What is it about?
The paper is about the design of an SDR-based TT&C baseband system for satellite ground operations. The proposed architecture is based on affordable commercial-off-the-shelf (CoTS) RF frontends and open-source development kits, which can significantly reduce cost. The designed baseband will work as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) private cloud.
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Why is it important?
The paper presents a thoughtful approach to designing an SDR ground station for generically interacting with many satellite missions. The article provides a map for how to build the system to include both CCSDS compliant satellites, as well as other most other space TT&C systems, as well as considering the RF requirements for ranging capability. It should provide a good architecture for abstracting a ground station from a satellite operator while still providing the functions that integrate tightly with the RF system.
Perspectives
Hopefully, the article will inspire stakeholders in the space industry to consider commercial-off-the-shelf RF frontends and open-source development kits as a strategy to lower the cost of spacecraft TT&C.
Moses Browne Mwakyanjala
Lulea Tekniska Universitet
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Functional Analysis of Software-Defined Radio Baseband for Satellite Ground Operations, Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, March 2019, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/1.a34333.
You can read the full text:
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