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FLEXible phased array system for sat-COM applications

Project description

DEENESFRITPL

An adaptable and upgradeable building block for SatCom antennas

With the Internet of things, communication and electronics technologies are advancing rapidly. They are racing to meet growing market demand for breakthroughs and innovations in the field of airborne, space-borne and earth segment satellites. The EU-funded FLEXCOM project aims to take advantage of this demand by developing and introducing a new class of phased arrays technology for satellites. This technology would be flexible and capable of unprecedented levels of reconfiguration; the technology will be provided in the form of an antenna tile that can be used as the building block for SatCom antennas with their flexibility allowing for changes whenever innovations present themselves.

Objective

FLEXCOM aims at building a new class of phased arrays technology for airborne, spaceborne and Earth segment satellite communications with an unpreceded level of flexibility and re-configurability. Specifically, FLEXCOM will deliver a highly integrated antenna tile conceived to be the building block through which several SatCom antenna types may be build. The FLEXCOM tiles are designed to be used in different scenarios and for different applications, so responding to the needs of a continuously evolving SatCom market and enforcing a significant reduction of life-cycle costs.
The developed tiles by will provide
- Broadband TX/RX operations at K/Ka band in a single radiating aperture;
- Possibility to adopt two different beamforming cores, namely Hybrid Analog/Digital beamforming or, for the first time for K-Ka SatCom applications, a fully-digital beamforming with direct conversion;
- Electronic steering, multibeam and smart antennas functionalities;

FLEXCOM will develop and integrate in each tile the following beyond the state-of-the-art subsystems:
- TX/RX K/Ka band Analog Front Ends (AFE) based on multicore SiGeBiCMOS RFICs, including phase shifters and down conversion stages;
- A Digital Beamforming processor dedicated to satcom applications;
- Dual band radiating apertures covering K/Ka satcom and 5G bands.
The HYPAC technology will be demonstrated building and testing three prototypes relevant to real use cases:
- a prototype for Internet of Things and Machine to Machine applications;
- a DRA integrated on a UAV platform;
- a feed for a transmit array, intended for High Altitude Platform application.
FLEXCOM will contribute to the development of the European research and technology ecosystem combining in the consortium, a strong industrial partnership covering both the SatCom (THALES and TTI) and the 5G network (NOKIA and SIAE) area as well as key players in the supply chain (TE2V, ANTECNICA and EVATRONIX). This partnership will include two academic instit

Fields of science

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

H2020-SPACE-2018-2020

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Sub call

H2020-SPACE-2020

Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinator

CONSORZIO NAZIONALE INTERUNIVERSITARIO PER LE TELECOMUNICAZIONI
Net EU contribution
€ 539 500,00
Address
VIALE G. P. USBERTI 181A
43124 Parma
Italy

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Yes
Region
Nord-Est Emilia-Romagna Parma
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 539 500,00

Participants (9)

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Last update: 22 April 2024

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101004233

European Union, 2024