Experimental Evaluation of Ultra Wideband Wireless Transmission for Replacing Wired Interface Buses in Spacecrafts

摘要

Experimental evaluation of ultra wideband (UWB) wireless transmission was carried out with a view to replacing wired interface buses in spacecrafts. Application of wireless technologies within the spacecrafts could contribute to reduction in cable weight (and launching cost as a result), reduction in the cost of manufacture, more flexibility in layout of spacecraft subsystems, and reliable connections at rotary, moving, and sliding joints. However, multipath propagation in semi-closed conductive enclosures, such as spacecrafts, restricts the link performance. This paper addresses the effects of apertures perforated on the outer surface of satellites on the UWB propagation and transmission for low- (4.2 - 4.8 GHz) and high-band (7.4 - 7.9 GHz) UWB. The larger total area of apertures resulted in lower UWB propagation gains, shorter delay spreads, and (slightly) higher link throughput.