim 5 wherein the router routes the tactical awareness data to the LOS transceiver and to the BLOS transceiver when the tactical awareness data fails to reach intended destination using the LOS transceiver.

7. The multi-band radio of claim 1 further comprises a directional antenna detachably coupled to an interface port of the radio, wherein the BLOS transceiver interfaces with the directional antenna to transmit data.

8. The multi-band radio of claim 7 further comprises a global positioning system (GPS) embedded in the radio, wherein information for pointing the antenna is provided to a radio operator based on positional data from the GPS.

9. The multi-band radio of claim 1 wherein the BLOS transceiver transmits in a frequency range of 8 GHz to 60 GHz.

10. The multi-band radio of claim 1 further comprises a battery which is integrated with the radio components in a portable enclosure.

11. The multi-band radio of claim 1 wherein the user interface, the encryption module, the router and the LOS transceiver reside in a portable enclosure and the BLOS transceiver resides in a different enclosure that is detachably coupled by a wired connection to an output port of the portable enclosure, such that the encrypted data may be routed directly from the router over the wired connection to the BLOS transceiver.

12. The multi-band radio of claim 1 wherein the user interface, the encryption module, the router and the LOS transceiver reside in a portable enclosure having a portable power source and the BLOS transceiver resides in a different enclosure having a different power source.

13. A multi-band radio, comprising:

an audio interface for receiving voice data from an operator;

a radio controller that generates tactical awareness data pertaining to the radio;

an encryption module adapted to receive the voice data and the tactical awareness data and generate encrypted data;

a LOS transceiver adapted to receive the encrypted data and transmit the encrypted data at a frequency in the radio frequency spectrum;

a BLOS transceiver adapted to receive encrypted data and transmit the encrypted data at a frequency in the microwave frequency spectrum; and

a router adapted to receive the voice data and tactical awareness data and route the voice data and the tactical awareness data to the LOS transceiver, the router further routes the tactical awareness data to the BLOS transceiver when the tactical awareness data fails to reach an intended destination using the LOS transceiver.

14. The multi-band radio of claim 13 wherein the router discontinues routing tactical awareness data to the LOS transceiver while routing the tactical awareness data to the BLOS transceiver.

15. The multi-band radio of claim 13 wherein the router periodically routes a portion of the tactical awareness data to the LOS transceiver while routing the tactical awareness data to the BLOS transceiver and discontinues routing tactical awareness data to the BLOS transceiver when the tactical awareness data reaches an intended destination using the LOS transceiver.

16. The multi-band radio of claim 13 further comprises a packet converter adapted to receive the voice data from the audio input and generates data packets which contain the voice data in accordance with an Internet protocol.

17. The multi-band radio of claim 13 further comprises a directional antenna detachably coupled to an interface port of the radio, wherein the BLOS transceiver interfaces with the directional antenna to transmit data.

18. The multi-band radio of claim 17 further comprises a global positioning system (GPS) embedded in the radio, wherein information for pointing the antenna is provided to a radio operator based on positional data from the GPS.

19. A multi-band radio, comprising:

an audio interface for receiving voice data from an operator,

an encryption module adapted to receive the voice data and generate encrypted data;

a LOS transceiver adapted to receive the encrypted data from the encryption module and transmit the encrypted data over a wireless communication link at a frequency in the radio frequency spectrum, wherein the LOS transceiver is further adapted to receive tactical awareness data over the wireless communication link;

a BLOS transceiver adapted to receive encrypted data and transmit the encrypted data at a frequency in the microwave frequency spectrum; and

a router adapted to receive the voice data and the tactical awareness data and route the voice data and tactical awareness data to the LOS transceiver, the router further routes the tactical awareness data to the BLOS transceiver when the tactical awareness data fails to reach an intended destination using the LOS transceiver.