WO2023069702A1 - Techniques for calibration and measurements of an e-band satellite communication (satcom) system - Google Patents
Techniques for calibration and measurements of an e-band satellite communication (satcom) system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO2023069702A1 WO2023069702A1 PCT/US2022/047412 US2022047412W WO2023069702A1 WO 2023069702 A1 WO2023069702 A1 WO 2023069702A1 US 2022047412 W US2022047412 W US 2022047412W WO 2023069702 A1 WO2023069702 A1 WO 2023069702A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- vna
- calibration
- mixer
- active
- signal generator
- Prior art date
Links
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 63
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 56
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims description 50
- 238000012360 testing method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 60
- 230000001360 synchronised effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 6
- 238000007726 management method Methods 0.000 description 15
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 10
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 8
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 7
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 description 6
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 5
- 238000004458 analytical method Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000012937 correction Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 4
- 239000000243 solution Substances 0.000 description 4
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000001105 regulatory effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000002411 adverse Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000011161 development Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000003993 interaction Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000012827 research and development Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000001228 spectrum Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000008961 swelling Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000007704 transition Effects 0.000 description 2
- 206010035148 Plague Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 241000607479 Yersinia pestis Species 0.000 description 1
- 238000003491 array Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000013142 basic testing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000012482 calibration solution Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000001413 cellular effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000013480 data collection Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000013500 data storage Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007812 deficiency Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000036541 health Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000006872 improvement Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000011835 investigation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012544 monitoring process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000008450 motivation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003071 parasitic effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004549 pulsed laser deposition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001172 regenerating effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000011160 research Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000523 sample Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000035899 viability Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000007 visual effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
- H04B7/14—Relay systems
- H04B7/15—Active relay systems
- H04B7/185—Space-based or airborne stations; Stations for satellite systems
- H04B7/1851—Systems using a satellite or space-based relay
- H04B7/18519—Operations control, administration or maintenance
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B17/00—Monitoring; Testing
- H04B17/10—Monitoring; Testing of transmitters
- H04B17/11—Monitoring; Testing of transmitters for calibration
- H04B17/14—Monitoring; Testing of transmitters for calibration of the whole transmission and reception path, e.g. self-test loop-back
Definitions
- This patent application is directed to satellite communication systems, and more specifically, to systems and methods for calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system using commercially allocated E-band frequencies.
- SATCOM satellite communication
- Satellite communication systems may be used to provision voice and data services that require higher bandwidths for transmission and higher frequency spectra, such as E-band for SATCOM (71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz).
- E-band for SATCOM 71-76 GHz, 81-86 GHz
- satellite communication systems must adapt to increasing consumer demand, swelling constraints of regulatory requirements, and provisioning of quality services.
- SATCOM satellite communication
- Figure 1 illustrates satellite communication system, according to an example.
- Figure 2A illustrates a configuration for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- SATCOM satellite communication
- Figure 2B illustrates a graph depicting calibration and measurement results using the configuration of Figure 2A, according to an example.
- Figure 3A illustrates a configuration for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- SATCOM satellite communication
- Figure 3B illustrates a graph depicting calibration and measurement results using the configuration of Figure 3A, according to an example.
- Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram of a computer system for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- SATCOM satellite communication
- Figure 5 illustrates a method for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- SATCOM satellite communication
- Satellite communication (SATCOM) systems must adapt to increasing consumer demand, swelling constraints of regulatory requirements, and provisioning of quality services, higher bandwidth demands and additional spectrum usage requirements to meet higher throughput demands, such as those exploited in very high throughput satellite (VHTS) systems.
- VHTS very high throughput satellite
- E-Band frequencies in satellite communication (SATCOM) system may help with broadband services, but may also create other issues and technical challenges, some of which are described by Sam Morrar in “Using E-Band for Wideband Satcom: Opportunities and Challenges,” MWJournal, August 2021 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
- VHTS very high throughput satellite
- Figure 1 illustrates satellite communication system, according to an example.
- the system 100 may depict a satellite communication system capable of providing at least voice and/or data services.
- the satellite communication system may be a high throughput satellite (HTS) system.
- the system 100 may include any number of terminals 110, a satellite 120, a gateway 130, a network data center 140, a network management system (NMS) 150, a business system 160, or other various system elements or components.
- the system 100 may also include a private network 170 and/or public network 180. It should be appreciated that the system 100 depicted in Figure 1 may be an example. Thus, the system 100 may or may not include additional features and some of the features described herein may be removed and/or modified without departing from the scopes of the system 100 outlined herein.
- the terminals 110 may be any variety of terminals.
- the terminals 110 may be earth-station antennas or terminals or customer terminals, such as very small aperture terminals (VSATs).
- VSATs very small aperture terminals
- terminals 110 may be mounted on a structure, habitat, or other object or location.
- the terminals 110 may include or incorporate any number of antenna dishes, which may be provided in various sizes, depths, or dimensions (e.g., small, medium, large, etc.).
- the terminals 110 may typically remain in the same location once mounted, the terminals 110 may be removed from their mounts, relocated to another location, and/or may be configured to be mobile terminals.
- the terminals 110 may be mounted on mobile platforms that facilitate transportation thereof from one location to another.
- Such mobile platforms may include, for example, any number of mobile vehicles, such as cars, buses, boats, planes, etc. It should be appreciated that such terminals 110 may generally be operational when still and not while being transported. That said, there may be scenarios where the terminals 110 may be transportable (mobile) terminals that remain operational during transit. As used herein, the terms “terminal,” “satellite terminal,” and/or “earth-station antenna” may be used interchangeably to refer to these terminal types. [0019] It should be appreciated that any number of customer premise equipment (CPE) (not shown) may be communicatively coupled to the terminals 110. In some examples, the customer premise equipment (CPE) may include any number of computing or mobile devices.
- CPE customer premise equipment
- such a computing or mobile device may include a laptop, a tablet, a mobile phone, an appliance, a camera, a sensor, a thermostat, a vehicle, a display, etc.
- the customer premise equipment may include, without limitation, any number of network- enabled computing devices, elements, or systems. It should be appreciated that a network of such devices may be commonly referred to as the “Internet of Things” (loT).
- the satellite 120 may be an object intentionally placed into orbit.
- the satellite 120 may be an artificial satellite that is configured to transmit and receive data signals.
- the satellite 120 may form one or more beams and provide connectivity between at least the terminals 110 and the gateway 130. More specifically, the satellite 120 may communicate data signals using these beams with the terminals 110 via a terminal return channel 115a and a terminal forward channel 115b, and with the gateway 130 via a gateway return channel 125a and a gateway forward channel 125b. It should be appreciated that the satellite 120 may form any number of beams to communicate data signals with any number of components, even beyond the terminals 110 or the gateway 130 as shown.
- the satellite 120 may be a communication satellite, such as a high-throughput satellite, which may include any satellite that is capable of providing at least twice (e.g., 20+ times, 100+ times, etc.) the total amount of throughput as a classic fixed-satellite service (FSS) satellite.
- the satellite 120 may include, but not limited to, a transponder satellite, a regenerative satellite, and/or other similar satellite that may generate one or more spot beams.
- the satellite 120 may operate in geosynchronous, mid-earth, low-earth, elliptical, or some other orbital configuration.
- the gateway 130 may include or be communicatively coupled to a transceiver 135, such as a radio frequency transceiver (RFT).
- the transceiver 135 may include an antenna unit of any type (e.g., transmitter, receiver, communication element, etc.), which may transmit and receive signals.
- the antenna unit may also include an earth-station antenna.
- the radio frequency transceiver (RFT) may include a type of high power amplifier (HPA) and one or more low-noise amplifiers (LNA).
- the transceiver 135 may be useable, by the gateway 130 of system 100, to transmit and receive data from the terminals 110, via communications from the satellite 120, and may be configured to route data and traffic from these terminals 110 to any other element or component in the system 100, such as the network data center 140 and/or network management system (NMS) 150.
- the gateway 130 may be further configured to route traffic to and from the public network 180 and/or private network 170 across the satellite communication channels 115a, 115b, 125a, or 125b to any terminal 110, which would then provide data communications or route traffic to any customer premise equipment (CPE) (not shown) associated with the terminal 110.
- CPE customer premise equipment
- the gateway 130 may also include back-up and/or diversity gateways, which may be used in the event a main gateway experiences significant attenuation, especially at the higher operational outbound and inbound frequencies. Although depicted as a single element, the gateway 130 may include a single gateway, multiple gateways residing locally or remotely, in full or in part, relative to the other system components.
- the network data center 140 may be communicatively coupled to the gateway 130, as well as other system components, such as the network management system (NMS) 150, private network 170, and/or public network 180.
- the network data center 140 may be a satellite network data center that is configured to perform protocol processing and bandwidth allocation for gateway traffic and/or terminal communications in the served beams.
- An internet protocol gateway (IPGW) (not shown) of the network data center 140 may help facilitate a traffic processing function, which may allow forwarding and protocol processing between external public networks and private networks (e.g., private network 170 and/or public network 180), and gateway communication channels.
- IPGW internet protocol gateway
- the network data center 140 may be collocated and/or integrated, fully or partially, with the gateway 130, or may be positioned at some other location. Furthermore, although shown as a single element, the network data center 140, in some examples, may be include a plurality of network data centers that are local or remote, in full or in part, relative to the other system components. The network data center 140 and the gateway 130 may include many other functions not directly referenced in this description and therefore omitted for clarity. [0024]
- the network management system (NMS) 150 maintains, in full or in part, various information (configuration, processing, management, etc.) for the gateway 130, and terminals 110 and beams supported by the gateway 130.
- the network management system (NMS) 150 may or may not be co-located within the same physical structure as the gateway 130. Furthermore, the network management system (NMS) 150 may be a single component or a plurality of distributed components that may be communicatively coupled to each other and/or with other system elements, such as the gateway 130 (e.g., using the previously described hardware and external networks).
- the network management system (NMS) 150 may, among other things, include a configuration manager or other similar management unit.
- the network management system (NMS) 150 may also include any number of reporting systems. As will be discussed in greater detail below, each of these multiple reporting systems may be configured to receive different information (e.g., reports) from the terminals 110. External reporting systems may also be configured to receive information (e.g., reports) from the terminals 110 by establishing a communication link with network management system (NMS) 150.
- the business system 160 may also be communicatively coupled to the network management system (NMS) 150 and/or gateway 130.
- the business system 160 may include a virtual network operator (VNO), which may be configured to communicate with the gateway 130 and/or the network management system (NMS) 150 in order to monitor the status of its own terminals 110.
- VNO virtual network operator
- a virtual network operator (VNO) in some scenarios, may be a business or government entity, that may have access (by purchase or license) to a managed service and associated capacity from a satellite network operator in order to provide communication connectivity and/or communication for a privately-owned set of terminals 110.
- the virtual network operator (VNO) may therefore manage various aspects of such terminals 110 via the gateway 130 and/or the network management system (NMS) 150.
- the private network 170 and/or public network 180 may include any variety of networks.
- the private network 170 may be a local area network (LAN), and the public network 180 may be a wide area network (WAN). That said, the private network 170 and/or public network 180 may each also be a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), the Internet, a cellular network, a cable network, a satellite network, or other network that facilitates communication between the components of system 100 as well as any external element or system connected to the private network 170 and/or public network 180.
- the private network 170 and/or public network 180 may further include one, or any number, of the exemplary types of networks mentioned above operating as a stand-alone network or in cooperation with each other.
- the private network 170 and/or public network 180 may utilize one or more protocols of one or more clients or servers to which they are communicatively coupled.
- the private network 170 and/or public network 180 may facilitate transmission of data according to a transmission protocol of any of the devices and/or systems in the private network 170 and/or public network 180.
- each of the private network 170 and/or public network 180 is depicted as a single network in Figure 1 , it should be appreciated that in some examples, each of the private network 170 and/or public network 180 may include a plurality of interconnected networks as well.
- processors, components, elements, systems, subsystems, and/or other computing devices may be shown as single components or elements, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that these single components or elements may represent multiple components or elements, and that these components or elements may be connected via one or more networks.
- middleware (not shown) may be included with any of the elements or components described herein.
- the middleware may include software hosted by one or more servers.
- it should be appreciated that some of the middleware or servers may or may not be needed to achieve functionality.
- Other types of servers, middleware, systems, platforms, and applications not shown may also be provided at the front-end or back-end to facilitate the features and functionalities of the system 100 and their components, as shown in Figure 1 .
- VHTS very high throughput satellite
- Figure 2A illustrates a configuration 200A for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- the configuration 200A may include a vector network analyzer (VNA) 210, two custom test heads 220 and 240, and a device under test (DUT) 230.
- VNA vector network analyzer
- DUT device under test
- the vector network analyzer (VNA) 210 may be a precision measuring instrumentation that may be used to test electrical performance of high frequency components or systems, e.g., in the radio frequency (RF), microwave, and millimeter-wave frequency bands. In some examples, the vector network analyzer (VNA) 210 may operate to 27 GHz, as shown. Here, the vector network analyzer (VNA) 210 may further require external, complex, and/or expensive customized test-heads that require complex and time consuming software calibrations prone to errors, such custom test head 220 and 240, to be purchased and developed by the vector network analyzer (VNA) manufacturer or a subcontractor for the vector network analyzer (VNA) manufacturer to make multiple undesirable conversions to a desired band under test.
- VNA vector network analyzer
- custom test heads 220 and 240 may be relatively costly and may require specialized vector network analyzer (VNA) test-head correction software, among other specialized software applications, to perform complex vector-error corrections. And even then, the custom test heads 220 and 240 may still provide inaccurate results and may be prone to other hang-ups or errors, especially in various independent/lnternal research and development (IRAD) measurements and testing.
- the configuration may 200A may also include the additional custom hardware/software that operates locally or remoted in the systems or devices shown, in order to calibrate and/or synchronize, for instance, the custom test head 220 and 240 to the vector network analyzer (VNA) 210. Such software operation and configuration may involve long and arduous processes that are prone to unpredictable outcomes in measurement and calibrations.
- a vector network analyzer (VNA) 210 may provide high measurement accuracy by calibrating the test system using, for example, a mathematical technique called vector error correction (VEC).
- VEC vector error correction
- Vector error correction may account for measurement errors in the network analyzer itself, plus all the test cables, adapters, fixtures, and/or probes that are between the analyzer and a device under test (DUT) 230.
- the device under test (DUT) 230 may include any number of network devices used for broadband provisioning.
- the device under test (DUT) 230 may be a radio frequency (RF) gateway.
- the device under test (DUT) 230 sometimes also referred to as a system under test (SUT) or hardware under test (HUT) may replicate or model, in some form (limited or unlimited) a network device or system.
- the device under test (DUT) 230 may replicate or model a gateway ground forward/return path through an E- band gateway.
- the device under test (DUT) 230 may also replicate or model forward and/or return links to the satellite.
- the ground gateway subsystem there may be two independent subsystems used in E-Band communications, such as the ground gateway subsystem and the satellite subsystem. These two subsystems may be combined, in some examples, to form a loopback path by connecting the output of the gateway subsystem to the input of the satellite subsystem using a WR-12 u-bend waveguide attachment.
- the device under test (DUT) 230 may be used, among other things, to replicate or model at least these two subsystems.
- VNA vector network analyzer
- Figure 2B illustrates a graph 200B depicting calibration and measurement results using the configuration 200A of Figure 2A, according to an example. Even with the above lengthy and expensive in time, equipment, manpower, results using the configuration 200A may still provide measurements with un-explained glitches and ripples in the gain responses over E-band. These results may even exceed acceptable calibration accuracy limits of ⁇ 0.05 dB needed for accurate measurement of gain/phase flatness over frequency and system models to produce useful results. As shown, the graph 200B illustrates an average of ten (10) measured gain flatness. Specifically, the graph 200B depicts 3.61 dB measure flatness to 83 GHz, which may be worse at 85 GHz.
- Figure 3A illustrates a configuration 300A for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- the configuration 300A may include a vector network analyzer (VNA) 310, a reference 315, a signal generator 325, an active mixer 335, and a device under test (DUT) 230.
- VNA vector network analyzer
- DUT device under test
- the first challenge may be for coaxial devices that are “non-insertable,” which may refer to connectors on the device under test (DUT) that are such that the associated test-port cables of the test system cannot be connected directly together, without using some sort of RF adapter.
- DUT device under test
- the electrical characteristics of the adapter must be measured and removed (deembedded) from the calibration data.
- the configuration 300A may use a vector network analyzer (VNA) 310, such as a 67 GHz VNA, as opposed to the 27 GHz VNA 210 of Figure 2A, which must use the external custom test heads 220 and 240 and all the associated drawbacks in that configuration 200A.
- VNA vector network analyzer
- VNA vector network analyzer
- SOLT may refer to a basic test form that uses short, open, load, and (known) through standards. Advanced forms may use multiple shorts and loads, (unknown) through, arbitrary impedances (ECal), which in some examples may use a 12-term error model. Electrical standards used during the calibration process may be passive, employing mechanical devices, like the well-known short, open, load, and thru (SOLT) standards found commercial calibration kits, or they may be arbitrary known impedances that are electronically switched, as is done with ECal electronic calibration modules.
- the signal generator 325 may include any signal generator with a reasonable phase noise and/or operating frequency range to supply the active mixer with a “clean” local oscillator (LO) input or signal.
- the signal generator 325 may operate as a local oscillator (LO) signal generator for the active mixer 335.
- LO local oscillator
- an active mixer 335 may be used, as opposed to a passive mixer, since an active mixer 325 may require substantially less LO power from the signal generator and may offer gain and lower-phase noise performance. That said, although the active mixer 335 is shown in Figure 3A, a passive mixer or other similar device may also be used.
- the active mixer 335 may be an active Ku-band mixer.
- the active mixer 335 may be used to up-convert the 67 GHz up to the 71-76 or 81-86 GHz with low-loss and excellent dynamic range, low- noise and flatness.
- mixer characteristics may be saved to in the vector network analyzer (VNA) 310 and subtracted/de-embedded from the measured results manually or automatically during calibration, measurement, or testing.
- VNA vector network analyzer
- the active Ku-band Mixer 335 may help reduce costs, relative to two custom test heads 220 and 240, and may provide more accurate and reliable results without need for custom software for calibration and synchronization to the vector network analyzer (VNA) 310, only that’s its characteristics are understood beforehand.
- the active mixer 335 may be configured to operate in a proper frequency range, e.g., operate and accept 67 GHz input. Using a Ku-band LO, the active mixer 335 may then up-convert from 67 GHz to 85 GHz, which means the active mixer 335 would accept 18 GHz LO input signal.
- the frequency of the signal generator 325 may be configurable over a wide bandwidth range to operate and cover the required frequency range of the device under test (DUT) 330.
- the system and method may also ensure that the active mixer 335, the local oscillator (LO) signal generator 325, and the vector network analyzer (VNA) 310 is phase-locked to the reference 315.
- the reference 310 may be an external precision 10 MHz or 100 MHz reference. It should be appreciated that is it not uncommon to use such a reference in a test and measurement environment.
- the vector network analyzer (VNA) 310 may be designed to measure scattering parameters known in the RF/Microwave industry as “S-parameters” which are associated with measurements that characterize the DUT 330 for gain, gain-flatness, phase flatness, group delay variation input/output VSWR (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio), which may refer to a measure of how efficiently radio-frequency power is transmitted to/from a power source, through a transmission line or any waveguide interconnection, into a load (for example, from a power amplifier through a transmission line, to an antenna).
- S-parameters may be measured and/or saved in a traditional format, which may be useful for analysis or loading into commercially available industry standard system simulators and/or extracted for link budget usage.
- Figure 3B illustrates a graph 300B depicting calibration and measurement results using the configuration 300A of Figure 3A, according to an example. Similar to the graph 200B of Figure 2B, the graph 300B depicts an average of ten (10) measured gain flatness results. However, the graph 300B depicts a 1.79 dB measured flatness to 85 GHz, which is almost 2dB more measurement accuracy (e.g., improved gain flatness across the 80 GHz band) relative to the configuration 200A of Figure 2A. This improvement may be particularly stark when attempting to process complex modulated signals through a gateway high-power linear amplifier, for example, and may, among other things, minimize distortion as measured by error vector magnitude (EVM) and improve signal quality and bit error rates (BERs).
- EVM error vector magnitude
- BERs bit error rates
- Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram of a computer system for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- the computer system 400 may be part of or any one of the terminals 110, the gateway 130, the network data center 140, the network management system (NMS) 150, the business system 160, as shown in system 100 to perform the functions and features described herein.
- the computer system 400 may include, among other things, an interconnect 410, a processor 412, a multimedia adapter 414, a network interface 416, a system memory 418, and a storage adapter 420.
- the interconnect 410 may interconnect various subsystems, elements, and/or components of the computer system 700. As shown, the interconnect 410 may be an abstraction that may represent any one or more separate physical buses, point-to-point connections, or both, connected by appropriate bridges, adapters, or controllers. In some examples, the interconnect 410 may include a system bus, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or PCI-Express bus, a HyperTransport or industry standard architecture (ISA)) bus, a small computer system interface (SCSI) bus, a universal serial bus (USB), IIC (I2C) bus, or an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 1394 bus, or “firewire,” or other similar interconnection element.
- PCI peripheral component interconnect
- ISA HyperTransport or industry standard architecture
- SCSI small computer system interface
- USB universal serial bus
- I2C IIC
- IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- the interconnect 410 may allow data communication between the processor 412 and system memory 418, which may include read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory (neither shown), and random- access memory (RAM) (not shown).
- system memory 418 may include read-only memory (ROM) or flash memory (neither shown), and random- access memory (RAM) (not shown).
- ROM read-only memory
- RAM random- access memory
- the ROM or flash memory may contain, among other code, the Basic Input-Output system (BIOS) which controls basic hardware operation such as the interaction with one or more peripheral components.
- BIOS Basic Input-Output system
- the processor 412 may be the central processing unit (CPU) of the computing device and may control overall operation of the computing device. In some examples, the processor 412 may accomplish this by executing software or firmware stored in system memory 418 or other data via the storage adapter 420.
- the processor 412 may be, or may include, one or more programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), programmable controllers, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic device (PLDs), trust platform modules (TPMs), field- programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other processing circuits, or a combination of these and other devices.
- DSPs digital signal processors
- ASICs application specific integrated circuits
- PLDs programmable logic device
- TPMs trust platform modules
- FPGAs field- programmable gate arrays
- the multimedia adapter 414 may connect to various multimedia elements or peripherals. These may include a device associated with visual (e.g., video card or display), audio (e.g., sound card or speakers), and/or various input/output interfaces (e.g., mouse, keyboard, touchscreen).
- visual e.g., video card or display
- audio e.g., sound card or speakers
- input/output interfaces e.g., mouse, keyboard, touchscreen
- the network interface 416 may provide the computing device with an ability to communicate with a variety of remove devices over a network (e.g., private network 170 or public network 180 of Figure 1) and may include, for example, an Ethernet adapter, a Fibre Channel adapter, and/or other wired- or wireless-enabled adapter.
- the network interface 416 may provide a direct or indirect connection from one network element to another and facilitate communication and between various network elements.
- the storage adapter 420 may connect to a standard computer- readable medium for storage and/or retrieval of information, such as a fixed disk drive (internal or external).
- Figure 5 illustrates a method 500 for providing calibration and measurements of a satellite communication (SATCOM) test system, according to an example.
- the method 600 is provided by way of example, as there may be a variety of ways to carry out the method described herein. Although the method 600 is primarily described as being performed by system 100 as shown in Figure 1 or computer system 500 of Figure 5, the method 600 may be executed or otherwise performed by other systems, or a combination of systems.
- Each block shown in Figure 6 may further represent one or more processes, methods, or subroutines, and one or more of the blocks may include machine-readable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executed by a processor or other type of processing circuit to perform one or more operations described herein
- the vector network analyzer (VNA) 310 may be calibrated. As described above, a 67 GHz VNA, rather than a 27 GHz VNA, may be calibrated. It should be appreciated that a higher frequency vector network analyzer (VNA) 310 may be preferred in some examples because less conversion operations may be required, which in turn may require less uncertainty added by the active mixer. In other words, perhaps only one or two conversion, or none, may be needed when a high frequency vector network analyzer (VNA) system is employed. In some examples, the calibrations may include any number of SOLT- type calibrations described herein. In this way, reference planes where the DUT 330 is measured, for example, may be accounted for.
- electrical standards employed during the calibration may include use of passive short, open, load, and thru (SOLT) standards found in any number of calibration kits, or in some examples, they may include arbitrary known impedances that are electronically switched, as is done with E-Cal electronic calibration modules.
- SOLT passive short, open, load, and thru
- the active Ku-band mixer 335 may be up-converted.
- the active Ku-band mixer 335 may be up-converted from the 67 GHz up to the 71-76 or 81-86 GHz. This may be achieved with low-loss and excellent dynamic rage and flatness.
- the active Ku- band mixer 335 characteristics in some examples, may be saved to a file in the vector network analyzer (VNA) and subtracted (de-embedded) from the measured results automatically. It should be appreciated that use of the active Ku-band mixer 335 and up-converting it may provide several advantages over traditional approaches.
- the active Ku-band mixer 335 may be much lower-cost and commercially available (approximately ten times lower) than a custom test head, like 220 and 240 of Figure 2, which are commonly used in less efficient traditional calibration and measurement solutions.
- a custom test head like 220 and 240 of Figure 2, which are commonly used in less efficient traditional calibration and measurement solutions.
- use of those custom test heads 220 and 240 may require further customizations from any vector network analyzer (VNA) supplier or manufacturer, which can take time, additional cost, and lead to errors which can additionally require major firmware changes.
- VNA vector network analyzer
- the active Ku-band mixer 335, signal generator 325, and vector network analyzer (VNA) 310 may be synchronized.
- the active Ku-band mixer 335, LO signal generator, and vector network analyzer (VNA) 310 may be synchronized or phase-locked to the reference 315.
- this reference 315 may be an external precision 10 MHz or 100 MHz reference easily obtained in standard labs or from a precise GPS reference.
- calibration and/or measurement data may be obtained.
- S-Parameters may be measured and/or stored in any number of formats.
- the S-Parameters may be stored in a traditional format for analysis and/or loading into system simulators or extracted for link budget usage, or other similar application or use (e.g., in various system modelling software tools.
- the systems and methods described herein may a more reliable radiating element.
- the systems and methods, as described herein may also include or communicate with other components not shown.
- these may include external processors, counters, analyzers, computing devices, and other measuring devices or systems.
- This may also include middleware (not shown) as well.
- the middleware may include software hosted by one or more servers or devices.
- some of the middleware or servers may or may not be needed to achieve functionality.
- Other types of servers, middleware, systems, platforms, and applications not shown may also be provided at the back-end to facilitate the features and functionalities of the satellite communications system.
- single components may be provided as multiple components, and vice versa, to perform the functions and features described herein. It should be appreciated that the components of the system described herein may operate in partial or full capacity, or it may be removed entirely. It should also be appreciated that analytics and processing techniques described herein with respect to the measurements, for example, may also be performed partially or in full by other various components of the overall system.
- data stores may also be provided to the apparatuses, systems, and methods described herein, and may include volatile and/or nonvolatile data storage that may store data and software or firmware including machine-readable instructions.
- the software or firmware may include subroutines or applications that perform the functions of the measurement system and/or run one or more application that utilize data from the measurement or other communicatively coupled system.
- the various components, circuits, elements, components, and interfaces may be any number of mechanical, electrical, hardware, network, or software components, circuits, elements, and interfaces that serves to facilitate communication, exchange, and analysis data between any number of or combination of equipment, protocol layers, or applications.
- the components described herein may each include a network or communication interface to communicate with other servers, devices, components or network elements via a network or other communication protocol.
- examples are directed to satellite communication systems, including high throughput satellite (HTS) systems, it should be appreciated that the systems and methods described herein may also be used in other various systems and other implementations. For example, these may include other various telecommunication test and measurement systems. In fact, there may be numerous applications in cable or optical communication networks, not to mention fiber-optic or sensor systems that could employ the systems and methods as well.
- the system and methods described herein may provide an efficient, cost-effective, and reliable approach so solve problems that plague conventional calibration and measurement solutions.
- the examples described herein also provide mechanical and electrical simplicity and adaptability to small or large satellite communication systems.
- the systems and methods described herein may increase efficiency, reduce cost, minimize existing equipment, minimize adverse effects of traditional systems, and provide enhanced performance.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Astronomy & Astrophysics (AREA)
- Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
- Monitoring And Testing Of Transmission In General (AREA)
- Radio Relay Systems (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CA3235843A CA3235843A1 (en) | 2021-10-22 | 2022-10-21 | Techniques for calibration and measurements of an e-band satellite communication (satcom) system |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US202163270973P | 2021-10-22 | 2021-10-22 | |
US63/270,973 | 2021-10-22 | ||
US17/522,805 | 2021-11-09 | ||
US17/522,805 US20230127955A1 (en) | 2021-10-22 | 2021-11-09 | Techniques for calibration and measurements of an e-band satellite communication (satcom) system |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2023069702A1 true WO2023069702A1 (en) | 2023-04-27 |
Family
ID=84360074
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2022/047412 WO2023069702A1 (en) | 2021-10-22 | 2022-10-21 | Techniques for calibration and measurements of an e-band satellite communication (satcom) system |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
CA (1) | CA3235843A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2023069702A1 (en) |
-
2022
- 2022-10-21 CA CA3235843A patent/CA3235843A1/en active Pending
- 2022-10-21 WO PCT/US2022/047412 patent/WO2023069702A1/en active Application Filing
Non-Patent Citations (3)
Title |
---|
FEZAI NADIA ET AL: "Characterization Of Reflection And Attenuation Parameters Of Device Under Test By VNA", 2020 4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ADVANCED SYSTEMS AND EMERGENT TECHNOLOGIES (IC_ASET), IEEE, 15 December 2020 (2020-12-15), pages 241 - 244, XP033879253, DOI: 10.1109/IC_ASET49463.2020.9318263 * |
KEYSIGHT: "Keysight Technologies PNA-X Series Microwave Network Analyzers", 7 May 2015 (2015-05-07), XP055494211, Retrieved from the Internet <URL:https://web.archive.org/web/20150529003521/http://literature.cdn.keysight.com/litweb/pdf/5990-4592EN.pdf> [retrieved on 20180720] * |
SAM MORRAR: "Using E-Band for Wideband Satcom: Opportunities and Challenges", MWJOURNAL, August 2021 (2021-08-01) |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CA3235843A1 (en) | 2023-04-27 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
CN103547933B (en) | For the system that positions the fault in cable system and equipment | |
US20230127955A1 (en) | Techniques for calibration and measurements of an e-band satellite communication (satcom) system | |
US9692530B2 (en) | Active antenna system and methods of testing | |
CN106911404B (en) | Method for testing transponder channel frequency response based on vector network analyzer | |
JP5947978B2 (en) | Active antenna system radio frequency index test method and apparatus | |
US11784712B2 (en) | Modular cell site installation, testing, measurement, and maintenance tool | |
US8903326B2 (en) | Simultaneous downlink testing for multiple devices in radio-frequency test systems | |
US8527229B2 (en) | Test systems with multiple antennas for characterizing over-the-air path loss | |
US20120123723A1 (en) | Methods for mitigating interactions among wireless devices in a wireless test system | |
CN104330777B (en) | Self-calibration method for receiving-transmitting channel of active phased array radar | |
US20110301905A1 (en) | Methods for calibration of radio-frequency path loss in radio-frequency test equipment | |
US20150160264A1 (en) | Wireless coupling for rf calibration and testing of wireless transmitters and receivers | |
JP7242878B2 (en) | Radio equipment inspection device | |
US20150078422A1 (en) | Flexible unified architecture for point-to-point digital microwave radios | |
CN114325340B (en) | Test system and test method of radio frequency chip | |
Schmieder et al. | THz channel sounding: Design and validation of a high performance channel sounder at 300 GHz | |
CN111226402A (en) | System and apparatus for identifying faults in a radio frequency device or system | |
WO2023069702A1 (en) | Techniques for calibration and measurements of an e-band satellite communication (satcom) system | |
CN112698113A (en) | Amplitude calibration method and device of receiving channel and network equipment | |
US10892922B2 (en) | Passive intermodulation (PIM) measurements in common public radio interface (CPRI) spectrum analysis | |
CN112615681B (en) | Amplitude calibration method and device of transmitting channel and network equipment | |
US10871508B1 (en) | Nonlinear transmission line (NLTL)-based miniature reflectometers with reduced heat dissipation and scalable tether length | |
US20230208509A1 (en) | Systems and methods for providing configurable reference frequencies | |
RU2729915C1 (en) | Method of high-frequency testing of satellite repeaters q/ka band | |
CN112615680B (en) | Phase calibration method and device of transmitting channel and network equipment |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
121 | Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application |
Ref document number: 22806082 Country of ref document: EP Kind code of ref document: A1 |
|
WWE | Wipo information: entry into national phase |
Ref document number: 3235843 Country of ref document: CA |
|
REG | Reference to national code |
Ref country code: BR Ref legal event code: B01A Ref document number: 112024007812 Country of ref document: BR |
|
WWE | Wipo information: entry into national phase |
Ref document number: 2022806082 Country of ref document: EP |
|
ENP | Entry into the national phase |
Ref document number: 2022806082 Country of ref document: EP Effective date: 20240522 |