Description
To develop and demonstrate in a real scenario the feasibility of the orthogonal frequency division multiple access technologies in satellite communication networks applicable to mobile or fixed satellite services.
Optimisation of the link spectral efficiency, resilience against channel non-linearity, cost effective multi-carrier receivers to be demonstrated in a realistic satellite environment with a target spectral efficiency improvement of more than 20%.
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) techniques are commonly used today in modern physical layers for terrestrial applications (e.g. LTE). Preliminary studies have shown the potential for the use of such techniques also in satellite communication networks. In particular the use of Single Carrier-FDMA (SC-FDMA) has the advantage of a reduced
peak-to average signal power ratio which is a desirable feature in satellite channels in the presence of non-linearity. The SC-FDMA scheme has the potential to be used both in fixed or mobile satellite system scenarios in star or mesh overlay networks.
This activity aims at demonstrating the feasibility and performance of OFDMA and in particular SC-FDMA techniques in realistic use cases demonstrated within a live satellite test campaign.
The activity shall start with definition of pertinent use cases along with a consolidation of air interface techniques and technologies for the (SC-)FDMA technology demonstration. Relevant techniques will be reviewed and optimised to improve the overall system efficiency and cost, while maintaining a reasonable complexity.
A test strategy for live demonstration of certain applications shall be then defined, followed by the test campaign. An end-to-end demonstrator test platform shall be devised to allow for functionality and performance test in a controlled lab environment to establish the benchmark followed by live demo taking into account real applications.
This activity shall demonstrate the enhancements to the conventional air interface as well as an innovative terminal architecture to improve the overall system efficiency and cost, while maintaining a reasonable complexity of the user terminal.
Procurement Policy: C(1) = Activity restricted to non-prime contractors (incl. SMEs). For additional information please go to EMITS news "Industrial Policy measures for non-primes, SMEs and R&D entities in ESA programmes".
Tender Specifics