Slashdot Mirror
DARPA Wants Extreme Wireless Interference Buster
coondoggie writes "This month the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will begin looking for technology that will let wireless communications work through the most extreme interference. From the article: 'The CommEx program will assess next generation and beyond jamming threats and then develop advanced interference suppression and avoidance technologies to successfully communicate in the presence of severe, traditional, and novel types of interference that are orders-of-magnitude more severe than what are currently addressed by the most advanced systems, DARPA stated.'"
How long after they develop the extreme wireless interference buster that someone develops the supreme wireless interference generator?
This is so easy. All you need to do is roll out a point to point Faraday cage between the two parties that wish to communicate. To build the Faraday cage, go to your local hardware store and purchase all the rolls of chicken wire they have in stock. Now take the chicken wire and form a loop about 5 meters in diameter. Keep on doing this and stitch the loops together until you have a big enough tunnel to reach from your source to the destination. Remember! There must be line of sight for your wireless to properly function. I recommend getting wooden pallets to smooth out any hills and valleys so that you can see clear through.
Now the fun part. To make a proper Faraday cage you need to run current through the chicken wire. Experiment with the right voltage, but I find that running a chainsaw through a local wooden power pole will score you a big fat power cable capable of delivering the right amount of juice. Strip the power cable and attach the positive and negative wires to the chicken wire. CAREFUL!!! Make sure you're wearing latex gloves to protect your hands against the current. If you don't have latex gloves, fashion your own gloves out of banana peels.
Once the power is hooked up, you have now created an impenetrable electromagnetically shielded tunnel through which your wireless transmissions can propagate. Place the transmitter at one end and the receiver at the other and enjoy your interruption free communications!
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Just make sure the CommEx program doesn't contract the electrical engineers behind the iPhone 4 antenna - I hear they are looking for work :P
IP over Avian Carriers. (IPoAC). With the pigeons, you don't have to worry about EM radiation interrupting the signal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers
For advanced interference, you might want this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_Weasel
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
I remember way back being taught about trellis code modulation - 8am - squeaky white board marker - "Right, today we'll cover a very simple 2 bit trellis code modulation scheme' - I thought I was a frigging rocket scientist back then, 2 bits, heh, some kind of noob joke?! I have to say after 2 minutes I'd actually glazed over, just like everybody else... : )
Who dreams this stuff up! Seriously! These guys and girls don't actually think like the rest of us.
Seriously, potential homophobia aside, thanks for the tip.
And the shaft!
Gyro cooking?
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Antiphase? Have a receiver transmitter pair that receives the interference and then transmits the 180 degree out of phase equivalent - hopefully cancelling it out. For extra points deploy multiple stations, and for a bonus credit, don't evern transmit your signal, just modulate your antiphase to leave your signal as a remanant. Physics Problems: Can you near instaneously send the anti phase (those radio waves travel quite quickly)... What happens for moving receivers.....