LONDON, 11 June 2007.Objective Interface Systems Inc., provider of communications middleware for software defined radios (SDRs), announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Glenn Research Center has selected its high-performance real-time communications middleware, ORBexpress RT, to research the viability and optimization options for a lightweight software communication architecture (SCA) as a potential software architecture solution for NASA's next-generation SDRs.
With the most rigorous requirements for size, weight and power (SWAP) -- factors critical to space-based advanced radio communications -- NASA selected ORBexpress RT, a small-footprint product that optimizes the use of scarce resources.
"Whether on a satellite, a shuttle, or a space station, NASA faces the most demanding known requirements for SWAP," says Joe Jacob, senior vice president of Objective Interface. "ORBexpress RT combines high performance with low latency and low overhead, which are important for small, lightweight, low-power radios."
A Department of Defense standard for the next generation of software defined radios, the SCA provides several benefits. Among them are software re-use; common hardware and software platforms to reduce production costs; and field upgradeability.