By: Chris Brady
March 2012
What’s in a Name?
Chris Brady |
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The AN/PRC-155 Two-Channel Networking Manpack Radio has a long name, but each of those words is a descriptor that sets it miles apart from other radios.
Let’s break it down.
AN/PRC-155…
The AN/PRC means Army-Navy Portable Radio Communications. The number tells you that it is new technology, and not a makeover of a product from the 1990s. The number “155” is the most recent AN/PRC nomenclature to be issued through the Joint Electronics Type Designation System — the latest of all the military radios.
…Two-Channel…
For nearly the same size and weight as single-channel manpacks on the market, soldiers get two fully amplified 20W channels. The AN/PRC-155 is not two manpacks tied together with a bunch of cables; these channels constitute a system with common controls, and the ability to route voice and data between the channels. This unique capability makes the 155 a linchpin in the Army’s Capability Set architecture. The two channels can be used to bridge upper echelon networks to lower; line-of-sight waveforms to over-the-horizon waveforms; new networking waveforms to legacy waveforms. Users at NIE and other operational exercises are impressed at the sound quality of the MELP vocoder on SRW, and they are astonished that the same vocoded signal can be bridged within the 155 over UHF SATCOM to a separate distant SRW network without compromising the voice quality.
…Networking…
And speaking of networking, the 155 is the first manpack radio to run the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW), the only manpack running the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) waveform, and with General Dynamics funding will soon become the only portable radio to run the Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW). These three transformational waveforms are the backbone of the DoD’s modern tactical network, and the 155 will be the first to be there with all of them, networking them to each other across its channels.
…Manpack Radio
And all of this is in a manpack? Yes, the 155 is only a pound heavier than single-channel manpacks on the market, even as it provides twice the capability. The 155’s size is already making it a preferred solution for space-constrained vehicular installations as well.
With all this capability, please pardon us for the long name. You can just call it “The 155.”
What took so long?
In the 155’s transition from development into production, the challenge was not just designing a software defined networking radio — it was making very significant (30-50 percent) reductions in size, weight and power (SWAP), even compared to other “next generation” tactical radios on the market today.
Our customers are adamant that networking doesn’t matter unless we can lighten soldiers’ loads and extend their fighting effectiveness. Our designs therefore contain highly integrated radio chips that we constructed uniquely for military waveforms. Literally every connection inside has been driven to the lowest possible SWAP utilization, and our processors have hundreds of innovative ways to save little bits of power here and there.
We are seeing 50 to 100 percent better battery life for use of the Soldier Radio Waveform (SRW) than anything else available. That means the soldier can leave pounds of batteries behind when conducting an extended mission.
The HMS radios have also been more extensively tested than any other tactical radio today, so the soldier can deploy with confidence.
What's next?
The 155 is part of the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) architecture down at Fort Bliss, and is slated to become part of the Army’s Capability Set 13/14. In 2013, the 155 will also start MUOS end-to-end testing, and will begin shipping with Wideband Networking Waveform (WNW). And there’s even more after that, but I need to save something for the next blog!
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