SBIR-STTR Award

In order to develop a SATCOM diverse terminal Fairwinds has identified the key technologies required to support the performance and cost goals for simultaneous beams to multiple geosynchronous and other satellites. Fairwinds proposes to leverage commercial phased array technology and standard Digital architectures to enable this capability. During Phase I we will develop system requirements, system design, and system models in order to validate the technology and provide predictive RF performance. The modeling effort will also include the system architecture, scalability approach, basic RF performance parameters, tracking methodology and cost. The architecture baseline is designed to support any combination of bands and satellite constellations. The proposed terminal will be modeled to represent basic performance parameters. These parameters are: frequency bands supported, instantaneous bandwidth, linearity across frequency, antenna gain and side lobes, axial ratios, EIRP, G/T and size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). Models will incorporate COTS phased subarrays comprised of Ku- & Ka-band and an open interface standardized Future Advanced SATCOM Technology (FAST) IF/digital architecture. The vision for this solution is explained in the Phase III summary. At the conclusion of Phase I Fairwinds will hold a System Design & Requirements Review (SDR) with the Government.

During Phase II, Fairwinds will build and test a Ka-band proof of concept satellite terminal comprised of Ka-band subarrays and associated digital architecture integrated with a representative satellite digital modem. This proof of concept prototype will be capable of two (2) transmit beams and up to four (4) receive beams enabling a representative connection to two satellites. The prototype will be evaluated, and technical objectives demonstrated through bench and indoor range testing, which will also be used to validate and update the Phase I models and results.