  This paper describes the analysis and practical implementation of
synchronized hyperchaotic maps for private communication of digital data. The
data is transmitted using chaotic masking and demodulated using a matched
filter (integrate and dump) receiver, which is shown to be nearly optimal in
this case. Simulation results were validated by implementing two maps on
circuit boards using high-speed discrete components. Experimental results show
a bit error rate (BER) of 2x10-6 at a bit rate of 10 kbps and a clock frequency
of 0.5 MHz, which is sufficient for high-fidelity real-time speech and image
transmission without additional error control coding.
