In this thesis, a new way of using predisortion for linearization of power amplifiers is evaluated. In order to achieve an adequate power level for the jamming signal, power amplifiers are used in military jamming systems. Due to the nonlinear characteristic of the power amplifier, distortion will be present at the output. As a consequence, unwanted frequencies are subject to jamming. To decrease the distortion, linearization of the power amplifier is necessary. In the system of interest, a portion of the distorted power amplifier output signal is fed back. Using this measurement, a predistortion signal is synthesized to allow suppression of the unwanted frequency components. The predistortion signal is updated a number of times in order to achieve a good outcome. Simulations are carried out in Matlab for testing of the algorithm. The evaluation of the new linearization technique shows promising results and that good suppression of distortion components is achieved. Furthermore, new predistortion features are possible to implement, such as predistorsion in selected frequency bands. However, real hardware testing needs to be carried out to confirm the results.

The decreasing cost of web-enabled smart devices utilizing embedded processors, sensors, and wireless communication hardware have created an optimal ecosystem for the Internet of Things (IoT). IEEE802.15.4, IEEE802.11ah, WirelessHART, ZigBee Smart Energy, Bluetooth (BT), and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) are amongst the most commonly used wireless standards for IoT systems. Each of these standards has tradeoffs concerning power consumption, range of communication, network formation, security, reliability, and ease of implementation. The most widely used standards for IoT are Bluetooth, BLE, and Zigbee. This paper discusses the vulnerabilities in the implementation of the PHY and link layers of BLE. The link layer defines the scheme for establishing a link between two devices. Scanning devices are able to establish communication with other devices that are sending advertising packets. These advertising packets are sent out in a deterministic fashion. The advertising channels for BLE, specified by the PHY layer, are Channels 37, 38, and 39, at center frequencies 2.402, 2.426, and 2.480 GHz, respectively. This scheme for establishing a connection seems to introduce an unintentional gap in the security of the protocol. Creating and transmitting tones with center frequencies corresponding to those of the advertising channels, a victim BLE device will be unable to establish a connection with another BLE device. Jamming a mesh network of BLE devices relies on this same concept. The proposed jamming system is an inexpensive one which utilizes the following hardware. Three individual synthesizers, a microcontroller (MCU), Wilkinson power combiner, power amplifier, and antenna, integrated on a single PCB, are used to transmit a 3-tone signal. Due to the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, necessary adjustments were made to the jammer system design. In the first modified jamming scheme, a single synthesizer evaluation board, power amplifier, and antenna, are used to transmit jamming tones in the form of a frequency hop. Limitations of the frequency hop approach necessitated a second modified scheme. In this second scheme a synthesizer and two Software Defined Radios (SDR), connected to a personal computer, continuously generate three individual jamming tones. The proposed jammer and the modified ones all classify as constant jammers as the transmission of jamming signals is continuous. Both modified jamming schemes are tested. The results of jamming using the second modified scheme validate the objective of simultaneous jamming of the advertising channels of BLE devices. The success of the modified scheme enables the original goal of creating a relatively inexpensive custom PCB for BLE advertising channel jamming. By exploiting the weakness of the BLE protocol, the hope is to have the governing body for Bluetooth, Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), improve security for the future releases of BLE.

Jamming is an ongoing threat that plagues wireless communications in contested areas. Unfortunately, jamming complexity and sophistication will continue to increase over time. The traditional approach to addressing the jamming threat is to harden radios, such that they sacrifice communications performance for more advanced jamming protection. To provide an escape from this trend, we investigate the previously unexplored area of jammer exploitation. This dissertation develops the concept of antifragile communications, defined as the capability for a communications system to improve in performance due to a system stressor or harsh condition. Antifragility refers to systems that increase in capability, resilience, or robustness as a result of disorder (e.g., chaos, uncertainty, stress). An antifragile system is fundamentally different from one that is resilient (i.e., able to recover from failure) and robust (i.e., able to resist failure). We apply the concept of antifragility to wireless communications through several novel strategies that all involve exploiting a communications jammer. These strategies can provide an increase in throughput, efficiency, connectivity, or covertness, as a result of the jamming attack itself. Through analysis and simulation, we show that an antifragile gain is possible under a wide array of electronic warfare scenarios. Throughout this dissertation we provide guidelines for realizing these antifragile waveforms. Other major contributions of this dissertation include the development of a communications jamming taxonomy, feasibility study of reactive jamming in a SATCOM-type scenario, and a reinforcement learning-based reactive jamming mitigation strategy, for times when an antifragile approach is not practical. Most of the jammer exploitation strategies described in this dissertation fall under the category of jammer piggybacking, meaning the communications system turns the jammer into an unwitting relay. We study this jammer piggybacking approach under a variety of reactive jamming behaviors, with emphasis on the sense-and-transmit type. One piggybacking approach involves transmitting using a specialized FSK waveform, tailored to exploit a jammer that channelizes a block of spectrum and selectively jams active subchannels. To aid in analysis, we introduce a generalized model for reactive jamming, applicable to both repeater-based and sensing-based jamming behaviors. Despite being limited to electronic warfare scenarios, we hope that this work can pave the way for further research into antifragile communications. / Ph. D.

Space-Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) has been widely used in spaceborne and airborne radar platforms in order to track ground moving targets. Jammer is an hostile electronic countermeasure that is being used to degrade radar detection and tracking performance. STAP adapts radar&rsquo / s antenna radiating pattern in order to reduce jamming effectiveness. Jamming power that enters the system is decreased with respect to the adapted radiation pattern. In this thesis, a generic STAP radar model is developed and implemented in simulation environment. The implemented radar model demonstrates that, STAP can be used in order to suppress wideband jammer effectiveness together with ground clutter effects.

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have found wide adoption in various applications, be they military, civilian or commercial. The susceptibility of GNSS to radio-frequency interference can, thus, be very disruptive, even for emergency services, therefore threatening people's lives. An early prototype of a system providing relatively cheap widescale GNSS jamming detection, called J911, is explored in this thesis. J911 is smartphone-based crowdsourcing of GNSS observations, most interesting of which are carrier-to-noise-density ratio (<img src="http://www.diva-portal.org/cgi-bin/mimetex.cgi?%5Cfrac%7BC%7D%7BN_0%7D" />) and Automatic Gain Control (AGC) voltage. To implement the prototype, an Android application to provide the measurements, a backend to parse and store the measurements, and a frontend to visualize the measurements were developed. In real-world use, the thesis argues, the J911 system would best be implemented over existing Enhanced 9-1-1 (E911) infrastructure, becoming a standardized part of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The Android application, running on a smartphone, would periodically construct messages to be sent to the backend over an Internet connection. The messages would include: current location from all location providers available in Android OS, observed satellites from all supported constellations, the satellites' <img src="http://www.diva-portal.org/cgi-bin/mimetex.cgi?%5Cfrac%7BC%7D%7BN_0%7D" />, and a timestamp. Once a message is received on the backend, the data would be extracted and stored in a database. The frontend would query the database and produce a map with the collected datapoints overlaid on top of it, whose color indicates received signal strength at that point. When a jammer gets close enough to a few smartphones, they will all be jammed, which is easily observed on the map. On top of that, if enough samples are gathered, a Power Difference of Arrival localization algorithm can be used to localize the jammer. The smartphones that the system was planned to be tested with did not support AGC level readings, therefore in order to obtain AGC levels over time, a few SiGe GN3S Samplers, which are radio-frequency frontends, were used. In eastern Idaho, United States, over three nights in July 2017, an exercise, named 2017 DHS JamX, was performed with the help of the US Department of Homeland Security. Sadly, the approval for the publication of the test results did not come in time to be included in this thesis.

This thesis describes GSM communication, the method of its jamming and design of a jammer for this band. This document is mainly focused on design of the jammer with the variable bandwidth of jamming and the variable level of output power. Requested parameters of jamming are set by a control panel with a LCD display. In this document there is a detailed description of each function block and connection between them. At the end of this thesis there are released measured results of designed jammer.

As wireless protocols become easier to implement, more products come with wireless connectivity. This latest push for wireless connectivity has left a gap in the development of the security and the reliability of some protocols. These wireless protocols can be used in the growing field of IoT where wireless sensors are used to share information throughout a network. IoT is being implemented in homes, agriculture, manufactory, and in the medical field. Disrupting a wireless device from proper communication could potentially result in production loss, security issues, and bodily harm. The 802.15.4/ZigBee protocol is used in low power, low data rate, and low cost wireless applications such as medical devices and home automation devices. This protocol uses CSMA-CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access w/ Collision Avoidance) which allows for multiple ZigBee devices to transmit simultaneousness and allows for wireless coexistence with the existing protocols at the same frequency band. The CSMA-CA MAC layer seems to introduce an unintentional gap in the reliability of the protocol. By creating a 16-tone signal with center frequencies located in the center of the multiple access channels, all channels will appear to be in use and the ZigBee device will be unable to transmit data. The jamming device will be created using the following hardware implementation. An FPGA connected to a high-speed Digital to Analog Converter will be used to create a digital signal synthesizer device that will create the 16-tone signal. The 16-tone signal will then be mixed up to the 2.4 GHz band, amplified, and radiated using a 2.4 GHz up-converter device. The transmitted jamming signal will cause the ZigBee MAC layer to wait indefinitely for the channel to clear. Since the channel will not clear, the MAC layer will not allow any transmission and the ZigBee devices will not communicate.

The doctoral thesis deals with design of coding for frequency hopping stations in band with intensive jamming. In digital modulations erroneous determination of the modulation state occurs due to jam at the receiver side. The result is erroneously transferred symbols of the message. Errors created during the transmission can be eliminated by using error control systems. It is also possible to prevent these errors by using algorithms (techniques) of frequency hopping which select the appropriate channel. Appropriate communication channel is a channel with a lower probability of erroneous symbol in the message. The main contribution of this thesis is to design a new frequency hopping technique with collision avoidance (FH/CA). The station with FH/CA technique measures signal levels in the considered several channels before every jump. Based on the measurements the most appropriate channel with the lowest value of measured signal level is selected. Therefore, it is more probable that a jump to an unoccupied channel with a transmission will occur. Using a mathematical model, the performance of the newly proposed FH/CA technique is compared with the currently used techniques FH and AFH. Comparison criteria are the probability of a collision between an FH/CA communication system and a static (device transmitting continuously at a fixed frequency) or dynamic jammer (i.e. other FH or AFH systems). By comparing the values of the probability of jammed transmission, indisputable theoretical advantages of the new FH/CA technique were found, compared to the currently used FH and AFH techniques. The FH/CA technique always has better or equal results compared with the FH technique in the case of interference by static and dynamic jammers. The FH/CA technique in a band with static and dynamic jammers usually has better results than the AFH technique. A significant contribution of the FH/CA technique can be seen in the case of dynamic jammers. On the other hand, in the case of static jammers the FH/CA technique is in certain situations worse than the AFH technique. The accuracy of the mathematical models were successfully verified on a simulation model that was created as a part of this thesis in the MATLAB environment. Based on the obtained data from the model there was designed coding for frequency hopping stations with the new technique of frequency hopping FH/CA which is designed for small-volume data transfer in a band with intensive jamming.

Jesaja 40:1 begin met die werkwoord נחם wat ‘troos’ beteken. Die studie was gedoen omdat daar min literatuur oor die werkwoord נחם beskikbaar is. Die woordeboeke gee ‘n samevatting oor die werkwoord en die betekenis teen die Semitiese agtergrond. Die doel van die studie was om aan te toon dat נחם ‘n verdere tema van Deutero-Jesaja is. Die temas wat gewoonlik in Deutero-Jesaja aanvaar word, is verlossing en skepping. Hoofstuk 1 gee ‘n uiteensetting van die doel en metode waarvolgens dit uitgevoer gaan word. Hoofstuk 2 gee ‘n oorsig van die navorsing en die outeurskap van Jesaja en Deutero-Jesaja. Dit blyk dat die tendens verskuif het vanaf die standpunt om Jesaja te hanteer as ’n boek met verskillende outeurs, naamlik Proto-Jesaja, Deutero-Jesaja en Trito-Jesaja, na die standpunt om Jesaja as een boek te behandel. Daar word steeds werke gepubliseer onder albei die temas, naamlik waar Jesaja as boek hanteer word en onder temas uit Deutero-Jesaja. Die meeste werke wat gebruik is, verwys net na die werkwoord נחם en verkies om dan die verhouding tussen JHWH en die volk, die verlossing of skepping te bespreek, in Deutero-Jesaja. Die werkwoord נחם word gewoonlik onder ‘n ander tema as ‘n onderdeel bespreek. Hoofstuk 3 het die beskikbare inligting omtrent die werkwoord נחם in die teologie van die Ou Testament, artikels en kommentare in die algemeen en in Deutero-Jesaja nagegaan. Die werkwoord נחם word nie as ‘n enkele tema bespreek nie. In hoofstuk 4 is ‘n ondersoek gedoen na die tekste waar die werkwoord נחם in Deutero-Jesaja voorkom sowel as die boek Jesaja. Dit is gedoen omdat die tendens bestaan om Jesaja as een werk te beskou. Daar is ‘n verskeidenheid kommentare geraadpleeg, om die tendens waar te neem, oor die bespreking rondom die werkwoord נחם en daar is bevind dat die meeste eksegete vinnig oor ‘troos’ na ‘n volgende onderwerp beweeg. Hoofstuk 5 toon aan hoe JHWH die ‘troos’ waarborg. Die werkwoord ברא ‘skep’ en die werkwoord en selfstandige naamwoord גאל ‘verlos’ en ‘verlosser’ is ondersoek in tekste saam met die werkwoord נחם om te sien hoe hulle ‘troos’ in Deutero-Jesaja ondersteun. Hoofstuk 6 hanteer die werkwoorde ידע ‘ken’ of ‘weet’ en רחם ‘ontferm’ en hulle ondersteuning aan נחם in Deutero-Jesaja. Hoofstuk 7 is die samevatting waar daar aangetoon word dat die doel en metode in hierdie tesis toegepas is. Die gevolgtrekking wat bereik is, is dat ‘troos’ ‘n tema in Deutero-Jesaja is, saam met die temas van verlossing en skepping. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted