From emergency communications to specializpocedures where lives are on the line and every moment counts, we needed to create a reliable, powerful device that would always get a signal.
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Case Study:
A Bridge Between Traditional and New
Maintaining communication for devices ranging from emergency transponders to aircraft or ships that must remain in contact at all times was a unique challenge.
This partly has to do with the curvature of the earth: if we’re standing across from each other in what appears to be a straight line, it’s easy to have our signal go from one device to another. But amplify this with longer distances, and the signal can’t go around the actual curvature of the world.
Tech talk: for high-frequency communication in a 3-30 MHz frequency range, we offer over-the-horizon or even global links with ionospheric refraction.
Translation: we can help you “bend” your signal to anywhere in the world.
Adding on to this, messaging applications on smart devices rely on the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, coupled with high data traffic security.
This project required the range capabilities of radio frequency along with the security measures of wireless networks. And so we set out to connect these two worlds.
Challenge:
We faced several challenges from the concept through the prototyping stages:
The Modem signal is heavily distorted due to multiple reflections in the ionosphere.
The first prototype consumed too much power for portable applications.
Standard IP protocols are unsuitable for the radio link due to the slow directional switching.
Solution:
Universally form-fitting.
We made the DSP board small enough to integrate inside many newly designed radio transceivers and external modem units.
Popular ESP32 IoT platform.
Integration of the widespread ESP32 Wi-Fi & Bluetooth microcontroller offers an easy way to run radio-optimized data transmission protocols and customer's applications right on the device.
Two antenna options.
An internal Wi-Fi & Bluetooth chip antenna is a cost-effective solution for plastic enclosures. But for even higher performance, and the capacity to perform well with metal enclosures, we added an u.fl connector for an external antenna.
Power-efficient DSP processor.
With a peak performance of 3648 MIPS and 2746 MFLOPS, the chosen digital signal processor can execute sophisticated modem algorithms while staying within consumption limits for portable use.
Robust modem algorithms.
The most important part of the signal processing software is a robust modem. It features data rates from 130 to 9600 bps, optimized for challenging conditions of high-frequency radio links.
Speech coding and encryption.
As an additional feature, the DSP board allows encrypted digital voice transmissions over the high-frequency channel. It supports bitrates as low as 600 bps for speech and 130 bps for voicemail to withstand the most unfavorable environmental conditions.
Solutions:
Universally form-fitting
We made the DSP board small enough to integrate inside many newly designed radio transceivers and external modem units.
Popular ESP32 IoT platform
Integration of the widespread ESP32 Wi-Fi & Bluetooth microcontroller offers an easy way to run radio-optimized data transmission protocols and customer's applications right on the device.
Two antenna options
An internal Wi-Fi & Bluetooth chip antenna is a cost-effective solution for plastic enclosures. But for even higher performance, and the capacity to perform well with metal enclosures, we added a u.fl connector for an external antenna.
Power-efficient DSP processor
With a peak performance of 3648 MIPS and 2746 MFLOPS, the chosen digital signal processor can execute sophisticated modem algorithms while staying within consumption limits for portable use.
Robust modem algorithms
The most important part of the signal processing software is a robust modem. It features data rates from 130 to 9600 bps optimized for challenging conditions of high-frequency radio links.
Speech coding and encryption
As an additional feature, the DSP board allows encrypted digital voice transmissions over the high-frequency channel. It supports bitrates as low as 600 bps for speech and 130 bps for voicemail to withstand the most unfavorable environmental conditions.
The DSP Board had to be rugged, efficient, and perform flawlessly in extremely challenging signal conditions. No matter what device it’s plugged into, it needs to integrate easily and offer advanced security.
Specifications:
Projects deliverables:
Schematics and PCB documents - PCB manufacturing files - Source code in C and C++ - Application examples for ESP32 - SDK for loadable encryption module - Test fixtures for PCBs - Engineering samples - Mass production batches
HARDWARE PLATFORM:
TI C674x DSP, ESP32
OPERATING SYSTEM:
DSP/BIOS, FreeRTOS
INTERFACES:
Audio, UART, I2S, GPIO
WI-FI:
802.11 b/g/n
BLUETOOTH:
v4.2 BR/EDR and BLE
SIZE:
59 x 36 mm
Outcome:
We had several clients who needed high-frequency communications capabilities to allow encrypted modern messaging, that also fit into flexible platforms.
We mass-produced the DSP board in several form factors with modifications adapted for different host platforms and use scenarios. Link quality was confirmed by many independent tests, including various air conditions and intercontinental distances.
Overall, a versatile, flexible product that now sees many uses for a broad range of clients—this was a notable win, despite the challenges.
Next Projects
High-performance hardware for a digital world.
Every one of these digital electronic devices that we created had three things in common.
1. They started with a great idea for a digital electronic device. 2. The idea had a unique set of challenges to be overcome. 3. We totally nailed the job and created something unique, from start to finish.
Get a FREE consultation and the opportunity to present your project. We help you with next steps, like how to get started, landmarks you’re going to experience along your product’s journey, plus how to launch it and distribute it.
We appreciate you contacting us regarding your project. One of our colleagues will get back to you within 24 hours.
Have a great day!
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