Reconfigurable Satellite Payload for Flexible RF Signal Processing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional communications satellite payloads lack flexibility to adapt to evolving market demands over their 15-year operational lifetime, as they are typically designed for specific customer requirements and become uneconomic to reconfigure for different applications, with complex frequency plans leading to interference issues and high power consumption.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable system with agile filter means for analogue processing, using variable mixers and filters to select and translate RF signals between pre-selected intermediate frequencies, allowing in-orbit adjustments to frequency plans and minimizing power requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional fixed frequency plan transponders are used, then hardware is minimized for specific applications, but flexibility to adapt to evolving market demands is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic reconfigurability in the payload architecture through voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) and programmable frequency synthesizers that allow the frequency plan to be changed in-orbit. The local oscillator frequencies can be dynamically adjusted to implement different frequency conversion paths, enabling the same hardware to support multiple frequency plans and applications throughout the satellite's operational lifetime.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal payload architecture that can handle multiple uplink bands (C, X, Ku, Ka) and downlink bands through reconfigurable frequency conversion. The same transponder hardware can be reconfigured to support different routing combinations and frequency plans, making the payload universally applicable to various market requirements rather than being dedicated to a single application.
2Adaptability or versatility
If complex frequency plans are implemented to handle multiple bands, then routing flexibility is improved, but interference from harmonics and spurious mixing products increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs parameter changes in the local oscillator frequencies to optimize the frequency conversion process. By carefully selecting and adjusting the LO frequencies, the system can achieve the desired routing flexibility while avoiding frequency combinations that generate harmful harmonics and spurious mixing products. The reconfigurable architecture allows dynamic adjustment of these parameters to maintain optimal performance across different frequency plans.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediate frequency (IF) stages as mediators in the frequency conversion process. By using programmable frequency synthesizers to generate precise IF frequencies, the system can route signals between multiple bands while maintaining spectral separation that minimizes interference. The IF stage acts as an intermediary that enables flexible routing without directly mixing uplink and downlink frequencies that could cause interference.
3Productivity
If multiple digital processing chains are used to handle higher bandwidth signals, then signal processing capability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the signal processing function into distinct analog and digital domains. The analog front-end performs initial frequency conversion and filtering, while the digital processing chains handle specific bandwidth-limited channels. This segmentation allows the system to process wider overall bandwidths by dividing the work across multiple parallel chains, each operating at lower power, rather than requiring a single high-power digital processor to handle the entire bandwidth.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary analog processing of the RF signals before digitization, including frequency conversion to intermediate frequencies and analog filtering. This preliminary action reduces the bandwidth that needs to be processed digitally, allowing multiple digital chains to efficiently handle narrower bandwidth segments. By preprocessing signals in the analog domain, the system reduces the overall power consumption of the digital processing stage while maintaining high signal processing capability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system provides a flexible and efficient payload architecture that can handle a broad spectrum of uplink traffic, reducing interference and power consumption, enabling adaptive frequency conversion and bandwidth adjustments to meet changing market needs.
Implementation Method 1
agile filter means comprising a variable mixer stage and at least one variable filter, adapted to select one or more first frequency channels from the input signal, to amplify and provide automatic gain control of the selected first channel signals and to translate the selected first channels to one or more second frequency channel signals within a pre-selected second intermediate frequency band (IF2)
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary embodiments are directed to a reconfigurable system for the analogue processing of radio frequency signals in a satellite communications system. The system receives a pre-selected first intermediate frequency and selects one or more first frequency channels from the input signal, to amplify and provide automatic gain control of the selected first channel signals and to translate the selected first channels to one or more second frequency channel signals within a pre-selected second intermediate frequency band. The first and second intermediate frequencies are selected to minimize conversion of the uplink and downlink signals. The system provides a generic flexible communications satellite payload architecture based on single channel agile conversion and provides adjustable frequency conversion and bandwidth to individual satellite channels, allowing in-orbit flexible reconfiguration of payload frequency plan and operation.