Burnaby, B.C.-based wireless firm Spectrum Signal Processing Inc. recently secured an $8.3 million research and development investment from the Government of Canada’s Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) program.
Spectrum will use TPC’s investment to broaden its existing software portfolio, which enables technology known as software defined radios (SDRs). SDRs are software-reconfigurable, which means that they can change mode of operation and be upgraded via software without any hardware changes, according to the company. This flexibility allows SDRs to be reprogrammed “on the fly” to interoperate with other radios, according to the company.
Spectrum’s primary target markets for SDR are military communications, signal intelligence and radar and sonar. Defence R&D Canada is currently using Spectrum’s technology to support research in reconfigurable satellite communication terminals and next-generation electronic warfare platforms.
As well, its current software reconfigurable processing platform, the SDR-3000, has been adopted as one of the platforms used by the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Technology Laboratory — a U.S. Department of Defense initiative — to support the test and acceptance of program deliverables for advanced military radio communications.