As unmanned systems become increasingly important across public safety, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), search and rescue (SAR), and beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) operations, reliable video connectivity has become a critical part of the mission.
For Teradek, that challenge builds on decades of experience delivering professional wireless video transmission. Greg Dunbar, Global Director of Sales – Public Safety & Defense at Teradek, explains how the company is extending that foundation with network bonding, 5G, LEO satellite connectivity, and resilient video transport to support the evolving needs of unmanned operations.
From Wireless Video to Resilient Connectivity
Teradek’s experience in wireless video transmission began with products such as Bolt and Ranger, which became widely adopted in the entertainment industry for their ultra-low to no latency performance. That capability was built on Teradek’s primary expertise in video encoding and decoding, including support for a broad range of video protocols.
As unmanned systems evolved, simply transmitting video wirelessly was no longer enough. Teams needed a way to distribute full motion video to anyone who required access to it, even when conventional connectivity was limited or unavailable.
Prism Mobile
That led Teradek to add network bonding capabilities to its product family. With Prism Mobile and Prism Jetpack, multiple cellular connections can be aggregated along with multiple Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connections, including systems such as Starlink. This gives UAS pilots and robot operators a way to share video directly from their controllers through HDMI, SDI, or Wi-Fi.
The latest step in that evolution is Link, a full network bonding router designed to provide internet access for devices and protocols used in UAS command vehicles.
Building Connectivity When Infrastructure Is Limited
Unmanned operations rarely take place under ideal network conditions. Cellular infrastructure can be weak or overloaded, while disaster zones, remote locations, and other challenging environments can create additional connectivity constraints.
Network bonding helps operators make better use of whatever connectivity is available. For example, a single cellular connection may not provide enough uplink bandwidth to transmit video. One SIM might deliver only 0.5 Mbps while another provides 1.0 Mbps. Individually, neither connection may be sufficient for sending video. By aggregating multiple carriers rather than treating them simply as failover connections, operators can combine available bandwidth to create a more capable uplink.
Teradek’s Prism solutions can bond between two and eight cellular modems from multiple carriers, including Private 5G.
LEO satellite connectivity can be added to that mix as well. When an operator has access to a LEO system such as Starlink, its uplink can be aggregated with available cellular connections to increase the total bandwidth. The pilot connects the controller to the Prism device through Wi-Fi, HDMI, or SDI, while the Prism device connects to the satellite system. Teradek’s bonding software then makes use of the available uplink capacity across those sources.
Prism Flex
In contested or jammed environments, the connectivity strategy changes. Operators can leverage MANET radios from vendors such as Silvus or Trellisware to move the video feed to an area where a Teradek Prism, Prism Jetpack, or Link can provide the uplink.
In this configuration, a UAS pilot can use a Prism Flex encoder, which does not include SIM capability, connected to the controller. The encoder connects to the MANET radio, allowing the full motion video packet to travel across the MANET network to a safer uplink location where another Teradek device can transmit it.
Making the Most of Available Networks
Unmanned systems are now an important tool for public safety, ISR, and SAR missions. As communications technology becomes smaller and more efficient, capabilities that were once limited to larger aircraft are increasingly being considered for smaller Type II and Type I platforms as well.
At the same time, even dedicated public safety cellular services can face limitations during major events or incidents. Programs such as AT&T FirstNet, Verizon Frontline, and T-Mobile Priority provide public safety prioritization, but prioritization does not necessarily mean dedicated infrastructure. Cellular towers can still become overwhelmed when large numbers of users converge in the same area.
Unmanned teams understand these challenges when operating in disaster zones, at major events, or in remote locations such as mountain tops. The goal is to make the most of the connectivity that is actually available at the mission site.
Teradek’s network bonding technology allows teams to aggregate bandwidth across cellular carriers and LEO providers. A Prism Jetpack or Link configured with multiple SIMs and LEO connections can provide a broad range of connectivity options. Operators can arrive with SIMs from multiple carriers, quickly assess which networks are performing best, and use those connections to support the mission.
Private 5G is also emerging as an important part of this connectivity landscape. As awareness and adoption grow within public safety, Private 5G can provide agencies with their own dedicated network within a defined operational area. Teradek’s solutions already support Private 5G environments through their network bonding capabilities.
Supporting BVLOS and Long-Range Operations
For BVLOS and long-range drone missions, communications resilience can be mission-critical.
Drone manufacturers determine which communications technologies to integrate based in part on size, weight, power, and other SWaP considerations. Today, platforms may use proprietary Wi-Fi, single cellular modems, MANET radio modules, or satellite connectivity. BRINC, for example, has incorporated Starlink into its platform.
The industry is also increasingly recognizing the value of having more than one communications path for both Command & Control (C2) and full motion video. Network bonding capabilities, however, have not yet broadly made their way onto the aircraft themselves.
Recent conflicts have also highlighted the challenges of relying on wireless C2 in contested environments. Larger platforms equipped with MANET capabilities and sophisticated low-probability-of-detection/low-probability-of-intercept (LPD/LPI) technologies can offer different options, while other environments have seen extensive use of fiber connectivity.
Teradek’s approach is to work with the C2 capability already available on the aircraft, including MANET. By connecting to the pilot’s controller, Teradek can encode the HDMI or SDI video the pilot is seeing and transmit full motion video to users anywhere in the world.
That video can be ingested into a video management system (VMS), TAK or TAK-like software, or accessed through Teradek Core, Teradek’s IP video management platform. For tactical operations, Teradek also supports the transmission of KLV metadata, providing additional information alongside the video feed.
Designing for What’s Next in Unmanned Missions
The evolution of unmanned systems is happening quickly, and recent operational experience is influencing how technology is developed, tested, and deployed.
One of the clearest lessons from the war in Ukraine has been the importance of ongoing R&D, rapid prototyping, rapid field testing, and in-country manufacturing. Speed has always mattered on the battlefield, but today that speed extends beyond operations to the supply chain and aircraft assembly process.
Teradek is responding by listening closely to customers operating in austere environments and developing solutions with reduced SWaP requirements. The company has launched board-level solutions to support OEM integration with other hardware manufacturers and systems integrators.
KLV metadata support is another example of that customer-driven development. The capability was launched earlier in response to requests from Teradek’s federal law enforcement partners. Integration with third-party situational awareness platforms such as TAK and Apollo will remain an important part of the company’s development efforts.
Private 5G is another major area of focus. Teradek is investing in how Private 5G may be adopted by the Department of War (DoW) and public safety agencies for specific mission sets. The emerging model could include a MANET tactical bubble overlapping with a Private 5G tactical bubble, with both feeding back to a core uplink.
The opportunity extends well beyond unmanned aircraft. IP video is already widely used across public safety, including traffic cameras, pole cameras, helmet cameras, K-9 cameras, dash cameras, and body cameras. The ability to apply Teradek’s network bonding technology across different device types, protocols, and file types has become an important requirement from end users.
The launch of Link directly addresses that need, bringing Teradek’s network bonding capabilities beyond video transmission and into a broader connectivity solution.
As unmanned missions continue to evolve, the ability to reliably move video and data across whatever networks are available will remain essential. Teradek’s focus is on giving operators the flexibility to use those networks together—whether that means cellular, Private 5G, LEO satellite, MANET, or a combination of them—to keep critical information moving when and where it is needed.
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