Projects

IoTLink

Partners

Funding

IoTLink is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the framework of the ESA Advanced Technology research program (ARTES 5.1).

Funded by ESA:

(ARTES AT 7C.071)

Projects
ESA

ESA ChipKa Diplex project LogoFullSize

CHIPKA - Diplex

AO/1-10689/22/UK/AL ON-CHIP INTEGRATED KA-BAND DIPLEXER FOR GROUND TERMINALS
Activity No. 1000031171 in the esa-star system

CHIP-KA- Diplex aims to develop a compact, high-performance SiGe BiCMOS Ka-band diplexer for ground terminals. The project will be focused at providing extremely low insertion losses and high compactness. The project will be carried out by three Italian partners: ANTECNICA, NOW, and the University of Calabria - MAIC LAB.

Project objectives

The project aims to meet critical technical requirements for the performance of a diplexer, focusing on three main challenges: ensuring the insertion loss is kept below 1 dB, achieving a level of rejection sufficient to prevent blockage from TX leakage, and maintaining the diplexer's size under 1x1 mm². These objectives are somewhat conflicting, necessitating a comprehensive system analysis of the phased array to evaluate and balance these requirements. An initial part of this analysis involves assessing the impact of diplexer loss on the antenna and on the LNA and PA.

The suggested design optimally leverages the capabilities of the technology, particularly in the SiGe BiCMOS integration domain. This approach enables a smooth integration with the Rx and Tx front-ends, resulting in a reduced size for overall integration and enhanced performance. Additionally, the impedances of the Rx and Tx ports can be adjusted to improve performance and more effectively align with the requirements of the LNA and PA.

Funding

CHIPKA-Diplex is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the framework of the ESA Advanced Technology research program (ARTES 5.1).

ESA ChipKa Diplex Partners

Funded by ESA:

Projects
ESA

Objective

ESA ITT ESA AO/1-9754/19/NL/CLP - Multi-band multiport microwave power combiner for ground terminals.

Role of ANTECNICA

ANTECNICA is contributing to the characterization of the multi-band multiport power combiner and to its possible application to amplifying structures.

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 reconfigurability. Precisely, FLEXCOM will deliver a highly integrated antenna tile conceived to be the building block through which several SatCom antenna types can be built. The FLEXCOM tiles are designed to be used in different scenarios and for different applications, responding to the needs of a continuously evolving SatCom market and enforcing a significant reduction of life-cycle costs.
The developed tiles 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, fully-digital beamforming with direct conversion;
• Electronic steering, multibeam and smart antennas functionalities.
FLEXCOM will develop and integrate into 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 FLEXCOM technology will be demonstrated by building and testing three prototypes relevant to real use cases:
• a prototype for the Internet of Things and Machine to Machine applications;
• a conformal 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 robust 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 institutions (CNIT-UNICAL, ULM) and a research center (IHP).