Susan Miller, CEO of Inmarsat. Photo: Inmarsat

[Via Satellite 01-31-2014] Inmarsat Government has announced that its Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) Software Defined Radio (SDR) waveform received Software Communications Architecture (SCA) compliance certification from the Joint Tactical Radio System Test and Evaluation Laboratory (JTRS JTEL).

The SCA, which determines how software applications and hardware platforms should interact, minimizes the effort needed to integrate waveforms with different radio platforms.

Inmarsat, along with GateHouse Satellite Communication, has developed a BGAN SDR waveform for the global government market to support BGAN bearers such as packet switched data, circuit switched data and Integrated Services for Digital Network (ISDN).

“The SCA certification enables the addition of BGAN services to existing JTRS-compliant and other SDR platforms, extending the U.S. warfighter’s ability to collaborate and share information over secure radio communications,” said Susan Miller, president and CEO of Inmarsat.

Since SDR platforms have the ability to support multiple waveforms while maintaining a compact, light-weight form, militaries are reliant on these platforms for radio communications. Most SDR platforms rely on line-of-site applications, but the BGAN SDR adds Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) broadband satcom capability, improving the user’s ability to communicate while in the field.