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StatusCompleted
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Status date2018-11-14
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Activity Code6A.051
The SYPRUS proposal, led by Airbus Defence and Space SAS, aims at supporting the pre-development activities of a Flexible Radio-Digital Signal Processing (R-DSP) module for low cost / low bandwidth applications, up to completion and test of an elegant breadboard, with a corresponding system test bed to allow end-to-end functional chain validation with representative mission scenarii. The R-DSP module includes a flexible RF front-end and a processing core, fully programmable from the ground, and to be integrated in a flight application. This is constituting the core part of Software Defined Radio (SDR) payloads.
Software Defined Radio Payloads are emerging, building on COTS now available (intensively used in terrestrial networks) and offering powerfull, highly integrated and flexible solutions for Transceivers and DSPs.
This allows to think RF payloads differently, around a generic / programmable SDR equipment, allowing to address low bandwith missions, with on-board processing as needed, in a cost efficient way.
Still, the key COTS shall be selected carefully, with some space qualification activities, and used within a suitable overall architecture having the potential to serve such applications on small LEO platforms, with the required availability and quality of service.
For M2M, current space systems are not adequate to serve very large populations of small objects / mobile terminals with low bit rate requirements and severe cost, size and energy constraints. Having available a cost efficient and flexible solution allows to address the IoT needs though the satellite, with a global and ubiquitous connectivity solution, and building on European equipment.
Data Collection missions, including satellite based ADS-B, AIS and VDE-Sat, or spectrum survey missions, are also benefiting from this development.
Thanks to the capability to program and adjust the mission on-board, maximum usage flexibility in orbit is available, and such a product is perfectly suited to build multi-mission cost-effective solutions.
In order to meet the contraints of this project, COTS components are used, in combination with an architecture allowing mitigation if needed. The candidate key components have been studied, then submitted to a radiation test campaign to quantify their susceptibility to space environment. The selected components include
- a low-cost, low-power FPGA providing a high processing power
- a high performance integrated RF Transceiver
- high capacity Flash memories
The product is designed to accommodate missions with RF signal in the range 100 MHz to 5,5 GHz.
R-DSP module is a Software Defined Radio module in development by Airbus under ESA SYPRUS project based on new technologies to fulfill the requirements of newer RF missions such as M2M (Machine to Machine) and IOT (Internet of Thing) missions.
The R-DSP module is composed of the FPGA SMARTIO and a high processing pole composed
of 4 COTS (Commercial On The Shelves) FPGA connected together providing high processing power and reconfigurability.
They support the RF algorithm.
The main functionalities of R-DSP module of PCPU are:
- Mitigation Management performed by FPGA SMARTIO
- Control up to four COTS FPGAs,
- Program each COTS FPGA by SelectMap.
- Store FPGA-bitstreams and data by a triplicated FLASH Memory
- Management of the RF Transceivers
- Interface between RF signal and the COTS FPGAs for processing the algorithm.
- Receive the instructions through a SPACEWIRE RMAP interface
- High performance digital processing with a four COTS FPGAs versatile pole
- Processing RF Signals
- SDRAM Management
- Clocks distribution
- Control clock drivers.
- Synchronization on external reference clock.
See project objectives and product features, the product detailed architecture is confidential.
The project has started in August 2015 et has been completed end 2018, with an Elegant Breadboard of the product full developed and tested.
AIRBUS Elancourt PCPU has completed SYPRUS board test
Last milestone granted
