Shared Spectrum Co. (SSC) has entered into an agreement with Harris Corp. to conduct a joint feasibility study of SSC’s dynamic spectrum access (DSA) technology that will lead to the near-term integration of SSC’s cognitive radio software in field-ready Harris Falcon® III military radios.

Acting as prime, SSC will work with Harris to integrate and evaluate software developed by SSC to determine the operating requirements for deploying DSA-enabled radios in frequency-hostile environments.

SSC has conducted successful demonstrations of innovative radio technologies that use advanced communications protocols and sensing capabilities to improve access to available spectrum resources without causing harmful interference to existing systems and users. These demonstrations are being conducted using SSC’s prototype cognitive radios developed for Phase III of the neXt Generation Communications (XG) Program funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

SSC’s XG contract with the US government was recently modified to have SSC analyze existing and future military communications systems, including the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) and others and to integrate XG technology into the networking modes of two different types of military radios.

“Working with a leading supplier of tactical radios like Harris represents another significant milestone in the inauguration of new DSA technology for the benefit of military users,” said Mark A. McHenry, SSC’s Founder and CEO. “Building on our significant progress, retrofitting the Harris Falcon family of radios with XG software is another step toward implementing and fielding DSA technology.”

As part of the joint project, Harris will first assess the feasibility and the costs of integrating SSC’s XG DSA software into its Falcon III AN/PRC-152(C) handheld radio, the first and only JTRS-approved radio to be certified as fully compliant with version 2.2 of the JTRS Software Communications Architecture.

“We are excited to be teamed on this important project with the SSC and DARPA, which has the opportunity to bring enhanced communications capabilities to warfighters everywhere,” said Bob Wynn, Vice President Army SEAM, Harris Defense Programs. “With SSC’s innovative DSA radio technologies and Harris Falcon III product architecture, we are confident that we can provide an important component of what is needed to overcome the growing bandwidth and interference challenges facing our military.”

Based on the outcome of initial assessments, the companies intend to develop a plan for additional software development, integration into the Harris Falcon radios, and conducting field tests and demonstrations.