Signal relay device for operation in contested environment

A method, comprising:

• operating, by at least one signal relay device, in a contested environment, wherein the at least one signal relay device is located communicatively between a base station configured to send and receive signals on a first channel and user equipment configured to send and receive signals on a second channel, wherein the first channel and the second channel are different channels, wherein the at least one signal relay device comprises at least one multi-function aperture (MFA);
• receiving, by the at least one signal relay device, a base station signal on the first channel while operating in the contested environment;
• transforming, by the at least one signal relay device, the base station signal on the first channel to the second channel;
• sending, by the at least one signal relay device, the base station signal to the user equipment on the second channel while operating in the contested environment;
• receiving, by the at least one signal relay device, a user equipment signal on the second channel;
• transforming, by the at least one signal relay device, the user equipment signal on the second channel to the first channel;
• and
• sending, by the at least one signal relay device, the user equipment signal to the base station on the first channel;
• wherein the at least one signal relay device configured to transform the base station signal on the first channel to the second channel and transform the user equipment signal on the second channel to the first channel further comprises:
• an auxiliary receiver, wherein a downlink radio frequency signal is directed to the auxiliary receiver to be transformed to an intermediate frequency via at least one frequency mixer stage with local oscillator injections and passband filtering in order to create a replica of the downlink radio frequency signal at the intermediate frequency;
• and
• a loopback configuration to direct the intermediate frequency to a main receiver exciter in order to transform the intermediate frequency into an uplink radio frequency with the at least one frequency mixer stage with the local oscillator injections and the passband filtering.