Coherent and non-coherent hybrid direct sequence/frequency hopping spread spectrum systems with high power and bandwidth efficiency and methods thereof

1. A hybrid spread spectrum system comprising

a signal combiner for (a) receiving a plurality of spread spectrum encoded data signals and (b) forming a plurality of combined signals,

a first set of mixers for (a) receiving the plurality of combined signals and at least two carriers, and (b) forming at least a two-carrier, constant envelope signal, and

a second set of mixers for (a) receiving the at least two-carrier, constant envelope signal and a transmitter hopping signal and (b) forming a hybrid spread spectrum signal,

wherein

the combined signals include (a) [s 1 (t)−s 1 (t)s 2 (t)s 3 (t)] and (b) [s 2 (t)+s 3 (t)], where s i (t) are three separate spread spectrum encoded data signals.

2. The hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 1 , wherein

the transmitter hopping signal is a sequence of tones having (a) a duration T c , where T c is a chip duration, and (b) frequencies f n taken from a set of 2 k values, where k is a number of bits from a pseudo-random noise (PRN) sequence.

3. The hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 1 , wherein

the two carrier, constant envelope signal includes a first carrier modulated by [s 1 (t)−s 1 (t)s 2 (t)s 3 (t)] and a second carrier modulated by [s 2 (t)+s 3 (t)],

where s i (t) are three separate spread spectrum encoded data signals.

4. The hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 1 , wherein

the first set of mixers receives three carriers and forms a three-carrier constant envelope signal, and

the second set of mixers receives the three-carrier constant envelope signal and forms the hybrid spread spectrum signal.

5. The hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 1 , wherein

the second set of mixers includes a summer for combining signals outputted by the second set of mixers, and

a high pass filter (HPF) for (a) receiving a signal from the summer and (b) producing a single sideband of the hybrid spread spectrum signal.

6. The hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 1 , wherein

the plurality of spread spectrum encoded data signals include differentially encoded data sequences modulated by PRN sequences with rates higher than rates of the encoded data sequences.

7. The hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 1 , wherein

[ s 1 ( t )− s 1 ( t ) s 2 ( t ) s 3 ( t )] 2 +[s 2 ( t )+ s 3 ( t )] 2 =constant,

and

[ s 1 ( t )− s 1 ( t ) s 2 ( t ) s 3 ( t )][ s 2 ( t )+ s 3 ( t )]=0

for forming a constant envelope signal for the hybrid spread spectrum signal.

8. A hybrid spread spectrum system comprising

a plurality of frequency shift keying (FSK) modulators for forming at least two FSK modulated carriers,

a first set of mixers for (a) receiving the at least two FSK modulated carriers and a plurality of PRN codes, and (b) forming at least two direct spread carriers, and

a second set of mixers for (a) receiving the at least two direct spread carriers and a transmitter hopping signal, and (b) forming a hybrid spread spectrum signal having a constant envelope,

wherein

the plurality of PRN codes includes

( a ) [ c 1 ( t )− c 1 ( t ) c 2 ( t ) c 3 ( t )] and ( b ) [ c 2 ( t )+ c 3 ( t )],

where c i (t) are three separate PRN codes.

9. A hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 8 , wherein

the transmitter hopping signal is a sequence of tones having (a) duration T c , where T c is a chip duration, and (b) frequencies f n taken from a set of 2 k values, where k is a number of bits from a PRN sequence.

10. A hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 8 , wherein

the at least two direct spread carriers include a first carrier modulated by [c 1 (t)−c 1 (t)c 2 (t)c 3 (t)] and a second carrier modulated by [c 2 (t)+c 3 (t)],

where c i (t) are three separate PRN codes.

11. A hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 8 , wherein

the second set of mixers includes a summer for combining signals outputted by the second set of mixers, and

a HPF for (a) receiving a signal from the summer and (b) producing a single sideband of the hybrid spread spectrum signal.

12. A hybrid spread spectrum system of claim 8 , wherein

[ c 1 ( t )− c 1 ( t ) c 2 ( t ) c 3 ( t )] 2 +[c 2 ( t )+ c 3 ( t )] 2 =constant,

and

[ c 1 ( t )− c 1 ( t ) c 2 ( t ) c 3 ( t )][ c 2 ( t )+ c 3 ( t )]=0

for forming the hybrid spread spectrum signal having the constant envelope.

13. A method for transmitting a hybrid spread spectrum signal comprising the steps of:

(a) forming at least two FSK modulated carriers;

(b) (i) receiving the at least two FSK modulated carriers and a plurality of PRN codes, and (ii) forming at least two direct spread spectrum carriers; and

(c) (i) receiving the at least two direct spread carriers and a transmitter hopping signal, and (ii) forming a hybrid spread spectrum signal having a constant envelope;

wherein

the at least two direct spread carriers include a first carrier modulated by [c 1 (t)−c 1 (t)c 2 (t)c 3 (t)] and a second carrier modulated by [c 2 (t)+c 3 (t)],

where c i (t) are three separate PRN codes.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein

the plurality of PRN codes includes

( i ) [ c 1 ( t )− c 1 ( t ) c 2 ( t ) c 3 ( t )] and ( ii ) [ c 2 ( t )+ c 3 ( t )],

where c I (t) are three separate PRN codes.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein

the transmitter hopping signal is a sequence of tones having (i) duration T c , where T c is a chip duration, and (ii) frequencies f n taken from a set of 2 k values, where k is a number of bits from a PRN sequence.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the steps of:

(d) high pass filtering the hybrid spread spectrum signal having the constant envelope, and

(e) transmitting the high pass filtered hybrid spread spectrum signal of step (d).

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein

[ c 1 ( t )− c 1 ( t ) c 2 ( t ) c 3 ( t )] 2 +[c 2 ( t )+ c 3 ( t )] 2 =constant,

and

[ c 1 ( t )− c 1 ( t ) c 2 ( t ) c 3 ( t )][ c 2 ( t )+ c 3 ( t )]=0

for forming the hybrid spread spectrum signal having the constant envelope.