In orbit cross-link communication using radio

Satellites communicate with each other traditionally via ground segments, which relay the downlink and uplink data. Message transmissions suffer latency coming from different critical aspects such as the availability of the ground segment, the correct orientation of the platform, the line of sight (LOS) of the satellites with the ground stations and so on. Satellites may want to communicate directly with each other, in addition to the beforementioned challenges, to reduce the loss from the atmosphere and avoid crossing multiple layers of orbits.

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Objectives

The main objectives are to study propose solution for cross-link communication between satellites using radio solutions. This includes, but are not limited to:
• Study the LOS with respect to the satellite orbits
• Think of radio link parameters and budget
• Propose a hardware architecture
• Simulate the design using a Digital Twin architecture

Required skills

For the good realization of the project, it is recommended that the student have:
• Understanding in RF and signal processing
• Programming skills in Java or python
• General understanding of the orbital dynamics
• Ability to appraise and adapt the project to fulfill the needs of the Space Domain
• A sense of responsibility to provide the work quality to be used for everyday applications

Place of work

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Campus, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Deliverables

The student is expected to deliver at the end of the project the following elements:
• Proposition of the design with its link budgets and details
• The source code related to the simulations
• A complete documentation of the development and methodology, including a description of the environment, the installation procedure and configuration
• The results of the analyses with limitations and recommendations for further work