TRW Adding Jobs in Software-Defined Radio Development

TRW Inc. of Cleveland will hire up to 300 people at its San Diego-based Radio Systems unit, the company announced Oct. 24. The unit provides advanced technology products and services for the global aerospace, telecommunications, information systems and automotive markets.

In addition to work on next-generation cellular base stations and national defense programs, the new positions will be needed as the government moves into the engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the Joint Strike Fighter program.

The move will mean a significant requirement for additional personnel, especially in the engineering disciplines of software development, radio frequency and digital design, and systems engineering, TRW said.

"The demand for TRW's software-defined radios has never been greater," said Dave Vandervoet, vice president and general manager of TRW Radio Systems.

Since 1982, TRW has been awarded every U.S. contract that calls for integrated communications, navigation and identification avionics, which is a sophisticated array of sensors, navigation aids and communications systems that greatly reduce pilot workload, the company said.

TRW Radio Systems pioneered the concept of integrated avionics over the past two decades by developing modular, software-programmable avionics that provide multiple functions, TRW said.

Integrated CNI avionics allows for advanced capabilities, such as friend-or-foe identification of approaching aircraft and secure multiwave, multiband, multimode wireless communications. It has served as the basis for the software-defined radio technology that is now in strong demand for both military and commercial applications.

TRW Radio Systems delivers next-generation integrated communications systems for government and commercial applications. Its Avionics Engineering Centers support customers with system engineering, system integration, software development, legacy processor upgrade solutions and system simulation and test facilities.