CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Jan. 31, 2012. Rockwell Collins has launched work on Phase 2 of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) research contract valued at $5.3 million. The goal is to increase the capability of digital software defined radios.

The Remote Analog to Digital Converter with Deserialization and Reconstruction (RADER) program calls for Rockwell Collins to develop photonic analog to digital (A/D) converters with capability for remote operation. Research is currently underway and will conclude at the end of 2012 under the terms of the agreement.

This is the second RADER contract awarded to the company. In Phase 1, Rockwell Collins demonstrated an A/D Converter with a minimum of 8 Effective Number of Bits (ENOB) operating at 10GHz.

While the aim of Phase 2 is to significantly increase electronic countermeasure capabilities, the research could ultimately be applied across a broad spectrum of military and commercial communication devices.