Abstract: An apparatus and method for communicating data between at least two data devices, suitable for use as a wireless local-area network, that provides robust data communication via a radio communications channel corrupted by multipath interference, particularly at high data rates. A preferred embodiment of the invention represents data as a sequence of Walsh-function waveforms encoded by pseudo-noise direct-sequence spread-spectrum modulation. Walsh-function-encoding of the data provides a long symbol duration, thereby allowing the spread-spectrum modulation to provide processing gain sufficient to substantially overcome multipath interference, while providing a high data rate. In another preferred embodiment, Walsh-function modulation is supplemented with various forms of phase modulation, such as coherent PSK for bi-orthogonal signalling, and DPSK between orthogonal symbols for noncoherent bi-orthogonal signalling, thereby further increasing data rate without reducing processing gain.

Abstract: A data communications system for conveying a series of input data symbols includes a transmitter subsystem and a receiver subsystem. The transmitter subsystem generates a series of composite waveforms corresponding to a series of input data symbols by selecting from a set of mutually orthogonal component waveforms, then combines contemporaneous portions of at least two of the component waveforms so as to form a composite waveform which is unique to the data symbol. The transmit subsystem uses the composite waveform to modulate a carrier signal and transmits the carrier signal over a communications channel. The receiver subsystem receives the carrier signal and recovers the composite waveform from the carrier signal. The receiver subsystem identifies the data symbol by, at least in part, decompositioning the composite waveforms into their constituent component waveforms so as to identify which composite waveforms have been transmitted.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for communicating data between at least two data devices, suitable for use as a wireless local-area network, that provides robust data communication via a radio communications channel corrupted by multipath interference, particularly at high data rates. A preferred embodiment of the invention represents data as a sequence of Walsh-function waveforms encoded by pseudo-noise direct-sequence spread-spectrum modulation. Walsh-function-encoding of the data provides a long symbol duration, thereby allowing the spread-spectrum modulation to provide processing gain sufficient to substantially overcome multipath interference, while providing a high data rate. In another preferred embodiment, Walsh-function modulation is supplemented with various forms of phase modulation, such as coherent PSK for bi-orthogonal signalling, and DPSK between orthogonal symbols for noncoherent bi-orthogonal signalling, thereby further increasing data rate without reducing processing gain.

Abstract: A hydroacoustic communication system employs spread spectrum to mitigate multipath interference caused by acoustic reflections off underwater surfaces and other large boundaries or acoustic discontinuities. The system is particularly beneficial for mitigating errors due to surface reflections, and for mitigating interference due to unwanted signals having a delay ranging from tens of microseconds to hundreds of milliseconds.