SkyCubesNet: A Ka-band Cubesat based Communications Infrastructure for Smart Cities of the Future

Project: Applied Research

Project Details

Abstract

The main constituents of smart communities and corresponding smart cities are high speed data communication applications such as; 3D video, UHD screens, industry 4.0, augmented reality, self-driving autonomous cars, digital twins, smart homes, connected health etc. All of these and many more emerging applications imply one common need; a very high bandwidth, low-cost, uninterrupted data communications. Satellite communication is one of the emerging technologies for providing internet and other communication services for global coverage. Most communication satellites have long been large satellites with geosynchronous orbit at around 36,000 km above the Earth, operating for around 15 years. Number of companies around the world, led by US and China, are looking into building very large LEO constellations of smaller, cheaper satellites in much lower orbits to provide communication and connectivity services around not only urban but also rural areas. The race though, requires radical solutions to the significant challenges around the idea; namely; data rate, power consumption and cost; all of which are tightly coupled in opposing directions to reach a viable communications infrastructure. In order to fuel similar development efforts in Turkey and Qatar, the proposal aims to address the most critical technologies that are vital for complex city environments, namely; communication equipment and enabling chipsets. The focus of this particular proposal is design of end-to-end RF link chipsets and deployable beamforming antenna equipment for a low-cost 3U custom cubesat in order to provide uninterrupted mobile data connectivity for future smart cities. The target for the project is to establish Ka-Band Gbps aggregate multi-user link on a low-cost Silicon process technology. The drawbacks of designing in Silicon are alleviated through utilization of novel distributed traveling-wave techniques which are proposed to be more appropriate for high frequency systems. Moreover, in order to limit the overall cost for large constellation deployments, the proposed technology pushes the limits for a 3U deployable cubesat. The required reception challenges are addressed by extremely large size highly directive Ka-Band antenna arrays at the both ends; namely 6144 units on mobile car-top Earth user equipment and 2048 units on the 3U aircraft along with the corresponding custom enabler chipsets. Active antenna arrays with very high directivity and efficiency along with low-noise transceivers are the critical milestone in reaching a low cost viable solution for near-future sustainable smart connectivity constellations, targeting to replace current bulky, power hungry, high maintenance cost, and very possibly unhealthy base-station infrastructures.

Submitting Institute Name

Qatar University
Sponsor's Award NumberAICC03-0530-200033
Proposal IDEX-QNRF-AICC-2
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date20/04/214/10/24

Primary Theme

  • Artificial Intelligence

Primary Subtheme

  • AI - Smart Cities

Secondary Theme

  • Artificial Intelligence

Secondary Subtheme

  • AI - Smart Society

Keywords

  • CubeSat, pico satellites, communications infrastructures
  • wideband satellite communications
  • satellite supported public services

Fingerprint

Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.