IKNOW Mission: Payload Design for In Orbit Test of W Band Technology

This paper presents the payload design for an in orbit test of W band technology called IKNOW mission (In orbit Key-test and validatioN Of W band). The increasing demand for frequency bands with large bandwidth availability to satisfy satellite communications applications requirements renders mandatory the need to explore higher and higher frequency ranges. W band (75-110 GHz) could represent the answer to these needs due to the large bandwidth availability, allowing to propose many innovative services that need high-volume transfers. Therefore, the exploitation of W band is foreseen in order to meet the high-quality data transmission for a large number of end users and data-oriented services. The IKNOW mission is a demonstrative experiment foreseen within the phase A2 of the WAVE (W band analysis and verification) project, a study funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), which aims at designing and developing W band payloads for telecommunication applications. This paper will be focused on the characterization of the IKNOW mission within the WAVE project devoted to carry out a preliminary channel propagation assessment. Specifically, special attention will be paid to the payload design, particularly critical from the technological point of view at these high frequencies. The basic idea is to develop the receiving/transmitting chain using MMIC devices, in order to fit cost, power and weight constraints, typically limited for a spacecraft. Technological critical items will be highlighted, focusing on the present state of the art and presenting some architectural choices. Moreover, some simulations based on ADS software will be reported in order to simulate the performance of the identified payload configuration.