Ohio company develops secure IP-based communication system for first responders

When NASA needed help in securing its communications with orbiting satellites, it called on Westlake, Ohio-based Western DataCom to help develop a prototype Internet Protocol (IP) router. Western DataCom designs, develops, and manufactures hardware which secures voice, video, and data transmissions over any IP-based network. The company is now offering the technology it jointly developed with NASA as a communication solution for military and first-response missions. The router the company developed employs advanced data-compression techniques to improve throughput and meet the speed requirement and encryption to meet the security requirement. It is also operated with commercial protocols to meet the reliability requirement.

Western DataCom’s work impressed communication giant Cisco which, in 2001, approached the Ohio company to participate in the development of an IP encryptor for the Cisco Mobile Access Router (3200 Series), for military and first response use. The technology was not commercially available at the time of the 9/11 attacks. The company says it is available now and that it is invaluable to emergency and rescue personnel in averting any potential future threats. First responders from Cook County, Illinois; the New York Port Authority; and the New Jersey Port Authority are already using the company’s secure system in preparation for natural or man-made disasters.

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