After years of development by many parties, including significant input from CML and S3C, the ITU has officially released the standard ITU-R M.2092-1 ‘Technical Characteristics for a VHF Data Exchange System in the VHF Maritime Mobile Band’. The -1 release formalises the requirements for VDES terminals and infrastructure and gives marine equipment developers a guaranteed framework of requirements against which systems can be developed and deployed. The latest standard is available for download from the ITU website https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-M.2092.
In 2016, to help accelerate the deployment of VDES systems, CML Microcircuits partnered with Stone 3 (now S3C) to develop the VDES1000 Module. As a Software Defined Radio, its architecture has allowed the same module to meet previous releases of the VDES and associated standards and with ratification of ITU-R M.2092 it provides a fast route to market for manufacturers seeking to develop ship-based solutions with VDES/ASM/AIS support. The simple software reconfiguration provides a route to future upgrades as the VDES standard continues to evolve. To date, the VDES1000 from CML has been used successfully in many VDES trials worldwide and CML is now in a position to support customers looking to move developments to mass production from the Summer onwards.
CML and S3C are currently collaborating along with other industry partners to help shape and produce the future IEC test standard which will ensure that equipment from multiple manufacturers will operate within the agreed specification.
