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Brisbane-based SME, EM Solutions has been contracted by a US agency to supply their newest, high speed radio links – the EM Clarity 10Gbps E-band Backhaul radio link. The product will be integrated onto the motion pedestal currently used for the company’s Satcom-on-the-Move systems.
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“We first made contact through a pitch made by EMClarity CEO Richard Harris at the Avalon Airshow in February 2015,” says Gary Shmith, EM Solutions global director of sales.
“He introduced the technology to the customer and we have been engaged with them since then on this opportunity to provide a system to show the capabilities of the technology.”
E-band frequencies, spanning the 70–80 GHz millimetre-wave spectral band, are notoriously susceptible to atmospheric path loss, limiting their range. In this application, large antennas are used at both ends to increase the link gain and achieve path lengths of up to 20 kilometres.
However, such large antennas have very narrow beamwidths at E-band frequencies and require active steering.
“A 10Gbps radio link enables larger amounts of data to be transmitted much more quickly than is currently the case in a wireless environment,” says Shmith when asked about the benefits of the new link.
“This is a major benefit, especially from a moving platform such as a vehicle or a vessel.”
Speaking to the press in July, EM Solutions managing director and CEO Dr Rowan Gilmore said, “This is a world-first – providing fibre-like speeds over the air from ship to shore is an exciting new market for EM Solutions and EMClarity.”
EM Solutions boasts a proud reputation for developing trusted equipment. A 5Gbps commercial system currently connects the New York and Nasdaq stock exchanges, so most of the 10Gbps system has already proven its worth.
This makes it particularly enticing for government and defence markets.
“EM Solutions and our sister company EMClarity manufacture the products at our head office in Brisbane,” Shmith says, noting their homegrown foundations.
“We are an SME with around 50 employees and we often use other Australian SMEs in our supply chain for a range of components and capabilities.”
“This initial system is to demonstrate capability and the customer will arrange the installation environments to achieve this,” Shmith adds.
“As our international business grows with higher value systems such as these radios and the Satcom-on-the-Move platforms, we are continually looking to enhance our capabilities to provide installation and sustainment in international markets.”
