Photo: Via Satellite archive

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) on May 21 said it awarded a contract to iDirect Government to prototype the company’s technology to mitigate signal interference by 5G radio frequency spectrum on satellite communications, which suffers due to the overlap.

The value of the award was not disclosed.

DIU, the Defense Department unit charged with getting commercially-developed technologies and solutions adopted by the military services and defense agencies, said that 5G wireless technology impacts the “quality and dependability” of satellite communication signals and is worsening as 5G telecommunications infrastructure is deployed more widely globally.

iDirect said it will supply an operational prototype of its 5G co-channel interference mitigation solution that leverages its Communication Signal Interference Removal technology.

“Any signal interference is harmful to defense communications, and our 5G co-channel capability will ensure our customers have the crucial interference mitigation tool that helps them with communications resiliency,” Tim Winter, president of iDirect Government, said in a statement.

DIU said that if the co-channel solution is defective, “it will herald a significant breakthrough in tackling a broad spectrum of RF interference challenges” by applying the “techniques and technologies” to other communications and navigation systems.

“Addressing the challenge of 5G co-channel interference is more than a technical hurdle, it’s about ensuring seamless and robust communications for cutting-edge technologies from satellite communications to avionics support systems,” Capt. Anthony Bustamante, cyber and telecommunications project manager at DIU, said in a statement. “Success in this project means enhancing the efficiency of autonomous systems, from commercial to military applications, ensuring they operated at their best without the risk of communication failures.”

This story was first published by Defense Daily.