SPREAD SPECTRUM

1. Telecommunications techniques in which a signal is transmitted in a bandwidth considerably greater than the frequency content of the original information . ( 188 ) Note: Frequency hopping , direct sequence spreading, time scrambling, and combinations of these techniques are forms of spread spectrum. [ NIS ] 2. A signal structuring technique that employs direct sequence, frequency hopping or a hybrid of these, which can be used for multiple access and/or multiple functions. This technique decreases the potential interference to other receivers while achieving privacy and increasing the immunity of spread spectrum receivers to noise and interference. Spread spectrum generally makes use of a sequential noise-like signal structure to spread the normally narrowband information signal over a relatively wide band of frequencies. The receiver correlates the signals to retrieve the original information signal . [ NTIA ] ( 188 )