Radio astronomy signal processing techniques for phased array ground

射电天文学和卫星通信有许多共同的技术--两者都使用天线，通常是抛物面天线，接收来自太空物体的FIN信号。还有一些不同--卫星地面站也需要向卫星传输信号，而射电望远镜通常探测到的信号比通信中的典型信号弱得多。计划在未来十年内使用的卫星数量将大幅增加，提供通信服务，从太空观察地球及其环境，以及探索太阳系。在这个项目中，我们将把为射电望远镜开发的技术用于大幅提高卫星地面站的性价比。我们将使用先进的信号处理硬件和方法，允许卫星地面站由相对便宜的大阵列天线组成，而不是单个非常大的天线。这些阵列将被用来接收信号(就像射电望远镜一样)，并向遥远的卫星和空间探测器发送信号。除了比传统的大型天线建造成本更低之外，这将允许更灵活地使用地面站，天线的子阵用于要求较低的应用。这笔赠款将支付牛津大学的一名研究人员与康沃尔Goonhilly地球站有限公司(GES)的工程师一起工作，转移为射电望远镜设计开发的专业知识，并在硬件上提供我们需要提供的关键技术能力的演示。通用电气公司将提供工程工作、设施和硬件，并平均分担设备成本。

Radio astronomy and satellite communications have much technology in common - both use antennas, often parabolic dish antennas, to receive fain signals from objects in space. There are also differences - satellite ground stations also need to transmit signals to the satellites, while radio telescopes typically detect much fainter signals than is typical in communications. There is planned to be a huge increase in the next decade in the number of satellites in use, providing communication services, observing the Earth and its environment from space, and exploring the solar system. In this project, we will take technology developed for radio telescopes and use it to greatly improve the cost-effectiveness of satellite ground stations. We will use advanced signal processing hardware and methods to allow satellite ground stations to be constructed from large arrays of relatively inexpensive antennas, rather than single very large antennas. These arrays will be used both to receive signals (as radio telescopes do) and to transmit signals to distant satellites and space probes. As well as being cheaper to construct than conventional large antennas, this will allow much more flexible use of the ground station, with sub-arrays of antennas being used for less demanding applications. The grant will pay for a researcher based at the University of Oxford to work alongside engineers at Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd (GES) in Cornwall, transferring expertise developed for radio telescope designs, and on hardware to provide demonstration of the key technical capabilities we need to provide. GES will provide engineering effort, facilities and hardware and an equal share of the equipment costs.