ST. LOUIS, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. company Boeing said Thursday it had confirmed the interoperability of two FAB-T software-defined radios.
The company said in a statement Thursday it had "successfully demonstrated secure interoperable communications between two Family of Advanced Beyond line-of-sight Terminals -- FAB-T -- software-defined radios, validating a capability that eventually will link ground, air and space platforms."
"The demonstration, held in October at Boeing's FAB-T Systems Integration Laboratory in Anaheim, Calif., completes the initial Engineering Development Model -- EDM -- hardware and software integration of a Block 6 Phase 1 terminal for the U.S. Air Force," the company said.
"Completion of the Block 6 hardware is a significant step for our team as we remain on target to meet the needs of the war fighter with this technology," said Jim Dodd, Boeing FAB-T program director. "FAB-T is programmable and reconfigurable in the field, allowing war fighters to customize high data rate communications to meet changing mission requirements."
"The multi-terminal link capability demonstration used a simulated Advanced Extremely High Frequency -- AEHF/Military Strategic and Tactical Relay (Milstar) satellite to communicate over live radio frequency links," Boeing said.
"Demonstrating product maturity, the FAB-T team also integrated terminal software with the first EDM Modem Processor Group. Engineers then transferred the capability to the L-3 Communications FAB-T Terminal Integration Laboratory, where antenna layer integration with additional systems is being completed," the company said.
In July, Boeing said it successfully demonstrated for the first time that its FAB-T system can acquire an operational satellite and complete down-link data transmissions."
Boeing said it "expects the first phase of over-the-air testing to conclude by the end of the year."
"FAB-T is intended to provide military forces with a secure multi-mission capable family of software-defined radios that use a common open system architecture to link to different satellites and enable information exchange between ground, air and space platforms. The FAB-T family includes software-defined radios, antennas and associated user interface hardware that will provide the government with a powerful system capable of hosting a multitude of waveforms that accommodate data rates in excess of 300 Megabits per second," the company said.
