For immediate release: February 28th, 2022 – Burnaby, BC – Orbital Research, a design and manufacturer of superior satellite components – is pleased to announce its membership in the global Digital IF Interoperability Consortium (DIFI). The company has nearly 20 years of experience developing superior converters and is well positioned to contribute to the development of new international standards.
The consortium was created out of the need for standards in the digital IF/RF space. Without standards, manufacturers can claim standard compliance even when interoperability is missing. DIFI’s mission is to “enable the digital transformation of space, satellite, and related industries by providing a simple, open, interoperable Digital IF/RF standard that replaces the natural interoperability of analog IF signals and helps prevent vendor lock-in.”
“Creating standards for the IF and RF industry is a critical legacy project that will improve efficiency and quality for decades” offers Ian McEachern, Orbital Research President and CEO. McEachern congratulates the consortium for initiating the much-needed work and for promptly deciding on the VITA-49 standard as a starting point. “Having already worked with VITA-49 and IEEE standards for some time, we see economies of scale for everyone with that platform.” DIFI Chair, Stuart Daughtridge, adds “We welcome Orbital Research to the consortium. It’s great to have Canada at the table with their history of satcom innovation.”
Orbital Research is excited to be a participant in an elite group of industry colleagues responsible for charting the future of the digital IF and RF industry. Engineers, manufacturers, clients, end users and more will benefit from interoperability for years to come.
About Orbital Research
Orbital Research manufactures high-performance frequency converters and RF components for the satellite communications (SATCOM) industry. Their products – low noise block downconverters (LNBs), block downconverters (BDCs), low noise amplifiers (LNAs), space-based frequency converters, bias tees and more – offer the highest quality and reliability, even in the most challenging conditions.
Orbital Research provides standard and custom SATCOM equipment to customers in military, aeronautical, earth observation, satellite news gathering (SNG), SATCOM-on-the-move (SOTM) and other satellite industries. Because their frequency converters and components are professionally engineered, hand-tuned and individually tested, they guarantee high performance.
To learn more about Orbital Research, please visit www.orbitalresearch.net or call 1.604.419.8585.
About DIFI
The mission of the Digital Intermediate Frequency Interoperability (DIFI) Consortium is to enable the digital transformation of space, satellite, and related industries by providing a simple, open, interoperable Digital IF/RF standard that replaces the natural interoperability of analog IF signals and helps prevent vendor lock-in.
DIFI introduced its first standard in August, 2021: IEEE-ISTO Std 4900-2021: Digital IF Interoperability Standard, v1.0. The standard has already been specified in at least one major satellite communications RFI by the U.S. Army.
To learn more about DIFI Consortium and view the complete list of current members, visit www.dificonsortium.org.
Media Contacts
Joni Sterlacci Ian McEachern
[email protected] [email protected]
732-562-5464 604.419.8585