BEL unveiled its new communication network, BELCOMNET, for the Defence/Paramilitary forces and export market, at Aero India 2017.
BELCOMNET, designed and developed by BEL, is a V/UHF secure voice communication network with user specific encryption algorithm. The network facilitates exchange of secure voice through repeaters that are dispersed geographically. This enables connecting two or more dispersed locations for day-to-day communications. For example, brigades in field and headquarters across towns can be connected using IPv6 features. It also facilitates broadcasting to all sites, in case of an emergency or a crisis.
The various blocks of this network are Handheld Radio, Manpack Radio, Base Station radio, Vehicular Radio, VHF Repeater Radio, UHF Link Radio and Remote Monitor & Switching Unit (RMSU). The VHF repeater, UHF link and RMSU are co-located and installed together at a communication tower site. The mobile subscriber radios around the repeater are handheld, manpack, vehicular whereas static subscriber is base station.
The typical communication range of handheld radios around the repeater is approximately 5 km and that of the manpack, base station and vehicular radios is around 15-20 km. The range of the UHF point to point link is around 60-100 km with directional antennas. The antennas for Repeater, UHF link and Base Station are mounted on elevated platforms such as tower, mast or pole. Broadcast or selective call is possible from subscriber radio under one repeater network to subscriber radio(s) under different network in clear/secure mode. Provision for peer-to-peer communication among different radios without repeater is also catered to.