23 October 2012: Warsaw, Poland and Wellington, New Zealand: 4RF Limited, the developer of high performance radio communications equipment for critical infrastructure applications, has announced the details of its next generation radio platform, the Aprisa SR+.

Delivering up to 120 kbit/s capacity, more than any licensed radio currently available on the market, the Aprisa SR+ leverages the same software platform and incorporates the market-leading security, reliability, ease of use and RF performance of the Aprisa SR. The Aprisa SR+ complements the Aprisa SR for a range of utility SCADA, telemetry and smart grid applications, offering both increased capacity and a greater number and flexibility of traffic ports.

John Yaldwyn, Chief Technology Officer and company founder, 4RF, explains: “High capacity, flexibility and low latency are key requirements in today’s data-intensive smart grid applications. To achieve the greatest possible performance from our new Aprisa SR+ radio, we have used our extensive RF experience to design and optimise many of the hardware components including delivering advanced modulation and lower latency. The result is an outstanding addition to our product family that gives our customers a choice of radio depending upon their network and application requirements.”

The Aprisa SR+ has been designed for electricity, renewable and smart grid applications that require increased capacity, such as high density AMI / AMR backhaul, wind farm communications, measurement and control in medium and high voltage distribution and transmission, and concentrator communications and GPRS replacement in the smart grid. It complements the Aprisa SR which offers up to 19.2 kbit/s capacity for electricity and water applications such as low voltage distribution automation, automatic reclosers, load break switches and measurement of flow, pressure and water intake levels.

As well as its high capacity and port flexibility, key features of the Aprisa SR+ include:

• Security: with a defence in depth approach, the Aprisa SR+ protects against both vulnerabilities and malicious attacks by providing comprehensive security measures including AES 256 encryption, data authentication, address filtering and user access control

• Build-configurable interfaces: with four ports, the data interfaces can be configured for RS-232 or Ethernet / IP operation, ranging from four Ethernet ports to two Ethernet and two serial ports

• Efficiency: adaptive modulation and low overhead forward error correction maintain traffic integrity, while routing features ensure efficient network data transfer

• Optimised for SCADA and telemetry applications: the Aprisa SR+ brings lower latency and improvements to the dynamic channel access management scheme which was introduced in the Aprisa SR

The initial release of the Aprisa SR+ will be available for 12.5 and 25 kHz channels in the ETSI-certified licensed UHF 400 – 470 MHz spectrum band.

Ian Troughton, Chief Executive Officer of 4RF, comments: “Our launch of the Aprisa SR+, with its breakthrough combination of high capacity and low latency, positions 4RF as the leading player in licensed radio solutions for mission-critical infrastructure. We launched the Aprisa SR here at EUTC in 2009 and we are delighted to be announcing the expansion of our product range with the Aprisa SR’s ‘big brother’ this year at Europe’s premier utility telecoms event.”

4RF recently announced details of investment from leading private equity fund Fortissimo Capital, which has helped expand the research and development team and accelerate the company’s extensive R&D programme.

Notes
1. For further information please contact:
a. Nicky Dibben, VP Marketing: email [email protected], telephone +44 7795 233341
b. John Yaldwyn, Chief Technology Officer: email [email protected]
2. Photographs of key personnel and product are available: please contact [email protected]

About 4RF Limited
With customers in more than 130 countries, 4RF provides radio communications equipment for critical infrastructure applications. Markets served include utilities, oil and gas, transport, telecommunications, public safety, military and government. Typical applications include monitoring and control, mobile radio & cellular backhaul and communication of internet, voice and data traffic.

The Aprisa SR and Aprisa SR+ point-to-multipoint radios provide secure communications for telemetry and SCADA applications. The Aprisa XE point-to-point link provides long distance, carrier-class communications.

4RF radios are ETSI, FCC and Industry Canada certified with excellent RF performance, support for both serial and IP traffic and superior reliability and ease of use.

Please visit www.4rf.com for more information about 4RF Limited.