LONG BEACH, Calif.-Kenwood Communications Corp. announced its affiliate Kenwood of Japan and Unique Wireless Developments L.L.C. have signed a memorandum of understanding to implement technology that allows five times the voice capacity per existing 25 kHz channel on an 800 MHz specialized mobile radio and enhanced SMR frequency band.
The two companies will produce base station and subscriber products using DC/MA technology, which has been operating in the Dallas/Fort Worth areas since September, said Kenwood.
UWD said the new equipment can be made compatible with traditional SMR equipment and remains a single-site, high powered architecture. Operators will be able to upgrade a single channel at a time rather than having to replace their entire systems.
With a capacity increase of five times per 25 kHz channel, the SMR industry now has a real opportunity to implement new and user applications, said UWD. Services such as two-way paging, data applications, dispatch, messaging and GPS now can be adopted by all SMR operators.
Kenwood said the new technology also could be applied to other frequency bands and discussions are underway.
