Northrop Demos 100 Gbps Data Transmission Under DARPA’s 100G RF Backbone Program

Northrop Grumman and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have established a new wireless transmission standard through a demonstration of a two-way data link that transmitted data at speeds of 100 gigabits per second over a 20-kilometer range.

Northrop said Wednesday the demonstration conducted on Jan. 19 in Los Angeles marked the conclusion of the firm’s Phase 2 contract with DARPA over the 100G RF Backbone program and showed the data link’s capability to download a 50-Gigabyte video within four seconds.

“This dramatic improvement in data transmission performance could significantly increase the volume of airborne sensor data that can be gathered and reduce the time needed to exploit sensor data,” said Louis Christen, director of research and technology at Northrop.

The data link features Raytheon’s millimeter wave antennas and related radio frequency electronics and Silvus Technologies’ multiple-input-multiple-output signal processing and spatial multiplexing systems.

Northrop and DARPA commenced in June the air-to-ground flight test of the 100G RF Backbone program and will place the 100G hardware aboard the Scaled Composites-built Proteus demonstration aircraft to demonstrate its capability to transmit data at a speed of up of to 100 Gbps at a distance of 100 kilometers.