Silvus Technologies unveils MANET end-user interface

The DOCK StreamCaster SC4210P is one of three DOCK StreamCaster variants deing developed by Silvus Technologies. (Silvus Technologies )

Networked radio manufacturer Silvus Technologies has unveiled a new family of end-user interface systems for its StreamCaster tactical radios, which will pair the company's mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) radio platforms with advanced edge computing capabilities and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled systems and applications.

A joint venture between Silvus and Washington-based wireless networking company Kägwerks, programme officials have developed three variants of the Dismounted Operator's Combat Kit (DOCK) StreamCaster end-user interface, each mirroring the capabilities of the StreamCaster MANET radio embedded into a specific variant.

The DOCK SC4240P variant, whose 4 W output puts it as the most powerful of the three DOCK systems, “has the same guts as our 4240 StreamCaster radio”, while the two other DOCK variants – the DOCK SL4210P and Ultra 4210P – are all internally modelled after the 1 W 4210 StreamCaster MANET radio, said Jimi Henderson, vice-president of sales at Silvus.

The transmission power differentials are “the main tradeoffs” between the variants, Henderson told Janes, noting that the SL4210 versions come at “a lower cost [with] lower transmit power, the higher power [of the SC4240P] comes with higher costs [but] more capability”. Some of those capabilities inherent in the SC4240P include a ‘push-to-talk' encoding feature for voice communications, whereas encoding for the SC4210P variants are offered via an external cable, Henderson said during a 9 May interview.

Of the lower powered, more expeditionary DOCK StreamCaster variants, the Ultra 4210P is the only version of the system that has an onboard edge computing capability that can field AI-enabled applications.