ELMSFORD, N.Y., 7 March 2006. Hypres Inc., a developer of superconductor microelectronics (SME) technology, received acceptance/verification approval for its wideband, all-digital receiver by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The completion of this series of performance-based tests by the DoD clears the way for Hypres to deliver to the U.S. Navy what is reportedly the industry's first, JTRS all-digital receiver (ADR).
Hypres developed the JTRS ADR through an $8-million Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III contract with the Office of Naval Research.
This first version of the ADR proof-of-concept prototype was designed to directly digitize high frequency and very high frequency (HF/VHF) signals and process multiple Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) signals simultaneously from a single, wideband digital sample processed at extremely high speed. Other versions of the ADR are being developed to process higher frequency JTRS, SATCOM, and SIGINT signals.
Hypres SME technology combines 20+GHz analog-to-digital sampling and digital signal processing running at the same 20+GHz clock speed -- an industry first.
Funding for the ADR project was provided by OSD from the FY 02 Challenge Program funds, which sponsors promising technology insertion opportunities.
Acceptance/verification is a standard but crucial step in the DoD contract process. It allows the Navy to thoroughly examine contract conformance and validate technology performance one last time before a product/technology is delivered, in this case to the SPAWAR lab, for more extensive evaluation.
Scientists and engineers from the Office of Naval Research, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), and the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) took part in the acceptance/validation process, conducting a week-long series of tests involving signal processing capabilities and performance comparisons which included standard Army radios. Results will be included in a formal final report of the ADR SBIR Phase III project to be completed the end of May.
Hypres is developing different versions of the ADR proof-of-concept prototype for the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. The acceptance/verification process for those receivers is scheduled for later this year.
