Low-Cost Reconfigurable Apertures for Cubesat Ground Stations

开普勒通信公司是一家利用立方体卫星建立全球机器对机器（M2M）通信的空间电信网络的公司。设计具有自适应波束导向能力的低成本地面段天线面临着重大的研究挑战。相控阵提供了一个全面的电子解决方案，但代价是巨大的硬件占地面积和成本，而机械操纵的孔径天线速度很慢，而且依赖于可移动的部件。该项目将基于申请人研究小组正在进行的可重构电磁表面（RESs）的前沿研究，为开普勒地面站探索和开发具有成本效益的可重构孔径天线。独特的RES结构将为开普勒提供动态波束可控天线，使用与传统相控阵相关的一小部分硬件和成本，从而实现低成本地面资产和最终卫星天线的经济高效开发。

Kepler Communications is a company establishing an in-space telecommunications network for enabling global machine-tomachine (M2M) communications using cubesats. There are significant research challenges in designing low-cost ground segment antennas that provide adaptive beam-steering capabilities. Phased arrays provide a comprehensive electronic solution at the expense of a large hard- ware footprint and cost, while mechanically-steered aperture antennas are slow and rely on moving parts.This project will explore and develop cost effective reconfigurable aperture antennas for Keplers ground stations based onleading-edge research on reconfigurable electromagnetic surfaces (RESs) being pursued by the applicants research group. Theunique RES architecture will provide a dynamic beam controllable antenna to Kepler using a fraction of the hardware and cost associated with traditional phased arrays, allowing the cost effective development of low-cost ground assets, and eventually, satellite antennas.