CLEVELAND, 25 Oct. 2006. Officials of the NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in Cleveland are choosing the flexComm SDR-4000 software defined radio (SDR) from Spectrum Signal Processing in Burnaby, British Columbia, to demonstrate the Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) architecture software in 2007.
The SDR-4000 will help refine the STRS architecture, which will enable NASA scientists to demonstrate their capabilities and benefits for future missions. Software-defined radios offer the potential to reduce radio equipment in space while supporting existing radio links.
"The modular and flexible architecture of our flexComm product portfolio allows NASA to reuse software developed on SDR-3000 based systems in previous NASA programs in the STRS program," says Michael Farley, president of Spectrum USA in Columbia, Md.
The main objectives of the STRS program are to enhance space communications and reduce mission costs. The STRS architecture supports existing communications needs while providing a path to advanced network connectivity with scalable, modular, reconfigurable, and upgradeable hardware.
The STRS will use a lightweight middleware software application, similar to the SCA used in the Joint Tactical Radio System Program (JTRS), but optimized for space-based applications.
Spectrum's SDR-4000 3U CompactPCI-based rugged platform uses heterogeneous processing to provide high-performance, real-time signal processing for satellite communications and tactical military radios.
The platform includes the PRO-4600 software defined radio modem processing engine and the XMC-3321 dual-transceiver input/output mezzanine card. The SDR-4000 also includes Spectrum's quicComm hardware abstraction layer and software development library, and a real-time operating system.
For more information contact Spectrum Signal online at www.spectrumsignal.com.
