GAMALINK

Generic SDR-bAsed Multifunctional spAce LINK

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'When talking about communications, terrestrial technologies are far more advanced than those applied in space. Therefore, spin-in of terrestrial technologies should be seriously pursued to provide the technology push that can lead space markets beyond the current state of the art. Therefore, GAMALINK will combine expertise on satellite navigation, ad hoc networking, attitude determination, antenna design and beam forming into a compact common technological platform, suitable for LEO small satellite missions. The hardware platform will be based on Software-Defined Radio (SDR), an innovative terrestrial concept that enables the development of various waveforms using a common hardware platform. On top of this radio platform a set of different techniques will be implemented: mobile ad hoc networking, an enabler for creating ISLs, attitude determination of one station relative to another, through the measurement of carrier phase delays between signals transmitted from multiple antennas, GPS waveform reading and signal decoding and ranging between different satellites, based solely on the transmission of communication signals. GAMALINK will also focus on innovative antenna and RF frontend design and beam forming techniques, trying to develop hardware solutions that can cope with the flexibility introduced by SDR. A key feature of this idea is in fact innovation. On one hand it proposes to bring SDR to space, one breakthrough terrestrial technology acting as an enabler for laying several other state of the art techniques on top of it. On the other hand it offers an integrated solution for both communications and attitude and orbit control purposes, targeting the increasingly popular small satellite market. However, GAMALINK’s ultimate goal is to prove the applicability of a wide range of technologies in space, in an attempt to leverage their technology maturity level both in terrestrial and in space applications.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

The mobile communications market is permanently looking for new products and development areas. As a result, terrestrial communications are far more advanced than those applied to link satellites in space but an EU-funded project aims to change this.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Under the framework of the 'Generic SDR-based multifunctional space link (http://gamalink.tekever.com/ (GAMALINK)) project, small- and medium-sized enterprises in collaboration with research institutes, are designing and building an advanced communications system for Cubesats. Researchers will validate two state-of-the-art technologies that were developed for terrestrial applications: software defined radio (SDR) and wireless ad hoc networking.

Communications radio systems run protocols referred to as waveforms, which include all functions necessary to transmit information from one radio to another. SDR enables the development of various waveforms using the same piece of hardware, resulting in tremendous weight and cost savings. Flexibility is increased to a point where changes can be made if failure occurs on orbit. SDR is also able to compensate for unexpected issues elsewhere in the communication system.

During the first project year, the architecture of the SDR hardware was designed, all subcomponents manufactured and tested before being integrated into a first prototype. These include antennas and driving radio frequency front-end together with signal acquisition and processing units. On top of the radio hardware platform, different techniques will be implemented for communications as well as attitude and orbit control in the next project year.

In particular, the concept of mobile ad hoc networking will be explored because it does not require dedicated infrastructure, management or monitoring. The self-discovery and self-organisation of ad hoc networks guarantee the autonomy required for picosatellites flying in formation and provide connectivity in the demanding space environment. Accurate position determination will be possible using the global positioning system to achieve synchronisation between the satellites.

If successful, GAMALINK will develop inter-satellite cross links, enabling lower cost constellations of satellites to provide critical data in a timely fashion. These direct satellite-to-satellite links allow for mesh connectivity and ad hoc networking, thereby ensuring that such satellite communications network can provide full coverage of the Earth.