Rockwell Collins awarded exclusive DARPA contract to dramatically advance software defined radio technology

Rockwell Collins has launched work on Phase 2 of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) research contract valued at $5.3 million. The effort is expected to increase the capability of digital software defined radios by a factor of ten over existing technology. The Remote Analog to Digital Converter with Deserialization and Reconstruction (RADER) program calls for Rockwell Collins to develop power-efficient high-speed photonic analog to digital (A/D) converters with capability for remote operation. Research is currently underway and will conclude at the end of 2012 under the terms of the agreement.