Echoes from the past : The Communication Layer of a Nanosatellite Swarm

A 23-GHz TX/LNA Front-End Module for Inter-Satellite Links With 27.8% Peak Efficiency in the TX Path and 3.1-dB NF in the RX Path

“…Link budget analysis for the proposed 23-GHz ISL system. P T is analyzed based on the >25-W dc power budget for a 3U CubeSat [8], [14]. Since a 23-GHz circuit will be less efficient and P T is assumed to be 4 W at 2.45 GHz [1], [6], [7], [8], P T here is assumed to be 1.5 W. L is calculated as 158.76 dB for a distance of 90 km, which corresponds to the maximum distance for the masters' links in the previous studies [1], [7], [8].…”

“…G T and G R are assumed to be 22 dBi. They are calculated by 10log 10 (8 × 8) + G e in dB scale, where G e = 4 dBi is the gain for the element patch antenna, corresponding to the number of 5 dBi in [7] and [8] with 1-dB extra assumed implementation loss. T a is set to be 674 K, which is estimated based on the sky noise estimation in [15] and the assumption that the NF of the RX is 4 dB.…”

“…T a is set to be 674 K, which is estimated based on the sky noise estimation in [15] and the assumption that the NF of the RX is 4 dB. Since the required E b /N 0 is 2.1 dB for 10 −5 bit error rate (BER) in the OQPSK-based system proposed in [1], [6], [7], and [8], the LM can be calculated for a given R. For an R of 250 Mbps, there is still 1.24-dB LM left, demonstrating the capability for a higher data-rate ISL for the OLFAR.…”

“…System architecture for the proposed 23-GHz ISL. [7], [8], providing much higher data rates. By shifting the carrier frequency from 2.45 to 23 GHz, the free-space path loss becomes an inevitable issue that must be addressed.…”