[Satellite TODAY 10-28-11] Danish software developer GateHouse has combined Inmarsat’s BGAN satellite communications capability with software-defined radio (SDR) technology to rollout an SDR implementation of a BGAN terminal, Inmarsat announced Oct. 27.

   The implementation, which includes physical layer, protocol stack and basic application layer, is portable to multiple hardware platforms. The solution aims to support all BGAN terminal classes. GateHouse said its BGAN protocol stack has already been incorporated with a range of BGAN terminals from several manufacturers.

   SDR technology enables a number of waveforms (communication standards) to run on the same hardware platform, allowing rapid changes from one communication standard to another. A typical SDR application would be for a warfighter or first responder to achieve connectivity virtually anywhere in the world from a single piece of hardware, thereby saving space, weight and power. 

   Inmarsat Business Development Director of the Americas Gustavo Nader said that depending on need and location, an end user could quickly load different software to change his or her radio configuration.

   “The user terminal in communications networks has historically been very customized, with its functionality embedded in the hardware and its capabilities tied to the network it was designed for … Software defined radio technology breaks that mould, enabling the user device to change its communications capability and connect to the network most suitable to the user’s needs and circumstances,” Nader said in a statement.