Inmarsat Services Deployed in Haiti Emergency Response: Inmarsat's mobile satellite communications services are being deployed to support emergency relief efforts in Haiti, which was hit by a severe earthquake yesterday, Tuesday 12th January. Inmarsat-sponsored Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF), the United Nations agency responsible for emergency telecoms support, has dispatched a team equipped with Inmarsat mobile voice and broadband terminals. ...
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News

Iridium 9602 - Lower-Cost Satellite Data Transceiver

Thursday, 21.01.2010

Iridium Communications Inc. today unveiled its next-generation Iridium 9602 satellite data transceiver. The small size of the new Iridium 9602 short-burst data transceiver will enable system integrators to embed the unit in a wide range of small, portable satellite tracking, monitoring and messaging solutions. The new Iridium 9602 short-burst data transceiver will provide global two-way data links for remote tracking, monitoring and messaging applications.

The Iridium 9602 is a full-duplex short-burst data (SBD) transceiver designed for embedded applications in the rapidly growing market for remote asset tracking and monitoring solutions. The product, which is the culmination of a two-year R&D program, has completed prototype testing, and Iridium expects to begin commercial deliveries in June.

The smaller, lower-cost Iridium 9602 will serve as the data communication engine for a wide range of portable tracking and monitoring devices, leveraging Iridium™'s global coverage and low-latency, two-way data links, said Don Thoma, executive vice president for marketing at Iridium. Our service partners are already testing prototypes in their Iridium 9602-based solutions for applications such as tracking soldiers and military vehicles in the field, telemetry from unattended sensors, fleet management, enterprise logistics and supply-chain visibility, as well as personal two-way navigation and mapping devices.

The matchbox-sized Iridium 9602 is 69 percent smaller, 74 percent lighter and considerably less expensive than the first-generation Iridium 9601 SBD modem, which we designed the Iridium 9602 to replace, said Thoma. The very small form factor and low power consumption will offer greater flexibility to value-added manufacturers (VAM) and resellers (VAR) embedding the Iridium 9602 into their products.

A unique feature of the Iridium 9602 is its built-in GPS input/output ports which will permit system integrators to interface with an external GPS receiver, using a single dual-mode L-Band antenna for GPS and Iridium SBD, saving the cost of an antenna in their applications.

The duplex data links provided by the Iridium 9602 will permit two-way communications to and from the remote devices, allowing users to reprogram the unit, adjust its reporting intervals and send on-demand queries for specific data updates. It will also enable first responders and search-and-rescue authorities to respond to emergency distress signals from personal location and tracking devices.

Our phase-out program for the Iridium 9601 will allow for ample overlap with the Iridium 9602, to ensure that our VAMs and VARs will be able to transition seamlessly to the new technology, said Thoma.