Abstract: A communications system of the present invention includes a transmitter that is operative for combining an orthogonal Walsh modulation with a minimum shift keying or Gaussian minimum shift keying waveform to form a hybrid communications signal that carries communications data over a constant amplitude waveform that is spread in time and frequency. This communications signal can be transmitted to a RAKE receiver that has a plurality of correlators with output weights formed for processing this hybrid communications signal.

Abstract: A communications system includes a transmitter having an encoder for encoding communications data and varying at least one of a puncturing of the code rate and a repetition rate on different portions of the communications data. As a result, a variable forward error correction is added to different portions of the communications data.

Abstract: A frequency management scheme for a multistation H.F. communication network establishes communication channels among network stations over respective ones of K frequencies, so that network stations may communicate with one another. Any station desiring to communicate with another station, repeatedly transmits, on each of plural ones of the K communication frequencies in sequence, a probe message comprised of three successive symbols, each of which is defined in accordance with a prescribed pseudo random M-ary code, in the form of multi-chip sequence, that represents the address of the station to whom the communication is directed. The first symbol is effectively unmodulated to permit monitoring equipment of a receiving station of the network to settle out. The second symbol represents the address of the transmitting station. The third symbol identifies the number of times that the frequency which carries the probe message has been transmitted.