Ka/V Band Satellite Communications Test Bed for Receiver Hardware and Waveform Analysis with Simulated Channel Impairments

This paper outlines the design and implementation of a hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) system intended for use in the analysis of satellite communications hardware and waveform performance when presented with realistic channel impairments inherent to Earth-space links. This HWIL system is capable of generating and analyzing signals up to 44 GHz, a range which fully encompasses the Ka band and enters into the lower V band. Atmospheric attenuation and noise along with Doppler shift are predicted according to the link’s RF parameters, the satellite’s orbital details, and the earth terminal’s geographic location and applied to baseband signals before modulation. This paper covers generation of the IQ waveform with signal degradation applied, provides an overview of signal transmission, reception, and analysis, and concludes with validation of the system’s accuracy using the standard DVB-S2 waveform.