A flexible direct sequence integrated receiver with ARM core

A single-chip digital direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DS SS) receiver ASIC, called DIRAC (Direct-sequence integrated Receiver with ARM core) is presented. Thanks to the programmability, the ASIC can be used in a wide variety of communication systems like the mobile satellite business network (MSBN) from the European space agency (ESA), PRODAT and IRIS. Key features are the integration of an ARM core on the ASIC together with an entire direct-sequence spread-spectrum receiver with a maximum chip-rate of 4*2.5 Mc/s.