ROMSEY, England, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A man-portable, private 3G communications base station for military, security and public security deployments has been developed by Roke of Britain.
SmartLink, as it is called, has a 9.3 mile range, weighs a third of other tactical communications cellular systems and uses half the power others require, the company said.
"Unlike current solutions, SmartLink provides all the benefits of a deployable wide-area cellular network while maintaining on-the-move capabilities due to being small, lightweight and low power," said Greg Moore, Business Sector manager at Roke Manor Research. "Roke's proven pedigree in electronic warfare and force protection technology means that SmartLink brings the benefits of cellular technology while preserving the resilience of traditional military communications."
Roke said that once the SmartLink base station is switched on, mobile phones with the private network's SIM will work immediately. By providing a self-contained, dedicated 3G (upgradable to 4G) network, SmartLink extends the communications range on rapid deployments, where no local infrastructure exists.
It is also interoperable with the existing command infrastructure, supports a variety of high bandwidth communications -- voice, SMS, IP data and video streaming.
