Spectrum offers family of rugged embedded radio modules for size- and -power-constrained applications

Spectrum Signal Processing by Vecima in Burnaby, British Columbia, is introducing the rugged flexComm SDR-4800 family of embedded radio modules for tactical military communications (MILCOM), data link, defense, and civil satellite communications (SATCOM) systems. The SDR-4800 product family combines embedded RF and system-on-chip (SoC) technologies with hardware, software, and services from the SDR-4000 product line. Traditional software commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) radio architectures typically employ separate hardware modules to accomplish the signal processing functions of the radio, from RF down/up conversion to baseband and network processing. The SDR-4800 product family combines customizable embedded RF technologies with SoC field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology on a single module to reduce the overall size and power consumption of the radio system. By using rugged technology from the SDR-4000 product line, the SDR-4800 radio modules are also designed to address benign and harsh operating environments. The SDR-4800 also supports conduction-cooling, extended temperature ranges, and increased shock and vibration immunity. “The SDR-4800 architecture was created to meet the RF, I/O, and performance demands of the latest tactical MILCOM, SATCOM, and commercial waveforms, such as SINCGARS, HAVEQUICK, INTELSAT, UHF SATCOM, INMARSAT BGAN, and many others,” says Cyrus Sy, product manager at Spectrum. SDR-4800 radio modules combine a Xilinx Virtex-4 FX FPGA SoC processor as the primary modem processor, with a customizable embedded RF conversion stage and modem co-processor. The embedded RF stage can be customized to meet the RF requirements of various tactical MILCOM, data link and SATCOM waveforms. For more information, visit Spectrum Signal Processing online at www.spectrumsignal.com.