Futuristic communication for troops

Engineers at Queen's University Belfast's Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) are developing futuristic communications systems that could help protect frontline troops.

Their project, which builds on work completed recently for the UK Ministry of Defence, is investigating the use of arrays of highly specialised antennas that could be worn by combat troops to provide covert short-range person-to-person battleground communications.

It is hoped the technology developed in this project will lead to advanced wireless systems that would enable small squads of soldiers to share real-time video, covert surveillance data and tactical information with each other via helmet-mounted visors.

The Queen’s engineering team believes that the equipment would bring major benefits to members of the armed forces by providing high levels of situational awareness in hostile environments, as well as helping to preserve the element of surprise in close encounters with an enemy.

‘Through our work, we aim to overcome some formidable challenges as the proposed wireless devices will be expected to operate in a range of environments much more exacting than those encountered in civilian life,’ said lead researcher Simon Cotton of CSIT's Radio Communications Research Group.