Welkin Sciences

Founded as a small business focused on challenging signal processing R&D programs for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Welkin Sciences is consistently meeting the needs of the satellite industry in an efficient, cost-effective manner. Building on its research, it has expanded into commercial product development to support the survivability of military SATCOM systems under extreme wartime conditions.

Welkin Sciences focuses its research efforts on new and emerging problems facing the defense industry. For example, DoD’s strategic SATCOM communications are largely based on geosynchronous satellites, which are increasingly threatened by its adversaries.

“In the future, the military will likely move to LEO (low Earth orbit) and MEO (medium Earth orbit) strategic SATCOM systems, which are less vulnerable. We are developing the capability to analyze and test such strategic SATCOM networks against ionospheric disturbances that may arise during severe wartime scenarios,” says Blair Sawyer, the President and CTO of Welkin Sciences.

Today, Welkin Sciences is in the top 10 percent of companies to commercialize their research in the DoD SBIR (small business innovation research) arena. Its Digital IF products are fielded and used by DoD agencies and industry.

The newest member of Welkin Sciences’ Digital IF product line is the Digital IF Vector Analyzer (DIVA-D). Traditionally, monitoring communication signals in legacy analog terminals requires extensive auxiliary cabling and undesirable lossy RF/IF signal access points. By comparison, Digital IF signals flow through a managed network switch, eliminating the cost and signal degradation of analog transmission paths. Welkin Sciences’ DIVA-D product provides this signal monitoring capability for Digital IF signals

Dr. J. Todd Reinking, the VP of Research and Development at Welkin Sciences, is a board member and active participant in the Digital IF Interoperability (DIFI) Consortium. The Consortium aims to provide an open, interoperable Digital IF/ RF standard to the SATCOM industry. Adoption of this DIFI standard will allow Welkin Sciences’ Digital IF product line to bring customers all the advantages of signal transport using commercial digital network equipment while maintaining the level of interoperability of current analog interfaces used throughout the SATCOM industry.

A number of companies have already adopted modems, digitizers, and other equipment designed to the DIFI standard, which required a new approach to evaluating and testing these devices. Welkin Sciences met this emerging need by including the ability to synthesize multiple DIFI test signal streams to its new DIVA-D product. These streams may be injected directly into a device under evaluation (DUE) or the digital signal transport network hosting these devices. The DIVA-D’s ability to generate hundreds of streams simultaneously has allowed customers to stress test a Digital IF transport network and its attached devices using a low-cost, lossless approach.

Welkin Sciences credits its success to its employees, who have been significant contributors to the satellite communications industry for decades. The firm’s engineers are experts in satellite communications and RF signal propagation through disturbed regions of the ionosphere. They have a strong track record of developing innovative solutions to challenging problems using tomorrow’s technology.

“As a small company, we can provide excellent customer service and support. When technical support needs arise, our customers typically have direct access to the engineers who designed and developed the product,” says Dr. Reinking.