Mary Rose Roberts
Mary Rose Roberts is the associate editor of Urgent Communications, formerly Mobile Radio Technology magazine. She can be reached at maryrose.roberts@penton.com
Facilities construction and equipment installation on-schedule in preparation for the launch of MSV’s next-generation network
Reston, Va., November 20, 2008 — Mobile Satellite Ventures LP (MSV) announced today that the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted communications licenses for the two new MSV gateways in the U.S. being built to support the company’s next-generation integrated satellite-terrestrial communication network for North America.
MSV is constructing a network with four new gateways located in Napa, California and Dallas, Texas, along with similar facilities in Ottawa, Ontario and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. MSV also has an operating license for the Ottawa facility and has been granted authorization for the Saskatoon facility by Industry Canada (IC).
“This is another milestone achieved in the development and planned launch of MSV’s next-generation integrated satellite-terrestrial network that will provide ubiquitous coverage for North America,” said Robert M. Sorbello, vice president of satellite engineering for MSV. “All four of our next-generation gateways will be operational in advance of the launch of our first next-generation satellite that has a launch period beginning during the fourth quarter of 2009.”
MSV has now begun acceptance testing of the new communications equipment installed at both the Napa and Saskatoon facilities and plans to commence testing in the Dallas and Ottawa facilities during the first quarter of 2009. The Ottawa facility will also continue to serve as the communications gateway for MSV’s existing and legacy services.
Construction and preparation of all four sites is the responsibility of Boeing under the terms of the MSV-Boeing Next-Generation Space System contract.
MSV and its Canadian joint venture partner, Mobile Satellite Ventures (Canada) Inc. are developing an integrated satellite-terrestrial communications network, based on MSV’s patented ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) technology. MSV is owned and controlled by SkyTerra Communications, Inc. (OTCBB: SKYT).
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About Mobile Satellite Ventures (www.msvlp.com) MSV delivers mobile wireless voice and data services primarily for public safety, security, fleet management and asset tracking in the U.S. and Canada. The company’s next-generation hybrid satellite-terrestrial communications network is expected to provide seamless, transparent and ubiquitous wireless coverage of the United States and Canada to conventional handsets. When completed, the network will support communications in a variety of market segments including public safety, homeland security, aviation, transportation and entertainment, by providing a platform for interoperable, user-friendly and feature-rich voice and high-speed data services.
SAN DIEGO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Hypres Inc., a leading developer of superconductor microelectronics technology and the Digital-RF™ product line, achieved a major milestone—and an industry first—by demonstrating RF distribution and routing functionality completely within the digital domain of the radio architecture on a recent U.S. Army Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) project. Accomplished through the company’s newly patented Digital-RF™ switch matrix technology, this new RF distribution and routing capability is essential to realize the full potential of high performance, reconfigurable multi-band and multi-channel radio systems such as the Software Defined Radio.
RF distribution and routing refers to the transport mechanism that moves the incoming RF signal from the antenna, through the analog front end components, to the appropriate digital baseband signal processing resources.
Because of performance limitations inherit in semiconductor-based radio architectures, conventional RF distribution and routing has always been in the analog domain. The Hypres Digital-RF™ switch matrix, based on the world’s fastest digital logic, allows RF distribution and routing in the digital domain directly between any of the radio’s analog front end components and digital processing resources.
“Analog-based RF switch matrices present significant deficiencies in terms of signal loss, isolation and crosstalk. In addition, they also suffer from a lack of scalability and reconfigurability,” said Deepnarayan Gupta, Ph.D., vice president, research and development, Hypres. “Our Digital-RF™ switch matrix technology solves these issues by moving the boundary between analog and digital domains to directly after the antenna, allowing the switch layer to be incorporated in the transceiver digital domain,” explained Dr. Gupta, co-inventor of the switch matrix and Hypres’ principal investigator for the U.S. Army SBIR project.
Co-inventor Alex Kirichenko, a renowned expert in superconductor digital circuits and a lead circuit designer at Hypres, was the principal designer of the switch matrix circuit, which has been successfully integrated with multiple analog-to-digital converters and digital processing circuitry on a single chip receiver.
The Digital-RF™ switch matrix allows natural partitioning between band-specific and band-independent components—allowing both the analog and digital components to operate at their highest performance levels. Whereas analog components such as power amplifiers, antennas filters, and analog/digital converters are optimized for specific frequency bands, digital signal processing components such as digital mixers, digital filters, and deserializers operate independently of the signal characteristics. In addition, this partitioning extends the software radio paradigm by allowing full software programmability of the RF distribution network.
“The team is to be congratulated for its creativity and dedication in developing and advancing the state-of-the-art in RF switches,” said Richard Hitt, CEO at Hypres. “Given the extremely high switching speeds needed for multi-band, multi-channel radio applications—in the tens of GHz—Digital-RF™ distribution and routing is only possible in high performance superconducting integrated circuits. With switching times measured in picoseconds, these chips are unmatched in the industry.”
Marketed under its Digital-RF™ product line, Hypres is developing a family of reprogrammable all-digital receivers, transmitters, and transceivers. In addition to Software Defined Radio applications, the Digital-RF™ product line will include versions for cognitive radio, mobile broadband, satellite and tactical communications, signals intelligence, electronic warfare, and RADAR.
About Hypres
Hypres Inc., formed in 1983, develops and commercializes superconductor microelectronics (SME) that provide unparalleled economic and performance advantages for defense and commercial wireless markets, and a host of other applications. Hypres SME technology is widely recognized as the leading solution to achieve a single RF system that is interoperable across all required waveforms and spectrum ranges. Headquartered in Elmsford, New York, Hypres is recognized worldwide as the leader in digital superconducting technology with the most accomplished team of superconductor specialists in the world. Hypres has delivered more different and complex SME circuits than any other institution worldwide. For more information, please visit us at www.hypres.com.
LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Axis Network Technology (AxisNT) has announced the launch of a family of Remote Radio Heads (RRH) for OEM deployment of LTE networks worldwide. The LTE platform, with 20W output power, is based on the same innovative design principles as AxisNT’s successful WiMAX RRH, which is already being manufactured and shipped in volume worldwide.
The LTE RRHs provide 2 x 10W at 64QAM of diversity multi-carrier RF power using AxisIPR™ advance amplifier technology, operating over the 2.3 - 2.7GHz E-UTRA frequency bands. The units can be customised to meet the specific interface and packaging requirements of the OEM. Designing LTE basestations using a distributed RRH approach with highly efficient digital-to-RF conversion and amplification considerably reduces both CAPEX and OPEX of the overall system as well as maintenance costs, and accelerates time-to-deployment.
The use of an RRH allows the radio to be located alongside the antennas and physically separate from the basestation (BTS), removing the losses associated with long cable runs – typically around 3dB per cable – by replacing them with an optical fibre data interface. Consequently a single MIMO RRH, with 10W output power will provide greater coverage than a 40W SISO ground based BTS, with power and energy consumption reduced to a fraction of the cost. The AxisNT RRH offers flexible multi-gigabit BTS connections, communicating via OBSAI, CPRI or custom OEM fibre interfaces.
“We are already hearing from our WiMAX customers how effective our RRHs are in reducing their deployment costs and speeding rollout of their networks,” commented Michel Vieuxmaire, Sales Director of AxisNT. “Now OEMs developing networks for LTE will be able to enjoy the same benefits, with RRHs customised to their own mechanical and interface requirements.”
AxisNT RRHs feature: automatic calibration for transmit, receive and PA bias control loops; OBSAI RP3-01 and CPRI V2 digital baseband interfaces with one or two optical connectors; very high reliability including an advanced failure mode prediction capability, as well as inherent fibre and RF redundancy.
Support for Adaptive Antenna Systems (AAS) and AISG v2.0 antenna control is provided, and the unit features a compact, lightweight modular design in a die-cast enclosure, with solar shield for outdoor use.
LINDON, Utah–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Luxul Wireless, a leading innovator of patented high-performance wireless signal technologies, announced today the addition of several new 2.4 GHz antennas to its X-WAVTM Flat Panel Antenna family. X-WAV antennas implement advanced signal technology that delivers greater signal reach and penetration, creating an ideal solution for use wherever obstructions, such as walls or trees, threaten to limit coverage. The flat panel design allows for the use of a high gain, high-performance X-WAV antenna in environments where an unobtrusive, low-profile solution is required.
“Delivering a broader range of X-WAV antennas allows for the adoption of Luxul’s revolutionary signal technologies into more applications and markets that are actively seeking relief from the poor signal strength and quality of their current antenna solutions,” said Tyler Crawford, CEO of Luxul Wireless. “These additions enable our customers and partners to meet a greater variety of application requirements and coverage needs. It’s an important milestone in the company’s development and represents a significant contribution to the Wi-Fi community.”
With the availability of more X-WAV antenna options, Luxul Wireless is now better equipped to deliver powerful antenna solutions that provide greater sector coverage, as well as medium to long range Point-to-Point and Point-To-Multipoint links. Customer benefits include a powerful antenna solution with easy signal alignment, and the increased ability to connect subscribers on the outer edges of a network. Luxul Wireless solutions utilize patented Wi-Fi signal boosting technology and an advanced circular polarization signal capability, called Clear-WAV™ that delivers increased signal penetration, range and clarity ─ easily outperforming traditional signal technologies.
About Luxul Wireless
Luxul Wireless is the leader in engineering superior wireless signal propagation technologies to address the challenges faced by traditional wireless networking methodologies. Luxul’s Clear-WAV™ solutions deliver the world’s most reliable and powerful signals for use home, office, and industrial networking applications. Clear-WAV technologies are ideal for mobile and fixed Non-Line-of-Site (NLOS) wireless applications and are key elements to successful WIFI, WIMAX, RFID, wireless Broadband, Mesh, and other wireless networking implementations. Luxul Clear-WAV products include:
X-WAV™ Antennas
Shock-WAV™ WiFi Signal Boosters
Pro-WAV™ Systems and Kits
Luxul’s Clear-WAV signal technology is used in successful wireless network installations worldwide and is a key component in some of the most robust, stable and efficient wireless networks in the world.
New Sites in Washington and Arizona Are Part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Program to Enhance Homeland Security at RFID-Enabled Border Crossings
BLUE BELL, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Unisys (NYSE:UIS) today announced that the first U.S. land border crossings using advanced information technology to capture, read and analyze traveler and vehicle information have opened in Blaine, Wash., and Nogales, Ariz. These sites, equipped by Unisys to process secure Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) RFID-enabled travel documents which include U.S. passport cards and alternative documents (enhanced driver’s licenses, trusted traveler cards and border crossing cards) are designed to increase homeland security while minimizing delays to travelers crossing U.S. land borders.
Unisys will support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency as it rolls out its WHTI RFID solution at 37 additional high-volume land ports of entry by June 2009, helping to improve officer safety and ability to assess risk, while enhancing homeland security.
WHTI through its requirement that individuals carry a passport card or other acceptable documents will greatly reduce the opportunities for fraud or misrepresentation of one’s true identity. Unisys-deployed and managed card readers and supporting technology quickly communicate RFID-stored traveler information to CBP, whose systems can confirm a WHTI document’s validity and assist in determining a traveler’s true identity. Beginning June 1, 2009, U.S. citizens and Canadians entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry will be required to have a passport, passport card or WHTI-compliant document such as an enhanced driver’s license.
In January 2008, CBP awarded a contract to Unisys to design, install and manage the WHTI license plate reader and RFID infrastructure. The Unisys solution includes a series of RFID antennas and cameras, which capture WHTI-compliant RFID-enabled travel documents as well as vehicle license plate information. The company also designed the technical architecture that integrates data from the various sensors and cameras with external databases – delivering information to CBP officers via a centralized dashboard. Additionally, Unisys is providing help desk services and is managing and maintaining the solution and its various components to ensure system availability.
The Unisys solution provides CBP officers with a wealth of information on travelers before their vehicles reach the inspection booth in a vehicle primary lane. A monitor and dashboard in the inspection booth assists in performing law enforcement queries, which helps an officer assess risk quickly and make an informed decision as to whether additional assessment of a vehicle or individual is warranted.
“The WHTI RFID-enabled travel documents facilitate the entry process for legitimate travelers across CBP’s land ports of entry,” said CBP Assistant Commissioner Field Operations, Thomas Winkowski. “RFID technology also offers CBP another enforcement layer to our mission in keeping our borders safe.”
“We are proud to join CBP in announcing the achievement of this significant milestone on the WHTI project, and to have delivered this high-quality solution on time and on budget,” said Tom Conaway, managing partner, Homeland Security, Unisys Federal Systems. “These deployments mark an important step forward in our partnership with CBP, and we look forward to rolling out the solutions at land crossings around the nation.”
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL - News) announced today that its ACCOLADE wireless mesh mine communications system has received final approval from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for all key system components. This approval enables mine operators throughout the country to incorporate L-3’s wireless mesh system into their federal- and state-approved mine-safety plans.
The wireless mesh system, developed by L-3’s Global Security & Engineering Solutions (GS&ES) division, is the only MSHA-approved safety system that incorporates voice, data and tracking capabilities into a single system. This successful federal approval follows similar approval from the state of West Virginia in September. GS&ES will commence large-scale commercial sales and installations of the system throughout the coal mining industry beginning in January 2009.
“Our ability to meet requirements for MSHA and West Virginia is a result of the technical innovation of our L-3 staff and partners and demonstrates our government’s commitment to make advanced mine safety systems available to the industry,” said Jerry Bates, president of GS&ES.
L-3 Global Security & Engineering Solutions is a division of L-3 Communications. Headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia, GS&ES has nearly 3,000 employees worldwide providing a broad range of technical, analytical, operational and security services and products to government and commercial customers. Core capabilities include advanced security solutions and services, engineering and technical solutions and services, program management, and operational support services.
Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications employs over 64,000 people worldwide and is a prime contractor in aircraft modernization and maintenance, C3ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) systems and government services. L-3 is also a leading provider of high technology products, subsystems and systems. The company reported 2007 sales of $14 billion.
To learn more about L-3, please visit the company’s Web site at http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.l-3com.com&esheet=5833772&lan=en_US&anchor=www.L-3Com.com&index=1. L-3 uses its Web site as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding L-3 is routinely posted on the company’s Web site and is readily accessible.
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced it has significantly enhanced wireless network security by providing a built-in, hardware-based wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) sensor in its enterprise-grade wireless LAN (WLAN) access points (APs). The integrated product debut follows last month’s
announcement of Motorola’s acquisition of AirDefense, Inc., a leading WLAN security provider and former Motorola OEM partner for more than three years.
Combining Motorola’s WLAN intellectual property with the
industry-leading AirDefense WIPS into a single platform delivers
significantly improved security compared to legacy time-slicing WIPS approaches and minimizes hardware and wiring costs. Motorola’s existing AP-5131 and AP-7131 customers can integrate AirDefense best-in-class WIPS into their WLAN infrastructure with a simple software upgrade to these multi-radio access point platforms.
“Global enterprises today, more than ever, are turning to recognizable names in WLAN infrastructure and security, because reliability and trustworthiness of products is important in a changing economic climate,” said Paul Brooks, director of global information security for Ahold.
“Motorola’s acquisition of AirDefense perfectly complements its innovative WLAN infrastructure product portfolio and will benefit customers worldwide.”
The multi-radio Motorola AP-5131 (802.11 abg) and AP-7131 (802.11 abgn) with integrated, hardware-based WIPS provides enterprises with a new option that does not require the traditional three-layer solution of wired, followed by overlay wireless followed by overlay WIPS. By offering a cost-effective, integrated solution that enables businesses to secure their networks against wireless attacks and comply with regulatory and industry requirements, Motorola’s Enterprise Mobility business is making wireless networks easier to deploy, secure and manage.
DEDHAM, MA–(Marketwire - November 17, 2008) - Metatomix, Inc., a leading provider of semantic solutions to justice and public safety, financial services, manufacturing and life sciences organizations, today announced the introduction of a new a suite of tools designed to analyze and map information found in unstructured textual formats, and integrate that information with structured and semi-structured data using Metatomix’s Semantic Middleware Platform. The product, called “Discovery,” will provide public sector and commercial customers with the ability to incorporate more diverse data sets for the purpose of a richer 360 degree view of a topic or entity. For markets needing an enhanced view of a criminal or terrorist, a better toolset for E-Discovery in legal markets or real-time analysis of financial filings, Discovery will accelerate those activities.
Discovery will offer an immediate benefit to Metatomix’s customers in a variety of markets. Within the justice and public safety sector, the varied content of incident reports, criminal history logs, text descriptions and narratives can be accurately integrated into queries run by state and local officials. Incident reports, used by law enforcement departments across the country to detail officers’ daily activities, commonly use free text entry and comments fields to store important information. Previously, only certain elements of these report narratives could be analyzed, often excluding the information contained within the unstructured text.
“The addition of the Discovery suite of tools will firmly position Metatomix as a leader in delivering semantic data-sharing technology to both the government and business sectors,” said Metatomix President and CEO Jeff Dickerson. “We believe that this technology will greatly benefit our customers across all markets by offering them the ability to analyze data in formats that were previously inaccessible.”
Incorporating Discovery into Metatomix’s Criminal Investigation (CI) product will introduce a full suite of text analytics tools capable of sorting and extracting valuable pieces of data from free text-based information sources like incident reports. Using that information, law enforcement officials will be able to identify common themes, such as a rise in traffic accidents at a specific intersection or an elevated number of robberies in a certain neighborhood.
Metatomix’s customers in the financial services industry will also benefit greatly with the integration of Discovery. Teams of analysts at leading financial institutions are regularly tasked with sorting through detailed fund prospectuses to identify relevant trends and themes. The information within these documents often requires a significant amount of time to be analyzed and processed. Because the data is unstructured, it is inaccessible using existing search technologies. Using the automated analytic capabilities within the Discovery suite of tools, relevant data is able to be extracted from the documents without the use of human analysts. This data can then be interpreted and applied faster and more efficiently.
The technology behind Discovery was developed by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) through research funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other government agencies. Originally designed for use within the national security community, Discovery’s information analysis technology was licensed by Metatomix to create a new derivative work that will be integrated throughout the company’s suite of semantic middleware solutions.
Metatomix’s semantic technology intelligently gathers data from existing systems, using a common model to understand how relevant data relates to each other. That knowledge is then leveraged to make decisions and implement actions.
About Metatomix, Inc.
Founded in 2000, Metatomix is the leading provider of semantic solutions to justice and public safety, financial services, manufacturing and life sciences organizations. Metatomix solutions link data from existing disparate systems to create a common semantic understanding across the enterprise. Using this contextual understanding, Metatomix solutions enable real-time analysis and insights, orchestrating and coordinating responses among both people and systems to optimize business performance. For more information, visit the Metatomix Web site at http://www.metatomix.com.
ANNAPOLIS, MD–(Marketwire - November 18, 2008) - TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NASDAQ: TSYS), a leading provider of mission-critical wireless communications, today announced that it has received a $5 million contract from the Department of Defense (DoD) for SwiftLink systems. The contract is in effect through June 2009.
“We are encouraged by the confidence that DoD has shown in TCS and the opportunity to support military communications interoperability initiatives,” said Mike Bristol, Senior Vice President for TCS Government Solutions Group. “TCS received this contract based on our proven track record of integrating and delivering networking equipment to meet DoD’s current and future critical communications and interoperability requirements.”
The TCS Government Solutions Group began as a systems integrator in 1987. Today, TCS provides engineering, management, and professional services to the public sector and is a leading provider of fixed and deployable communication solutions for government customers and mobile operators requiring high reliability and security, including the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Unified Combatant Commands, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, and various U.S. intelligence agencies.
About TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS)
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (NASDAQ: TSYS) engineers and delivers highly reliable wireless communications technology. TCS is a leader in wireless text messaging and location-based technology, including E9-1-1 services and commercial applications like navigation that use the precise location of a wireless device, and secure satellite-based communications systems and services. Customers include leading wireless and VoIP carriers around the world, cable MSOs, automotive telematics vendors, and agencies of the U.S. Departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security. TCS is one of six primary vendors on a $5 billion Army Worldwide Satellite Systems Contract vehicle. For more information, visit www.telecomsys.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and are based upon TCS’ current expectations and assumptions that if incorrect would cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Risks include without limitation those detailed from time to time in the Company’s SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008.
Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances, or otherwise.
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