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TRW Deploys Ultracompact Radio Upconverter For Astrolink Broadband Network
Redondo Beach - Nov. 9, 2000 A highly compact radio component, developed by TRW and weighing about an ounce, dramatically lowers the size and weight of TRW communications satellite payloads, while improving their messaging capability. The component, known as an upconverter, will see its first use in the payloads that TRW is building for Astrolink International LLC's global broadband telecommunications system, slated to begin service in 2003. The upconverter, featuring TRW proprietary gallium arsenide integrated circuits, converts payload signals at lower frequencies to Astrolink's Ka-band downlink frequency of 20 billion cycles per second (20 GHz) for transmission to Earth. "This highly miniaturized upconverter shows the huge savings in payload weight, size and power possible with TRW's advanced technology. This tiny unit replaces equipment that only a few years ago would have required a box weighing several pounds," said Paul Borzcik, vice president and program manager of the TRW Astrolink program. "Moreover, the use of integrated circuits and automated assembly greatly cuts the manufacturing costs to produce this item." The upconverter converts frequencies ranging between 200 million cycles per second (200 MHz) and 5 GHz to frequencies between 18 and 21 GHz. This versatile operating range suits the upconverter for use in a variety of payloads for commercial Ka-band satellite communication systems and other space applications, Borzcik added. TRW has completed and successfully tested an engineering model, or prototype, of the Astrolink upconverter. The company has started full-scale production of flight units. "The miniaturized upconverter is ideal for the Astrolink payload, with its large number of spot beams, because each spot beam requires an upconverter and a traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA) to power the downlink," Borzcik said. The upconverter's small size permits placing it next to the TWTA, an arrangement impossible with larger, conventional upconverters. Placement with the TWTA, near the antenna, offers two advantages. First, it permits the upconverter to draw its power from the TWTA's power supply, eliminating the need for separate power supplies. In addition, location near the TWTA reduces signal loss in the payload signal routing path. Despite its small size, the miniaturized upconverter contains a number of high-performance components, including a 2X frequency multiplier, filters, an upconverter macrocell integrated circuit, an output amplifier and a voltage regulator. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Astrolink SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express The latest information about the Commercial Satellite Industry
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