Automatic link establishment

1. In high-frequency (HF) radio, the capability of a station to make contact, or initiate a circuit, between itself and another specified radio station, without human intervention and usually under processor control.

Note: ALE techniques include automatic signaling, selective calling, and automatic handshaking. Other automatic techniques that are related to ALE are channel scanning and selection, link quality analysis (LQA), polling, sounding[?], message store-and-forward[?], address protection, and anti-spoofing[?].

2. In HF radio, a link control system that includes automatic scanning, selective calling, sounding, and transmit channel selection using link quality analysis data.

Note: Optional ALE functions include polling and the exchange of orderwire commands and messages.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188