Systems and methods for short range RF communication

1. A method for communicating a message between a transmitter and a receiver over a communications network having a plurality of channels, the method comprising the steps of:

partitioning the message into a plurality of blocks having a predetermined order;

converting the plurality of blocks into a plurality of packets;

selecting a subset of the plurality of packets;

detecting a presence of jamming pulses in at least one of the plurality of channels;

determining characteristics of the jamming pulses in the at least one of the plurality of channels wherein the determined characteristics define at least interstices between the jamming pulses;

transmitting the selected subset of the plurality of packets over at least one of the plurality of channels of the communications network within the interstices of the jamming pulses;

receiving the selected subset of the plurality of packets transmitted over the at least one of the plurality of channels;

estimating a quality of the at least one of the plurality of channels from at least the received selected subset of the plurality of packets; and

constructing an estimate of the message using at least the received selected subset of the plurality of packets and the estimated quality of the at least one of the plurality of channels.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitter comprises a multi-media source and the receiver comprises a satellite uplink device.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the receiver further comprises a mobile satellite uplink device.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the communications network uses a physical medium to carry the network signals.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the physical medium is a railroad track.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the communications network operates on an ISM band.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the transmitter comprises a patient monitoring device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selecting the subset of the plurality of packets comprises selecting the subset of the plurality of packets having a predetermined probability of error-free reception.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of transmitting the selected subset of the plurality of packets uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication techniques.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the characteristics comprise at least jamming pulse duration and jamming pulse repetition time.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further comprises processing the received selected subset of the plurality of packets to yield the plurality of blocks of the message.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of constructing an estimate of the message comprises the step of ordering the plurality of blocks of the message to yield the plurality of blocks having the predetermined order.

13. A method transmitting a message over at least one of a plurality of channels of a communications network between a transmitter and a receiver, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting a presence of jamming pulses in the at least one of the plurality of channels;

determining characteristics of the jamming pulses in the at least one of the plurality of channels wherein the determined characteristics define at least interstices between the jamming pulses; and

transmitting the message over the at least one of the plurality of channels wherein the message is transmitted within the interstices of the jamming pulse determined from the step of determining characteristics of the jamming pulses.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprises the steps of:

partitioning the message into a plurality of blocks having a predetermined order;

converting the plurality of blocks into a plurality of packets;

selecting a subset of the plurality of packets; and

wherein the step of transmitting further comprises transmitting the selected subset of the plurality of packets over the at least one of the plurality of RF channels.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the steps of:

receiving the selected subset of the plurality of packets transmitted over the at least one of the plurality of RF channels;

estimating a quality of the at least one of the plurality of RF channels from at least received selected subset of the plurality of packets; and

constructing an estimate of the message using at least the received selected subset of the plurality of packets and the estimated quality of the at least one of the plurality of RF channels.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises processing the received selected subset of the plurality of packets to yield the plurality of blocks of the message.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of constructing an estimate of the message comprises the step of ordering the plurality of blocks of the message to yield the plurality of blocks having the predetermined order.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of selecting the subset of the plurality of packets comprises selecting the subset of the plurality of packets having a predetermined probability of error-free reception.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein the characteristics comprise at least jamming pulse duration and jamming pulse repetition time.

20. The method of claim 13 wherein the transmitter comprises a multi-media source and the receiver comprises a satellite uplink device.

21. The method of claim 14 wherein the receiver further comprises a mobile satellite uplink device.

22. The method of claim 13 wherein the communications network uses a physical medium to carry the network signals.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the physical medium is a railroad track.

24. The method of claim 13 wherein the communications network operates on an ISM band.

25. The method of claim 13 wherein the transmitter comprises a patient monitoring device.