A trio of defense system experts from Benchmark explained that reduced size need not mean reduced performance for battlefield connectivity. They describe Benchmark's vision for reducing size, weight, and power (SWaP) in the March 2023 issue of Military Embedded Systems with the article “Lower-SWaP LOS Radios Help Secure Battlefields." The three authors detail the design and development of a single-board, ultrawideband (UWB), line-of-sight (LOS) transmitter and receiver combination capable of data rates as fast as 6.8 Mb/sec over distances as far as 200 m. The radio module exceeds all SWaP expectations and operates with low power to achieve low probability of detection (LPD) and low probability of intercept (LPI) when operating in the most hostile environments.
Benchmark’s SWaP specialists, Jim Benson (Director of Advanced Technology), Mike Bontell (Aerospace and Defense Business Development Executive), and Hiep Truong (Director of Design Engineering for Benchmark Secure Technology), offer insights into the growing importance of reduced-SWaP strategies. As troops become more mobile and agile, reducing SWaP of electronic systems becomes more a necessity than a luxury. From this vantage point, the three authors explain how it is possible to be innovative while still shrinking the hardware. The compact frequency-hopping radio design makes effective use of spectrum from 3.5 to 7.0 GHz, working within instantaneous bandwidths of 500 and 900 MHz and operating on a single +3.3-VDC power supply. The radio module is a versatile building block for secure tactical LOS manpack radios that will keep the troops connected without slowing them down.
Read the complete article: https://militaryembedded.com/unmanned/payloads/lower-swap-los-radios-help-secure-battlefields
