l-3 photo - nasa · 2020. 10. 27. · merging nasa and l-3 technologies achieves a 200-fold...
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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Collaboration Yields Massive Data Transmission IncreaseMerging NASA and L-3 Technologies Achieves a 200-fold Improvement to 20 Gbps
A longtime collaboration between NASA’s Glenn Research
Center and L-3 has led to technology enabling the
unprecedented transmission of scientifically significant data related to our home planet, moon, and solar system, as well as
the search for Earth-like planets. The jointly developed high-
speed, high-capacity traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA) has
performed flawlessly aboard the Cassini spacecraft, the Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the Kepler Mission, and the
International Space Station (ISS). More recently, funding from
NASA’s Technology Transfer Program supported additional
advancements that achieved a laboratory proof-of-concept
demonstration of a 20-gigabit-per-second (Gbps) transmission,
which represents a 200-fold improvement over data rates
previously used on such missions. As ground stations increase
their receiving capacity, this breakthrough in ultrahigh-throughput
technology will open the door to new levels of Earth science.
It also lays the foundation for the next generation of high-
throughput satellites for the commercial communications
industry and the military.
Benefits of Tech Transfer• Enhanced space
communications:Enablessuper-rapiddownloadsofenormousvolumesofsciencedata
• Extraordinaryimages:Transmitsimageswithveryhighresolution
• Improveddisastermonitoring:Allowsforreal-timemonitoringofpotentiallydevastatingweathersystemsandnaturaldisasters,savingcountlesslives
• ExpansionofEarthscience:Enablesbetterstudyofclimate,species,andnaturalresources
• Telecommunicationsindustryadvances:Ispromptingthecommunicationsindustrytodesignnext-generationsatellites
• Companygrowth:EnabledL-3tocreateprofitablenewmarketareas,securingamultimillion-dollarcontractwiththeAirForceResearchLaboratory
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On the Record“WorkingwithL-3,wehavedemonstratedthefeasibilityofahigh-power,high-efficiency,widebandspaceTWTAthatwillenableahostofsatellitecommunicationsapplications,includingahighlevelofEarthscienceanddisastermonitoring,aswellasdramaticimprovementsinhigh-speedInternetandhigh-definitiontelevision(HDTV)onthegroundandonairplanes.Ithashadatremendousreturnoninvestment.”—Rainee Simons, Senior Research Engineer and IEEE Life Fellow, NASA Glenn Research Center
“It has been a good collaboration for L-3 in terms of capability and visibility. By working with NASA and combining L-3’s amplifier and modem technology, we were able to demonstrate data rates. And NASA didn’t have to spend as much to achieve greater utilization of its science assets.”—Francis Smith, Senior Technical Fellow, L-3 Communications
About L-3
U.S.-headquarteredL-3isaprimecontractorinaerospaceandnationalsecurity,aswellasaproviderofabroadrangeofcommunicationandelectronicsystemsandproductsusedonmilitaryandcommercialplatforms.VariousdivisionsofL-3collaboratedwithNASAonthiswork,includingtheElectronTechnologies,Inc.(ETI)unitbasedinTorrance,California,andCommunicationSystems-West(CS-West)inSaltLakeCity,Utah.Technology Origins
ResearchersatNASAGlennandL-3’sETIdivision developedtheTWTAasanovelhigh-efficiency,high-reliabilitymicrowavepoweramplifiercapableoftransmittingmassiveamountsofsciencedataandimages.WheninstalledasacriticalpartoftheLROprimarycommunicationssystem,thisaward-winningtechnologywasabletotransmitvideoimagesandsciencedatafromsixonboardinstruments,aswellasdatafromadvancedradarexperiments.ItachievedunprecedentedimprovementsoverpreviouslyavailableTWTAs,withthroughputtohandledatavolumesof572gigabitsperdayatarateof100megabitspersecond.Itsdesignminimizedpowerlosseswhileprovidingexcellentthermalreliability/stability,widebandwidthcoupledwithlowsignalattenuationforhighefficiency,andarobustpackagethatwithstoodlaunchvibrations.
TheexceptionalperformanceonLROledtothetechnology’sselectionasthetransmitterforasoftware-definedradio(SDR)experimentonISS.ThankstotheNASA–L-3technology,scientistswereabletoprovethatafullyprogrammable,reconfigurableSDRcouldoperateasagenericspaceradioplatformintheKa-bandfrequencyrange.Itsabilitytoprovideexceptionallyhighdata-ratecommunicationanddatatransmissionovermultiplewaveformsreducesthecost,time,andriskassociatedwithdevelopingfuturemissions.
Taking the Next Step
ThesesuccessespromptedNASAtotaketheTWTAtechnologytothenextlevelbyworkingwithL-3’sCS-West,whichspecializesinmultigigabit-per-secondtransceivers.Theproject,whichbeganinJune2010andincludedfundingfromNASA’sTechnologyTransferProgram,allowedNASAtouseL-3’sadvancedtransmittertechnologyandsoftware-definedmodememulatorstoachievemajorperformancebreakthroughs.Forthefirsttimeever,researchersdemonstrateddatathroughputratesashighas20Gbps,achievinga200-foldimprovement.Inaddition,withsupportfromNASAGlennSpecialProjects,engineershavecompletedthedesignforanewhigh-power,wide-bandwidthtravelingwavetubeforthenextgenerationofultrahigh-throughputsatellitesoperatingatQ-bandfrequencies.
Looking Ahead
Becauseoftherateatwhichspacecraftgatherdataduringeachorbit,ultrahighdownloadrateshavemajorimplicationsforscienceaswellasforcommunications,includingairtrafficcontroloftransoceanicflightsandthetrackingofshipsatsea.NASAisconfiguringgroundstationscapableofhandling20-Gbpstransmissions,atwhichpointthefloodgateswillopentoamassivewaveofscientificdatathatwillenableustobetterunderstandourworldandourplaceintheuniverse.Theachievementofultrahighthroughputisalsopromptingthecommunicationsindustrytodesignnext-generationsatellitesthatcanaccommodatethetechnologyandoptimizethesensors.L-3isworkingwithsatellitevendorstoexperimentwithhigherdataratesovernewtransponders.
For More InformationFor more information about this collaboration success or licensing opportunities at NASA Glenn, contact:Technology Transfer Office NASA Glenn Research CenterPhone: 216–433–3484E-mail: TTP@grc.nasa.govhttp://technology.grc.nasa.gov
LEW-18443-1/LEW-18735-1 • 11.24.14
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