A Ka-Band Transceiver for CubeSat Satellites: Feasibility Study and Prototype Development

Cuttin, Alessandro; Alimenti, F.; Coromina, F.; Fazio, Erica De; Dogo, Federico; Fragiacomo, Mario; Gervasoni, Paolo; Gotti, Giambattista; Gregorio, A.; Mezzanotte, P.; Pagana, E.; Palazzi, Valentina; Pelusi, Francesca; Petrini, Paolo; Roselli, L.; Gatti, Roberto Vincenti

doi:10.23919/eumc.2018.8541695

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The block diagram of the K/Ka-band receiver (RX) is illustrated in Figure 3. The receiver exploits a dual conversion superheterodyne architecture [15,16]. The novelty of the proposed design is related to the adoption, for space applications, of commercial components originally developed for the military and for the automotive markets, i.e., for sectors where miniaturization and low cost are traditionally associated to high reliability levels.…”

Section: Receiver Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

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K/Ka-Band Very High Data-Rate Receivers: A Viable Solution for Future Moon Exploration Missions

et al. 2019

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This paper presents a feasibility study for a very high data rate receiver operating in the K/Ka-band suitable to future Moon exploration missions. The receiver specifications are outlined starting from the mission scenario and from a careful system analysis. The designed architecture uses a low noise front-end to down-convert the incoming K/Ka-band signal into a 3.7 GHz intermediate frequency (IF). For maximum flexibility, a software defined radio (SDR) is adopted for the I/Q demodulation and for the analog to digital conversion (ADC). The decoding operations and the data interface are carried out by a processor based on field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuits. To experimentally verify the above concepts, a preliminary front-end breadboard is implemented, operating between 27.5 and 30 GHz. The breadboard, which uses components off the shelf (COTS) and evaluation boards (EVBs), is characterized by a 46 dB gain, a 3.4 dB noise figure and a − 37 dBm input-referred 1 dB compression point. Finally, a 40 Msym / s quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) signal is demodulated by means of a commercially available SDR, demonstrating the above concept. The importance of these results is that they have been obtained exploiting a class of miniaturized and low cost microwave integrated circuits currently available on the market, opening the way to a dense communication infrastructure on cislunar space.

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Section: Receiver Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the first case the effective signal to noise ratio is limited by the receiver noise figure whereas, in the second case, it is limited by the local oscillator phase-noise. From (15) follows that the effective SNR in (9) can be evaluated, considering the antenna noise temperature T a , as for the conventional noise figure:…”

Section: Phase Noise Impairmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

K/Ka-Band Very High Data-Rate Receivers: A Viable Solution for Future Moon Exploration Missions

et al. 2019

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“…The motivation of this choice lies in the considerable advantages offered by the extremely high frequencies (EHF) in terms of higher reuse factor and larger bandwidth with respect to the conventional S and X bands. Moreover, the applicability of the mmWave technology to the small satellite context is nowadays made possible by the availability of compact high-gain K-band antennas [3], [4], and of EHF radio transceivers satisfying power/size constraints and providing rates in the order of hundreds of megabits [5], [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanosatellite-5G Integration in the Millimeter Wave Domain: A Full Top-Down Approach

Babich

Comisso

Cuttin

et al. 2020

IEEE Trans. on Mobile Comput.

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This paper presents a novel network architecture for an integrated nanosatellite (nSAT)-5G system operating in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) domain. The architecture is realized adopting a delay/disruption tolerant networking (DTN) approach allowing end users to adopt standard devices. A buffer aware contact graph routing algorithm is designed to account for the buffer occupancy of the nSATs and for the connection planning derived from their visibility periods. At the terrestrial uplink, a coded random access is employed to realize a high-capacity interface for the typically irregular traffic of 5G users, while, at the space uplink, the DTN architecture is combined with the contention resolution diversity slotted Aloha protocol to match the recent update of the DVB-RCS2 standard. To achieve a reliable testing of the introduced functionalities, an accurate analysis of the statistic of the signal to interference-plus-noise ratio and of the capture probability at each mmWave link is developed by including interference, shadowing, fading, and noise. The application of the designed architecture to data transfer services in conjunction with possible delay reduction strategies, and an extension to inter-satellite communication, are finally presented by estimating the resulting loss/delay performance through a discrete-time discrete-event platform based on the integration of Matlab with Network Simulator 3.

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“…This work presents a receiver in the Ka-band that supports high-speed links between LEO and GEO satellites [4], [5]. The proposed low noise front-end performs a down conversion of the incoming 29 GHz signal into a 3.7 GHz Intermediate Frequency (IF).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Ka-Band Receiver Front-End With Noise Injection Calibration Circuit for CubeSats Inter-Satellite Links

et al. 2020

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This paper proposes a Ka-band receiver front-end for future CubeSats Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geostationary (GEO) inter-satellite links. The receiver is able to support very high data rates (up to 100 Mbit/s) in Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK) when in the line of sight of a GEO satellite that is equipped with a steerable 70-cm antenna and transmitting a 25-W signal. The originality of the proposed approach is twofold. First we will demonstrate the receiver feasibility based on a class of miniaturized and low-cost microwave integrated circuits, currently available on the market. In particular, our receiver is based on a novel combination of integrated Low-Noise Amplifiers (LNA) with an image rejection filter, the latter exploiting the Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) technology. An optimization of the via placement proved to be able to reduce the need for shielding apparatuses, thus simplifying the mechanics and reducing mass, volume and hardware costs. Secondly, we will propose a noise injection circuit capable of measuring and calibrating the receiver gain, also during in-orbit operation. Self testing capabilities are particularly relevant for CubeSats because the usage of commercial components poses serious reliability issues.

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A Ka-Band Transceiver for CubeSat Satellites: Feasibility Study and Prototype Development

Cited by 12 publications

References 6 publications

K/Ka-Band Very High Data-Rate Receivers: A Viable Solution for Future Moon Exploration Missions

K/Ka-Band Very High Data-Rate Receivers: A Viable Solution for Future Moon Exploration Missions

Nanosatellite-5G Integration in the Millimeter Wave Domain: A Full Top-Down Approach

A Ka-Band Receiver Front-End With Noise Injection Calibration Circuit for CubeSats Inter-Satellite Links

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