Extension of DVB-S2 capabilites for high rate AISR data transport

Abstract

In 2007, MIT Lincoln Laboratory began supporting the United States Air Force (USAF) MILSATCOM family of advanced beyond line of sight terminals increment 2 (FAB-T Inc 2) program. The Laboratory led the development and implementation of the Ka-band high data rate (Ka HDR) waveform for the transportation of airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (AISR) data from air assets to any number of ground stations via the Ka-band capabilities of the wideband global SATCOM (WGS) system. This waveform is subject to all the technical challenges posed by the requirements of an airborne terminal, including: limited size weight and power (SWaP), a direct synthesis scheme on transmit, developing for a software defined radio (SDR) environment, and adhering to MILSATCOM requirements. After a research study of available waveform options, Lincoln recommended the digital video broadcast satellite second generation (DVB-S2) waveform to fulfill the Air Force's requirements. Because commercially available DVB-S2 modems currently only support rates of approximately 45 million symbols per second (Msym/s), Lincoln extended this capability to 280 Msym/s to satisfy the FAB-T Inc 2 requirements. This paper details the results of this extension and shows that the new system maintains much of the benefits of the commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. DVB-S2, ETSI (EN 302 307), is an advanced satellite communications standard developed to support commercial satellite broadcasting of television, interactive services, news gathering, and other broadband satellite applications. Its advanced forward error correction (FEC) scheme, multiple modulation types, and potential compatibility with the joint Internet protocol modem (JIPM) made it a suitable candidate for FAB-T Inc 2.