EM Solutions wins contract from US Agency for 10Gbps mobile backhaul link

25 July 2016

EM Solutions announced today that it had won an initial order from a US Government Agency to develop and supply its 10 Gbps E-band backhaul radios for evaluation in ship to shore communications.

Announcing the contract, EM Solutions Managing Director and CEO Dr. Rowan Gilmore said “EM Solutions has been selected to showcase its leading edge radio technology for challenging applications to an important US customer. We will integrate the new 10Gbps E-band radios developed by our subsidiary EMClarity into the same steerable gimbal systems used in our comms-on-the-move (OTM) Cobra satellite terminals, enabling the new radio systems to be used for high speed data backhaul, even where either end is in motion”. E-band frequencies, spanning the 70 – 80 GHz mm-wave spectral band, are notoriously susceptible to atmospheric path loss, limiting their range. In this application, large antennas are used at both ends to increase the link gain and achieve path lengths of up to 20km. However, such large antennas have very narrow beamwidths at E-band frequencies and require active steering.

“EM Solutions’ patented steering technology uses the same closed-loop monopulse technology as in our Cobra satellite OTM terminals” Dr. Gilmore said. This means that even with wave or wind motion buffeting the antennas, both ends always remain pointing along boresight and are resistant to motion of the underlying ship or vehicle. “Once the link is established by the pointing system, the radios can communicate at data rates up to 10Gbps. This system provides the longest range and highest data rate of any commercial wireless system, and that even when both ends are moving”.

With an earlier 5Gbps commercial system connecting the New York and Nasdaq stock exchanges in use for over six months now, EM Solutions said much of the upgraded 10Gbps system is already field proven and ready for evaluation in government and defence markets. “Building on the experience of the financial network, and incorporating our already mature BUCs, LNBs, and pointing technologies used in Cobra for the satellite market, EM Solutions is once again demonstrating its engineering excellence and ability to customise its products for challenging markets. This is a world first – providing fiber-like speeds over the air from ship to shore is an exciting new market for EM Solutions and EMClarity”.