Comtech announces digital modem product. Photo: Comtech

Comtech is launching a new portfolio of Digital Common Ground (DCG) modems that the company says will enable digitized, hybrid satellite network architectures. 

The modems are designed to support commercial and government satellite operations on a single common platform that can be reconfigured for changing operational needs. The company said it is one of the first product lines with access to multi-orbit capabilities across commercial and purpose-built networks. It is also one of the first modem lines to be Digital Intermediate Frequency Interoperability (DIFI) compliant. 

The DCG modems will allow customers to switch between Geostationary Orbit (GEO), milsatcom, Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO), and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) networks. This is a paradigm shift from analog to digital, giving customers more choice and resiliency in their networks, Comtech interim CEO John Ratigan told Via Satellite. 

“It’s a great way for a customer to add resilience to their network,” Ratigan said. “They can go to any network. As long as they’re registered on all of these networks, they can easily move their data from one network to another.” 

The modem also supports analog, so it can support teleport customers today and as they migrate to digital teleports. A software-defined, digital modem condenses the number of modems needed at a single teleport, Ratigan said. 

Customers have “a choice of many orbital planes to use, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. I envision that people will be able to utilize more than one [orbital plane] to get their traffic where it needs to go,” Ratigan said. “There’s already been a dramatic change in technology over the last 10 years. We see this as the next logical step in terms of what customers need to do with their teleports and their facilities around the world.”

Comtech is currently accepting orders for the DCG product line, which is designed and built at the company’s headquarters in Chandler, Arizona. Ratigan said Comtech plans to release a single channel modulator version toward the end of this year. Dual channel and eight-channel models are set to be released in the spring. 

Comtech is also working on network orchestration software to help customers move their data between networks in the easiest way possible.