Session
Technical Poster Session 5
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
The small satellite field has become popular amongst academia, amateur satellite (AMSAT) community, and commercial businesses due to the miniaturization of components and smaller form factors. Specifically, the picosatellite structure has gained attraction for its size and affordability of launch fees. However, the size constraint makes it difficult to generate power and limits the transmit power for downlink. Therefore, efficient data modulation is key to providing high data downlink rates. Also, the typical VHF and UHF frequency spectrum used for satellites is getting congested. Hence, the higher frequency bands such as S-band and X-band are gaining attraction and offer higher data bandwidth. To address both issues, an architecture to implement QPSK modulation for S-band operation is proposed. The design is focused on low-power picosatellites and the implementation is targeted for academia and the AMSAT community.
S-Band QPSK Transmitter for Picosatellites
Utah State University, Logan, UT
The small satellite field has become popular amongst academia, amateur satellite (AMSAT) community, and commercial businesses due to the miniaturization of components and smaller form factors. Specifically, the picosatellite structure has gained attraction for its size and affordability of launch fees. However, the size constraint makes it difficult to generate power and limits the transmit power for downlink. Therefore, efficient data modulation is key to providing high data downlink rates. Also, the typical VHF and UHF frequency spectrum used for satellites is getting congested. Hence, the higher frequency bands such as S-band and X-band are gaining attraction and offer higher data bandwidth. To address both issues, an architecture to implement QPSK modulation for S-band operation is proposed. The design is focused on low-power picosatellites and the implementation is targeted for academia and the AMSAT community.
