Session
Technical Session VII: Communications
Abstract
Recent development by JHU/APL’s Space Exploration Sector RF Engineering Group has led to a next generation, high-reliability, extremely low size, weight, and power (SWaP) software-defined radio (SDR) product for near and deep space applications called Frontier Radio Lite (FR Lite). A derivative from the TRL-9 Frontier Radio product implemented for the NASA Van Allen Probes (current), Solar Probe Plus, and Europa Clipper (future) missions, this evolution is a single card comprising the entire radio electronics system as opposed to four or more packaged slices. In addition to volume and DC power savings, this hardware was created with reconfigurability in mind. This paper discusses the research, development, challenges, and technology that enabled the jump to the FR Lite product as well as its capabilities and versatility to adapt to a multitude of different applications.
Frontier Radio Lite: A Single-Board Software-Defined Radio for Demanding Small Satellite Missions
Recent development by JHU/APL’s Space Exploration Sector RF Engineering Group has led to a next generation, high-reliability, extremely low size, weight, and power (SWaP) software-defined radio (SDR) product for near and deep space applications called Frontier Radio Lite (FR Lite). A derivative from the TRL-9 Frontier Radio product implemented for the NASA Van Allen Probes (current), Solar Probe Plus, and Europa Clipper (future) missions, this evolution is a single card comprising the entire radio electronics system as opposed to four or more packaged slices. In addition to volume and DC power savings, this hardware was created with reconfigurability in mind. This paper discusses the research, development, challenges, and technology that enabled the jump to the FR Lite product as well as its capabilities and versatility to adapt to a multitude of different applications.
