“Satixfy’s Technology: Building Blocks for low cost high performance satellite systems”

15th BroadSky Workshop 17 October 2017

Outline• SatixFy – who we are ?

• Products

• Building blocks for low cost high performance Satellite systems

• SX-3000: HTS modem ASIC

• Why Software Defined Radio Technology ?

• MatriQx - Active Flat Panel Array technologies

• Beam-Hopping is a reality

• Digital Payload for On-Board-Processing

• Role of Satellite component in 5G described through a use-case

• Summary

Introduction - SatixFy• SatixFy- Satellite Technology company

• Chips and Products company

• Operating since 2011; 3 main R&D centers

• SatixFy Israel - Modem Design Center• 70 People, 45 VLSI engineers, 10 product engineers

• Chips, Products, Systems

• Several key design wins

• SatixFy UK - Steerable Antenna Design Center• 40 people from August 2016

• Significant recruitment from ex-Qualcomm team

• Chips, Antennas and Terminals

• Systems, VLSI, RF, Hardware, Software & Test

• Over $20M UK Government support through ESA

• Element, Array, Control, RF, System, Test

• First Ku band Aviation Terminal for a customer (1m X 0.5m) Technology Company with VLSI and full Product Capability

Introduction - SatixFy Strategy

• Silicon – stuff legends are made off• Big investments, but…

• You build your own world (Fantasyland)

• Completely different Price/Performance

• Full Vertical Integration

Systems

Terminals

Antennae

Products

Chips

Bring to market next generation satellite communication technology and products

SatixFy Products

SX-3000B

• Fully compliant with all latest industry standards

• HTS transponder support (500 MHz)

• Very low SNR reception (small antennas)

• Software Defined radio

Indoor Unit (S-IDU)• Miniature L-band IDU• Ready for Ku/Ka• SX-3000 based board• 7.5cm x7.5cm• Affordable User Terminal• Shipping product

Outdoor Unit (S-ODU)• 2-way terminal, Outdoor unit

including modem

• S2X FWD, S-M2M RTN

• Wideband, high-performance

• Single PoE Cat5 cable

• Lowest cost approach

Beam-Hopping testbed

• SatixFy's SX-3000 ASIC is the first to market with beam hopping support

ASIC PRODUCT SYSTEM

Beam-hopping technology

for capacity optimization and

to reduce the cost per bit

Regenerative Digital Payload

Improved link budget - Better

utilization of the gateway link

~6bit/Hz

Active Flat Panel Array

MmWave technology with True-time digital delay beam-forming in

Ku or Ka Band

Multi-beam

TerminalHigh-Throughput

Satellite

Based on Software Defined Radio

Beam-hopping ready

High performing proven Mod/Demod core IP

Building block for low cost high performance satellite systems

Across the full Eco-System

OBJECTIVES

• Waveform flexibility anticipating future standards evolution

• Overall system reduced cost Capex reduction

• Affordable User Terminals

• Increased system performances

• Low power design

SX-3000: DVB-S2X High-Throughput Satellite MODEM ASIC “ALL IN ONE”

Hub/GatewayRemote terminals

SX-3000B

• Support the latest DVB Standards• DVB-S2X• DVB-RCS2

• Wideband 500 MHz HTS transponder support

• Beam Hopping (Annex E)

• 4 Receive channels

• Very low SNR reception (small antennas)

• Software Defined radio

• 3 GB information rate – 3 x Ethernet interfaces

• Built-in AES 256 encryption engine

• MIPS dual-core host 32-bit MIPS CPU for multiple applications running Linux OS, and Free RTOS)

• Multiple CEVA XC-323 DSPs

SX-3000 Capabilities

Excellent performance DVB-S2XQPSK – 256 APSK

Linux and Free RTOS OS

GSE and MPE

500 Msps Modulator and Demodulator

VLSNR continuousAnd Burst

Beam Hopping

MF-TDMA 20Msps return link.JESD 204B (External ADC and DACs)

WHY SDR Technology ? • Over time, new technologies might be introduced into

the standards, and new waveforms can processed by our Modem transceiver implementations.

Few examples below:

• Beam hopping (enabled by DVB-S2x super-frames)

• Digital Pre Distortion (LPD/NLPD)• Co-channel interference cancellation

• Iterative decoding/equalization

• The SDR implementation is a combination of several signal path HW blocks with DSP algorithms implemented on the CEVA DSPs allowing flexibility

• 3 powerful vector DSPs plus several fast and generic HW blocks enable the implementation of state of the art technologies that until now have been difficult to implement at high rates

Future proof IP FlexibilitySDR +=

S-IDU remote Terminal

• High Performance 125 MHz Operation

• DVB-S2X fully compliant

• DVB- RCS2 or SDR return channel

• Dual Gigabit Ethernet port

• Low power and affordable

• Small size

• Annex M – time slice support

• Annex E – beam hopping support

• In volume production

MatriQx - Electronic Steering Antenna Design

Digital Electronically Steered Antenna• Modular design scalable to different size and number of beams by cascading

modules of 64 elements

• Support different RF frequencies KU or KA using dedicated RFIC chips

RFIC

Digital Beam Former

BB processing chip

• Generate multiple simultaneous beams each at different polarization, using Digital Beam Forming chips

• Digital processing enabling:

▪ wideband operation and multiple beams

▪ true time digital delay

▪ straightforward calibration and impairments correction

True-time-digital delay advantages

• Multi-Beam 2-way operation over several Satellites

• Inherent “Make before break”

• Instantaneous bandwidth of 2.5GHz operation

• Power down modes • Supports Time-Slicing• no data=no transmission (<1W)• Power sleep <1W - enables immediate

system upload

• Scalable solution (support large arrays)

• Conformal array

𝑦𝑛 𝑡 = 𝑥 𝑡 + 𝑛𝜏 𝑒𝑥𝑝 𝑗2𝜋𝑓𝑐 𝑡 + 𝑛𝜏

Delay in baseband signalThis is what analog phase shifters don’t do

Phase Shift in modulated carrier(this is what analog phase shifters do)

Our TTD technology adds delay lines that compensate the delays that results from the non boresight direction…

Electronically steered Antenna tightly coupled with the SX-3000 HTS modem

• Control configuration of DBF, RFIC, SerDes

• Bandwidth of the signal

• Number of beams/sub-array

• Configuration of Digital NCO

• ESAA Power Control Features

• Calibration of DBF and RFIC

• Dynamic Tapering for different scan angles

• Multibeam Configuration & Inter-beam Interference Suppression

• Satellite tracking algorithm

• Fast Acquisition

• Direction of Arrival

Antenna control functions operated by the Sx3000 ASIC

The SX3000 HTS modem ASIC is integrated in the ESAA enabling:• Simple ESAA interface - Direct RF to Ethernet path• Lower power consumption (No data - No power)• TDD operation with Beam-hopping to ease the Antenna design

Multi-beam antennaWide bandwidth

True-Time-Digital DelayIntegrated Modem

Ethernet to RF

MatriQx Use-Cases

AEROConnected

Car IoT

Payload (UAV, CubeSat)

Land/Mobile

BEAM-HOPPING

GW

TT&C

Beam Hopping

• Concept is not new -implementation and standardization are

• Beam Illumination according to time and spatial plan• Re-use channels in a TDMA-like scheme

• Plan can change in seconds (or less?)

• Potential uses:

• Variance in demand

• Channel sharing on a geographical basis

• Mobility networks

• Events and projects (Eurocup, elections)

• Supported by DVB-S2X Annex E

High Throughput Satellites

TXP1 TXP3TXP2 TXP4

• High Throughput Satellites typically operate in 4 color frequency scheme• Spectrum and power is for the most part equally

divided between the beams

• Huge increase in capacity versus legacy satellites: >100Gbps

• Significant reduction in cost per bit

• Loss of flexibility ; • 'Wasted' CAPEX on unfilled beam

• Lost revenue in saturated beams

500 MHz

Spectrum is divided between ‘colors’

cheaper satellite capacityMultiple Beams, Frequency is repeated

GW

GW

Beam Hopping in HTS and UHTS

Area 12

• Whole satellite can operate in a single frequency

• Less TWTAs in satellite

• Less unmet capacity• Capacity can be shifted 'on demand'

• Less GWs• Number of GWs defined by peak capacity, not

total theoretical capacity of all beams

500 MHz

Whole spectrum is allocated in Time Domain

TT&C

maximization of the capacity sharing utilization

Area 22Area 41

Satellite Operator Benefits

UHTS

BH 1 color

• Great $/bit

• Weak flexibility

• Excellent $/bit with flexibility

• More effective capacity

• Expanded coverage (at same cost)

• Less CAPEX (GW reduction and less TWTAs)

• Reduced risk with wider coverage and flexible capacity allocation

Satellite payload in BH mode

1

23

13

14

15

12

24

Simulation Results: Mobility

• Beam Hopping provides best flexibility in allocating capacity to the beams with high traffic demand

• Increased aggregate capacity by +30%

• Reduction of the unmet and excess capacity by 40%

• Lower DC power consumption >50%

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

123456789101112131415161718192021222324

Transatlantic Beams

Demand Conventional Satellite

FLEXIBLE REGENERATIVE DIGITAL PAYLOAD

On-Board-processing• On-board-processing (OBP)

architecture• Regeneration of physical layer

data is performed in the payload reducing the GW Capex

• Enabling much higher bit/Hz (up to 6 bits per Hz) on the GW link versus ~0.2 bits/Hz on the user link

• Multiple simultaneous beams with Beam Hopping techniques directed to GW, Users, and ISL beams

Satellite – User L1 modem

GW-Satellite modem

GW – Satallite link FL/RL

GW UT

Satellite Payload (OBP)

Satellite – User linkFL/RL

Satellite – User modem

Telemetry and ControlGlobal Resource

Management

On Board Processor

L2 processingL2 processing / NMS

GW – Satellite L1 modem

Inter-Satellite link

ISL

GEO/LEO Satellites and UAV benefit from an increased capacity at lower power

System on Payload (SoP)

User/GW Links (1-4)

Ground Segment Payload

IP

Switching

Inter-Satellite Segment Payload

TT&C

Inter-plane (S)

Inter-plane (N)

BB

ModemDBF

xM xN

ESAA

User/GW Links (5-8)

BB

ModemDBF ESAA

User/GW Links (9-12)

BB

ModemDBF ESAA

User/GW Links (13-16)

BB

ModemDBF ESAA

4 Beams

4 Beams

4 Beams

4 Beams

Single

Beam

Single

Beam

I/Q Mod

I/Q DemodLNA

PA

I/Q Mod

I/Q DemodLNA

PA

RFICRFIC

RFICRFIC

RFICRFIC

xP

xM xN xP

xM xN xP

xM xN xP

RFICRFIC

BB

Modem

BB

Modem

Fix

Ant’

Fix

Ant’

• The OBP payload comprises of high speed, low power payload ASICs which can modulate a 1 GHz carrier and demodulate multiple 100 MHz carriers

• Transmission from the GW is being received by two SatixFy’s chips each demodulating 1 GHz signal. Each stream is of ~6 Gbps (operating at 256 APSK ¾).

• Packet is being directed to the right User link modulator.

• The modulator follows a beam hopping plan with details on the required modulation and antenna directivity pointing.

• User return channels are being demodulated in the payload. The aggregate return link packets are mapped to a higher modcod and transmitted to the GW

Satellite Use-case – Broadband and media entertainment Direct to Cellular 5G

DVB-S2/S2x DTH

• Satellite multi-cast S2/S2x reception

• Transcoding to 5G (waveform and video)

• 5G beam generation

SatelliteGateway

EPC

• Multi-beam Ku/KA Rx/Tx antenna

• Multi-beam 5G tracking antenna

Network-orchestration, interoperability and resource virtualisation for seamless support of hybrid terrestrial-Satellite infra-structure

The User-Terminal selects the network (Terrestrial / satellite) upon coverage and content type

Lamp-Post equipment

Mobile hybrid terminal

ELECTRONICALLY STEERED ANTENNA

ARRAYCapable to generate multi-

beams

Proven MOD/DEMOD IP

coreIntegrated in modem,

payload, GW

Summary: we have a complete system view

SatixFy technology enables Satellite to be an integral part of a common 5G service infrastructure, with converging capabilities for fixed and mobile access

Software Defined Radio

enabling fast adoption of new waveforms for rapid

time to marketGeneric platform

ADVANCED and LOW POWER PROCESS

NODE

BEAM-HOPPINGto increase capacity,

reduce power consumption and add

flexibility

DIGITAL PAYLOADFor LEO/GEO/UAV

to increase capacity and reduce CAPEX