Satellite Communications

Our Warfighter requires the ability to securely communicate with headquarters from anywhere in the world. Additionally, they require the ability to precisely determine their position as well as the position of the enemy.

PXIe-5673E Vector Signal Generator (VSG)

Supports quadrature digital upconversion, which reduces waveform download and signal generation time, as well as stream-to-disk capabilities. VSG modules offer custom and standard modulation, as well as the ability to generate communications standards formats such as GPS, WCDMA, DVB-H, and more. The VSG’s power and flexibility make them ideal for use in scientific research, communications, consumer electronics, aerospace/defense, and semiconductor test applications as well as for areas such as software-defined radio, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and wireless sensor networks.

The architecture of a PXIe-5673E VSG enables multiple instruments to share a common start trigger, reference clock, and even an LO. As a result, you can synchronize up to four PXIe-5673E VSGs in a single 18-slot PXI chassis for phase-coherent signal generation.

With stream from disk capabilities, the PXIe-5673E can generate continuous waveforms that are up to several terabytes in length.

Advantages of PXIe-5673E

Frequency Range 50 MHz to 6.6 GHz
Instantaneous Bandwidth 100 MHz
Max RF Power Out +10 dBm
Output Noise Floor -141 dBm/Hz
Tuning Speed 6.5 msec
I/Q Generation from -80 MHz to 80 MHz / for up to 256 QAM
RF List Mode

NI VSG family Product Flyer

NI Modulation Toolkit for LabVIEW

SATCOM
The DoD has said for years that it needs more satellite capacity for global communications, video conferencing, drone live streaming and other activities that consume lots of bandwidth.

GNSS
Global Navigation Satellite System

GPS: The United States Global Positioning System is the world’s most utilized GNSS system. GPS consists of 32 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites in six different orbital planes.
Galileo: is the European version on GPS, will primarily use Composite Binary Offset Carrier (CBOC) modulation, and when fully launched in 2020 will consist of 30 MEO satellites.
GLONASS: The Russian version of GPS, and consists of 24 MEO satellites

The DoD recognizes to meet the ever increasing broadband-centric SATCOM and GNSS demands for the warfighter, in all regions of the world, they must also take advantage Commercial Satellites, specifically High Throughput Satellites (HTS). HTS satellites offer many times the throughput of traditional Fixed-satellite Service (FSS) satellites for the same amount of allocated frequency on orbit. HTS satellites take advantage of ‘frequency reuse’ and ‘multiple spot beams’ to increase throughput and ‘reduce the cost per bit delivered’, regardless of spectrum choice.

Throughput is defined as the speed of information delivered (bits/s) driven by:

Bandwidth
The ‘the size of the pipe’, increased by frequency reuse (MHz)

Efficiency
The ‘amount of error-free content in the pipe’ (Bits/s per MHz)

NOTE: to take full advantage of Commercial Satellite will require the DoD to modernize thier more than 17,000 wideband terminals currently deployed.

Related Products

Model	Frequency Range	Instantaneous Bandwidth	Tuning Time
PXIe-5644	65 MHz to 6 GHz	80 MHz	0.95 msec
PXIe-5645	65 MHz to 6 GHz	80 MHz	3.70 msec
PXIe-5646	65 MHz to 6 GHz	200 MHz	1.80 msec
PXIe-5820	0 MHz to 500MHz	1 MHz	0.38 msec
PXIe-5831	5 GHz to 44GHz	1 GHz
PXIe-5840	9 kHz to 6 GHz	1 MHz	250 μsec

NI GPS Simulation Toolkit

The GPS Simulation Toolkit gives you the ability to create waveforms with up to 24 hours of non-repeating GPS satellite signals for extended reliability testing and superior control over signal impairments introduced during design verification tests. This allows for targeted and isolated troubleshooting to improve and verify your GPS receiver design. Additionally, you can adjust individual satellite signal powers during signal generation for dynamic range and scenario-specific tests.

GNSS Test Toolkit for GPS / for GLONASS

Support for GPS and GLONASS simulation; generate both simultaneously with two PXIe Vector Signal Generators in a single PXIe Chassis
Achieve automatic satellite simulation from Almanac and Ephemeris files
- Almanac files – calculate time and status of the entire GPS satellite system
- Ephemeris files – used to calculate the position of each GPS satellite in orbit
Define custom motion trajectories for mobile simulation
Adjust individual satellite power levels for scenario-specific test
Take advantage of manual control of satellite Pseudorange, Doppler, and Power-level information