Clock rate spread spectrum

Abstract

A transmitter and receiver for direct sequence spread-spectrum (SS) communications is described. The audio or other analog information to be communicated controls the clock rate of a pseudorandom sequence (PRS) to produce clock rate encoded direct sequence spread spectrum signals. The signals are decoded by a feedback loop including a voltage controlled oscillator which clocks a local PRS generator. A phase detector responds to the clock rate encoded received PRS signal and to the local PRS signal to produce a control signal. The control signal is filtered and applied to the VCO to control the local PRS clock rate. The decoder loop forces the VCO rate to track the clock rate of the encoded signal, and the decoder loop VCO control signal reproduces the analog information. A demodulator for a clock rate encoded SS signal upconverted by a carrier includes a pair of mixers, a first of which receives the signal to be demodulated and the local PRS sequence from the decoder. When the local and received sequence are phase coincident, the first mixer produces the carrier. The second mixer receives the signal to be demodulated and the carrier from the first mixer and generates therefrom demodulated baseband clock rate encoded SS signals for application to the decoder.