Spectrum Offers a MIL-STD-188-181B Compliant Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications Waveform Implementation on the SDR-4000 Modem
24 October 2007
Spectrum Signal Processing by Vecima ("Spectrum"), a leading provider of software defined radio (SDR) technology, today announced that the Ultra High Frequency Satellite Communications (UHF SATCOM) waveform physical layer (PHY) is now available on the flexCommTM SDR-4000 rugged wireless modem. The UHF SATCOM waveform provides military users with a beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) tactical data and voice communications capability that is compliant with the US Department of Defense's MIL-STD-188-181B Military Standard.
The Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC) developed the UHF SATCOM PHY for use on the rugged SDR-4000 modem. The CRC implementation operates using narrowband (5 KHz) and/or wideband (25 KHz) channels and efficiently uses power and maximizes the range of communications through constant envelope modulation technology. The integrated solution supports independent transmit and receive links allowing full-duplex operation.
"Integrating CRC's implementation of the UHF SATCOM waveform with Spectrum's wireless modem is one example of how CRC is able to transfer technology to Canadian industry and the international community," said Veena Rawat, President, Communications Research Centre Canada. "The ultimate goal of such technology transfers is to drive the development and commercial availability of communications systems that support Canada's current and future military needs."
"Spectrum continues to partner with trusted industry and government leaders such as CRC to deliver value added solutions to our customers," said Mark Briggs, VP of Marketing at Spectrum. "By integrating the modem hardware, software and firmware with the waveform physical layer, program managers can focus their engineering resources on designing higher-level functionality. Offering this powerful solution as an integrated commercial-off-the-shelf package greatly reduces technology and schedule risks, and will ultimately reduce our customers time to deployment and development costs."
The SDR-4000 rugged wireless modem is packaged as a 3U CompactPCI® module that is conduction-cooled. The modem architecture consists of software reconfigurable processor technology combined into an integrated package that is size, weight and power optimized for deployment in harsh environments. The modem also comes with Spectrum's quicCommTM hardware abstraction layer that facilitates algorithm partitioning and programming, and supports an optional Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Software Communications Architecture (SCA) Core Framework implementation, also provided by CRC, for those radio programs requiring SCA compliance.
The SDR-4000 modem with UHF SATCOM PHY implementation is available for order immediately. The UHF SATCOM PHY implementation is supplied under a simple licensing model. Waveform customizations are available upon request.
