Chinese research teams have announced a breakthrough technology, dubbed "telepathic" communication, which is expected to revolutionize the rules of electronic warfare on the battlefield. This technology, led by senior engineer Liu from the Institute of Space Information, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was published in the Radar Journal, detailing a high-speed battlefield communication system that does not require active signals, allowing combat forces to remain "invisible" in electronic warfare and significantly reducing the risk of being intercepted or attacked.
Core Innovation: Intelligent Metasurface and Passive Communication.
Traditional military radio communication transmits information through electromagnetic waves but simultaneously exposes the user's location, making it vulnerable to enemy interference, positioning, or even missile attacks. Liu's team has developed a passive communication system based on "intelligent metasurfaces," completely overturning this dilemma. The metasurface consists of hundreds of programmable metamaterial tiles that can transmit data using satellite synthetic aperture radar echoes without emitting active signals. In other words, it is a method of passive data transmission, marking a revolutionary technological exploration.
These tiles switch between "on" (0° phase) and "off" (180° phase) states to encode information into radar echoes received by satellites. Combat platforms, such as tanks, warships, or aircraft, can integrate into the natural electromagnetic background without releasing detectable energy, achieving a data transmission rate of 127 kbps per second, comparable to NATO's Link 16 tactical data network, while maintaining complete radio silence.
The Chinese team stated in their paper: "This system eliminates the need for active electromagnetic wave transmission by scattering and modulating the received radar satellite echoes, ensuring the confidentiality and security of communication, significantly reducing the risk of detection."
In urban "electromagnetic noise jungles" or turbulent sea surfaces, signals are easily affected by clutter and backscattering interference. To address this, the team developed an adaptive algorithm that dynamically adjusts the phase modulation depth to increase the signal-to-noise ratio by 300%, effectively countering urban clutter. At sea, inertial sensors and auto-focus software continuously correct for pitch and roll caused by waves, ensuring stable signal transmission. In tests simulating 4th-level sea conditions (waves over 2 meters), the system had a bit error rate of only 0.77%, with radar imaging resolution loss controlled within 9.7%.
Additionally, the team successfully coordinated the linear frequency modulation of radar satellites with communication data encoding, ensuring high-resolution imaging and high-speed data transmission in parallel. This allows the system to maintain efficient communication even under harsh conditions, providing reliable support for the battlefield.
A Beijing-based communication researcher not involved in the project said: "This is indeed like 'telepathy,' radically different from traditional communication. If the technology matures, it will fundamentally reshape the battlefield rules." In electronic warfare, secrecy is key to survival, and this technology enables forces to communicate efficiently without revealing their position, posing a significant challenge to enemy radars and reconnaissance systems.
In the military field, this technology can enhance the command coordination capabilities of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in complex battlefields, especially in urban operations or long-range missions. On the global supply chain, the widespread application of metasurface technology may drive innovation in radar and communication equipment manufacturing, reducing reliance on traditional radio hardware, and further impacting aerospace and defense industries.
Although currently only verified in the laboratory, the Chinese team has planned large-scale applications. Future work will focus on improving data rates and anti-interference performance, and conducting joint trials with multi-mode spaceborne SAR systems to verify the feasibility of on-site deployment. The team also plans to expand the metasurface passive communication to other spaceborne radar remote sensing systems, building a sky-ground integrated radar network, opening up new possibilities for military and civilian fields. It can be said that this breakthrough in "telepathic" communication has opened a new chapter in future electronic warfare and global communication technology.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7544391330642854409/
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