A completely new amplification technique for communication signals is the result of pioneering work in nonlinear dynamics supported by ONR at NextWave Technologies in Columbia, Md.

The Syncrodyne™ amplifier is capable of providing enormous power gain while operating at 90 percent efficiency or better. Using a nonlinear oscillator, the technique converts signals' trajectories into symbols that can be recognized by the receiver and amplified. The breakthrough allows only the symbols to be regenerated and amplified, not the entire signal and any accompanying noise.

"The fact that the trajectory is chaotic gives it the richness to represent many symbols," said ONR Program Officer Michael Shlesinger. "It's also inherently an encoded signal because the transmitter and receiver can only communicate if they are paired in terms of frequency and nonlinear oscillation." Cell phones are a potential application for this feature, Shlesinger added. He likened the amplification technique to the process of re-mastering old movies. Rather than just making a copy of the original, a new original is made, devoid of any degradations, and the new, clean copy is then be enhanced with modern methods. NextWave researchers say their next step is a fully integrated communications system that will demonstrate the technique's distinct advantages.

The Navy is funding the work partly because of its potential to improve communications for ships and other vehicles in remote locations; for example, a ship cruising at a high latitude may not be able to identify a weak satellite signal due to accompanying static.