Innovative Solutions Canada awards SSCL a Phase I contract to explore the use of Astrapi’s technology in their project “High Spectral Efficiency Using Spiral Modulation for Beyond-Line-of Sight (BLOS) Applications.”
Dallas, TX (September 16, 2019)
Astrapi Corporation is pleased to announce the successful completion, in support of Space Strategies Consulting, LLC (SSCL), of a Phase I project funded by Innovative Solutions Canada (ISC) on “High Spectral Efficiency Using Spiral Modulation for BLOS Applications”. This project involved development of a proof-of-concept system for Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) applications leveraging Spiral Modulation under license from Astrapi. Astrapi’s Spiral Modulation provides a structured way to dramatically increase spectral efficiency by exploiting the capabilities of a continuously-changing spectrum. This innovative solution addresses critical problems in telecommunications, including greatly increasing data throughput, efficient bandwidth usage, reduced signal power requirements, improved interference rejection, and lower latency.
“We are thrilled with the results of SSCL’s initial effort, and we now look forward to migrating into hardware to demonstrate concretely how Astrapi’s Spiral Modulation substantially enhances the performance of non-satellite BLOS transmissions,” said Dr. Jerrold Prothero, Astrapi Founder and CEO. “And we are delighted to build upon the strong relationship we have established with SSCL. Their extensive communications R&D experience and satellite expertise are extremely valuable in advancing Spiral Modulation technology for this application. The results of this initial Phase I project were very encouraging, and significant improvements beyond this are expected.”
The project results demonstrated a 2-4 dB (approximately factor of two) improvement in signal power (Eb/N0) vs. bit error rate (BER) performance for communications using Spiral Modulation versus typical signal modulation for the same occupied bandwidth. The most dramatic performance enhancements were for higher order symbol alphabets. This improvement in signal power versus BER has significant implications for BLOS systems, most importantly in power savings and increased throughput. Power savings may permit significant reductions in antenna size, and a Spiral Modulation enabled BLOS radio could increase throughput by 40% versus the use of traditional signal modulation. The potential to significantly increase the communications throughput in this very challenging operational environment represents a unique opportunity to close an existing capability gap.
Colonel (Ret) Andre Dupuis, Space Strategies Consulting Ltd. President and CEO, and former Director General Space for the Canadian Armed Forces, said, “Our analysis has not uncovered any major technical blocks to the further development of a BLOS prototype radio. The analysis also indicates the promise of Spiral Modulation in other forms of radio transmission such as satellite, terrestrial microwave and Wi-Fi.”
ISC awarded SSCL the contract to explore the use of Astrapi’s technology in their project. The second stage of the contract is pending, and may be awarded in the second quarter of 2020.
Critical and limiting problems for any satellite communication system are signal interference and environmental conditions in the atmosphere which degrade performance. These constraints are particularly acute in contested environments subjected to intentional jamming. Robust Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) capability provides a redundant link to address these challenges. Phase I project results demonstrated the ability of Astrapi’s Spiral Modulation to provide more resilient and efficient BLOS links.
ABOUT Astrapi Corporation
Astrapi is the pioneer of spiral-based signal modulation, which opens an unexplored area for innovation at the core of telecommunications. Based on a generalization of Euler’s formula, the foundational mathematics for telecom, Astrapi provides fundamentally new ways to design the symbol waveforms used to encode digital transmissions. By applying new mathematics to signal modulation, Astrapi is able to improve the trade-off between the four fundamental parameters in telecommunications: bandwidth, signal power, data throughput, and error rate. The resulting efficiency translates into higher spectral performance with more bits available at a lower cost.
ABOUT Space Strategies Consulting, Ltd.
SSCL’s team of highly qualified Space Professionals brings our clients a deep understanding of the complexities of space operations across the entire spectrum of users from Commercial, Civil and National Security stakeholders. We have in-depth knowledge of user requirements that can bring together space capability providers with operational users. Mission Areas include, Policy, Planning and Strategy Development, Space Mission Design, Space Sciences and Exploration, Government Contracting, Earth Observation and, Remote Sensing, Surveillance of Space, Satellite Communications, Training and Professional Development, and Exercise and Wargame Design, Development and Execution. http://www.sscl.solutions
ABOUT Innovative Solutions
Canada Innovative Solutions Canada is a new program with over $100 million dedicated to supporting the scale up and growth of Canada’s innovators and entrepreneurs by having the federal government act as a first customer. Twenty participating federal departments and agencies will set aside a portion of funding to support the creation of innovative solutions by Canadian small businesses.
Innovative Solutions Canada is aimed squarely at innovators. By funding proposed solutions, the program is supporting the development of early-stage, pre-commercial innovations. The program is a core element of the Innovation and Skills Plan announced in Budget 2017 and the government’s commitment to create better jobs and grow the middle class.
Fuel the development and adoption of technological innovation in Canada.
Grow Canadian companies through direct funding to support early stage, pre-commercial research and development, late stage prototypes, and to accelerate commercialization.
Encourage procurement from companies led by under-represented groups, such as women, Indigenous, youth, disabled individuals, LGBTQ+ and others.
Foster greater industry-research collaboration through the release of challenges for solutions that address key Government of Canada priorities.
Provide federal departments and agencies with opportunities to develop new capabilities to meet their research and development needs and thereby advance government priorities.
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/101.nsf/eng/home