Real-time streaming video over UHF TACSAT radio gets demo by Reticulate Micro & Army
NewsMarch 08, 2024
PALM BAY, Fla. Defense communications company Reticulate Micro announced that it successfully streamed live video over a UHF TACSAT radio link in a demonstration for the U.S. Army, in what the company says is a first for the industry.
During the late-February demonstration, the testing team used Reticulate Micro’s VAST encoder and NanTenna’s Ultra High Frequency (UHF) TACSAT antenna, marking the first time a commercial provider has demonstrated live video streaming in a tactical environment over the Army’s legacy TACSAT network, according to company officials.
“This demonstration showed it is possible to stream video over dial-up speeds. Today, there is no other solution capable of streaming real-time video over legacy tactical networks such as HF and TACSAT,” said John Dames, CTO of Reticulate Micro.
Reticulate Micro’s open-standards, software-defined VAST encoder does not use hubs or cloud services to deliver direct streaming capabilities to deliver high compression and low bitrates capability than other encoders, the company said, as low as 5 kbps in video-only mode. During the demo, NanTenna's low-profile, high-gain antenna played an important role in establishing robust signals, enabling reliable connectivity both in stationary and on-the-move scenarios.
