SideBridge-Iridium for Rifleman Radio

Military satellite communications are key to achieving dominant maneuver on the future battlefield. It is critical to synchronize the movements and effects of widely dispersed and highly mobile units. Coupled with satellite navigation, commanders maintain precise data on the position and status of friendly forces and the enemy-fundamental to battlespace awareness. Space-based communications, surveillance, and resource monitoring capabilities enable Warfighters to complete the common operating picture of the battlefield. The specific goal of this Army Phase II SBIR is to integrate an Iridium modem with technologies developed thru SBIRs, projects, and IR&D (SideBridge and BlueLink.) The SideBridge-Iridium (SB-I) module will send and receive PLI using Short Burst Data (SBD) messages. SB-I will connect directly to the Rifleman Radio, detect the status and configuration of the radio network, and automatically send PLI through EMSS when radio(s) are out of network or fail to generate PLI. DataSofts Work Plan takes a practical approach to rapidly delivering product functionality. We have fully defined the activities required to attain each of the project objectives. DataSoft follows an iterative product development methodology to address the needs for early functionality and evaluation units for lab experiments and subsequent field test events. The SB-I units will have a modular design to support new radio and device connections with a minimum of device re-design. We envision the SB-I capability will likely expand beyond the Rifleman radio models as an area of future growth.