Rockwell Collins reports breakthrough in wideband data transfer

Over-the-air trials of Wideband High Frequency technology by Rockwell Collins reported Wednesday, April 13, achieved data transfer ratees 10 times the typical maximum rate.

The results were achieved during the U.S. Navy's Trident Warrior multinational exercise in March 2011, the company said. Rockwell Collins engineers demnstrated data transfer rates of 90 kilobits per second in an 18 kilohertz high frequency bandwideth over a 1,000-mile high frequency link between Cedar Rapids and Las Cruces, N.M.

“What our engineers have achieved is nothing less than extraordinary,” Rockwell Collins General Manager of Communications Products Bruce King said. “They've applied their vast communications expertise to break the common perception that the HF band is not capable of supporting data at these transfer rates.”

The advent of Wideband High Frequency will enable users to utilize peviously unavailable capabilities such as streaming video and large file transfers, King said, making High Frequency “a viable augmentation to narrowband satellite communications.”