A review and prospects of operational frequency selecting techniques for HF radio communication

Abstract

High frequency (HF) radio communication is experiencing a renaissance worldwide, especially in the military field. As a critical research spot of HF communication, the operational frequency selecting techniques are essential to ensure the HF communication's optimal quality and high reliability. Focusing on operational frequency selecting techniques of HF communication, this paper overviews the development history of the recent advance and provides a preview of the future. Specifically, we first present a historical review to show the technological evolution of HF communication systems, operational frequency selecting techniques, and ionospheric parameter models. Then, we highlight the four research directions of operational frequency selecting techniques: (1) more intelligence; (2) high accuracy; (3) combination of regional and global methods; (4) a combination of long-term prediction and short-term forecast methods. We hope that this paper will stimulate more interest in the operational frequency selecting techniques for future intelligent HF radio communication systems.