Low Earth orbit (LEO) satcom services promise worldwide coverage on the ground, at sea, and in flight, reaching rural and remote regions, as well as supporting disaster zones where ground-based networks might be disabled. LEO constellation systems can substantially reduce launch and equipment costs, cut latency by 20 times compared with geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) links, and manage bandwidth and users more efficiently. In order for this vision to be realized, electronically steered arrays at both ends of the link become essential to support the continuous, independent, fast scanning of multiple beams and the regular handoffs as satellites come in and out of view. The payload is a particular challenge because it operates in a power-limited environment when DC power dissipation is critical. One solution: a family of multibeam beamforming integrated circuits (ICs) that support a high level of functionality such as multibeam capability, beam-hopping, beam memory, and the ability to scale the number of beams to support any mission requirement.

Explore Apollo MxFE™: Octal, 16-Bit, 16 GSPS RF DAC and Octal, 12-Bit, 8 GSPS RF ADC.

Offering Direct RF Sampling to 18 GHz (Ku Band)

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24 GHz to 44 GHz, Wideband, Microwave Upconverter

This week the 61^st Annual AOC International Symposium & Convention is being held at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. Electronic warfare (EW), spectrum dominance, and signals intelligence (SIGINT) and the RF, microwave, and signal-processing technologies behind them are key components of both the conference and the exhibition. The theme of this year’s event is “Electromagnetic Spectrum Warfare – The Great Power Competition.”

For a preview of AOC event and a look at the RF and microwave trends in EW and military communications, applications, I sat down with Mike Jones, a Senior Systems Integration Engineer at Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). Following are several excerpts:

Systems developers can use certain techniques to manage the gap between slow/asynchronous computing loops and high-performance data capture and processing in MEMS IMUs [micro-electromechanical system inertial measurement units] (MEMS IMUs >2000 Hz). Quick prototyping that provides time-relevant representation of MEM IMU responses will be an important step for defense-industry autonomous vehicle (AV) developers, who are seeking to manage both expansion of their mission profiles, along with the increasingly serious threats to their existing position, navigation, and timing (PNT) services.