Control Data Systems

Control Data Systems (CDS) dates from 1994 and is run privately from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Its earliest work was industrial wireless, and that market remains central to its products, including radio modems, wireless routers and gateways that connect industrial sensor networks to the Internet of Things. Its customers work in aerospace, in the oil and gas sector, and in environmental monitoring, and the company also works on space communication.

Gateways, modules and field tools

The VersaRouter 950, or VR950, is an industrial wireless gateway for mission-critical plants in oil and gas, mining and manufacturing. It runs two standards at once, ISA100 and WirelessHART, and includes the network management components, redundancy and network collocation features those sites need. The company reports that the VR950 has cleared ATEX Zone II, RED and FCC compliance tests. Its VS210 board offers 23 input and output pins for users building ISA100 or WirelessHART applications, and its Field Tool is a portable device for configuring field instruments on an ISA100 network, over the air or by infrared.

Ultra wide band positioning and communications

CDS is developing ultra wide band units that combine precise positioning with data communication. The company says it has completed the qualification and acceptance campaigns for three flight-model units, which are to fly to the Moon on ispace's Mission 3. The aim is to demonstrate communication and navigation using CDS technology. Ultra wide band is described by the company as a short-pulse radio technique that works with the 802.15.4 standard.

Space work funded by the European Space Agency

A separate programme covers the preliminary design of proximity communications for the ESA PoC-1 mission, carried out under a programme backed by the European Space Agency. CDS is also developing an inter-satellite link platform based on software-defined radio. It is intended for rendezvous and docking in the emerging field of in-orbit servicing, where satellites must work closely together. The company says it will deliver the first Romanian payload to the Moon, under a contract with the agency.

Partnerships beyond Romania

The company describes a payload service agreement with ispace Europe to carry its location measurement technology to the Moon, and a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean firm CONTEC to work together on ground and space capabilities. It also has a sponsorship agreement with ROSPIN that supports a student team taking part in the Rover Challenge. Together these deals show a business that moved from industrial networks into space work while keeping its industrial products on sale.