Software Defined Radio for

Advanced Satellite Ground StationsMoses Browne Mwakyanjala

Onboard Space System

Luleå University of Technology

Main Supervisor

Prof. Reza Emami

Assistant Supervisor

Prof. Jaap van de Beek

Coordinator

Petrus Hyvönen, Christer Jonsson

Outline

• Introduction

• Project background

• Problem definition

• Design parameters

Introduction

• Three principal components of a satellite

communication system

– Space segment

– Ground segment

– Control segment

Introduction (cont’d)

Project background• Swedish Space Corporation and Lulea

University of Technology

• Goal : Development of an advanced

baseband system for SSC’s control

segments.

• Technology : Software-defined radio (SDR)

Project background(cont’d)

Project background(cont’d)

Project background(cont’d)

Problem definition• The design of an SDR-based baseband

system with advanced features

– Cognitive radio capability

– Multi-point capability

– Support for distributed satellite ground stations systems

– Mobility

Problem definition - Cognition

Problem definition - Multipoint

Problem definition - distributivity

Design parameters

• Use of a free SDR application framework

• Use of a commercial SDR application

framework

• In-house SDR application framework

Design parameters – Free application

frameworksAdvantages

• No cost e.g. GNU Radio

• Can be modified and

redistributed

• Less development time

Disadvantages

• Unreliable

• Poor documentation

• Poor support

• Inadequate development

tools

Design parameters – Commercial

application frameworksAdvantages

• Reliable

• Well documented

• Good development tools

• Less development time

Disadvantages

• Can be costly

• Licensing may hinder modification and redistribution

• May be tied to specific hardware

• Bloated with unnecessary features

Design parameters – In-house

application frameworkAdvantages

• Full ownership

• Low cost compared to commercial frameworks

• More reliable than free application frameworks

• The work can be simplified by “borrowing” code from free application frameworks

Disadvantages

• Time consuming[man

hours]

• Higher maintenance cost

Thank you

Questions?