SDR Implementation for Satellite Communication

Abstract: SDR (Software Defined Radio) is a radio communicationsystem that has been of great interest and developmentover the last 20 years. It decreases communication costs significantlyas it replaces expensive analogue system components withcheap and flexible digital ones. In this article we describe anSDR implementation for communication with the SEAM (SmallExplorer for Advances Missions) satellite, a CubeSat satellitethat will perform high quality magnetic measurements in theEarth orbit. The project result consists of carefully chosen SDRtransceiver and software tools, integrated with parts of thecurrent satellite communication system. The implementation hasrequired studies within the field of digital processing, SDR andspecifications of the SEAM satellite communication system, andhas been developed and tested using a radio identical to an onboard satellite radio and coaxial cables as transmission media.The system is able to interpret incoming messages from theradio as hexadecimal data and will serve as a prototype whenimplementing SDR for another, more complex and expensivesystem that is used for communication with the SEAM satellite.