Communication aspects in wireless passive sensing on spacecrafts

Wireless sensor networks based on passive sensing can be successfully employed on spacecrafts, in both ground test campaign and in-flight monitoring. This work investigates the operation of the wireless sensors system within the actual environment in terms of link budget of the radio frequency (RF) channel under the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) constraints. For this purpose two different frequency division multiplexing (FDM) systems have been considered, both operating in different isolated cavities in order to allow frequency reuse. A complete characterization of the wireless system proves the technology feasibility, taking into accounts both the link budget analysis results and the EMC specifications to be followed in space applications.