ViaSat Continues IW Development For DISA

ViaSat Inc. received a $9.3 million award from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to continue the development of the UHF SATCOM Integrated Waveform Channel Controller. This second phase of the Integrated Waveform (IW) development enables demand assigned services on UHF SATCOM networks to support new applications that require better performance and higher channel throughput. IW, a requirement of the Department of Defense (DoD) Standardization Program, is designed to prolong the life of the UHF Demand Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) SATCOM System through a series of network upgrades. DISA has increased the UHF SATCOM military performance specifications to match the need for faster, more efficient, and easier-to use communications. The previous phase of this effort, awarded in April 2007, focused on implementing only pre-assigned services into the IW. In this new phase, ViaSat will enable demand assignment of preplanned services, support of ad-hoc services, and dynamic bandwidth allocation. All will be controlled by the ViaSat Channel Controller. During this final phase of the IW controller development, DISA will upgrade the IW Channel Controller architecture by integrating ViaSat RT-1828 radios at all Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Stations. ViaSat is also in the process of implementing the IW pre-assigned services into ViaSat MD-1324 modems and the RT-18xx family of UHF network terminals and expects an additional award in the near future for implementation of demand assigned services in these platforms.