A high-frequency (HF) antenna on the grounds of the Communications Research Center (CRC) Canada recently was upgraded to improve communications with government installations in northern Canada.
The antenna, installed in 1971, is primarily used to communicate with Canadian federal defense units and other governmental departments stationed deep in the northern parts of Canada.
This new project seeks to develop a network architecture for HF relay points to connect to terrestrial networks and satellite communications systems, providing HF contact in the vast stretches of the Canadian Arctic, CRC said.
Emphasis will be placed on radio modem technologies, use of the radio spectrum and network architectures that provide greater coverage and reliability.
Potential applications for this technology include search-and-rescues and environmental clean-ups.
The refurbished antenna also will be used in an experiment to connect Ottawa with a station in Fredericton, New Brunswick in early 2012. If that works an additional node will be added at a site in Nunavut (to be determined).
