Flexibility and in-flight reconfigurability offered by digital processing have become key features in today's telecom satellite payloads. In recent years, Thales Alenia Space have developed several generations of on-board digital transparent processors (DTP) by introducing the most advanced and disruptive technologies. After several payloads based on 5th generation processors, Thales Alenia Space Space Inspire solution uses a 6th generation processors offering another step in flexibility through Digital Beam Forming. The mechanical architecture of such advanced digital processors is based on input/output routing channel modules and switch modules interconnected thanks to optical links. The end-to-end architecture of the optical links was optimized based on the return of experience of the 5th generation of DTP. Increasing processing capacity led to selection of links at datarates above 20 Gbps for the latest DTP generation. The optical interconnect solution is scalable to an overall throughput in excess of 65 Terabit/s with more than 1800’s of optical links. In the frame of the development of DTP6G, Thales Alenia Space have led an evaluation process of optical transceivers, compatible with GEO to LEO environments and with a 15-year mission reliability .. Future processor developments are already under preparation with ever increasing processing power and datarates based on the next generations of transceiver which are starting to appear. The paper will present the evaluation process of the transceivers for Thales Alenia Space's latest processor generation, the update in the optical link architecture, as well as a first projection towards the targeted needs for the next generations of optical links. Additional presentation content can be accessed on the supplemental content page.
The EU-SIPhoDiAS project deals with the development of critical photonic building blocks needed for highperformance and low size, weight, and power (SWaP) photonics-enabled Very High Throughput Satellites (VHTS). In this presentation, we report on the design and fabrication activities during the first year of the project concerning the targeted family of digital and microwave photonic components. This effort aims to demonstrate components of enhanced reliability at technology readiness level (TRL) 7. Specifically, with respect to microwave photonic links, we report: (i) the design of Ka and Q-bands analogue photodetectors that will be assembled in compact packages, allowing for very high bandwidth per unit area and (ii) on the design of compact V-band GaAs electro-optic modulator arrays, which use a folded-path optical configuration to manage all fiber interfaces packaged opposite direct in-line RF feeds for ease of board layouts and mass/size benefits. With respect to digital links, we report on the development of 100 Gb/s (4 x 25 Gb/s) digital optical transceiver sub-assemblies developed using flip-chip mounting of electronic and opto-parts on a high-reliability borosilicate substrate. The transceiver chipset developed specifically for this project refers to fullycustom 25 Gb/s radiation hard (RH) VCSEL driver and TIA ICs designed in IHP’s 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS Rad-Hard process.
As high-speed digital signal processing has become a reality taking an increasing place in telecom satellite payloads for today, Thales Alenia Space has introduced the most advanced and disruptive technologies in his new generation of onboard digital transparent processor (DTP). DTP namely Spaceflex is an advanced repeater sub-systems having analogueto- digital (ADC) and digital-to-analogue (DAC) channelizers on their input and output accesses and making extensive use of digital processing to support channel routing with fine bandwidth granularity.
The mechanical architecture of such advanced digital processor is based on input/output routing channel modules and switch modules interconnected together thanks to optical interconnect technology already implemented in a breadboard developed under the ESTEC contract Optical Inter-board Interconnects for High Throughput on-Board Processors (OI2) but showing higher performances requested by the application.
The optical interconnect is supported by optical transceiver, by optical connectors for inside and outside equipment interconnects, by optical cables and flexes. This optical interconnect solution is scalable to an overall throughput in excess of 15 Terabit/s with 150’s of optical links.
In the frame of this development, Thales Alenia Space has identified and tested 3 different optical transceivers working at high speed data rate higher than 10 Gbps, compatible with GEO and LEO environment whose reliability is compatible with a lifetime of 15 years.
The paper will present in detail the tests on selected transceiver (radiation behaviour and temperature) as well as the overall architecture of such advanced digital on board processing equipment.
We present the development and verification testing of a high speed multimode, multicore transceiver technology for intra-satellite optical interconnects. We report the fabrication and functional testing of opto-parts including 25 Gb/s 850 nm VCSEL/PD as well as the verification testing of the VCSELs against radiation and lifetime performance. In addition we report the development and evaluation testing of a multi-core cable assembly that was fabricated and mated with MiniAVIM multi-core connectors to develop hi-rel multi-core optical patchcords for pigtailing the transceiver modules. The fiber optic, electronic and opto-parts were used to assemble the first ever fully packaged and pigtailed, six-core optical transceiver prototype module that operates at 25 Gb/s channel bit rate at an energy consumption of ∠4.5 mW/Gb/s.
Veli Heikkinen, Eveliina Juntunen, Mikko Karppinen, Kari Kautio, Jyrki Ollila, Aila Sitomaniemi, Antti Tanskanen, Rory Casey, Shane Scott, Hélène Gachon, Michel Sotom, Norbert Venet, Jaakko Toivonen, Taisto Tuominen, Nikos Karafolas
The flexibility required for future telecom payloads calls for the introduction of more and more digital processing capabilities. Aggregate data throughputs of several Tbps will have to be handled onboard, thus creating the need for effective, ADCDSP and DACDSP highspeed links. ADC and DAC modules with optical interconnections is an attractive option as it can solve easily the transmission and routing of the expected huge amount of data. This technique will enable to increase the bandwidth and/or the number of beams/channels to be treated, or to support advanced digital processing architectures including beam forming.
We realised electrooptic ADC and DAC modules containing an 8 bit, 2 GSa/s A/D converter and a 12 bit, 2 GSa/s D/A converter. The 4channel parallel fibre optic link employs 850nm VCSELs and GaAs PIN photodiodes coupled to 50/125μm fibre ribbon cable. ADCDSP and DSPDAC links both have an aggregate data rate of 25 Gbps. The paper presents the current status of this development.
Parallel optical interconnects are experimentally assessed as a technology that may offer the high-throughput data communication capabilities required to the next-generation on-board digital processing units. An optical backplane interconnect was breadboarded, on the basis of a digital transparent processor that provides flexible connectivity and variable bandwidth in telecom missions with multi-beam antenna coverage. The unit selected for the demonstration required that more than tens of Gbit/s be supported by the backplane. The demonstration made use of commercial parallel optical link modules at 850 nm wavelength, with 12 channels running at up to 2.5 Gbit/s. A flexible optical fibre circuit was developed so as to route board-to-board connections. It was plugged to the optical transmitter and receiver modules through 12-fibre MPO connectors. BER below 10-14 and optical link budgets in excess of 12 dB were measured, which would enable to integrate broadcasting. Integration of the optical backplane interconnect was successfully demonstrated by validating the overall digital processor functionality.
The satellite telecommunication sector is continuously facing new challenges. Operators turn towards increasing capacity payloads with higher number of beams and broader bandwidth, in order to cope with exhausting orbital positions and to lower the cost of in-orbit delivery of bit. Only satellites able to provide high data rate connections to numerous users are expected to achieve affordable communication prices. On the other hand, as the telecom market grows and the range of offered services (HDTV, Video On Demand, Triple Play), operators call for more versatile solutions to quickly grasp new markets and to adapt to these evolutions over the average 15 years of a satellite lifetime.
Flexible payloads have found an increasing interest for a number of years. Flexibility is considered as a means for a better commercial exploitation of a satellite fleet and a better allocation of resource in response to traffic evolution and/or changing business plans, with potential advantages such as a wider range of applications, less customization for specific missions, increased production runs of equipment, enhancement of reliability, reduction of equipment cost, reduction of program schedules [1]. Flexibility is expected to be offered in spectrum management and frequency plan, in coverage, or in the repeater power allocation.
The industry is taking up the challenge both by improving current telecom satellites and offering new payload technology, more flexible and able to address the new markets. From a system integrator perspective, flexibility is as an opportunity to design more generic payloads, that can be customized during or after fabrication only, thus shortening the design-to-manufacturing cycle, and improving the industry competitiveness.
Modern broadband communication networks rely on satellites to complement the terrestrial telecommunication infrastructure. Satellites accommodate global reach and enable world-wide direct broadcasting by facilitating wide access to the backbone network from remote sites or areas where the installation of ground segment infrastructure is not economically viable. At the same time the new broadband applications increase the bandwidth demands in every part of the network - and satellites are no exception. Modern telecom satellites incorporate On-Board Processors (OBP) having analogue-to-digital (ADC) and digital-to-analogue converters (DAC) at their inputs/outputs and making use of digital processing to handle hundreds of signals; as the amount of information exchanged increases, so do the physical size, mass and power consumption of the interconnects required to transfer massive amounts of data through bulk electric wires.
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