Cohere Technologies, the innovator behind the award-winning Universal Spectrum Multiplier (USM) software for 4G and 5G networks and Pulsone™ Technology powered by the Zak-Orthogonal Time Frequency and Space (Zak-OTFS) waveform, today announced it has been awarded a $28 million contract funded by the FutureG Office within the U.S. Department of War (DoW).
The contract will support the development of a Multi-Waveform Radio Access Network (RAN) prototype for mission-critical Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC).
Titled “Procurement of Multi-Waveform Radio Access Network (RAN) for Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC)”, the award expands on a National Science Foundation VINES Phase 2 project. It will fund the development of a sovereign, mission-first ISAC capability that leverages existing and future commercial 5G/6G infrastructure to provide persistent aerial and ground surveillance while remaining indistinguishable from ordinary cellular traffic.
“ISAC is a mission-first priority for the U.S. Department of War to defend against drone swarms. Due to guidance from leadership to execute rapidly, we required a partner with the right technology ready today,” said Tom Rondeau, Principal Director for FutureG, OUSW(R&E). As a proven innovator with a demonstrated ability to build multi-waveform platforms, Cohere Technologies offered a clear path that we could move on immediately. Their OTFS modulation carries information directly in the sensing domain, delivering massive communications and sensing performance advantages in high-Doppler environments. This solution rapidly delivers critical ISAC capabilities while building on our ‘innovate-first’ posture, demonstrating the tremendous opportunity for innovation brought by the FutureG Open Centralised Unit Distributed Unit (OCUDU) platform.”
The multi-waveform system prototype is designed to provide detection, classification, tracking, and defeat-cueing of drone threats while operating in commercial spectrum bands, making it difficult for adversaries to distinguish sensing activity from normal cellular communications.
In addition to core defence applications – including battlefield awareness, border security, and critical infrastructure protection – the programme will identify parallel commercial use cases such as advanced air mobility, smart city traffic management, and public safety. Work under the contract will be executed in close collaboration with government technical authorities and programme partners.
“This ISAC contract from DoW represents a major milestone for Cohere and for the future of dual-use wireless technology,” said Ray Dolan, chairman and CEO of Cohere Technologies. “By combining our Pulsone Technology with conventional Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) in a flexible, software-defined architecture, we can deliver high-performance sensing that is affordable, scalable, and operationally invisible – exactly what is needed to counter the growing threat of sophisticated drones and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).”
Key Capabilities to Be Developed Under the Program
- A multi-waveform physical layer running on an open, extensible software stack that supports both traditional 4G and 5G OFDM and Pulsone technology using the Zak-OTFS waveform.
- A mobile test platform enabling bi-static and multi-static sensing configurations.
- A layered inference sensing system that converts raw delay-Doppler data into real-time 3D tracks with classification and confidence scoring.
- Realistic outdoor test environments supporting mono-static, bi-static, and multi-static sensing.
- Compliance with the FutureG OCUDU platform and Zero Trust security requirements.
“This ISAC project award validates Cohere’s long-term vision of building sovereign, future-proof wireless infrastructure that serves both national security and commercial markets,” Dolan added. “We are proud to work alongside the FutureG Office and partners to deliver technology that strengthens our nation’s ability to sense and respond in contested environments.”
