QatarUniversity

CollegeofEngineering
DepartmentofElectricalEngineering

CubeSatonboardCommunicationSystem
BasedonSoftwareDefinedRadio
DoneBy:
DaniloCristos
MohamedHamid
AbdelRahmanALyMahmoud

Supervisor:
Dr.TamerKhattab

Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the college of Engineering at Qatar University and especially
the Department of Electrical Engineering for giving us a golden chance to work in
such a project. Also, special thanks of gratitude to Dr. Tamer Khattab for his
supervision and guidance throughout the project, as well as Eng. Mohamed ElSayed
and Eng. Amith Khandakar for the technical support and motivation.

Contents
Introduction
SystemDesign
SystemBlocks
SystemSimulation
SystemImplementation
Conclusion

Introduction

WhatisCubeSat?
CubeSatisadownscaledSatellitewithspecificstandards.
ObjectivesofCubeSat:
o Educationalandscientificpurposes.
o Standardizethedesignofexistingpicosatellites.
o MostofCubeSatcomponentsareCOTS.
o Increasetheaccessibilitytospacethroughbatchlaunching.

Introduction

WhatisCubeSat?(Contd)

Introduction

Figure1:ActualSizeofCubeSatFigure2:CubeSatsDeployingProcessFigure3:DifferentSizesofCubeSat

ProjectObjectives

Introduction

ConstructadesignforCubeSatOnBoardtransceiverwhichtransmitsandreceives
images.
Thedesignhastobesimulatedandimplementedsuccessfully usingSoftware
DefinedRadio(SDR).

Figure4:BriefSchematicforCubeSatTransceiver

QUsCubeSatMission
MappingofwastedisposalsitesinQatar.
Searchforillegallydisposedwasteinthedesert.

Figure5:EarthImagingbyCubeSat

Introduction

SystemDesign

OrbitDesign

SystemDesign

LowEarthOrbit(LEO):
o LEOisthestandardorbitforallCubeSats.
o Ithasalowaltitudelessthan2000KmfromtheEarths
surface.
o Objectsmovefasterthaninotherorbits.
o Ittakesfrom[88upto124]minutesforasatelliteto
travelafulltriparoundEarth.

Figure6:AnimatedLEO

CommunicationWindow
Eachsatellitehasalimitedtimewindow.
Runningacommunicationsystemoutoftimewindowisuseless.
Itmeanswhenandforhowlongthesatellitewillbeableto
contactwiththegroundstation.

SystemDesign

SystemDesign

RicianChannel

Transmissionmediumbetweensatellite&groundstationisnotstable.
RicianChannelmodel:
o Assumesthereceivedsignalasacombinationbetween(LOS&nonLOS)
components.
o ItisdistributionisdescribedintermsofKfactor:
/

K:RatiobetweensignalspowerinLOScomponentandvarianceofmultipath.

SystemConstraints
SizeandWeight:1Uhastobe10cmcubewithmassofupto1.33kg.
Cost:Thebudgetassignedtothisprojectis(10,000QR).
Power:Typically,maximumpowerbudgetis34W.
ComponentsAvailability:COTScomponents,availableinmarkets.
Legality:systemhastooperateinfrequencybandallowedinQatar.

SystemDesign

SystemConstraints(Contd)
Safety:safetyfactorismandatory.
Environment:
o Withstandtemperaturerangeof[40Cto90C].
o Operateinspaceenvironment,e.g.,Radiation,Pressure,etc.

SystemDesign

SystemRequirements
TransmissionRate:9.6kbps
TransmissionPower:range0.4Wto1W
OperatingBandwidth: 6.4KHz
CarrierFrequency:unlicensedfrequencyband

SystemDesign

DesignAlternatives

SystemDesign

Transceiver:
o CustommadeTransceivers:
MostofthemaredesignedspecificallyforCubeSat.

Figure7:ISISTRXUVVHF/UHF

Theycannotbemodifiedorupgraded.

o SoftwaredefinedRadioTransceivers:
Easytobeprogrammedandmuchcheaper.

Figure8:USRPB200mini

SystemDesign

DesignAlternatives(Contd)
CarrierFrequency:
Uplink
Downlink

Table1:Comparisonbetweendifferentfrequencies

SoftwareDefinedRadio(SDR)

SystemDesign

Performmostofitsbasebandfunctionalityusingasoftware.
Allowengineerstoaddnewfunctionorperformsomeupgradesinthecommunication
system.

Figure10:SDRBlocks

SystemBlocks

SystemBlocks

SystemBlocks

Figure11:Systemmajorblocks

SystemBlocks(Contd)
DataSource:
o Dividethedataintosmallerparts(Frames).
o AddHeaderstothedata.

Figure12:FrameStructure

SystemBlocks

SystemBlocks(Contd)

SystemBlocks

ForwardErrorCorrection(FEC):
o Errorsisintroducedtothedataduetothecommunicationchannel.
o AddRedundancyinthebinarysequencetoovercometheeffectsofnoiseinthe
channel.
o Linkisverycostly.
o ConvolutionalEncoderandViterbidecoderwereused.

SystemBlocks(Contd)

SystemBlocks

QPSKModulationandDemodulation:
o Mapstwobitsintoonesymbol.
AdvantageofQPSK:
o MinimizeBER.
o DoubledatarateofBPSKwithsamebandwidth.
o SamedatarateofBPSKwithhalveofthebandwidth.

Figure13:QPSKconstellation

SystemBlocks(Contd)
RaisedCosineFilter:
o Reducingintersymbolinterference(ISI).

Figure14:RollofffactorofRaised
CosineFilter

SystemBlocks

SystemBlocks(Contd)
Rician Channel:
o RepresentsawirelesschannelmodelwhereLOSandnonLOS
componentsarepresent.

AWGNChannel:
o Representsthermalnoiseofactualcommunicationchannels.

Figure15:AWGNchannelmodel

SystemBlocks

SystemBlocks(Contd)
AutomaticGainControl(AGC):
o Adjustsreceiversgaininordertokeeparelativeconstantoutputsignal.

PhaseandFrequencyErrorCorrection:
o Compensateforcarrierfrequencyoffsets.
o Trackthephaseshiftoftheinputsignal.

TimingErrorrecovery:
o Correctthetimingerrorinthereceivedsignal.

SystemBlocks

SystemSimulation

SystemSimulation

SimulationParameters
BlockName

ParameterValues

Comments

BernoullibinaryGenerator(DataSource) Sampling time = 1/9600

Based on calculation done in SDP1, Data Rate was

calculated to be 9600 bits/s

ConvolutionEncoder

Code rate =

Code rate set based on most commonly used in

CubeSat.

QPSKModulator

M=4

RaisedcosineTransmitFilter

Roll of factor = 0.35

Upsampling = 4
Roll of factor = 0.35

RaisedcosineReceiveFilter

AWGNChannel

Roll of factor based on most on what is most

commonly used in CubeSat.

Downsampling = 4

Input Signal Power =1 W

SNR = 15.7 dB

Note that : the input signal power for our

USRPB200mini is 10dBm, for simulation purpose to
emulate real satellite system transmitted power will
be assumed to be 1 W based on most commonly
transmitted power.
The SNR used to achieve a minimal BER

Rician Fading Channel

Table2:Simulationparameters

K Factor = 5.63
Doppler Shift = 10kHz

The values of the Kfactor and Doppler shift have

been previously calculated.

BitErrorRateCalculation

SystemSimulation

Objective:MinimizeBER

Figure17:ReceivedSignal
Constellation
Figure16:Systemsimulation
togetBER

SystemSimulation

RicianChannelSimulation
Objective:EqualizingaFadingSignal

Figure19:FadingReceivedSignal
Constellation

Figure18:Systemsimulation
withequalizer

Figure20:EqualizedReceived
SignalConstellation

SystemSimulation

OverallSystemBlocks
Objective:Designasystemcapableoftransmittingdatasuchas:
o ASCIIMessages
o Images

Figure21:OverallSystem

SystemSimulation

ASCIIMessage
Systemwassimulatedintwoconditions,withandwithoutadispersivechannel
Theresultswereasshown:

Figure22:ReceivedSignalin
theabsenceofadispersive
Channel

Figure23:ReceivedSignalin
thepresenceofadispersive
Channel

SystemSimulation

ImageTransfer
Systemwassimulatedintwoconditions,withandwithoutadispersivechannel
Theresultswereasshown:

Figure24:Receivedimageandtherespective
constellationintheabsenceofadispersiveChannel

Figure25:Receivedimageandtherespective
constellationinthepresenceofadispersiveChannel

System
Implementation

SystemImplementation

USRPB200mini
ItisanSDRtransceiver.
Ithasacontinuousfrequencybandfrom70MHzupto6GHz.

Itsupportsseveralinterfaces:MATLAB/Simulink,GNURadio,C/C++,etc.
ThistransceivermeetsMOST of therequirements.

Figure26:ActualSizeof
USRPB200mini

Figure27:USRPB200mini
with3Dprintedcase

SystemImplementation

Transmitter

ThetransmitterwasmodifiedtoincludetheUSRP(SDRu)Transmitterblock,to
transmitdata.Asseenbelow:

Figure28:Transmitterside

SystemImplementation

Receiver

ThereceiverwasmodifiedtoincludetheUSRP(SDRu)Receiverblock,toreceive
data.Asseenbelow:

Figure29:Receiverside

SystemImplementation

PracticalImplantationResults
Bothsystemssimulated,theASCIImessagetransfer,andimagetransfer,weretested
practically.

Figure30:Receivedmessageandtherespective
constellation

Figure31:Receivedimageandtherespective
constellation

Conclusion

Conclusion

ProblemsFaced
SimulationErrors.
NewDeviceswereUsed.
UnmetRequirements:
o ChannelCoding.
o AX.25Protocol.
o DataRate.
o OutputPower(10mW obtained).
o EnvironmentalConstraints(e.g.Temperature).

Conclusion

FutureWork
UseaMicrocontroller(RaspberryPi3)toenableautomaticoperationofsystem.
PoweramplifiershouldbeusedtoamplifytransmittedPower.
AShieldingSystemshouldbeusedtoensurefunctionalityoftransceiverunderhigh.
temperaturesandradiation.
Poweroptimizationtominimizetransceiverpowerconsumption.
UseaPICmicrocontrollertoimplementtheAX.25protocol.

THANKYOU