Scientists at Fort Monmouth, N.J., are fielding a cheaper, more reliable and vastly more efficient single channel per carrier modem for military satellite communications. Tagged as the enhanced bandwidth efficient modem, it has a transmission rate of up to 155 Mbps. Existing modems broadcast at about 20 Mbps, say officials.
Additionally, the system costs about $9,000 which is about half the price tag of current modems. Johnny Ng, a project official, suggests the key advantage of EBEM is its ability “to squeeze more data into the same bandwidth, more traffic into each trunk.”
EBEM was conceived by the project manager, defense communications and Army transmission systems, which intends to have some 2,300 systems operating for Army and Navy users by the end of 2008.