MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS | |
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CMC now has a major share of the world
market for aeronautical INMARSAT antennas.
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MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONSWhy Ships and Planes are never out of touch
Anyone who travels by plane or ship will appreciate the benefits of INMARSAT, the worldwide satellite network that allows mobile aircraft and ships to communicate with the world regardless of where they are located.
The Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC) has played a major role in developing the concepts, protocols and technologies that led to today's INMARSAT air service. Several Canadian companies have used their relationship with CRC to find ongoing business opportunities related to the INMARSAT service.
CRC's role in mobile aeronautical communications began in the 1970s. Jack Rigley, CRC's Vice-President, Satellite Communications and Radio Propagation recalls that "In the early 70s CRC was involved in AEROSAT, an International Program to launch an aeronautical satellite. We were doing the research on antenna design in conjunction with DND. Through this program CMC Electronics developed a linear array antenna operating at L-Band. This antenna has flown for many years on a government executive jet."
Although the AEROSAT program was abandoned in the late 1970s, CRC's involvement with the concept was revitalized in the 1980s by a program to develop technology that would allow aircraft to communicate through the established INMARSAT marine communications service. Specialized antennas, protocols, ground stations and airborne communications technologies all had to be developed. The communications signal design developed by CRC with the International Civil Aviation Organization ICACO were ultimately adopted for use by INMARSAT itself.
Bruce Bailey of CMC Electronics credits CRC with providing valuable technical support in their successful effort to develop antenna technology compatible with INMARSAT. Bailey reports that "CMC now has a major share of the world market for aeronautical INMARSAT antennas. These highly complex directional antennas meet rigorous performance standards set by INMARSAT and ICAO for reliability and coverage."
CRC's activities with INMARSAT have generated business opportunities for their sister organization the David Florida Lab. DFL has been designated by INMARSAT as the one agency certified to do performance testing of communication equipment that uses CRC/INMARSAT communications signal design.
Other companies which have benefited from the CRC mobile satellite initiative include EMS Technologies, which has commercialized the modulation encoding technology used on board the aircraft; and Square Peg Communications, which has commercialized the test equipment used to ensure ground station compatibility and performance compliance with aeronautical terminals.
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