Description
The objective of the activity is to develop a beamforming concept based on low resolution and low power consumption Components of The Shelf (COTS) Analogue-to-Digital Converters (ADC). The developed concept will be implemented and tested in a combined software and hardware testbed. Targeted improvements: Improved energy efficiency by >50% thanks to the use of low resolution and low power ADC when compared to 10-12 bit resolution ADCs. Description: Recent advances in the field of mixed signal integrated circuits can significantly reduce the power consumption of Analogue to Digital Converters (ADC) and have the potential to significantly reduce the power consumption of electronic steerable antenna. This activity will study the use of low resolution and low power ADCs for mm-wave electronic steerable antenna including direct Radio Frequency (RF) sampling techniques for different mission scenarios. A viable low-power low-resolution COTS ADC will be selected and characterised. RF chain architectures will be designed, and performances compared. This will include a comparison between direct RF sampling and down-conversion combined with intermediate frequency sampling. A beamforming concept will be selected based on performance trade-offs as well as a high-speed interface with the digital processor. A combined software and hardware beamforming testbed will be developed, and the selected beamforming concept will be experimentally tested. Footnote: On Delegation Request activities will only be initiated on the explicit request of at least one National Delegation.