DARPA has created a technology challenge competition in an effort to develop a new communications system capable of “blasting” through everyday radio transmission “clutter” in emergency response and battlefield applications. The Spectrum Challenge is designed to motivate teams to create software-defined radio protocols that “that best use communication channels in the presence of other users and interfering signals,” the agency said.
“The Spectrum Challenge is focused on developing new techniques for assured communications in dynamic environments—a necessity for military and first responder missions,” Dr. Yiftach Eisenberg, DARPA program manager, said. “We have created a head-to-head competition to see who can transmit a set of data from one radio to another the most effectively and efficiently while being bombarded by interference and competing signals.”
Interested developers will be required to design their solution using a standardized radio hardware platform. The team that develops “the best strategies for guaranteeing successful communication in the presence of other competing radios” will be awarded the prize.
