Study on Military Shortwave Frequency

Planning
Lin Sun
Modeling and Simulation Teaching and Reshearch Section, Department of Communication Command,
Communication Command Academy, Wuhan, China
Email: lily_bril@163.com

Hao Liu
Company 21, Department 6, Communication Command Academy, Wuhan, China
Military Branches and Services Teaching and Research Section, Nanchang Military Academy
Nanchang, China
Email: liuhaolunwen@163.com

Fangsheng Li
Studying Institution of Communication Development Strategy, Communication Command Academy, Wuhan, China
Email: pandalfs@hotmail.com
AbstractStarting from analyzing the necessity of
military shortwave frequency planning, this paper
illustrates its usable frequency set planning, working
frequency subset planning and frequency pattern
planning. It also studies the relative planning ways that
have theoretical significance for realizing dynamic
frequency management of military shortwave.
Keywords- shortwave frequency planning; frequency subset;
frequency pattern

I. INTRODUCTION
As a new frequency management concept, dynamic
frequency management draws great attention in the
field of military electromagnetism. With the decrease of
the shortwave frequency resource, the shortwave
frequency environment is becoming increasingly
complicated and increasing of shortwave frequency
demand. The shortwave frequency management, under
joint operation, is becoming very tough, and
management difficulty is greatly enlarged. To enhance
the comprehensive supplying ability of the shortwave
frequency resource, and solve the problems that make
the shortwave frequency resource limited, the
information channel is not stable, and interference is
severe, it is imperative to carry out studies on dynamic
management of the shortwave frequency. Shortwave
frequency, as key factor of optimization design of the
shortwave communication line, determines the working
performance of shortwave communication equipment.
Therefore, it can be easily understood that shortwave
frequency planning is an important part of dynamic
management planning of shortwave frequency.

,(((

Unlike other frequency bands, within effective

communication distances, the communication link
cannot be definitely established with any given
shortwave frequency. Besides interference, effective
frequency range between MUF as the upper limit and
LUF as the lower limit still exists. The range is close to
the communication distance, and changing at every
moment. This transmission specialty determines that
the chosen working frequency must be within the
specific frequency range. If the frequency is above
MUF, electromagnetic waves will penetrate the ionized
layer, and the communication link cannot be
established. If the frequency is below LUF, the
absorbant ionized layer will result in the signal not
being able to meet the requirement of communication to
the receiving terminal. The shortwave frequency band
is a kind of global open shared information channel; it
is very crowded, and the interference is very severe,
and this also has to be addressed for shortwave
frequency resource planning. Therefore, the dynamic
planning of shortwave frequency based on the
supplying area should have the following steps: First,
the frequency is forecasted. Secondly, the effective
working frequency range of the area is defined. Thirdly,
through real time detecting in the ionized layer, the
working frequency range is dynamically updated and
modulated to revise and reject those unusable
frequencies in the predicting frequency set.
II. USABLE FREQUENCY SET PLANNING
Many experiments show that the effective working
frequency range has obvious relativities with MUF in

certain operation area, which makes MUF a key factor

to be concerned in usable shortwave frequency set
planning.
A. MUF Predicting Based on Frequency PreChoosing Model
Day, month and season change of MUF has obvious
regularity. Therefore, the quantizing application
database of modeling way of regular MUF change can
provide effective reference for frequency optimization
and planning. Based on long-term regular statistics of
the ionized layer, through statistical analysis of season,
month and day change regularity under different
communication distances, the MUF database with
communication distance, time, season and interference
as the parameters is established. In frequency planning,
through registering parameters such as communication
frequency, time, distance, antenna type and interference
levels for each communication link, and using
quantitative valuation and mathematical modeling, the
shortwave frequency pre-choosing model is established
to provide data support and channel quality evaluation
reference for shortwave frequency planning. Figure 1 is
a three-dimensional surface chart of MUF, drawn by a
frequency pre-choosing model associated with
parameters of communication distance and time. For
specific communication links, the model will revise the
MUF considering parameters of antenna type,
interference levels and macula trying to express the real
MUF. Through specific line experiments, it can be
known that the model can have a sound effect to
approach real MUF.

Figure 1. Three-dimensional surface chart of MUF associated with

communication distance and time

In usable frequency set planning, maximum and

minimum communication distances are boundary
values. By invoking the frequency pre-choosing model,
the MUF working frequency band is generated and a
usable frequency set can be planned. It is noticeable
that international standard time telling frequency and
protected frequency such as 4.000MHz, 5.000MHz or
10.000MHz should be avoided in the planning.

Meanwhile, maritime safety information frequency,

danger, safety, searching, rescuing frequency, and
stable service/radio astronomy study frequency
(13360KHz13410KHz) should also be avoided.
B. Real Time MUF Evaluation Based on ICF
Besides using the application frequency pre-choosing
model to predict MUF, the best working frequency
band can be obtained by evaluating critical frequency
f 0 F2 and f (3000) F2 of the ionized layer related to
MUF parameters. f 0 F2 and f (3000) F2 can be obtained
from the ionized layer parameters issued by National
Ionized Layer Observation and Prediction Center.
Prediction accuracy of the Center is above 90%. Within
our national territory, there is system-level support.
While obtaining tactical application ionized layer
parameters is restricted, due to its dependence on active
detection, its security and anti-destroying ability is
lowered during war.
In dynamic management of shortwave frequency,
sensing and predicting method adapting to obtaining
ionized layer parameters for tactical station is adopted,
which uses the relativity between Interference Centric
Frequency (ICF), f 0 F2 and f (3000) F2 to evaluate MUF
ionized layer parameters. ICF means that for a
shortwave receiving point, the degree of high frequency
interference can be regarded as the comprehensive
effect caused by the high frequency interference source
transmission signal transmitting to the receiving point.
Although the distance of the high frequency
interference signal coming from different directions and
having different powers is not the same, sky-wave
interference power obtained by the receiving terminal
should be transmitted through the ionized layer. Thus,
relativity between ICF and f 0 F2 can be expressed as
f 0 F2 = A + B( ICF ) , in which parameter A and B can be
obtained by empirical equation. Relative curves of ICF
and f 0 F2 are shown in Figure 2.
Whether it is before the start of the task, or at the
intervals of task implementing, MUF evaluation based
on ICF can evaluate the best working frequency band of
frequency using systems in the current area. When
stable or vehicle-mounted, shortwave frequency
cognitive systems have no communication service, and
passive sensing technology is used to rapidly scan and
detect the whole band electromagnetic interference of
short wave, and monitor the interference power of
information channel. Then, monitoring data within the
period is analyzed and dealt with to get the ICF of the
area.
Using
the
relativity
between
ICF,
f 0 F2 and f (3000) F2 , real time MUF of the current line

can be predicted.

Using MUF based on ICF, according to the

maximum and minimum supplying radius defined by
the actual operation task, MUFmax and MUFmin
adapting to the supplying area can be effectively
planned and generated, and then the working frequency
set of the supplying area can be planned and generated.
Frequency
(MHz) 13
11
9
7
5
3

ICF
f 0 F2

7 18 7 18 7 18 7 18 7 18 7 18
12 23 12 23 12 23 12 23 12 23 12
Figure 2. Relating curves of ICF and

Time
(h)

f 0 F2

III. WORKING FREQUENCY SUBSET PLANNING

For the users of each network, due to the difference
of supplying geographical area, the number of users and
supplying level, and not all the frequency in the usable
frequency set, is the best working frequency. Practice
shows that within certain communication distances, the
effective working frequency band is certain. From
Figure 1, it is known that MUF is closely related to
communication distance and time. The longer the
communication distance is, the higher MUF is. And the
corresponding working frequency is relatively high.
Therefore, frequency subset planning of each user
network should consider the territory range factor of the
working sub-network. The area frequency management
center should plan the relative working frequency
subset for those communication networks covering
different geographical areas.
For specific application, the area frequency
management system should classify the whole
supplying area into several circles with the same or
different radius according to the supplying area, combat
power, number of grouping networks and equipment
distribution, which is shown in Figure 3. First, several
frequency subsets are planned using function frequency
set n=!1(center position, supplying radius, number of
station), empirical data reported by the subordinates and
long term predicting software. Then, the dedicated
network frequency subset can be generated according to
usable function frequency set n=!2 (frequency subset 1,
subset 2,n).
For frequency subset planning, frequency set length
defining is a key factor. Frequency subset length is the
number of working frequency points in the working
frequency set of each shortwave sub-network, which
has direct impact on communication performance of the
communication system. If the frequency subset length
is small, it can be easily technically achieved and has
high-usage. But its user capacity is small and
communication reliability is lowered. If the frequency

subset length is large, it has large user capacity and

higher reliability, but it puts forward higher demands on
technology and equipment, and has lower usage.
For frequency subset planning, when choosing the
working frequency length of each sub-network, the
following factors should be considered. The first is the
user number of each network. The frequency number of
each frequency subset should de determined by the
number of working stations of each unit. Second is the
reliability
and
effectiveness
of
shortwave
communication. Using a large frequency subset can
enhance the communication reliability effectively, but it
can also have the problem that effectiveness of link
establishing is lower due to the oversize frequency set
length. For the actual choice, reliability should be the
premise, and frequency points should be as many as
possible to enhance communication reliability.

5
[\

[\

[\

5

5

Figure 3. Sketch map of working frequency sub-set planning

IV. FREQUENCY PATTERN PLANNING

Frequency pattern is a kind of frequency array set
arranged according to certain rules, which replaces
traditional contacting documents, and is the important
basis to support dynamic management of shortwave
frequency. Under 3G synchronized technical
mechanism, in order to make the working frequency of
different sub-network have the same frequency set
different at the same time, using the way of nonlinear
designing, the network frequency management center
generates a frequency pattern corresponding to each
sub-network (allocating address code for each user).
For example, taking 3.5-16MHz as the usable
frequency band, the process of frequency pattern
planning is as the following. According to the working
bandwidth requirement of shortwave, within 3.516MHz, choose a communication frequency every 3.2
KHz to form the usable frequency set. Because 3G

synchronized technical mechanism adopts separation

technology of calling channel and service channel, we
can choose a calling channel every 4 frequency points
from the established usable frequency set. The 4
frequencies obtained by calling channel frequency
3.2KHz and 6.4KHz are as the corresponding service
channel frequencies (the frequency interval between
calling channel and service channel can changed due to
the needs, but the lowest interval is 3KHz.). The lowest
interval of calling channel is 3.2"516KHz. From the
above we can know that there are 781 calling channels
within 3.5 16MHz. In order to make frequency
management flexible, commonly, a usable frequency
set is classified into several groups due to the
requirements. For better understanding, the set is
divided into 6 groups averagely. Each group has 130
calling channels and steps forward to 96 KHz. And
frequency patterning building can be shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Frequency pattern

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

L. Bao, and Y. Zhang, Study on OFDM applied in cognitive

radio, Journal of Xian Post and Telecommunication Academy,
vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 54-57, 2007.
Z. Wen, X. Zeng, and C. Guo, Introduction of dynamic
frequency spectrum allocation and sharing, Communication
Technology, vol. 41, no. 7, pp. 60-62, 2008.
G. Ganesan, and Y. G. Li, Cooperative spectrum sensing in
cognitive radio: Part I: Two user networks, IEEE Trans on
Wireless Communications, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 2204-2213, 2007.
X. Zheng, L. Xie, and Y. Li, Cooperative spectrum sensing
based on SNR comparision in fusion center for cognitive radio,
International Conference on Advanced Computer Control, pp.
212-217, 2009.
Y. Wang, C. Feng, and Z. Zeng, A robust and energy efficient
cooperative spectrum sensing scheme in cognitive radio
networks, ICACT2009, pp. 640-645.
A. Tonmukayakul ,and M. B. H. Weiss, Secondary use of radio
spectrum: A feasibility analysis, Telecommunications Policy
Research Conference(TPRC 04), vol. 29, no. 9, pp. 685-686,
2004.