Frontier Radio – Multi-Lingual – A Next Generation Space Software Defined Radio

A next generation space software defined radio (SDR) has been designed and developed by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) for use in the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Polylingual Experimental Terminal (PExT). The newest incarnation of the radio, Frontier Radio – Multi-Lingual (FR-ML), builds on years of work on the Frontier Radio family of SDRs. The FR-ML is designed to communicate at K/Ka-band and is tunable over a wide band supporting commercial, Space Network (SN), and Near Earth Network (NEN) bands. The radio supports Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) compliant waveforms used in many NASA missions, as well as Digital Video Broadcast – Satellite – Second Generation (DVB-S2) waveforms typically used by commercial relay services. The FR-ML takes advantage of new component advancements enabling higher processing power and data rates in the high 100s of Mbits per second, approaching 1 Gbit per second with a variety of new features. New mission-enabling features include in-flight field programmable gate array (FPGA) reconfiguration as well as software re-programmability. A general processing module (GPM) has been added to the design, which supports redundant Ethernet host connections and acts as an “avionics light” slice with added processing capability within the radio. The first phase of design has been successfully completed including a ground demonstration communicating through both NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) and the commercial relay service provider SES O3b. The development is currently in the flight demonstration phase where it is being packaged into a box configuration. A third phase is planned for commercialization where an even smaller form factor with other improvements would be implemented. The radio consists of four slices: the K/Ka-band transmitter and receiver RF front end slice, the digital processing modem slice, the general processing module (GPM) slice, and the power converter slice. This paper describes the SDR design, ground demonstration accomplishments, and results thus far. A future paper will cover the flight demonstration phase.