In wireless networks, a fundamental trade-off is data rate versus range. Successful data transmission requires a transmitter to transmit a signal with an energy per bit that is large enough for a receiver to distinguish the signal from noise. Free space propagation causes energy of the signal to decay as inverse of the distance squared. Maintaining sufficient energy per bit such that the transmission is successful as the range is increased requires that either the power of the transmission be increased or the number of bits transmitted per unit time be decreased or a combination of both. In a hostile environment, increasing the power of the transmission increases the likelihood of being detected by an enemy so that one sacrifices throughput by using a lower data rate instead of increasing the power. Power levels may also be limited by available sources, such as batteries, vehicle power and so forth.