CRC-developed SDR technology deployed in commercial radios: Ultra Electronics ships new radios enabled by CRC’s Software Communications Architecture

The Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC), an agency of Industry Canada is pleased to announce that its world-renowned Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology has been shipped to North American customers for deployment.

The CRC-developed Software Communications Architecture (SCA) V2.2 core framework is at the heart of the latest radio from Montreal-based Ultra Electronics, a leading global supplier of line-of-sight (LOS) radios and systems for mid-range tactical communications. Earlier this month, the Tactical Communication Systems Division of Ultra Electronics announced that the 16Mb/s full-duplex version of its flagship AN/GRC-245 High-Capacity LOS radio has been delivered to several major customers.

“CRC is proud to have contributed to the success of Ultra’s SCA-compliant radio,” said Claude Bélisle, Vice-President of Satellite Communications and Radio Propagation at the CRC. “Once again, CRC achieves an industry first with the only operational, commercial off-the-shelf SCA Core Framework in the marketplace.”

Ultra Electronics reports a strong demand for the new 16Mb/s radio, and has already secured a very large order backlog. The radio boasts a built-in multiplexer that supports both serial and Ethernet traffic for increased flexibility. It supports multiple waveforms to suit the different operational roles demanded of the product and is software upgradeable to 34 Mb/s. The AN/GRC-245 is the first high-capacity, tactical radio on the market using the open-standard Software Communications Architecture V2.2 core framework.

“CRC’s SCA core framework forms an integral part of our latest software-defined radio,” said Alan Barker, President of Ultra Electronics -Tactical Communication Systems. “The expertise of the CRC team in SCA and component-based development was extremely valuable to our engineers.”

The SCARI Software Suite is a complete SCA development environment composed of the SCA Core Framework, the SCA Architect for platform and waveform development and the Radio Manager, for deployment and introspection. The Suite is available for the largest processor/operating system combination on the market. It supports Linux, VxWorks, Integrity, YellowDog and LynxOS, ORBexpress, TAO, x86, PowerPC and ARM. It is also available integrated with COTS platforms from Spectrum Signal Processing, Lyrtech and ISR Technologies.

For more information about CRC’s SDR products and services, please visit: www.crc.gc.ca/sdr.

About the Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC)

CRC is the Canadian government's primary laboratory for research and development (R&D) in advanced telecommunications. R&D is used for public policy purposes and to strengthen the Canadian economy through technology and knowledge transfer. Under its four research branches (Terrestrial Wireless, Satellite Communications and Radio Propagation Research, Broadband Network Technologies and Broadcast Technology), CRC specializes in taking an interdisciplinary approach to longer-term R&D in wireless systems, radio fundamentals, communication networks, photonics and interactive multimedia. An early adopter of the Software Communications Architecture (SCA), CRC has been involved in the evolution and adaptation of the specification. CRC also offers a number of products and services for the development of SDR technology.  More information about CRC is available at: www.crc.gc.ca.

About Ultra Electronics
Ultra Electronics is a group of specialist businesses designing, manufacturing and supporting electronic and electromechanical systems, sub-systems and products for defense, security and aerospace applications worldwide.

Ultra Electronics, which employs 3,500 people in the UK and North America, focuses on high integrity sensing, control, communication and display systems with an emphasis on integrated information technology solutions. The Group concentrates on obtaining a technological edge in niche markets, with many of its products and technologies being market leaders in their field.

For more information, please contact:

Jeet Hothi
Director, Technology Transfer Office
Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC)
613.990.2089
jeet.hothi@crc.gc.ca