NuWaves Engineering has received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract from NASA to develop a high-efficiency Ku- or Ka-band RF power amplifier (PA) MMIC device for over-the-horizon (OTH) command and control (C2) data communications with Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
The goal of the research project, named HYPERION, is to design and develop a high-efficiency (= 50%) PA MMIC for incorporation into UAS C2 satellite communications (SATCOM) data links, which augment traditional line-of-sight communications. For instance, future commercial UAS operations call for transoceanic flights which would require an OTH communications capability. This PA MMIC will incorporate a Doherty amplifier to maintain power efficiency over a wide range of RF input levels. This wide dynamic range can support a number of different waveforms, from constant-envelope waveforms, such as frequency shift keying (FSK) and binary phase shift keying (BPSK), to more complex waveforms, such as quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). This HYPERION PA is expected to deliver saturated power (Psat) of approximately 25 Watts and at least 18 dB of small signal gain.
NuWaves has built a strong PA development capability, including their recent high-efficiency C-band PA MMIC development for NASA on a Phase II SBIR project, and now they’re able to leverage this work to support satellite communications at higher frequency bands.
