Multiple access method and system

• US 7,010,048 B1
• Filed: 02/10/1999
• Issued: 03/07/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Arnold Alagar, Department 13, Inc. (Department 13 International Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Aquity, LLC
• Inventors: Shattil, Steven J.
• Primary Examiner(s): BURD, KEVIN MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US09/381,588
• Time in Patent Office: 2,582 Days
• Field of Search: 375/130, 375/140, 375/146, 375/147, 375/295, 375/316, 375/219, 375/259
• US Class Current: 375/259
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7174 Pulse generation in general H04L25/03834
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0697 using spatial multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/12 Frequency diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 13/0077 Multicode, e.g. multiple codes assigned to one user
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 Wavelength-division multiplex systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0298 with sub-carrier multiplexing [SCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/04 using frequency diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2637 with direct modulation of individual subcarriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2697 in combination with other modulation techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0021 in which codes are applied as a frequency-domain sequences, e.g. MC-CDMA

Abstract

A wireless communication system transmits data on multiple carriers simultaneously to provide frequency diversity. Carrier interference causes a narrow pulse in the time domain when the relative phases of the multiple carriers are zero. Selection of the frequency separation and phases of the carriers controls the timing of the pulses. Both time division of the pulses and frequency division of the carriers achieves multiple access. Carrier interferometry is a basis from which other communication protocols can be derived. Frequency hopping and frequency shifting of the carriers does not change the pulse envelope if the relative frequency separation and phases between the carriers are preserved. Direct sequence CDMA signals are generated in the time domain by a predetermined selection of carrier amplitudes. Each pulse can be sampled in different phase spaces at different times. This enables communication in phase spaces that are not detectable by conventional receivers. The time-dependent phase relationship of the carriers provides automatic scanning of a beam pattern transmitted by an antenna array. In waveguide communications, the carrier frequencies and phase space may be matched to the chromatic dispersion of an optical fiber to increase the capacity of the fiber.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting a Carrier Interference Multiple Access (CIMA) communication signal comprising generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals having a plurality of frequencies and modulating (12) the carrier signals with at least one information signal, the method characterized by:

providing the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space (16n), each phase space mapping a data symbol to one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of the carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the pulse waveforms being positioned substantially orthogonally in time, and

combining (24) the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals into at least one communication channel to generate interference between the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals for providing at least one transmitted CIMA signal having a plurality of multi-frequency carrier-signal components.

2. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals includes generating a plurality of groups of carriers having identical sets of carrier frequencies, each group being assigned to one of a plurality of users, and providing the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space (16n) includes providing a unique relative phase to the carriers of each group to provide each group with a unique time offset.

3. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals includes generating a plurality of groups of carriers, each group having a unique set of carrier frequencies and being assigned to at least one user, and providing the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space (16n) includes providing a relative phase to each group such that each of a plurality of users may receive constructive superpositions of signals in the same time interval but on different groups of carriers.

4. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals is characterized by providing variations to the carrier frequencies with respect to time wherein the frequency variations for each carrier in a group of carriers corresponding to each user are substantially identical.

5. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein modulating (12) the carrier signals comprises a pulse-amplitude modulation being applied to a plurality of the carriers, the pulse-amplitude modulation having a duration that is longer than a constructive-interference signal resulting from a superposition of the carriers, and combining (24) the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals into at least one communication channel provides for generating an interference signal between the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals having a duration that is longer than the constructive-interference signal.

6. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein modulating (12) the carrier signals comprises a pulse-amplitude modulation being applied to a plurality of the carriers, the pulse-amplitude modulation having a duration that is shorter than a constructive-interference signal resulting from a superposition of the carriers, and combining (24) the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals into at least one communication channel being characterized by generating an interference signal between the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals having a duration that is shorter than the constructive-interference signal.

7. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein modulating (12) the carrier signals is performed in at least one predetermined time interval relative to the phase of the carriers, and combining (24) the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals being characterized by generating a signal having modulated carrier-signal components that occupy at least one nonzero-phase space and combine destructively in zero-phase space.

8. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals includes providing the carriers with a tapered frequency-versus-amplitude window.

9. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein combining (24) the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals includes coupling the carrier signals into at least one of a set of communication channels, including a waveguide and a free-space channel.

10. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein providing the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space (16n) matches relative phases between the carriers to a dispersion profile of the carriers in a waveguide such that the dispersion causes the carrier phases to have a predetermined phase relationship after propagating a predetermined distance in the waveguide.

11. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein combining (24) the modulated, phased carrier signals is characterized by coupling the carrier signals from an array of transmitter elements into the channel.

12. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 11 wherein each carrier signal associated with a particular user is transmitted from a different transmitter element, resulting in an array beam pattern being generated from a superposition of carrier signals transmitted by each of the transmitter elements.

13. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 11 wherein a separation between the transmitter elements is selected with respect to carrier-frequency separation to control the shape of the array beam pattern and the period in which the array beam pattern scans.

14. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein modulating (12) and phase offsetting (16n) the carriers results in a train of pulses in the time domain modulated with a spread-spectrum code.

15. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 14 wherein the spread-spectrum code comprises an information signal and a pseudo-random CDMA spreading code.

16. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein providing the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space (16n) produces at least two received constructive-interference pulses that overlap in time.

17. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein providing the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space (16n) includes a decision step (66) that allows for at least two received constructive-interference pulses to overlap in time when the number of users or channel usage increases beyond a predetermined limit.

18. The method of communication recited in claim 17 wherein the decision step (66) includes assigning a priority to each of a plurality of users to determine which user signals overlap in time.

91. The method of transmitting a CIMA communication signal recited in claim 1 wherein generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals having a plurality of frequencies further includes providing for frequency hopping of the carrier signals.

19. In a method of receiving Carrier Interference Multiple Access (CIMA) communication signals comprising receiving (52) at least one transmitted CIMA signal from at least one communication channel to produce a plurality of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components, the improvement comprising:

providing phase-space compensation to the carrier-signal components (60mn), each phase space corresponding to a data symbol mapped onto one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the pulse waveforms being positioned substantially orthogonally in time, and

combining (62m) the multi-frequency carrier-signal components in phase to generate at least one constructive-interference signal indicative of at least one information signal.

20. The method of receiving CIMA communication signals recited in claim 19 wherein providing phase-space compensation to the carriers (60mn) includes providing at least one set of predetermined delays to each set of received carrier-signal components wherein the number of sets of predetermined delays is equal to a number of different phase spaces in which the received CIMA transmit signal is combined.

21. The method of receiving CIMA communication signals recited in claim 19 wherein combining (62m) the multi-frequency carrier-signal components includes providing channel compensation to the multi-frequency carrier-signal components.

22. The method of receiving CIMA communication signals recited in claim 21 wherein providing (60mn) at least one set of predetermined delays to each set of received carrier-signal components is performed by a frequency-shifted feedback cavity.

23. The method of receiving CIMA communication signals recited in claim 19 wherein combining (62m) the multi-frequency carrier-signal components in phase includes a multi-user detection step (66) in which interfering signals are weighted and combined with at least one intended user signal to cancel contributions of the multi-user interference to each intended user signal.

24. The method of receiving CIMA communication signals recited in claim 19 wherein receiving (52) at least one transmitted CIMA signal is adapted to receive at least one transmitted CIMA signal characterized by a plurality of frequency-hopped carrier signals.

25. A method of communication between at least one transmitter and at least one receiver comprising generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals, the carrier signals having a plurality of frequencies, and modulating (12) the carrier signals with at least one information signal, the method characterized by:

providing the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space (16n), each phase space mapping a data symbol to one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of the carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the pulse waveforms being positioned substantially orthogonally in time,

combining (24) the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals in at least one communication channel to generate interference between the modulated, phase-offset carrier signals for providing at least one transmitted CIMA signal having a plurality of multi-frequency carrier-signal components,

receiving (52) the at least one transmitted CIMA signal from the at least one communication channel to produce a plurality of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components, combining (62m) the multi-frequency carrier-signal components in phase to generate at least one constructive-interference signal indicative of at least one information signal.

26. The method of communication between at least one transmitter and at least one receiver recited in claim 25 wherein generating (14n) a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals having a plurality of frequencies further includes providing for frequency hopping of the carrier signals and receiving (52) the at least one transmitted CIMA signal includes providing for receiving a CIMA signal having a plurality of frequency-hopped carrier signals.

27. An electromagnetic-wave transmitter comprising a multicarrier generator (14n) capable of generating a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals having a plurality of frequencies, and a carrier modulator (12) capable of modulating the carrier signals with at least one information signal, the improvement comprising:

a phase-space controller (16n) adapted to provide the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space, each phase space mapping a data symbol to one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of the carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the pulse waveforms being positioned substantially orthogonally in time, and

an output coupler (24) capable of combining the modulated, phased carriers in at least one communication channel to produce at least one CIMA signal having a plurality of carrier-signal components.

28. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 wherein the output coupler (24) includes an array of transmitter elements.

29. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 28 wherein each transmitter element is adapted to transmit a different carrier signal, thereby creating a time-dependent beam pattern.

30. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 28 wherein each transmitter element is adapted to transmit a different carrier signal for each of a plurality of users, thereby creating a time-dependent beam pattern for each user.

31. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 30 further characterized by a multi-frequency controller for controlling the multicarrier generator (14n) to adjust frequency separation of the carriers, thereby controlling the scan rate of each beam pattern.

32. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 wherein the output coupler (24) includes a coupler to a waveguide.

33. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 wherein the phase-space controller (16n) provides a plurality of incremental phase offsets to carrier signals that are uniformly separated in frequency.

34. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 wherein the delay controller (16n) provides a plurality of incremental phase offsets to carrier signals that have uniform, but non-adjacent frequency spacing.

35. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 further characterized by an amplitude-control system (18n) adapted to provide a tapered amplitude window to the carriers to reduce sidelobes.

36. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 wherein the carrier modulator (12) is adapted to apply pulse-amplitude modulation to the carrier signals and the output coupler (24) is adapted to combine the modulated, phased carriers in the at least one communication channel to produce at least one pulse-amplitude modulated CIMA signal.

37. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 36 wherein the output coupler (24) is adapted to combine the modulated, phased carriers in the at least one communication channel to produce CIMA signals.

38. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 37 wherein the output coupler (24) is adapted to combine the modulated, phased carriers in the at least one communication channel to produce at least one CIMA signal whose carriers combine destructively in a zero-phase space of at least one other CIMA signal.

39. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 wherein the phase-space controller (16n) is adapted to provide incremental phases to the carriers to match a chromatic dispersion profile of a waveguide for causing a predetermined phase relationship between the carriers to occur at a predetermined distance in the waveguide.

40. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter claimed in claim 27 wherein the phase-space controller (16n) is adapted to provide a plurality of incremental phases to the carriers to generate a train of pulses, the transmitter further characterized by an amplitude-control system (18n) for providing a predetermined amplitude to each carrier signal to modulate a spread-spectrum code onto the pulse train.

41. The electromagnetic-wave transmitter recited in claim 27 wherein the multicarrier generator (14n) is adapted to generate a plurality of frequency-hopped carrier signals.

42. An electromagnetic-wave receiver having a receiving element (52) capable of receiving transmitted multicarrier signals characterized by information modulated onto at least one phase space from a communication channel for providing at least one set of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components, the improvement comprising:

a combiner (62mn) capable of combining the plurality of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components with respect to the at least one phase space to produce at least one constructive interference signal comprising at least one information signal modulated onto at least one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of the at least one set of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components, the plurality of pulse waveforms being positioned substantially orthogonally in time.

43. The electromagnetic-wave receiver claimed in claim 42 wherein the receiver further comprises a phase-space compensator (60mn) adapted to phase shift the carriers relative to at least one phase space, each phase space corresponding to a data symbol mapped onto one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of the carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the pulse waveforms being positioned substantially orthogonally in time.

44. The electromagnetic-wave receiver claimed in claim 43 wherein the phase-space compensator (60mn) includes a frequency-shifted feedback cavity.

45. The electromagnetic-wave receiver claimed in claim 43 wherein the phase-space compensator (60mn) is adapted to sample within at least one predetermined time interval to detect at least one constructive interference signal in at least one zero-phase space.

46. The electromagnetic-wave receiver claimed in claim 45 further comprising a signal estimator (66) adapted to estimate the at least one information signal from a plurality of samples in a plurality of phase spaces.

47. The electromagnetic-wave receiver claimed in claim 42 further comprising a signal estimator (66) adapted to sample one or more interfering user signals that interfere with an intended user'"'"'s signal, weight the sampled interfering signals, and combine the sampled interfering signals with the intended user'"'"'s signal to cancel multi-user interference.

48. The electromagnetic-wave receiver claimed in claim 42 wherein the combiner (62m) is adapted to provide gain adjustment to at least one of the carrier-signal components to compensate for flat fading.

49. The electromagnetic-wave receiver recited in claim 42 wherein the receiving element (52) is adapted to receive transmitted multicarrier frequency-hopped signals.

50. A carrier-interference multiple-access (CIMA) communication system comprising:

an electromagnetic-wave transmitter comprising a multicarrier generator (14n) capable of generating a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals having a plurality of frequencies, and a carrier modulator (12) capable of modulating the carrier signals with at least one information signal, the improvement comprising;

a phase-space controller (16n) adapted to provide the carriers with at least one predetermined phase space, each phase space mapping a data symbol to one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of the carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the pulse waveforms being positioned substantially orthogonally in time,

an output coupler (24) capable of combining the modulated, phased carriers in at least one communication channel to produce at least one CIMA signal having a plurality of carrier-signal components, and

an electromagnetic-wave receiver having a receiving element (52) capable of receiving transmitted signals from a communication channel for providing at least one set of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components, the improvement comprising;

a combiner (62mn) capable of combining the plurality of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components in phase to produce at least one constructive interference signal indicative of at least one information signal.

51. The CIMA communication system recited in claim 50 wherein the multicarrier generator (14n) is adapted to generate a plurality of frequency-hopped carrier signals and the receiving element (52) is adapted to receive transmitted multicarrier frequency-hopped signals.

52. In a method for generating at least one spread-spectrum signal having at least one predetermined time-domain characteristic, the method comprising generating a plurality of carrier signals, the improvement comprising:

providing the carrier signals with at least one predetermined phase space (16n), each phase space corresponding to at least one pulse waveform generated from a superposition of the carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time,

providing at least one predetermined gain profile to the carrier signals (18n) to shape the at least one pulse waveform, and

combining (20) the at least one pulse waveform having the at least one predetermined time-domain characteristic.

53. The method for generating at least one spread-spectrum signal claimed in claim 52 wherein at least one of providing the carrier signals with at least one predetermined phase space (16n), providing at least one predetermined gain profile to the carrier signals (18n), and combining (20) the carrier signals is adapted to generate a direct-sequence code division multiple access signal.

54. The method for generating at least one spread-spectrum signal claimed in claim 52 wherein providing at least one predetermined gain profile (18n) to the carrier signals includes modulating an information signal onto the carrier signals.

55. The method for generating at least one spread-spectrum signal claimed in claim 52 wherein generating a plurality of carrier signals further includes providing for frequency hopping the carrier signals.

56. A spread-spectrum signal generator comprising a multicarrier generator (14n) capable of generating a plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals having a plurality of frequencies, the improvement comprising:

a phase-space controller (16n) capable of applying a plurality of incremental phase offsets to the carrier signals for providing the carrier signals with a predetermined phase space at a predetermined time interval,

a gain controller (18n) capable of providing a predetermined gain profile to the carrier signals, and

a combiner (20) capable of combining the modulated, phased carriers to produce a spread spectrum signal from at least one superposition of the carrier signals.

57. The spread-spectrum signal generator claimed in claim 56 wherein the phase-space controller (16n) and the gain controller (18n) are adapted to provide phase offsets and a gain profile, respectively, that provides the superposition of the carrier signals with a direct-sequence spread-spectrum signal.

58. The spread-spectrum signal generator claimed in claim 56 wherein the multicarrier generator (14n) is adapted to provide for frequency hopping of the plurality of electromagnetic carrier signals.

59. A method of processing a received multi-carrier signal representing a plurality of symbols and including a plurality of carriers, a subset of said plurality of carriers being allocated to at least one user, the method including:

providing for performing a time domain to frequency domain transform operation on the plurality of carriers to generate a frequency-domain signal therefrom;

providing for filtering the frequency-domain signal to remove at least one carrier in said plurality of carriers that are not included in said subset of carriers;

performing a frequency domain to time domain transform operation on the filtered frequency-domain signal to generate a filtered time-domain signal; and

recovering symbols transmitted to the at least one user from the filtered time-domain signal.

60. The method of processing a received multi-carrier signal recited in claim 59 wherein the plurality of carriers includes frequency-hopped carriers.

61. A method of processing at least one received multicarrier signal to generate at least one data-symbol value, the at least one received multicarrier signal comprising at least two data symbols encoded on at least one common subcarrier and occupying at least one common symbol period simultaneously, the method including;

providing for performing a channel-compensation operation on the at least one received multicarrier signal; and

providing for mapping values of the received multicarrier signal after channel compensation at instants in time used to transmit the at least one data-symbol value.

62. The method of processing at least one received multicarrier signal recited in claim 61 wherein the multicarrier signal includes frequency-hopped carriers.

63. A method of receiving at least one data symbol spread by at least one carrier interferometry (CI) code across a plurality of multi-frequency carriers, the at least one CI code configured to map the at least one data symbol to at least one pulse waveform produced by a superposition of the plurality of multi-frequency carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the method including:

providing for selecting a plurality of received multi-frequency carriers within a predetermined bandwidth;

providing for generating at least one received pulse waveform from a superposition of selected multi-frequency carriers; and

providing for estimating the at least one data symbol impressed on the at least one received pulse waveforms.

64. The method of receiving at least one Carrier Interferometry signal recited in claim 63 wherein providing for selecting a plurality of received carriers includes selecting a plurality of received frequency-hopped carriers.

65. A receiver adapted to receive at least one data symbol spread by at least one carrier interferometry (CI) code across a plurality of multi-frequency carriers the at least one CI code configured to map the at least one data symbol to at least one pulse waveform produced by a superposition of the plurality of multi-frequency carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the receiver including:

a filter adapted to select a predetermined set of received multi-frequency carriers;

a combiner coupled to the filter, the combiner adapted to combine the received multi-frequency carriers to produce at least one modulated pulse waveform; and

a decision device coupled to the combiner, the decision device adapted to generate at least one estimate of the at least one data symbol from the at least one modulated pulse waveform.

66. The receiver recited in claim 65 wherein the filter is adapted to select a predetermined set of received frequency-hopped carriers.

67. A receiver adapted to receive at least one data symbol spread by at least one carrier interferometry (CI) code across a plurality of multi-frequency carriers, the at least one CI code configured to map the at least one data symbol to at least one pulse waveform produced by a superposition of the plurality of multi-frequency carriers and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the receiver including:

a filter adapted to select a predetermined set of received multi-frequency carriers;

a combiner coupled to the filter, the combiner adapted to optimally combine the set of received multi-frequency carriers in the presence of at least one of interference and multipath to generate at least one signal indicative of a modulated pulse waveform; and

a decision device coupled to the combiner, the decision device adapted to generate at least one estimate of the at least one data symbol from the at least one signal indicative of the modulated pulse waveform.

68. The receiver recited in claim 67 wherein the filter is adapted to select a predetermined set of received frequency-hopped carriers.

69. An apparatus for receiving a frequency division multiplexed signal representing a plurality of symbols and including a plurality of carriers, a subset of said plurality of carriers being allocated to at least one user, the apparatus including:

a time to frequency domain transform module adapted to generate a frequency-domain signal from the frequency division multiplexed signal;

a filter adapted to filter at least one carrier from the frequency domain signal other than those included in the subset to thereby generate a filtered frequency-domain signal;

a frequency to time domain transform module adapted to perform a frequency domain to time domain transform operation on the filtered frequency-domain signal to thereby generate a time-domain signal; and

a decision module coupled to the frequency to time domain transform module for mapping received signal values at points in time to estimated symbol values.

70. The apparatus recited in claim 69 wherein the plurality of carriers includes at least one set of frequency-hopped carriers.

71. A multicarrier signal receiver adapted to receive at least one multicarrier signal, the receiver including:

a channel-compensation module adapted to perform a channel compensation operation on the multicarrier signal; and

a decision module adapted to map values of the multicarrier signal after channel compensation at instants in time used to transmit symbol values, the multicarrier signal comprising the symbol values modulated onto at least one of a plurality of pulse waveforms generated from a superposition of the at least one set of received multi-frequency carrier-signal components, each of the pulse waveforms being centered at a predetermined instant in time.

72. The multicarrier signal receiver recited in claim 71 wherein at least one of the channel-compensation module and the decision module is adapted to process the multicarrier signal wherein the multicarrier signal includes at least one set of frequency-hopped carriers.

73. A method of generating a multicarrier communication signal transmitted by a communication device, the method including:

providing a symbol duration having equally spaced time instants;

allocating a predetermined set of carrier frequencies to the communication device;

receiving as input data, data symbols to be transmitted by the multicarrier communication signal;

mapping the data symbols to the equally spaced time instants in the symbol duration to generate a discrete signal of mapped symbols; and

spreading the data symbols over the predetermined set of carrier frequencies by applying a pulse function to the discrete signal, the pulse function comprising a superposition of the predetermined set of carrier frequencies.

74. The method of generating a multicarrier communication signal recited in claim 73 wherein generating a superposition signal provides the frequency response of the superposition signal with frequency-hopped sinusoids.

75. A method for generating a multicarrier communication signal having carrier frequencies distributed over a predetermined bandwidth, the method including:

providing for defining a symbol duration for the multicarrier communication signal;

providing for defining a plurality of time instants in the symbol duration;

providing for allocating a set of carrier frequencies from the carrier frequencies distributed over the predetermined bandwidth to a particular communication device;

providing for receiving as input, data symbols from a data source;

providing for mapping the data symbols to the time instants to generate a discrete signal in the time domain; and

providing for spreading the data symbols over the set of carrier frequencies by applying pulse functions to the discrete signal, the pulse functions comprising a superposition of the set of carrier frequencies.

76. The method of generating a multicarrier communication signal recited in claim 75 wherein providing for allocating a set of carrier frequencies is adapted to provide for frequency hopping of the carrier frequencies.

77. A method of generating at least one Carrier Interferometry signal comprising data spread over a plurality of multi-frequency carriers, the method including:

providing for selecting a plurality of multi-frequency carriers within a predetermined bandwidth;

providing for generating at least one pulse waveform, each of the at least one pulse waveform comprising a superposition of the selected multi-frequency carriers;

providing for accepting at least one information symbol; and

providing for spreading the at least one information symbol over the selected multi-frequency carriers by modulating the at least one information symbol onto the at least one pulse waveform.

78. The method of generating Carrier Interferometry signals recited in claim 77 wherein providing for selecting a plurality of carriers further includes providing for frequency hopping of the plurality of carriers.

79. A transmitter adapted to generate at least one Carrier Interferometry signal, including:

a carrier generator adapted to generate a plurality of multi-frequency carriers within a predetermined bandwidth;

a pulse generator coupled to the carrier generator, the pulse generator adapted to produce at least one pulse waveform comprising a superposition of selected multi-frequency carriers; and

a modulator coupled to the pulse generator, the modulator adapted to spread an information symbol across the selected multi-frequency carriers to produce at least one information-modulated pulse waveform.

80. The transmitter recited in claim 79 wherein the carrier generator is adapted to provide for frequency hopping the plurality of carriers.

81. A transmitter adapted to spread an information symbol across a plurality of multi-frequency carrier components characterized by a CI code configured to map the information symbol to at least one pulse waveform characterized by a superposition of the plurality of multi-frequency carrier components and centered at a predetermined instant in time, the transmitter including:

a pulse generator adapted to produce the at least one pulse waveform; and

a modulator coupled to the pulse generator, the modulator adapted to spread the information symbol across the plurality of multi-frequency carrier components.

82. The transmitter recited in claim 81 wherein the pulse generator is adapted to provide for frequency hopping the plurality of carrier components.

83. A communication system adapted to generate a multicarrier signal having carrier frequencies distributed over a predetermined bandwidth, the communication system including:

a carrier generator adapted to generate an allocated carrier set selected from carrier frequencies distributed over the predetermined bandwidth;

an interval delay circuit adapted to provide a plurality of information symbols to prescribed time instants in a symbol duration to generate a discrete signal of symbols; and

a pulse-generation circuit adapted to spread each of the plurality of information symbols across the allocated carrier set to generate a pulse sequence by applying predetermined pulse functions to the discrete signal, the pulse functions characterized by a superposition of carrier frequencies in the allocated carrier set, the pulse functions configured for operating on the discrete signal such that values of the pulse sequence at the prescribed time instants are equal to the information symbols, and a frequency response of the pulse sequence includes sinusoids having non-zero values at frequencies within the allocated carrier set and zero values at the remaining frequencies.

84. The communication system recited in claim 83 wherein the pulse-generation circuit is further adapted to provide frequency hopping to the frequency response of the pulse sequence.

85. A communication system adapted to generate a multicarrier signal having allocated carrier frequencies distributed over a predetermined bandwidth, the communication system including:

an interval delay circuit adapted to receive a plurality of data symbols and map the symbols to a plurality of prescribed time instants in at least one symbol duration to generate a discrete signal of mapped symbols; and

a pulse generator adapted to spread each of the plurality of data symbols across the allocated carrier frequencies to generate a pulse train by applying a pulse function to the discrete signal, the pulse function characterized by a superposition of the allocated carrier frequencies.

86. The communication system recited in claim 85 further adapted to provide the allocated frequencies with frequency hopping.

87. A communication system configured for generating a multicarrier signal having allocated carrier frequencies distributed over a predetermined bandwidth, the communication system including:

an interval delay circuit adapted to receive a plurality of data symbols and map the symbols to a plurality of prescribed time instants in at least one symbol duration to generate a discrete signal of mapped symbols; and

a pulse generator adapted to spread each of the plurality of data symbols across the allocated carrier frequencies by applying a pulse function comprising a superposition of the allocated carrier frequencies to the discrete signal wherein the pulse function operates on the discrete signal such that values of the pulse train at the prescribed time instants are equal to the mapped symbols.

88. The communication system recited in claim 87 wherein the pulse generator is adapted to frequency hop the allocated carrier frequencies.

89. A communication system adapted to generate a multicarrier signal having a set of carrier frequencies distributed over a predetermined bandwidth, the communication system including:

a data source adapted to process a plurality of information symbols to generate a set of data symbols with a predetermined set of phase relationships and amplitude profiles to provide a superposition of the carriers with orthogonality in time; and

a Fourier-transform circuit coupled to the data source, the Fourier-transform circuit adapted to perform an inverse Fourier transform of the data symbols to produce a digital time-domain superposition signal characterized by data symbols mapped to orthogonal pulses.

90. The communication system recited in claim 89 further adapted to frequency hop the set of carrier frequencies.