Expand Networks' bandwidth optimisation technology is being adopted into custom devices to improve throughput over satellite links.
EMS Technologies has built a device for use in airplanes, while LTI DataComm's device is aimed for use in demanding environments, such as battlefields. Both device makers are using Expand's compression technology to reduce the number of bits needed to transmit data.
In partnership with EMS, Expand helped develop the Cabin Network Accelerator, a device customised to tolerate the potentially long delays caused by satellite transmissions over 64K bit/sec to 128K bit/sec connections. The gear has been tuned to handle transmission delays of seconds caused by switching from one satellite to another during flight. The hardware was also designed to keep working in the sub-zero temperatures it might be exposed to outside the cabin of an airplane.
In collaboration with LTI DataComm, Expand has developed Mini-Accelerator, a smaller version of Expand’s own Accelerator that was built on a hardware platform designed to tolerate tough conditions. Its fans have filters to keep dust out of the unit, which is only six inches wide and one rack unit tall. It is also built to withstand jolts it might suffer being shipped around off-road in military vehicles, the company says.
It is designed for use in military field camps to optimise command communications over satellites.