SBIR Phase I: Efficient Narrow-Band Communication via Geosynchronous Satellites

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是将双向移动的卫星通信从一个利基服务（世界上不到0.1%的人负担得起？的人），到一个广泛使用的大众市场产品（成本远低于1美元/月）。 通信设备（可能像汽车钥匙扣一样小）将与地球上几乎任何地方进行适度的数据通信。 潜在的应用数量很大，以下是几个例子：每架商用飞机和游轮上的每件救生衣都可以传输其位置和状态（在发生事故时）;儿童和老人可以在全球范围内跟踪;司机无论在哪里旅行都可以得到帮助。 次要影响将包括平均燃油效率的提高，例如，当更多的车辆出售时没有备用轮胎（因为司机对被困的可能性更放心）。 美国将在提高安全性、节约资源、刺激卫星和相关产业以及增加出口收入方面受益。拟议的项目围绕利用现有卫星固有（但以前未利用）能力的创新组合。 当前运行的移动的卫星系统具有不适合于少量数据的低成本传输的通信结构。 通过从一张白纸开始并重新思考架构，成本可以降低几个数量级（对于通信设备和数据服务）。 终端设备的成本降低主要是由较低的数据速率（以及相关联的较低功率和尺寸）驱动的。 虽然通信链路的大多数技术方面随着较低的数据速率而改善，但是一个特征出现为对数据速率可以降低的程度的限制。 本研究的目的是研究这种特性，称为相位噪声，以及它对通信性能的影响，在低数据速率时，使用真实的卫星链路。 这项研究的结果将是定量的结论，数据速率之间的交易，降低相位噪声的通信元件，传输性能，和调制解调器的架构选项的成本影响。 这项研究将使优化这一贸易时，开发后续的商业产品。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to transform 2-way, mobile satellite communications from a niche service (affordable to less than 0.1% of the world?s people), to a broadly accessible mass market product (at costs well under $1/month). Communications devices (that could be as small as vehicle key fobs) will communicate modest volumes of data to and from virtually anywhere on Earth. The number of potential applications is large, with the following being a few examples: every lifejacket on every commercial aircraft and cruise ship could transmit its location and status (in the event of a mishap); children and the elderly could be tracked globally; and drivers could be assured of assistance wherever they travel. Secondary impacts would include an increase in average fuel efficiency when, for example, more vehicles are sold without spare tires (as drivers have more peace-of-mind regarding the possibility of being stranded). The United States will benefit in terms of improved safety, conserved resources, stimulus to the satellite and related industries, and increased export revenues.The proposed project centers around a combination of innovations that exploit inherent (but previously unutilized) capabilities of existing satellites. Currently operational Mobile Satellite Systems have communications architectures that do not lend themselves to low-cost transmission of small volumes of data. By starting with a blank sheet of paper and rethinking the architecture, costs can be reduced by orders of magnitude (for both the communications devices and the data service). The cost reduction of the terminal devices is primarily driven by lower data rates (with associated lower power and size). While most technical aspects of communications links improve with lower data rates, one characteristic emerges as a constraint on the extent to which data rate can be reduced. The purpose of this research is to study this characteristic, called phase noise, and its impact on the communications performance at low data rates when using real satellite links. The results of this research will be quantitative conclusions regarding the trades between data rates, the cost impact of lowering phase noise in the communication elements, transmission performance, and the modem architectural options. This study will enable optimization of this trade when developing the follow-on commercial products.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.