Session
Weekday Poster Session 2
Location
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Abstract
Traditional remote sensing satellites uses X-band transmitter (XTX) to dump large volume of image data in a high data rate, i. e., greater than 100Mbps. Since the need and trend of low-earth-orbit (LEO) communications arise, we wonder if we can improve the usefulness of a remote sensing satellite by upgrading the inherent XTX as a X-band transceiver (XTRX), so that a remote sensing satellite can incorporate additional broadband communication functionality. This work investigates the feasibility in three perspectives with the illustration of FORMOSAT-8, an optical remote sensing satellite.
First, from the perspective of antenna and RF chain, the downlink band remains at 8.025GHz to 8.4Ghz and the uplink band is selected at 7/9GHz to 7.95Ghz. In this case, transmission band and receiving band are not too far so that a well-defined horn antenna can cover both bands. Besides, a diplexer is added to separate the receiving signal from the transmission signal. Secondly, from the perspective of baseband processing and intermediate scheme, i. e., sampling, digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters (DAC/ADC), due to the progress of software defined radio (SDR) and the availability of FPGA, the flexibility of reconfiguration from the processing of a simplex transmitter to that of a duplex transceiver is affordable since the cost and risk of schedule are greatly deduced. Thirdly, from the perspective of system, the size weight and power consumption (SWaP) of FORMOSAT-8 (FS8) are investigated and discussed. The technology of steerable solar panel is also suggested to attain sufficient electrical power when simultaneously adjusting the attitude for the X-band antenna to point at the ground terminal.
Finally, the telemetry and telecommand (TM/TC) communication can be moved to X-band and thus the traditional S-band module and the associated antenna can be neglected. Furthermore, in order to implement TMTC and broadband communication in the same band efficiently, a scheme of packet switching is suggested. The scheme also applies when multiple ground users exist.
Concept and Feasibility of Enabling Broadband Comunication to a Remote Sensing Satellite
Utah State University, Logan, UT
Traditional remote sensing satellites uses X-band transmitter (XTX) to dump large volume of image data in a high data rate, i. e., greater than 100Mbps. Since the need and trend of low-earth-orbit (LEO) communications arise, we wonder if we can improve the usefulness of a remote sensing satellite by upgrading the inherent XTX as a X-band transceiver (XTRX), so that a remote sensing satellite can incorporate additional broadband communication functionality. This work investigates the feasibility in three perspectives with the illustration of FORMOSAT-8, an optical remote sensing satellite.
First, from the perspective of antenna and RF chain, the downlink band remains at 8.025GHz to 8.4Ghz and the uplink band is selected at 7/9GHz to 7.95Ghz. In this case, transmission band and receiving band are not too far so that a well-defined horn antenna can cover both bands. Besides, a diplexer is added to separate the receiving signal from the transmission signal. Secondly, from the perspective of baseband processing and intermediate scheme, i. e., sampling, digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters (DAC/ADC), due to the progress of software defined radio (SDR) and the availability of FPGA, the flexibility of reconfiguration from the processing of a simplex transmitter to that of a duplex transceiver is affordable since the cost and risk of schedule are greatly deduced. Thirdly, from the perspective of system, the size weight and power consumption (SWaP) of FORMOSAT-8 (FS8) are investigated and discussed. The technology of steerable solar panel is also suggested to attain sufficient electrical power when simultaneously adjusting the attitude for the X-band antenna to point at the ground terminal.
Finally, the telemetry and telecommand (TM/TC) communication can be moved to X-band and thus the traditional S-band module and the associated antenna can be neglected. Furthermore, in order to implement TMTC and broadband communication in the same band efficiently, a scheme of packet switching is suggested. The scheme also applies when multiple ground users exist.
