Modular Satellite User Terminals With Buffered Daisy-Chain Arrays
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost and complexity of traditional satellite communication antenna systems, due to custom-designed, high-performance phased-array antennas with lossy RF transitions and extensive NRE costs, limit accessibility to high-speed internet connectivity, especially in developing countries.
Innovation Solution
Inexpensive, reusable, and interchangeable antenna elements are combined into modular electronically scanned array systems, integrating radiators with active circuitry to reduce lossy RF transitions and enable bulk production, reducing NRE costs and system complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional custom-designed phased-array antennas are used, then high-performance beamscanning capability is achieved, but system cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna system is divided into multiple identical, standardized antenna elements that can be independently manufactured and then assembled into arrays. Each element uses the same design and components, eliminating the need for custom design of each individual antenna while maintaining overall system performance through modular repetition.
Solution Approach 2:
A universal antenna element design is created that can be used across multiple applications and array configurations. The standardized element serves multiple functions and can be deployed in different numbers and arrangements to meet various performance requirements without requiring application-specific custom design.
2Reliability
If traditional custom-designed phased-array antennas are used, then high-performance beamscanning capability is achieved, but manufacturing cost increases due to extensive NRE costs
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the system into standardized reusable antenna elements, the non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs are amortized across many identical units. The upfront design investment is divided by the large number of elements produced, significantly reducing the per-unit cost compared to custom-designed antennas.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating unique custom designs for each antenna, the system uses repeated copies of a single standardized element design. This copying approach eliminates the need for extensive NRE for each individual antenna while maintaining consistent performance across all elements in the array.
3Ease of manufacture
If modular reusable antenna elements are used, then manufacturing cost and NRE costs decrease, but signal attenuation and quality degradation may increase in daisy-chain configurations
Solution Approach 1:
Buffer amplifiers are introduced as intermediary components in the daisy-chain signal path between antenna elements. These buffers compensate for signal attenuation and prevent quality degradation by actively restoring signal levels, enabling the daisy-chain architecture to maintain signal integrity over long transmission lines.
4Ease of manufacture
If fewer antenna elements are used, then system cost decreases, but signal throughput and antenna area are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides dynamic scalability where the number of antenna elements can be adjusted based on specific application requirements. Users can configure arrays with different numbers of elements (e.g., 16, 32, 64, or more) to optimize the balance between cost and performance, allowing the same standardized elements to serve multiple market segments from consumer to commercial applications.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
Disclosed embodiments relate to modular antenna systems. In one example, an antenna system includes M user terminal elements, each being application-agnostic and including an antenna either to generate an incoming signal in response to incident satellite radio waves or to transmit an outgoing signal, and an active circuit to process the incoming and outgoing signals, a control circuit to control the processing performed by the M active circuits, and N user terminal modules (UTM) each including a daisy-chain of O of the M active circuits, each UTM further including a buffer placed after every P active circuits in order to correct any degradation that has occurred in the daisy-chain, and wherein M can be adjusted so that an antenna area and a corresponding throughput and bandwidth available to an application are adjustable and scalable.