Enhanced high frequency avalanche relay protocol
A system and method for time division multiplexing voice and situational awareness data with defined transmission and retransmission windows comprises coordinating the voice and situational awareness windows at defined times across all nodes. Control signal windows and control signal retransmission windows are also defined to propagate control signals to coordinate the various voice and situational awareness windows. Voice data is prioritized for bandwidth.
1. A method comprising:
defining a primary voice window in a time division multiplexed signal;
defining a situational awareness window in the time division multiplexed signal;
defining a voice relay window in the time division multiplexed signal;
defining a situational awareness relay window in the time division multiplexed signal;
receiving a voice data packet during the primary voice window;
receiving a situational awareness data packet during the situational awareness window;
retransmitting the voice data packet to other network nodes in a plurality of network nodes during the voice relay window; and
retransmitting the situational awareness data packet to other network nodes in the plurality of network nodes during the situational awareness relay window.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a synchronization signal common to every network node in the plurality of network nodes,
wherein the primary voice window, situational awareness window, voice relay window, and situational awareness relay window are defined with respect to the synchronization signal.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
defining one or more control signal windows in the time division multiplexed signal; and
defining one or more control signal relay windows in the time division multiplexed signal.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
receiving a control data packet indicating a primary voice node that will be sending a voice data packet in the primary voice window; and
retransmitting the control data packet to other network nodes in the plurality of network nodes during the control signal relay window.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the control data packet includes a bit rate and vocoder instruction.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the control data packet includes a schedule of assignments for situational awareness windows to subsets of nodes in the plurality of nodes.
7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
sending a signal to other network nodes in the plurality of network nodes that the processor will be a primary voice data source during a subsequent primary voice window during the control signal window; and
sending a voice data packet during the subsequent primary voice window.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that there is no primary voice data source; and
reallocating the primary voice window and voice relay window for situation awareness transmission and retransmission.
9. A system comprising:
a plurality of network nodes, each network node comprising:
a high frequency (HF) antenna; and
at least one processor in data communication with the HF antenna and a memory storing processor executable code for configuring the at least one processor to:
define a primary voice window in a time division multiplexed signal;
define a situational awareness window in the time division multiplexed signal;
define a voice relay window in the time division multiplexed signal;
define a situational awareness relay window in the time division multiplexed signal;
receive a voice data packet during the primary voice window;
receive a situational awareness data packet during the situational awareness window;
retransmit the voice data packet to other network nodes in the plurality of network nodes during the voice relay window; and
retransmit the situational awareness data packet to other network nodes in the plurality of network nodes during the situational awareness relay window.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a synchronization signal common to every network node in the plurality of network nodes,
wherein the primary voice window, situational awareness window, voice relay window, and situational awareness relay window are defined with respect to the synchronization signal.
11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
define one or more control signal windows in the time division multiplexed signal; and
define one or more control signal relay windows in the time division multiplexed signal.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive a control data packet indicating a primary voice node that will be sending a voice data packet in the primary voice window; and
retransmit the control data packet to other network nodes in the plurality of network nodes during the control signal relay window.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the control data packet includes a bit rate and vocoder instruction.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
send a signal to other network nodes in the plurality of network nodes that the processor will be a primary voice data source during a subsequent primary voice window during the control signal window; and
send a voice data packet during the subsequent primary voice window.
15. A computer apparatus comprising:
at least one processor in data communication with a memory storing processor executable code for configuring the at least one processor to:
define a primary voice window in a time division multiplexed signal;
define a situational awareness window in the time division multiplexed signal;
define a voice relay window in the time division multiplexed signal;
define a situational awareness relay window in the time division multiplexed signal;
receive a voice data packet during the primary voice window;
receive a situational awareness data packet during the situational awareness window;
retransmit the voice data packet to one or more nodes in a network of nodes during the voice relay window; and
retransmit the situational awareness data packet to at least one node in the network of nodes during the situational awareness relay window.
16. The computer apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a synchronization signal common to every node in the network of nodes,
wherein the primary voice window, situational awareness window, voice relay window, and situational awareness relay window are defined with respect to the synchronization signal.
17. The computer apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
define one or more control signal windows in the time division multiplexed signal; and
define one or more control signal relay windows in the time division multiplexed signal.
18. The computer apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
receive a control data packet indicating a primary voice node that will be sending a voice data packet in the primary voice window; and
retransmit the control data packet to at least one node in the network of nodes during the control signal relay window.
19. The computer apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
send a signal to at least one node in the network of nodes that the processor will be a primary voice data source during a subsequent primary voice window during the control signal window; and
send a voice data packet during the subsequent primary voice window.
20. The computer apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine that there is no primary voice data source; and
reallocate the primary voice window and voice relay window for situation awareness transmission and retransmission.