Near Term Digital Radio-a first look

Abstract

An ITT Industries led team is developing the Near Term Digital Radio (NTDR) Information Transport System (ITS) for PM Tactical Radio Communication Systems to meet the growing need for higher capacity digital information distribution on a highly mobile battlefield. The team consists of Motorola, Lockheed Sanders, BBN, SICOM and Group Technology Corporation. The NTDR ITS is based on open architecture principles for both hardware and software. It draws heavily on commercial cellular telephone system concepts to support highly mobile users in a dynamic environment. The system is designed to operate without any need for intervention by the user or network manager. In one sense the NTDR can be viewed as an RF system with a very sophisticated embedded router/gateway. However, each module of the NTDR ITS contains advanced features that cause the system to function very effectively in a dynamic, mobile environment.