The HDR-RF test waveform - an innovative risk reduction product for FPGA-based SATCOM modems

Transponded Ka-band military satellite communications (SATCOM) enables airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, such as the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), to deliver up to 274 Mbps of high data rate sensor information to beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) ground terminals. The high data rate radio frequency (HDR-RF) ground modem program has leveraged the MITRE programmable radio technology (PRT) laboratory to provide an innovative approach that has enabled development of the HDR-RF ground modem long before availability of the Ka-band operational waveform. This capability is critical to providing the government confidence the HDR-RF ground modems are designed with adequate resources to host the operational waveform in the future. This paper describes the developed risk reduction product consisting of a powerful reuse strategy for waveforms implemented using field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices, a complex high data rate (HDR) test waveform, and a test asset used as the gold standard for interoperability testing with the HDR-RF ground modems.