Roke Manor Research announced the launch of Battlefield
Connect, a portable wireless broadband base station which creates a private
communications network for military tactical deployments, whilst significantly
enhancing spectrum use.
The Battlefield Connect evaluation
system is the world’s first portable 3G base station to have up to a 40km
range, more than 40,000 times the area covered by other similar devices. This
extends the communications range where no local infrastructure exists on
military deployments, such as peace keeping, special operations and assistance
to population roles.
By providing a self contained dedicated 3G network,
Battlefield Connect achieves efficient spectrum access, supporting high
bandwidth communications such as streaming video from UAVs or imagery and
biometric exchange, as well as simultaneous voice communications, Internet
access and texting. It is also fully interoperable with the existing military
command infrastructure.
Battlefield Connect is rapidly deployable. Once the base
station is switched on, mobile phones with the private network’s SIM card work
immediately. This is an extremely cost effective and lightweight solution as no
specialist handset is required, negating the need for training and reducing the
soldier weight burden.
Battlefield Connect is also the first to support full
mobility at speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour, allowing effective
communications between both static users, fast moving ground vehicles and UAVs.
“Spectrum overload is a constant issue for the
military. This is particularly so in a coalition environment which makes spectrum
use even more challenging as the airwaves are extremely busy. Battlefield
Connect allows an increased amount of high bandwidth information to be
channelled through the spectrum without overloading it,” said James Fisher,
business development manager,Roke.
“3G technology is already widely used in the
commercial world, meaning that the expensive research and design has already
been done. By using these ready-made components to develop Battlefield Connect,
we have created a cost effective and resilient solution that will significantly
improve the chain of command during a military tactical deployment,”
Fisher added.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
