STANAG 5069

STANAG 5069

Frequencies	3 MHz,30 MHz
Frequency Range	3 MHz - 30 MHz
Mode	USB
Modulation	PSK,QAM
ACF	—
Emission Designator	—
Bandwidth	3 kHz,6 kHz,9 kHz,12 kHz,15 kHz,18 kHz,21 kHz,24 kHz,30 kHz,36 kHz,42 kHz,48 kHz
Location	Worldwide
Short Description	STANAG 5069 is a NATO communications standard that defines a family of wideband high-frequency (WBHF) modem waveforms for single, non-hopping HF channels with bandwidths from 3 to 48 kHz. It is technically identical to MIL-STD-188-110 Appendix D and is designed to provide interoperability between NATO and U.S. HF communication systems. The waveform is used as a wideband traffic-channel modem in 4G ALE (WALE) link setup and forms part of NATO’s broader “HF House” family of HF waveforms.
I/Q Raw Recording	—
Audio Sample

STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069, is a NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization Allied Communications Publication that specifies a scalable family of wideband high-frequency (WBHF) modem waveforms for single, non-hopping HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) channels of contiguous bandwidths from 3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz up to 48 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz. It is bit-for-bit the same waveform as MIL-STD-188-110 Appendix D ("HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) Data Modem Waveforms for Single Contiguous Bandwidths up to 48 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz"); the two documents are written to be technically identical, and both explicitly state interoperability between NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization's "HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) House" and the U.S. MIL-STD-188-110 series as a design goal. STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069 / MIL-STD-188-110 Appendix D is the wideband traffic-channel modem negotiated by 4G ALE (WALE) link setup (MIL-STD-188-141D Appendix G), and is one of several waveforms making up NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization's "HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) House" family alongside STANAG 4285, STANAG 4529, STANAG 4539 etc.

Description

STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069 / MIL-STD-188-110 Appendix D defines a self-identifying, serial-tone (single carrier) modem waveform for HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) channels of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 30, 36, 42, and 48 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz (i.e. N×3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz for N = 1–8, and M×6 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz for M = 5–8). Fourteen numbered waveforms (WID 0–13) select the modulation and effective code rate used for a given bandwidth/data-rate combination, giving overall data rates from 75 bpsBits per second (bps) up to 240,000 bpsBits per second (bps).

The waveform number actually transmitted, together with the convolutional-code constraint length and the interleaver length in use, are all signalled "in the clear" inside the initial synchronization preamble (SUPERFRAME) — an "autobaud" mechanism that lets a receiving modem determine those parameters purely from the incoming signal, without prior coordination. This is described as important for building an efficient automatic-repeat-request (ARQAutomatic Repeat reQuestAutomatic Repeat Query) protocol over HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz). For broadcast (one-way) use, where there is no return channel to negotiate parameters, the receive modem must instead be pre-configured with the bandwidth, data rate, code constraint length and interleaver setting so that it can acquire the signal directly, without relying on the preamble's self-identification.

Four "WBHF Blocks (I - IV)" define standardized subsets of the full capability so that simpler, narrower-band equipment can still interoperate with full-capability wideband stations (see Capability blocks below).

ARQAutomatic Repeat reQuestAutomatic Repeat Query for WBHF is establishable only with STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5066 Ed. 4; Ed. 3 does not support the protocol mechanisms required for ARQAutomatic Repeat reQuestAutomatic Repeat Query over WBHF.

Characteristics

Symbol rate and sub-carrier

Symbol rate and sub-carrier frequency both scale linearly with the selected channel bandwidth (BW). The sub-carrier — or, for QAMQuadrature Amplitude Modulation, the pair of quadrature sub-carriers — is centred at (300 + BW/2) HzHertz (Hz), unit of frequency, defined as one cycle per second (1 Hz)., accurate to 10 ppm:

Bandwidth (kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz)	Symbol rate (Sym/s)	Sub-carrier (HzHertz (Hz), unit of frequency, defined as one cycle per second (1 Hz).)
3	2,400	1,800
6	4,800	3,300
9	7,200	4,800
12	9,600	6,300
15	12,000	7,800
18	14,400	9,300
21	16,800	10,800
24	19,200	12,300
30	24,000	15,300
36	28,800	18,300
42	33,600	21,300
48	38,400	24,300

Modulation and transcoding

Known (probe) symbols always use PSKPhase-Shift Keying and are never scrambled. Data symbols use whichever modulation Table D-II (see Waveforms below) assigns to the requested data rate: BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol), QPSKQuadrature Phase-Shift Keying (2 bits per symbol) and 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol) constellations are all deliberately scrambled to appear on-air as an 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol) constellation, which also randomizes the transmitted signal against a fixed user data pattern. BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol) maps a single bit to symbols 0/4; QPSKQuadrature Phase-Shift Keying (2 bits per symbol) maps a dibit to symbols 0/2/4/6; 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol) maps a tribit directly to one of the 8 constellation points at 0, π/4, π/2 ... 7π/4. The QAMQuadrature Amplitude Modulation constellations (16/32/64/256QAM) map 4, 5, 6 or 8 data bits directly to a symbol with no separate transcoding step; the 16QAM and 32QAM constellations are built from multiple concentric PSKPhase-Shift Keying rings to control peak-to-average power ratio, and the 64QAM/256QAM constellations are modified (non-square or displaced) constellations chosen to improve peak-to-average ratio while preserving good pseudo-Gray-coding.

Data scrambling

For waveforms 1–7 and 13 (BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol)/QPSKQuadrature Phase-Shift Keying (2 bits per symbol)/8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol)), each data symbol is scrambled by a modulo-8 addition of the transcoded symbol number with the last 3 bits of a linear-feedback shift-register sequence generated by the polynomial x^9+x^4+1, re-initialized to the value 1 at the start of every data frame; the register is iterated 3 times after each symbol. For waveforms 8–12 (16QAM–256QAM), the equivalent number of bits (4/5/6/8) from the same generator is instead XOR'd with the symbol's data bits, with the register iterated 4/5/6/8 times per symbol accordingly. The overall scrambling sequence period is 511 bits.

Waveform 0 (the 4-ary Walsh waveform) uses a separate, longer scrambling sequence: an 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol)-domain generator implemented as a 159-bit shift register with a single feedback tap after bit 31 (a Trinomial(159,31) generator), producing 2,048 values from a defined initial 159-bit state and iterated 16 times between successive 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol) symbols.

Frame structure

After the synchronization preamble, waveforms 1–12 alternate a data block of U unknown (data) symbols with a mini-probe of K known symbols; both U and K are fixed per waveform/bandwidth combination (specified in Tables D-XI/D-XII of the underlying standard). Waveform 0 is the exception: it carries no mini-probes at all, sending continuous 32-symbol orthogonal-Walsh channel symbols, one per coded data di-bit, immediately after the preamble.

Synchronization preamble

Every transmission opens with a synchronization preamble made of two parts:

• an optional TLC (transmitter/gain-control) section, consisting of N blocks of 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol) symbols (N configurable 0–255; N = 0 means the section is omitted) formed from the complex conjugate of the Fixed subsection sequence below, provided purely to let radio/modem TGC and AGC settle before synchronization begins;
• a repeated preamble superframe, made of three Walsh-modulated subsections:
  • Fixed (Sync) — either 1 orthogonal-Walsh channel symbol (di-bit 3, sent once, M=1) or 9 channel symbols (di-bits {0,0,2,1,2,1,0,2,3}), used purely for synchronization and Doppler-offset removal;
  • Count — 4 Walsh-modulated di-bits (c3,c2,c1,c0) carrying a 5-bit downcount plus 3 parity bits, initialized to (M−1) and decremented on each of the M superframe repetitions until it reaches 0 in the final repetition before data begins;
  • Waveform ID — 5 Walsh-modulated di-bits (w4…w0), together carrying a 10-bit field (waveform number, interleaver option, convolutional constraint length, and parity).

All Walsh channel symbols in the preamble use 4-ary orthogonal Walsh modulation (di-bit 00/01/10/11 → Walsh code 0000/0404/0044/0440, repeated to fill the channel-symbol length), scrambled by a modulo-8 addition with the corresponding Fixed/Count/Waveform-ID 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol) reference symbol. Channel-symbol (Walsh sequence) length scales with bandwidth exactly like the symbol-rate table above:

Bandwidth (kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz)	Walsh sequence length in preamble (syms)
3	32
6	64
9	96
12	128
15	160
18	192
21	224
24	256
30	320
36	384
42	448
48	512

Coding and interleaving

A block interleaver spans the same length as the block code, so encoding and interleaving are matched to each other; four selectable interleaver lengths are available per waveform/bandwidth combination, informally referred to as UltraShort, Short, Medium and Long, ranging overall from roughly 0.12 s to 10.24 s. Because the shortest interleaver already spans about 120 msmilliseconds (.001 of a second), there is no "zero interleaving" option.

Prior to puncturing, either a rate-1/2, constraint-length-7 convolutional code (generator polynomials T1 = x^6+x^4+x^3+x^1+1, T2 = x^6+x^5+x^4+x^3+1) or a rate-1/2, constraint-length-9 code (T1 = x^8+x^6+x^5+x^4+1, T2 = x^8+x^7+x^6+x^5+x^3+x^1+1) is used, with a full-tail-biting construction so the resulting block code exactly fits the interleaver with no flush bits. Puncturing and repeat-coding are then applied to reach one of sixteen effective code rates — 9/10, 8/9, 5/6, 4/5, 3/4, 2/3, 9/16, 1/2, 2/5, 1/3, 2/7, 1/4, 1/6, 1/8, 1/12 or 1/16 — the actual rate used for a given waveform and bandwidth being fixed by a lookup table in the standard (e.g. waveform 12/256QAM is always coded at 8/9 or 9/10 depending on bandwidth, while waveform 1/BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol) at the lowest data rate is coded as low as 1/16 at 21 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz).

Operational features

The modem supports synchronous, asynchronous, high-speed asynchronous (byte-oriented, flow-controlled), and Ethernet DTE interfaces. Transmission must begin no later than 100 msmilliseconds (.001 of a second) after a full input data block is available. An optional 32-bit end-of-message (EOM) marker (0x4B65A5B2) can be appended after the last data bit so a receiver can detect message boundaries without external framing; an optional end-of-transmission (EOTEnd of Transmission) marker — a 13-symbol base sequence, cyclically extended by 32 symbols — can additionally be appended after the final mini-probe to let a receiver flag the end of the whole transmission immediately, without waiting for the embedded EOM.

Capability blocks

Four standardized subsets ("Blocks") let simpler equipment implement only the range of bandwidths/coding it needs while remaining interoperable with the full standard:

Block	Bandwidths	Convolutional coding	Notes
WBHF Block I	3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz only	Constraint length 7	Waveforms 0–13; modest performance improvement over STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 4539/MIL-STD-188-110A/B/C 3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz modems
WBHF Block II	3, 6, 9, 12 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz	Constraint length 7	Waveforms 0–12 at all four bandwidths, plus waveform 13 at 3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz only
WBHF Block III	up to 24 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz	Constraint length 7 and 9	All Detailed Requirements (D.5) and Performance Requirements (D.6) up to 24 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz
WBHF Block IV	up to 48 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz	Constraint length 7 and 9	Full Detailed and Performance Requirements, all bandwidths and waveforms

The Equipment Capability (EC) field signalled during 4G ALE (WALE) link negotiation maps directly onto these four Blocks.

Waveforms

WID	Modulation	Data-rate range across all bandwidths (bpsBits per second (bps))	Typical code rate range
0	4-ary Walsh	75 – 1,200	2/7 – 2/3 (own scrambling sequence, no mini-probes)
1	BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol)	150 – 2,400	1/16 – 1/8
2	BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol)	300 – 4,800	1/8 – 1/4
3	BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol)	600 – 9,600	1/4 – 1/2
4	BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol)	1,200 – 16,000	1/2 – 2/3
5	BPSKBinary Phase-Shift Keying (1 bit per symbol)	1,600 – 24,000	2/3 – 3/4
6	QPSKQuadrature Phase-Shift Keying (2 bits per symbol)	3,200 – 48,000	2/3 – 3/4
7	8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol)	4,800 – 72,000	2/3 – 3/4
8	16QAM	6,400 – 96,000	2/3 – 3/4
9	32QAM	8,000 – 120,000	2/3 – 3/4
10	64QAM	9,600 – 144,000	2/3 – 3/4
11	64QAM (higher rate)	12,000 – 192,000	4/5 – 8/9
12	256QAM	16,000 – 240,000	3/4 – 9/10
13	QPSKQuadrature Phase-Shift Keying (2 bits per symbol)	2,400 (3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz only)	9/16 (special low-rate WBHF Block 1/2 waveform)

Performance

Required coded BER is ≤1.0×10⁻⁵ on both an AWGN channel and an ITU-R F.1487 Mid-Latitude-Disturbed ("Poor") two-path Rayleigh-fading channel (2 msmilliseconds (.001 of a second) delay, 1 HzHertz (Hz), unit of frequency, defined as one cycle per second (1 Hz). two-sigma fading bandwidth), tested with the Long interleaver and a 20-superframe preamble. Required SNR ranges from about −6 dBThe decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to express the ratio of two values of a physical quantity, here the strength of a received signal. (AWGN) / −1 dBThe decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to express the ratio of two values of a physical quantity, here the strength of a received signal. (Poor) for waveform 0 up to about 30 dBThe decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to express the ratio of two values of a physical quantity, here the strength of a received signal. (AWGN; no Poor-channel requirement) for waveform 12. Additional tests specified in the standard cover static multipath channels (2–4 equal-power paths, delays up to ~9 msmilliseconds (.001 of a second)), acquisition (not yet standardized as of MIL-STD-188-110D w/withChange 1), a fixed ±75 HzHertz (Hz), unit of frequency, defined as one cycle per second (1 Hz). Doppler-shift test, and a Doppler-sweep test (±75 HzHertz (Hz), unit of frequency, defined as one cycle per second (1 Hz). triangular sweep at 3.5 HzHertz (Hz), unit of frequency, defined as one cycle per second (1 Hz)./s).

Associated communications equipment

Because the higher-order QAMQuadrature Amplitude Modulation constellations used in this waveform family are considerably more sensitive to filter response, turn-on transients, AGC and ALC behaviour than the PSKPhase-Shift Keying constellations used in narrowband HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) modems, both standards recommend:

• implementing a configurable pre-key delay in external (non-radio-integrated) modems, so the transmitter's turn-on transient can settle before the modem signal starts;
• using a slow AGC setting on receive (e.g. the "nondata" AGC mode defined in MIL-STD-188-141).

Related waveforms ("HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) House")

STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069 / MIL-STD-188-110 Appendix D is one member of NATONorth Atlantic Treaty Organization's "HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) House" family of interoperable HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) waveforms:

• STANAG 4285 – legacy single 3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz waveform, up to 3,600 bpsBits per second (bps) uncoded / 2,400 bpsBits per second (bps) coded
• STANAG 4415 – very robust 75 bpsBits per second (bps) waveform for severely degraded HFHigh Frequency (3-30 MHz) channels
• STANAG 4539 Annex C – 3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz waveforms, 75–9,600 bpsBits per second (bps) (with FECForward Error Correction)
• STANAG 4539 Annex H – multiple subcarriers HFXL, including non-contiguous TDMATime Division Multiple Access (LINK-22), 3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz channels
• STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 4444 – Electronic Protective Measures / frequency-hopping waveforms (outside the non-EPM scope of STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069)
• 4G ALE (WALE) – negotiates and hands off to a STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069 / MIL-STD-188-110 Appendix D traffic channel after LSU

Samples

3 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz / WID 10 / CL 7 / SHORT / 64-QAMQuadrature Amplitude Modulation / 9600 bpsBits per second (bps)	12 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz / WID 8 / CL 7 / MEDIUM / 16-QAMQuadrature Amplitude Modulation / 25k6 bpsBits per second (bps)	24 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz / WID 7 / CL 9 / MEDIUM / 8PSK8-Phase Phase-Shift Keying (3 bits per symbol) / 38k4 bpsBits per second (bps)	48 kHzKiloHertz (kHz) 10^3 Hz / WID 12 / CL 9 / LONG / 256-QAMQuadrature Amplitude Modulation / 240k bpsBits per second (bps)

Decoding Software

Hobby Level Software

• Currently no hobby-level software is known to decode this mode

Professional Level Software

• go2SIGNALS (in MIL Decoder Package)
• Krypto500
• RapidM (RM12 wideband modem implements MIL-STD-188-110D Appendix D / STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069)

Additional Links

• NATO Standardization Office (NSO) – STANAGNATO Standardization Agreement (STANAG), defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technical procedures or equipment between the member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 5069
• RapidM: MIL-STD-188-141D overview (4G ALEAutomatic Link Establishment / WALE, which negotiates this traffic waveform)
• RapidM RM12 Wideband SDM & ALE (48 kHz)