A Demonstration of the Consistent Operational Success of 2400 Baud HF Autodin Data Transmission Using the Curts Phase II System

摘要

The report describes an experiment that was conducted to evaluate the improvement in 2400-baud HF AUTODIN data transmission that can be realized when the CURTS (Common User Radio Transmission Sounding) Phase II Automatic Frequency Selection System is used to select communication frequencies on an operational 8000-km HF trunk. The following results were obtained: (1) The capability of HF to give consistent support to 2400-baud AUTODIN traffic was clearly established. (2) Use of the CURTS system improved the HF communication system performance both by increasing the average AUTODIN throughput from 92.7% to 97.4% and by reducing its standard deviation from 12% to 4.5%. CURTS therefore reduces the average number of AUTODIN cards lost per day from 21,900 to 7,800, or offers nearly a 3:1 improvement. (3) The most substantial improvement to HF communication can be made by evolving the effective and extensive frequency management techniques that CURTS makes possible. (4) The results of this experiment agree well with HF performance predictions made from evaluation of the CURTS data of the previous eight months. (5) Effective CURTS frequency management techniques would make the HF medium a viable alternative to other communication media. (Author)